Nature Morte Vivante

Salvador Dali's Painting (1956)

Setelah semalaman kita letih menerka-nerka,
terlalu pagi ini mempertemu kita dengan langit
lazuardi dan samudra lapis lazuli yang menjadi
latar pungung-punggung kita di meja makan.

Pramusaji sudah menghidangkan semua suguhan
yang kita kenan. Setelah itu kau tampak bingung
perihal siapa di antara kita yang memesan sebilah
pisau.

Mata pisau itu mengelip pandangnya ke nadiku,
sedangkan mata satunya berkedip ke lehermu.
Pisau selalu mencintai daging, dan jika ia sudah
mengecup dan melucup kulit yang ia cinta,
percayalah, kita takkan berubah menjadi domba
lalu dikenang pada hari raya,

Makanan belum tersentuh. Kau masih gamang,
meski anggur pelenyap getar sudah kutuang.
Benda tajam itu mengusikmu, lagi pula
perjumpaan macam apa yang memerlukan
pisau di tengah-tengah mereka, tanyamu.

Suatu hari kau akan paham bahwa rancung
pisau akan selalu diperlukan di tiap perjamuan.
Tepatnya jikalau sewaktu-waktu erat peluk
tak mampu menggugurkan musim dingin,
dan ketika suatu pertemuan sudah tidak lagi
butuh sepotong percakapan.

Must-Watch Series (Part 2)

Instead of giving much effort to write here, I know I should work more on my undergraduate thesis. But maybe I just need a little break from it (Why in seven hells I need a break for? I haven’t even started anything yet).

Ah, Fuck it.

Here I am, again. Try to give a recommendation of series I have watched and convince people why you should watch it. I wrote some in my previous writing, here.

Well, Let’s just begin, shall we?

1. The End of the F***ing World (2017- )

In the first minutes the series begin, we will listen a flat narration from James, about his childhood's life. At 9, he put his hand to boiling oil, on purpose, only because he wanted to feel something (What kind of person did that? you tell me). When he was 15, he killed his neighbor’s cat, and another animals after that. At 19, his current age, he wanted to kill something bigger than animals. A girl came to his life, Alyssa, then become the first target of James' killing scheme.

Alyssa is no different. One afternoon she was sitting in front of her friend, and that friend texted Alyssa through her phone. You know what Alyssa did? She smashed her phone down, on purpose, because she's mad, her friend texted her instead of having conversation with her face to face.

Well, that makes two of them.

Alyssa asked James to escape the town. James said yes, so there they go. They went on a journey with discrete intention, Alyssa hated her current life, whilst James wanted to fill his killing desire on Alyssa.

I like how Alyssa and James create a good unconventional pair, the soundtrack, their accent, and the plot of the story is great. There are 8 episodes, each episode only takes for about 20 minutes. So if you’re a busy person it won’t take much of your time and you can binge-watch in one sitting.

2. The Crown (2016- )

British Royal family always takes the world spotlight. Take the Royal Wedding as an example. That event attracted people coming to Windsor Castle to see with their own eyes how that went, and most people around the world, who weren't coming, watched it live on the internet.

Aside from that, we never know what’s really inside The Royal Family, except you are studious enough to spend hours in the library. Fortunately that’s The Crown trying to offer. The closer peek behind the Buckingham Palace, deeper acquaintance to the life of the Royal Family mainly The Queen Elizabeth II.

The Crown is fascinating historical drama which story center around Queen Elizabeth II and her family. You’ll see the queen at the beginning of her reign, how she was taught to act as member of royal family since child, how the queen’s relationship with her father, her sister, her lover, the prime minister, her country and all the people around her. Also how monarch works and most important, the way this shows bring the queen as human being just like us. Not to mention the story of Britain’s history in the 20th century and the major events that surrounded it.

Since this mostly based on historical fact, perhaps you already know where some stories go, yet it still compelling. Don’t mind the mystery. I think what make this still compelling is the sheer attention to every detail in the story.

If you studied English literature it may be useful for you too, just like this show did to me. I had a course about English history and I answered few questions in the test based from what I’ve watched in The Crown. So watching this is like studying history, I kept that in mind while watching it, so I didn’t feel guilty when I lazing around much of my time binge-watch this.

3. Stranger Things (2016- )

Nerd’s adventure; Mike, Dustin, Lucas began when one of their friend, Will, mysteriously vanished into thin air, made the whole town is searching for him. Then came Eleven, a weird bald girl who running away from lab experiment which lead to the first clue in finding Will.

This horror-mistery series maybe one of series which frequently being talked about lately. I feel like horror isn't the main dish they served. Yeah, the atmosphere is intense and got me goosebumps at the moment, but it rarely frightened me. What really fascinating from this show I guess the friendship and romance stuffs, parents-kids relationship, the mystery which keep your curiosity alive, and, most of all, is the funny adventure among those adorable nerd kids.

There’s a strong bond chemistry between the characters. I doubt this series gonna be a hit if it wasn’t for those kids.

So Stranger Things is magnificent in so many ways. The main story and side story is great, the acting, the suspense, the comicality, all of the characters is likable. Just believe me on this: Stranger Things is thoroughly entertaining, and won’t disappoint you like how your lovers did!

4. Breaking Bad (2018-2013)

If you looking for a show that has incredible story while you relax without giving hard thought into it, this must be the perfect one.

Alongside Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad got 9.5 score on IMDb (which is, if I’m not mistaken, it’s the highest rating on IMDb). I think that’s fair, because this show will have you hooked at the very first time of the episode.

What make this show amazing is the solid and dynamic characterization and you can feel the personality and emotion changing from time to time of every character. No characters is black and white. Every character’s decision and action seems reasonable.

Another reasons that make this really good are the way it directed, the drama, and the originality of the story which genius in its simplicity.

The story line actually simple: The ordinary chemistry teacher Walter White who has to get on with his ordinary shitty life problems. Things go from bad to worse, he finds out he has a cancer. Therefore he needs to earn more money. He sees opportunities when he meets Jesse Pinkman, his junkie ex-student who knows a little about drug business so later they partner up. With his knowledge in chemistry, Walter White turns to the dark side and become the mastermind of the purest meth anyone ever cooked. And you know, once you turn to the dark side, it isn’t easy coming back to normal life.

5. Black Mirror (2011- )

Have you ever depicted how our future technology will be? I have some ideas, one of them is I always want that our eyes can record whole activity we've been through, so I can remember all the beautiful girls I accidentally met on the street or take pictures of some particular moments I saw without take out my phone. And guess what? Black Mirror has an episode about it.

You can watch it randomly, because it’s a stand-alone episode. The episodes each season isn’t much, at most it only contain of 6 episodes and the average duration is approximately 45 minutes.

Basically, Black Mirror is a British visionary anthology show about technology which shows the exploration of modern utopia, the dark side of technology, the effects of it to human beings, and so forth. The hideous thing, several depictions in Black Mirror can be happening in this real world in no time, perhaps next year or even next month. Some episodes may be showed metaphorically that make you must read few reviews after if you want to have profound thoughts on it.

It is so meaningful and thought-provoking. I love how Black Mirror satirize our current social life and represent the probability of what our future technology will look like. My favorite episode: The Entire History of You, Black Museum, Arkangle, and Nosedive. What’s yours?

6. Big Little Lies (2017- )

You know series is good when the casts are Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, and Laura Dern.

They acted well as upper-middle-class mothers who have different kinds of family issues they should deal with. One of them has dark past and has to raised her kid without father, one is appears to be happily married yet become the victim of regular domestic abuse of her husband, one is a divorced and remarried whom daughter seems prefer her ex-husband over her, and the other is a witch over-protective trouble maker mom who has a high privileged in the community. All of them mingled by the fact their children go to same school.

On the first day of school, Jane’s son was accused of being a bully to Renata Klein’s daughter. That seems negligible case, but that’s the starter of cold war between the mothers. There’s a bigger case: a murder. The thing is, they don’t tell you what happened, who the murderer is and who was murdered until the last episode. You are only given tiny pieces by pieces of all witness’ interview (that's clever), then you start wondering what is going on and trying to figure out who murder whom.

Big Little Lies is funny drama-mystery series which gives you a mom-housewives vibes. It might look it’s made for woman, but I, as a man (last time I checked), really got into the show.

Last thing I wanna give credit is the opening song which exceptionally won me. The music, settings, and scenery is just great. It gives you comfort and adds bit extra to the show. I'll show you the opening song I meant.

7. The Leftovers (2014-2017)

Do you remember when Thanos snapping his fingers then some population all of the galaxy was just gone? This show exactly depicting the impact of that Thanos’ doing…

No, no, I’m kidding. It is somewhat related yet it officially isn’t.

The real main story is this: In all of sudden, 2% of earth’s population disappearing off with nobody know how, why and where to. It just, puff… and they were gone. Mysteriousness of loss is surrounded the people in Mapleton.

However the point of this show isn’t to unfold the mystery, it tries to show how the people cope after that inexplicably incident. Loss, Grief, being broken, pain, confused of what to believe, move on, those are sort of feelings they are dealing with.

First episode is good, few episodes later it’s little confusing and there’s a lot of “what the hell is going on” moments which almost made me quit. With a little patience, at 5th or 6th episode I see the good in here. I think it’s Kevin Garvey and Nora Durst, what made me engaged to the show. They light up the screen every second they are on it.

Give it a try. The Leftovers is so underrated!

8. This is Us (2016- )

This is Us is so so so so dope, in every sense of the word. I haven’t seen a series this touching in its every episode. 

That’s nothing new actually about the story. Some problems maybe we’ve met in our daily routines. It’s not that we never seen sorts of movies like this. It’s just there’s some magic in this show. I’m still trying to figure out what kind of magic is that. As far as I can tell, the magic comes out from the sublime writing, the beautifully crafted screenplay, the wonderful actors, the gloomy music, and so on and so on.

It’s like watching 500 days of summer, A Walk to Remember, Love Actually, Before trilogy and family's warmth in Little Miss Sunshine, Little Women and The Blind Side, all wrapped up in one delicious package.

You’re gonna experience a roller-coaster feeling. At some point this show gonna make you feel happy and delighted, moments later it’s gonna tear your heart apart and make you bursting out of tears. Afterwards you’re gonna laugh, next thing you know you are left with feeling blue.

You will feel all the human feelings possible can do. You will feel the characters, experience their ups and downs moments, their anxiety, their heartbreak, and, above all, their love. And finally you will realize that somehow their issues is slightly related to yours. Moreover, there are so many life lessons as well we can get from here. 

From what I have written here, it looks like I am exaggerating, but believe me, I’m not. This is Us is utterly sensational. It’s like the best drama series I've seen in my entire life! 

(P.s prepare some tissues before watching it, you’ll thank me later)

Best Films You Probably Missed in 2017

Mungkin tulisan ini agak terlambat mengingat sekarang udah memasuki akhir januari 2018. Maafkanlah, kemalasan ini terlalu sering mengambil alih. It’s been quite a while I didn’t write, I feel like I have to write something on my blog, Since I read book less and watch film more, there will be much of writing about film in the time ahead, I guess. So this become the first writing I finished in 2018.

Menurut catatan Letterbox gue, baru segini film 2017 yang gue tonton. Follow me on Letterbox if you have one, click here

Every year we were blessed with many great movies that inspired us, look after our time in solitude, made us think, made awareness of some issues that ever happened in our world, or it just plain to entertain us. Not exception for 2017. In 2016, as the best I have La La Land, The Nice Guys, Sing Street, Hidden Figures, Lion, Snowden, Hacksaw Ridge, Deadpool and so forth. And here, this was my attempt to draw up a list of the films which took most of my attention and probably the best I, personally, watched in 2017 and probably will work for you too. If you have your own preference I didn't mention below, feel free to write in comment column.

1. The Babysitter

kaya gini nih babysitter-nya

Setelah orang tuannya pergi ke luar kota, Cole (Juda Lewis) ditinggal berduaan aja Bee (Samara Weaving), babysitternya yang hot itu. Bee ini orangnya lucu, suportif melawan bully terhadap Cole, tahu banyak geeky things, orang yang menarik buat diajak hang out, bisa dibilang tipe babysitter ideman sejuta umat. Cole was told by his friend that kind of babysitter likes to have sex when the host is sleeping, so Cole kept awake at midnight, and find out something more than that.

The Babysitter juga termasuk film horror, namun sedikit banyak dibumbui komedi. Mirip Home Alone tapi lebih sadis dan gory. Saran gue kalo mau nonton film ini jangan baca review/sinopsisnya, apalagi nonton trailernya. Jangan deh, karena spoiler banget.

2. Bad Genius

Bad Genius menceritakan orang Genius yang bad. Lynn yang diperankan oleh Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying (tutup mata Anda, dan eja namanya. Kalo bisa gue beliin cendol segerobak) adalah gadis genius yang lugu, baik hati dan senang berbagi, termasuk berbagi jawaban ujian. Awalnya dia cuma ngasih contekan ke satu sahabatnya, lama-lama customernya bertambah, bertambah, dan bertambah lagi. Dan tentunya jawabannya tidak diberikan dengan cuma-cuma. Memberikan contekan pun menjadi bisnis yang profitnya ga kalah dengan bisnis ayam geprek.

Thai film ini ceritanya cukup kuat dan meyakinkan, pengarahan visual dan sound effect-nya sangat baik, menciptakan banyak momen menahan-napas buat penonton. Bukan karena ada yang kentut, tapi atmosfernya itu yang menegangkan. Nonton orang pada nyontek aja deg-degan dah. Moral value yang bisa didapat dari film ini adalah: Kids Zaman Now harus bisa berinovasi mencari cara-cara mencotek yang efektif. Tinggalkanlah cara-cara klasik, sebab guru-guru sekarang pun semakin pintar untuk menangkap Anda.

3. Get Out

when u know besok udah senin

Kalau lo pernah takut-takut pas pertama kali mau ketemu mertua, tenang, lo ga sendiri. Seorang fotografer berkulit Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) juga merasakannya, ketika ia diajak pacarnya Rose (Allison William) yang berkulit putih itu mengunjungi orang tuannya. Chris semakin ragu karena Rose belum pernah menceritakan hubungan antar ras yang mereka jalani. Hubungan beda zodiak aja kadang ga direstui mertua, apalagi beda ras. Karena hubungan mereka sudah sampai ke tahap serius, Chris pun memberanikan diri untuk mengunjungi rumah orang tua Rose yang jauh dari hiruk-pikuk perkotaan. Ternyata mertuanya itu ga se-rasis yang dia pikirikan sebelumnya. “Alhamdulillah, deh” kata Chris. Tapi kian lama ia menetap di rumah mertua, ia makin sadar kalau ada sesuatu yang aneh di rumah itu.

Oke gua akan berhenti di situ. Karena kalau lo tau banyak tentang jalannya cerita, nanti bakal mengurangi kejutan-kejutan yang ada. Plotnya bener-bener ga ketebak. Film ini bergenre horror. Apa berarti Chris akan dihantu penunggu rumah mertuanya itu? Oh tidak. Horror, engga melulu harus ada setan. Tapi tetap, film ini bisa memberikan nuansa yang membuat bulu kuduk dan bulu-bulu yang lainnya merinding.

4. Detroit

Di Indonesia ada tragedi Mei 1998, Di Amerika ada Detroit 1967. Keduannya sama-sama kerusuhan yang berangkat dari perbedaan ras. It's a well depiction of real horrifying incident about the cruel reality of racism from white police officer to the black community that ever happened in Detroit.

Menurut gue agak kelamaan sih durasi film ini tapi ceritanya cukup powerful, intense, dan emosional yang bakal bikin gregetan banget sama para orang-orang rasis itu. Kalau lo gatau ada kejadian apa aja atau bagaimana akhir dari peristiwa Detroit mungkin itu akan membuat lo bisa lebih menikmati film ini.

5. Kingsman: the Golden Circle

Kalau lo menikmati sequel kingsman yang pertama, lo bakal suka yang kedua ini. Mungkin ga sebaik yang pertama, tapi tetep aja dari awal aja kita bakal disuguhi adegan laga penuh aksi dan senjata berteknologi tingkat tinggi. Dari opening scene aja kita akan langsung menonton tokoh utama berantem dan kejar-kejaran dengan fight choreography dan cinematography yang aduhai.

Masih melanjutkan sequel pertamanya, Eggsy, agen mata-mata dari Badan Intelijen International yang berpusat di Inggris dan punya misi untuk menyelamatkan dunia. Karena sedang berada di masa keruntuhannya, Badan intelijen ini meminta bantuan sekutunya di Amerika, organisasi serupa yang dipimpin oleh Champagne (Jeff Bridges), Tequila (Channing Tatum) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry). Dengan semangat bersatu kita teguh, mereka bersatu buat menjatuhkan Poppy (Julianne Moore), ibu-ibu bandar narkoba tapi benci dengan narkoba.

6. Lady Bird

Ini mungkin satu film di 2017 yang gue suka, bahkan sebelum gue menonton filmnya. Gue udah merasakan kesuksesan film ini dari respons-respons positif oleh kritik maupun dari penonton biasa. Ditambah lagi tokoh utamanya itu artis favorit gue, Saoirse Ronan.

Jangan mengharapkan cerita yang plot twist atau kejutan-kejutan dalam film ini karena ya emang ceritanya se-biasa itu, tentang gadis remaja dalam usaha menemukan jati dirinya, bagaimana ia mengatasi keinginan yang terhalang oleh keadaan, hubungan persahabatan, dan yang paling utama ditawarkan adalah hubungan antara anak dan ibu. Yang membuat film ini spesial bisa jadi adalah perpaduan para cast yang meyakinkan serta dialog-dialog dan agrumen yang terasa natural, jujur dan nyata, sehingga membuat ceritanya begitu dekat dengan kehidupan kita.

7. Baby Driver

Baby (Ansel Elgort) kalau kuliah pasti tipe mahasiswa yang kupu-kupu. Ia ga banyak bicara, mendengarkan musik sepanjang waktu, dan suka membuat musik dari percakapan orang-orang yang disekitarnya. Dibalik ke-introvertannya itu, ternyata ia adalah supir komplotan kriminal. Mau tak mau ia harus melakukannya karena punya hutang dengan bos kriminal, doc (Kevin Spicey). Lalu di sebuah café, ia bertemu dengan Debora (lily James), pramusaji cantik yang menyenangkan, ramah, imut dan lucu (yang cuma ada di film-film), dan membuat Baby terbuai oleh cinta seketika serta membuatnya ingin mencari duit dengan cara yang lebih halal.

This movie is such a perfect harmonization between the breathtaking of crime-action and the beauty of romance-musical covered by pretty catchy songs in almost every scenes. It has great soundtrack, fantastic cast, and so much fun and this reminded me of Ryan Gosling’s Drive.

8. The Killing of Sacred Deer

Haunting sound in every scenes, emotionless yet surprisingly funny characters, great camera-shot, all come together make one brilliant psychological horror movie. Not gonna jump-scaring you or scare the shit out of you, but it's gonna make you tense and feel the mystery right from the beginning until the minute it ends. I won't tell you the brief synopsis because believe me, just like how I watched it, it's better you don't know any single thing about the movie, so you won't know where the movie will bring you to and keep the mystery alive.

9. The Big Sick

 

Watched this without any expectation and ignorance of the actresses and director, it turns out to be my favorite film of 2017. Formula romantic-comedy kan sebenarnya itu-itu aja: boy meets girl, get together, something happens, and bla-bla-bla. Sama aja kaya film ini. Ide awalnya sebenarnya sederhana, cuma orang Pakistan yang jatuh cinta sama cewek Amerika. Tapi terhalang oleh budaya Pakistan dan orangtua yang orthodox dan status quo. Sesimpel itu ide utamanya.

Kalau aja ide utama itu ga dieksekusi dengan baik, pasti ini film ga bakal jauh kaya sinetron-sinetron Indosiar. Namun karena penulisan dan cast-nya sangat baik ditambah kedekatan cerita dengan tokoh utama, Kumail Nanjani, yang lebih kurang berdasarkan kisah nyatanya, sempurnalah hasilnya. Gue merekomendasikan buat orang yang nyari hiburan santai dan lagi nggak pengin banyak mikir. Alur cerita yang mengalir, simple, banyak momen menyentuh dan emosional, karakter-karakter yang unik, dan jokes-jokes yang petjah banget, jadilah film ini worth every minute of your goddamn time!

Fiesta in Figueres

Fiesta in Figueres (1914-1916)  by Salvador Dali

Seandainya telapak kita sebagaimana pejalan kaki
yang tidak mengingat jejak langkah mereka sendiri,
jangan ada nama-nama kita sembunyi di aksara
puisi maupun di balik lagu-lagu kesedihan.

Berjalanlah ke kerumun orang-orang yang menunggu
malam pergantian tahun. Temukan aku di gelap langit
pada detik pertama letus bergemuruh. Aku akan jelma
salah satu dari ratusan kembang api yang tak tahu pada
hitungan ke berapa maut menjemput.

Sedang kau bisa menikmati getir kata seperti mata
seorang bocah yang tulus menyambut langit januari
dengan ceria, atau serupa gelagat sebagian lain yang
sesungguhnya bukan meramaikan pesta akhir tahun,
namun merayakan kehilangan,
yang ditutupi sorak-sorai dan tepuk tangan.