SIJJIN

 SIJJIN Film Review: Sadis' Image Of The Obsession Of Love That Brings Disaster

JAKARTA - The production house Rapi Films in collaboration with Sky Media and Legacy Pictures released their latest horror film adapted from a horror film in Turkey entitled Sijjin. The film itself is directed by Hadrah Daeng Ratu and stars Niken Anjani, Ibrahim Risyad to Anggika Bolsterli.

Broadly speaking, Sijjin tells the story of Irma (Anggika Bolsterli) who falls in love with Galang (Ibrahim Risyad), her cousin who is married to Nisa (Niken Anjani) and has a daughter named Sofia. Irma, who is still obsessed with Galang and wants to have her, then decides to go to the shaman to send witchcraft to Nisa and all the women in the Galang family to die in five nights.3

Since then, mystical disturbances,bars, and deaths have emerged in Galang's house. However, what Irma unexpectedly suspected was that the threat was also targeting him and his family.

From the beginning, the story film that was built was not long-winded but was briefly, clearly, and densely described the characters in this film and had what roles to play, so the audience did not have to guess the roles of every character in the film and could enjoy the film more casually.

In this film, Angelika Bolsterli's appearance, who plays the character of a male actor, is very well described. From the way she dressed up, the clothes she wore, to her movements as a woman who was indeed teasing her husband. Anggika's appearance in this film is one of the things that is in the spotlight for her audience.

Not only Anggika, Niken Anjani who plays the role of a wife who is betrayed by her husband and has a wife character who is mediocre and obedient is also played well by Niken. In addition, as someone who has never watched horror films, Niken is good enough to show the movements of people who are slowly possessed by demons.

Click here for more movies

WONKA (2023)

 WONKA (2023)

A FILM OF “PURE IMAGINATION” MAGIC

Considered as “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th Century”, famed children’s author Roald Dahl has delighted and enchanted readers for generations, capturing childlike wonder and imagination within his releases. One of his most famous publications novels comes from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was released in 1964, and follows the journey of young Charlie Buckets who is invited inside, along with other children, a magical chocolate factory that belongs to the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. Given the popular success that the novel received, it comes at no surprise that Hollywood would eventually want to adapt Dahl’s tale of Charlie Buckets, with the release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 1971. Directed by Mel Stuart, the film, which starred Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, and Peter Ostrum, received generally positive reviews from critics, but did not have a financial success at the box office, only earning $4 million at the box office (during its original run) against a production budget of $3 million. Over the years, however, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory became an instant family classic and has been a rereleased several time on home video sales and repeated television airings. In 2014, the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The 1971 version wouldn’t be the only film adaptation made by Hollywood as a second attempt was made back in 2005 with the release of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Directed by Tim Burton, the film, which starred Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Deep Roy, and Christopher Lee, received positive critical reviews, who praised the feature for its visual appeal and underlining dark tones (something that is notable in Dahl’s works). It was also a box office success, with the film generating $475 million at the box office (the eight-highest grossing film of 2005) against its production budget of $150 million. 

Now, Warner Bros. Pictures (along with Heyday Films) and director Paul King, prepare to return to the wacky and eccentric world of Roald Dahl’s eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka for a prequel endeavor in the movie Wonka. Does this latest look at Dahl’s beloved character worth seeing or is it pale in comparison to the other two film adaptation releases.

THE STORY

Aspiring magician, inventor, and chocolatier, Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in the big city, ready to make his mark with the people, with a dream of opening his own shop in the famous Galeries Gourmet district. However, with little money to make that dream a reality, the newly arrived Willy finds it difficult to reach such aspirations. Finding lodging with Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Coleman) and her right hand henchmen Bleacher (Tom Davis), Willy is duped into charges he can’t pay, forced into work off his debit in a laundromat operation, joining by young orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), Piper Benz (Natasha Rothwell), Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher), and Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar) in hard labor. Looking to find a way out his situation, Willy befriends Noodle, using her wisdom and ability to read to help understand the community, which is ruled by a “chocolate cartel”, with Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Fickelgruber (Matthew Baynton), and Prodnose (Matt Lucas) holding a monopoly on the chocolate selling at the Galeries Gourmet, doing whatever they can to protect their secretive supply of chocolate vat hidden under a church. Looking to challenge the companies with his own special creations and magician like performances, Willy hopes to establish himself and pay tribute to his late mother (Sally Hawkins), his inspiration for becoming a chocolatier.

Click here for more movies

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

How can I possibly describe this disaster of a film? There are some choice words that come to mind. Derivative, passionless, predictable, clichéd, and obligatory. Worst of all though is the simple fact that Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom is just a boring movie. As someone who quite enjoyed the first movie and embraced the zany Gonzo nature of the underwater blockbuster, this is a massive departure from what worked in the first film. In fact, this sequel has everything we consider to be the mistakes of the *now-confirmed* dying Superhero deluge of films. I'm sure the genre will stick around and have some massive hits from time to time, but from now on I doubt these movies will be the center of Hollywood's attention and moviegoers' wallets in the future. 

In the opening scene, Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry playfully depicts some of his recent superhero antics through action figure pantomiming to his young son. This is appropriate given that I assume the pitch meeting for the film was essentially that. Anyways, the bouncing baby boy takes this opportunity to piss directly in his father's mouth. That kid may as well have been pissing in my mouth for the remainder of the film- which ultimately may have been more entertaining. Let's just get this out of the way: the script sucks. I can't be nice about it- this is awful, juvenile, and amateur-hour stuff. Remember, I liked the first film. 

One of the worst sins of the film was wasting the talents of the cast and crew both on screen and behind the camera. I know these people are skilled, but this movie was made by a committee, not artists. Halfway through the film, I still hadn't seen a trace of director James Wan's signature style anywhere and assumed he had just departed before this ship sank, but his name was in the credits to my dismay. This is an unfortunate blemish in his filmography. Throughout the whole film, there is an atmosphere, despite what is being done or said, of blockbuster malaise, an epidemic of ennui so to say. There seems to be none of the joy that was apparent in the first Aquaman- this feels like contracted work as opposed to the summer camp vibes of that film. The one bright spot honestly is Patrick Wilson's villain Orm from the first film. Much like Christian Bale's Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, Wilson is acting in an entirely different movie than the rest of the cast; it’s maybe not quite as exaggerated as that film, but it is very noticeable here too. 

Ironically, this was the first film I've seen since theaters reopened in 2021 where the Nicole Kidman speech wasn't aired before the movie. This movie is also one of the only ones that I've seen to actually star Nicole Kidman in that time. Why she was put in action sequences where she must yell at the top of her lungs and remind us all of the fragility of time is unknown to me. Anyway, all I can do at this point is recommend you go see The Boy and The Heron instead. That film deserves your time and money. This one does not.

Click here for more movies

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

As with “A Christmas Carol” and the Grinch, every generation gets its own version of “The Nutcracker,” it seems.

The latest incarnation of the E.T.A. Hoffmann story is Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” a hokey oddity that glissades along with a few charms and a pleasant score by James Newton Howard heavily incorporating themes from Tchaikovsky’s ballet (though there’s little dancing).

Children who are 10 and under may be enchanted by the abundantly whimsical holiday-themed visuals; accompanying adults might chuckle at the movie’s leaden attempt at a girl-empowering message. Anyone squeamish about rodents — even ones that have been rendered sort of cute by CGI — might consider steering clear.

On Christmas Eve in Victorian-era London, Clara (Mackenzie Foy), a budding inventor, receives a special, egg-shaped box left for her by her recently deceased mother. With it is a note that reads in part: “Everything you need is inside.” But lo! The key to unlock the egg is nowhere to be found, and thus her journey to discover what lies inside it (and, of course, herself) unfolds.

At his annual holiday celebration, Clara’s artisan godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman, with an eye patch) leads her, “Alice in Wonderland”-like, to a new fantastical world — except instead of chasing a white rabbit, Clara chases a gray mouse that possesses the key she seeks. Once there, she meets the unfailingly loyal nutcracker Captain Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight) and the regents of three realms: Snow (Richard E. Grant), Flowers (Eugenio Derbez) and Sweets (Keira Knightley, as the Sugar Plum Fairy). Clara also encounters the eerie, circus-y fourth realm and its leader, Mother Ginger (a typically game Helen Mirren); also, many more mice.

Knightley has quite a bit of fun with her role as the sprightly Sugar Plum, adopting a high-pitched, whack-a-doodle characterization that is Reese Witherspoon in “A Wrinkle in Time” meets Helena Bonham Carter in everything. Foy is fine as Clara — a “clever girl” as the movie likes to remind us — though Ashleigh Powell’s script gives the actress some of the film’s corniest moments.

The ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who makes a brief appearance during the film and in the closing credits, is the highlight, gracefully unhindered by silly dialogue in two dance sequences. But ultimately, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is a family holiday movie that will do well enough for now; it probably won’t linger in your memory long enough to make it until the next inevitable adaptation comes around.

Death Whisperer

Creepy Thai horror film Death Whisperer promises both frights and feels

In the chilling realm of Thai horror cinema, Death Whisperer emerges as a haunting tapestry of supernatural terror set against the remote landscape of Kanchanaburi.

A family of eight – comprising three sons and three daughters – find their lives upended when one of them falls ill, displaying a string of alarming and aggressive behaviours. Together, they must unravel the mystery threatening to tear them apart, with survival hanging in the balance. 

The well-paced film blends a compelling narrative, memorable characters and an atmosphere oozing with unease. Not only does it take time to flesh out characters you genuinely care about and root for, the movie also effectively builds fear, tension and an ever-present sense of foreboding. 

Yet, it’s the emotional investment that heightens the stakes, transforming the horror from mere spectacle to a deeply resonant experience. Despite a sizeable cast, each family member emerges as a distinct individual, drawing the audience into their personal strengths and struggles.

The family dynamics at play are equally fascinating: Can the characters put aside their differences and lingering resentment, or will it be what shatters them? The movie’s themes of family, forgiveness and love stick with you just as much.

Moreover, Death Whisperer achieves a cinematic milestone as the first Thai film shot for release in IMAX, adding an extra layer of visual and immersive intensity.

With its well-developed characters, spine-chilling scares, and a suspenseful plot that seamlessly weaves familial drama with supernatural horror, Death Whisperer offers an unforgettable journey into the dark abyss. It also hints at the promise of more to come – and I'll be right there waiting.

Click here for more movies

Bursting Point

 Bursting Point 爆裂點 (2023)

The last time Dante Lam directed a gritty Hong Kong crime/action thriller was That Demon Within <魔警> in 2014. And that was nine years ago before he shifted his focus primarily on the mainland market, resulting in big-budget productions like Operation Red Sea <红海行动>, The Rescue <紧急救援> and the two-part Battle at Lake Changjin <长津湖> <长津湖之水门桥>.

When Dante Lam decided to return to his familiar genre territory which made him a household name in Hong Kong cinema, it was a dream come true for many fans of his works. His new movie Bursting Point <爆裂點>, which I figured the literal translation of its Cantonese title was preliminary but turned out to be a curiously official title, also marks the director’s long-awaited reunion with Nick Cheung.

Lam, who co-directed alongside newcomer Calvin Tong (Wai-Hon), tells a familiar crime story that doesn’t waste time getting to the point. Following a botched police mission that goes awry, Hong Kong Island-based narcotics division inspector Bond Sir (Nick Cheung) not only fails to apprehend the wanted drug boss, Young (Shaun Tam) and even results in the death of a fellow officer (Ken Lo).

We learn Bond Sir is still determined to catch Young and his men (among them including German Cheung’s Tiger) one day and after years have passed, he decides to recruit an ambitious police officer Ming (William Chan). His job? Going undercover to infiltrate Young’s drug-trafficking business working under Cow (Philip Keung).

Of course, being a Dante Lam film means nothing will go as planned. Everything becomes personal when Young’s brother, Roy (Jonathan Cheung) ends up badly injured during a subsequent police bust. Ming has no choice but to stick to his undercover job longer than expected and this is where Lam gets to reference one of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai’s Chan Wing-Yan’s famous dialogues from Infernal Affairs <無間道>.

Bursting Point <爆裂點> runs a whopping 140 minutes and the heavy-handed nature of its storytelling is sorely felt when I watched the movie. Lam adds and magnifies his story wherever he sees fit and this includes throwing in subplots (Bond Sir’s troubled son with the local triad and Ying Xiu’s rebellious daughter).

The Ying Xiu character played by Isabella Leong, who shows up halfway in the movie is introduced as a drug maker coming to Hong Kong with her teenage daughter and her brother from the Golden Triangle. The thing is, her appearance comes across as a filler rather than a necessity to help advance the story.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Isabella Leong lacks the acting prowess of playing a frustrated mother trying to make things right, only to deal with a sense of hopelessness as we learn more about her character arc. It’s more of the way the story is added like an afterthought just to spice up the movie’s dramatic angle. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if her story is edited out altogether and Lam should better off focusing on the Bond Sir-Ming-Young angle.

Click here for more movies

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (2023)

 TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS (2023) 

The Transformers live-action movie franchise has been somewhat of a “slippery slope” since it began back in 2007. Overseeing by director Michael Bay, the cinematic saga (based on Hasbro’s classic toys line of “robots in disguise”) has been called many things, including loud. bloated, slightly racist / stereotyping, nonsensical, too silly, repetitive, mindless, etc. However, despite these glaring problems, the films have never been boring, creating a big visual spectacle worthy of the very definition of what man would consider a classic summer “popcorn” blockbuster from Hollywood. The first film (2007’s Transformers), the first installment in the live-action franchise) was met with problematic scrutiny and criticism from both moviegoers and critics alike, but was still able to garnish the most positive acceptance from its viewers (of the entire film franchise no less) and did score big at the worldwide box office. Naturally, this prompted the studio hivemind to green light future installments, further continuing the adventures of the Autobots, the Decepticons, and their alien conflict on Earth. Unfortunately, after the success of the first film (setting the cinematic foundation for the large-scale   sci-fi tale of giant alien robots with their war brought to Earth, the Transformers sequels (2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, and 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight) missed their mark, with series director Michael Bay helming each installment and ultimately pulling the saga down with his signature barrage of explosions, excessive action, and other senseless elements.

Thus, the Transformers franchise has been “on the decline” of movie popularity, with many loosening interests in the cinematic series altogether. Even series director Michael Bay has lost interest in directing the franchise, stepping down the role and moving on to other projects and endeavors. Still, hope remains as 2018’s Bumblebee, a prequel spin-off project, proved that the franchise had life in it, especially since the movie had a more limited focus on characters and smaller scale narrative in scope. While that may sound a bit backwards for a blockbuster endeavor, Bumblebee succeeds with critics and moviegoers, enticing viewers for more Transformers movies. So, after five years since the release of Bumblebee, Paramount Pictures and director Steven Caple Jr. present the newest Transformers film with the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Does this blockbuster feature continue the trend of the last movie or is it another bloated endeavor that’s more noise than substance?

THE STORY

---

The year is 1994 and Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) is ex-military, who is trying to get a job to help pay for his younger brother’s, Kris (Dean Scott Vaquez), cancer treatments, coming up short on employment opportunities. Turning to petty car theft to make money, Noah unknowingly comes into contact with Mirage (Pete Davidson), an Autobot who has recently made contact by his leader, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), when a mysterious signal of the Transwarp Key appears in the sky. The device is powerful relic that is capable of opening the paths through space and time, offering the Autobots that are stranded on Earth a chance to return to their home world of Cybertron. Also after the Key is the Terrorcon named Scourge (Peter Dinklage), who’s servant for the all-powerful Unicron (Colman Domingo), a massive machine that’s hungry for new planets, needing the Key to feed once more. Thrown into the mix is also Elena Wallace (Dominque Fishback), a young artifact researcher who unearths the key and who is suddenly thrusted into the middle of a fight, along with Noah, when Optimus and his Autobots battle for control of the device in New York City. Their journey to find the Transwarp Key’s location leads the group of heroes all the way to Peru, where they encounter the Maximals, with their leader Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) and his cohorts ready to face Scourge and the coming onslaught of Unicron for a second time.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron

 Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron is a beautiful relic — and the end of an era

The latest Studio Ghibli film is out in North American theaters after premiering in Japan earlier in the year.

The year is 1997, and famed Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki announced plans to retire following the release of Princess Mononoke, a film that set new records at the box office for Japanese animation and revolutionized the medium. The year is 2001, and Miyazaki announced plans to retire following the release of Spirited Away, saying he can no longer work on feature-length animated films. The year is 2013, and Miyazaki announced plans to retire following the release of The Wind Rises, saying that “If I said I wanted to [make another feature film], I would sound like an old man saying something foolish.”

The year is 2023, and Miyazaki is an old man saying something foolish by releasing a new film, titled How Do You Live in Japan and renamed The Boy and the Heron for the international market.

These opening moments feel unsettling and heavy, especially in flashbacks, only briefly relieved by the kindly gaggle of old ladies at the home or the famed heron. While it embraces the fantastical as it takes us to a whole new world in pursuit of a far-from-normal heron’s promise that Mahito can see his mother once more (while continuing to search for his new mother who recently went missing), the weight of this opening lingers. 

In these moments, it’s a rich, dense fantasy in the vein we’ve come to expect, both in terms of the detail visible in every scene and its greater thematic purpose. You may come to Spirited Away for its eclectic and intricate spiritual bathhouse, but you stay for the human story and deeper undertones at its core.

Continuing this comparison, you could even say these musings on the complexity of the human condition are emphasized by the 82-year-old Miyazaki with this final film, creating something that feels more autobiographical and self-reflective than The Wind Rises. For all that film was technically a biopic, it felt as much a reflection of the man behind the production as it was the master aviator at its center. While fantastical and family-friendly elements litter The Boy and the Heron, filling it to the brim with whimsy that lightens its heavy moments and brings endless charm to its stunning animation, the frank nature in which it explores Miyazaki’s self-reflective musings on memory makes it as much a conversation with the man in the mirror as it is the audience.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rabid

 Rabid

The Soska Sisters remake 'Rabid,' David Cronenberg's 1977 cult horror film about a young woman who develops a thirst for blood after undergoing unconventional surgery.

It took no small amount of guts for Jen and Sylvia Soska to remake a David Cronenberg film, the first such effort ever attempted, even if the master horror director’s 1977 Rabid isn’t one of his best. The identical twin filmmakers, who are credited under the moniker “The Soska Sisters,” would seem well suited for the task, based on their distinctive oeuvre which includes such grindhouse movies as American Mary, Dead Hooker in a Trunk and See No Evil 2. Unfortunately, their reimagining of Cronenberg’s film, although it has some imaginative touches, can most generously be described as an affectionate homage.

In the role that marked porn star Marilyn Chambers’ legit feature debut, Laura Vandervoort (Smallville, Jigsaw) plays Rose, an aspiring fashion designer struggling to earn the respect of her boss Gunter (Mackenzie Gray, so over the top that he makes Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno seem subtle by comparison). A wallflower bearing a small facial scar from a long-ago car accident, Rose reluctantly lets her friend Chelsea (Hanneke Talbot, Ready or Not) set up her up on a date with a fellow co-worker.

Sweet Home

 Sweet Home

Rafa Martinez’s locked-house chiller comes from Spain’s best-respected horror stable

The closing credits of Sweet Home — one of those “tell it how it isn’t” titles — reveal that 154 jobs were created by making it, which perhaps compensates somewhat for the multiple fictional lives bloodily lost during it. The credits also mention the Johns Carpenter and McTiernan, as well as other directors to whom debut director Rafa Martinez is clearly in debt in a project which follows high profile projects like the [REC] quartet and While You Were Sleeping out of Spain’s high-profile Filmax stable. Though Home lacks the distinctiveness of those films, it’s still likely to garner significant international sales from markets with an interest in Spanish horror: the film’s prospects are improved by its being in English..

Opening credits make a wobbly attempt to connect the plot to contemporary social issues. Stats are given suggesting that a small percentage of the many questionably legal forced evictions which leave many poor Spaniards homeless each year are carried out by hunky hooded men who, for example sprinkle cockroaches onto elderly tenants’ bath sponges to terrify them before killing them.

The performance of Garcia-Jonsson, who starred in Jaime Rosales’ 2014 Cannes player Beautiful Youth, keeps all the nonsense just about grounded. She’s a credible and exciting Final Girl, combining the right balance of innocence, bravery, wit and energy. Present in practically every scene, Garcia-Jonsson carries the film but is nonetheless subject to more than one leering camera angle as she desperately seeks to save her life. But it’s not easy to spot why she would have fallen for the insipid Bruno in the first place, and there’s little in their exchanges to alter that view. Pro stuntman Oriol Tarrida as the lumbering, hulking, raincoat-wearing “The Liquidator”, a kind of Hispanic update to Kharis, does a nicely charismatic job of his liquidating.

The building is probably the creepiest to be seen in Spanish film since the first [REC], and D.P. Antonio J. Garcia and production designer Sylvia Steinbrecht do it full justice, though the house’s geography is as murky to the viewer as it often is to the characters. García’s camera work is urgent hand-held, at times stomach-turningly so, but at its best it combines with good sound work to give the atmosphere a pulsating, tactile physicality. Gines Carrion Espi’s score in annoying unsubtle: the best musical moments belong to a rendition of Spanish 1973 Eurovision cheesy classic It’s You, by Mocedades, thrown in by Martinez for no apparent reason, but to nicely ironical effect.