But then the reviews started to trickling in, and they are at the very least, were positive even as far as attaining fresh rating from rottentomatoes. At this point, my wonderment turns into curiosity as I wondered if that perhaps there is some kind of a novelty that this movie has to offer to have such positive response. It turns out that, maybe I’m the wrong generation because there are so very few memorable moments from this movie that at first I struggled to see the fallacy of my early predicament. But in the end, no matter how I look at it, the truth remains. I can’t like “The Muppets” and I’m very disappointed with Ms.Adams for taking part in this movie. Hey, maybe I *am* the wrong generation.

The plot is very straightforward and it is my fault to expect otherwise and came out disappointed in the end. “The Muppets” are rightfully the thing of the past. They are fairly irrelevant and the world has moved on. But not for one loyal fan who wished to see them together again. Throw in some villain with an agenda to disband the Muppets once and for all, and you know exactly how the movie will end. Surprise! Well, no. Not even a surprise ending.

I read somewhere that they used to have the Muppets show loaded with celebrity cameos and who’s-who appeared regularly at the show. Tho movie lives to that tradition and it has a very generous amount of cameos, they have their own section at the end credit roll. It’s not much, but I have (well actually, more like trying to) more fun playing the game of spot-the-cameo than invested in the story development which I pretty much suspected, and probably true, is more to serve as a mere nostalgic device.

The movie occasionally breaks the fourth wall, a joke that I’m quite sure not that very effective against Indonesian audiences, some songs with a quite entertaining and some pinch of hilarity on its lyric, and for me personally, a new rendition to Nirvana’s classic, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Dave Grohl also serve as one of the cameo, by the way. And for me, that is pretty much about it.

She’s Mark Wahlberg’s wife, happily married with two kids. She knows what her husband did for a living once. A successful smuggler, only to retire and goes legit. Her brother, however, chose not to. After a botched smuggling job that put him on a seven hundred thousands dollar debt, one friend short, and a bad rep to a trigger happy drug lord, he has put his life and his sister’s family in danger. If you think that he’s a no good brother-in-law, well, yes, he is. But Mark Wahlberg’s character is so gold that he, with the help of his old friends, immediately went into the job himself to pay his brother-in-law’s debt. And, oh yeah, to save his family’s life. Probably that, too.

I’ve always loved a caper movie. Seeing a group, each with their own specialties, working hand-to-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder, to achieve one seemingly impossible goal, swiveled around obstacles, and always, and I mean always going off the books because something wrong comes up, is exactly my kind of fun.

“Contraband” has all the formulas above and at times, it lived up to expectations. Even if the movie runs a bit long, perhaps more so than necessary, there are times that the thrill escalates enough to really hook me up. However, caper-wise, there’s not much happening in this movie. Unlike most notable caper movies where the caper sometimes necessitates creativity in a way that makes you goes “ooh!,” “Contraband” is emphasizing more on skill and experience than creativity and intelligence. Mark Wahlberg’s character is an experienced smuggler and he does nearly all the work himself despite having several men he could named as “crew.” And he’s definitely has enough experience to overcome the odds. But like I’ve said, ignoring the many botched plots (and there are quite a few. But fret not! It’s easier to be ignorant with the help of many additives you could have at the concession bar), it still qualifies as a good enough caper movie.

Mark Wahlberg has grown into a niche role as a good guy in crime profession, and he does it nicely. Though I sorely missed his role that is similar to the one he did in “The Departed,”, and his role in this film seems to be closer to that of his role in “The Big Hit” which is at the wrong end of the ratings, he still did a pretty good job. Kate Beckinsale is sadly nothing more than just a passing glance. I’m not sure how much she got paid for this role, but I think you could get a comparable artist to fill her role with half of her salary. That’s how wasted she is in this movie. Ben Foster however, is another story. He is completely underused, but he manages to have a remarkable and memorable performance in this movie even if given how short his time was. This dude has a scary stare if he wants to, and his dejected look at the end of the movie is a moment respite from a movie devoid of memorable acting performance.

Oh, one more thing. Apparently, in only one hour, you could find a correct warehouse with only limited knowledge (“I’ll know it when I see it”) in Panama City, helped an armored car hijack, escapes full fire from local polices and squeezed enough time to board a container ship, and clean the goods for good measure. And it took me nearly as much to write this review. Hm, there must be something wrong with my life.

“The Thing” is a shape-shifter alien able to disguise itself into any life form (dogs, humans, although I wonder if it could turns itself into mosquitos because if it could, well, damn, there will be absolutely no hope for human race as we know it). In the first movie, this alien “discovers” the humans situated on a remote scientific camp in Antarctica. In this movie, still taking place in Antarctica, is how the humans “discovers” the alien in the first place. Everything else is almost identical. The chase, the realization, the “are you real, or are you an alien?” routine, even down to flamethrower details. Another difference is that instead of Jeff Bridges leading the show, this movie has Mary Elizabeth Winstead and to put it bluntly, Winstead’s character is one of my favorite female characters of the year 2011.

I have often complained about the lack of non-stereotyped female characters in the movie nowadays. They are either slutty, hovering in the background with no sense of importance, and as flat as my laptop screen that any bump, even a slight one is such a rarity that if it comes to pass, I’d have a smile to my face at the end of a movie.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character in this movie gives me just that. She’s not a damsel-in-distress, prone to drag down our heroes and questionable decisions that makes us rolled our eyes in disbeliefs, nor is she a whining beauty queen more afraid to get a clip on her nail than blasting a deadly looking creature with a flamethrower. She’s not afraid to take a chance, and stepping up to the plate when she’s the only one reasonable enough in a room full of angry, afraid, desperate, and selfish men. A strong-willed, sure, and independent woman the kind of woman I liked. And sure enough, I am literally still in love with her character when the movie ends.

Aside from her character, I am appreciative to the idea of the team behind “The Thing” went animatronic route than going full CGI with the “thing.” The first movie was lauded because of such effective use of special effects with animatronics. The “thing” from that original movie, nearly thirty years ago, is still very good on today’s screening pleasure and with agreeably more sophisticated equipments they have nowadays, it is to be expected that the animatronics should be manifolds better than the original. Now I can’t vouch about it being better by manifolds or not, but they are definitely more prominent as the scenes involving the “thing,” in term of time, is longer than the original. But I’m pretty sure that the novelty would’ve been very different, and not in a good sense, had the scenes went full or partial CGI.

All in all, for a monster movie, and one that has received quite a backlash for a rather un-creative execution, this is a pretty good one. Absolutely not at the level of say, “District 9,” and comparing Winstead’s character (see, I don’t even remember her proper name) to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley would not do both a justice, it’s still an enjoyable one. Plus, Winstead’s character could easily elicit love from yours truly here. And that is definitely a good thing.

I was too young to remember Margaret Thatcher, but at the very least, I know about her enough that when a movie titled “The Iron Lady” came out, surmised that it was about the former prime minister of England and rather than that Marvel super-hero which is to my surprise, there is actually quite a few of them out there. As it was, because my previous knowledge on Margaret Thatcher is largely negligible, I took everything that this movie has to offer at its face value. And even if it, as I’m quite sure most of autobiographical works out there are, tends to emphasize on her better traits, I’m actually quite surprised with the balance of it. There’s this beautiful shot of her walking, at first, together with her peers and staffs, but then gradually, they grew apart as one character had put it succinctly, “the difference between me and the Prime Minister is no longer can be accommodated.” (may not an accurate, actual quote).

All in all, I had spent two hours of my time to see this movie and came out with something new which of course, put this movie firmly into my personal favorable side.

Meryl Streep is amazing. Her portrayal of the former prime minister, aging, stooped with a condition that most would’ve thought as bordering to senility, obviously required much work from the actress and she nails it every single time. I also really liked the manner of the movie that told about the life of Margaret Thatcher in a reminiscence rather than in a chronological order of her ascension. It put her into a favorable character and best of all, identifiable because we are not seeing her as an innocence turned ambitious first, nor her as a ruthless leader, but just a senile old woman who has gone through a lot, and just living her golden years, alone and maybe, just maybe, had some regrets of her own.

That being said, I’m not really keen with the directing of this movie. I found it to be a tad tedious and a bit over-excessive on its editing. There are numerous shots taken from Mrs.Thatcher’s point of view which I think not nearly as effective as it was intended. But the message it carries went through and it is a very enjoyable movie. Although it must be noted that some footage of riot and violence, brief as they are, might be a bit too disturbing for some. Ultimately, I think, during the Falklands island incident, I feel that our country’s leaders could benefit and learn a thing or two from this movie. But of course, who am I kidding? Our country’s leaders are probably too smart for a movie and too ignorant to actually listen to others. Such is the state of my dear country. I loved her dearly, and I wish I could say the same thing for my representatives at the parliament. I really do.

This movie is actually a prequel, although I, and I guess most of the audiences, didn’t care about it so much. It follows a now familiar plot of the series, which is a night (and day) recording of the supposedly haunted house, and a found footage afterward. The principal casts of this movie were related to the first two movies of this series, but understanding is not required. In fact, this movie could be enjoyed independently even without any involvement or experience from the previous two movies. In short, plot is not important.

I had made a point to see “Paranormal Activity 3″ with a crowd. Not because this movie is so scary I chickened out and doesn’t want to watch it alone but because watching a predictable horror film with a crowd is so much fun that watching it alone is not a viable option anymore. Like I’ve said, it is the excitement (fear, probably included for some) that makes it fun.

Just like its predecessors (no surprise there), the movie cuts between footages from the cameras, installed in various room of the house, often alternating between night and day shots. For me, personally, what makes watching this movie fun and worth the admission fee I’m paying for is when the footage shifted from day to night. It is then that the crowd around me shifting uneasily, accompanied by nervous laughters, or false bravadoes, expecting that something is about to happen. Here, I think, even if you are very much prepared and have seen more than enough horror movies that absolutely nothing could scare you anymore, you won’t be able to ignore the excitements around you. And you just couldn’t help but to feel excited as well. They are contagious and that’s why I have to suggest you should see this movie with a crowd. The more, the merrier. Even if nothing happened, the sigh of reliefs is still a joy.

In term of scare, however, none of the scene from this movie could top the scene from the first Paranormal Activity when the woman in the footage just stood beside the bed for hours as the footage was fast forwarded. Now *that* is a very truly effective scare. The oscillating camera is a very very effective device to amped up the expectation, though. But just like hunting, it is often the thrill of the chase, and not the prize that matters. I may not entirely agree with how the series pan out at the end, and the idea of a fourth installment is a bit far fetched but for the time being, while there’s still a drop of milk to squeeze out, “Paranormal Activity 3″ may still have a few healthy drops.

Emile Hisch and Max Minghella, quite probably the only casts that matter from this movie, is Sean and Ben, an American duo on a business trip to Moscow, Russia. They met a couple of girls, also American, Anne and Natalie. But as they were seemingly hit it off and about to have some good time, the lights went out, and some brilliant orange lights descended from above. These are aliens (though they don’t know about it just yet), almost invisible, and evaporates any living beings it touches. The rest of the movie is then about survival and a fight back.

I had decided that I’m not going to like this movie when the first act concludes. This is when our protagonists were shown what the aliens are capable to do. At this point, the first act has failed to keep my interest aloof on the characters, nor for me to get excited about the conflict which the movie has to offer. And I’m losing my patience at an alarming rate. I don’t care anymore about how the movie is going to end and I had a pretty good idea on how it would end. But of course, I stayed until the end, and I was right. The movie ends at an absolute flatline where it’s cold, and has an alluring quality as much as going out to jog on a rainy and miserable morning after having only three to four hours of sleep the night before.

What I really don’t like about this movie is the direction and the cinematography. It was bland, and largely uninspiring. I’m really not sure how to put this into words but suffice it to say that for me, it was a foregone conclusion from the moment our principal casts encountered the sentient being slowly drifted down from above, almost gracefully like the fall of a first snowflake (not that I’ve ever seen one, mind you, just saying). The crowd was there, the curious spectators, a lowly paid (or even no-paid) extras, the expendable ones, craning their heads to get a better look, while a certain authority figure trying his best to protect the civilians by poking into the wall of invisible light (bad idea). From this scene, I’ve got no urgency vibe whatsoever from it. Instead of watching a scene and getting nervous which surely what the filmmaker had intended the scene to be, I was getting a feel that I’m watching a scene of an utterly dry standing comedian trying and failing so hard to impress the audiences. And the audiences are merely stood there, knowing that there are no punchline to be delivered but stood there because they had been paid to do just so. It was sad.

The rest of the movie went almost as bland. Not even a scene of desolate and empty streets of Moscow could reignite the spark. It was already long gone, and dead upon arrival.

Oh, and don’t get me started about the casts. They are annoying, and I’ve got no sympathy to any of them. I’m actually cheered when one of them get wasted. And another. And another. You should’ve been very much able to guess which one of the cast to survive. No problem there.

It was a gloomy night, and a drizzle, the kind of rain that would most likely lasted for an entire night, has been pouring down right since we had our feet planted on Jogjakarta’s soil a couple of hours prior. We had no reservations for the show thinking that we could just wing it and completely oblivious to the possibility of any shortage whatsoever. Of course, the night happens to be a school’s day off and there happens to be a bus full of junior high schoolers who went to see the show as well. Naturally, we were informed that there were no tickets available for the show and we had to wait for a couple of minutes to see if there’s any seat left due to cancellation or a confirmed no-show. Fortunately, a last minute cancellation net us a couple of front row tickets which actually costs (way) more than we had anticipated. But since we’ve gone this far already, and we would’ve missed the show entirely had we not done so, we bought it anyway.

It was well worth it. Every single penny of it.

The show started, and us in the front row. My wife later said that she had never seen me this excited since we saw “Inception” for the first time a couple of years ago. Oh, I’m actually easily excitable but I also had a very short attention span and easily bored. Furthermore, there’s a slight but obvious difference between me being excited and me being Excited. The case with “Inception” and this Ramayana Ballet show was me, being Excited. When I’m being Excited, I would sit at the very edge of my seat, a hint of a half smile, almost a half grin even, and tried to see and See everything all at once. The show was that good and it later turns out to be the only highlight of my entire trip to Jogjakarta (and its surrounding areas). The one thing that I’m willing to suffer another inconvenience of travel in order to re-experiencing it once again.

I was named after one of the principal cast of the Ramayana tale and therefore, I had a hint of familiarity with the tale. Just a hint though, because it turns out that I had a small to no recollection of the tale when it comes to its secondary characters as they played out at the show. But, needless to say, I was enamored with the sights, the sounds, and the movements of the dancers. Some are simple steps, slow swirls that conveys grace and beauty, rough steps showing an aggressiveness of a character and the conflict it entails, and many more that I don’t think would be fair to put words into. It is something that should be experienced by oneself in order to have an understanding that eventually led to semblance of appreciation. During the two hours of the show, I had completely forgotten about my exhaustion and my foul mood was entirely lifted away. The dancers told a story, and even if there are some elements that does not fit with the narrative (the intentional comedy sequence, for instance, although it wasn’t entirely unacceptable), the story went through with a relative ease even if at times, I have no idea on who was the character on the stage without glancing to the show’s synopsis pamphlet at hand.

At one point of the show, I had a passing curiosity about the dancers. About how they are doing what they really love and must’ve been very proud of keeping and delivering one of our cultural treasures. And I got a bit jealous because they are doing what they love and in the process, must’ve been paid very well. This train of thought proves that I’m still a naive in believing that the world works in an ideal manner. After the show, my wife had a chance to see one of the dancer from a close and she immediately recognized her from a feature she saw on a TV once. This is, at best, a second hand story but either way, I could very well easily imagined it to be true. According to my wife, the TV feature showed that these dancers are not a pro and they are not paid as well as I had thought before. The dancers were coming from a working class and sometimes, from a kind of working class whose members are in a constant daily struggle to put food on the table. In fact, the only sensible thing that kept them going rehearsing and held a two hour show thrice a week, as cliche as it may be, is their desire and love to keep the heritage from being forgotten. My wife had told me about this on our way back to Jogjakarta after the show and as I look outside the window, spotted a couple of youngsters, heads down toward the tiny glare on their hands, or hanging out in group with what I had assumed to be the latest fashion trends, I was saddened. One could argue about keeping the past in the past, living in the present and embracing the future, but there has to be an effort to keep a heritage and passing it down for our future generations to enjoy. And if the dancers’ welfare is of any indication, we are not trying hard enough. In fact, our taxi driver doesn’t know anything about the show beside the site on which it was held. A couple of acquaintances, one who had lived in Jogjakarta for years, and another who is currently living in the area, had never even seen the show. I mean, if we wouldn’t care, who else? Believe me, next time you go to Jogjakarta, make time to see this show. But, if bustling around streams of human beings, shoulder to shoulder with peddlers and customers trying to haggle one another is your thing, Malioboro is perhaps more to your liking. Me? I hate Malioboro. I really really loathe the experience that you had to pay me a significant amount of money to go there again. Seriously, what makes people wants to go to Malioboro? I’m completely dumbfounded by it.

I only had one tiny qualm with the show. I wish we had seen it on May – October period when they held the show outdoor, beneath the yellow washed light of Prambanan temple. Beyond that period, as it was known to be a rainy season, the show is presented indoor, thrice a week every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, beginning from 7.30 pm. Tickets are priced between IDR75k and IDR200k. But trust me, you don’t want to settle less than a first class ticket.

We’ve already make plans to see the show again when it is scheduled for an outdoor show. Further, I’m going to time it in order for us to have a full moon experience as well. And by then, I’m certain, as certain as Sun that I could put an adjective “Magical” into the already mesmerizing show. If anything, the show makes one thing clear. Though I’m still inherently fettered out with the inconvenience of traveling and nine out of ten would opt to stay at home in front of my laptop than to go someplace new, there’s one thing that could make me willing to give traveling a second thought. Performance Arts.

Borrowing some elements from the infamous “The Final Problem” where Sherlock Holmes fought his decidedly equal nemesis, Professor James Moriarty over the Reichenbach falls, this movie provides more background to the nature of two gentlemen’s rivalry. It opens with Sherlock Holmes trying to uncover Moriarty’s plot that involves several bombings across Europe, assassination of a well known doctor, and a certain courier, one that Sherlock Holmes would call an “ideal woman,” Irene Adler. It then proceeds with Holmes and his usual partner, Dr.Watson, plus more than just a handful of helping hands from his brother, Mycroft and the “new girl,” a gypsy Madam Simza traveling across Europe to hinder Moriarty’s plot that threatens to put Europe under chaos.

The movie spent a considerable amount of its opening time to detail the plot. It may be a bit too much for some audiences, but it is at least throws some humor, obviously revolves around Holmes’ socially awkward antics to keep one from straying into boredom. I really liked Jude Law’s role as Dr.Watson. He provides a great balance to RDJ’s tendency to stole the spotlight. I also really really loved the world’s backdrop of 19th century Europe though I can’t really vouch for its accuracies. But still, I figured that less attentive audiences would found themselves hard pressed and even struggling to move forward from its more narrative part.

But when the movie starts exploding, oh boy, how it explodes. I’m usually not big on a gratuitous slow motion sequences, but the movie’s forest scene was awesome. In fact, it was one of the highest point of the movie for me that even though I have been anticipated this particular scene (from its trailer), I was floored none the less with its delicious delicious execution.

On a more subtle note, Jared Harris who portrayed Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, James Moriarty did an astounding job in bringing the character’s most revered (though for all the wrong reasons) villain alive. Their first meeting is gripping and somehow, it scares the shit out of me that even though I know how the movie will plays out, I’m still worried about Holmes. Their final exchange, when Holmes as per his usual played out the fighting scene in his mind but countered by Moriarty’s own fighting scene in his own mind, gives a sense that they are, indeed of an equal adversity. It is also one of the best way to provide a closure that more or less, of equal breath as the closure of the book’s “The Final Problem.” The movie had its problems and obviously not perfect, but it doesn’t allow me, at least, to stop long enough and pondering about it.

Also with Noomi Rapace whom, as was the norm of many women’s role in the movies nowadays, heavily underused, the movie packs a lot of punches in its acting department. For instance, Stephen Fry’s hilarious take on Holmes’ other half could be easily turned into another movie that I would love to watch. I figured that fans of the original book would love to see the exchanges between the brothers when they first met.

A story of a team, with each member having their own unique traits to make the sum greater than its parts, had never failed me. Or anyone else, as far as I’m concerned. The IMF team, with this fourth installment, works just as well. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), is back. Together, this time with the alluring one, Jane (Paula Patton), the tech savvy one, Benji (Simon Pegg), and the mysterious one, Brandt (Jeremy Renner), they had to stop a nuclear war from happening. A mission that of course, easier said than done. The mission involves, among many, a high-tech theft inside Kremlin, a breathtaking scenery from the heights of Burj Khalifa, and a fist-over-fist inside a very modern looking parking building in Mumbai.

I was more excited of this movie’s choice in Brad Bird (of The Iron Giant, The Incredible, and Ratatouille) as its director. This is his live-action debut, and I have loved his previous engagements. He manages to bring an upbeat tempo at the very least, with one action after another and slowing down just enough to keep the plot forward. Though, given my preference, I loved the more subtle set-up of hotel rooms in Burj Khalifa than a car chase sequence on its street, or the ultimate fist-over-fist scene in Mumbai’s parking building. But ultimately, I’ve got no complaints.

But in the end, this is all Mr.Cruise’s. Make no mistake, he was, and is still, very charming on screen. He is 49, but he still what do you call it, has “it.” Insisting on doing the often marketed stunt scene in Burj Khalifa by himself, running around chasing the bad guys, but still manages to give his famous stare that occupies the whole screen with that precise half smile and a lock of dropped hair. This movie is his, and there’s nobody out there to challenge him. I had half-expected that Jeremy Renner could live up to the task but as far as I could recall, he only has one golden scene where he manages to look very scared and deliver it in a humorous manner as it was intended, at the same time. I’ll bet he’s going to have that same “unremarkable” role in “The Avenger”‘s Hawkeye next year. With Michael Nykvist, a name that would only familiar if you are familiar with the name Blomkvist, as a villain, the dominance of Mr.Cruise is all but certain. On a side note, though, Simon Pegg did very well on what he did very best in all of his movies. A comic relief. But that is to be expected from him and I would be disappointed if I have less.

All in all, this movie, as an action blockbuster movie, is a well made, and a bang-for-the-buck. The Burj Khalifa’s scene alone is worth the admission fee. But other than that, I’m feeling a bit detached from the movie as it was obviously centered around Mr.Cruise so much that at a point, I was wondering of whether this franchise has pivoted into a James Bond movie. I wasn’t disappointed, mind you, but given the fresh rating that this movie had from RottenTomatoes.com, perhaps I am having more expectation than I should have.

Note: There are at least three cameos that I hadn’t seen their names on the credit list as they rolled by (probably I’m just not paid enough attention). Well, they were each having a very short part, anyway.

Ryan Gosling is the unnamed driver. Where he comes from, what his story is, who were his friends and relatives are, were left untold. His only friend is probably his employer, Shannon (Bryan Cranston, from “Breaking Bad” fame). The driver works for him in his auto repair shop, occasionally setting him up as a Hollywood stunt driver, and also for rather shadier moonlight jobs as a wheelman. The driver seems a bit detached to his surrounding, he rarely talks, nor there are many expressions on his outward persona. Even so, he found somewhat a solace to his neighbor, a young mother (Carey Mulligan) whose husband was in jail. And then of course, the shit hits the fan when he meddles with some characters (mafia?) who were in turn connecting all these characters together.

“Drive” is a story driven action movie that expecting a high-octane action scenes showered with loud explosions and metal debris would be a mistake. Even so, when it comes to violence, Nicolas Winding Refn doesn’t shy away. In fact, I was surprised when the movie showed its first violence scene. It was graphic, and explicit, my jaw was literally dropped agape. As it turns out, Mr.Refn had consulted Gaspar Noe on one of the violence scene that was resembling the infamous fire extinguisher scene from his 2002 film, “Irreversbile.” Fortunately, these scenes were never meant to be taken out of context as they were pretty much also a necessity to show that our hero is in fact, not entirely safe or invulnerable. One simply has to look at his face to see the actual panic and fear. The driver was in a constant real danger which in turn, gives this movie an edge because we never know whether our hero will make it out alive or not. Well, at least that’s what I felt because you see, most of action movies out there were never really put its hero in a dire situation. They always seems to left unscathed no matter how bad the situation is. And because this movie clearly deviates from that rule, it was, for me, turns out to be a very good movie.

I discovered Ryan Gosling in 2007, through “Lars and the Real Girl.” Back then, he wasn’t as identifiable as he is right now. But I found that movie was so obscure and Lars Lindstorm, the character, was so very memorable I had marked Ryan Gosling from that moment on. Fast forward to 2011, he has three movies under his belt, and although I was a bit disappointed with “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” for it gives him a relatively small challenge in a role that doesn’t asks much of him, I was thoroughly impressed with his performance as the unnamed driver in this movie. He is the force behind this movie and even if he doesn’t talk much, it would be a different movie altogether without him in the driving seat. And I doubt that it would be for the better. A bit spoiler-y here, but when the first death occurred, his expressions, body languages showed much much more emotions than if they were voiced with audible dialogs. I really can’t put them into words but one has to see it for oneself in order to appreciate such performance. It sucked me in right away.

Also supported by notable performances from Bryan Cranston, Carey Mulligan (probably a bit inappropriate but she has a really beautiful shaped skull, it’s gorgeous), and to a certain extent, Ron Perlman, this movie is one that should be experienced. It is, after all, definitely one of my favorite movie of the year.