top 5 • yes chick-flick moments

Honestly, I should be stressing out about finishing my final project report and preparing for thesis defense AND applying for an internship, but, you know, Christmas is upon us all and it's finally yule hols after a long semester (that actually feels really short, but was exhausting all the same) and I want to just relax and have good long sleeps because it's technically rainy season and rainy season is the best time to have a good long sleep.

You can say that "sleep is only for the weak" and I can comfortably admit that I am the weak, okay?

Also, when I'm not busy sleeping and relaxing, I ended up having lots of movie marathons. Technically, it's still related to my education and my future because I'm pursuing a degree in filmmaking, so, yeah, I don't feel too guilty about it. It's for, ahem, references, amirite? Well, I keep telling myself that but I'll still bless myself with strings of profanities near the deadlines when I'm not even halfway done with my shits, but whatever!

It's the season of feel-good movies, and I'll share my top five all-time favorites with you cheeky readers! My criteria of a feel-good movie is quite similar to my idea of a perfect crush: 1) beautiful (not necessarily visual), 2) good for my soul, 3) can be seen over and over without being sick of, and 4) yes chick-flick moments.

According to that criteria (but not entirely following that, because I'm an indecisive bastard) here's my top 5 beautiful-soulful-addicting-yes chick-flick moments movies:

1. Ten Inch Hero (2007)

This might be inappropriate for the season because of the summer vibe and the beach, but frankly, this is one of the most beautiful rom-com my heart has ever came into contact with. It came with a plethora of journey to self-love, a topic which I am quite fond of, and it comes with a happy ending, which makes me really happy, because it gives me the closure I need. Seriously, sad open ending is so overrated. (Although I do like sad open endings too, if it's what's best for the story).

Anyway, the format is kinda like omnibus, except the stories are linear and conjoined? There are several stories from each characters, all of which work in a sandwich shop together. Each character's archetypes are different, some of them are from the opposite of the spectrum, but somehow, each of them work like a puzzle. I like the dynamic between the characters, the wit, the backhanded affection, the conspiration theories, the cheesy dialogues that don't feel cheesy at all because they fit the characters, and I like the funny-looking Jensen Ackles (Yes, I like me the Jensen Ackles) with his character's sassy t-shirts.

Somehow, even though I don't own a sandwich shop near the beach, a blue-green mohawk plus a lot attitude, a daughter I gave up for adoption, a friend with benefit so in the closet he won't admit his feelings for his roommate, or a handsome internet boyfriend from LA I've never met, each character is quite relatable that I can sympathize with them. And in the end when all of them found their own true love, because it's what's this all about really, I can feel happy with them too. It feels good to see that everything do work out in the end. <3

PLUS:

• The setting. THE BEACH TOWN. I always like the look of a suburb near the beach. How hippie yet undeniable cozy and homey it is, the view of the beach from a cliff, the small sandwich shop, the night fair, the everything else. Lovely, just lovely.
• The diversity. It's just heartwarming. They are totally my #squadgoal. Teehee.
• The audiovisual is absolutely brilliant. The color, the sets and props, the soundtracks. Hell yes.

MINUS:

• It's really cheesy, I guess, in a totally worth-it cheesy kinda way. So obviously it's not that bad of a minus point, ok?
• Tadd and Brad are fucking assholes.

2. The Breakfast Club (1985)

"But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, and a princess, and a criminal."

First of all, the film has nothing to do with breakfast. :( Up until now, I don't know why they're called The Breakfast Club. Maybe I missed some points of the movie somewhere around the crazy sneaking out and smoking weed scenes.

A classic, really. This movie sets the bar of expectation about high school real up there for me. Like, come on, they make a detention session looks really fun (also, suddenly deep and sad but let's not talk about that)! (Which, after I experienced high school myself, is really fake, sad face).

You might see the pattern of my preferences here, haha. Another movie with diverse characters with insecurities, all of which represent the high school cliques we all know and love. I adore their bubble of issues and how typical all of them are, because it's kind of relatable, especially when I was around the characters' age. There's a lot of expectation for us to conform to, you know what I mean? And we don't even know where those crappy expectations came? Like, why can't we just go through our teenage years smoothly and happily? Who defined the criteria for the title "social pariah"? And why, really?

Ahem. Back to the film:

Honestly, the synopsis in the poster just totally spoil everything. Huh.

PLUS:

• It's really fun! Everything is all over the place and it was happy but suddenly it turned serious but it's an emotional roller-coaster I love and needed.
• THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD! Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds is a great listen.

MINUS:

• The oh-so overrated (kinda) sad open ending with one of the main guy walking away into the bleak future ahead.

3. Flipped (2010)

One of the must watch for me and my close friends when we have a sleepover (other than The Notebook, which makes them cry horribly every time). There's something pure and innocent about this movie, even though the genre is actually rom-com. I mean like, the protagonists are teenagers and they talk about boyfriend-girlfriend things but it's so cute? And they have a lot of childish feuds and misunderstanding but in the end, I feel like the movie isn't really talking about love in a romantic kinda way.

I like the exploration of the triggers for the conflicts in the progression of the movie. Most of them are simple, like a tree and eggs and a stupid basket boy auction, but they have several punchline too, like bullying and mental illnesses and other stuff. I also like the way they narrate the story. It switches between the POVs of the male and female lead, but the transition is seamless. AND, the ending is so lovelyyy I can't help but coo at them every time.

This film just feel so good, right in my heart. <3

4. Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (2015)

I stumbled upon this movie randomly when I am browsing in PopcornTime. The title intrigued me, so I decided to watch it, and I never regret any second of it. And I repeated, and repeated, and repeated, but I never regret any second of every single repeat of it. The story is crazy good. And the movie posters are really funny, you should look up for all of them, hahaha.

Actually, no. The main plot is really cliche, because I someone asked me for a logline, it'll be something along the line of this: "A broody high school social butterfly (and I use the term loosely) teen got his life topsy-turvied because of a terminally ill, jaded, high school teenage girl." OKAY, but that lousy logline DOES NOT give this film any justice. This film is really, really, really beautiful in a witty, biting, charming, harrowing, heartbreaking, occasionally funny kind of way. My feelings just went ASDFGHJKL!? every time, hahaha.

Greg, the main character, feels so close to my heart. That fucking awkward bastard! He's annoying and tactless in an endearing kinda way, somehow. Thankfully, he has Earl, his so-called co-worker, who balances him, slaps the reality hard into his face, and redeems every social faux pas he made. And the dying girl, what can I say about her. Well, her name is Rachel, she has Leukimia, but no, she does not die.

Spoiler much? No, I swear it's not a spoiler. I am not sorry.

Last but not least, the audiovisual is off the chart! The filmmaking techniques are there. The script and dialogues, the soundtrack, the framing, the production design (so hella goals), and the editing is on point. They also combined a lot of techniques, like stop-motion and stuff. It is a gift for the eyes. I am so blessed. <3

PLUS:

• The abundance of classic films parodies. Much witty, very funny.
• THE FUCKING PLOT TWIST.

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Total epic epicness, truly. I heard that it is adapted from a comic book, but I haven't read the comic book yet. The storyline is the epitome of crazy absurdity, but I enjoy everything. It does not really make sense, but not everything has to make sense, right?

The League of Evil Exes. Seven evil exes. What a ride. I think I laugh from the beginning to the end. It is very dazzling and witty and sometimes even the unexpected things are funny. I mean like, Scott is in a band called Sex Bob-Omb, and they have hilarious songs including "We Are Sex Bob-Omb" and "Garbage Truck" - they are funnier than Mudslide Crush from Lemonade Mouth. :")

(Also, Sex Bob-Omb is legit on Spotify, guys, haha.)

I think they managed to capture the essence of comic book storytelling really well? The visual effect is VERY GOOD! The format is kinda of similar to an RPG video game, with battles and fighting sequences and superpower techniques. It is very comical to watch. Everything is so eye-catching with bursts of raining rewards coins on top. The VFX also cover even the smallest details, like the first time they showed Wallace's place (where Scott live/crashes) and they give tiny bitty descriptions about the things in the room.

PLUS:

• "Bread makes you fat?"
• "I have to go pee due to boredom."
  
• "We are Sex Bob-Omb and we are here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff."
• "He punched the highlights out of her hair!"
• And the list of funny/stupid quotes went on.

• • •

SO! It's the end of the top 5 list and ugh I got writer's block several time because I can't just express how I really feel about these films. I hope you can enjoy them as much as I do. Laterz! <3

oyayaya • 2

Dulu, cita-citaku jadi presiden.

Tapi mama bilang,
  "mana mungkin."

"Kamu kan
          perempuan
               Cina
                    nasrani pula."

Terus kenapa

kalau aku terlahir berdada tanpa lingga, dari keluarga keturunan minoritas,
dan memilih untuk berlindung di balik ketek Nabi yang berbeda dari mayoritas?

He he he he

ha ha ha

h h h.

Tapi kalau dipikir lagi
kayaknya aku tidak ada pantas-pantasnya jadi presiden.

OSIS dan BEM tidak pernah mampir. Kuliah saja sering mangkir.
Sukanya cuma mencibir mahasiswa eksekutif yang boleh alfa tapi dianggap masuk
demi pasang wajah di kepentingan kampus yang kurang penting.

Pokoknya,                                            Supaya,
      kuliah supaya jadi sarjana.                  gaji di atas tiga juta.

Soalnya dunia ini jahat sama orang miskin.
Antagonisnya,
lebih-lebih dari ibu tiri Cinderella.

Makanya aku mau jadi sarjana.
Katanya itu salah satu syarat supaya bisa kaya.

Entahlah.

oyayaya • 1

Dia bilang, dia cinta kamu,

sampai-sampai nggak bisa hidup tanpa kamu.

Itu empat tahun yang lalu.

Tiga tahun yang lalu, kalian putus.

Terus?

Ya, nggak ada terusannya.

Kan kalian putus.

          Aku yang cuma narator

               (yang serba tidak tahu)

                    bisa apa?

Kadang kupikir,

kalian bisa bersama selama-lamanya.

Soalnya dia sudah membayangkan hidupnya sama kamu,

tapi mungkin kamu tidak.

Tidak tahu seberapa sering dia memikirkan rumah masa depan kalian,

minimalis seperti kesukaan keluarga muda masa kini,

pagarnya putih, temboknya merah muda.

Tidak tahu dia mau punya anak dua,

yang tua laki-laki, adiknya perempuan, dua-duanya mirip kamu,

ditambah seekor anjing gendut berkaki pendek seperti yang dimiliki Ratu Inggris.

Sudahlah.

          Aku yang cuma narator

               sebaiknya berhenti menginvestasikan perasaan

                    pada hal-hal kurang penting seperti hubungan fiktif kalian.

tulisannya • hobiku memang membual.

Ibarat penghujan,

aku adalah kubangan,

yang dibenci semua orang.

Ibarat kemarau,

suaraku sudah parau,

tapi masih hendak meracau.

Ah, ini semua cuma sandiwara,

dan bahkan lakonku tidak sempat bahagia.

Tapi tirai sudah jatuh,

menara terlanjur runtuh,

kita semua jenuh,

titik.

Tamat.

• • •

Wanita dalam foto bernama Veronica,

difoto tahun 2011.

music monthly • we’re all like children, blaming others for our pain

I'll turn 22 in less than a week. How daunting. I am childish arsehole still, that I can admit. How to adult, really? Physically, I can feel the old vibe creeping in, but mentally, I think I haven't grow any older since, like, proli, sixteen. Ugh. I don't want to be dubbed irresponsible forever. But for now, I'll just enjoy being not old. Because next year I'll graduate from uni, and it means that I have to be a proper adult.

Anyway. Enough of my unrelated rants, here's this month's music recommendation.

1. Ke Entah Berantah • Banda Neira

2. Shelter • Porter Robinson × Madeon

3. Make It Rain • Block B's BASTARZ

4. Jangan Takut Gelap • Tasya × Akhdiyat Duta Modjo

5. I'll Be Your Man • BTOB

6. Look Away • Crissi Cochrane

7. Uptown Angel • Olivia Grace

8. For The Rest of My Life • Third Day

9. Wasting Time • Day Wave

10. First World Problem • Unknown Mortal Orchestra

11. Bandaids, Pt. 2 • Common Souls 

12. Far Away • isle&fever

13. Tell Me What To Do • SHINee

And this list is made just because. Kbye.

• • •

(Title taken from Stupid Liar by BIGBANG.)

curhatnya • masa depan anti-peluru

Seandainya gue bisa berkata hal yang sama tentang masa depan gue. Betapa menyenangkannya, bukan begitu? Mengetahui bahwa masa depanmu ada di depan sana, aman terjaga sampai waktunya lu untuk mencapainya. Sementara masa depan gue mengalami turbulensi karena taifun halilintar tepat di tengah-tengah Segitiga Bermuda, siap jatuh dan berputar dalam pusaran air tiada akhir hingga tenggelam ke dasar samudera.

Atau mungkin, kata-kata yang lebih tepat digunakan meskipun terdengar jorok: seperti tinja yang sedang di flush dari lubang toilet menuju endapan septic tank.

Wajar nggak sih,

mempertanyakan pilihan hidup lu,

ketika sudah hampir di ujung perjalanan?

Bukan berarti gue nggak suka. Tapi kadang-kadang terbesit sedikit penyesalan. Sedikit. Ketika sedang lelah-lelahnya, dan seluruh dunia terasa tidak kooperatif. Ketika lu harus tersenyum dan tertawa sumbang menanggapi lelucon orang-orang yang lu nggak suka. Ketika lu bertanya-tanya pada diri sendiri, kenapa, kenapa, kenapa.

Kenapa gue tidak cukup pintar untuk memilih pilihan yang benar?

Tapi di lain sisi, gue juga bertanya-tanya kenapa gue menganggap pilihan yang sekarang ini salah. Mungkin karena terlalu banyak tembok yang membatasi keinginan gue. Konflik-konflik kepentingan diantara beberapa kepala, drama-drama internal yang kalau dilihat kembali terasa nggak penting sama sekali.

Ah, norak sekali. Picisan.

Payah amat, sih. Kayaknya hidup jadi kucing seminggu enak juga.

• • •

Foto pertama difoto oleh Evelyn.

Eksperimen warna menggunakan film emulator oleh Jonas Wagner.

Terima kasih, selamat malam!

music monthly • it's been a hell of a week

No one ever told me that my last year of college will be this shitty. I mean, I am basically half-unemployed half-student, I spent a lot of hours doing unimportant things, and I can't even muster any diligence to do my final report until the very last minute. Not as bad as I was in like, sophomore year, no. This paper is actually the most important shit I gotta do in college so I'm not going to risk it like I risked every other subjects in the past three years of my uni gig. I wouldn't put my graduation in jeopardy, would I? Of course not. Absolutely.

Anyway, here's a playlist that basically sums up how I feel about senior year:

1. 하드캐리 (Hard Carry) • GOT7

2. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards • Tame Impala

3. Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 • John Mayer

4.  Victorious • Panic! At The Disco 

5. Blood • DAY6

6. Run Away • Royal Pirates

7. Night People • You Me At Six

8. Vagabond • Grizfolk

9. I Just Can't Wait To Be King • Lion King

10. I Will Follow You Into The Dark • Death Cab For Cutie

My K-Pop obsession continues with GOT7's newest album, Flight Log: Turbulence. Hard Carry is their title track, and I've been listening to it a lot for moral support through the making of my research paper. The entire album is great, tbh. DAY6 and Royal Pirates are also from the Hallyu realm. Both are rock bands and THEIR SONGS ARE SO GOOD DAYUM.

I Just Can't Wait To Be King is like a legit example of the convos between me and my professor about my paper. Aha. Most of these songs have hella relatable lyrics so I've been jamming and singing along to them to release some stress. Healthy mind is mandatory to face your last year of undergraduate program, after all. Senior year is hard :(

• • •

(Title taken from Night People by You Me At Six.)

production diary • tiap pagi menjelang, tiap taufan menyerang

I'm supposed to arrange my production book for tomorrow's review with the professor, but idk, I'm too lazy and the pics are not accurate (I'm contemplating on color-grading them myself but I think someone might be offended if I do so) and I'm just looking for a lot of reasons not to do that at the moment. What a bullshit.

Instead, I pieced together a lot of pictures from our production days from few weeks ago, because the trip was hella epic and a beautiful disaster at the same time. Thanks Eve (our BTS person) for capturing us and our topsy-turvy process!

The production days consisted of a total of five days spread around the end on July until mid-August probably? Many people think that it was glamorous because of the word "shooting/syuting" (which a lot of people has so much expectation in because they dream to be a celeb or something) but in reality, it's nothing really special, because, duh, we are just a bunch of film students trying to get through our final project, after all. What do you expect from that, really?

It rains quite a lot during the production days. If it's not a downpour, the sun is shining too merrily and it was too hazy and humid I almost lost my mind. The weather never hits the just right point, but I can't complain about it because it's not the worst thing that happened during those five days. HAHA.

For one thing, one of our required location is an effin' cemetery (also, it is like one of the certified haunted joint in Bogor, lol). We're supposed to wrap around noon, but due to navigation problems and conflict with the weather, the hours extended until dusk. Most of us are soaking wet, frantic hearts thumping to the news that apparently, one of our crews (and only him) heard paranormal whispers or something. It was the funniest! Everyone was like, running away so quick. A total contrast from earlier in the day when everyone slugged around like they have all the time in the world.

But there's so much smalls things that made me smile throughout this whole process. The food was good. We had a massive sleepover at our producer's house due to shooting schedule. It was fun, squeezing like fifteen people (more or less?) into a moderate-sized living room. Also, there's a kampung nearby from the house we chose as a location, and they decided to throw dangdutan and layar tancap at the same day as our production day.

We can't help but dance to the music, lol.

It's a nice break from arranging stuffs since noon and all those other things. HEHE. Please ignore our weirdness. Dancing is so our thing.

Anyway, we're at the post-production stage right now. Please wish us well and look upon us lovingly. Hopefully, the final short film will be done by December, then we'll have our thesis defense things next January! Please anticipate good things, teehee. For more production diary related stuff, visit our Instagram account (Eve also made several video highlights for you to see!)

(๑´ω`๑)

(Title taken from Sampai Jadi Debu by Banda Neira × Gardika Gigih)

music monthly • hajimemashite, ni hao, bonjour!

A playlist of songs I listen to a lot (and caught myself humming absent-mindedly to) from the first-half of September 2016. The list will most likely consisted of a few new and old k-pop/k-hiphop jams, some throwbacks melodies, even numbers from typical top 50 worldwide chart songs. idk. I've been in a lot of hazy days as of late, so everything's all jumbled up.

（‐＾▽＾‐）(๑´ω`๑)

1. 몸 (Body) • MINO of WINNER

2. We Don't Talk Anymore • Charlie Puth × Selena Gomez

3. WHISTLE • BLACKPINK

4. Is that ramyeon? • AKMU (Akdong Musician)

5. Lagu Untuk Rani • Sweta Kartika

6. Baloney Speaker (tawagoto speaker) • sasanomaly

7. Corona • PUNCHNELLO × Crush

8. Selamat Pagi, Malam • Agustin Oendari

9. 누굴 위한 노래인가요 • SOUTH_CLUB (Nam Taehyun)
10. FULL HOUSE • MOBB (Mino × Bobby)
11. Jet Lag • Simple Plan × Marie-Mai

12. Scene Five - With Ears To See and Eyes To Hear • Sleeping With Sirens
13. I'm Not Your Toy • La Roux
14. Rahasia Hati • NIDJI
15. Heart's a Legend • Zoo Brazil × Philip
16. Hujan di Mimpi • Banda Neira

I've been obsessing over 몸 ever since YG released it because it's just THAT good. I especially like when Mino sang the line "Talkin’ about your 머리부터 발끝까지 OH // I’m talkin’ about your 몸 // Talkin’ about your everything // 근데 넌 어딨어?" idk why ugh just. His voice is so pretty. (灬º 艸º灬)

As you may see, there are several songs titled in Bahasa Indonesia. Yes, the songs are from Indonesia and the lyrics are in Bahasa. Those songs are songs that I held quite dear in my heart. Please give them some love! Teehee. Also, the M/V for Baloney Speaker is very eye-catching and cute and overall good-looking. Do you know that sasanomaly also released the song in different languages? All of them sound beautiful!

•  •  •

(Title taken from FULL HOUSE by MOBB.)