Movie Marathon: Benedict Cumberbatch

Wow it's been a long time since I had my last movie marathon. Now that I'm back to the hectic days of college, I start to do another movie marathon, despite the bigger and more tasks coming up on me.

Yep, this time is Benedict Cumberbatch's turn! But before that, I want to apologize to myself because I've said in previous movie marathon post that I would either choose one of these actors: Jeremy Renner, Tom Cruise, Shia LaBeouf, Anton Yelchin -- but apparently I didn't do it. I just had the mood for the charming Cumberbatch. Let's find out why I chose him.

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, simply known as Benedict Cumberbatch (simply?! It's like one of the longest two-words names lol) is, of course, one of my favorite actors of all time. You may or may not know him. If I wrote this post on, let's say, two or three years ago, you might not know him. But it's freaking 2013 now. Who doesn't watch -- at least know -- Sherlock, the BBC mini-series, or Star Trek Into Darkness? Oh, please.

Benny came from an entertainer family. Both of his parents (Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham) are actors. Maybe that's why he decided to become an actor -- a GOOD one! Because of his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, he was nominated for Best Actor in BAFTA TV Award, Golden Globe Award, and Primetime Emmy Award. His performance in Parade's End also earned him a nomination in Emmy. And so many other awards that he won or just to be nominated. It was good, right? Brilliant!
Well, since he is British, his accent is just WOW! In addition, his unique and handsome face got him SO many fans, who called themselves "Cumberbitches". I love him, I love him sooooo much, but I wouldn't call myself a "bitch" though -_- And in several interviews or talk shows, he showed an objection over that name. He called his fans "Cumbercollective" instead. Ah, I don't care about the name. What matters is that we, his fans, are here supporting him forever. *tsaaahhh*

So, what makes you decided to do Benedict Cumberbatch movie marathon?
Same like RDJ's, this was my second BC movie marathon. The first one was last year, right after I saw him on Sherlock (see my blog post about it here) and I got this starstruck, so I was looking for some of his movies. I was crazy, crayzaaaaayy, about him that time (I still am though haha), because he portrayed my favorite fictional character very well, and he is so handsome! Any objection about this? Hahaha you better not. Other reason is I watched him in various talk shows (Jimmy Fallon, Graham Norton, Alan Carr: Chatty Man) and I was like "Oh, man, I need to watch all his movies again". Well, I did the movie marathon finally, but not all of them, just the ones I could find. Plus, because Benny is also a TV actor, I watched several TV series that he had appeared in.
In fact, this was the shortest movie marathon I've ever had. If we count only the movies, I finished them in only 3 days! Hahaha. It was weekend, from Saturday to Monday, non-stop watching Benedict Cumberbatch. But, the TV series marathon is still going on right now -- I currently watch Parade's End, and I will watch Sherlock some time before the premiere of series 3 hehe.

Here's the list of his movies, according to the time I watched them:
1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2. Hawking
3. Small Island
4. The Whistleblower
5. Atonement
6. Van Gogh: Painted with Words
7. The Other Boleyn Girl
8. Third Star
9. War Horse
10. Starter For 10
11. Wreckers
12. Marple: Murder Is Easy
13. Stuart: A Life Backwards
14. Star Trek Into Darkness
15. Inseparable (short film)  
16. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

And this is the list of his TV/mini-series that I watched:
1. To the Ends of the Earth
2. Fortysomething (playing Hugh Laurie's son. I repeat, HUGH LAURIE!)
3. The Last Enemy
4. Parade's End
5. Sherlock

PLUS, I also watched the stage production of Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle, in which he played two alternating roles of Victor Frankenstein and The Creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller, with whom he also shares the iconic role of Sherlock Holmes (Miller plays Holmes in Elementary).

After watching all of them, do you have any specific movies that you've been into?
Yes, of course. Benny is a GREAT actor, and every role he has portrayed is pretty much memorable. Well, I will only list the movies, not the TV series because hey, it's actually a movie marathon! And since I only watched 16 movies of his, I could short-review all of them (?) or maybe just a few. Let's just start.

The first, well this one is my favorite character of his after Sherlock Holmes, it's Star Trek Into Darkness! You don't need to explain much about the movie because it got me at "Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain". Plus, it's the sequel of the freaking Star Trek! It's got Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, AND Simon Pegg. Awesome, huh?! Just put Benny's name between theirs and it's million times more awesome! So, Benny's villain in this movie is known under the name of John Harrison, a renegade Starfleet officer who was apparently having his own hidden agenda after bombing a secret Section 31 installation in London. The Enterprise crews were ordered to catch and kill him, not knowing his true intention. Sounds convincing, huh? Yes! And I love the handsome villains like Loki and Sylar (hey, he's in this movie too, lol!). The movie is even better, guys. If you haven't watched it yet, well, shame on you!

The second is Third Star. Most of you guys probably don't know this movie. That's okay, I'll review it for you and make you want to check this movie hehe. Benny played James, a young man terminally ill with cancer. He knew that he wouldn't live any longer, so he set a last hiking trip to his favorite place on Earth, Barafundle Bay, with his three closest friends. Yep, it's a simple drama, but I've got to tell you guys, I couldn't stop crying when watching this. Sure this was not a truly tearjerker drama, but it hit me hard, really hard. I don't know, maybe because I have best friends, we get along really well like James and his friends, but this movie proved that even best friends could be teared apart by a simple behavior or statement. Really, this movie is very recommended. If you don't like a "quiet" drama, then don't watch this. This movie didn't use much music/score, but like I said, it still could make me cry. Also, I love movies about guys' friendship more than girls'.

The third is Stuart: A Life Backwards, a TV movie -- which you probably never heard before. Ok, for the heads up, this movie had Benedict Cumberbatch AND Tom Hardy as its lead actors. It was enough to convince me to watch it, even though I had no idea what this movie was about until I saw it. So, it was based on a biography of a writer and charity worker Alexander Masters, played by Benny in this movie, about his friend Stuart Shorter (Hardy), a homeless alcoholic. They met and struck up an unlikely friendship as Alexander learned and wrote about Stuart's complicated life, violent past, and traumatic childhood, in backwards.

The fourth is Hawking. Again, this is a TV movie based on Stephen Hawking's life when he was first diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age 21. In spite of that, Stephen Hawking (Benedict Cumberbatch) still tried to live his life as the PhD student at Cambridge University and was in the middle of his research of "beginning of time". You know, Benny is very good at portraying this kind of roles. He looked like he was really sick, and it kind of broke my heart. I wasn't sure if it caused by Benny, the good actor, or Stephen Hawking, the real-life figure who actually has this rare illness. Anyway, this was the breakout role for Benny I think. He was nominated for BAFTA TV Award. And he was only 28 at that time.

The fifth is Marple: Murder Is Easy. This one was actually an episode of a TV series, but let's just consider it as a movie because Benny only appeared for one episode. So, before Sherlock Holmes, he had portrayed another detective, Luke Fitzwilliam. In this movie, Luke was working together with Miss Marple -- yep, it's that famous character by Agatha Christie -- to investigate seemingly accidental deaths that occurred in a village of Wychwood. Since I enjoy any detective stories, I love this one, even though it didn't satisfy me. Still, Benny looked super handsome in this :p

The sixth is War Horse. Of course you know this one -- an Oscar-nominated movie by an Oscar-winning director, Steven Spielberg. He's one of my favorite directors, so I can't miss this one. War Horse told the story of Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) and his beloved horse, Joey. Well, I could say that the main character of this movie was the horse itself, as it was traveling around the England after it was sold to a young cavalry officer Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston -- yes it's THAT Hiddleston, guys!!!). Like Tom's, Benny's role in this movie was small, but important. He played Major Jamie Stewart, the commander of the cavalry. Great movie, made me cry too. Also, who can resist Irvine, Cumberbatch, AND Hiddleston (they are my favorite British guys!) in one movie?

I think that's it. Don't worry, those were just the movies that I wanted to short-review, but I will still at least tell you each of memorable characters played by Benny from his movies (sorry, can't tell you all of them).
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Peter Guillam, a partner of Gary Oldman's character, George Smiley.
Atonement - Paul Marshall, a creep (find out why I said this by watching the movie, guys...)
Van Gogh: Painted with Words - Vincent Van Gogh -- you must know him, come on.
Starter for 10 - Patrick Watts, a strict, ambitious leader of University Challenge team, which looked like he could have an exciting battle of brains with The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper.
Wreckers - David, an ordinary husband whose secrets slowly uncovered as his brother, Nick, came and ignited a sibling rivalry.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Necromancer, a mysterious figure. Benny provided a performance capture, and a voice for latter movies.

Wow, it's a long post despite a very small amount of movies that I watched haha. Anyway, what's next for our Cumberbatch? You can catch him as Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate (it was already out in US, and I haven't watched it because it didn't come out in my country), critically-acclaimed 12 Years a Slave, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (only voice and performance capture), and star-studded August: Osage County. And Benny has already signed for a few movies in the future, so I guess we have to wait patiently!

"I've been very lucky at what's happened in my career to date, but playing something as far from me as possible is an ambition of mine -- anything from a mutated baddy in a comic book action thriller, to a detective."

- Benedict Cumberbatch

See you in the next movie marathon post!
(Well, this time I won't give any candidates haha. I will do any actors' movie marathon according to my mood :p)

Pics were taken from Google, then were made into a collage by me.

#horrorshortstory (Episode 3 - Halloween Edition)

Nope, I'm not celebrating Halloween. There's no such thing in my country. But, I'm always excited about this because I'm a horror fan.

It's been a LONG time (2 years!) since I posted the latest #horrorshortstory. Why uses hashtag? I don't know, maybe because those posts first came from my tweets, then I turned them into blog posts. This time, I didn't tweet about #horrorshortstory on my Twitter. Funny story actually. Today -- Thursday, October 31 2013, is Halloween day. And tomorrow is Friday, also known as "Studio Day" for us the 3rd semester Architecture students. So, I write this episode of #horrorshortstory directly to this blog because I have so many drawing tasks to done.
Funny... or horror?

Anyway, let's enjoy this.

• *knock knock* "Trick or treat!" | *opens door* "Go away or your head is gonna be my next Jack-o'-lantern."
• "Mom, look at that balloon! It looks like Daddy's head!" | And so the Mom finally knows why her husband didn't come home last night.
• *at a Halloween party* "I saw a beautiful chick dressed as a ghost lady whose body was bloody and perforated this big!" | "You realize that our school's Halloween theme this year is superheroes right?"
• "Who's that guy dressing as Wolverine?" | "It's not Wolverine, it's Freddy Krueger. And it's Freddy himself. And he's coming our way... RUN!!!"
• *fixing the car machine* "Ah, this is depressing. Dude, give me a hand." | That dude does what he's told. Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, a guy is screaming. He loses a hand.
• *in the car* "Whoa, that's a creepy laugh. May I change the radio station?" | "Uh... The radio is broken for months..."
• *a car hits something, the driver gets out* "Oh, God, what did I hit?" | "I think you just found my head, Sir, thank you."
• "Daddy, look! It's a cool motorcycle!" | "Honey, we're driving on a highway..."
• The amount of the sculptures in that old man's house increase as more missing person's fliers are distributed to the whole town.
• Going to a Halloween party alone. Everyone keeps admiring my wig, as no one dares to wear Sadako's costume. Wait. I'm pretty sure I dress as a witch.

It's too short, I know. And maybe it's not scary. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to my tasks and the movie Thor that I'm watching right now :p

Have a freaky Halloween, people! Watch out for Michael Myers.

Elementary, My Dear Sherlock Holmes(es) - Part 2

Continuing from the previous post, I will still talk about Sherlock Holmes. But this time is more specific -- I'm gonna talk about these recent Sherlock Holmes adaptations:
1. Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, films directed by Guy Ritchie
2. Sherlock, aired by BBC
3. Elementary, aired by CBS

Seperti yang sudah saya jelaskan sebelumnya, saya nggak bermaksud untuk membandingkan adaptasi-adaptasi ini satu sama lain. Saya di sini hanya sebatas mengoceh dan mengeluarkan pendapat, juga sekalian fangirling hehe. Saya suka semua adaptasi Sherlock Holmes, mulai dari jamannya Jeremy Brett di serial Sherlock Holmes (1984-1994), Nicholas Rowe di Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), sampai sekarang yang paling baru adalah Jonny Lee Miller di Elementary (2012, ongoing). Ada yang lebih baru lagi, yaitu serial Sherlock Holmes versi Rusia (diperankan Igor Petrenko), tapi belum tayang, mungkin sekitar musim gugur tahun ini.

Yuk ah, langsung aja kita bahas :D

PERHATIAN! Bagi kalian yang belum pernah menonton salah satu dari tiga adaptasi Sherlock Holmes yang sudah disebutkan di atas dan ada keinginan untuk menontonnya nanti, saya sarankan jangan baca posting ini. SPOILER ALERT! (Kecuali kalau kalian suka spoiler...)

WARNING! For those who haven't seen one of three Sherlock Holmes adaptations that I mentioned above and planning to watch them later, I suggest you to leave this post. SPOILER ALERT! (Except if you love spoiler...)

Beuh. Gaya banget pakai bilingual.

Okay. Ready, set, go!

Elementary, My Dear Sherlock Holmes(es) - Part 1

I've been wanting to blog about this since a long time ago. So, what is this post about?
Sesuai dengan judulnya, saya akan membahas tentang detektif paling keren sejagad raya alam semesta tata surya (apasih -_-)... SHERLOCK HOLMES!
 

Ya, saya cinta mentok sama detektif yang satu ini. Sayang banget dia itu cuma tokoh fiksi karangan Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Kabarnya, dalam mendeskripsikan karakter Holmes, Opa Doyle terinspirasi oleh beberapa orang yang ia kenal, seperti Joseph Bell--seorang dosen kedokteran yang suka mengambil kesimpulan akhir dari pengamatannya terhadap hal-hal kecil--dan Henry Littlejohn--seorang dokter bedah yang pernah bekerja dalam kasus kriminal. Nah, Opa Doyle menggabungkan kedua karakteristik dari dua orang itu dan... bam! Jadilah Sherlock Holmes :D

Sherlock Holmes menyebut dirinya sebagai seorang consulting detective di London. Apa itu consulting detective? Detektif yang dikonsultasikan atau dimintai bantuan dalam suatu kasus ketika kasus itu sangat sulit dipecahkan atau sudah berada di luar batas kemampuan polisi atau detektif lain. Holmes sering memecahkan kasus dengan analisis dan deduksinya yang luar biasa keren. Dalam petualangannya, Holmes ditemani oleh partner-nya Dr. John Watson yang tinggal bersamanya di 221B Baker Street, London. Holmes punya kakak, Mycroft Holmes, seorang pejabat pemerintahan.

Nah, itu tadi cuma segelintir tentang Sherlock Holmes. Kalau mau tahu lebih banyak, mari baca novelnya (sebagian besar menggunakan sudut pandang Dr. Watson) :D
Kita bahas tentang judul posting ini sebentar ya... Sebenarnya, kalimat itu berbunyi "Elementary, my dear Watson", sebuah catchphrase terkenal yang sering banget muncul kalau kita lagi bahas Sherlock Holmes. Tapi... Ada tapinya lho. Catchphrase ini nggak pernah benar-benar diungkapkan oleh Holmes. Cari deh tuh di semua novelnya, nggak ada kata-kata seperti ini. Memang sih, Holmes pernah bilang "elementary" dan memanggil Watson dengan "my dear Watson", tapi ini cuma spekulasi dari fans-nya aja walaupun sudah melanglangbuana.

Sherlock Holmes illustration by Sidney Paget (source)

Kecintaan saya pada detektif bermula dari komik Detektif Conan. Siapa coba yang nggak tahu Conan? Conan Edogawa garis miring Shinichi Kudo loh ya, bukan Conan the Barbarian. Jadi, waktu masih kelas 1 SD dulu di Pontianak, saya nonton animenya DC. Terus pas ke toko buku ada komiknya, saya beli deh tuh (ya, saya sudah jadi pecinta komik sejak kecil, thanks to my Mom :D) tapi komik Conan pertama yang saya beli itu nomor 9 karena nggak ada yang nomor 1. Akhirnya sama Mama dibeliin deh tuh 1-8, ngeborong gitu. Dan begitulah, saya terus beli Conan, mengoleksinya, sampai sekarang udah kuliah semester dua masih belum selesai komiknya. Buat Aoyama-sensei, pokoknya ending komik ini harus mantap tap tap, biar yang long time fan kayak saya bisa terharu biru bacanya dan nggak merasa 'percuma' udah koleksi banyak. Sejak baca Conan, saya jadi suka banget sama hal-hal berbau detektif. Bahkan, saya pengen ikut-ikutan jadi detektif.

Lho katanya mau bahas Sherlock Holmes, kok jadi melenceng ke Conan?
Eits, jangan salah. Di kehidupan saya, ngomongin Sherlock Holmes tanpa menyinggung Conan itu namanya pengkhianatan. Komik Conan-lah yang mengenalkan saya pada tokoh detektif legendaris itu. Di abad modern seperti ini, saya tahu dari mana lagi coba tentang Sherlock Holmes yang terkenal banget di tahun 1800-an? Dulu saya cuma demen sama komik, mana pernah nyentuh novel, apalagi novel 'berat'. Wajarlah, namanya juga anak kecil, senengnya kan lihat gambar. Tapi tokoh Conan a.k.a Shinichi di sini sangat amat mengidolakan tokoh detektif lain bernama Sherlock Holmes. Karena nama Holmes (dan Hercule Poirot juga) lumayan sering disebut di komik itu, saya search deh di Google. Bla, bla, bla, udah dapat banyak tuh informasi tentang Holmes, tapi masih belum tergerak untuk baca novelnya. Novel pertama yang saya baca adalah Laskar Pelangi-nya Andrea Hirata, itu pun karena dibeliin Papa. Setelah Laskar Pelangi, saya malah mulai menjamah teenlit, instead of reading Sherlock Holmes stories karena saya yakin ceritanya berat banget.

Dan dua tahun kemudian, tahun pertama saya di SMA, muncul film Sherlock Holmes yang disutradarai Guy Ritchie. Saya yang sudah lama 'melupakan' Holmes, langsung super duper happy pas tahu tentang film ini. Saya langsung mikir "Tau aja nih Hollywood kalau saya males baca novelnya." Apalagi, yang jadi Sherlock Holmes itu si Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man! How could I miss this movie? Hahaha. Akhirnya cussss deh nonton sama temen-temen. Reaksi saya? "SUMPAH KEREN BANGET AAAA SHERLOCK HOLMES I LOVE YOUUU!" Ya tapi saya nggak teriak-teriak kayak gitu di bioskop, aje gile -_- itu suara hati saya yang lega karena akhirnya bisa menyaksikan seperti apa Sherlock Holmes yang diidolakan Shinichi Kudo itu tanpa harus baca novelnya, sekaligus awal mula kegilaan saya terhadap detektif yang satu ini.

The many faces of Sherlock Holmes. Jonny Lee Miller belum masuk sini karena masih baru :)

Orang-orang yang lahir tahun 1900-an mungkin jarang atau bahkan tidak pernah mendengar nama Sherlock Holmes sebelumnya, kecuali para penggila novel detektif atau misteri. Padahal banyak adaptasi Sherlock Holmes, mulai dari serial TV sampai film, tapi kemunculan film Guy Ritchie inilah yang membuat orang-orang tahu tentang Sherlock Holmes. Thank you Guy Ritchie, thank you Robert Downey, Jr., thank you cast and crew! Setelah film ini muncul, novel-novel Sherlock Holmes pun dicetak ulang dengan cover baru, dan akhirnya saya beli novelnya! Hahaha. Semakin tua ternyata saya semakin suka sama yang berat-berat begini, mulai dari novel sampai film. Yay me!

Selain itu, muncul juga berbagai adaptasi Sherlock Holmes yang lain, banyak banget deh, tapi yang paling berpengaruh ke saya (juga mungkin sebagian besar orang di dunia ini, ceileeehhh) adalah serial TV BBC berjudul Sherlock, tapi latarnya jaman modern. Sherlock Holmes di sini diperankan oleh Benedict Cumberbatch. Sekitar dua tahun setelah kemunculan Sherlock, ada juga serial TV tentang Sherlock Holmes berjudul Elementary, dibintangi Jonny Lee Miller sebagai Sherlock Holmes. Sama seperti Sherlock, Elementary berlatar jaman modern, tapi di Amerika, bukan di Inggris. Ya iyalah, yang buat kan Amerika :D

Jadi, inti posting ini apa?
Oh iya, posting ini akan dibagi ke beberapa part (mudah-mudahan cuma 2 ya). Part 1 ini cuma prolog, introducing, opening, atau apalah itu istilahnya, terhadap Sherlock Holmes. Atau lebih tepatnya, kenapa saya bisa sampai tergila-gila dengan Sherlock Holmes. Maunya biar jadi paragraf sebab-akibat gitu, tapi ini aja sudah panjang, jadi saya pisah deh.
Intinya, saya mau bahas, cerita-cerita, dan mengeluarkan pendapat saya terhadap tiga adaptasi Sherlock Holmes yang paling baru/yang saya ikuti/yang saya sudah sebut di atas -- dua film Sherlock Holmes-nya Guy Ritchie, Sherlock-nya BBC, dan Elementary-nya CBS. Tidak, saya tidak membandingkan ketiga adaptasi ini. I love all of them, how can I compare them? Saya cuma mau ngoceh aja tentang mereka. Oke? Oke.

To be continued to Part 2~

Pics were taken from Google.

Movie Marathon: Robert Downey, Jr.

This is my second movie marathon (after Matt Damon's) in which I did innocently and calmly between so many final projects that were attacking me like a tsunami. In fact, this was the longest movie marathon I've ever had because of those projects, not to mention any other tasks that needed attention. Yep, so many distractions compared to when I did Matt Damon movie marathon, because most of the tasks must be done individually. Last semester, the biggest final project was done in group.

But, lucky for you, Mr. Robert Downey, Jr.... Once I started a movie marathon, then the show must go on! (Or the marathon must go on whatsoever.)

Robert John Downey, Jr. is one of my favorite actors of all time. Excuse me for saying that on every movie marathon post, I hope you don't run away after reading that certain sentence :p A little explanation why I should write it like that... I have like 15 all time favorite actors. Or more--I lose count. Because it's so many, I write 'one of''. I have my own reason why I do these movie marathons--to dedicate (?) myself as a huge fan. Yeah, maybe I will have 11 or more movie marathons according to the amount of my favorite actors, why not.

Let's get back to RDJ! I'm sure you guys know who is this handsome man, who doesn't? Raise your hand if you don't. Maybe all this time you live in a cave or stranded in a deserted island or kidnapped by aliens. Yes, he's the Tony Stark or Iron Man. Thanks to Iron Man, all people in the world, including me, knew who he was. But, do you know him before Iron Man? Maybe yes, maybe not. So, allow me to tell you more about our favorite man :)

RDJ's father, Robert Downey, Sr., is an actor and director. RDJ's first film debut was when he was 5 years old in the movie Pound, directed by RDS. If you want to see him in the movie, just search on YouTube, you'll find one. He was also one of the cast members of Saturday Night Live season 11 (1985-1986) but was fired along with most of the cast after the season ended because it received poor ratings. Then he went to play some movies (not gonna mention them here, just find on IMDb), one of them was Chaplin, where he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Post-Oscar nomination, RDJ's career started to get into troubles because of drug charges. He was arrested multiple times and had to get a drug treatment during late 1990s and early 2000s. The arrests were costing him several movie & TV roles. See? Even the seemingly perfect man like RDJ had troubles in his career. If you like him so much but end up hating him because of this thing... well, you don't deserve to be called 'fan'. RDJ was struggling so hard to leave drugs and marijuana, and now, look at him. He's such a hero.
Well, although those problems seemed to break his career down, it actually didn't. He came back, people, he came back! He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a mini-series or television film for his performance in Ally McBeal. That's not enough? He got that Tony Stark/Iron Man role which made him so famous until now. He was nominated for another Oscar, this time was Best Supporting Actor for Tropic Thunder. Then he was cast as Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie film. And other great things that I can't mention one by one.
Oh, oh. RDJ is also a singer. He sang for several movie soundtracks and released a music album called The Futurist in 2004. His great songs and amazing voice accompanied me to study hard last year, and yeah, I finally passed the university exam :D
He has 2 sons, Indio (from his marriage to Deborah Falconer) and Exton (from his present wife Susan Downey)--and they are so adorable. Seeing Indio is like seeing the younger version of RDJ.
Okay, that's some story about Robert Downey, Jr. that you might don't know because you don't care :)

So, what makes you decided to do Robert Downey, Jr. movie marathon?
Actually, this is my second RDJ movie marathon. The first one was last year, but the movies I was watching were not that many, and I didn't write about it because it just happened haha. I decided to do RDJ marathon part 2 on his 48th birthday (April 4th 2013), but again, my time was eaten by the tasks. Then, near the end of April, Iron Man 3 came to theaters... So I watched it, then I continued with the other movies, and voila! It became Robert Downey, Jr. marathon :)
If we count the time, this movie marathon took one... two... three... four--exactly four weeks, or a month. It started on April 26th (the day I watched Iron Man 3) and ended on May 26th. The marathon was interrupted by two non-RDJ movies, Hummingbird and Star Trek Into Darkness though :p

Here's the list of his movies, according to the time I watched them:
1. Iron Man 3
2. Iron Man 2
3. A Scanner Darkly
4. Chances Are
5. Johnny Be Good
6. Heart and Souls
7. Chaplin
8. Natural Born Killers
9. Air America
10. Home for the Holidays
11. Black and White
12. In Dreams
13. U.S. Marshals
14. Wonder Boys
15. Good Night, and Good Luck.
16. The Singing Detective
17. Iron Man 3 (yes, I watched it 2 times--and this time I got to watch the post-credit scene, yay! :p)
18. Gothika
19. Charlie Bartlett
20. Love and Distrust
21. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
22. Due Date
23. Tropic Thunder
24. The Soloist
25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
26. Zodiac
27. Iron Man
28. Sherlock Holmes
29. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
30. Marvel's The Avengers

After watching all of them, do you have any specific movies that you've been into?
All of them. Hahaha, no kidding. I'll always remember his movies, even the ones that are not so famous. But, for the sake of the readers (like you have even one, Wid -_-), I'll just list the ones that I really like. Okay? Deal? Deal.

The first... I guess you know. Yes, Marvel's The Avengers! One of my favorite movies ever. Six superheroes plus one handsome villain? Priceless, baby, priceless. RDJ reprised his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man. This movie was the end of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One, so you got Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, plus Hawkeye and Black Widow here, fighting Loki, Thor's brother. There are so much to talk about, and this is just not enough. Best movie ever... for me :D

The second, of course Iron Man, from the first until the third. The first Iron Man was the first RDJ movie I've seen. Let's just say that if I didn't see this movie, I might didn't know who Robert Downey, Jr. was until his name was all over the internet. I first watched it with my brother, we got the front seats. You know, the seats that were right in front of the screen. Can you imagine how hurt my neck was? Fortunately, the film was much more amazing that I imagined. I didn't even care that I sat on the front seat because RDJ was so amazing to play the rich playboy Tony Stark who was forced to build an armored suit in a life-threatening incident. After that, he used his skill to expand the suit, became Iron Man, and fought against evil.

The third, Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Nothing was better than hearing that RDJ was going to star as my favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. After seeing the movie that followed the adventure of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey, Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) to fight a nemesis who used black magic, my love for Sherlock Holmes was getting bigger. Yes, Downey, Jr. is an American, but he could portray the British detective perfectly.

The fourth, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I can say that this movie is the second RDJ movie I've seen. I first watched it on HBO, saying "Oh, my God! That's Tony Stark acting so clumsy and funny! Hey, bro, it's Tony Stark! He's still handsome without the beard!" Hahaha. RDJ played Harry Lockhart, a thief who was disguised as an actor after escaping from police. His adventure didn't end just like that. A mystery of two seemingly different murder cases brought Harry to teamed up with Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), a private eye, and Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), Harry's childhood friend and struggling actress. This movie is so funny and clever. The dialogs weren't so cheesy. There were some parts that didn't show funniness directly, but I could laugh over it. Not just comedy, you would also wonder about the murder mystery. Plus, the acting of three main actors were just great, especially RDJ's enjoyable performance.

The fifth is Zodiac. Oh, yes, you're right, I love story about serial killers, always do. Even my friends think that I'm kind of a psychopath because of this weird interest. Anyway, you do know Zodiac killer right? This killer was so famous back in 1960s and 1970s, but until now, the crime remains unsolved. This film told the story of a serial killer who call himself Zodiac, who taunted police and newspaper publisher with his letters and cryptic messages. A cartoonist, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a reporter Paul Avery (Downey, Jr.) became friends because they shared Zodiac killer as their interests. There was also Mark Ruffalo as Dave Toschi, a police inspector. Three amazing actors (and other great actors) in one movie about the famous serial killer? How could you miss it? :)

The sixth is A Guide of Recognizing Your Saints. Downey, Jr., Shia LaBeouf, and Channing Tatum in one film? Who can deny that? Hahaha. The movie based on a memoir of Dito Montiel, a musician and director about his childhood in the toughest part of New York. RDJ here played the older Dito Montiel, while LaBeouf played the younger version and Tatum played his childhood friend, Antonio. I wrote a not-so review about this movie here, please click to read more :)

The seventh is Chaplin. Yes, this is the movie about the life of Charlie Chaplin. I think you all know him. The movie, despite being criticized for the way it's describing some aspects of Chaplin's life, RDJ's performance was both critically and universally acclaimed. This led him to get a nomination for Best Actor in Academy Awards. This movie becomes one of my favorites because of RDJ's amazing performance. Watch it if you have enough time, because it's a bit longer than usual movie.

The eight, Tropic Thunder. I love seeing actors who choose various characters, not only ordinary and 'safe' character. I think, in this movie, RDJ was brave enough to take the part. I mean, he had to darken his skin for the character of Kirk Lazarus, a five-time-Oscar-winning actor. Well, in this movie Lazarus was a blonde man with blue eyes, but he had surgery to darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character Sergeant Lincoln Osiris in a movie called Tropic Thunder. There were also Ben Stiller and Jack Black as fellow actors Tugg Speedman and Jeff Portnoy, respectively. Full of action and comedy!

The ninth is Charlie Bartlett. Anton Yelchin and RDJ! Wow, just wow. Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin) was a wealthy teenager who was dumped by several private schools, and ended up in a public school run by an alcoholic principal Nathan Gardner (Downey, Jr.). Charlie teamed up with a school bully to help fellow students about their problems, usually using some prescription drugs that he got from his own psychologists, in order to become popular.

The tenth is Due Date. RDJ played an architect (love it! :D) Peter Highman who had to come home in time to accompany his wife (Michelle Monaghan) who was due to give birth to their first child. But, something came in his way and he had to be in a crazy journey with an actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis). This movie is so funny! I couldn't imagine if I was Peter and was trapped with someone drastically dysfunctional like Ethan when I had to be home immediately. Crazy!

Ah, I want to write about 29 RDJ movies I watched, but the post is too long already. Well, the ones that I don't write above weren't meant to be disliked by me. If I could write them all, I would :)
I am downloading Ally McBeal season 4 where RDJ guest-starred as Larry Paul, the main character's love interest during the season. I was also looking for Saturday Night Live season 11 where he was a cast member, or an SNL episode where he was hosting, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the internet :( I really hoped I could watch them though.
Oh, just FYI, RDJ is still not confirmed whether he will return as Tony Stark/Iron Man for further Marvel movies or not, although several sources said that he is in talk to return to 2 sequels of Marvel's The Avengers. Don't be sad, guys... RDJ is not only Tony Stark. He's a great actor and I'm sure he knows what's best for him. He has another upcoming movies that you don't want to miss :)

I know very little about acting. I'm just an incredibly gifted faker.

-Robert Downey, Jr.

See you in the next movie marathon post! (Candidates: Jeremy Renner, Tom Cruise, Shia LaBeouf, Anton Yelchin -- which one should I choose?)

Pics were taken from Google, then were made into a collage by me.

Arsitek Film

Salah satu dosen saya (sekarang sudah almarhum) tidak suka dengan istilah macam yang saya gunakan pada judul posting ini. Beliau tidak setuju dengan istilah-istilah demikian, contoh lainnya adalah arsitek sepak bola--yang berarti pelatih atau manajer suatu klub--karena menurut beliau, arsitek adalah arsitek, seseorang yang merancang atau mendesain sebuah bangunan, seseorang yang bekerja di bidang arsitektur.

Tapi, saya mau agak-agak bandel sedikit di posting ini dengan beberapa pertimbangan:
1. Saya mahasiswa jurusan arsitektur yang sangat tergila-gila dengan film,
2. Saya lagi capek ngerjain tugas besar,
3. Seperti kebanyakan posting di blog saya, posting yang ini pun akan berakhir gaje.

Yuhuuu!
Cukup dengan pembukaan yang menggunakan bahasa baku (pegel loh nulisnya -_-), sekarang kita ber-4L4y ria! Hohoho kidding. Serius, saya bercanda.

Kenapa ya judul posting ini kok agak-agak aneh bin nggak nyambung bin nggak koheren bin Widya banget? Sebenarnya, sebelum nulis posting ini, saya sempet search di Google tentang 'arsitek film', tapi yang keluar malah film-film tentang arsitek. Jadi ceritanya tuh saya mau ikutin istilah 'arsitek sepak bola' gitu, tapi berhubung yang akan saya bahas adalah FILM, ya saya ganti jadi 'arsitek film'. Nah, sekarang jelas kan kenapa yang saya jelasin di pembukaan tadi adalah 'arsitek sepak bola'? Yap, karena saya tahunya cuma itu...

Oke, back to the topic!
Lho, topiknya apa? Yang jelas bukan topik hidayat atau topiku bundar ya! (Itu mah topi saya bundar, Wid--ah, mulai terserang penyakit gaje nih! Jangan kabur dulu ya sebelum selesai membaca posting ini pemirsaaaah!). Topiknya....... ya itu tadi: ARSITEK FILM, atau kalau menurut ke-soktahu-an saya, ini istilah untuk SUTRADARA atau kerennya DIRECTOR.

Alat perang arsitek dan sutradara

Bagi yang sudah kenal lama sama saya, pasti tahulah cita-cita saya yang sebenarnya adalah berkecimpung di dunia perfilman, entah itu sutradara atau sekadar kru yang kerjanya megang-megang kabel doang. Beberapa teman SMA saya menganjurkan saya untuk melanjutkan ke sekolah film, which was quite impossible because universitas negeri di Indonesia nggak ada yang buka jurusan perfilman. Dulu saya pengen banget masuk universitas negeri untuk meringankan beban orang tua, tapi jurusan yang saya inginkan nggak ada di universitas negeri. Kebayang betapa galaunya saya saat itu? Nggak usah dibayangin, ternyata saya nggak galau-galau banget kok.

Sebelum lanjut, flashback dikit ya. Dulu orang tua saya pengen banget anak sulungnya ini jadi dokter pertama di keluarga karena dari keluarga Mama atau Papa belum ada yang jadi dokter. Saya sih mau-mau aja, dokter bo'! Tapi, kendala paling besar adalah: saya malas. Kendala paling besar kedua: saya nggak suka a.k.a benci dunia akhirat (?) sama biologi. Kendala paling besar ketiga: saya malas (ya, dua dari tiga kendala besar yang bakal jadi pembatas antara saya dan Fakultas Kedokteran adalah MALAS). Jadi, I'm sorry goodbye deh ke FK.

Setelah itu, orang tua saya menyerahkan sepenuhnya masa depan saya kepada saya sendiri. Mereka hanya berperan dalam menunjang, sedangkan saya berperan penuh dalam proses menuju kesuksesan. Akhirnya saya bilang deh tuh ke Mama kalau saya pengen banget jadi filmmaker atau sutradara kayak Steven Spielberg dan Hanung Bramantyo. Beliau setuju-setuju aja, apalagi setelah saya bilang saya mau masuk salah satu universitas di Jakarta yang ada jurusan perfilmannya. Restu sudah didapat, terus apa lagi?

Jengjeng, ternyata universitas yang tadinya saya pilih itu bukan universitas negeri.

Waktu itu, pilihan saya adalah universitas negeri atau jurusan. Kalau mau universitas negeri, yo wes, I should give up about my dream. Kalau lebih pilih jurusannya, saya bisa langsung dapet penghargaan anak paling egois karena nggak mikirin kondisi orang tua saat itu. Gubrak. Sebesar apapun keinginan saya buat masuk sekolah film, itu nggak bisa mengalahkan keinginan saya untuk membahagiakan Mama-Papa.

So, here I am, an architecture student in one of the best state universities in Indonesia :')

Kok jauh amat banting setirnya dari film ke arsitektur? Nanti deh dijelasin, cukup tentang saya, sekarang masuk ke topik utamanya. ("Lho, jadi dari tadi yang dibahas bukan topik utama?! Buset dah ini orang banyak omong banget!" - Jarvis, 4 tahun, laptop saya yang songong)

Arsitek film. Saya menggunakan istilah itu untuk menjelaskan tentang sutradara karena saya adalah mahasiswa arsitektur. Memang nggak nyambung, tapi ya udahlah, saya kan emang demen banget ngomong ngalor ngidul nggak jelas. Arsitek dan arsitek film mempunyai beberapa kesamaan. Pertama, mereka sama-sama manusia. Pernah nggak liat kucing jadi arsitek atau gajah jadi sutradara? Enggak kan? Ya udah.

Ini arsitek (nyomot gambar dari Mbah Gugel)

Ini arsitek film a.k.a sutradara (maap yak Ben Affleck potonya tak pake, abis kan udah punya, biar nggak nyari di Mbah Gugel lagi -_-)

Kedua, mereka sama-sama mengepalai atau mengetuai sebuah proyek. Dalam membangun sebuah rumah, leader-nya tak lain dan tak bukan adalah arsitek. Begitu juga dalam membuat sebuah film, pasti yang jadi boss-nya adalah sutradara. Mau desainnya rumit atau biasa aja, terserah arsiteknya. Mau aktornya akting nangis, marah, atau jadi orang gila, sutradara yang mengarahkan.

Dalam membangun rumah, arsitek nggak bekerja sendiri. Ada insinyur, tukang bangunan, dan lain-lain yang membantu. Sutradara juga gitu. Anggaplah si screenwriter (penulis skenario) sama seperti kliennya seorang arsitek. Sutradara mendapat naskah, ia tinggal mengarahkan sesuai naskah tersebut. Tapi, peran sutradara bukan hanya sekadar mengikuti naskah, dia juga berhak untuk mengeluarkan pendapatnya sendiri. Makanya ikatan antara sutradara, writer, dan produser harus kuat. Kalau naskahnya bagus tetapi sutradaranya nggak berpengalaman, hancurlah film itu.

Kalau sutradara butuh aktor dan aktris untuk memperkuat filmnya, maka arsitek butuh material yang bagus. Coba bayangin kalau yang meranin Iron Man bukan Robert Downey Jr atau Daniel Radcliffe waktu itu nggak kepilih buat jadi Harry Potter. Gubrak moment banget kan? Sama kayak di arsitektur. Kalau Monas dibuat dari kayu? Gubrak moment part 2.

Banyak bangetlah kesamaan antara arsitek dan sutradara. Sekali lagi, saya menulis ini bukan semata-mata untuk membandingkan dua pekerjaan impian itu. Saya cuma ingin nyambung-nyambungin aja karena saya suka dengan arsitektur dan film. Saya memang masih duduk di semester 2 jurusan arsitektur dan pengetahuan saya tentang arsitek maupun arsitektur masih seupritpritprit. Saya akui saya suka menggambar, tapi saya nggak jago. Nah... 'suka' bukan berarti 'bisa' loh ya :)) Mana yang lebih penting: suka atau bisa? Kamu nggak mungkin bisa kalau kamu nggak suka. Kamu nggak mungkin suka kalau kamu nggak bisa. Ah, capek. Intinya, dua hal itu sama-sama penting.
Lanjut. Saya memang bukan mahasiswa jurusan perfilman atau kritikus film, tapi saya cintaaaahhhh dengan film sejak dulu. Mau film itu bagus atau jelek, pasti saya tonton. Saya nonton film sesuka hati, genre yang dipilih sesuai mood, dan seringnya saya nonton film berdasarkan aktornya, bukan review. Saya lebih hapal nama-nama aktor, aktris, atau sutradara ketimbang nama-nama arsitek -_- *gubrak moment part 3*

Oke, kawan, terima kasih sudah membuang-buang meluangkan waktu untuk membaca posting aneh bin nggak jelas ini :) Maaf ya kalau posting ini pointless dan nggak ada hikmah yang bisa diambil. Sejak kapan ya posting di blog ini ada hikmahnya? Nah, itulah bedanya blog saya sama acaranya Mama Dedeh.

Pesan buat adik-adik yang sedang berjuang untuk masuk universitas negeri: semangat.
Lho, kok loyo banget, Kak? Lagi males pake capslock soalnya ck. Oh iya satu lagi, jangan ikut-ikutan trend masa kini yang apa-apa galau, nggak keren, nggak lucu, dan nggak penting juga.
Misalnya nih, lagi nentuin mau masuk jurusan apa: "Aduh, galau!"
Lagi nentuin mau belajar atau enggak: "Aduh, galau!"
Lagi nentuin mau belajar matematika atau fisika dulu: "Aduh, galau!"
Lagi makan: "Aduh, galau!"
Lagi tidur: "Aduh *ngorok* galau..."
Apapun pilihan kalian, pasti ada hikmahnya kok, nggak kayak posting saya yang ini. Memang sih, harus hati-hati juga pilih jurusan, kalau enggak ya pasti bakal ngalamin gubrak moment. Pokoknya, tetap semangat lah ya!!!

PS: saya lagi sibuk ngerjain tugas-tugas besar yang datang kayak tsunami, sekaligus lagi Robert Downey Jr movie marathon dooonggg! Tunggu pembahasan movie marathon-nya ya! :D

Pics were taken from Google.

Kind of a Short Hello

Just want to say hello because apparently my blog is dusty and full of spider webs. Sorry, GITG, I'm too busy to update you. Deadline is always coming for these deadly tasks ;_;

Until next time. (yep, I don't know when would it be)

Let's do the Running Man's Easy Brothers toast:
Feel! Touch! CROSS! *dziiing*

Currently Addicted to: Running Man

Sebenarnya post ini udah jadi draft dari kapan tau, tapi baru bisa ter-publish sekarang.

Okay guys. If you really, personally know me, you know that I'm not really interested in Korean thingy. I did watch some K-dramas, but blah, it was just passing by.
Tapi sekarang, jengjeng, saya sedang tergila-gila sama variety show Korea yang satu ini. Awalnya Damar yang mengenalkannya pada saya (Juli 2012). Episode yang paling pertama saya tonton adalah episode 96, di mana Park Ji Sung (waktu itu masih di Manchester United) jadi bintang tamunya. Damar suruh saya nonton yang ini karena dia tahu saya suka MU (aww Dam :'D). Dan emang bener, ngakak pol nonton ini!
Tapi yang memberi saya 109 episode Running Man adalah Titi, teman kuliah saya. Jadi, thanks to both of you guys, I found a new addiction! :D

Running Man adalah variety show Korea di mana para member dan bintang tamunya harus menjalankan beberapa misi untuk memenangkan perlombaan. Pada episode-episode awal, mereka dikunci di dalam suatu tempat/landmark dan melakukan misi di dalamnya (favorit saya adalah kejar-kejaran di antara tim yang berbuah pencabutan nametag!). Tetapi format game berubah beberapa kali, jadi episode-episode sekarang ini (terhitung dari episode 48) tidak memerlukan landmark tetap. Dari awal mereka dibagi beberapa tim yang harus mengikuti balapan panjang (seperti Amazing Race gitu lah) dan melakukan beberapa misi di tengah-tengah balapan.

Untuk saat ini, Running Man mempunyai 7 member yang kocak dan gila. Siapa aja? Cekidot:

Yoo Jae Suk (유재석) -- MC utama Running Man yang dikenal dengan nickname seperti Grasshopper, Yooruce Willis, dan Yoo Hyuk. Jae Suk jago banget dalam hal kabur-kaburan. Siapapun yang mengejarnya pasti kelelahan. Karena sudah wara-wiri di dunia variety, Jae Suk sering kali pamer kedekatan dengan para bintang tamu. Di antara member Running Man, Jae Suk lah yang paling popular.

Ji Suk Jin (지석진) -- Dikenal dengan nickname Big Nose Hyung dan Impala, Suk Jin merupakan salah satu member terlemah di Running Man. Karena sering tereliminasi duluan, member lain suka menyebutnya sebagai "race starter", menunjukkan bahwa race yang sebenarnya resmi dimulai setelah dia tereliminasi. Walaupun begitu, dia tetap bangga dan sering menunjukkan kasih sayangnya pada istri dan anaknya.

Kim Jong Kook (김종국)-- The strongest Running Man member! Nickname-nya adalah Commander, Sparta-Kooks, Tiger, Coach Kook, dan kalau sedang berakting imut (ini membuat member lain kesal sekaligus ngeri) ia suka memanggil dirinya Kookie. Jong Kook juga memiliki insting detektif yang kuat, membuatnya hampir bisa dipastikan menang karena kekuatan dan instingnya itu. Tapi sayangnya, Jong Kook lemah kalau berhadapan dengan cewek.
Gary (개리) -- Rapper dari group Leessang, Gary yang mempunyai nickname Peaceful Gary, Monday Boyfriend, dan Straight-Going Gary ini masih baru di dunia variety. Gary sempat terlibat loveline dengan member Song Ji Hyo, membuat mereka dipanggil "Monday Couple". Gary dikenal sebagai dark horse di Running Man.

HaHa (하하) -- Karena penampilan fisiknya yang mirip dengan Pororo the Little Penguin, HaHa diberi nickname Haroro. Selain itu dia juga sering dipanggil playboy karena sering menggoda bintang tamu, tapi hal ini terhenti karena dia menikah, dan sejak saat itu ia sering dipanggil married man. HaHa sering diejek karena tingginya.

Lee Kwang Soo (이광수) -- Member paling lemah sekaligus paling tinggi di Running Man. Kwang Soo dikenal suka menciptakan cerita-cerita aneh tentang member lain (terutama Ji Hyo) yang membuatnya diberi nickname Framer. Nickname lainnya adalah Giraffe, Kwang-vatar, Kwang-Potter, dan yang paling khas adalah Icon of Betrayal karena seringnya ia mengkhianati member lain. Ia juga dikenal sebagai Prince of Asia karena ketika Running Man pergi ke negara-negara Asia lain, Kwang Soo lah yang paling popular.

Song Ji Hyo (송지효) -- Satu-satunya member cewek di Running Man. Sebelumnya Ji Hyo adalah bintang tamu, tapi naik pangkat jadi member. Ji Hyo dikenal dengan nickname Song Ji Yok (Kwang Soo yang memberinya nickname ini karena keseringannya mengumpat), Blank Ji-Hyo (wajahnya yang suka tiba-tiba blank), Ace (dengan kecepatannya, dia menjadi salah satu member terkuat di Running Man), Miss Blank, Monday Girlfriend (Gary as the Monday Boyfriend), dan Bad Ji Hyo (muncul kalau dia sedang marah kepada member lain).

Dan jangan lupakan dua ex-member kece-kece ini:

Song Joong Ki (송중기) -- merupakan salah satu member original Running Man yang harus keluar (hiks) karena jadwal syutingnya. Sering dipanggil Flower Boy dan Brain Joong Ki karena dia ini member paling ganteng (dan paling pinter!) loh, yang ngantuk pasti langsung melek lihat dia :P

Lizzy -- seperti Ji Hyo, Lizzy adalah bintang tamu yang 'naik pangkat' jadi member, tapi hanya bertahan untuk beberapa episode saja karena kesibukan jadwal (Lizzy adalah member After School). Ternyata, Lizzy adalah long-term guest (bintang tamu untuk jangka waktu yang lama) dan dia boleh kembali ke Running Man kapan saja.

 

 Back (L-R): Lee Kwang Soo, Yoo Jae Suk, Song Joong Ki, Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook

Front (L-R): Song Ji Hyo, Gary, Lizzy, HaHa

Back (L-R): Lee Kwang Soo, Ji Suk Jin, Kim Jong Kook, HaHa, Gary

Front (L-R): Yoo Jae Suk, Song Ji Hyo

Member favorit saya?
Sejak pertama kali nonton Running Man, saya sudah menaruh hati (ceileh) pada Lee Kwang Soo alias si Icon of Betrayal. Waktu itu dia satu tim sama Park Ji Sung dan tingkahnya emang kocak banget. Akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk nonton berurutan dari episode 1, dan Kwang Soo, he is indeed funny and handsome and awkward! Hahaha. Walaupun masih ada Joong Ki, tapi tetep aja hatiku buat Kwang Soo haha.
Oh, dan saya juga suka sama Commander Kim Jong Kook. Look at those muscles! I really want to touch it hihihi. Selain itu Kwang Soo dan Jong Kook punya relationship yang unik karena mereka dipanggil Giraffe dan Tiger.

Lee Kwang Soo

Kim Jong Kook

Setiap episode Running Man memiliki misi yang berbeda-beda, tapi tetap seru dan kocak untuk diikuti. Ayo kita rame-rame kasih applause dan standing ovation buat tim kreatif dibalik Running Man ini. Selain para member dan bintang tamu, yang bikin kocak Running Man itu adalah kru dan staffnya, seperti PD (mungkin singkatan dari Production Director/Producer?) juga VJ (kameramen) yang menyorot aksi para member. Ada juga staff yang paling sering nongol di Running Man, yaitu Dong Wan, yang merupakan FD (still don't know what this means) termuda di Running Man. Dia sering banget didandanin macam-macam, kocak banget deh.
Kalau ngomongin Running Man memang nggak ada habisnya. Mending kalian nonton aja ya biar tau lebih banyak tentang variety show ini.

Running Man is very fun and entertaining show. Just by watching it, you'll feel like you want to join them doing those crazy missions! I'm recommending this show to everyone of all ages, especially who easily get stressed hahaha :D

Don't walk but RUN!

Pics were taken from Google.

Movie Marathon: Ben Affleck

I said that I would do Ben Affleck movie marathon right after Matt Damon's. Well, here is it, I keep my promise really well, right? *talking to the mirror*

Before I start my review, I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Ben Affleck for winning Best Director (again), this time at Golden Globe Awards 2013! He beat four other top directors; Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Ang Lee, and Quentin Tarantino, which was a great achievement because it's only his third movie as director. Not only Best Director, but Argo won Best Picture - Drama (again) as well! I'm sorry, Academy what~~? :p

Haha I'm too excited to talk about Affleck's win. Let's back to the topic: Ben Affleck movie marathon.

Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt or known simply as Ben Affleck is, yes, one of my favorite actors all the time. Do I really have to say that every time I post about movie marathon? Yes, I think so. I can't think about anything cleverer to write as opening :p
By the way, yes, he has a younger brother, Casey Affleck. Yes, he's also an actor, and yes, he's as handsome as his elder brother. Oh, and yes yes yes Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are best friends since childhood. Together, they won an Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Golden Globe Awards for Best Screenplay following their work in Good Will Hunting. Even though they have their own families now, they still hang out together, sometimes with their family too. Is there any of you girls/boys can beat the loyal and long last friendship like Affleck and Damon's? Well, congratulations.
Affleck married to the actress Jennifer Garner and they have four three children; me, Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. I don't know why do I even talk about his family here haha whatever. By the way, I really, really love Affleck's chin and I want a chin like that. Or at least a husband with chin like that haha kidding. Um, not really kidding actually :p

So, what makes you decided to do Ben Affleck movie marathon?
Same reason with Matt Damon movie marathon. Yeah, it's because of that Jimmy Kimmel video hahaha. It's really funny. The video features many of actors and actresses. Watch it, I say, watch it!

Here's the list of his movies, according to the time I watched them:
1. Good Will Hunting (from Matt Damon movie marathon)
2. School Ties (from Matt Damon movie marathon)
3. The Sum of All Fears
4. Man About Town
5. He's Just Not That Into You
6. Smokin' Aces
7. Bounce
8. Hollywoodland
9. Daredevil
10. State of Play
11. Surviving Christmas
12. Jersey Girl
13. Gigli
14. Forces of Nature
15. Boiler Room
16. Paycheck
17. The Company Men
18. Changing Lanes
19. Shakespeare In Love
20. Pearl Harbor
21. Gone Baby Gone (director, writer, and producer)
22. The Town (also director and writer)
23. Dogma
24. Chasing Amy
25. Armageddon
26. Argo (also director and producer)

After watching all of them, do you have any specific movies that you've been into?
Of course! But it's not just 4 or 5 out of 26 movies I've watched. There are more than it I suppose. Although Affleck had a bad time of his career in 2002-2004 (especially when he was still dating J-Lo) and his movies which were released that time didn't get so much attention (box office bomb, yes) I still love some of them. Listing time!

The first is Armageddon. Maybe some of you say that this movie is not good or whatever, but I LOVE IT. In fact, this is the first movie that made me cry :p Please don't judge me, I watched this movie for the first time when I was in 9th grade, so yeah I was a little bit overreacted to it. Affleck is sooo freakin handsome in here, playing a deep core driller A.J. Frost who, along with his boss Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and others, is recruited by NASA to drill the asteroid which will hit Earth in less than a month. When I first watched this I really didn't care about the storyline because all in my head was Affleck. Well, it apparently made me cry, so yeah I love it :)

The second is Argo, the third movie that Affleck directed. The Argo-hype hit me in October 2012 when some of the celebrities I follow on Twitter tweeted about how amazing this movie was. I was really curious, but Argo wasn't released at the local cinemas so I was losing hope to see this movie. But then, it was announced that Argo got many nominations in many award events, so did Affleck, and apparently they won several awards. I wanted to wait for the DVD or Bluray to come out but it's still long so I decided to watch the copy instead. And you know what, Argo, f*ck yourself! Fantastic and brilliant movie, it got me chills! Set in 1979 when the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries, Tony Mendez (played by Affleck), an ex-filtration specialist manages to save six Americans who escape from them and hide in Canadian Ambassador's residence, by making a phony film project. Well done, Affleck, well done. I bit my t-shirt and hit my brother with a pillow when watching this because it was so thrilling. Try to watch it guys, best Affleck movie so far.

The third is The Town, the second movie that Affleck directed. Yes, Jeremy Renner was in this movie and his role as Jem Coughlin earned him Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards nominations for Best Supporting Actor. But we're not talking about Renner here (yes, I will do his movie marathon later, promise!). Affleck played Doug MacRay, a professional bank robber who falls in love with a bank manager (Rebecca Hall) whose bank, yes, was robbed by him and his 3 friends before, while trying to hide this relationship from them. The Town is recommended for you guys who love heist/robbery movies.

The fourth is Gone Baby Gone, the first movie that Affleck directed, but he wasn't playing any roles in this. The lead role, Patrick Kenzie, was played by Affleck's younger brother Casey. Patrick and his girlfriend/partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) investigate a little girl's kidnapping which ultimately risks everything including their lives. Well, I first watched this movie when I was 8th/9th grader and I really really loved it. Affleck brothers really did good job working together in this movie. I hope there's more collaboration between them like this :)

The fifth is State of Play, starring Affleck and Russell Crowe. The story follows a team of reporters (played by Crowe and Rachel McAdams) who work with a police detective to solve the murder of a congressman, Stephen Collins' (Affleck) assistant. One thing that I love from this movie is the investigation. Ya know I love detective thingy, but reporters can do the same! I thought this movie is a heavy political drama and blah, but actually it has some mysteries that makes me sit sweetly for 2 hours to watch this.

The sixth is The Sum of All Fears. Jack Ryan was previously played by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. In this movie, Affleck took the role. This time Jack must find out about the terrorist plan that threatens to induce a conflict between US and Russia's newly elected president. FYI: Jack Ryan will be played by Chris Pine in the 2013 movie.

The seventh is Paycheck, where Affleck played Michael Jennings, an engineer who is offered a job but his memory must be wiped afterwards. After deciding to take the job and gets his memory wiped, he discovers that he's being chased--and he has to find out why. I love this movie, but when watching it, my mind was a little distracted by, uh, I forgot. I didn't watch it seriously, but I did watch the ending. Maybe I should watch it again? Yeah~

The eight is Pearl Harbor. Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett? Who can't say no to them? Hahaha. Anyway, yes, this movie is telling about the Pearl Harbor attack that happened on December 7th 1941, but with more love story. Rafe McCawley (Affleck) and Danny Walker (Harnett) are two best friends who become Army Air Corps pilots. Rafe falls in love with a nurse (Kate Beckinsale). Who knows that Rafe's decision to go fight in Britain affects his relationships with both his best friend and girlfriend? Don't worry, the love story is fictional, but I can say that it dominates the whole film than the Pearl Harbor incident itself. It's just me, maybe you have different thoughts. Cool effects though.

Actually, I love some other films like Jersey Girl and Changing Lanes, but this post is too long already haha. I'm kinda lazy to use jump break so this is it. And I watched 3 episodes of Saturday Night Live in which he was the host. It was sooooo funny! My favorite episode was S29E15 when the prologue was about his relationship with J-Lo. Couldn't stop laughing =))
By the way, Affleck is confirmed to direct and star in an adaptation of Live By Night, a novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Gone Baby Gone novel. I also can't wait for his next movies To the Wonder and Runner, Runner.

"As an actor, you can steer a scene in another direction by playing it a little differently. And honestly? I like being an actor, and I want to keep having a career."

-Ben Affleck

That's it from me, see you in the next movie marathon post! Gotta think about who's next! ;)

Pics were taken from Google, then were made into a collage by me.

I'm Coming Back Home...

PULANG PULANG PULAAAANGGG!!!

*guling-guling di tempat tidur*

Alhamdulillah, akhirnya perkuliahan semester satu selesai.
Akhirnya bebas dari tugas dan deadline.
Akhirnya UAS selesai.
Akhirnya Pameran Semesta Nusantara selesai (dan sukses berat).
Akhirnya saya berjumpa lagi dengan Bogor!

Sebelum mengungkapkan kebahagiaan ini, saya mau cerita tentang hal lain yang membahagiakan.

PAMERAN SEMESTA NUSANTARA 2012

Di sini kami para mahasiswa Arsitektur Universitas Brawijaya 2012 memamerkan (bukan pamer yang pamer gimana gitu ya) hasil karya dan tugas kami selama semester satu. Lima hari, tapi rasanya sebentar banget. Oh iya, selama 5 hari itu kita dapet 1216 pengunjung loh! Semesta Nusantara sukses sukses sukses!!!

Karya dwimatra dari kelompok saya, 3B. Juara 3 dari voting pengunjung breh!!! :')

Karya trimatra dari kelompok 3B :')

Itu siapa sih? Merusak nilai estetika trimatra 3B aja deh.

Hari terakhir pameran juga merupakan deadline tugas besar Gambar Teknik. Sebelas gambar breh! Memang sih dikasih waktunya 6 minggu, tapi yakaliantahusayakerjaannyamoviemarathonmelulu. Bahkan, minggu-minggu UAS saya nggak belajar sama sekali. Habisnya yang di UAS cuma matkul umum dan open book semua (kecuali matematika, tapi suksesjugadongkarenayagitudeh haha). Malahan saya malah lanjut Ben Affleck movie marathon haha.

Ngomong-ngomong tentang Ben Affleck, pas saya lagi seru-serunya ngerjain GT, saya buka twitter dan menemukan berita bahwa aktor ganteng itu nggak dapet nominasi Academy Awards atau Oscar untuk Best Director.

Reaksi pertama pas liat tweetnya Rotten Tomatoes: cengo.
Ben Affleck tuh dijagoin banget loh karena film ketiga yang disutradarainya, Argo, mendapat positive reviews. Saya emang belum nonton film itu (gubrak prang klontang klontang meooww, belum nonton aja udah kecewa banget loh daddy ku yang satu itu gak masuk nominasi), tapi saya yakin banget filmnya bagussss, bisa dilihat dari dua film Affleck sebelumnya, Gone Baby Gone dan The Town. Mantap! Yang belum nonton dua film itu sok ditonton! Ben Affleck is not just another actor-turned-director!

Karena saking keselnya, GT sempet tertunda beberapa menit, mendadak nggak napsu gitu lihat potongan, perspektif, denah, cuma gara-gara hal sekecil itu doang. Padahal siangnya, saya dapat berita menggembirakan: Robert Downey Jr, Jason Mraz, dan Chris Hemsworth menang People's Choice Awards! Congratulations guuuyysss! Itu artinya, sebagai fans kalian saya nggak gagal! :')

Daddy RDJ and his award. Keren seperti biasa.

 Tapi, kekesalan saya hilang waktu liat berita kalau Ben Affleck akhirnya menang Best Director di Critics' Choice Awards! Bukan hanya Affleck, tapi Argo juga menang Best Picture! Wohooowwww congrats Daddy Ben!!! Yang lebih bikin seneng (ketawa, lebih tepatnya), acceptance speech-nya Affleck pas nerima award Best Director.

"I would like to thank The Academy."

Hahaha walaupun setelah itu dia bilang kidding, tapi saya yakin di dalam lubuk hatinya yang paling dalam, dia beneran nyindir Academy. Habisnya, Ben Affleck jadi salah satu 'the most shocking Oscar snub' sih, ditambah Argo masuk nominasi Best Picture (tapi Affleck nya kagak masuk Best Director) dan bagus banget kan filmnya, ya pantas aja sih menurut saya kalo dia nyindir-nyindir The Academy =))

Brought to you by Roti Maryam (random pic--ceritanya sponsor posting ini)

And finally, I'M COMING BACK HOOOME! Kangen sekali dengan kamar tercintah yang ternyata telah diambil alih oleh adik saya yang paling kecil. Tapi sekarang saya sudah sampai rumah, jadi mau nggak mau ya adik saya harus mau didepak hahaha *evil laugh*

Lha, orang ini muncul lagi. Merusak suasana.

I really, really need vacation. Kalau kata Jason Mraz mah "You don't need a vacation when there's nothing to escape from" (Everything Is Sound) dan itu tidak berlaku untuk saya because I want to escape from college thingy!

Dan saya setuju banget dengan Mbak Taylor Swift: "Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines." (22)

Wah, yang tadinya cuma pengen ngomongin first homecoming saya, jadi ngalor ngidul ke Ben Affleck dan roti maryam gini ya haha. Oke deh, cukup sekian dan sampai jumpa lagi! :*