The Borrower's Arriety

Waktu edar : July 17, 2010

Waktu menonton : October 2011
Hal paling berkesan : The beyond gorgeous 2D animations. It's like looking at a gorgeous picture.

When I was in junior high, I watched a movie called The Borrowers. It's a typical slapstick comedy movie, with a dumb villain and slapstick humor. But I loved that movie because of the premise. Below our house, there's a family of Borrowers, little people that live like us, had a tiny home under our house and borrow our stuff. It's cute and I love it. Thinking back, it's not a very great movie, but tell that to a 10-year-old me.

The Borrowers is actually based on a novel with the same name, and Studio Ghibli tried to make their own animated version of it. And strangely, it's very different even though the premise is the same.

A family of Borrowers, little people that lives by borrowing stuff from a house, lives under a house of an old lady and her maid. They have been living there a long time, with three families at first, but now it's just them. Every other families either moved away or disappeared. Arriety, the daughter in the family, is 14 and preparing for her first borrowing. But a young boy came to stay at the house, the nephew of the old lady. And the young boy, Sho, accidentally saw Arriety in the garden when he first arrived. When Sho saw Arriety again accidentally on her first borrowing, the whole family consider moving away.

This is a movie where nothing ever really happens. The story progress very little from the summary I have just described. There's a feeling of peace and quiet throughout the whole movie, like the feeling you get when you stayed at a quiet country house. Ghibli's movies tend to do that, even more for their animated drama ones, like Ocean Waves, but even for their fantasy one, like My Name is Totoro and Ponyo.

The plus side is it's really peaceful to watch. The animation is as gorgeous as ever. When you watch a Ghibli movie, you'll be reminded of how much more gorgeous animation is when it's hand drawned like this, compared to a 3D one. The feeling of being in a peaceful country house surrounded by flowers is very evident throughout the movie.

Sadly, that means that nothing ever really happens in this movie. There's very little plot development here. I was expecting some thrilling chase through the city, where everything is big and some fantastic rescue by Sho. There was a rescue scene by Sho, and a chase scene somewhat, but it's so underwhelming, with a very limited location. There's a whole house to be explored, but the movie never really explored that. I guess I was expecting something like Howl's Moving Castle or Spirited Away.

What shines though, is the human element, or shall I say the little human element too. The relationship between Arriety and her parents, between Sho and Arriety, and even little background elements about Sho's past is well done, but also feels a little underdeveloped. It was good, but it could have been explored further.

There's a lot of unsolved plot though, like whether Sho survives the heart surgery, what happened to the family of Borrowers that disappeared, and whether Arriety's family makes it OK. Maybe it's intended to be like that, since for me this movie seems to be a slice of life. This is a movie about a couple of days in the quiet country house, and it never really progress beyond that. It's peaceful and nice, but a bit simple for my liking. And for someone who loves thrilling scenes, this movie will bore you.

All in all, this is a nice animation by Ghibli as usual, but a little bit underwhelming for me. And I find it funny that The Borrowers Arriety and The Borrowers is two different movie based on the same novel, but it could never be more different.

Princess Isabella : a Witch's Curse

Waktu edar : 2009

Waktu main : September 2011

Hal paling berkesan : The expansive castle.

I've been in the mood to play some Hidden Object Games lately, so I downloaded a bunch of the really good ones. And I'm in the mood for reviewing them too, so I will.

What is hidden object games actually? It's kind of like a puzzle and adventure game hybrid where you have to search some particular object in a cluttered screen. The genre hidden object games have been around a while, but back then mostly we're just given a screen and told to look for objects in the list. But now hidden object games have evolved and it's becoming more fun and with a great story to boot.

The hidden object games I'm gonna review now is called Princess Isabella : a Witch's Curse. It's not a new game by any means. It's released in 2009. I've been looking for hidden object games with great reviews and here it is. And it's actually quite good, though the graphics are not as beautiful as recent hidden object games.

We play Princess Isabella, who's about to marry a prince. She's out riding one day when the whole castle suddenly cursed by an unknown witch. All the people in the castle are trapped in a mirror, and it's up to you to rescue the people, un-curse the castle, and save the prince from the evil witch. Granted, it's not a very deep story, but for a casual games, it'll do.

In this game, you explore the expansive castle, undo the curse one by one in each room. To do this, you have to search for hidden objects and solve puzzles. The hidden object games are really really easy compared to other similar games. Sometimes I didn't even look at the items list and just click at the screen at random and I can still solve it. But the puzzle is varied. There's some slider puzzle, block puzzle, zuma-like puzzle, and there's even a quiz. It's not particularly hard though. I hate puzzles but I found myself solving every puzzle save for one.

The environment are great though. You'll get to explore the castle, and it's quite big for a hidden object games. There's lots of rooms and it's quite easy to get lost. There's an excellent map features though, and you can even click at the rooms in the map and warp there instantly for backtracking.

During the journey, you'll be accompanied by a talking fairy, and she's really useful. Apart from providing hints, she's got some skills like turning into rock, fire, water, or wind to solve puzzles. Some skills, like rock, will be used often but some skills like wind is just used once and never used again.

Overall, it's an entertaining and breezy game, clocking in under three hours to finish. It's great for a lazy afternoon when you've got nothing to do. One minor gripe about this game is the voice acting though. The fairy's voice gets annoying and the queen sounded... strange. But overall it's a rather entertaining hidden object game.

Half-Minute Horrors

Half-Minute Horrors

by Susan Rich (editor)

Waktu edar : September 1st, 2009 Waktu membaca : September 2011
Hal paling berkesan : The unexpected creepyness of a short story children anthology.

Prior to reading this, I expected this to be an anthology of short horror stories aimed at children. I was partially right on both count. What I didn’t expect was how short those stories were and how creepy some of them are, considering this is a children’s story.

Half-Minute Horrors is literally a collection of horror stories so short that you can spend only half a minute to read one. This collection of horror stories were comprised of many versions. There’s the classic short stories. And then there’s also one page drawings, comics, limericks, and poems. The only similarities between them is they were all really short, some more than other.

I confess that I did enjoy some of the stories, and I’m creeped out by them too. If you have read Goosebumps series by R.L.Stine, you know how some of them go. Even though they are all really short, there’s almost always a twist ending at the end. It’s clearly aimed at children though, so it’s not gonna be very frightening, even though some of them are a little bit too creepy for children. Some of them were classic stories, like the creepy babysitter or things in the closet. Some were random and abstract stories like the one titled The Chicken or the Egg by Jerry Spinelly. And some of it doesn’t make any sense whatsover. Some classic stories that I love were In Hiding by Kenneth Oppel, The Legend of Alexandra & Rose by Jon Klassen (which is actually just one picture, but a creepy one nonetheless) , One of a Kind by Sarah Weeks, and A Very Short Stories by Holly Black. Some of the good abstract one were Grand Entrance by James Patterson, Chocolate Cake by Francine Prose, and Easy Over by Frank Viva. There’s everything in here. There’s aliens, ghosts, murder, werewolves, and a lot more. I can’t tell you what’s the story’s about though, because it’s so short so doing summaries is just a waste.

I enjoyed reading it, and it literally took me just half an hour to read the whole thing since they’re so short. It’s an enjoyable 30 minutes though, so it’s not a waste of your time. Some really well know author is contributing too, like Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and Holly Black. But be warned though that this is a children’s book so adjust your expectations as much. It’s very enjoyable though.

A Kiss in Time

A Kiss in Time

a novel by by Alex Flinn

Waktu edar : May 1st, 2009

Waktu membaca : June or July 2011

Hal paling berkesan : The alternating chapter. It's so cute.

Talia fell under a spell … . Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic

I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.

I awakened in the same place but in another time - to a stranger’s soft kiss.

I couldn’t help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn’t know this would happen.

Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!

Now I’m stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels… . The good news: My parents will freak!

Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all - even time?

REVIEW :

Perhaps some of you have watched the completely ordinary movie called Beastly starring the gorgeous Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens in the past month. Perhaps a few of you knew beforehand that the movie was based on a book with the same name by Alex Flinn. Maybe some of you have read it. But let me tell you this : if you haven’t read the book and you judge Beastly only by watching the movie, DON’T. This book deserve more than that crap movie.

If you’re wondering why I’m discussing Beastly instead of A Kiss in Time, well it’s because they were both written by Alex Flinn and they were both a fairy tale reimagining. Whereas Beastly is the reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, A Kiss in Time is the reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty. And let me tell you this one fact : it’s adorable. Maybe it’s not a book that will get awards. It’s not a serious book. But it’s adorable to bits. And sometimes we need a little bit cuteness in our life.

The story starts with a guy named Jack who’s taking a vacation in a country in Europe. Feeling bored following the tour guides everywhere, he strays towards the forest. And there he finds something weird : a whole town straight from the medieval era that seems to be frozen in time. At first he thinks that this is some sort of new attraction for new tourist. But when he went inside a castle in the center of the village, he discovered a very beautiful girl lying in the bed, asleep. And he felt compelled to kiss her. But it turns out that single kiss not only woke the girl up, but the whole medieval town that’s been stuck in time. And things get even more complicated when Talia, the girl, decides to follow Jack everywhere, even to his home.

I like this book more than Beastly, even though at first I had some reservation to read it because of the summary. I thought that the character was unlikable, but boy was I ever wrong. They both have flaws and I love them for it. Jack is an arrogant boy. He’s selfish and never seem to think about others. Talia is a spoiled brat because she’s been raised that way. When they both fall for each other, and start to gradually change to protect each other, I love it. And I love that the chapter alternate between the point of view of Talia and Jack. This book is so very adorable.

Truth is, it’s not my favorite book out there. There are far more genius books and great books out there. But this is so very adorable and for that, I give it a special award. If you thought that Beastly could’ve been great but not, well, try to read this book. Because it’s just like Beastly, only better.

The Declaration

The Declaration (2007)

a novel by Gemma Malley

Waktu edar : October 2nd, 2007

Waktu membaca : This year, forgot when.

Hal paling berkesan : The world building, no doubt. Classic distopian awesomeness.

What would you do in a world where humans live forever?

I was always on the lookout for great science fiction books. And I found just the thing when I found this book, about a distant future where humans have discovered a way to live forever.

In the distant future, humans have found out a way to live forever. They have developed a drug, Longevity drug, that can enable them to live forever. Not forever young, but forever static. Frozen in the age that you are now. In this world, it is forbidden to have children. Because of the ever dwindling energy source and food, and because humans now live forever, it’s a very big crime to have a child.

In this world, there lived Anna, a Surplus. A Surplus is an illegal children. It is forbidden to have a child in this world while still live forever, so every Surplus is considered an abomination, a waste. The parents that were found having a child will be immediately sent to prison and the child will be sent to Surplus Hall, a school where Surplus were taught to learn their proper place in life. They were taught to cook, sew, and basically serve the Legal humans, and they were reminded every day of how they are evil and thieves for stealing energy source and how they were lucky even to be allowed to breathe.

Anna was content living like this. She was the favorite surplus because she knew her place and didn’t dare question about the Longevity drugs or about life on the Outside. She was content to be a good servant someday to a Legal human.

Then came Peter. He was a new Surplus on Surplus Hall, discovered on the age of fifteen. And he told her the most amazing stories. About life on the Outside, about being free. And most importantly, about Anna’s parents, who’s looking for her. And Anna’s life would be forever changed.

Wow. What an amazing book. I read dozens of books about the future. I read the very awesome The Giver series by Lois Lowry. Recently, I read Delirium by Lauren Oliver about a distant future where love is treated as a disease. I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan about a distant future where zombies have taken over the world. In short, I read a lot of books about the future.

But this book really got to me. The plot is great, but it’s not the most important thing for me. For me, there are two things about this book that made it absolutely amazing. The world building, and the characterization.

The world building for me is just amazing. I always love books about the future because the world they described is often fascinating. And I love it here as well. Mostly we were only shown life in the Surplus Hall for Anna, but sometimes we get a glimpse of the back story, about the history of the creation of the Longevity drugs. About the people and the country outside. About how the people there lived. The description of life in the Surplus Hall is equally amazing as well. I can picture it very well, and I read every last detail on the book without skipping even one paragraph. I love the world building here. It’s shown in glimpse at first, but with a very straightforward decription so that we can picture the scene very clearly in our mind.

The second is the charaterization. I love Anna. She’s amazing. We can read about her character development, about a girl who’s afraid to question everything around her, to a girl that’s brave enough to defy the authorities. But not even once I felt her characterization is unbelievable. Everything is progressing very naturally and I felt for her. I like Peter too, but the romance between Anna and Peter is not shown very much for my taste so their chemistry is not as strong as other books I’ve read.

Overall, this book benefit from great characterization and descriptive world building. I love this book, and I’m so delighted that this is a three book series. I’m looking forward to reading the next book soon. This is one dystopian book you won’t soon forget.

On Why I Love Asian Dramas

Asian drama is like comfort food to me. I’ve been watching them since I’m very little because my mom is a big fan of asian drama. The first memory that I can still recall of asian dramas are my mom, watching Tokyo Love Story on the television, and me beside her.

I watch movies from a very early age. I watch Disney and Ghibli since kindergarden. I remember renting the laser disk version of My Name is Totoro, my favorite Ghibli movie, when I was in elementary school. I remember hunting for the VCD of practically every Disney movies that I could get my hands on. I switch to science fiction, fantasy, and adventure on elementary school. I watch Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future. And then I switch to romantic comedies. I watch You’ve Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle. I always have a big obsession on romance. I remember watching the cartoon Wedding Peach and imagining my own wedding, and my own husband, in second grade. I rent VCD’s every week.

But I also remember another kind of movie that I watch since elementary school. Together with my mom, I watch Japanese drama, or Dorama, on television. We waited patiently every week for the latest episodes to air. We waited for Hideaki Takizawa and Takuya Kimura. I remember watching Long Vacation, News no Onna, and a lot of other dramas airing on Indosiar. And then I remember watching ‘Kabut Cinta’, a Chinese drama. I remember crying with my mom watching it because of the sad goodbye scene. The night before my Junior High acceptance test, I watch Meteor Garden till midnight with my mom. Meteor Garden was my introduction to Taiwan drama. And then the Korean wave started (or ‘Hallyu’ wave as wikipedia calls it) because of the drama called Winter Sonata. And I’m hooked ever since.

You see, my history with asian drama is actually very long indeed. I didn’t watch asian drama on a whim because all my friends watch it. I have been watching asian drama for a very long time. Practically all my life in fact. And because of that, I have a deep and undying passion for them.

Asian drama is my instant pick up mood. No other movie can make me this happy. My mom is a very big fan of them, and I’m also a big fan. Asian drama can change my mood instantly.

In the last few months, I felt like I was in a rut. My life is not bad, but not good either. I am not sad, but I am not happy either. I am not in love with anyone, but strangely I always felt melancholic. It’s like I don’t have the passion to do anything. But my rediscovery of korean drama put me out of that rut. Just by watching them, my mood goes instantly up and up. And I don’t feel that melancholic anymore.

So from now on, I'm gonna review every asian drama I've ever watched on my blog. Before I start, I want to explain the four type of Asian dramas that I've watched.

1. Japanese Drama or Dorama : This is the first asian drama type that I've watched. They're essentially shorter (at around 11 episodes) and get to the point faster, but in expense of less character development. It's been a long time since I've watched one of these, but these was my first introduction to asian dramas.
2. Chinese Drama : This is the very rare type that I've watched. Actually there's not a lot of famous dramas from this type. Maybe some of you watch 'Kera Sakti' which I've watched but did not have a clear memory of it so I can't review it, and 'Putri Huan Zhu' which I didn't watch one bit. I actually only watch two of these, but one of them is very memorable so I will still mention it.
3. Taiwan Drama : Meteor Garden. This is my introduction to Taiwanese Drama. A lot of people thought that Chinese and Taiwanese Dramas are the same, when clearly they're from a different country. Because I don't have a lot of experience in Chinese dramas, I can't compare the two. All I know is that Chinese dramas tend to be a lot more historical and action type. There are a lot of great taiwan dramas, but it's been a long time since I watch any. It's actually just because of the overabundance of korean dramas in my house and not because of the lack of quality in Taiwan drama. The first chance I'll get, I'm gonna watch them.
4. Korean Drama : And lastly, there's Kdrama. The phenomena of korean drama and kpop popularity are actually recognized with an actual term, "Hallyu Wave". Since the airing of Winter Sonata in 2002, the popularity of Kdrama is spreading like wild fire. Now, it's very popular in every part of the world. And I love them to death. I watch a LOT of them. And I'm gonna review them here. Enough said.

With that introduction out of the way, I will hopefully continue to review all drama that I've watched. Some will be short and some will be long, depending on my interest and memory. OK, let's start.

The Green Hornet

Waktu edar : 17 Januari 2011

Waktu menonton : 15 Februari 2011

Media menonton dan teman menonton : Ciwalk XII sama Nadya Siddiqa, Nurdini Amalia, Dang Dwaya Reksawibisana, Agiya Fersya

Hal paling berkesan : I'm stumped. I honestly don't know

Untuk membuat sebuah film superhero, diperlukan seorang superhero yang likable. Bukan berarti superhero itu harus baik sekali, tidak pernah melakukan kejahatan dan sebagainya. Tapi penonton harus bisa merasakan koneksi dengan sang tokoh. Seorang superhero harus bisa membuat penonton merasa dia super, tapi masih ada aspek dalam dirinya yang bisa membuat kita merasa “They’re only human after all”.

Menonton The Green Hornet, saya bingung mengkategorikan film ini sebagai film superhero atau bukan. Ya, film ini adalah adaptasi dari komik. Ya, film ini berkisah tentang seseorang yang memerangi kejahatan walau dengan cara yang berbeda. Tapi film ini jatuh-jatuhnya untuk saya sebagai film action biasa.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) adalah anak dari pemilik koran terbesar di Los Angeles, The Daily Sentinel. Dia tidak pernah bekerja dan selalu menghabiskan uang ayahnya. Ketika sang ayah meninggal mendadak akibat sengatan lebah, dia terpaksa diwarisi perusahaan koran sang ayah dan juga jabatan sang ayah sebagai pimpinan The Daily Sentinel. Petualangannya menumpas kejahatan dimulai ketika dia bertemu dengan pegawai garasi ayahnya, Kato (Jay Chou) yang bisa merancang mesin dan alat-alat yang canggih. Mereka berdua memutuskan untuk mencoba menggunakan mobil tersebut untuk memotong kepala patung ayah Britt pada suatu malam. Ketika mereka secara tidak sengaja malah mencoba memerangi kejahatan, mereka justru mengetahui besok paginya bahwa mereka dikira kriminal dan bukan pahlawan. Akhirnya mereka memutuskan untuk menjadi pahlawan dengan berpura-pura menjadi kriminal untuk bisa lebih dekat dengan kegiatan kriminal.

Sebenarnya apa yang salah dari film ini? Untuk saya, yang paling fatal adalah Britt Reid. Seperti yang sudah saya sebutkan di atas, untuk membuat sebuah film superhero, penting sekali untuk membuat tokoh yang likable dan relatable. Britt is a jerk. And an idiot. Saya tidak masalah dengan tokoh orang kaya menyebalkan yang womanizer, asal dia likable untuk kita, sang penonton. Tony Stark, sang protagonis dalam film Iron Man, adalah womanizer dan menyebalkan, tapi kita sebagai penonton yang melihat dari sisi Tony-nya, bisa melihat kenapa dia begitu. Entah karena scriptnya atau performa Robert Downey Jr. yang jauh lebih baik dari Seth Rogen, saya tidak melihat sama sekali sisi baik dalam diri Britt Reid. Dan seorang superhero harus membuat penontonnya merasa dia pantas menjadi superhero. Untuk saya, Britt tidak pantas sama sekali menjadi superhero.

Bukan cuma itu saja. Hampir tidak ada sama sekali perkembangan karakter di dalam film ini. Semua orang ya cuma begitu saja. Bahkan untuk terjadi sebuah character development, orang-orang di film ini harus punya karakter dulu. Dan hampir tidak ada tokoh di film ini yang terlihat karakternya. Britt terlihat karakternya, tapi karakter itu adalah seorang unlikable idiot jerk, yang tidak membantu film ini sama sekali. Kato sebagai sidekicknya, tidak berekspresi dan tidak pernah diperlihatkan emosi yang signifikan. Saya bahkan baru tahu bahwa pemerannya adalah Jay Chou saat menulis review ini dan saya kaget. Saya pernah menonton film Jay Chou dari negara aslinya, dan aktingnya bagus. Disini sama sekali tidak terlihat itu. Dan yang menganggu saya lagi (maaf kalau seperti rasis, tapi saya tidak bermaksud kesitu) adalah suara Jay Chou, yaitu bahasa Inggris dengan logat Cina. Saya tidak mengerti apapun yang dia ucapkan, dan menurut saya lebih baik dia digambarkan sebagai karakter yang memang berbahasa Cina, atau pilihlah aktor Cina yang memang bisa bicara bahasa Inggris lancar.

Love Interestnya dimainkan oleh Cameron Diaz dalam performa yang paling flat, dan tidak ada sesuatu pun yang istimewa. Dan mungkin saya bisa memberikan penghargaan sedikit karena dalam film ini tidak ada adegan kissing atau percintaan dengan sang love interest. Itu sangat jarang terjadi dalam dunia perfilman. Satu karakter yang menurut saya penyelamat dari deretan cast yang so so adalah villainnya, Chudnofsky. Dia jahat, tapi comical, yang pantas karena film ini kan adaptasi dari komik. Tapi pemerannya, Christoph Waltz, memainkan peran ini dengan sangat baik, dan membuat saya merasa ini adalah film komedi. Jelas itu yang diincar oleh sang pembuat film, yaitu action comedy, tapi Waltz lah yang paling sering mengingatkan saya tentang hal itu. Kalau melihat banyaknya penghargaan yang diraih setelah performanya dalam Inglorius Basterds, tentu saja ini tidak mengherankan. Saya menantikan menontonnya dalam film Water for Elephants bersama Reese Witherspoon dan (tergantung kalian Team Edward atau bukan) Robert Pattinson.

Sebenarnya apa yang ingin diraih oleh sang pembuat film, Michel Gondry, yang membuat masterpiece, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, dan membuat beberapa film yang bagus kalau itu yang anda suka, tapi pasti unik, yaitu The Science of Sleep dan Be Kind Rewind? Cuma di beberapa scene saya melihat gaya penyutradaraan Gondry, selebihnya ini hanya sebuah film action biasa. Yang ingin dicapai sepertinya adalah film action comedy, dan di beberapa tempat tujuan ini tercapai. Saya tertawa di beberapa scene. Tapi apakah ini film action comedy yang baik, dan apakah ini film superhero? Jawabannya tidak untuk keduanya. Untuk kategori film action, terlalu banyak adegan yang diperpanjang tanpa tujuan. Di pertengahan film, ada adegan perkelahian antara Britt dan Kato yang untuk saya terlalu panjang dan tidak ada gunanya. Durasi perkelahian itu dipotong setengah, atau bahkan tiga perempatnya, tujuan yang ingin dicapai masih akan tercapai. Dan terlalu banyak ledakan dan adegan tembak-tembakan yang untuk saya lebih berfungsi sebagai filler dan tidak begitu penting. Untuk kategori film komedi, ini lumayan tercapai. Ada beberapa scene yang lucu, tapi ada beberapa scene yang “garing”. Untuk film superhero, seperti yang sudah saya ungkapkan diatas, film ini gagal dengan satu alasan : Britt is NOT likable.

Mungkin ada banyak yang terhibur menonton film ini. Tapi untuk saya, melihat adegan ledakan dan perkelahian diselingi percakapan orang-orang yang minim karakter dan seorang protagonis yang unlikable is not my idea of a good time. Jadi maaf sekali Michel Gondry, tapi ini adalah Epic Fail anda.