Movie : Buried

www.experienceburied.com

If you are claustrophobic, then perhaps it is not advisable to watch this movie. 

How can I write about this movie when every word that I've think of would only give away the story, thus the spoiler! Maybe that's why the movie reviewer in The Star newspaper just wrote about what he thought about the main actor, Ryan Reynolds and just a little glimpse of the movie....just a little, by a hair. Yet he gave a high star rating...which is the reason why I found myself in the cinema today.

Okay, an ordinary truck driver, Paul Conroy, wakes up and find himself trapped inside a coffin, and buried underground. With only a lighter and a cellphone, he has only 90 minutes to save himself before lacking oxygen. So that's it! All through the movie, it was tense...and I feel out of breath, perhaps those who never thought that they are claustrophobic could become one while watching this movie. With limited space, limited time, we are left in suspense, wondering if he will be saved and how. With nothing left to do but watching him battling the situation with dwindling physical and mental strength, we are either stuck in our seat and having buttock cramps or munching popcorns with the same pace as the suspense music beat, or both. 

And the ending.....truly unexpected...and I kind of said this to my friend, What! Is it really finished??!

Aiyo...thriller lovers, I don't know if you will be disappointed or not with the ending, but if you'd like to test your patience, then this movie is recommended. Enjoy.   

Theater : Muzikal Tun Mahathir

(Tulisan ni dah lama terperap dalam draft tapi baru ada masa nak tengok balik dan publish...)

Apa kes?

Pengalaman pertama menonton teater muzikal di Istana Budaya. 

Apa cerita?

Muzikal Tun Mahathir.

Dengan siapa?

Adinda ku yang tercinta yang ku heret saja. Ternyata beliau boleh me'layan'nya..hehe

Apa yang 'besh'?

Teruja. Pertama kali menonton teater semasa di USM, itu pun kalau tak silap produksi student sendiri. Tapi ini kali pertama menonton sebuah produksi besar di Istana Budaya dengan cerita mengenai seorang tokoh negara. Dan ramai pelakon 'silverscreen' dan 'small screen' yang dikenali. Lagu-lagunya sedap didengar. 

Apa yang 'kureng'?

Tak dapat tiket 'besh'. Dapat seat kat Upper Circle, bila duduk macam biasa tak dapat tengok keseluruhan pentas dan screen besar di belakangnya. Last-last kena duduk condong ke depan, nasib baik kat barisan depan, ada tempat nak letak siku. Bila duduk macam tu, baru lah dapat tengok pentas sampai ke bahagian paling depan, tapi screen tu dapat tengok 60% je kot.

Adinda di IB

Alkisah...?

Oklah, sebab cerita dia pasal Tun Mahathir, ceritanya bermula dari zaman Tun dilahirkan, semasa budak-budak, ketika di kolej hinggalah ke zaman universiti. Tang menariknya masa zaman universiti tu masa percintaan Tun M dan Tun SH...(betui ka Tun M dulu meng'ayat' cam gitu sekali..? hehe). Apapun, persembahan Zizan Nin dan Erra Fazira masa tu kiut sekali. Pastu masuk lah bab bekerja di Klinik Maha dan akhirnya tiba lah zaman penglibatan politik. Masa ni Zizan Nin dah bertukar menjadi Esma Daniel. Adakalanya aku rasa loghat Kedah Esma tak berapa menjadi, tapi bila babak Tun M ditemuramah wartawan dalam satu wawancara tv, aku rasa cara dia bercakap begitu sebijik sekali dengan Tun (agaknya dia berlatih tang situ lebih sikit kot). Sesetengah babak tak diceritakan melalui dialog tetapi melalui lagu dengan lirik yang merangkumi keseluruhan episod babak itu secara simbolik. Contohnya ada satu babak berkenaan hubungan Tun M dengan timbalan-timbalannya...hmm...Tang politik-politik ni cek kureng sikit noo..

Apapun, oklah..ia adalah suatu cerita yang menarik dan pengalaman yang menarik juga...Cuma, kalau dapat tempat duduk yang lebih munasabah, dapat le menghayati cerita dengan lebih baik rasanya. Aku minat tengok teater dan lain kali bila ada masa dan bila ada cerita yang dirasakan best, aku akan tengok lagi.

Akan datang?!

Movie : Magika

Magika is another brave experiment from the KRU brothers. As I remember, the KRU brothers always try something different and do something that is not usually done by other people in the local entertainment industry. There may be some loopholes and brickbats but they keep thinking and moving forward. For that effort and vision, I salute them.

Back to Magika, if we can enjoy Narnia, Harry Potter and other fantasy movies alike, why can't we enjoy this Malaysian version of children fantasy movie, Magika? In a nutshell, this movie is entertaining and fun. First, it is a musical. So, between dialogues you may expect some songs and those songs are also the story. Some dialogues are delivered through singing. The songs are very nice. I must confess at first I almost laughed at the starting of the movie as I 'tak tahan' (couldn't stand it) to see Maya Karin in a fairy-like costume singing at the river. Feels like watching old Malay movies from the 50s - 60s era., but with colours. But then, I started to accept the concept of a musical film (in this modern days).

Talking about colour, the colours are amazing. Technical aspects aside (for I am not a tech-person), watching the movie is like watching beautiful pictures. Actors and actresses, they are all famous and widely known around the country. Characters? They are all of famous Malay heroes and mythical characters like Nenek Kebayan, Hang Tuah, Mahsuri, Awang (Lembing Awang Pulang ke Dayang), Naga Tasik Chini, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, Pak Pandir, Orang Minyak and others (Funny I have to ransack my memories of Malay story characters just to find out who "Bad" is at first, ha ha). But there are so many characters that most of them appeared only in a short while, just to accommodate the journey of Ayu in search of her brother.

Oh, I have skipped the main part. I should have told you the main plot. Ayu and Malik are two siblings living in this current era, who are grieving for their mother's death, especially Malik as he thought that he was the cause of it. One day, Malik is being difficult and run away into the forest. Ayu, his older sister has to find him. Malik then lost into the world of Magika and is caught by Nenek Kebayan. Ayu, following his tracks, also went into Magika and had to encounter many strange things and meet strange people, whom later we know as the famous characters, in search of Malik. In Magika, their journey began.

Perhaps the ending is not so much alike as in fairy tales, and not so strong (not that I wanted it to be like in fairy tales..). The positive message (for Malik) is there but kind of hidden by the feeling of lost and longing in Ayu for Magika (sort of). Malik is the one benefiting the most lessons in this story but the sense of his accomplishments is only revealed by Ayu talking to her mother's grave. So, okay, but all in all, this 1 hour and 45 minutes movie is nice, fun and suitable for all ages. Kudos to KRU. Enjoy.

Footnote (added on 25th October 2010):

Congratulations to KRU Brothers on winning the Best Film and Best Original Music Score for this film in The 23rd Malaysian Film Festival 2010.

To know what other awards this film has won, click the newsclippings;

The Star

Utusan Malaysia

Movie : Devil

Bad things happen for a reason...

Google image

M. Night Shyamalan has written yet another great thrilling story in the form of Devil, which I enjoyed watching as much as I had enjoyed Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense and The Village.

Five people, not knowing each other, were destined to board into the same elevator in a high-rise building. Mindless and thoughtless of each other at first but it changes when the elevator got stuck halfway.

Stuck in a confined space, they have nothing to do except having to stand at each other's fears and worries regarding their situation. There's the temporary security guard who seemed to be claustrophobic, there's the older woman who complaints and complaints, there's a lovely young woman who seemed to be a bit well-off, there's good-humoured yet sarcastic salesman who gets on everybody's nerves, and finally the mechanic with a brooding personality and seemed so mysterious.

Fear and worry leads them to be aware of each other, and their feelings escalated to terror and suspicions when every time the power is off, a life ended. One by one met a terrible doom. Who did it? Why it happened?

Outside, a detective who's just making a comeback after grieving the deaths of his wife and son in a hit-and-run is trying all his wit and might to fix the problem and free the occupants, together with his partner and 2 security guards. When the unbelievable things happen, time is crucial to keep everybody alive and find the real culprit.

Never occurs in their mind, that one of them is the Devil himself.

To me, this movie has all the element of a good thriller. There's a story in the beginning that leads to another story. There's grief. There's scariness but not to the point of making you puke and feeling disgusted. There's the mystery, the wondering. Finally, there's the answer, yet you will spend a considerable amount of time to ponder and assess and learn the messages, the hidden points and 'what-ifs'.

One of the five elevator passengers is the Devil, but who is it? Who are the five people inside, really...Why the Devil is onto them? Watching this movie will reveal it all. If I tell it here, it will be a spoiler, right?

The point is, the devil hides among us and will manipulate us if we never learn to be sorry for our mistakes and take actions to correct it. The devil has vowed to lead all human astray, lost in their wickedness, yet if we repent, from the deepest in our hearts and ask for God's forgiveness, the devil will lost.

So, for thriller lovers...this is a good watch!

Footnotes:

Pelarian Jiwa

Nak lari...
ke mana?
kenapa?

Nak lari...
dari kelemahan?
dari ketaksempurnaan?
dari kebosanan?
dari kepalsuan?
dari keletihan?
dari ketegangan?
dari ketidak serasian?
dari kemungkaran?
dari ketaksuban?
dari hipokrit insani?

Jaya dalam pelarianmu
Hakiki, tidak kafi...
Jangan palingkan wajahmu
Tuhan Maha Mengerti...

The Dreamer©2010

Time..is Golden

The Rule of Forefinger :

1. If you caught yourself staring at the computer for more than 15 minutes and your cursor is static since time immemorial - it's time to move on to another task, or better...shut down the computer and have a break, have a Kit Kat!

2. If after having a Kit Kat, you still find yourself unable to continue - pack your bags and go home.

3. If it is impossible for you to go home - it's time to change your career into acting, and act busy, so people think that you are still doing your work.

4. If guilt still hasn't landed in your mind yet - perhaps you can turn to blogging, call your mom, texting, gossiping etc. etc.

5. If finally you think that you are wasting the taxpayers money for paying your salary working unproductively (aka 'ngabihkan bogheh yo') - it's time to remember Surah Al-Asr and GET BACK TO WORK!!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages),

Verily Man is in loss,

Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

(Qur'an: Surah Al-'Asr, 103:1-3)

Note: Qur'an translation taken from 'The Meaning of The Holy Qur'an' by 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali.

As I walk the sands of time...

Tangisan hati...

Semakin tua umur kita, seharusnya semakin matang..seharusnya semakin bijak pertimbangan ... Semakin tua kita, semakin kita mencintai ketenangan, semakin kita merindui kedamaian, dan mendambakan suasana keharmonian dalam hidup kita, dalam keluarga kita.

Semakin tua kita, bukan perbalahan yang kita cari, bukan buruk sangka yang kita beri, apalagi dengki-mendengki. Semakin tua kita ini, seharusnya semakin kita kenali diri, semakin kita menginsafi. Sepatutnya kita menghargai usia yang masih ada. Usah kita menuntut bonus gaji yang belum tentu haknya untuk kita kalau kita lupa untuk mensyukuri nikmat bonus usia yang Allah swt kurniakan dalam setiap nafas yang kita hela.

Aku bukan sifu, aku bukan guru. Cuma terkenang...terkenang kepada kesayuan yang bersarang dalam hati di sebalik keceriaan yang dirasai...dalam kesyahduan Syawal ini. Kekeliruan bertandang melihat kebisuan...atau mungkin keegoan...yang gagal menyatukan silaturahim. Kekeliruan melihat bagaimana satu titik ketidakpuasan hati berkembang menjadi satu garisan benci...atau iri hati. Atau apa? Aku pun tak pasti.

Hakikatnya, kasih sayang tidak harus diatasi yang lain. Justeru, sebelum menutup mata, ku panjatkan doa pada-Nya, agar hati-hati ini menginsafi, agar hati-hati ini bersatu kembali, agar hati-hati ini mengingati tanggungjawab yang hakiki, mengatasi ketinggian emosi, keinginan duniawi.

 

Roses and Hearts

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One.. red rose

You liked me

Seventeen years, always the first

Two.. red rose

Flattered, was I?

Wilted and withered, but did it matter?

But dear, you are my past...

Now..

Three..red, four..yellow

This heart, once hollow

Blank pages, empty space,

My oh my, what a daze..

I am not colour blind

I don't mind, I resigned

Let you in, in my mind,

in my heart

and you were right

my dear

roses, they wither, but the hands that gave them with a bonded heart

will always be remembered..

The Dreamer©2010

Salam AIDILFITRI

Dear Ramadhan,

the end is close

i bid you farewell

not that i'm happy

not that i won't miss you

but i wish to see you

in the year to come

insya-Allah

Dear Syawal,

you are coming

the sign of victory

the celebration of good deeds

come with all the glory

come with all joy

Show us the true meaning

of winning...

 

The Dreamer wishes "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri" to all her Muslim friends.

Ku susun sepuluh jari, ku tunduk merendah diri,

Memohon ampun dan maaf atas kekhilafan diri.

Lewat kemenangan ini, jangan lupa menyesali,

akan waktu-waktu alpa, waktu-waktu jiwamu sepi,

biar kelak menjadi pedoman, membenteng iman, menghias hati.

google.com