Me On The Movie

THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017) Review: A Masterpiece that I Wish I Liked More

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 07:30:00 +0000

When I first saw the trailer of “The Shape of Water”, I was blown away. It was sweet, heartwarming, and weird at the same time. It is a fantasy love story with a premise that might have so often appeared in one film or another: an unlikely romance between human and non-human. This is actually a typical premise background for director Guillermo del Toro, who is so dedicated and obsessed to monsters and fantasy creatures on films. But “The Shape of Water” seemed different: there’s a nuance of classic in the trailer, something to do with old songs and bleak color pallete. And Sally Hawkins (!), as a mute lady in love with the creature, is a perfect round-up that leads me into an overanticipation towards this film.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (2017) Review: When Anger Creates Greater Anger

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 15:49:00 +0000

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is the kind of award film that I think people would actually enjoy and like. This film has just won a Golden Globe for Best Drama, which I kind of disagree—not because of its win (it totally deserves to win!), but because it’s actually very comedic and funny instead of being much of a ‘drama’ film. But it’s not just all fun and laugh, ‘though; it has a very specific premise that interestingly develops into a much broader dilemma of moral and self-value.

LADY BIRD (2017) Review: More than Just A High-School Film

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:13:00 +0000

Have you ever seen a film that you felt like most of the things in the film was a totally been-there-done-that experience of your life? “Lady Bird” is that kind of film. Another coming-of-age indie film that achieves to be a shoo-in for this year’s award season, “Lady Bird” brings a very familiar sensation of growing up as a teenager, specifically as a high-school student applying for college, experiencing first love, and (especially) having a hard time with your mother.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017): An Intimate Story of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 06:09:00 +0000

Several hours before the new year’s eve of 2018, I want to share with you a film that really struck me right in the heart when I first saw it several weeks ago. This one’s easily becomes one of my favorite films of the year, and most of the time, when I talk about my favorite films, I refer to those that feel personal or relate to me in reality. This one is not necessarily like that; although may I say I wish I could feel what the characters in this film feel, in one way or another, in real life. This film, called “Call Me by Your Name”, is a queer coming-of-age film that remarkably captured the beautiful complexity of identity-searching of the youth and then transferred the emotional nuance in the process with such an empathetical, intimate style.

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017): An Absurd Revenge Story like Nothing Else

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 15:03:00 +0000

No deer was harmed in the making of this film. In fact, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” does not involve deers at all. The title is metaphoric: the “sacred deer” resembles the tragedy Iphigenia from the Greek mythology—Iphigenia was sacrificed for the sins of her father. Hey, don’t worry! That is not a spoiler. Just from the film posters you can all tell that “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” is nothing about deer or animals or anything like director Yorgos Lanthimos’ previous film, “The Lobster”. It is more about how someone has to sacrifice his beloved ones because of his sins. A rather familiar theme, isn’t it?—except if you already knew Yorgos Lanthimos’ works, you know things are not going any familiar.

20 Best Films of 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Quick trivia! You see my cover image? You see that it's Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu accepting Golden Globes for The Revenant? The thing is, there's no The Revenant in this list. Lol. Lolololol. Yeah well I should not have called this list a "best films" list because this is more like a list of "favorite films". So, perhaps, in a truer "best films" list, The Revenant will undoubtedly be in such lists.

10 Best Directors of 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Here is the third installment of 2015 Movie Recap. Picking the 10 best directors of 2015 is perhaps the most difficult and the trickiest part of this annual recap, because I think it is a real challenge to actually distinguish the director's effort from the film itself. Would good films actually translate to good directions? Or, is it the opposite: that good directions would translate to good films? Still, however, this is all my particular picks of those acclaimed directors who made these incredible films of this year.

40 Best Acting Performances of 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 11:37:00 +0000

The second installment of 2015 Movie Recap. Sorry for the long wait after my latest post of 15 Best Movie Characters of 2015 because, this year, I made not 20, but 40 images of best acting performances of 2015. I divided this list into four sublist: 10 best actors in leading roles, 10 best actresses in leading roles, 10 best actors in supporting roles, and 10 best actresses in supporting roles.

15 Best Movie Characters of 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 12:02:00 +0000

This is my first installment of 2015 Movie Recap. Since last year I started including my selection of best movie characters of the year, of course with lots of images (so watch out for bandwidth drainer after the jump!). Last year I made 20 in the list, this year I kinda narrow it down to 15.

Me On The Movie Presents: 2015 Movie Recap - Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 06:30:00 +0000

Hello people. Welcome back. Nah I don't wanna start this incredible series of posts with excuses about where I have been and why I haven't been writing anything in this blog. Because they are excuses, you know--they are not real reasons. Not only that I haven't been writing enough, I also haven't been watching enough. 2015 records the lowest number of films I watched throughout the year, compared to years before. Sad, isn't it? So if you think this recap is not good enough for you, well, you can kindly leave :)

THE MARTIAN (2015): Uplifting in A Good Way

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 23:06:00 +0000

Never blame whoever who thinks that NASA's recent publication about water on Mars is part of promotional gimmicks for The Martian, newest sci-fi flick from Ridley Scott. In fact, this publication was based on scientific evidence and, the most important thing, The Martian has been released worldwide many days before. But, with the hype of Blood Moon phenomenon on the Web recently, The Martian defines the perfect time for us, sci-fi lovers or not, to head our face up to the sky for a moment and think if someday in the future it's possible for us to live our life out there.

Me On The Movie's 3rd Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 16 May 2015 14:14:00 +0000

Happy 3rd anniversary, Me On The Movie! For a child, year three is the last year before he enters kindergarten or such, but for a blog, year three is the year every blogger's consistency is tested. I won't fill this incredible year with another ramble of how my (useless) daily activity has got me away from watching and writing about movies (because you already had that in the 2nd anniversary), I haven't even blogged for like three months (!), so to make today worth for an anniversary celebration, I make a list of my favorite movies of all time—establishing a clear stand that Me On The Movie is still exist, even though so rarely updated.

20 Best Movies of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 11:30:00 +0000

Academy Awards is just a few days to go, and 'though I know that you people can't take your attention away from predicting who's gonna win and who's gonna go home empty-handed, it's never late for me to, finally, present the last series of 2014 Movie Recap. This is my choice of 20 Best Movies of 2014!

10 Best Directors of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 12:28:00 +0000

This is the third post of Me On The Movie's 2014 Movie Recap and in this post we celebrate 10 best directors of 2014. In two earlier posts I listed 20 best movie characters of 2014 and 20 best acting performances of 2014, go take a look if you haven't seen them!

20 Best Acting Performances of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 11:30:00 +0000

Next is acting performances. Don't get me wrong: I don't mix these 20 outstanding actors and actresses altogether; I made 4 categories with 5 actors or actresses in each category. And as I made this list, I realized that... my list is kind of anti-mainstream. That does not mean that I haven't watched the movies whose stars are nominated in global awards like Globes, BAFTAs, Oscars, and all. It's just that my personal taste doesn't make me think that they are good enough.

20 Best Movie Characters of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 11:30:00 +0000

We'll start from the new category I've never had in recent years: movie characters. I'm selecting 20 (plus one!) characters that I consider the most iconic, the most memorable, the most well-created from all the movies I watch along 2014. P.S: big images are after the jump, mind your bandwidth! :)

Me On The Movie Presents: 2014 Movie Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 11:36:00 +0000

It's that time of the year again! Eventhough I didn't write reviews as many as you expect (and 'though I didn't watch a lot of movies), an annual recap is considered a must for every movie blogger. And it is too for me. So, here it is: my presentation of 2014 Movie Recap!

THE IMITATION GAME (2014): Breaking the Wrong Enigma

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:46:00 +0000

I’ll open my writing about “The Imitation Game” with the exact question that opened my writing about “The Theory of Everything”: what do we know about Alan Turing? Only, the answers are not similarly various. Alan Turing is... a mathematician. It is what he only is. Or is it?

NIGHTCRAWLER (2014): Insensitive News Program and Why (They Think) We Love It

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:29:00 +0000

My deepest condolence is for those who lost their loved ones in the tragic crash of Indonesia’s AirAsia flight QZ8501.

When the missing of Indonesia’s AirAsia flight QZ8501, flying from Indonesia’s Surabaya to Singapore Sunday (12/28/2014), became news, I was at the airport waiting for my flight (I was about to go back to my work town after a short holiday of Christmas). I wasn’t watching TV at the time (there are TVs on the airport obviously but they were out of my sight), but Twitter got me informed about the news. However, tweets with hashtag #matikanTVlokal (#turnofflocalTV) flooded my timeline, complaining about how some news channels so insensitively interviewed the relatives of the flight passengers. It was obvious that the relatives were mourning and worried about the missing airplane but these news reporters kept asking them about how they felt about the incident over and over again. Perhaps the reporters thought that this kind of “drama” could skyrocket their rating, but it’s apparent to see that people don’t like such drama. That’s why the hashtag trends: it encouraged us not to watch news program that sold sadness and sympathy instead of giving facts and information about the incident.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (2014): A "Standard" Love Story with Captivating Performances

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 11:30:00 +0000

What do we know about Stephen Hawking? He’s a physicist (or theoretical physicist, or astrophysicist, or cosmologist). He’s that scientist with a disease that made him sit on his sophisticated wheel chair and talk using a computer. For most people (I mean, non-“science” people) he is world famous not because of his brilliant theories about the universe, but because of his statement about us no longer needing the existence of God, now that science can explain all the “magic” used to be explained by faith and religious tenets. “The Theory of Everything” covers the life of Stephen Hawking and his wife, Jane Hawking, with the most beautiful form of acting performance I have seen this year.

GONE GIRL (2014): A Bitter Pill for Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 12:29:00 +0000

I am a 22-year-old male, single. You know what is in most of my chats with friends? Marriage. Wedding. Proposal, at least. Engagement. All those things. Here comes the ages all my friends are so concerned about those things more than anything else. But how lovely is it really to get married? “Gone Girl” gives you a new perspective on marriage, about how it actually is a crossing of not only the good but also the bad of two people, and how it may turn into a nightmare when you can’t end it even though you know it doesn’t work anymore. “Gone Girl” scars the viewers with a pill about marriage, so bitter it haunts.

BEGIN AGAIN (2013): Simple Romantic-Drama Meets Joyful, Heartwarming Musical Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 12:47:00 +0000

Have I written about CHEF here? Not yet? Well, I should have because it feels that for me BEGIN AGAIN is as joyous as CHEF. I love how filmmakers use music to enliven their films, and John Carney (the guy that brought you the romantic-musical ONCE) did it wonderfully in this latest feature. From the story only, BEGIN AGAIN is not perfect, but the use of surprisingly easy-listening songs make it more enjoyable to watch.

INTERSTELLAR (2014): Travelling Beyond Science Boundaries

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 12:45:00 +0000

This is INTERSTELLAR, or I might give it another title: BEYOND BOUNDARIES. As far as I know, math and physics haven't even come as close as what Christopher Nolan offered in this incredible work of fiction, but he deliberately pushed viewers to understand debatable theories so we together can travel way way further than we could imagine. Some (or perhaps most) of us won't enjoy this travel that much (for them this is either too complicated or too flawed) but all I'm trying to do is appreciating that someone (who is not even a scholar from the field he traveled to) invites not only himself but also many people to discover what is outside the boundaries of modern science.

BOYHOOD (2014): A Movie that Moves with Time

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 13:01:00 +0000

Twelve years in the making, Richard Linklater wrapped a life of a kid named Mason from age 5 to 18, all in just 165 minutes. The result is BOYHOOD, a coming-of-age so real it moves with time, becoming an experience viewers have never felt before. And as the movie goes, the characters grow up (literally). Things happen, conflicts lit, emotions involved, loves arisen. Sure, lessons are learnt, and wisdom, courage, and perspectives are created. BOYHOOD is, in two words, life itself.

FURY (2014): David Ayer's Descriptive—yet Uneven—Take on WWII

noreply@blogger.com (Akbar Saputra) — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 07:53:00 +0000

Hello again! Nothing to talk about my disappearance for about two months; life is getting me away from not only writing reviews but also watching movies (but I keep tweeting, ask why!). Half of the reasons has something to do with my effort to put myself together for the fact that finally GONE GIRL wasn’t coming into my country because of ~~Ben Affleck’s dick~~ the censorship; I think I should have predicted it so but the social-media folks were raising my expectation of its screening. Yeah, whatever.