Be Kind Rewind

Written and directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep), starring Mos Def, Jack Black, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow.

Mike was in charge of Mr. Fletcher's video rental store for a few days when his friend Jerry, whose brain was magnetized, unintentionally erased every video at the store. All the tapes became blank. Mike, not wanting to let Mr. Fletcher down, set on a mission to shoot every movie that is requested by a customer on his own, starring only himself and Jerry.

Very original, as expected from Michel Gondry. It's charming, quirky and funny at times but well, not exactly brilliant as Eternal Sunshine. When the characters began remaking the movies on their own I really felt.. WTF? I like the quirkiness of the film however it didn't quite capture me. I kinda expected more from it. Although I really like Mos Def here and I do love that the film somehow celebrates the spirit of film-making.. So yeah, it's quite fun but.. still lacking.

7 / 10.

Rescue Dawn

Directed by Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man), based on Herzog's documentary on the same subject, titled Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Starring the very dashing and amazing Christian Bale, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies.

Based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, a German who later became a US citizen because he wanted to become a pilot. Dieter went on to become a pilot serving the army during the Vietnam War. His plane got shot when he was flying through Laos, which then later lead to his arrest as POW by the locals.. but Dieter was determined to escape.

Yep, the movie just made its way to the cinemas here in Jakarta, two years after its original premiere.. So I went to see it, curious about how skinny Christian Bale got, and the film turned out to be good. I wasn't really expecting anything because there was never much hype about the film itself, people were only talking about Bale's weight loss. But people, it was quite good! It was a good survival story.. Well I prefer The Pianist, but this one deserves your time too. Even though the film seems to be lacking the.. for want of a better word, x factor, I still think it's a very decent work. I'm actually not crazy about the performances, I don't know why. *shrugs* Maybe it's because of Jeremy Davies. I will always see him as Upham. I know it's probably harsh to dislike their performances, after all they've been through but dunno, that's how I feel. But yea, quite good.

7.5 / 10.