[TV Series] Breaking Bad 2008-2013 #1

Well the actual series ended around September 2013 on AMC. At that time, I had no idea Breaking Bad even existed. Then when I moved to a new dorm back in Bintaro and I basically got nothing to do but sleep, eat, repeat.. I browsed some series on IMDb just to kill my time yet I found Breaking Bad sitting at the top of most rated tv series. I was very interested in watching it and I was this close buying their pirated all season DVDs on Blok-M. But I thought I just need to get home soon and turn on my wifi so I could download them all on piratebay... free of charge! ;)

Breaking Bad (2008-2013) 
IMDb Rating: 9.6/10 <---- I KNOW RIGHT!
Creator: Vince Gilligan
Writer: Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, RJ Mitte
Won 2 Golden Globe Awards including  
- Best Television Series - Drama and  
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama, Bryan Cranston

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) is a loving family man and a brilliant chemist who unfortunately lives in a not-so-equally-brilliant wealth. For a nobel prize honoured in crystallography chemistry, he only works as a high school chemistry teacher. Overqualified, indeed. But then bad luck doesn't stop right there, he was also diagnosed for stage 3 lung cancer. Having realised the fact that he's going to die soon and his salary as a chemistry teacher still can't manage to secure his family finance, he decides to cook crystal methamphetamine with his ex- student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), whom he met at a drug raid. Walter uses his skill as a scientist making purest (yet highly demanded) methamphetamine to ever existed in the drug market. Producing this meth, though has been extraordinary profitable, doesn't come out easy for Walt as his DEA agent brother-in-law, Hank Schrader (Norris), often interferes his business. He has to face a greater challenge, not only to keep away his identity as the most wanted, Heisenberg, from his DEA brother-in-law and his family, but also to develop better strategies against the cartel.

Review
Once I watched the first season, I couldn't stop it really. I kept eating the whole season then moved to next.. unstoppably. I strongly recommend you guys to watch it bcs it's overly addicting. Technically just like snorting a dash of meth (ok sorry this is too much). It doesn't look like it's gonna bore you anyway since... I know, first time you read the short synopsis you'll be like, ain't nobody got time to watch a helluva heavy hourly based series. Well, it's not gonna happen bcs Breaking Bad is fairly light-medium one plus the plot makes you wanna go and go watch the next eps without even realizing it.

Walt and Jesse making crystal blue meths.

Now when you finished watching all seasons you'll feel like a part of you had gone away, and you're left clueless abt what to do the next day. Just prepare to feel like an absolute shit at that day. But at the same time feeling so... I don't know how to express this but you'll moan to yourself that this has been a great ride watching Breaking Bad. You'll feel sad that this is over but yet happy because IT HAPPENS. It's just.... so gooooood you got to watch it asap. (sorry for being overly persuasive, can't hold it :p)

Smashed up crystal meth candy.

A little trivia, you're gonna want to make that crystal meth legally once you watch Breaking Bad. I mean I'm talking... crystal meth candy. Here's a blog from sugarhero.com to show you how to do it. It looks so yum, isn't it?

Lastly, final verdict: (since nothing in this world is perfect, so...) 9.8/10

2014 Oscars Haul

2014 Oscars is one step away and just yesterday, the whole nominations was announced. I was a bit surprised bcs I thought it will be aired by May, instead it turns out March 2nd on ABC. As always, Golden Globes took the prophecy first on who and which will get the nominations. After reading series of news out there, 12 Years of Slave and American Hustle stole the top prizes of Globes on Sunday night, including best motion picture drama for 12 Years of Slave and best comedy or musical motion picture for American Hustle.

While actress throne was given to Cate Blanchett on her role on Blue Jasmine, and Amy Adams for American Hustle. Not quite shocking, right? But this happens quite unlikely for the best actor. Matthew McConnaughey won it for his role on Dallas Buyers Club instead of Chiwetel Ejiofor who was overly hyped by many to be the one who will take it home. On the other hand Leonardo DiCaprio won the Globe too for The Wolf of Wall Street. (I secretly wished Leo to win the Oscar this time, I just.. well he should win it at least once :) ).

For more 2014 Golden Globe winners, here.

So by Golden Globes forecast, here comes a list of nominations and nominees of 2014 Academy Awards as announced yesterday on January 16th:

Heads up nominees!

Best picture
"12 Years a Slave"
"The Wolf of Wall Street"
"Captain Phillips"
"Her"
"American Hustle"
"Gravity"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Nebraska"
"Philomena"

Best director
Steve McQueen -- "12 Years a Slave"
David O. Russell -- "American Hustle"
Alfonso Cuaron -- "Gravity"
Alexander Payne -- "Nebraska"
Martin Scorsese -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best actor
Bruce Dern -- "Nebraska"
Chiwetel Ejiofor -- "12 Years a Slave"
Matthew McConaughey -- "Dallas Buyers Club"
Leonardo DiCaprio -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Christian Bale -- "American Hustle"

Best actress
Amy Adams -- "American Hustle"
Cate Blanchett -- "Blue Jasmine"
Judi Dench -- "Philomena"
Sandra Bullock -- "Gravity"
Meryl Streep -- "August: Osage County"

Best supporting actor
Barkhad Abdi -- "Captain Phillips"
Bradley Cooper -- "American Hustle"
Jonah Hill -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Jared Leto -- "Dallas Buyers Club"
Michael Fassbender -- "12 Years a Slave"

Best supporting actress
Jennifer Lawrence -- "American Hustle"
Lupita Nyong'o -- "12 Years a Slave"
June Squibb -- "Nebraska"
Julia Roberts -- "August: Osage County"
Sally Hawkins -- "Blue Jasmine"

Best original screenplay
"American Hustle" -- David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer
"Blue Jasmine" -- Woody Allen
"Her" -- Spike Jonze
"Nebraska" -- Bob Nelson
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack

Best adapted screenplay
"12 Years a Slave" -- John Ridley
"Before Midnight" -- Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater
"The Wolf of Wall Street" -- Terence Winter
"Captain Phillips" -- Billy Ray
"Philomena" -- Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Best animated feature
"The Wind Rises"
"Frozen"
"Despicable Me 2"
"Ernest & Celestine"
"The Croods"

Best foreign feature
"The Hunt" (Denmark)
"The Broken Circle Breakdown" (Belgium)
"The Great Beauty" (Italy)
"Omar" (Palestinian territories)
"The Missing Picture" (Cambodia)

Best music (original song)
"Frozen": "Let it Go" -- Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom": "Ordinary Love" -- U2, Paul Hewson
"Her": "The Moon Song" -- Karen O, Spike Jonze
"Despicable Me 2": "Happy" -- Pharrell Williams
"Alone Yet Not Alone": "Alone Yet Not Alone" -- Bruce Broughton, Dennis Spiegel

Best music (original score)
"Gravity" -- Steven Price
"Philomena" -- Alexandre Desplat
"The Book Thief" -- John Williams
"Saving Mr. Banks" -- Thomas Newman
"Her" -- William Butler and Owen Pallett

Best cinematography
"Gravity" -- Emmanuel Lubezki
"Inside Llewyn Davis" -- Bruno Delbonnel
"Nebraska" -- Phedon Papamichael
"Prisoners" -- Roger Deakins
"The Grandmaster" -- Phillippe Le Sourd

Best costume design
"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin
"12 Years a Slave" -- Patricia Norris
"The Grandmaster" -- William Chang Suk Ping
"American Hustle" -- Michael Wilkinson
"The Invisible Woman" -- Michael O'Connor

Best documentary feature
"The Act of Killing"
"20 Feet From Stardom"
"The Square"
"Cutie and the Boxer"
"Dirty Wars"

Best film editing
"Gravity" -- Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger
"12 Years a Slave"-- Joe Walker
"Captain Phillips" -- Christopher Rouse
"American Hustle" -- Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

Best makeup and hairstyling
"The Lone Ranger" -- Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
"Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" -- Stephen Prouty
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

Best production design
"12 Years a Slave" -- Adam Stockhausen and Alice Baker
"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn
"American Hustle" -- Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler
"Gravity" -- Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
"Her" -- K.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena

Best visual effects
"Gravity"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
"Star Trek Into Darkness"
"Iron Man 3"
"The Lone Ranger"

Best sound mixing
"Gravity"
"Captain Phillips"
"Lone Survivor"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best sound editing
"Gravity"
"All Is Lost"
"Captain Phillips"
"Lone Survivor"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best short film, live action
"Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)"
"Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)"
"Helium"
"Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)"
"The Voorman Problem"

Best short film, animated
"Feral"
"Get a Horse!"
"Mr. Hublot"
"Possessions"
"Room on the Broom"

Best documentary short
"CaveDigger"
"Facing Fear"
"Karama Has No Walls"
"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life"
"Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall"

There's one missing point I can't even believe. Tom Hanks on his role for Captain Philips didn't make it through Oscar nominee for best actor. Strange indeed.

And btw, not a single of them I've ever watched, so I can't really judge which and who deserves the Oscar. But I am positively suuure though internet has spreaded that 2014 is the worst year of Oscars, and how there are so many speculations out there.... all the nominees do, have the same opportunity to win.

The 2014 Film Review Challenge

I neeeeed this for the longest time possible and my fella here, Hamidah, just pointed it out for me. She out of the blue had posted a very intriguing offer on my facebook wall which was a 2014 film review challenge.

It'd be fun to be challenged and keep a track of our films that we've watched so far for a year. So at the end of the year we'll know exactly how many and how do we feel everytime we watch em. And anyway, it's good to keep on practicing our writing skill. Then I said, challenge accepted!

Though it is completely personal challenge, if any of you guys wanted to be part of this, then come and join. Here's short how to below.


1. Write a blog title with the following format:
     [Title] [Released Year] [#Consecutive number of the film you've watched] e.g.:
     American Hustle (2013) #1
     12 Years A Slave (2014) #2
2. Write a basic information of the film, consisting:
    - Title (Released Year)
    - IMDb Rating or Rotten Tomatoes Rating (or any film rating you consider legit)
    - Director
    - Writer
    - Starring (Actors/ Actresses)
3. Write a simple plot of the film.
4. Write anything you want regarding the film, it can be:
    - how was the plot/ the acting
    - how did the film make you feel and why
    - your favourite part/ scenes of the film (avoid spoilers as min as possible & no story twists)
    - adding a youtube trailer or any trivia/ facts will be fun
    - how do you recommend to others, is it yay/nay to watch
    - lastly, your very own rating in 10/10 basis

I already had a quite long list waiting to be reviewed soon. From now on it will most probably be written short and simple. Considering that the most important thing is to give a straight to the point message about how the film left impressions in you. Was it worth watching or not and such.

So I guess that's it and I hope this will be a total doable challenge to all of us.
Good luck and happy watching! ;)