A truthful film review: 'Adiwiraku' is not quite the hero we deserve.

Origin: Malaysia · Language: Malay, English
Director: Eric Ong
Writers: Jason Chong, Eric Ong
Genre: Drama · Release: March 9, 2017

Casts: Sangeeta Krishnasamy, Xavier Fong,
Ahmad Adnin Zidane, Nur Idina Tasnim,
Rizal Fahmi, Balqis Sani, Wan Azlyn Maasyah
Farra Safwan, Khairi Mohd Kamal, Ajwad Mohd Sobri,
Faez Reezme, Alif Abubakar

Studios: SOL Pictures, Filmmecca Studio
Distributor: Empire Film Solution

So, long story short, I already reviewed this film on the surface on my Facebook page, which can be read HERE (the plot summary is also mentioned here, in case you want an outline of what the movie is all about) and is actually the first preview I saw before the oh-so-dreadful silver screen debut by Fauzi Nawawi, a long time actor and writer/director for TV movies called Pak Pong in the same week. I don't claim to be a movie expert, but let's get a tad dirty to the film everyone is very excited to see because its decently-edited trailer which was cut as if it's a heart-wrenching melodramatic tale of a struggling teacher dealing with seemingly difficult band of pupils to get them in shape for an upcoming choral speaking competition. This is only my own personal opinion, so don't take my word for it entirely.

Throw in some emotional shots and dramatic music, plus scenes which references superheroes, and of course the school setting of the film, in addition to it being based on an actual story, and you get a trailer that would woo the easily-impressed who are usually not the kind to wanna watch local films. A very delicious bait, I'd say, since I was also initially sold by it.

A bit of a warning before going through: this review MIGHT CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS. If you don't mind, then you may proceed.

Sebuah reviu filem: Rasa macam kena penye-'Pak Pong' ada.

Asal: Malaysia · Bahasa: Melayu
Pengarah & penulis: Fauzi Nawawi
Genre: Fantasi · Rilis: 23 Februari 2017

Pelakon: Hairul Azreen, Bard, Siti Saleha,
Marsha Milan, Fauzi Nawawi, Kaza, Eizlan Yusuf,
Syawal (AF), Rahim (R2), Izreen Azminda,
Zulkifli Ismail

Studio: 9 Country Creativity

Oh, tajuk entriku kali ini.

Dalam minggu sebelum minggu terakhir Februari ni, dah dua filem aku pra-tonton (ehsan Movie Addict) dan kedua-duanya merupakan debut sutradaranya. Filem pertama ialah Adiwiraku iaitu arahan dan tulisan bersama Eric Ong yang ditayangkan pada 9 Mac dan filem yang aku nak ulas sekarang ni, Pak Pong pulak arahan, tulisan, serta lakonan Fauzi Nawawi yang keluar pada 23 Februari. Walaupun aku tengok Adiwiraku dulu pada 20 Februari dan ada sedikit reviu pada dasarnya, Pak Pong yang keluar dulu. Maka ulasan penuh nilah yang korang akan baca dulu. Sumpah aku tak tergerak hati nak tengok pun filem ni; yang ada cuma rasa nak tergelak ja tengok poster dan trelernya. Mujurlah tiket dapat percuma! Yah-hoi!

Macam mana aku nak mula, ek? Baiklah. Katanya filem ni 6 tahun dalam pembikinan (penulisan skrip dalam setahun, pembikinan termasuk pra-produksi, produksi dan pasca-produksi dalam 5 tahun). Sebelum ni, depa ada rilis footage yang telah memberikan penonton feel yang ada dalam filem ni. Para pembikin seperti nak kata depa nak jadikan Avatar arahan James Cameron sebagai inspirasi dunia fantasinya, manakala Lord of the Rings pulak sebagai konsep bagi babak perlawanannya dan rangka bagi sekuel-sekuel yang nak dirancang (KAH!). Satu tu pun takde feel yang dipetik tu. Sebenarnya nampak mengarah kepada Game of Thrones dalam pengaruh dadah (maksud aku dari segi kecelaruannya yang terlalu mudah tapi bapak trigger-happy pengarahnya bila dok shooting filem ni). 6 tahun, ya? Hm. Oh ya, reviu ni TAKDE SPOILER. Kalau dah bosan sangat, meh baca apa aku fikir pasal Pak Pong ni.

Sebuah reviu filem: Sumpah aku terlepas pandang identifier komedi suspens 'Bo-Peng'!

Asal: Malaysia · Bahasa: Melayu
Pengarah & penulis: Helmi Yusof
Genre: Komedi, thriller, jenayah · Rilis: 22 Disember 2016

Pelakon: Johan As'ari, Nabil Ahmad, Zulin Aziz,
Soffi Jikan, Fauzi Nawawi, Wanna Ali, Juzzthin,
Elie Suryati

Studio & pengedar: Pencil Pictures & Records

Selamat datang, 2017! Aku harap streak filem-filem berkualiti tahun 2016 akan berterusan ke tahun ni! Mari aku mulakan reviu aku dengan... filem tahun lepas yang dah lama ada dalam otak aku tapi tepu amat nak tulis! Filem yang aku tak kisah langsung tapi secara tak sengaja seronok ditonton! Akhirnya kerajinan muncul walaupun 2016 dah habis! Bahahaha! 😂😂😂

Aku sebenarnya cari nahas bila menggatal nak menangkan tiket untuk pratonton filem ni 6 Disember tahun lepas anjuran Movie Addict. Aku tak jangka apa-apa pun. Tunggu pun tidak. Memang tup-tup, aku ternampak poster filem ni serta tajuknya yang agak under-whelming, aku terus hakimi filem ni. Aku ingat ala-ala komedi Prof Razak atau MiG yang pointless. Aku salah.

Sumpah aku terlepas pandang identifier "Sebuah Filem Komedi Suspen" filem ni. Mungkin memang tak ada sebab apa yang aku nampak hanyalah poster yang aku gunakan sebagai thumbnail ni dan langsung tak kisah pasal papan-papan, banner dan bunting filem ni yang berlegar-legar kat luar hall MM Cineplex masa tu. Terus aku rasa filem ni adalah jugak sedikit kepandaiannya dan kemisteriannya!

Walaupun filem ni dah lama keluar dan tak ramai pun aku rasa nak bagi peluang, aku masih TAK AKAN BAGITAU SPOILER.

Sebuah reviu filem: Kalau 'Munafik' lebih matang dan bukan seram, jadilah 'Desolasi.'

Asal: Malaysia · Bahasa: Melayu, Inggeris
Pengarah & penulis: Syafiq Yusof
Genre: Thriller, fiksyen sains · Rilis: 8 Disember 2016

Pelakon: Syamsul Yusof,  Bella Dally, Pekin Ibrahim,
Jalaludin Hassan

Info lanjut: IMDb

Nepotisme itu indah kalau tak ada orang buat hal. Mula-mula bapak jadi pelakon, sekarang dia produser. Lepas tu, anak-anak pulak rajin ikut jejak langkah bapak depa. Syamsul Yusof mulakan langkah sebagai pelakon, lepas tu jadi pengarah dan penulis skrip dengan Evolusi KL Drift dan seterusnya. Sekarang, tiba-tiba masa S.A.M. keluar, aku tau yang Syamsul ada adik, namanya Syafiq. Selepas beberapa filem dia bikin pasca-S.A.M., pada satu masa tu aku terbaca satu artikel pasal filem terbarunya yang kembali kepada visinya yang agak segar lepas dia bikin filem yang kita dah biasa macam filem aksi komedi (Abang Long Fadil, spin-off kepada KL Gangster) dan seram found footage (Villa Nabila, berdasarkan urban legend yang tengah hot masa filem tu diumumkan). Terimalah Desolasi, sebuah lagi filem arahan dan tulisan Syafiq yang dibintangi abangnya sendiri, Syamsul Yusof. Bertuah budak ni jadi anak Yusof Haslam. Kehkeh.

Pada 25 November 2016, aku telah dijemput mewakili Movie Addict untuk pratayang filem Desolasi bagi geng media. Memang betullah Syafiq ni. Lagi satu filem berkonsep yang lari daripada cliche filem Melayu. Walaupun masih mengekalkan konsep dalam S.A.M. yang buat satu eksplorasi pasal masalah mental protagonisnya, dalam Desolasi ni, itu dijadikan subplot je. Apa yang dia buat kali ni dari segi falsafahnya lebih dekat dengan filem Life of Pi iaitu tentang persoalan tentang hidup dan pegangan seseorang yang lost dan sentiasa mencari jawapan. Tapi, berbeza dengan Life of Pi yang lebih fantastikal, abstrak dan puitis dari segi penceritaan dan falsafah yang dibawa, Desolasi ni pulak lebih in-your-face bak kata orang putih. Life of Pi agak terbuka dan deep, tapi Desolasi ni pulak terlalu mencuba menjadi accessible dan sedikit sempit. Sungguh pun begitu, ini masih percubaan yang berani pada era di mana ramai golongan butthurt dan Ustaz/Ulama’ Media Sosial acah-acah baik mudah sentap terhadap benda yang sikit pun tak goyangkan akidah depa.

Oh ya, reviu ni confirm TAK ADA SPOILER. Jadi, bacalah dengan aman ya semua? Semoga poin-poin aku kemukakan ni akan buat korang rasa nak tengok atau tak filem Desolasi ni.

A film review: 'The Accountant' or When Murdock Meets Castle.

 Why cover half your butt-chinned face, Batfleck? You're just a goddamn accountant!

Origin: United States · Language: English

Director: Gavin O'Connor · Writer: Bill Dubuque

Genres: Action, thriller, drama · Release: October 14, 2016

Casts: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Anna Kendrick,
J.K. Simmons, Cynthia Addai-Robbinson,

Jeffry Tambor, John Lithgow

More info: IMDb

So, this movie happened. I had no anticipation whatsoever, as to me it came out of nowhere. Also, in the style of the previously reviewed Midnight Special, Warner Bros. yet again managed to shoehorn a few product placements to show us that they are highly involved with this film (other than of course the appearance of Batfleck himself as the lead, alongside the future James Gordon, which is not that apparent especially for the uninitiated); a glimpse of Action Comics (a comic book series that was responsible for introducing us to DC superheroes like Superman, for example) and using Solomon Grundy's (a zombie supervillain in the DC Comics universe) name as a plot device. Yeah. I'm catching on here.

Well, you're probably sick of me mentioning the name Movie Addict, but I have to thank them again for getting us film buffs a free preview to the film. Also, I knew about this film from that Facebook group. What's interesting though, again, I'm intrigued by the poster more so than I do the trailers. I don't touch that thing even once for The Accountant. It's definitely the film's poster alone... or maybe reviews from film critics whom I trust (I'm talking about Chris Stuckmann and Jeremy Jahns) that sold me. I mean, come on! The title is The Accountant, but Affleck is holding a sniper rifle and his face is half-obscured? How does that add up? THAT'S why I want to see it! And then there's Jon Bernthal? What are the odds? Former Daredevil AND current Punisher in the same film? And did I buy it? Not the tickets obviously. But the movie itself? It's fantastic, though it mildly affected my head for its offbeat approach to storytelling that is surprisingly well-handled!

Oh. This is a SPOILER-FREE review. So read on if you feel like catching a film not based on anything, in which this kind of film is scarce these days... that would make accountants smirk, thinking that everyone would think they are cool just because The Accountant can shoot people in the head. I'm kidding, yo!

KKKorean Kombo film reviews: 'Train to Busan,' The Wailing,' & 'The Housemaid (1960)'

Yo, my peeps. How's it going?

"Yeah. You best believe that I'll bust the hell out of yo' infected ass, rotten biatches!"

I really wanted to do this for a while, but now that I finally have a (hopefully) stable job, I am not as eager to write reviews as before... or maybe I was too eager, that I forgot I was so damn tired. Now that it's the weekend, it's time to blow off some steam! In the nearest periods of time, I managed to watch a few South Korean films on the big screen, all of which are horrific in their own ways.

"Oh yeah? Try and check out what we're seeing, and you'll feel bad about acting all badass and shit!"

The first two, you could say are both recent releases (well, not the most recent), while the latest one, which was watched last Friday during the good old Wayang@Budiman screenings, was an opening of a new slot which will showcase the best classic black-and-white films from around the globe, two of which I get why it was critically acclaimed while the last one... I don't quite get why. So why the heck not fit all three of those reviews in one post, right?  Let's get it on, as these reviews are totally SPOILER-FREE!

"Pfft. Sissies."

Sebuah reviu filem: Korang jangan buat 'Pekak' ye! Debik kang!

Asal: Malaysia · Bahasa: Melayu
Pengarah & penulis: Mohd Khairul Azri Md Noor
Genre: Drama · Rilis: 1 September 2016

Pelakon: Zahiril Adzim, Sharifah Amani, Zaidi Omar,
Sharifah Sakinah, Amerul Affendi, Iedil Putra, Joe Flizzow

Info lanjut: IMDb

Jujur cakap, aku tak tau dari mana aku dengar pasal filem ni. Pendek kata, aku pekakkan telinga aku pasal kewujudannya. Tapi, tetiba ramai pula yang melobi aku untuk tonton filem ni sebagaimana Joe Flizzow melobi dirinya selama ni untuk menjadi seorang ahli 'kartel' sepanjang karier solonya. Sekali, ambik kau dia jadi pengedar dadah dalam filem ni! Kartello, hello! Okay, mukadimah yang merapu, tapi ada sebabnya kenapa aku sentuh pasal ni. Jauh sikit dalam reviu ni aku habaq na?

Nak ditakdirkan, aku dua kali dijemput untuk tonton filem ni sebelum dikeluarkan untuk orang ramai 1 September depan (yang juga hari pertama aku makan gaji tetap bulan-bulan!); kali pertama sebagai sesi soal jawab bersama dua orang pelakon dan pengarahnya dan kali kedua pula sebagai tayangan perdana atau nama poyonya 'Malam Gala.' Yang kedua aku dapat pergi, dan semua pelakon dan para tunjang belakang filem ni datang mai (kecuali Zaidi Omar). Aku bersyukur sebab dapat berkenalan dengan pencinta filem ni sampai dapat mingle secara kasual dengan para pemain industri like nobody's business. Sungguh. Sepertimana aku juga jatuh cinta pada filem yang fokusnya sepelik terbitan Tengku Iesta sebelum ni pasal orang nak bunuh diri: filem Pekak  ni pasal orang pekak yang terpaksa menjual dadah. Lolwut?

Baiklah. Memandangkan filem ni masih lagi tengah chill sebelum bertemu penonton, aku cuba kasi ulasan TANPA SPOILER, di mana tujuan ulasan ni semata-mata untuk suruh korang pergi sokong satu lagi filem berkualiti bikinan anak watan kita. Ayuh! Iqra'!

A film review: 'Suicide Squad' enters the uncharted Ayer Keroh.

Origin: United States · Language: English

Director & writer: David Ayer 
Genre: Superhero · Release: August 5, 2016

Casts: Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Will Smith,
Margot Robbie, Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney,

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara,
Adam Beach, Jared Leto, Cara Delevigne

More info: IMDb

A Watchmen and The Killing Joke later, it's here.

The most anticipated film in the DC Extended Universe / DCEU (yeah, not Batman v. Superman OR the other movies, but JUST THIS) is finally released! Even though this team was out there for a while, I was hooked when Batman: Assault on Arkham was out. Why? It's because of the team's dynamics. Most of the members are incarcerated supervillains plus extra participants tasked by the ruthless head of the ARGUS program Amanda Waller. In exchange for a shortened time in their jail cells, they had to do covert operations for the US government that could kill them due to either getting wasted in the field or got their brains blown to bits thanks to a nanobomb implanted into their necks should they disobey; but the thing is, the US government will not be responsible for their deaths whatsoever. This makes for an interesting spin on the whole live-action superhero genre, right? Keep dreaming. And thanks to my regular movie-going buddy, he managed to wake me up to the atrocities that the film have before clouding myself into thinking that the film is good just because Cara Delevigne is barely clothed and Margot Robbie couldn't stop flirting with me. Oh, wait.

Thanks to Movie Addict again, I am one of the very few to preview the film before its release on Thursday, August 4, without spending a dime. And just like Snyder's previous DC outings, this is yet another polarizing film... and he's not even the director/writer of this one! His aura is strong in this cinematic universe! What is this Ayer Keroh you give to us (super inexcusable pun is definitely intended), David Ayer? I had high hopes when I saw Fury and Sabotage, two films with some elements that I think can totally be incorporated into Suicide Squad! What's up? Even an excellent casting and performances couldn't mask how choppy the movie really is! But there are some good things here and there. Follow me as I review DC's latest attempt at keeping up with Marvel's Hollywood dominance in this third installment of the DCEU.

I will try my best to do a SPOILER-FREE review, so bear with me.

A film review: 'Midnight Special' is a layman's 'Interstellar.' Yay!

Origin: United States · Language: English
Director & writer: Jeff Nichols
Genres: Science fiction, fantasy, drama · Release: March 18, 2016

Casts: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Jaeden Liebeher,
Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard

More info: IMDb

Hello there. The only reason I watched this movie was because the awesome film group on Facebook called Movie Addict held a giveaway for a FREE screening, and I was one of the chosen ones. Then, I saw Michael Shannon and Adam Driver's name as per the poster above. Kylo Ren vs General Zod! Nope, there's not really... like, ANY feuds between their characters in here. And then there's a blatant Superman product placement in the form of a comic book (which doubled as a minor plot device and as a reminder that Warner Bros. is distributing this film). Let's see if I think it's any good.