(A LATE) 2013 RESOLUTIONS

1/13/2013 05:59:00 PM


Two-Thousand-Twelve has gone behind our back. The mayan prophecy was failing, or maybe some heroic aliens out there had stopped the other aliens from destroying our lovely earth. Or maybe the mayans were too lazy to update their calendar, clock, or whatever? We don’t know. And of course, I’ve to remind you that Roland Emmerich’s big hit “2012” has finally reached its expired date on 21-12-12. I suppose it would only be remembered as the great example of how smart Hollywood is to make a money (2012 has made $769,7 million on worldwide box office). Well, enough with the pointless chit-chat. Grab your pen, it’s time to fill another blank sheet of our life. And yes, Happy belated New Year my dear cinephiles! 

So, as the title suggest, I’ll write down my wishes--but strictly for our cinematic world (it’s my only interest, anyway) that hopefully would happen in 2013. If not, well, we still have 2014, don’t we?

Please, excuse my broken english.

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WISHES FOR HOLLYWOOD.

More original, out-of-the-box films.
Put a novel, famous comics, an article, and bringing back old films (read : remakes and reboots) to the big screen isn’t a bad idea. Some of them even become a legend. But we need, of course, more films based on an original idea which haven’t been published on any medium. Looper, The Cabin in the Woods, Safety Not Guaranteed, Chronicle, Seven Psychopaths are some of the great examples that Hollywood still have it. And yes, we need more of it. 

No more Transformers-esque films.
2012 is a proof that people getting tired with dumb-brainless-visual-spectacle-action films. Total Recall, Battleship, and Wrath of the Titans have been a major disappointment for Hollywood executives because they didn’t make a lot of money at Box Office. And I hope none of 2013 summer blockbusters would dare to follow their storytelling formula.

Enough with the dark treatment.
Seriously, after the major success of The Dark Knight, nearly every major studio in Hollywood want their blockbuster films as DARK as The Dark Knight and their marketing teams weren’t shame at all to make them much more obvious. Do you want examples? Alice in Wonderland, The Social Network, Snow White and the Huntsman, Battle Los Angeles, X-Men First Class, X-Men Origins : Wolverine, Skyfall, Wrath of the Titans, Wolverine, Immortals, Jack the Giant Slayer, Ghost Rider 2, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, The Twilight Saga, The Amazing Spider-Man, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness. 
Oh please.

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WISHES FOR INDONESIA.

No more cheap looking soft porn-horror hybrid. 
Seriously, you guys have to stop this! 

It’s time for a better marketing system.
Make a good trailer and play it on every cinemas is a good step. But, it isn’t enough to grab many audience. You have to build the hype far before your film released in theaters (teaser trailers, leak some rumors, viral marketing, etc) and make people want to see your film so badly. Believe me, hype is highly contagious. Do you want examples? The Raid, 5 cm, and Habibie & Ainun. 
So, stop whining some shit like “build a cinema exclusively for Indonesian films!” or “Stop showing hollywood films! They are killing Indonesian films!”. I mean, really?

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WISHES FOR XXI.

More love to Oscar-bait films.
I know many people don’t chew Oscar-bait films. And my wish itself should be thrown to distributors. But because they’re working under the same roof, I have to say that there are less and less Oscar-bait films playing at our theaters each year. And you know what, we won’t see Argo (Warner Bros.), Lincoln (DreamWorks) and Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia) anytime soon in theaters, even they’re actually distributed by major studios! Ironically, we got Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Code Name Geronimo. Pathetic. 

More love to well-made Indonesian films.
Every well-made Indonesian films should be played at XXI site, even it won’t grab a lot of audiences. ‘nuff said.

No more ticket inflation.
IDR 50.000 on weekend isn’t a big deal for me. Even for those who understand XXI’s advanced technology standard in every sites, IDR. 50.000 is truly a bargain price. But, the problem is, most people refuse to pay IDR 50.000 to watch a film (my parents did). Yes, because that’s hell a lot of money. Consequently, asking friends to join me in a cinematic adventure would be harder than ever (but I’m pretty sure it happens because they don’t like me). So please, no more ticket inflation.

Wi-fi.
It’s a kind of unused feature in theaters. But for a high-class-cinema concept like XXI, wi-fi is a must. It’s also very useful for midnight show audiences.

Signal jammer.
Blackberry is very annoying (the led, light, phone call, etc). And if wi-fi is finally attached, XXI must block the wi-fi signal too. 

Movie magazine at the waiting room.
Why is it so hard? There are many cheap security system to prevent people from stealing it. 

Taking photo is allowed.
Awesome standees would only be shown in limited time only and you weren’t allowed to take a photo with it. The most ridiculous rule ever. 

More IMAX site.
Nothing is more satisfying than a great, wonderful movie experience. 

New M-tix system.
Buying tickets before 10.55 a.m is such a pain in the ass.

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WISHES FOR BLITZMEGAPLEX.

Surabaya is waiting for you.
Yep. We’re all waiting.

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WISHES FOR MYSELF.

Since this blog was named “A Cinephile’s Diary”, I’m pretty sure that I have an excuse to write down my very own wishlist, am I not? So, here we go. (don’t worry it’s still movie related)

A DSLR camera.
I want this shit since like forever. I really want to shot my first film with my own camera so my friends (if they really want to lend me a camera) won’t have any creative control on my film. Yes, I’ll need their help--obviously, but not to be directly involved on the script and directing, except I want them to.

Shot my first film.
It’s my lifetime wish. I’ll make it, whatever it takes.

Reduce the intensity of buying Blu-rays.
It’s an addiction and money-wasting hobby. It’s like drugs or cigarettes for cinephile like me. I love the beauty of slipcovers, the smell of brand new blu-rays, that feel when I'm peeling the plastic-wrap off... But I have to stop this. It’s time to use my bucks for a better use.

An iPhone. Five.
I would have it right now if it wasn’t super-rare at Singapore like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs blu-ray AND if I haven’t spend all of my money on blu-rays.

A cinephile girlfriend.
I need a girl who could watch a film as an art, and praise it as an art; not because there’s a hot dude so the film is great and vice versa. Other terms and conditional may apply. This isn’t just the right place to write it.

Spell R Correctly.
Nothing is impossible. Impossible is nothing. RRRRRRRR.

Finish my fantasy novel.
Call me a freak or whatever. But I’ll laugh on your face if it becomes a bestseller.

Build my own money-making business.
I already have a part-time job as a contributor at muvila.com. But I also need a proper job to feed my future wife and kids. Yeah, working as a movie director come to mind. But I should have a backup too in case it doesn’t work. 


Ok. That's all. 
(Fade Out)




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8 comments

  1. "WISHES FOR BLITZMEGAPLEX.
    Surabaya is waiting for you.
    Yep. We’re all waiting."

    AMEN TO THAT!! Semoga wishes nya semua terwujud Bert :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Masalah di film Indonesia kayanya kehebohan di sosmed dan tempat lain itu tidak selalu sebanding dengan banyaknya penonton ya. Contohnya Catatan Harian Si Boy dan Demi Ucok yang cukup rame di sosmed. Malah mungkin yang dibutuhkan adalah tanggal "keramat" yang bawa hoki. Contohnya 5 cm dan Habibie & Ainun :P
    2. Masalah sutradara jadi pekerjaan utama, kayanya you still need side job. Konon, sutradara itu gak seprestisius yang dibayangkan :)
    3. Ditunggu fantasy novel dan first filmnya ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Charles :

    1. Social Media menurut gw ga begitu ampuh la. Ga bisa menjamah secara luas. Gw aja ga pernah denger film indo tertentu sampai seminggu sebelum film itu tayang. Mereka juga butuh menarik banyak media-media cetak ataupun web-web khusus berita film indo (ga nyampur ama infotainment dsb) buat bangun hype-nya juga dengan berita yang berbobot (kebanyakan yang gw baca sama sekali ga menarik).

    Ya semisal aja (misal aja) Iron Man 3 yang berita dan rumornya terus berada di dalam radar. Bahkan beberapa set foto yang bocor kan juga ulah pihak marketing sendiri.

    Tapi memang sih, untuk marketing film di indo agak susah karena orang2nya ya begitu tuh.

    2. Yeah, I know. Sedih. :(

    3. novel kyknya ga bakal rampung. ahahahah.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katanya orang indo jarang yang nyisihin budget buat promosi. Kalo di luar kan biaya produksi sama promosi bisa sama nilainya, di sini mah nyaris gak ada. Trus juga di sini jarang pake publisis, paling film-film tertentu aja. Yang kebanyakan tiba-tiba rilis biasanya kan film gak jelas gitu, jadi ya udahlah ya. Menurut gw, sosmed buat info sih lumayan karena lebih general. Kalo web khusus berita film indo terlalu segmented dan pasti yang buka ya itu lagi itu lagi orangnya.

    Btw emanknya gak boleh ya foto sama standee ? Baru pertama kali denger tentang begituan.

    ReplyDelete
  5. About mtix, why can't XXI use online system like blitz? It's easier.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Charles : Di Surabaya sini ga boleh ama security-nya. Aneh...

    @Takdir : Yep. Padahal teknologinya sudah ada. Tinggal dipakai. Ntah kenapa masih bertahan terus dengan teknologi 'kuno'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Perkenalkan saya MYDRAKOR, aplikasi untuk menyaksikan film drama korea terbaru dan mudah digunakan, cukup download MYDRAKOR di GooglePlay gratis, banyak film drama korea pilihan dan terbaik.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=id.mydrakor.main&hl=in

    https://www.inflixer.com/

    ReplyDelete

Just do it.