Reviews

I didn't read the book, didn't know it even existed... and wow, did I like the movie! This is how movies should be made. Imagination is the right source for any movie, any book, any piece of art. Imagination helps children to grow up in a world full of nasty adults who can't keep their hands of their children anymore without thinking filthy, without abusing them, without giving them hope for a future. This movie is how Disney should be. Nice to have 3D animated features, but the combination of animation and real images like in this movie is much better. It even gives adults the chance to go back in time, remembering those moments we all had our own day dreams, imaginary friends and worlds of fantasy we would like to escape to. And a movie like this with such a great cast working together, makes it even a bigger pleasure to watch. Can we please get some kind of sequel??

Exiting times in Indonesia! two Indonesian films defeate the 3rd movie in 'The Matrix' Trilogy. But the one that everyone's eyes are at is 'Arisan!'. 3 Close friends live a normal life, that is, at first look. After a while we see them strugle with unhappiness in different forms. Meimei hears from her Doctor that she won't be able to become pregnant and sees her husband run away. Andien's husband slept with someone else, and Sakti -who is gay- is afraid that his mother or best friend Meimei might find out that he is.

Well, she finds out, but in a way he never imagined she would.

This film is the first BIG HIT in Indonesia where it is all about 'coming out'. Sakti and Nino will learn that in modern Indonesia, being gay is as normal as in other countries (far from the reality, but common in some areas of Indonesia).

Screaming girls in the cinema when Sakti and Nino first kiss. No sensor in Indosia, and that is surprising!!

Over all, this film is not only good because it doesn't show any stereo type Indonesian gays (mostly transsexuals or overacting feminate gays), but two people like everone else. It is also a film technically quite good, although the editing could have been better.

Two thumbs up for Arisan!

When I saw this movie in the cinema (to confirm I did not watch this on tv and it has never been on tv yet!) i started with high expectations. It seems that finally the Chinese community in Indonesia receives some recognition after being discriminated for ages and still being discriminated in many areas of life in Indonesia today. The movie tells us about a woman who goes back to Indonesia to find out about her parents: who they were , what they did. The movie starts with the worst scene of the whole film...she meets with supposed relatives, a bunch of young actors, full with make-up to make them look old. It is the worst thing of the movie, but luckely it is only for a couple of minutes so we can forget about this asap. The story in itself is interesting: a young prostitute gets saved by one of her customers, a Chinese businesman, to the dislike of many others who see him as a treath for their business. Happiness seems to be found till the moment the man gets arrested for making false banknotes. He escapes later to Thailand, and while his ennemies think he is death, he is preparing to come back and fight the Japanese who occupied Indonesia. But not only his old enemies are there, he also made new enemies and the supposedly happy ending soon becomes a sad ending. At moments, the movie is very interesting, with backflashes in black and white, and the leading actor (Salim) is doing a great job. However, the lack of experiences by the other actors, and the terrible way they articulate everything they say, makes this movie to one of the less interesting movies of the last years made by Indonesians. The book though is very interesting, and it could have been a great movie. However, it is not a bad movie, and at times entertaining and showing us much about Indonesian-Chinese culture and history. if you get a chance, rent the VCD and watch it (it only lasted a short time in the cinema).

I must admit, I am a huge Disney fan. but don't get me wrong, I am also an animation fan. And nothing wrong about the annimation or the voices. Watching Shrek the first time is funny and a lot of pleasure. Teasing Disney is no problem, and at times even funny to recognize situations like "a small world'. However, there is one big difference with Disney. After I saw Shrek 3 times, things get predictable, and some jokes are annoying and no longer funny at all. As where Disney classics are real classics : some I have seen more than 25 times, and they can still make me laugh, make me cry or make me part of the adventure. Shrek is a one time thing for me, no need to buy on video, vcd or dvd. Watching it 3 times in the cinema was enough for me. I rather keep expanding my Disney classics movies.....

After seeing this movie for the second time, I must admit: My oppinion about this movie changed completely. This movie tells the story about 5 girls, heart to heart friends, who share their most inner secrets. This friendship gets damaged when one of the girls (Cinta) falls in love with a handsome, sometimes cool, classmate (Rangga) and she keeps this secret for herself. Their love gets tested when one of the girls ends up in the hospital after Cinta ignores her phonecall due to her date with Rangga. The girls get back together and Cinta and Rangga? To know the answer you HAVE to wathc this movie.

This movie is unlike other Indonesian movies, a film from this millenium. The world of (upperclass) Indonesian teenagers (expensive houses, their own rooms with stereo, driving cars), but the average teenager from Indonesia recognizes him/herself in this drama. Comments and sighs are heard throughout the whole movie, and when the times seem to come that the two young lovers are going to kiss, the whole audience participates and encourages them. Before the kiss comes though, they have to wait a long time...

Picture, sound, music, acting, it all shows that Indonesian filmmakers are on the move, and that somehow the time for Hollywood is over. Films from Indonesia, Asia, new Zealand and Uk are doing better than movies from the USA, and the Asian audience as well as many westerners discover that there is more than Hollywood. hopefully the time comes that Indonesian movies get recognition by the international audience and that the films made in Bollywood get the same quality as this little jewel from Indonesia. Thumbs up for this teenage drama!!!

Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? What is wrong with love? that's a good question after having seen this movie. The movie never really becomes interesting for the intelligent audience. It is a story about love yes, but nothing special when you compare it to all the awful cinetron's (local soaps) that haunts the Indonesian television stations. "Ada apa dengan cinta" is just a soap for the cinema, and it does atract mostly teenagers. Well, it is actually about teenage love, and most teens who watch this movie think it is a movie in western style, different from the local Indonesian blockbusters. The actors however are really acting like amateurs, the story never gets really exiting, although the screams of some teenagers during the movie make you think you are watching a drama like "Shakespeare in love". Indonesian teenagers scream at any movie... For me it was very boring, although the picture and sound quality are much better than most Indonesian movies I have seen so far. I am not going to say that you should not see it, you have to judge for yourself, like you have to do with every movie. But if you expect something special from Indonesia that will perform well on the international filmfestivals, you've got it wrong. For that, Indonesian actors will need more training (especially their way of talking is overdramatic), and the Indonesian filmindustry will need more funds. Maybe the succes of movies like "Jelangkung" and "Ada apa dengan cinta?" will bring financial resources to make something more beautyfull?

Lifting on the succes of others seems to be an easy thing. It can lead to succes or failure. Jelangkung is about a group of 4 young people, setting of to seek for a ghost believed to be somewhere in the forest. The ghost was living in the body of a young boy, which got killed ritualy but who's spirit seems still alive. The four young people, encounter many frightning moments, and set the spirit free which starts to haunt them. Finally they want to bring back the spirit to his grave, but it is too late.... Filmed with a handy-cam (?) the images make your eyes feel tired after the first minute, and the chosen music is not the best choice I can say. There are some exiting moments however, and the audience screams at certain times even though not much is happening. At least it is a local succes, the audience in Indonesia does NOT like Indonesian movies, but this one is a blockbuster and theaters are sold out. Playing at the same opening days like Harry Potter it may come as a surprise. My advice, if you like the Blair Witch project, go and see it, if you did not like that one, don't see this one ether.

No difficult story, not to much thought about what people would think : just go for it and make a funny movie. It is the first time since months that I have been laughing in the cinema. With Shrek I could laughed the first time, the second time it was less, and the third time it was boring. "Evolution" is more exiting than Jurassic Park 3, and funnier than Dolittle 2. Great, I needed it after so much misery this week in the world news!

When this play was shown on tv, it had already been played in many theaters around the country. It was the first time in Holland that someone took the courage to make aids a subject of discussion for the big public. The story is simple: a young man discovers he has aids, and we see the people around him do what everybody would do. Deny, ignore, help, encourage: all kind of human reactions are shown through the mother, the boyfriend and friends. After all the great musicals, Jos Brink and his partner Frank Sanders took the step to take a heavy subject on stage instead of laughter. Great. Thanks!

If you have ever doubted about a relation between human beings and the animalworld....you have to see this movie! It is not about proving the evolution theory, it is just a funny look at the behaviour of people and animals, and how much they are alike. Bert Haanstra proved with this film (and many others) that he is one of the greatest directors the Dutch cinema ever had and will have.

If Jacky Chan wanted to make a commercial, he should have, but not this movie full with promotion of the companies who sponsored him. Beside that the film is to long, with an unnecessary long ride in the truck, and a stupid ending in Italy. It is not exciting, it is not funny, and it never should have been made.

I was 10, hiding under the dining table, while my parents thought I was asleep, I was watching Oh! Calcutta on the Dutch tv. It was an eyeopener for me, and though it caused a lot of upheaval in the media the next day, it showed that times where changing and that people no longer let there lives be ruled by others but made choices for themselves. In some ways, Oh! Calcutta was just fun. And the music was definately good. It is only a few years ago that it was first shown in Israel...a sign that in some countries of the world you are not as free as in others. Where gay marriage is normal in Holland, and gays are put to prison or to death in some other countries, sexual freedom is also not the same everywhere. Oh! Calcutta was a clear sign of the times, and still is a pleasure to watch.

The titles already gives something away:(in the dialect from Amsterdam). This is the REAL story about the life of prostitutes in the famous red light district of Amsterdam in the sixties. Based on the book with the same title, it tells about the drama's happening in the life of prostitutes (like the trouble with pimps) and the fun with strange customers... The actors are mainly chosen from commediants and those who have experience in Amsterdam Music Theater, which enables them to give a humorous view on the not to happy lives of prostitutes and using the real accent that people of Amsterdam speak it makes you feel like living next door, able to watch the customers come in and go out every day.

I don't know how many versions there are of the famous Christmas Carol. The oldest versions and the one from Disney are the best I think. Some more recent versions are all terrible, but this one from 88 is an excellent one. Of course, it seems that there is a group of fans devided into two. Fans of American humor, fans of Brittis humor. I tend to prefer the last one. This version of Blackadder is Brittish humor at its best, and I never can get enough of it.

What no one ever though happened. A Japanese movie about boys being gay, uncensored, and explicit. It is a hit: the movie is not only a must for Japanese gays struggling with their coming out, but also a great drama. The cast plays very natural and it is a movie to watch over and over again without getting bored. The use of light and darkness makes it a kind of Rembrandt-like picture.

I watched this movie while I was in Taiwan, Keelung, and I regret the fact that I have never seen it in Dutch cinema, not even in the Film theaters (where they show movies from the theaters around the world, beside the hollywood blockbusters).

This movie is touching and tells more about the struggle of the two women the man is in love with than the man himself. It is one of the classic books of Taiwan and it is a must for everyone who likes Asian cinema or is hooked on drama. Made in 1994 it looks like one of those classic movies from the 30-ies, and it kept my attention till the last moment.

If someone says that this movie sucks, then it is clear to me that they don't understand the movie at all. Most important of all: you HAVE to have read the books of the author (gerard van het Reve) to understand all the movies based on his books. Most of his stories are autobiographic and tell about complicated (SM) relationships. The caracters in this movie show a diversity of creatures, one more vulnarable than the other, but all trying to survive in a world (at that time, the sixties) where being gay was not concidered as normal as it is now. Chiem made a real good movie, just like he can write great comedies. i am sure he made this movie with a smile as well!

finally a movie, not only based on a real story, but also full of humor of a worldclass, showing that comedy is a genre that has always been ignored by the academy, and that humor is not something made in the usa. The typical american humor which often is NOT funny gets here an example that humor can be simple and touching at the same time. This movie also shows that we no longer have to look for the usa to see a good movie. The USA has always ignored good movies, and still does at the Osacrs every year. A terrible movie as 'cast away' or Gladiator gets all the credits where great movies like Himalaya, Village of dreams, Unagi, Billy Elliot, and others should win. Luckely the public outside the USA does understand that there is more than the typical us movies with always the same storyline: someones gets killed, in between there is time for some sex or a simple kiss, curses and faul language has to do the rest. But that's definately not it. Iron ladies is a film that touches the heart, shows us to have respect for everyone's lifestyle and no longer ignore that people, gay, lesbian, transsexual are all likes us, but it shows that making a good movie can be done without dollars and hollywood studio's.