Friday, May 31, 2013

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.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

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.