The Secret Cinema Club

Portrayal of The Royal Family is the real tale as old as time, and yet The Crown stands out from the crowd for being both historically approved and beautifully made. Focusing on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, I can't possibly imagine a better way to retell the longest reign monarch story.

We start early in King George VI’s reign, one you may be familiar of on The King’s Speech, when Elizabeth (Claire Foy) is The Crown Princess. It covers every enchanting things: her royal wedding, her marriage, her compassionate relationship with her father and all the members of the family, but also the not so pretty things. The King’s health is getting worst each day, and truth be told that Princess Elizabeth and his free-spirited husband, Prince Phillip (Matt Smith), are not quite ready for the fate afterwards.

It is on the day King George VI died, Elizabeth is on duty elsewhere and welcomed back by a letter her grandmother personally write: “While you mourn your father, you must also mourn someone else, Elizabeth Mountbatten, for she has now been replaced by another person, Elizabeth Regina. The two Elizabeths will frequently be in conflict with one another, but the Crown must win. Must always win.” In The Crown, young Elizabeth is humanized in the most relatable way. She is strong and tender, nervous but determined. At being The Queen of England, she sacrifices her life, and the series emphasizes her internal struggle between the monarch and her personal life every now and then.

The Crown covers some major events during Queen Elizabeth’s early reign, and it ranges from her sister Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby)’s high profile affair, her troublesome power balance with Prime Minister Winstor Cruchill (John Lithgow, who basically own the show), The Great Smog of 1952, televised coronation, up to global political sphere. Her marriage in Phillip is generally there serving as the main plot, and it tells so much of Phillip’s perspective about being the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his children, and being nothing ‘but a bloody amoeba’, as the famous biography notes.

I can start talking about how much I love love Claire Foy’s performance and never stop. In portraying Elizabeth, she can't be more astonishing, brilliant, and strong. The Golden Globe's nod is deserving. In this stance, I have to also note that the entire team behind The Crown seems to be devoted to bring you eye-watering creation of the real event, including Elizabeth and Phillip’s wedding at Westminster Abbey with rumored $37000 worth of gown replica.

It is an extraordinary series, something you don’t want to miss. I can only have praise and praise for Peter Morgan, and no less than that.

x, Michelle

I always hate man vs. monster kind of movie so I didn’t know what’s in my mind when I decided to watch this one. I honestly thought this would be an action rescue-team movie… for no reason. I was so wrong.

The sea is shallow, and so do everything else. The movie follows Nancy (Blake Lively), a med student that gets herself in a secret paradise somewhere in Mexico. It is surfing she’s up to, but there is also a sense of sentimental value because she’s just lost her much beloved Mom by cancer. It is her Mom’s beach, she said. She is clearly missing her Mom, who has been her number one motivation to enter medical school and everything else. At this point, I push myself to understand her reckless decision to go somewhere so secluded alone.

For some unexplained reasons afterwards, she and another two surfers there aren’t aware of a bleeding, huge, and dead whale in the sea surface up until she is alone in the water. She is then attacked by what I believe is the whale-attacker (a great white shark at that), and the other two guys in the shore don’t catch a single view; or sound. If you think you can handle the complete absurd situation, it really doesn’t get any better as the story goes. It may be not just another day at the beach for Nancy, but it clearly is just another shark-themed movie for us that is not better than anything on the market.

Well, much for my unnecessary animals pleader tendency, I think it is important to note that shark don’t hunt humans for no reason. It is even more common for humans to hunt sharks rather than the opposite. Fact wise, for every human killed by shark, humans kill approximately two million sharks for their meat, internal organs, fin, and skin. And this is only a movie, which can definitely get a dramatization treatment, but I honestly hope it could be smarter on that.

I think I can still right some wrongs made in this movie if they wrap it nicely, because they started with Nancy’s breakdown over her life, which can be a great element for a closure. Is she learning about dedication from the dedicated shark that is unrealistically passionate about hunting her down? Is she finally realized that she loves helping people (she doesn’t really help anyone, though), and chooses to continue her medical degree? What is the connection between that and her near death experience? We don’t know—and the movie is shallow like that.

If I were you, I’d choose another movie to watch.

x, Michelle

But first, let's take a moment to praise a beautiful eerie opening they made for the show.

Liking Adolf Hitler is not an easy task—but when he’s in the #WorldWarIIIPreventionSquad, you are left with a very limited option. Set fifteen years after WWII, The Man In The High Castle blows our mind with an alternate universe of the world wherein Hitler won his war. Based on a book with the same name by Phillip K. Dick, the Amazon’s original web-series has an undeniably sterling premise one can’t simply miss. The portrayal of chillingly believable other world manages to leave a solid mark in my mind, and I have nothing else to say about their outstanding job in creating the setting, details, and vibes of The Nazi’s America.

Now is ruled by The Nazis on the East and The Imperial Japan on the West, the world’s superpower country is nothing but history. When The Resistances are busy with their movement to be free from the not so friendly ruler, the two forces in this alternate universe are taken with their own agenda. Words travel fast, and it’s been said that Adolf Hitler is terminally ill and waiting for his time. It is easy to note that not every Nazis are satisfied with his decision to share their victorious win during WWII with The Japs, let alone in dividing America. The Japs has every right to worry, seeing how advance The Nazis’ technology has grown over years. On the other hand, The Nazis can’t just declare a war just like that.

Tangled in the complicated politics, Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank) arrives as a newbie wanting to join The East Resistance Group. His first task is driving a truck to a place referred as The Neutral-Zone somewhere in between The Rocky Mountains. Then we meet Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos), our heroine. Like every other heroines I know, she suffers stupid-decision-making-disorder; and like every other heroines I know, the consequences are rarely small. In her case, pursuing a highly dangerous errand to deliver some kind of propaganda-film linked to someone coded The Man in The High Castle resulting her lover, Frank Frink (Rupert Evans), tortured and his sister, nephew, and niece killed by the Japs. Such an experience surely changed your life forever, and it applies well to Frank. Once a calm man seeking nothing else than what’s been given to him, he goes to an extent of planning to shoot The Japanese Prince himself. When Juliana hasn’t been made aware of that, she is already getting herself into something so much bigger for herself. After all, Joe is probably not someone he claimed to be.

I love the way the show present us many perspectives to see this different world. Especially in this different world, because here I am curious about everything. The upcoming war is not something unknown for Japanese Trading Minister Nobusuke Taogomi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), whom interest is always to remain the peaceful agreement. On the other hand, perfect Nazi and cold-hearted loyalist Obergruppenfuher John Smith (Rufus Sewell) may be so much more than the previous description. There something about these two men that caught my heart. I couldn’t really see myself rooting for a Nazi before, but I found myself begging The Obergruppenfuhrer not to die anytime soon. In between the grim and slow paced story, he manages to keep the tension going and that is very appreciated especially in the middle of the series. Honestly, I started the series and hating almost everyone including our protagonists with stupid-decision champion title. Crawling to the closure, I see tremendous whys that don’t right their wrong in killing innocent people, but I understand. This is one of that fiction in which everyone have their own way to justify their decisions to what to them is a greater good.

I believe I can say more about the so called The Man in The High Castle himself when I see the next season, since I feel this one is serving as a mere introduction of the pillars and situations. Wisely said, this series is not packed with noisy action scenes that thrill you the same time they excite you. I barely see anyone laughing or even smiling, but that is probably unavoidable when you are either held captive by The Nazi or live in this universe at all. Most fight happens with tension eyes and words rather than gunfight, and every episode is darker than the previous one. That being said, getting through the first episode might be hard for many people that not keen on this kind of show—and it doesn’t get better after either. Anyhow, missing this one would probably cost you a very amazing pleasure of one goddamn good creation. The Man in The High Castle is to return this December with brand new Season Two.

x, Michelle

Bullet pointing my review because I have so much to say be like:

I don't think it deserves 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I don't think it deserves an 80 either. (Realistically, maybe around 50).
The supervillains are too good.
It's messy, but that happens when you gather characters you have no idea about and try to emphasise each of them.

---

Blame it on Christopher Nolan, but DCEU movie has been expected to be filled with dark tones after his Batman Trilogy. It was so strong that starting Batman over is not as easy as doing Spiderman reboot (what, again?). After a well-disappointment of Batman v Superman months ago, DC fans are comforted by what was meant to be a joyful star-studded Suicide Squad's trailers. What I think is unsatisfying about Suicide Squad is the high anticipation of DC all stars villains that should serve as an antihero rather than a good-guy-bad-life cases. Hell, even Amanda Waller is "badder" than these guys. Moreover, DC aims' at maturer audiences won't easily be achieved by some kick-ass action scenes, nor two-dimensional characterisation.

However, I agree that critics have been too harsh on Suicide Squad. Even the worst rated Twilight franchise movie scored 28%--it's just wrong to read that Suicide Squad only had like, 26% (and going down). When that's the case, I can't help to think that DC has built a very high standard of quality that people are expecting. Well, nobody expect anything from Twilight because it is considered a teenage girl movie right from the start. And Joker--people are generally disappointed because they don't see enough Joker. Me, forever questioning my mixed feelings upon seeing that Joker seems to actually love Harley Quinn.

The infamous acid-bath straight from comic-book.

Set after the death of all mighty Superman, Top Secret Governor Agent Amanda Waller is fulfilled with insecurity of the next Superman... who might up to bad causes. She then proceeds with her plan to generate a supervillain team that will work for U.S. military. This team includes Joker's lover Harley Quinn, super gunman Deadshot, Australian thief Captain Boomerang, mutant creature Killer Croc, and fire-man El Diablo. If that doesn't sound like a very much bad idea, try this: she also decides to utilise some kind of 7000 years old Aztec Witch/God/Dark Spirit called Enchantress to control them. The strategy backfires (of course), and the so called Suicide Squad has to confront the supernatural entity to save the world. People ask where were Justice League during this tragedy, but the same questions can be asked to numerous Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor stand-alone movies, so I'll get over it.

The Suicide Squad + random katana girl & too handsome military guy.

Movie wise, Suicide Squad is a mess. For a two-hours long movie, it needs to sum at least six characters' backgrounds, Amanda Waller's standpoint (that perfectly makes no sense), supernatural villain played by a supermodel, the obvious transition from "I hate this team" to "They are my friends" cliche, long enough Joker's cameo (just to make people happy), and true to DCEU cinematic approach, all the flaws in this society. At this point, I'd be glad if someone from DCEU Strategic Department is reviewing their long-term plan. I honestly thought that maybe... just maybe, they could make some of this fellas a villain for Flash or Aquaman stand-alone movie first before hitting us with this.

What makes Suicide Squad great, honestly, is that there still is amusement that plays well with my palate despite all the messiness. I love Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, and surprisingly, Jared Leto's Joker. Heath Ledger is still the best, but Leto took a complete different approach it is even weird to compare them in the first place. This punk-rock, madly in love Joker better has something more to do than rescuing Harley Quinn in the next instalment. And I'm excitedly waiting! Though I think it hits on the wrong target, Jay Hernandez's El Diablo and Will Smith's Deadshot earn my sympathy. It's hard seeing them as supervillains after this, but let's see what are DCEU's plans for that.

It has numerous wrong moves, and people are not being generous about that, but truthfully, I found myself enjoying the 26% rated movie too much. My recommendation? Don't read critics, don't even read review (though you have now)--just enjoy the movie, and maybe rate it for yourselves. Movie ticket costs about 50,000 in IDR, or equivalent to $5 in USD, AUD, and SGD. Should you pay that much for this messy movie to see Harley Quinn, Deadshot, El Diablo, Joker, and their friends? I think it is a fair exchange.

Michellle

There is a specific quirky, indie-inflected vibes you can't simply forget after watching I Origins. And that is what a good movie is all about, I guess -- unforgettable. The movie is not a critic' favorite though it has every materials to be. Nevertheless, I love Mike Cahill's way in driving this movie, and his idea, and I will absolutely be excited for his next project.

Dr. Ian Grey (Michael Pitt) is obsessed with human eye, especially the eye biometrics that are specific and at an extent, define human soul. Rather than taking the scientific implication of what seemingly to be a very, scientific documentary with 3 scientists trying to figure eye evolutions; I Origins please my thirst soul of beautiful philosophical encounter by its approach to long lasting Science vs Religion debate.

Dr. Grey... which maybe or maybe not an extended family of the more famous sibling Meredith, portrays an obvious proud scientist that denies the existence of God. The wheel turned around as he encounters Sofi (Astrid Berges-Fibrey), a model with exceptional beautiful eyes, and soul. Their romance is fast assembled through pretty scenes and carefully selected Radiohead song, but Ian's denial of Divine Creator is peeving throughout the movie, and eventually, relationship. Regret, love, and human ego are issued as Ian needs to face the spiritual power he's been trying to debunk.

Over a billboard of Sofi's captivating eyes.

No matter how unrealistic it was to recognise someone over her eyes (on billboard picture), I can't help but loving the idea.

I Origins has a very few named-casts--one of the fewest out of movies I have watched, even. I believe it takes a very brilliant actors to work those kind of things out. Michael Pitt has a straight Ian Grey's cut of an indie, cocky scientist that is also charming on being that. Astrid Berges-Fibrey is everything but ordinary pretty girl, which is just perfect for Sofi. The Spanish-French actress and model caught my heart from the very first start. Brit Marling stars as Ian's lab partner, together with much loved Glenn Rhee... I mean, Steven Yeun.

The movie takes us to a magical realist endeavour about eyes, soul, and the bigger power above us all. There's a flow in the cinematography and editing of I Origins that carries us along in some picturesque manners, which, has always been my weak spot. I must say Sofi is also one of the prettiest thing of the movie. And despite of all unrealistic (but pleasing) moments, I definitely love I Origins.

x, Michelle

Good movies make you feel all sort of emotions even after you left the cinema; better movies urge you to write about it as soon as possible. Well, that sure works well for me. Hello, the season of blockbuster; you came a little late this year, didn’t you?

I have the highest expectation for The Martian. I always have things for slice-of-life slash science-fiction and you know; spaceship, the galaxy, universe, and whatsoever. The Martian is all about that. Interstellar with the laugh touch it lacked of. Plus, Jessica Chastain. I loveeee Jessica Chastain, ever since her portrayal of Celia Foote in The Help, and again, Interstellar. Well, The Martian has a lot more in common with Interstellar than you probably have tought of. The very lead man Matt Damon was also in Interstellar, and he apparently also stranded in some other planet in the galaxy too. And hello there, The Lord of Winterfell. Nice seeing you in another movie, being not dead (the last movie is Jupiter Ascending, but not even Channing Tatum could save that one from being utterly, sadly sucks).

Interstellar is one of the best movie I’ve ever seen, despite of many complains about its plot-hole scientifically. Honestly, I don’t really understand about the very scientific way to explain warp, time travel, merely the theory of relativity. Of course some time travel stories are obviously weird and don’t make sense just like that. With the eyes of common viewers without advanced science education passed my tenth grade physic and math class though, Interstellar is epic, enchanting, and truly had me breathless. With those being said, I entered the cinema with this high of expectation.

We were instantly served with the sight of Mars from the very first footage. This is a movie about Mars that titled The Martian, so well—of course. We were also caught up with who Matt Damon’s Mark Watney is; the goofy, easy going, and certainly a fun guy to be with for years of space travel, which unfortunately about to be stranded right after when his crew were forced to flee a severe dust storm, thinking he was dead. He wasn’t, but clearly going to, implicating the current situation. If the oxygenator breaks down, he’ll suffocate. If the water reclaimer breaks down, he’ll die of thirst. If the Habitat breaches, he’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things magically happens, he’ll eventually run out of food supply and starved to death. So yeah—he is fucked.

With help being only 140 million miles away, there is only one way to not die—our Mark Watney has to science the shit out of it.

The good news, Mark is the botanist. The best botanist on the planet (and apparently later a space pirate). He burns hydrogen to produce water, grows potatoes in his poo, rations his remaining food stocks, and plans to be alive when the next spaceship planned to reach Mars in about four years. Meanwhile on Earth, NASA notices Mark’s activity by its satellite and realizes they had thrown a beautiful funeral for nothing. But how is the hardest question; if they were to rescue Mark, how?

I talked about all those quantum physic theories we didn’t understand that mentioned all over Interstellar. Christopher Nolan is still my favorite director without doubt, but with all of the comparisons of Interstellar and The Martian, Ridley Scott has won over my heart. After Interstellar, The Martian feels light as the air. You’d just love the not-even-real-scientist-botanist Mark Watney no matter what; but partly for staying sane for hundred days alone in his current situation (with the disco music). He is that funny guy that sent NASA a picture of himself posing with peace signs when stranded in Mars—how can you not love him?

It is a real sit-and-watch-quietly experience where you could take a deep breath of satisfaction shortly after the credit scene. I think I’m not exaggerating it to say The Martian is the best movie the second half of the year got, yet. The Martian delivers a package of intensity, playful, and lightweight science fiction that wrapped in philosophical pondering. Not to mention Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain with their best performance too. Bring Him Home, the tagline said. I surely want to bring home a piece of DVD I can re-watch every time whenever I got the chance!

Michelle

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