The Speed

Sekarang ini, kalau disuruh memilih antara membaca buku dan menonton film atau TV series, saya dengan mudahnya memilih media visual. Mungkin karena kemudahan menerima pesan yang disampaikan. Hal ini nggak lepas dengan kecintaan saya di bidang sinema dan hobi menonton bioskop. Saya bahkan pernah punya blog khusus tentang review film yang selalu saya isi menonton film atau TV series. Kalau dibaca lagi mungkin isinya biasa saja, tapi saya senang sekali kalau ada orang lain yang ikut menonton film-nya melalui rekomendasi tulisan saya. Saya bahkan lebih memilih untuk menargetkan berapa banyak film yang saya tonton di bioskop dibanding berapa banyak buku yang harus saya selesaikan (dewa literatur, tolong ampuni saya). Tapi beberapa tahun ke belakang saya jarang menonton film di bioskop. Frekuensi datang ke bioskop pun berkurang menjadi hitungan jari dalam kurun 2-3 bulan karena memang nggak punya budget berlebih untuk menonton. Sedih sih, tapi saya jadi lebih selektif memilih film apa yang pantas ditonton di bioskop (dan mana yang cepat muncul di Layarkaca21, haha).

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Beberapa waktu yang lalu, saya menonton Cars 3 di bioskop. Saya sendiri selalu berusaha menonton film PIXAR di bioskop karena punya keterikatan pribadi dengan film-film animasi PIXAR. Saya kembali nggak berekspektasi karena Cars adalah film franchise PIXAR yang menurut saya paling lemah dan nggak terlalu saya sukai. Tapi kemudian, di sepanjang film saya menangis karena isu yang diangkatnya.

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The Introductory Guide to Korean Music and Beyond

While I still refuse to watch Korean drama religiously, I’m not reluctant listening to Korean music. I wrote posts about my favorite Korean songs and music videos before, which mostly involve the unique color of their music videos, not taking much of the music itself. So, today I intend to write one.

It’s hard to understand completely what’s make Korean music so interesting or the very first time I’ve been drawn into it. It’s like a giant black hole that sucks your soul which only give 2 options of going forward, stay on your spot or dig deeper into it. Either way, you’re already fallen into it :))

For me, Korean music is experimental. The music is often loud and usually, combines a lot of sounds and samples that put together in a really weird way. It’s non-conservative and non-traditional way of thinking, which I think is good because they bring their own color to the table. Unlike the weird vibe of Japanese music which is not afraid to smash uncommon things together (remember Baby Metal?), Korean music is still oriented towards the trend of Western Music. It’s not a surprise that EDM and hip-hop are taking Korean music like storm nowadays.

It’s mostly true that Korean idol groups are the fabricated products from entertainment agencies. But since it’s already a long way from the start of this so called Korean Wave, an idol who composes and write his/her own song is not that rare anymore. The other reason why I said Korean music is experimental, it is because there are a lot of up and coming groups with their own ‘concept’ for time to time (you’ll lose count on how many boy band, girl band, and don’t get started on how many members are actually in their groups). Some concepts may work for few groups, but not for some others. Some idol groups may find success after their first debut, while some rocketed to the chart after two albums, after 6 years, or after a video made viral. It seems that Korean music is also in the midst of figuring out the best formula to make them stay in business.

If you noticed already, I keep using the term Korean music rather than K-Pop here. I’m trying not to degrade the very existence of the music inside. While most famous Korean music is still dominated by idol groups with flashy performance, Korean music is more than just pop genre and the dance breaks. When listening to Korean music there is one rule that I always keep, if you cannot picture the music without its music video and performance, then it would probably not that good. Because in the end, music is made to listen to.

Here are a few Korean band or song, which I recently in love with and I think worth to listen to. I’m not really a dedicated fan, so if you ask me each of the band’s member name or every track’s lyrics meaning, I might not remember it completely :)) But as I said over and over again: good music is good music, no matter what genre it is, no matter in what language it speaks.

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The Unashamedly Idealistic World of The Newsroom

Setiap beberapa periode waktu, saya kerap menonton ulang serial TV favorit yang menurut saya tak lekang oleh waktu. Tahun kemarin, saya menyempatkan menonton ulang LOST dan masih jatuh cinta dengan bagaimana ketegangan terus dibuat setiap episodenya. Tapi sebenarnya, ada satu serial TV yang selalu saya ulang hampir 2 kali setahun, judulnya adalah The Newsroom.

Aaron Sorkin menciptakan sebuah drama yang berfokus tentang benturan jurnalisme ideal dengan tekanan masyarakat maupun kepentingan-kepentingan sosial. Season pertama The Newsroom tayang di HBO pada tahun 2012 dan berakhir pada season ketiganya di tahun 2014. Selama 3 tahun masa tayangnya, The Newsroom hanya memiliki 25 episode yang membuatnya padat dan sarat makna. The Newsroom tidak memiliki review yang terlalu tinggi di beberapa situs rangking seperti Rotten Tomatoes atau Metacritic karena kontennya dianggap terlalu cynical ataupun terlalu idealis. Beberapa episodenya dikritik dengan keras karena banyak hal yang terkesan terlalu menyindir bentuk-bentuk jurnalisme masa kini, dimana seharusnya fakta dan integritas ada di atas iklan dan trafik kunjungan.

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The Color of Each Worlds – 500 Days of Summer in Colors

One of the reasons I fell in love with movie making (or movie in general) is the fact that it could be something completely complex or straightly simple. The golden rule of movie plot that goes someone-wants-something-and-get-into-other-things-in-between is often dolled up by many forms of storytelling. The storytelling could involve a lot of things, from dialogue to how the scenes are shot, from the wardrobe to how the scenes are cut. And sometimes, Colors.

In one of the most tragic rom-com movie of all time, 500 Days of Summer is not only trying to captivate our heart and ears (the soundtrack are all amazing!), but it also tries to please our eyes with colors. The foreshadowing of the story is brilliantly told by heavy used of colors.

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Sentimental Colors

Last week, I wrote how much I’m inspired by a music video from Korean girl group Red Velvet. One of the reasons why I love it is how much detail the props are. All elements are carefully put to create a kind of dreamy environment.

Recently, there’s also another music video from Korean boy group called WINNER that inspired me. For me personally, it’s hard to like a boy band especially Korean boy band. Because the beauty standard is different there :)) (it’s also hard to like someone with heavy eyeliner and earring, dancing to a so-so music). But since they produce their own music (which is rare in Korean music industry) and their music genre is ranging from blues to rock pop and hip hop to ballad, I found them really interesting to listen to. Their latest mini album called EXIT: E consists of variety music that quite distinct them from the rest of Korean boy band.

The title track called Baby Baby is a jazzy blues that open with a crisp falsetto. The song asks for help and a sense of longing, requesting a chance not to be alone before finding solace in an instant euphoria. The other title track called Sentimental is a relaxed pop-rock which told the sudden sentimental feeling and loneliness. It sounds light and drunk at some point.

But there is nothing more interesting than how the music video for Sentimental is made. I cannot stop to be amazed on how smart it is to make the camera shot from the top. I love how all the rooms are made with so many details and props. And once again, all hail for THE GLORIOUS COLORS.

Here are the color palettes I pulled out from the music video.

Have a nice week!