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Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, an Important Movie for Men and Women

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A day of work and sleep deprivation exhausted me. Yet, last night I still decided to go see Marlina Sang Pembunuh Empat Babak (Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts) at a movie theater nearby my office. As the film started to roll, I was half awake. “I would fall asleep,” I told myself. I was wrong. In just several minutes, the film cast its spell, making my eyes and my mind wide open. I was hungry to know what would come next. Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts tells the story of Marlina (Marsha Timothy), a widow living by herself in the savannah of East Sumba, Indonesia, with the mummified corpse of her husband, who died a year after she lost her son in a miscarriage. Local belief hold that people must arrange a traditional ritual, which cost millions of rupiah, to bury the death. If one has not gathered enough money, then the deceased must be kept at his or her house. To bury her husband, Marlina had been working hard to raise enough fortune. However, one day, a

Injustices to Justice League

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Growing up, I was always more familiar with DC superheroes. Therefore, ever since Avengers arrived on the cinematic world in 2011, I had long wondered when their DC’s counterpart would follow suit. After six years of waiting, I finally Justice League appeared on the big screen. I was disappointed, unfortunately. The waiting was for nothing. Justice League follows the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), where Superman (Clark Kent/Henry Cavill) died after fighting Doomsday. Crimes spike and hope is lost in a Superman-less world. Batman (Bruce Wayne/Ben Affleck), however, smells a graver danger threatening humanity. With the help of Wonder Woman (Diana Prince/Gal Gadot), the Dark Knight enlists a group of meta-humans – Aquaman (Arthur/Jason Mamoa), Flash (Barry Allen/Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Victor Stone/Ray Fisher) – to help fight the extraterrestrial threats, led by Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds). A group of superheroes defend the earth against alien inv

Why Bad Reviews Don’t Stop Me from Watching X-Men: Apocalypse

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Rotten tomatoes rated X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest installment of X-Men universe, rotten,   with only 49 percent of approval.   Critics’ consensus in the website mentioned that the movie had wasted several “strong performers” and “resonant themes.” Meanwhile, Metacritic gave a mixed review for X-Men: Apocalypse with   a 52 Metascore,   making the movie to be the lowest rated of the X-Men movie adaptation since X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which has   a 58 Metascore.   An X-Men movie which is even worse than The Last Stand? How bad can it be?   Apocalyptic reviews have indeed slammed Bryan Singer’s latest take on X-Men. However, I still went and watched the movie last night. I was satisfied. love it. And I want more …   X-Men: Apocalypse is set 10 years after Magneto’s attack to the White House in the acclaimed movie X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which was also directed by Singer. In Apocalypse, Charles Xavier aka Professor X (James McAvoy) has finally started

People Behind Pendekar Tongkat Emas Could Have Fought Better

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There was a time when martial arts movies or television series were very popular in Indonesia. At such time, I really loved watching Saur Sepuh movies on local television. I also really enjoyed watching popular TV series such as Si Buta dari Goa Hantu , Wiro Sableng or Misteri dari Gunung Merapi . Therefore, I was very excited when I heard that Mira Lesmana and Riri Reza would produce an Indonesian martial art movie called Pendekar Tongkat Emas (The Golden Cane Warrior). “About time,” I said to myself."Can't wait to see it!" Since its resurrection in 2000, Indonesian film industries have never paid much attention to martial arts movie. They have mostly produced crappy horror movies, or romantic comedy, which frankly deserved no place on the big screen. Thus, I thought that PTE could rekindle my lost joy of watching martial arts movie. I became more excited when I learned that Ifa Isfansyah, the man behind an acclaimed movie, Sang Penari , would direct PTE.

Meet the 2015 Supergirl; A vulnerable female hero with superpower

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Female-led superhero movies are rare US’ export commodity. CBS Supergil Poster Since the booming of superhero movies in 2000, for instance, only Catwoman (2004) and Elektra (2005) featured female as the lead hero. Unfortunately, citing many reasons, the feline antihero and the female assassin successfully failed in the market. The failure of female superhero movies re-affirmed the existing myth in Hollywood that female superhero movies are cursed (or, are allegedly set to fail according to this website ). This is interesting because according to the statistics released by the Motion Picture Association of America, 52 percent of moviegoers are women . Therefore, I was excited when I found out that a Supergirl series was being made . And, after watching the first episode of the series, I actually think that this time, female superhero characters will not fail. Supergirl series first aired on Monday, October 26, 2015 at CBS. This is the latest installment of DC Comics charact

Let's Kick Our Colonial Mentality Out

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The Philippines also experience colonial mentality Last night, I had dinner with two friends at an Italian restaurant around Thamrin area, one of the main business districts in Central Jakarta. It was a nice and open door restaurant to hang out since I could enjoy the beautiful scene of Jakarta’s glowing skyscrapers from where I sat. My friends and I then ordered some snacks and beverage. The food was good and not too pricy. But, j ust a couple of minutes after I finished my meals, one of the waitresses cleaned my plate and my glass. “Do you want to order anything else?” she asked me who replied with a simple “no thanks.” Then, the same waitress approached and cleaned my friend’s plate as soon as she finished her meals, while asking the same question she asked me. To which, my friend said, “later probably.” My friends and I continued chatting for a while, talking about life and future plan . While chatting, my other friend was finishing her food an

Is app-based ojek a messiah for Jakarta’s traffic?

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App-based motorcycle taxi, known as ojek, in Jakarta is the capital’s newest sensation. When you hit the road, you will find it extremely easy to see motorists donning green helmet which displays Gojek or Grabbike logo on it. They boast that they have thousands of drivers in the capital. Gojek and Grabbike are two smartphone applications that enable users to order ojek with a rational price. They break away from the conventional ojek which usually charge irrational fare. They calculate fare based on distance through google map. For instance, I once tried to take an ojek from my office building to a train station which is only 5 km away. If I took a taxi, it would cost me around Rp 40 thousand. However, it was a Friday evening, meaning that only miracle could help me get a taxi in Sudirman area, the main business district in the capital. After waiting for an empty cab for more than an hour, I gave up. The notorious 'Macet' in Sudirman Area during peak hours credit: