Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Visit

People in Indonesia will get another long holiday this weekend. Yup yup, tomorrow is a holiday again! Better enjoy it as much as you can, because there will be no more public holiday after this weekend until next August :P

Well, last weekend, in the middle of crazy deadlines (and crazy clients), I received a visit from a dear boy ^^ Wo was in Jakarta last Sunday. Surprise surprise. Because, you know, I thought he would never go to Jakarta - or visiting me - unless there is some super urgent or very very important business.

But there he was, calling me when I was shopping some CDs with Teto in Glodok (:P), and asked me to pick him up at Blok M. The boy wanted to shop some shoes XD Turns out the main reason he came to Jakarta was to visit his friend who just gave birth to a baby. Hmmm. I thought it was because of me :P Oh well. So we shopped around Blok M - I had my dinner there - and then we went back to my place. The next day (Monday), I just had to drag him to my office, because I couldn't take him out for shopping (I supposed to work!) Unfortunately he couldn't find another victim to shop with, so... he stayed at my office. Hahaha. Sorry, Wo, next time you better show up at weekend, not weekday XDD He went back to Bandung on the afternoon.
It was a nice surprise, a nice visit. I wish he would do that again (the surprise visit, I mean).

While I just thought that I wouldn't have time to go to Bandung and visit him this month, because this long weekend, I would go to Semarang, visiting my mom.
Yeap, I will go to Semarang tomorrow morning by train. I already got the ticket, and borrow Mon's MP4 player (in case I'm dead bored on the train). It's been a while since my last visit to Semarang - more than a year ago. So I hope I could enjoy the holiday with my family - as much as I can.

Happy holiday, folks!

{posted by Chibi on 7:05 PM} +

Friday, May 18, 2007

Still Friday

... And I enjoy it very much :D
As you know, this long weekend I didn't plan anything particular to spend the days. But so far it didn't bother me. Everything comes in impromptu. Yesterday, me and my flatmates went to Mall Ambassador and I suddenly shopping XD I bought some nice things, and another nice things (I don't wanna say unnecessary things, because all of those stuffs are important to me. Hah. Mark that, Mon XDD)Today, my only plan to go out is to UltraDisc Video rental, to return some movies that I rented few days ago. Then I will find some snacks to watch some movie with. So far, nothing important thing to do :P

Of course, I'm open for any invitation to hang out, coffe-talks, or any social gathering. Just dial my number :P My friend in Bandung, Lina, is getting married this Sunday. Yeayy! Congratulation, girl ^^ Unfortunately, she called me yesterday and it's like nearly impossible to find a ticket to Bandung for this weekend. To Bandung, suddenly this weekend? Are you nutz?! People already booked their tickets from last week! So, well, wish me luck to get the ticket. And if I don't get it, means I can't go to Lina's wedding. Then maybe I'll just send Wo to send my sweet apologize and pray for her happiness.

Have a great life ahead!^^

{posted by Chibi on 7:25 PM} +

Marie Antoinette

A Movie review.

Sony Pictures - 2006

Cast : Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Asia Argento

Writing & directed by Sofia Coppola

Okay, first of all, I must emphasize here that I am a huge fan of Queen Marie Antoinette. I honored her, respect her every acts; I read every biographies and stories about her, I even collect any information and pictures and whatever. Basicly, I'm crazy about Antoinette. Despite her lavish behaviour which led her to the monarchy downfall - and led her head to the guillotine - she was a great woman who stand to her pride and intended to keep it till the very last second of her life. And also - despite her title as a royalty, and her role as a Queen of France - she was just an ordinary woman - a woman in love, a wife, a mother, a human.

In this movie, Sofia Coppola presents the life of Marie Antoinette in a rock'n'roll kind-of-way. The story begins from the day that young Antoinette - Maria Antonia, her birth name - was told that she should marry the Dauphin of France. Then she left Austria - her hometown - and she had to adjust herself to the new life in French court. From the ridiculous protocols to extravagant balls and operas, Antoinette still had to face the fate of being an heiress to the royal family, that was to give birth to a future king. Unfortunately her husband - King Louis XVI - was not quite a capable person to fulfill his duty as a man, and that did not help Antoinette to have a baby. After the dead of King Louis XV, Louis XVI became the new king and that made Antoinette the new Queen, and the pressure to give birth an heir was getting bigger. As a compensation, Antoinette tried to runaway from her tight-air life in Versailles by having as much happiness as she could get - from fancy styles, masquerade balls, card gamblings, to a glamour new palace. And when she finally gave birth to a child - that was Princess Marie Therese, not a prince as expected, Antoinette was already drowned in her own world - and it drowned the poor France into revoution.

Since it was a true life story, the movie has its own great plot. Unfortunately, the writer could not re-tell the history in its true color. There are some plot that seems to be forced, I assume for the sake of duration. And even though the casts and the settings and all the props are terrific, but for a historic movie, I say it's a horrible horrible movie (I just have to say horrible twice). By the first half of the movie, I was nearly crying.

It's a movie about Antoinette! Why should i dislike it? Okay, I tell you why.

[+] First, Kirsten Dunst is SO NOT Antoinette. They should've cast another actress. I'm not saying Kirsten is a bad actress - no, she's great! Really - but she's just not suitable for the role. Antoinette should posses an arrogant poise combined with childish attitude, but still graceful and as a royalty (and as stated in her biography), she wouldn't touch the common life. And putting the same cast for young Antoinette was just ridiculous. At the first appearance, young Antoinette was FOURTEEN (14 year-old) when her mother told her to marry the French prince. Fourteen, and there you see Kirsten Dunst? Oh please.

And Antoinette's lips should be more sensual than Kirsten's thin-lips :P

Over all, perhaps Reese Witherspoon, or Audrey Tautou, or Kate Hudson, or Anne Hathaway, or even Paris Hilton would be more suitable for the image. Or whoever.

[+] And Louis XVI should be fatter than Jason Schwartzman.

[+] But I agree that Asia Argento plays a great role as Madame Du Barry, she's just so into her :) Although, I thought Madame Du Barry should be more careful to her behaviour in court, because even though she was a whore, but she was the woman who stood behind the King (Louis XV), and it was her dream to be honored as the other royal bloods in Versailles. So she should not burp at royal dinner. The scriptwriter made her a little bit over-reacted :P

[+] Also the cast for Count Fersen is just perfect. In reality, Count Fersen was as gorgeous as Jamie Dornan to lure the Queen into a love at a first sight (Jamie, afterall, is a model for CK, Dior, etc. Yummy). But his appearance is too shortand I don't understand why Sofia made him as "having a bad reputation" ? Count Fersen is one on Swedish ambassador, a gentleman and not merely a seductive soldier :E

[+] I'm not sure about the cast for Comtesse Polignac. Hmm. Can we change the actress, please? Or it's just a bad directing :P

[+] For the script, I'd say I would blame Sofia Coppola for writing the script. She made the scripts based on the book by Antonia Fraser, that was good. But it became a horror with Sofia's interpretation. Goodness.
Antoinette would not speak that easy to Madame Du Barry - she wouldn't even look at her. And as a royalty, the Queen would not allow anybody lower than her status to say hi at the opera, like "Oh, hi, Queen, heard alot about you. Nice to meet you!" - like Comtesse Du Polignac did -__-;; Kirsten's Antoinette is just too playful and unsuit to the Queen's behavior. I understand that the plot must be shortened for the duration, but still it's too bad for not mentioning anything about the Diamond Necklace Affair in the movie. That scandal was one of the biggest things that changed Antoinette's life in Versailles.

And the part when Antoinette's second child (Louis Joseph, the Dauphin) was born and then died is too vague for audience to understand. They would like, "What? Who died?" when they watch the coffin and Antoinette's tears.

[+] One thing that totally destroyed this movie, is the music background. For Sofia Coppola, and the music director, I would ask you, are you possesed?!?

If the director wanted to make a pop-style version of a classic - maybe just like Baz Luhrman did to Romeo & Juliet (which I love it very very much), well then in this movie it just didn't work out. In fact, it was awfully fail.I hate the back sound from this whole movie - I even had to press the mute volume button several times because it hurt my ears! What were they thinking, to put a rock'n'roll "I Want Candy" song into a classic-set of Versailles court? It's so inappropriate, very incompatible songs for a movie with classic settings and props. I would put the gun on the director's head and pull the trigger :p Sorry, I was emotionally upset :P

If I would keep the background music and the soundtracks from Romeo & Juliet like a treasure, on the contrary, I would never want to hear any songs from this Marie Antoinette movie. Why oh why.

Based on my opinion, I would rate this movie 7 out of 10. The good things that help this movie is decent to watch are the nice settings - Versailles looks pretty small, eh? But nice. Just nice. And also the whole costumes, extravagant decorations, are pretty much suitable for the storyline.

But as I stated - and also what some of my friends comments after they watched this movie at the JIFFEST - this movie is very very disappointing. As a festival movie or a blockbuster-wannabe, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is just a horrible plays like the cheap comedies played on the street of Paris back in 1776. They just didn't have the electric guitar roared to make it worse.

{posted by Chibi on 5:49 PM} +

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Long Weekend.

It's midweek, and also the beginning of a long weekend.
Yeap, for people who lives in Indonesia, this week we got public holiday on Thursday (tomorrow) and national day-off on Friday. So total four happy free days!

Everybody has planned their holiday - including my co-workers in VP. Mon will go photohunting in Yogya, eNjol & Maria will go back to their hometown, Mike will have the extra smooching time with his girlfriend :P
And me, I will.... stay in my room.

I don't have any holiday plan, except to stay in bed as long as I want. I have plenty DVDs to watch, and my only plan to go out is to Mal Ambassador with my flatmate, to get another DVDs :P I don't even want to visit my grandma and daddy at home. I want this holiday for me, myself.
Actually I was planning to go to Bandung, or invites Wo to Jakarta. Either way, I was planning to spend this long weekend with him. But he can't. And I can't. Hmph. I just have to enjoy it alone.

Oh well.
I just hope I could enjoy this holiday as much as I can (despite the fact that I still have to wake up early tomorrow morning and run to Plaza Senayan and deliver the wrong-laminated menu to my client and pray she wouldn't yell at me! Gosh, what a way to start your perfect holiday >_>) But there is no need to yell at people to make your own perfect holiday. Everybody wants to yell at everybody right now. I do too. So, don't.

Happy holiday, folks.

{posted by Chibi on 7:22 PM} +

Thursday, May 03, 2007

It's May!

I started this week with Hanibal Lecter XD I watched the movie with Maria & aNJol at Taman Anggrek XXI after work last Monday. Actually I haven't watched the previous Hannibal Leter's movies, but since it's a prequel, I thought it wouldn't matter. And I'm glad that the young Hannibal was gorgeous *drools* In a literally means, gorgeous.

While this week went on pretty fast - for VP people - I dunno is it because we had plenty deadlines, loads of works, or just because we act crazy everyday. Suddenly I have toprepare things for this weekend, whichis going to Bandung.
Yep, I'm going to Bandung again. This time, I have to pack my stuffs in my old place, and move them to my new place in Tomang. But of course, a little leisure with my (toy)boy would be a plus XDD *giggles madly* Daddy said he would pick me up on Sunday with his car, so I olnly got Friday night and Saturday to pack and have fun. LOL.

A small note here. I found a little trouble finding something to eat for dinner here. The menus are limited to fried rice, soto, sate, and of course, chinese foods from Bakmi Tomang :P Oh well. I think I should learn to cook. O__o Wow. Did I just said learn to cook?

Better go find some food now. See you in Bandung on weekend!

{posted by Chibi on 5:57 PM} +

Song:'80s-'90s songs; Matt Hires; some rocks
Obsession: Publishing my book
Reading: Horrible Histories
Movie: Clueless
Addiction: Books & Mp3
Project: Reviews and Translations