What I Got from My Last Outings

Since I graduated from university, I haven't been spending much time with my college friends. It's just so hard for us to meet because we all work in different places and have different schedules now. This is sad because we used to spend a lot of time together and have so much fun. I miss those days when I got to see my friends every day, attend classes with them, eat with them, complain about the tasks that the lecturers gave us together... I miss my college friends so much.

But, I got the chance to see some of my best friends over the last few weeks. Two weeks ago I went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 with my fangirling partner, Lia, and my super busy PE teacher friend (hahaha). Last week, I met my mentoring group members (I used to be a mentor for junior students when I was still a student). And yesterday I had an early Christmas lunch with my former co-workers, most of whom are my college friends too. Seeing them makes me really happy and I hope we all can do that more often.

My blog post is not complete if it does not include book and movie stuff haha. So, yeah, I am still going to review something here. As I said before, I saw The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 two weeks ago. I didn't just see it in the cinema, actually; I saw it with 499 other people who are diehard fans of the Hunger Games saga from the saga's fan community. It was really fun because everyone was so excited and passionate about the movie (they screamed a lot during the viewing event). We got some cool Hunger Games merchandises too.

Katniss and her star squad in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

For the movie itself, I think it's a good one. My favorite from the saga is still the second movie, Catching Fire, but Mockingjay Part 2 is still a great conclusion to the saga. My favorite thing about the movie is probably the acting. I don't know why I didn't realize this before, but Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Katniss is really good. She truly transforms herself into the character. When I saw the movie, I didn't see Jennifer at all because I only saw Katniss. I am always fascinated by actors who are able to do that. I think Josh Hutcherson does a great job too. Just seeing him and his traumatized expression makes me sad. My favorite character dies (in a horrible death scene that involves mutants with sharp teeth) in the movie, so I'm so broken-hearted haha.

When I was waiting for my mentoring friends to come last week, I strolled around a bookstore and found a novel that I had wanted to read. The novel is Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. Rainbow's other novel, Eleanor & Park, is one of my favorite books (read my review of it here). It is simply beautiful, easy to read and, like Park says in the book, really makes you feel something. So, I hope Fangirl is just as awesome as Eleanor & Park. I'm pretty sure I will be able to relate to the story because even the title is so... me haha.

Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl

That's all from me today. I'm sure it will take some time until I can write my review of Fangirl, but I'm definitely going to review it. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is coming to theaters in less than two weeks and I can assure you that I'm gonna watch and review it as soon as it is released. I hope I can see the movie on the first day because I just can't wait any longer haha.

Have a wonderful year-end holiday! :)

Thoughts on The Light Between Oceans and Spectre

After a long, long time, I finally managed to finish reading The Light Between Oceans! Actually, I finished reading the book a few weeks ago, but it has been really hard for me to find the time to write about it. I go out a lot during the weekends now. and when I don't, I am usually too lazy or too tired to write haha. But now I miss writing, so I will write my thoughts on that book and the movie that I saw recently, Spectre. Oh, there might be spoilers ahead, so watch out haha.

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS BY M.L. STEDMAN

In this book, there are three lives that get intertwined. Those are the lives of Tom Sherbourne, a war hero who signs up as a lighthouse keeper after he comes back from the war; Isabel Graysmark, Tom's young wife who longs for a child but keeps losing the chance to have one; and Hannah Roennfeldt, a woman whose life falls apart after she loses her husband and baby.

After losing their third baby, Tom and Isabel find a boat that carries a baby girl floating in the sea near the island where they live in isolation. Even though Tom is hesitant in doing it, they decide to keep the baby because Isabel thinks the baby is a gift from God after all the pain that they have been through. Little do they know, their decision will heavily impact someone else's life and their own future.

This story is such a beautiful one. I really love the words that the author choose to tell the story. The story is actually quite dark because it explores how death and loss can affect people, but somehow the words give the sense of purity and innocence to it. This gives me a mixed feeling. The beauty of the diction makes me admire the story, but what happens in the story itself makes my heart hurt. So, yeah, this book gives me all the feels.

Another thing from the book that touches my heart is the moral message. The message of this story is very common, very true, but often forgotten by people: let it go. We often forget that sometimes we should not enforce things, that we should just let go of them. We often forget this, like Isabel, who cannot accept the fact that she has lost her babies and insists in keeping a baby that is not hers. Like Hannah, who cannot accept the fact that her daughter has changed and can never be the one that she used to be. Things just get worse when they cannot let those things go, but when they are finally able to do it, the tangled problems just disentangle themselves. I like how this message is delivered in this book.

Rating : 4/5

SPECTRE

Spectre is the twenty-fourth Bond movie and Daniel Craig's fourth Bond movie. This time, it features Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, who plays the main villain, Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci as the Bond girls. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw join Daniel Craig in reprising their roles as M, Moneypenny and Q.

Ben Whishaw and Daniel Craig as Q and Bond

Even though Dame Judi Dench's M died in Skyfall, she is still the one who sends Bond for a mission in this movie. It turns out that she recorded a video for Bond before she died, which tells him to kill a man and attend the man's funeral. This funeral leads Bond to a secret organization, which surprisingly connects him with some enemies from his past.

Actually, I am not a fan of Bond movies, but I really enjoyed the previous Bond movie, Skyfall. So, I had quite high expectation for Spectre. After finally seeing it, I must say that I am quite disappointed. The story is not engaging at all. And I was really tired and cold when I was watching the movie, which makes it even harder for me to follow the story haha.

The acting element is not impressive either. Not bad, just not impressive. This is quite surprising because the actors who are involved in this movie are great, talented actors. I still love watching Ben Whishaw's Q here, though. I love how he represents young people in Bond movies. And he has more screen time here, which makes me happy haha.

Rating : 2,5/5

Movie Reviews: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials & The Martian

It's getting harder to find time to do my hobbies these days.

I still haven't finished reading The Light Between Oceans. I haven't been watching the second season of How to Get Away with Murder. I haven't been posting my writings here... My weekdays are just sooo exhausting because there are sooo many things to do at school. The terrible traffic in Jakarta makes it even worse; it takes hours for me to reach my office from my house and vice versa. At the end of every day, I'm always super exhausted. I just have no strength to do anything. Thankfully, I manage to keep my weekends free from work-related thingy, so I can have some time to rest and do my hobbies, like today.

Today I want to write about the two movies that I saw recently: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and The Martian. Here are my thoughts on those two films.

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

This movie is adapted from James Dashner's novel, The Scorch Trials (read my review of it here) and the sequel to last year's The Maze Runner. As I wrote in my review of the book, the one thing that I don't like about it is how Thomas seems to obey WICKED. Luckily, the director of the movie adaptation, Wes Ball, seems to agree with me. He alters one part of the story (SPOILER ALERT! Thomas and his friends escape from the WICKED facility and go out to The Scorch instead of going to The Scorch because Janson tells them to do so) in the movie, which changes everything. This change keeps the burning spirit to reach freedom there. I like this a lot.

Top: Minho (Kihong Lee), Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) & Newt (Thomas Sangster)
Bottom: Harriet (Nathalie Emmanuel), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) & Brenda (Rosa Salazar)

Despite the major change that I mentioned above, there are sooo many differences between the book and the movie. Some fans might not like it, but I don't mind. To be honest, I like the story of the movie more haha. The action sequences are just as tense as the ones in the first movie. I think the Cranks chase scenes are the best ones; those scenes made me hold my breath for a long time! I love the settings too; they are grander than the ones in The Maze Runner. I miss The Glade, though. I just love the concept of The Glade haha. And I love the cast too, of course! Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scoelario, Thomas Sangster, Kihong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Nathalie Emmanuel etc give such enjoyable performances.

Rating : 3,5/5

THE MARTIAN

The next movie is the one that I saw yesterday: The Martian. The movie is about a botanist named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who is left alone in Mars because his crew thinks he is killed when an unexpected storm hits them during their expedition in the red planet. This movie is directed by Ridley Scott and full of great actors such as Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels etc.

The Martian is full of great actors, but Matt Damon is definitely the shining star in the movie

When I first read the synopsis of the film, I thought The Martian was going to be very emotional and full of dramatic death scenes like other astronaut movies, such as Interstellar and Armageddon. But it turns out that it is not like that at all. The Martian is surprisingly funny and enjoyable. Matt Damon's Watney is completely alone in Mars and has no one to talk to except his webcam, but he delivers so many hilarious monologues. I laughed a lot when I saw the movie yesterday.

Mark Watney is definitely the most interesting character in The Martian. I expected him to weep and get totally depressed in that planet because, dude, he is left alone in Mars! But he does not. Even when he first realizes that he is left alone in the red planet, he doesn't get panicked. Instead, he keeps thinking, uses his knowledge and solves the problems that come to him. I think this is a great approach and it makes The Martian different from other astronaut films. This also shows to us that the ones that matter are not the problems, but the way we choose to see and deal with them. Matt Damon definitely stands out in this movie. I love Jessica Chastain's and Kate Mara's characters too, though. Strong, brave and smart female characters always make me proud haha.

Rating : 4/5

The Girl on the Train and the Girls around Her

It's been a long time since my last blog post, eh? I started working again last month and my new job has kept me busy since then. I am a teacher assistant in a class of fifteen 5-year-old children now. My kids are all cute but working with them takes all of my energy and patience. Every day, the kids cry, fight, get sick, drop their food to the floor, refuse to follow the lesson, etc. Despite the classroom situation, I also have to face the fact that I am the new girl at the office. Not only the new girl, actually. I am also one of the youngest staff members and one of the few people who are single there. I didn't know that being new, young and single could be difficult, but it turns out that it is. So, things haven't been easy for me these days, but I think it's good to have something new and challenging. Hopefully all these will help me improve myself.

Because of my new job, I have to cut my reading time as well. I usually give myself 30 minutes to read every morning, before I start working. So, I am a super slow reader now. It took me forever to finish Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. I started reading it right after I finished In the Woods and I just finished it two days ago.

Like In the Woods, a lot of people say that Train is similar to Gone Girl. After reading the book, I have to say that I disagree with that. I think it's more similar to How to Get Away with Murder. Anyways, Train is told from the perspectives of three women whose lives are connected to one another: Rachel, Megan and Anna. Rachel is the girl on the train. After losing her job and her husband, Rachel spends most of her time drinking and sitting on the train to hide the fact that she is jobless. From the train, she often sees her old house, which is now occupied by Anna, her ex-husband's new wife, and the house of the Hipwells. Rachel loves to watch Scott and Megan Hipwell, the young couple who live there, because they remind her of her happy days with her ex-husband, Tom. But one day, Megan goes missing. Rachel's drinking problem makes her unable to recall the memory of that night when Megan goes missing. But she knows that something has happened and she has to try to figure it out.

I love how the author shows the complexity of women through her female characters. The story lets us experience how it feels like to be a wife whose husband cheats with another woman; a woman who cheats with someone else's husband; a wife who betrays her husband; a woman with drinking problem; a bored housewife-mother; a mother who loses a child; a woman who can't have children; etc. This story lets us see that just because she cheats with someone's husband doesn't mean she can't have your sympathy. Just because she is happily married and has beautiful children doesn't mean she is happy. Just because she makes mistakes doesn't mean that she can be blamed for every wrong thing that happens around her. I think this is realistic because real women are complex. Real women have many sides and layers in their personalities. Real women can't be labeled as the bad ones just because they do one bad thing and vice versa.

The ending of this book doesn't really satisfy me. I don't feel like I get a closure with all the characters. After what happens to Megan is revealed and the bad guy is finished, the story just ends. I think it will be better if we get a glimpse of how the characters move on after the case ends, how it has changed them. Oh, the revelation is quite shocking because readers are unable to reveal it at the beginning due to the characters' personal feelings towards one particular character. A lot of authors like to do this these days, don't they?

So I think this book is okay. It's not, llike, very impressive, but it is enjoyable. The next book that I want to buy is entitled The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I found the book in a bookstore and the synopsis at the back of it made me curious. It sounds like a story that will make me emotional. I've read too much murder-related thingy these days, so I think an emotional story will be good. Make sure you read my review of it!

Rating : 3

The Tangled Mysteries of Tana French's In the Woods

I've got a job offer! And it comes from a company that seems really great! I'm so grateful and happy and excited. No more job hunting madness! My mom says it's a blessing that is brought by the Holy Month of Ramadhan. Well, I think it's true.

Besides getting the job offer, I also finished reading Tana French's In the Woods  earlier this week. As I wrote in my previous post, In the Woods tells the story of a detective named Rob Ryan who has to investigate a murder that reminds him of his dark past. Twenty years before the murder of a little girl named Katy in Knocknaree, Rob's childhood friends mysteriously disappeared in the woods of the same little town. Rob, who was with the two missing children in the woods, was found with no memory of what happened to his friends. Strange, isn't it? Now, Rob must go back to Knocknaree to investigate the murder case, which is just as strange as the disappearance, and fight the trauma that is caused by the lost memories of the woods.

This book is included on almost every list of recommended books for Gone Girl fans that I've seen. Well, it does have some similarities with Gone Girl. Like Gone Girl, the point of view from which the story is told is very influential in In the Woods. This book also has a shocking revelation at the end, which is pretty similar to that crazy twist in Gone Girl (It didn't hit me hard as Gone Girl did, though. So I'm fine, thank you hahaha.). Besides Gone Girl, there are some parts of this story that remind me of Pretty Little Liars. I also have a theory about the unsolved mystery in this book that is inspired by an old movie starring Andrew Garfield called Boy A (which is about two children who murder their classmate without even knowing what they have done).

My favorite thing about this book is how it lets readers dive into the detectives' world. The author gives vivid, sometimes eerie, descriptions of the police procedures. They gave me an amazing detective experience. The most fascinating yet creepy part of the police procedures that are described by Miss French in this novel for me is the autopsy scene. She describes Katy's autopsy results through a character named Cooper and, man, the descriptions are so vivid! They created very clear images of the dead body in my head which gave me nausea. I could also feel the detectives' frustration about the case. They found so many dodgy things but they lead them to nowhere! That got me flipping the pages brutally because I was so desperate to know the truth. I got a little confused by the leads that are related to the government and the politicians, though. I'm just not good at those matters haha.

The one thing that surprised me more than the revelation of Katy's murderer is the fact that one of biggest mysteries of the story remains unsolved until the end. This just keeps me wondering, what's the purpose of putting the mystery in the story if it's not going to be solved? I assume that the purpose is to show the psychological aspects of Rob; to show how the trauma of losing his friends affects and ruins him. He seems like a solid character at the beginning, but when his judgement starts to get clouded by his trauma and feelings, he turns into a huge mess. Maybe that is the reason why detectives with emotional connection to a case must not be allowed to handle the case. Anyways, I think it would be very nice to know the truth about the unsolved mystery; it will give us, readers, the sense of closure.

This book also has some interesting characters. Rob is the main character and the narrator of the story. When I started reading the book, I liked and trusted him. In fact, I felt related to him. But, as the story goes on, he changes a lot. As I said before, he gets twisted by his trauma. Near the end of the story I just didn't  know who he was anymore. I still feel bad for him, though. Rob's partner, Cassie Maddox, is such a cool character. She is smart and sensitive and strong. I'm so excited to read the sequel of this book because it is told from Cassie's POV (it's about a different case, though). And yes, there is an Amy Dunne in this story, people! Prepare yourself for her! I think the psychopath in this story resembles not only Amy Dunne from Gone Girl, but also Alison DiLaurentis from Pretty Little Liars.

So, I think this book is a great one. It's recommended not only for fans of Gone Girl, but also fans of crime fiction, psychological thriller, and Pretty Little Liars.

Rating : 4/5

Little Stories about Detectives, Robots and Loss

Getting a job is so hard, isn't it?

Since I quit my old job, I have been job hunting like crazy. I have done many interviews, tests, teaching demos, etc. Sometimes this makes me feel exhausted, frustrated, desperate. I'm not giving up, though. But sometimes I just need to escape from all the job hunting madness. And my way of escaping is, you know, getting lost in the stories of films and books haha.

I ordered a book entitled In the Woods by Tana French earlier this week. It's about a detective who has to investigate a murder case that is similar to his traumatic experience in the past. Yup, I'm in the mood for crime fiction again haha. People say that this book is recommended for anyone who likes Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Well, you know how I feel about that book (read my thoughts on Gone Girl here), so I decided to order In the Woods. The book is expected to arrive next week and I'm so excited to read it.

A few days before I ordered the book, I saw a movie called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them. It's a drama about Connor (James McAvoy) and Eleanor (Jessica Chastain), who are perfect as a couple. However, a tragic loss that they experience changes everything. There are moments in this movie where I don't understand what is actually going on. But I think this is good because, I think, that's what would happen when you experience something traumatic like that. You feel confused, lost. Everything seems chaotic and messy. Those feelings are portrayed by Jessica Chastain in a beautifully heartbreaking way. I love James's performance too but I think he needs more screen time haha. My favorite scene involves these two actors and occurs near the end of the movie. The two talk about their memories about the person they've lost and their grief. It's just really sad and heartbreaking. Oh yeah, the amazing Viola Davis is in this movie too. She plays a supporting character here, but you just can't ignore her because she's just so cool.

Another movie that I saw recently is Ex Machina. This film is written and directed by Alex Garland, the one who wrote the scripts of Never Let Me Go and 28 Days Later. It is about a female AI (Artificial Intelligence) named Ava (Alicia Vikander) whose human characteristics are tested by her creator, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), using his employee, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson). The movie is so tense! And quite scary too, I think. The music and the look of the movie play a huge part in making it tense. There is one piece of the music that sounds like the beat of a heart, which makes me anxious whenever it is played. Nathan's modern, sophisticated house and the huge trees that surround it somehow create coldness that makes me quiver.

There are only four actors in this movie: the three actors mentioned above and Sonoya Mizuno as Nathan's assistant, Kyoko. They all are fantastic in their roles. Alicia Vikander's Ava looks so innocent and sweet, which lets me understand why Caleb is so taken with her. But sometimes you can see something different when she demands answers from Caleb; something that makes me hold my breath. Oh, what she does at the end leaves me completely breathless because it's terrible but she still looks innocent. Domhnall Gleeson plays the naive Caleb successfully and makes me feel related to him. I still can't stop thinking about what happens to him at the end. Oscar Isaac plays his strange character so well. His performance truly deceives me and makes the revelation at the end so shocking. And that Kyoko girl! She doesn't even talk but she freaks me out whenever she appears, especially when she reveals her true self to Caleb in Nathan's room.

Despite all the greatness that I've mentioned, I think the most memorable part of the movie is the ending. It is just so shocking and eerie and thought-provoking. Ugh it's so hard to talk about it without giving spoilers haha. The ending gets me thinking, who is the villain in the story, actually? Do Ava's actions at the end make her the villain? Is it wrong for her to want to live freely? Should people keep trying to build AIs? Should we let the AIs look back on us the same way we look at fossils, like Nathan says? Can we, humans with the instinct for survival, let that happen? Are we afraid of AIs?

So that's all from me today. Wait for my review of In the Woods!

It's Not a Bird. It's Not a Plane. It's Not a Man. It's Supergirl!

A few months ago, it was announced that there would be a new tv series about Superman's cousin, Supegirl. They released some promotional pictures featuring its leading lady, Melissa Benoist, in the Supergirl costume as well. When I saw the pictures and the costume, I wasn't really sure about it. But then they dropped the extended trailer this morning, which got me really excited and jumpy.

I love what I see in the trailer very much! 

The way this series looks reminds me of The Flash a bit. Melissa Benoist who plays Supergirl does a monologue throughout the trailer, just like Grant Gustin, the actor who plays The Flash. She even starts the monologue with "My name is...", exactly like Grant's monologue for The Flash. Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El also looks as nerdy as Barry Allen when she's not doing the superhero thingy. I like nerdy superheroes, so I approve this (haha). And both series have former Glee stars as the leads! As you may know, Grant and Melissa used to play Sebastian and Marley in the musical series. We've seen Grant sing in one of the episodes of The Flash, so maybe we'll get to see Supergirl sing as well hahaha. Oh, Jeremy Jordan is in this series too! He is a Broadway actor (who also stars in the movie adaptation of The Last Five Years with Anna Kendrick) whose amazing singing voice never fails to make me melt. They should make a musical episode for this series hahaha.

In the trailer, we get to see Kara fight identity crisis, work in an office, face an intimidating boss, get underestimated, and go on the fangirl mode when she sees herself on television. I like this because it makes her look human. I think it would be easy for me to feel related to her. It's also really cool to see a girl stop a plane from falling with her superpower! Most of superhero films and tv shows today are centered on male heroes so I am happy to finally see a female superhero as the lead.

Our Supergirl, Melissa Benoist.

Supergirl is going to have its premiere in November 2015. The wait is going to kill me haha, but yeah, I'm definitely going to watch this series. Hopefully it would be as awesome as The Flash.