Wednesday 11 October 2017

nonton film • Pengabdi Setan (2017)

Source: Joko Anwar's instagram (@jokoanwar)
Posternya yang ini saja soalnya Tara Basro so prettyyy! Daripada foto ibu, ya kan?

The horror film that has taken Indonesia like a raging storm! Sudah cukup lama nggak nonton film di bioskop, dan sekalinya pergi nonton gue sendirian, dan memutuskan untuk nonton film ini. Jujur saja, gue kurang suka nonton film horror; they rarely impress me karena bagi gue biasanya setannya atau kejadiannya nggak mirip. Film horror yang terakhir gue nonton adalah ~The Conjuring 2~, karena teman-teman gue pengen kepoin "film Valak" dan "scene Valak yang serem banget di lorong" dan akhirnya gue terbawa peer pressure untuk ngepoin film ini bersama.

Ya gue ketawa doang sih waktu itu. Mungkin gue yang rusak, tapi scene-nya tuh lucu dan gak believable buat gue? My friends and I ended up breaking the scenes down together in the darkness of the theater and whisper obscene things to each other.

But anyway! We are here to talk about ~Pengabdi Setan~ karya Joko Anwar. Senang melihat animo masyarakat yang besar untuk film-film Indonesia sekarang. Gue nonton film ini di weekday, early afternoon, dengan prasangka kalau teaternya bakal agak sepi, tapi ternyata yang nonton banyak juga. Ada yang bawa anak-anak segala, padahal rating-nya D17 kalau nggak salah. Tapi nggak ada adegan senonoh kayak di film horror jaman-jaman 2000an awal, kok. Mungkin rating-nya karena ada gore-nya sedikit ya. Atau karena... Masalah yang membangun latar belakang karakter hantunya?

Oke, gue akan bahas film ini sebisa mungkin dengan spoiler sesedikit mungkin, ya. Dan disclaimer: Gue belum pernah nonton film aslinya Pengabdi Setan (1980) jadi ini pure review film versi 2017-nya aja dan pendapat gue setelah nonton. Gue nggak ada pengetahuan sama sekali dengan film aslinya dan plotnya dan seberapa bedanya versi 2017 ini dengan versi 1980.

(BTW denger-denger yang versi 1980 jadi cult film di Asia. Cari bioskop alternatif yang screening ah!)

Sekeluarnya gue dari bioskop waktu itu, gue sempat nge-post kesan gue tentang film Pengabdi Setan ini di Twitter:


I feel like it is really well-made. The setting is conveniently haunting, the textbook jump scares work like wonder, everyone in the theater is scared and bracing for the scary parts, it was pretty intense. Tapi yang paling gue suka adalah dinamika ceritanya yang gak melulu setan-setanan. Dialog antara cast anak-anaknya sih terutama menurut gue membantu bikin film ini jadi kayak roller-coaster, ngatur tensi supaya penonton gak tegang, terus pas semua caught off guard, scene yang seremnya dimasukin. Yang paling epic sih yang minta ditemenin pipis malam, soalnya scene lanjutannya pas gitu, kerennn parahhh! Tapi dialog favorit gue sih yang tentang micin, karena candaan itu cukup terkenal di kalangan anak muda sekarang. Long live micin jokes!


Tapi highlight dari film horror adalah bagian yang seram-seram. My favorite one is the "Loh, ibu sudah bisa bangun?" (yang jadi meme-meme lucu di Twitter, pinter banget deh promosiin filmnya) scene, karena cuma scene itu yang bikin gue bener-bener kaget. Sound-nya tahik banget dan camera movement-nya sangat pas. Diulang pula, jadi serunya dua kali. He. Scene impresif yang kedua menurut gue yang "kain putih dan pigura foto ibu". Keren deh efeknya, gimana cara bikinnya ya? Dulu gue sempat jadi kru film Tugas Akhir kakak kelas yang genre-nya horror juga, dan kita sempat mau bikin scene yang sama, tapi gagal. Di bagian ini editing beat-nya pas banget deh, gue suka! Di atas gue sempat bilang textbook jump scares, itu lebih ke arah beat-nya sih. Ketukannya pas gitu seperti yang dulu sempat gue research ketika mau coba bikin film pendek genre horror juga sama teman-teman buat tugas kampus.

Nah tapi beberapa scene seram lainnya kok kayak miss gitu ya beat-nya? Ada momen di mana gue sampai greget sendiri karena ganti gambarnya kurang cepat sepersekian detik sehingga suspense yang sudah gue rasain jadi agak turun sedikit, khususnya di scene "Toni, radio, dan sisirin rambut ibu" dan scene "Rini, mukena, dan cilukba". Padahal build-up-nya sudah asyik banget.

(Heh, penjelasan adegan macam apa barusan.)

So, other than the "ibu sudah bisa" scene, the rest of the film is actually not that scary for me. Jatohnya sih beberapa lucu absurd gitu entah kenapa, bikin nahan ketawa di bioskop karena banyak yang ketakutan. Setting-nya sangat membantu sih sebenarnya di rumah tua remang-remang sebelah kuburan, ada sumurnya pula, sehingga memang mendukung untuk menjadi lokasi cerita hantu-hantuan. Sama desain karakter hantunya juga oke. Klasik dan familiar untuk orang Indonesia, jadi mungkin terasa lebih menghantui. Gimmick-gimmick Suzanna gitu. Tapi yang tertahik adalah sound design-nya sih. Ganggu banget ih parah dah! Nggak ada apa-apa secara visual tapi audio-nya tegang. DAN LAGUNYA SI IBU ITU. Bagus! Banget!

Sama jeritannya Bondi sih melengking banget bikin kaget.

Oiya, filmnya warnanya bagus deh. Agak-agak desaturated gitu. Apa lebih enak disebut remang-remang ya? Soalnya kadang gelap-gelap gitu juga sih gak kelihatan. Tapi gue suka deh color palette-nya, kayak ada pattern warnanya gitu yang ke-notice. Biru, merah, kuning, sama putih? Mungkin ini semacam semiotik buat plot ya? Kayak Rosemary's Baby (1968)? Soalnya pattern warnanya paling keliatan di warna baju. Tapi jujur sampai di akhir film gue nggak nangkap artinya sih. Atau hanya desain palette warna dasar? Tapi bagus lah pokoknya!

Source: Tara Basro's instagram (@tarabasro)
Bukan scene dari film-nya, but I am quite sure that's one of their costumes, hahaha.

Ya kira-kira vibe-nya seperti foto itu, sih? Apa ngga? Apa gue amnesia selektif karena ibu sudah bisa bangun?

:p

Ehem. Oke, pembahasan terakhir gue adalah storyline-nya. Jujur, dengan audiovisual yang menurut gue cukup luar biasa, entah kenapa ceritanya justru agak mengecewakan buat gue. Apa karena ceritanya dipersiapkan untuk memiliki sekuel? Gue merasa ceritanya banyak bolongnya dan plot twist-nya tuh malah kayak? Hah??? Gitu. Paham gak, hehe.

Dari awal tuh berasanya prolog-nya panjang, stretchy tapi kurang jelas gitu. Mungkin karena karakter yang mau diperkenalkan banyak juga, sih. Ya ada empat bersaudara, ibunya, bapaknya, neneknya,  dan ada tambahan bapak ustadz beserta anaknya bapak ustadz. Ramai sekali, meskipun semua karakter punya fungsinya masing-masing tapi kayak ada yang penting gak penting dan berujung pada unnecessary deaths gitu? Dan btw, plot-nya bisa di-breakdown pakai myth structure! Gue baru sadar pas tiba-tiba plot twist sih, yang gue sudah pikir oh oke sudah mau tamat, tapi nggak jadi gitu dan malah shit happens. Padahal gue sudah benar-benar pikir bakal selesai soalnya filmnya rasanya sudah panjanggg sekaliii lebih panjang dari rangkaian KRL dua belas gerbong.

Ceritanya jadi membingungkan buat gue karena seperti ada sub-plot yang nyempil-nyempil, kayak Rini dan anak pak ustadz, bapak tua reporter majalah Maya, omongan bapak dan ibu di penghujung usia ibu yang nggak ke-reveal di filmnya padahal ditanya, Bondi yang mendadak emo sejak dihantui tapi mendadak normal tanpa konklusi, dan lain-lain deh. Plot twist-nya juga bukan ngagetin tapi malah bikin bingung karena the turn is too abrupt? But again, maybe all of this is a grand build-up for a sequel? Who knows? Because I sure don't. Yang gue tahu sih, saking detailed-nya cerita filmnya, gue malah jadi merasa detached dan nggak terhantui gitu. Jadi sekadar simpati saja sama keluarga itu kenapa tragis banget ya hidupnya. Mungkin harus nonton di teater 4DX agar terasa seperti menjadi Toni.

Verdict: ★★★★
Sempat baca postingan sutradaranya, Joko Anwar, di Instagram yang chat ke temannya, katanya Pengabdi Setan (2017) tidak seram dan lebih ke drama. Mungkin itu cuma omongan buat ngebujuk temannya, tapi gue setuju, sih. HAHA. Tapi buat gue filmnya recommended sih! Wajib nonton! If not for the thrill, supaya gaul saja karena yang nonton banyak banget sudah 2 juta lebih. Yakin mau ketinggalan jaman dan nggak ngerti meme ibu sudah bisa? Filmnya bagus kok, suer! Semua review yang gue tulis di atas itu subjektif karena gue memang gak terlalu affected dengan hiburan berbau horror, jadi come and meet ibu yourself!

Friday 15 September 2017

dora the explorer • from up my Studio Ghibli dream


TOTORO WAS IN TOWN!!

I was a little bummed when they announced about the ~World of Ghibli Exhibition in Jakarta~ because hot damn, the ticket price is not as affordable as I, a college student, can wish for. Also, I do not have too much Ghibli friends (or so I thought) and I do not want to be that awkward solo weirdo that's lurking around alone with huge overexcited smile and a camera. Thankfully, Kevin and Alvin, my school friends, came as my saving grace after an impromptu late night convo about buy one get one Kamikaze on Instagram.


Long story short, I sort of third-wheel them on their ~not date but death~ endeavor (´ε` )♡

(I'm kidding. Kevin asked me if I want to go.)

I do not really remember my first encounter with Studio Ghibli goodness, but I remember that となりのトトロ/My Neighbor Totoro is the one that got me in.

I think I watch it in grade school once? It was quite hazy but I am one of the younger kids in my big family and my brother and cousins are like... Old. And they taught me a lot about pop culture earlier than most of my same-aged friends, I guess? I mean, they let me play World of Warcraft on their computer and read their copies of Harry Potter. It also helped that my father is an IT guy so we have our own PC and internet earlier than most households. And any kids my age can testify that the telly used to broadcast a plethora of anime during our prime time television hours.

So yeah, pretty exposed to foreign popular culture there.

(Still can't get me hooked up into American comic books, though. That's for Jason. The most American entertainment I did enjoy growing up is probably Disney.)


Anyway, back to Ghibli.

I then encountered My Neighbor Totoro again in middle school, during an English test. I forgot what the test was about but the teacher lets us watch the film while waiting for our turn. I remember thinking, "Hey, I've seen this!" and then proceed to get sucked into the story of Kusakabe family and their fluffy neighbor. I like them a lot. The pictures are so pretty. Hence, praise the internet for the huge help, I delved into the awe-inspiring, beautiful, lovable world of Ghibli.

My favorite is of course My Neighbor Totoro. My family know, my friends know, even my bosses at my internship place know. The rest of the TOP 5 is probably Spirited AwayKiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and From Up On Poppy Hills. No Grave of the Fireflies because it makes me sad, although it got a special mention because it made everyone cry.


Alrighty! With all those boring recap of my history with Studio Ghibli and popular culture in general, let's now talk about the event! The whole ~World of Ghibli Exhibition in Jakarta~ thing actually started with monthly screening of Studio Ghibli films, which I was super excited about because I never saw any of these films on a big screen. I only managed to watch them once because it's on selected cinemas only and all of them are so far away from my house, but yeah, I saw Spirited Away with my friend sitting on my right and A FAMOUS INDONESIAN FILM DIRECTOR ON MY LEFT and I think she's a bit weirded out because I am too excited and smiley and fidgety.

But it's okay because it's dark.

She doesn't even know me.

Then the exhibition opened last month and the review was bad at first it made me worried and skeptical. But I am glad that we went to this exhibition because IT MADE MY DAY SO SO SO MUCH. I think it is the best day of my life. I mean, did you guys see that big and fluffy Totoro??? Well, they also have Nekobus (Eng: Cat Bus, also from My Neighbor Totoro franchise) that is as fluffy as Totoro and we can get in them! I feel like I completed an unknown, deep down from my heart bucket list item as soon as I stepped inside of them.


To explain it briefly: I was so happy that my chin can't lie about it. Also my eyes are just two lines from smiling too hard.

Contrary to the review by the masses, the exhibition is well-managed. There are a lot of staffs milling around ready to help you take photos or explain about stuffs. They can explain about Ghibli films too, for those people who tag along because their beau is going and do not actually know what's happening. It is a good decision to go on a weekday, because from what I saw on the internet (and this one Saturday when I visited Pacific Place Mall, the venue of the event) the crowd are quite crazy on the weekends. So, we happily zipped everywhere, took photos here and there, with little to no queue.

There's this one moment when I just can't get enough of the Totoro floofiness that Kevin teased me that I held the line so I just went, "I am sorry but I love Totoro too much, I apologize but I have to take selfies with them!" to a mom with her child (which were next in line) and she just went, "It's okay I understand we are the same! I want to take lots of photos with Totoro too!" and we low-key fangirl together and I helped them took photos.


I enjoy how well-made the exhibitions are. The Kiki's bakery is very detailed with real breads coated in resin, bottles of jams and sodas, and authentic props like old telephone, cashier, and scale. What got Kevin fascinated though, is the standing broom that he can't comprehend just because it is standing. He repeatedly asked why and how and stare at that broom questionably. He is weird sometimes, heheh. Same details was applied to The Kusakabe's house. I am awed by the way they created the beautifully designed organized mess of the father's office. Kevin's cousin, who's an architecture student, is a part of the team that work on this display, so shoutout to her! (≧∇≦)/



THE HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE IS AMAZING TOO! Super astonished by the details of this display. The intricate design was recreated nicely. It is one of the top notch display in the exhibitions, but I think the lack of background and additional knick-knacks sort of bring down the mood for this one. But I guess making the castle alone is a hard enough job, haha.



But I think their best and most well-made part of the exhibition is the Laputa: Castle in the Sky? It is at the very front part of the venue and they have so many things to display, from the flower robot to floating ships. A very grand welcome indeed, after I made my friends stay in the dark auditorium waiting for My Neighbor Totoro's trailer (which never come, although Kevin has already hummed through a lot of Joe Hisaishi's music). Just next to it is the Spirited Away display, which was almost as grand, but I think lack something. Or probably it is just me feeling salty because I didn't met Kaonashi.

There's more exhibition, like Princess Mononoke, Porco RossoNausicaä, and what I think is Arriety? I didn't took too many pictures but Alvin did. I think she covered all of them, hahaha.

All in all, due to me liking Studio Ghibli works, I rate this exhibition 10/10!!

Me and my friends discussed a bit about this (mostly due to the ticket price versus us feeling really happy leaving the venue) and we thought that it is not for someone who doesn't like or familiar with Studio Ghibli. Like, there's no point in visiting if you're clueless. A bit different than like, in example, going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studio Japan, which you can still enjoy even though you are not into Harry Potter (like my friend's sister who just tag along because she didn't want to explore alone but ended up enjoying the Harry Potter Experience anyway).

Our happiness level was off the chart, tho. And we did have fun catching up, so the day is a win for me!


---
Most pictures taken with Kevin's cellphone.
I think it was Samsung Galaxy S7.

uni-verse × music monthly • you got me feeling like a papillon

I am still alive!

A lot of things happened since my last post in January. I sort of aced (and probably also assed) my thesis defense. I fidgeted and smiled a lot, answered the questions like one of my professors taught (word by word quotation translated into English: "That's a very interesting question, but..."), and cried a little because I had a feelings vomit right after I stepped out of the door. Well, a short awkward waiting minutes later, the professors declared that I made it. I officially survived the biggest turbulence of my filmmaking career in undergraduate school setting.

And here's few obligatory after-thesis-defense pictures:

(This is a screenshot from my Instagram page so please pardon the awkward cropping.)

What comes after is a whirlwind of minor revisions, going around hunting for the professors' signatures of approval for my thesis, and finally, finally submitting the bound hard cover copy of that seventy something papers to uni administration. All that while simultaneously trying to score an internship somewhere.

Internship was fun!

The people are very, very nice. What was not nice, however, is the golden hours of commuting back and forth from the big mother city (hehe, this is what my friends and I used to call Jakarta) to the tiny humble suburb I grew up in. I cannot emphasize just how brutal it was, hahaha. I got lots of boobs in my face situation when I am sitting and limbs (mine) to boobs (some random short in height mbak-mbak) contact when I am standing. Sometimes I can't feel the ground and resigned to just floating around with the masses like one giant big blob of atoms.



It was nicer at night, since the people ain't too tight. I guess the crowd went home earlier than I did?

Long story short, I did my internship, curated and salvaged some random most often times chronological plus several crappy footages and made few videos I proudly dubbed my babies. In between, I also got some kind of pneumonia and appendicitis warning. I got away pretty much unscathed, tho.


This is the office I spent my three months in. I love the windows, the view was pretty great! Some might say it's a premium ~river view~ but well, you know how crappy Jakarta's rivers are. The sunsets are quite golden, tho. I am very thankful to everyone in this small company for having me and letting me messes around with their travel footages and website's narratives. Although we have some Monster problem that has yet to be solved, according to my supervisor. I guess it's an old building so they got pests; a hoard of jelly beans loving pests. Huh.

[Side note - PROMO CORNER] Do check out my #InternLife babies here: Featuring: Kostuba Travel ✩°。⋆⸜(ू。•ω•。)

With my Final Project and Internship checked, I am finally (unofficially) done with my undergraduate gig! So now I am just being a dormant soul waiting for my official graduation certificate and ceremony like Rapunzel in her tower waiting for her life to begin. So, I guess what's next up in life is getting a proper job and all those adulthood things.

But! Before! That! I finally got a chance to go on legit holiday! (≧▽≦)

So the next time I write here, it'll most likely be about what I think is a well-deserved trip. I did my waiting!

Only four years of it, tho, with random day outs in between. Like that one time we went to the beach for final exam photoshoot, or a week in the middle of inhabited island shooting a short film, or hiking in the dark for yet to be used footages of fogs and sunrise, and let's not forget about planting some mangroves in an island far far away. Not that they weren't fun, it's just. I need a proper slow life time. Hehe.

So, I guess I'll wrap this post up with my monthly playlist (which I neglected for half a year, I'm sorry!):

2. 1-800-273-8255 • Logic, Alessia Cara, Khalid 
3.  Thunder • Imagine Dragon
4. Well Done Again My Friend • DAY6 (OKDAL English Cover)
5. How Far I'll Go • Auli'i Cravalho (from Disney's Moana)
6. Papillon • Jackson Wang
7. No Way • YUGYEOM ft. G2 (Prod. Effn)
8. Carry On Wayward Son • Kansas
9. Kids • Two Door Cinema Club
10. IMMATURE • WINNER

I guess this pretty much sum up my concerns for the future to come and some reassurance and power songs to go through it. Hehe. Well, I am sorry in advance but there's various forms of GOT7 in that list (although none of them are as a whole group) because I enjoy their solos/unit a lot too. And it's quite a short list with 50:50 K-songs and Western because I think I either: 1) Listen to too much royalty free songs of various genres for videos during my internship that I lost my groove or 2) Marathoning too much videos on the internet that consisted too much of people talking so music is kinda secondary? IDK.

---
(Title taken from Jackson Wang's Papillon)

Sunday 8 January 2017

music monthly • look alive, sunshine!

New Year, New Me! Or, whatever.

I started the year feeling very lethargic, I don't even know what to do with myself. It doesn't make sense; I'm supposed to be a little bit happy and very nervous. The professors at school are currently deciding whether my group's final project and our thesis are acceptable for defense sessions. But like, I'm just so done because we basically spent last year working on our project and it's very tiring that I want to take a very long vacation as a retaliation.

But of course I wish really hard that our project that we spent so long doing (which includes early morning hiking, paranormal activities, loads of Chinatown visitations, countless meetings in the cramped space called our Producer's dorm room, and everything else) passed the judgement day so we can have our thesis defenses.

Feeling down makes me listen to a lot of songs in hope that it will heal me or cheer me up. Most of time, I ended up skipping everything until I find one that I can repeat endlessly. Overtime, I collected a playlist of "healing songs" - today I shall share them with you guys:

1. Utopian Dream • Pure Saturday
2. Pangeran Kesepian • Sweta Kartika
3. Na Na Na • My Chemical Romance
4. Adelaide Sky • Adithia Sofyan
5. 우산 (Umbrella) • EPIK HIGH
6. 컬러링 (COLOR RING) • WINNER
7. Sempurna • Andra and The Backbone
8. Anugerah Terindah Yang Pernah Kumiliki (+ Itu Aku) • Sheila on 7
9. The Hell Song • SUM41
10. Sahabat Kecil • Ipang Lazuardi
11. My Favorite Things • The Sound of Music
12. Numb • Linkin Park
13. Light It Up • OneRepublic
14. Starlight • Muse
15. How To Save A Life • The Fray
16. By My Side • David Choi

OK, maybe for something healing, several songs ended up being slightly hard. Aha. Sometimes we just need something we can shout along to, right? Or at least groove or bop with. I believe that it's the best way to release some repressed feelings. Hehe. <3

Anyway, I featured some Indonesian musicians in this list. Listening to the familiar language soothes me in a way. Nowadays, I can almost hold a proper convo in English without breaking a sweat; but the tongue I used ever since I'm able to talk will forever be dear to me. It is nice to listen to my mother language when I'm sad, because it invokes feelings prominently.

(Although I still can't speak it in casual setting without feeling awkward sometimes.)

I've been a fan of Sheila on 7 for the longest time; at least since I'm old enough to understand "grown-up" songs - so, late elementary school maybe? The band is very nostalgic to me because I used to cover their songs with my friends, and just randomly have sing-off sessions everywhere with everyone using their songs. It's very hard to decide which of their song that I want to feature in this list, actually :(

Okay I should stop before I babble too much. I hope that you can find that these songs are healing for you too. For this year, let's keep fighting! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶

• • •

(Title taken from the intro of Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance.)

Saturday 7 January 2017

film reel



A showreel of the films I made in college.

It made me feel bittersweet, making this. It's been almost four years since I decided to learn how to make a film properly; minus the foundation year, it's been almost three years since I started. It's been crazy, tiring, but very enjoyable.

Hopefully, you can find that the results are enjoyable too.
:)