[review] My Sister’s Keeper

Spoiler alert!

Film yang diangkat dari novel dengan judul yang sama sudah lama dirilis, tapi saya baru mempunyai kesempatan untuk membaca novelnya. Ya, saya lebih dulu menonton versi film dari cerita yang ditulis Jodi Picoult daripada versi novel. Kenapa saya sebut versi? Karena walaupun diangkat dari novel yang berjudul sama, film My Sister’s Keeper mempunyai cerita yang jauh berbeda.

My Sister’s Keeper bercerita tentang keluarga normal Fitzgerald, terdiri dari ayah (Brian), ibu (Sara), dan 2 anak (Jesse dan Kate), yang harus menjalankan hidup yang tidak normal sejak Kate divonis menderita leukemia pada usia 2 tahun. Jesse saat itu berusia 4 tahun. Dalam usaha mengobati Kate dapat dilakukan donor organ, namun sayangnya Jesse bukan donor yang cocok. Sehingga, atas saran dokter, Sara melahirkan anak hasil rekayasa genetika, kemudian diberi nama Anna, sehingga dapat menjadi donor yang cocok bagi Kate. Konflik dimulai saat Anna berusia 13 tahun, menyewa pengacara, Campbell, untuk menuntut orangtuanya agar dapat memiliki kontrol sepenuhnya terhadap tubuhnya, termasuk tidak mendonorkan ginjalnya kepada Kate, saat itu berusia 16 tahun, seperti yang Sara minta.

Kita semua pasti setuju bahwa jika ingin mendapatkan detail dari sebuah cerita, bacalah novelnya. Jika ingin mendapatkan visualiasi, maka tontonlah filmnya. Untuk alasan yang sama, ketidakemengertian saya atas tiba-tiba jatuhnya Campbell saat menonton film terjawab sudah saat membaca novelnya. Walaupun adegan jatuhnya Campbell versi film berbeda dengan versi novel.

Juga terdapat tokoh Julia pada versi novel yang dihilangkan dari versi film. Julia merupakan pengawas dari persidangan yang memberikan penilaian apakah Anna sudah cukup dewasa untuk mengambil keputusan sendiri, mengingat saat itu usianya belum mencapai usia dewasa 18 tahun. Julia memegang peranan penting dalam mengubah pemikiran Anna untuk akhirnya mau bersaksi di persidangan, pada versi novel. Sedangkan pada versi film, kejujuran yang akhirnya diungkapkan Anna di persidangan dipengaruhi oleh Jesse, yang tidak banyak diceritakan dalam versi novel. Namun menurut saya, invnsibility Jesse dalam versi novel sangat sesuai dengan karakter yang diciptakan dan plot cerita yang dibangun.

Secara keseluruhan, saya menilai versi novel lebih baik daripada versi film. Pengaruh yang ditimbulkan Sara dan Brian dalam memberikan perhatian kepada Kate terhadap Jesse lebih masuk diakal pada versi novel dibanding versi film. Pada versi novel, Jesse mencari perhatian karena dia invincible di mata kedua orangtuanya. Sedangkan pada versi film, Jesse juga membutuhkan perhatian lebih karena disleksia yang dideritanya.

Saya akui, adegan Jesse membuang hasil karyanya di atap rumah sakit pada versi film sangat menyentuh. Tetapi saya yakin, adegan Jesse membakar pada versi novel akan lebih menyentuh jika divisualisasikan dalam adegan film, jika penonton dibuat mengerti alasan Jesse melakukan hal tersebut seperti pada versi novel.

Akan tetapi, menurut saya ending cerita My Sister’s Keeper lebih masuk diakal pada versi film dibanding versi novelnya. Karena, there’s no coincidence in life, only miracle, which rarely happens, only to extraordinary person. And that certain Fitzgerald doesn’t deserve to be that extraordinary. Or maybe, that’s the exact reason why the novel version is better than the movie version.

Bagaimana ending ceritanya? Baca, tonton, dan buktikan sendiri!

What We Can Learn From Cartoons

I know I’m already twenty-something, but that doesn’t mean I have to leave my habit to read manga, to watch anime, to enjoy cartoons, right?  My younger sister who doesn’t like any kind of cartoons would never understand that we could really learn alot from cartoons. Believe me.

We could learn about japan alot from Detective Conan. Could you believe I learned about Narita International Airport from it? We could learn about classical music from Nodame Cantabile and Piano No Mori. Rachmaninoff, Chopin, beat me. We could learn about medical things from Say Hell to Black Jack, the one that led me watching tons of hollywood serial tv about lifes in the hospital.

We could learn about working environment from Dilbert. I’ve been reading it since I was still in school from Kompas Newspaper, not understand any of the jokes, until now, the time for me to enter the real life. We could learn about campus life from PhD Comics. I’m not a graduate student, but I could enjoy most of the strips because it turns out all campus life is almost the same.

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What do we have when there’s no entertainment left at home? Our television, I guess. Don’t expect too much from local programs. I rather choose to watch Upin & Ipin than to watch any of those unimaginably nonsense sinetron. We could learn too many life lessons and wisdoms without being bored by it. And the most inspirational cartoons for me by far? SpongeBob SquarePants!

I remember how I used to dislike SpongeBob when I was still in junior high school and grunted whenever it was aired on television. It just didn’t make any sense to me. A living sponge which talks like human and lives under the sea? Those citizens of Bikini Bottom also have rainy days, again, under the sea, and all normal things like us who normally live above the sea. No way.

Don’t blame me if Stephen Hillenburg meant to create SpongeBob as a sea sponge instead of a kitchen sponge.

But by time, I learned that the living sponge isn’t the kitchen sponge we use to wash the dishes, but the sea sponge that indeed is a living creature, thanks to senior high school biology! And hey, all cartoons are not making any of our senses, that’s the beauty of them. That’s why they’re cartoons.

Or perhaps, I didn’t like to watch SpongeBob in the past because I didn’t really understand the jokes, hence I saw it weird. And whoever says SpongeBob SquarePants is something for kids to watch, I tell you what, it’s not. Whoever says mangas are something for kids to read, I tell you what, they’re not. They’re actually made for adults in a cute way, so kids (and people who don’t know) will disguise it as kids’ consumable goods.

Did you know that as a character, SpongeBob was born on July 14^th, 1986?

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What’s better than serving up smiles?
(SpongeBob Squarepants)

[review] Movie: Little Miss Sunshine

This is my 3rd movie-related post in this month (to read the previous, click here). I should’ve been lost many ideas on what to write

I write this post, a review about Little Miss Sunshine (2006) the movie to continue my other young-actress-related post (to read the previous click here).

I still remember the one and only time I ever watch this incredibly-shockingly-crazy movie. It was back in late 2006. I watched it with my friends, Ira *and other girls, really sorry I couldn’t remember the names *, on campus’ movie. Umm.. I mean, a class room in campus that usually been used to watch movies in it. It was after dinner time and I didn’t what to do that night. Ira asked me to watch the movie with her, and I said, “I never heard of that movie before, not even in any reviews. But umm.. okay why not? “. Sometimes, it’s just great to spend nights with our friends, no matter what we do and or where.

Let’s put in mind, that I had no idea what this movie was about. I also had to watch it at campus, in a class room that magically been tricked to be somewhat a self-made theater. I mean, the audiences watched the movie on a projected screen. That also was my first experience to watch in such class-room-theater. Maybe, I, myself, had been tricked by my friends to watch this movie. Who knows, huh?

I said this is an this incredibly-shockingly-crazy movie because, I bet, you could never guess how this movie would end. A movie’s ending is one of my criterias to tell whether a movie is a good one or not. This is one of the movie that I couldn’t succeed to close my jaw when watching it. Especially at the end of the movie!

This is the movie that I noticed Abigail Breslin in the first time. She played a role as Oliver Hoover in this movie. Though this isn’t her first movie. She had played on Signs (2002), but I didn’t recogize her when I watched it.

Oh. Turned out that, this movie was nominated in some awards like Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and others. It also gained many positive reviews from movie critics. I think you need to watch Little Miss Sunshine no matter how strange this movie is We need to watch other kind of movies to broaden our knowledge, right? For that, I really thank Ira for asking me to watch it with her

P.S.: Dear friends, I miss our time

[review] Movie: A Scanner Darkly

MINOR SPOILER ALERT!

This is the other movie that I watched without any pre-knowledge before watching the movie. In fact, I didn’t know that such movie is existed, though it released back in 2006. I found the original vcd in Gramedia in the early August this year, which only costed 8 thousands rupiah. Not knowing the story, finding the name of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., and Winona Rider on its cover, I bought it right away hehe

This animated movie potrays the exact physical appearance of its casts, very look alike in my opinion And I so love James Barris‘ character (played by Downey). He’s the crazy friend of Bob Arctor (played by Reeves) just like Barney in How I Met Your Mother the tv series, in a cranky way. Winona Rider acts as Ryder plays as somebody’s girlfriend, as always. Watch the movie to find out whether she’s Arctor’s or Barris’ girl

Full of drama from the beginning until the end, we might ask in my mind, why did this movie made in animation? One possible reason that came into my mind was because of the technology that been used in the movie couldn’t be provided in non-animated-movie. But simple animation is enough, doesn’t have to be full of CGI, because, like I said, the genre of this movie is drama. Though it needs specific technology which will be simply provided in animated movie. Can you imagine how complicated it is to apply The Invisibility Coat‘s technology in Harry Potter the movies? It is something like it.

This movie has double twisted ending, which you will never imagine. In the end of the movie, I did smile though I could only smile bitterly as the movie runs Like I always said, I think movie’s ending is one of important part of the movie. I do judge a movie by its ending. Ha! Therefore I recommend you to watch this movie eventhough you’re not a fan of Reeves, Downey, nor Rider. This is one of a kind movie that you’ll never see and or forget .

Happy hunting!

PS: to read my late movie review, click here