Finally, after a month long wait and reading (enviously) endless stellar reviews about it, Pixar’s latest, Inside Out, arrives in Indonesia. And it was worth the wait.

                So I guess I don’t need to write endless words about it, but for sure Inside Out is a must-watch for children and the young-at-heart adults, more so the latter since Pixar’s recent outings has a tendency to be a thinking man’s animation.

                Instead of fishes, robots, and cars, Inside Out features colorful emotions represented by Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black ), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). Together they “control” the feelings of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias ). Everything went smooth until Riley hits 13 and the family decided to uproot her from hometown Minnesotta to San Fransisco. Joy, always positive and spirited, tries hard to make Riley happy but due to an accident, she, along with the gloomy Sadness, are sucked away from the emotions control room into Riley’s labyrinth mind, leaving the clueless remaining emotions to manage Riley.

                My how creative the minds behind Inside Out—I would love to meet their writers and storyboarders to try to peek at their beautiful mind. For sure, just like the inventive land-of-the-mind  creation in the film, these are people who inhabits their Imagination Land daily, and whose Dream Production must be populated with not just a rainbow unicorn but also other colorful companion, and I have a feeling they haven’t lost their imaginary friend yet, unlike Riley with her part feline, part elephant, and part dolphin Bing Bong. AND, their train-of-thought goes non-stop.

                There are so many things to enjoy and absorb in Inside Out, expertly voiced—and anchored—by comedienne Poehler and Smith (with support from Diane Lane and Kyle Mclachlan as Riley’s parents), that I don’t want to spoil it for you. But, in short, you have to be a veerry unhappy and grumpy to not be able to enjoy Inside Out…

The Front Line: Oscar Isaac is one of those actors with star quality—you know it when you see it. He’s good looking but not blindingly so and his presence (especially in A Most Violent Year) reminds me of a young Al Pacino. With more promising projects to come (albeit in blockbuster-scale films such as X-Men: Apocalypse and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) his fan base will not be esoteric any longer.

The Plot: Before venturing into those big budget movies, Isaac can now be seen in HBO as the main protagonist in Paul Haggis (Crash) latest directorial outings, Show Me a Hero, executive produced and written by David Simon of The Wire fame. It's a specifically American saga about a newly-elected mayor, Nick Wasicsko (Isaac), who is thrust into the political spotlight when he's given the responsibility of building affordable apartments. Wealthy—and mostly white—residents whose areas are targeted for the buildings are outrage due to their unwillingness to have their family home despoiled by possible criminal activities that comes from the people living in said apartments. And the politicians are divided whether to side with the people or with the law. (You see, the federal government already mandated the construction of the buildings.)

The Great: Set in 1987, the first two episodes of Show Me a Hero promises great diverse stories (accompanied with great 80s tracks such as Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart) since it doesn’t only portray the politicians behind closed doors, but also from the point of view of the working-class people, both from the residential area and the apartments. This is where Simon’s handprint can be deeply felt since these slivers of scenes involving low income apartment dwellers (as well as gang members) are characteristically similar to his previous HBO hit, The Wire.

Though some scenes do not flow fluidly (minor characters appeared briefly to provide backstory and then moved on to the bigger story) but that’s minor due to the variety of characters involved, which includes veterans Winona Ryder and Jim Belushi, but I’m pretty sure the structure will settle in upcoming episodes. And, yes, this is just the warm up of Oscar Isaac’s career.

Watch Show Me a Hero on HBO Monday morning at 8PM.

The Plot: Two rival agents—the flamboyant Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) of the CIA and temperamental Illya Kuryakin of the KGB—are forced to work together in order to save the world from nuclear threats. They’re helped by the daughter of a missing scientist, Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), and the trio are whisked off to charming Italy where an aristocratic family, controlled by ice queen Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki), are suspected to be the brains behind the case.

The Problem: I wanted to like this film so bad: with a promising start (an exciting and creative car chase along the streets of Berlin) and striking visuals set in the 60s (and I love it when a director makes an effort to make an opening credit ala Spielberg in Catch Me if You Can and many other movies before it), but then the subsequent proceeding fell rather flat and dull due to lack of complexities in terms of plot and character development (script is credited to Ritchie and Lionel Wigram who also wrote for Sherlock Holmes). Shame, really, because the presence of spunky Vikander, regal Debicki, and stoic yet brewing within with comedic-material anger Hammer tries to elevate the material and outshine Guy Ritchie’s trademark stylish direction. Chiselled Cavill is fine but often he rested on charms alone, and for some viewers—especially the ladies—that might be enough.

The Bottom Line: But, hey, why focus on the problem, right? I admire Ritchie’s always reliable direction and there are two action scenes that excites and entertains. The costumes are retro cool (kudos to costume designer Joanna Johnston who looked for inspiration to 60’s era Pucci and Pierre Cardin) and Ritchie isn’t shy in portraying his two protagonists as metrosexuals who knows their Chanel. But for performances I am more impressed with Aussie Elizabeth Debicki who might be the next chameleonic actress since she’s hardly recognizable from her last starring role as Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby. Looking forward to this 25-year-old career choices in the future.

Last Thought: Though I love old TV series but it seems I missed The Man from U.N.C.L.E from my childhood (I don’t think there’s reruns of it on TV) but I am curious how this movie version might evolve if Ritchie is given the chance to make a follow up. (Though to poor reception and dismal opening numbers at the box office I highly doubt it.) It is kind of an “origin” story and the namesake—U.N.C.L.E, btw, is an acronym for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement—is only mentioned at the end of the story, promising more exciting adventures to come. I’d say, Yes, please! but only studio executives can tell...

Last Thought #2: I really hope Armie Hammer will still be given the chance to star in a blockbuster: his tall build and deep voice makes him a great leading man (a superhero, perhaps?). Many critics might point out the failure of Lone Ranger and, possibly this movie but I’d say those failures rested on the quality of the movie itself.  

The Plot: Ethan Hunt (Cruise), once again, is up against a world-scale threat in the form of The Syndicate, a terrorist group led by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) who is hell-bent on causing—what else?—destruction. (In a parallel universe, they would form a partnership with SPECTRE of James Bond fame.) Trouble is: even the CIA doesn’t believe the Syndicate’s existence and eventually Hunt, going solo after the IMF is disbanded, must chase after Lane with the help of old friends—Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg as Benji, Jeremy Renner as William Brandt—and one mercurial agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).

The Great: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the fifth installment of one of the long lasting spy franchise in movie history, is basically the “Ethan Hunt / Ilsa Faust Show”, with the latter became the prime mover of the plot and, along the process, just like Imperator Furiosa before her, steals the spotlight by kicking some serious butt on her own. (Though she seems to be trained in the Black Widow School of KickAsser-y what’s with all her deadly thigh action.) So thank heavens for Mr.Cruise to finally letting a woman shines in the M:I franchise—despite Maggie Q and Paula Patton strong presence in previous sequels they usually ended up getting shot in the end and so practically incapacitated for further action scenes.

But here, he lets Ferguson join in the fun, taking down one of the serious baddie in a heart-pounding knife fight and even saving Hunt’s live twice! Sure, there is still the requisite sexiness—including the mandatory leg slit—and her character isn’t exactly original—it’s kind of an homage to noir’s femme fatale and, for contemporary references, resembles the slinky Anne Hathaway’s version of Catwoman/Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. But nonetheless she carried the bulk of the movie together with her superstar co-star. In fact, for me, M:I 5 is made even more watchable with Ferguson’s regal bearing, classy accent (she’s Swedish, though), and smoldering yet expressive eyes.

The Action: Writer-Director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) really knows how to handle his action—and kudos to Paramount for keeping all of the other masterful and exciting action from the trailer, except for the, oh you know, where our indestructible leading man is holding on for dear life on the side of an airborne plane. The opera scene is truly an example of great direction and even greater choreography, and the underwater scene, though truly tense, one can’t help thinking of Gravity in another setting.  The scenes in Casablanca, Morocco, reminded me even more of how Ferguson resembles Ingrid Bergman. Just sayin’…

The So-So: Other than Ilsa Faust, unfortunately the other actors are kinda sidelined: Renner is mostly stuck in Langley, Rhames is mostly behind a laptop, only comic sidekick Pegg gets some action but that’s not a lot (his role is kind of like a damsel-in-distress, really). Alec Baldwin who plays CIA Director, Alan Hunley, is only there to be antagonistic towards the IMF and nothing more (save for the end), while Sean Harris is effectively creepy (and rodent-like) as the big baddie.

5 Stars

#LatePost

The Plot: Basically another Woody Allen take on the romantic comedy genre, Magic in the Moonlight puts Firth as a veteran magician and rationalist grump who vehemently believes that a young woman (Stone) who claims to be a psychic is a fraud, reasoning there are no such things as the “sixth sense”. In the process, another different kind of magic is brewing between these two.

The Non-Starter: Set in gorgeous South of France with the actors draped in snazzy ‘20s costume, Magic in the Moonlight quick-witted dialogue may be pure Allen but it proved to be his lesser outing mainly due to its incorrigible leading man (which one character actually said so to his face). I totally dig the avuncularly sexy persona of Firth but his voice here sounds very grating and, at times, his reading make it seems like he’s reading from a cue card (ya, I know, it’s just me but am just saying…).

Adding further nuisance is the extreme age difference between him (55) and Stone (27), which creepily reminded me of Allen’s latest headline in the news where he talks about his relationship with his wife/former adopted daughter. I know—separate the professional and the personal but sometimes one can’t help this meandering mind.

The Bottom Line: I’ve a feeling all actors wrote “I wanna be in a Woody Allen movie” in their checklist, and so would instantly jump at the chance of being in one regardless of the script. Magic lacks the charms of, say, Midnight in Paris but it’s entertaining, but character interaction lacks chemistry and at times makes me wonder why the always charming Stone would fall for him (unless she’s got paternal issues, like, akh never mind…). Eileen Atkins gives the cool aunt role some depth, but Marcia Gay Harden seems to be wasted in her role as Stone’s mother. Visuals are stunning though, especially at the conservatory.

Random Cinematic Thinking: Knowing Harden such a gifted actor who is flexible in both drama (Pollock) and comedy (The Newsroom), why can’t she be the leading lady?? I know, May-December romance happens all the time, but on screen the similarly age ones sadly is criminally underrepresented!

Random Cinematic Thinking #2: I have feeling with almost the entire character saying “rational, irrational” I can’t help to think that during this production Allen came up with the idea for his next outing: Irrational Man, coming out this year starring Joaquin Phoenix and his current muse, Stone.

                Catch Magic in the Moonlight on HBO.