Since the movie is based on a book by Max Brooks, I do not know to what extent could we blame the plot's holes on the director Marc Forster. For those wanting a blend between "Resident Evil" and "The Day After Tomorrow", this is your movie. But be forewarned of the glaring plot holes.
I find it odd (and annoying too) for Japanese film actors to speak fluent and coherent English when playing Japanese roles in Western movies. For example, in The Last Samurai or Silk, those Japanese roles speak English fluidly despite the fact that a coherent English is something you would rarely heard from a Japanese’ mouth, even by today’s standards.
Suppose that it’s for the world audience’s understanding. Then why did not the Western actors speak Japanese instead, and putting subtitle in order to be understood?
By speaking English, those historical Japanese (albeit Hollywood-made) movies had lost their real nuance. They gave in what was supposed to be originality for the sake of audience comprehension.
Read more...The Tintin movie is bound to come out next year (2010).
Quote taken from Hurriyet:
With the agreement of Herge's wife, Fanny Rodwell, US filmmaker Steven Spielberg plans to make a trilogy of cartoon movies, the first expected out next year.
Ah, one of my favourite animations ever!
I just can't wait.
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Meanwhile, there is this new rubric on The Jakarta Post called "Street Smart", which I assume to be the replacement for Simon's regular column (he had migrated to the newbie English-language newspaper in town, in case you people haven't noticed).
Street Smart is to be written regularly every Sundays from this week onwards.
Lovely.
As the writer, Kartika Jahja, puts it:
....and I will be littering your lovely Sundays from now on.
Yes, I am your average Indonesian girl. Born and raised in Jakarta with all the stereotypical upbringing that has been the subject of many politically incorrect jokes.
Lovely.
Have a look at her very first article there, which is an interesting insight that chafes at our daily urban life in Jakarta. Mainly targeted for expats, yet it could provide a giggle or two for fellow Jakartans too.
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For you booklovers out there, have a look at Matt's blog. A voracious reader, apparently.. A graduate of comparative literature, almost every single one of his blog posts discusses books and reviews them (as of today, he has made 177 book reviews.. way to go!).
The number of books I have finished reading in my entire lifetime has just numbered 50 in Anobii (excluding comics), hence there are still 127 more tomes for me to devour if I want to catch up with his pace.
Gee.
Read more...Europe On Screen is an annual event held in several Asian countries and sponsored by the embassies of various European Union (EU) member countries. In Indonesia alone, it filmed movies in several European cultural centres in large cities such as GoetheHaus (German) or Erasmus Huis (Dutch).
And yes, the most pleasant thing from this event is that all the movies are screened gratis; which is why I made it a point to watch as many of their movies as possible.
They are screened from the first movie in the afternoon (at 13.00 on the first day and 15.00 on the subsequent days) until the last movie in the evening (starting from 19.30 onwards).
Most of them screened basically take an underlining theme, such as Urban Landscape, Inspirational Stories, and Youth Life.
In Indonesia alone, EOS is held on several cities across the archipelago, from Banda Aceh, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Bandung, Semarang, Makassar, and Jakarta. Due to a larger number of potential audience in Jakarta, we Jakarta residents are more privileged to get all five full days of screening (+2 days of invitation-only screenings) in comparison to other Indonesian cities which are entitled to two days each.
Here are the films which I had been lucky to watch for free:
Sunday, 26 October
Ott Ega Rott. A Swedish film, it gives a good insight into Muslim immigrants to Europe and how well (or bad) things could turn out for different people due to a clash of culture. Eight out of 10 stars.
Taxandria. A Belgian fantasy film. Five out of 10 stars.
Monday, 27 October
Voisins, Voisins. A French rap musical film. Gives a balanced insight between differing ethnicities in a common French city: Arab, Jews, French, British, and how well those people could get to live with each other. Eight out of 10 stars.
Utazasok egy szerzetessel. A Hungarian documentary on the life of a priest on the Romanian-Hungarian border. Seven out of 10 stars.
En la ciudad sin limitas. A touching Spanish drama about love and family. Nine out of 10 stars
Tuesday, 28 October
Best European Shorts. A compilation of the history of EU and EEC by the French broadcasting commission. Eight out of 10 stars.
Mutluluk. A Turkish film which gives an insight to the difference between rural Turks and their urban counterparts. Seven out of 10 stars.
Wednesday, 29 October
Afblijven. A Dutch film, definitely the best youth movie I had seen since Juno. Nine out of 10 stars.
Nuits d'Arabie. A Luxembourgish film. Five out of 10 stars.
Thursday, 30 October
Anlat Istanbul. A Turkish film, with a short review. Six out of 10 stars.
Alice. A Portuguese film. Four out of 10 stars.
After they are screened on a particular venue, some of the films are rerun on several other venues. I myself reside in Jakarta, and I have compiled a personal commentary of the four venues, as a future guide for you attending any similar European-related events in Jakarta.
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(Note: due to the unstable exchange rates between Dollar and Rupiah during this financial turmoil, I have decided to put price figures on Euro instead for the entire year of 2008 and 2009 in Foreign Prophecies)
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1. Erasmus Huis (Dutch).
providing Wi-fi access: N/A.
With a capacity of 350 seats, its auditorium boasts the most seating for the largest number of audience. It is however, not to be taken as to mean that it is the best venue amongst the four.
As a matter of fact, be prepared to spend money way beyond your pocket if you don't bring your own food or drinks to the event. A small water bottle (330 ml) of Aqua brand cost me a hole-burning Rp7,500 (EUR 0.40), which is extremely expensive by any standards of measure in Indonesia.
Since the events had film until the sun sets, it of course made no wonder that I had bought much more than just an Aqua bottle that day.
But alas, I was athirst and starving that time and it was unfortunate of me to find no warung around the vicinity so kaching!... A money (not) so well-spent.
They also made sandwiches too, which made me wonder how much they sold it for.
Regarding the auditorium seatings, they were not very well-recommended for a visit, because the seats they provide upright chairs just like the ones typical in Indonesian private school auditoriums. I would like to recommend other venues instead.
2. Centre Culturel Francais (French).
providing Wi-fi access: YES.
One of the most pleasant venues to visit.
Despite a seating capacity of a mere 40 seats, I loved the very fact that its inside was designed just like a medium-sized home-theatre, which made it much more comfortable even when compared to Blitz Megaplex standards.
It has a café which also made it a point to separate the smokers (outdoors) and non-smokers (indoors). The prices are largely normal in comparison to outside prices, with Rp2,500 (EUR 0.15) for a Tehbotol drink and Rp15,000 (EUR 0.85) for a serving of fried rice.
3. Italiano Instituto di Cultura (Italian).
providing Wi-fi access: YES.
With the smallest building amongst the four, it is by no means a bad idea to visit the place.
Nah, not at all.
Its auditorium boasts a seating capacity of 100 seats and gives us visitors a choice between the 50 recliners positioned on the front, and another 50 uprights on the rear.
There is a choice between a cafe inside the venue or a warung just in front of IIC, which made it pocket-friendly for all visitors to eat during the intermezzos.
4. GoetheHaus (German).
providing Wi-fi access: YES.
I have not visited this venue this year (and have no plans to do so), since my schedules to visit the other places had conflicted.
However, I had once attended a piano recital by a Japanese pianist back in November 2005, hence I could give an account of more or less what the place looked like.
It had a piazza in the centre of the venue, and yeah, the place looked exotic enough. Definitely worth a visit.
Read more...Below is a list of my fave series, ranked from my most favourite title in No.1.
Anime
K-Drama
J-Drama
US-Drama
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