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Reviews
Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (2002)
A Breakthrough in Indonesian Cinema...
... even if it is a teen movie. Is this what you Indo fan girls wanted to hear?
AADC is about a girl aptly named Cinta (literal translation in English is love) who is a relatively secure and popular girl in her cosy little clique. She writes a poem about her and her friends for a competition and completely expects to win. Of course she doesn't... she is beaten by a mysterious boy named Rangga and that's when her intrigue is peaked. He er... rocks her world. (yiew!)
AADC has a beautiful cast. Dian (Cinta), of course, totally took the acting cake. But I've always wondered whether or not it was Nikolas' (Rangga)frigidity in his first major movie that truly gave his character credibility. And compared to most films, the supporting cast aren't too melodramatic for the average western viewer (who although have probably been exposed to cringe-worthy overacting, might not have experienced serious eyebrow/eye/mouth action... unless you've seen Emma Watson in HP and the Goblet of Fire).
It's moving, it pulls at your average teenage girl (or just plain female... OK fine, EVERYONE'S) heartstrings, it's situation of verboten love and coincidences are only semi-believable...
But what really makes AADC different and worth watching when you could watch every love-comedy teen flick under the western sun is that it provides something that I probably would not have accepted if it wasn't Indonesian. AADC isn't about a bet, lust, or so much of a highschool social hierarchy. Cinta and Rangga come together under their appreciation of the arts (as far as the arts can go in a Indo teen flick). Sure there's angst... but it's such good angst! My only gripes are the following: Upon my first viewing of AADC, I was told that this movie was controversially the first teen movie to have a kissing scene in it. My shock aside, I eagerly awaited this so called kissing scene. It came and it went I tried my best to reflect on whether on not the absence on one would have taken anything away.
In the end, I decided that the film was set well enough not to have a kiss. It was good enough as it was, if not better. The relationship between the two characters was set so well that I didn't feel the need for a kiss to know that my favourite couple would get it on.
There was just about only one scene in the movie that I totally wanted to slash into pieces, hide in my pillows and cry out in despair. And it was the dancing scene. Although the film makers could put in down to establishing to the audiences that Cinta's group have good times dancing like a wriggly worms imitating a pop girl-band, let it be said that that fact was already demonstrated through witty dialogue etc.
BTW- I watched AADC first with English subtitles, then without them (pausing whenever there was fast Indoensian chatter).
I give AADC approximately 6.5 out of 10.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Quite good... for the first half
First off, I'd like to say that I came into the cinema pretty much with high expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed the first installment and jumped at the first chance I got to see it. So having watched it three and a half hours ago on opening day, take into account that I've probably yet to digest the whole movie.
So we all know Pirates 2 and 3 were filmed back to back, yeah? What i hadn't expected was the movies to seem like they were meant to watched that way. Pirates 2 doesn't have much of an ending... and while it launches off very well the last half hour was almost a bit painful.
During the movie I was reminded of King Kong (the recent one) and LOTR (particularly the Ents with a certain character).
As for the actors...
Orlando look rather dashing... that's all I'll say for that. Johnny Depp was pretty good as usual, although his accent swayed a bit. Less than Bill Nighy's - which I'm not so sure but should have been Scottish. As for Keira Knightly, I couldn't really get passed the fact that in most shots it seemed like she was always trying to make her nose narrower.
I think I'd definitely rush to see the third installment. What Pirates 2 really set out well was some real solid (and scary) antagonists. Although there wasn't too much of a resolve (at all) at the end and as much as i understood that a lot was probably sacrificed to set up the third. In quite honesty, the last minute/scene/shot pretty much killed it. Plain cheesy even. It devastated me.
The special effects and make up were particularly well done. Nothing look unrealistic (as far as seas monster go) at all. So that was really satisfying. Especially boot strap Bill... I thought the attached starfish and muscles was completely genius.