Battleship

We decided to watch this movie in short notice. It was unplanned. But it was a good movie :)
From the title, you can guess that this movie is about war.

The movie was directed by Peter Berg and stars Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, Liam Neeson, and Tadanobu Asano.

It started with a guy (Alex Hopper) who celebrated his 26th birthday but didn't have a stable job.
He is a guy who just follows his instinct and very bad in decision-making. He was childish, but he has a good heart and a lot of potential. So, he was enrolled in Navy by his brother to do something good and beneficial for him.

In the mean time, there were some researchers who wanted to send signals to other planets to see if there is another planet that we could live in. Apparently, it was a bad idea. The signal was received, and in turn, they came to the earth with an army.

Back to the navy, while they were in the sea, there were 5 strange things landed on the sea. Navy tried to attack, and 2 out of 3 ships lost to the alien ship. Alex's brother was one of them who died.

That incident, made Alex the most senior navy, who had to make decision for others on how to attack this alien. Alex was scared, realised that he is now in charge of people's lives.

Throughout this battle, there are some points to learn:
1) We need others. We can't do a battle alone, we will lose.
2) We need strategy. Think before act. Think of others.
3) Trust must be earned. You have to prove that you can be trusted. It is not something that is given freely.
4) Maximising potential. If you know what you are good at, something that you can do, you have to do it!

About the stars:
Taylor Kitsch, the main actor, is the one who plays as John Carter.
Oh my... he is so handsome! Hahahaha....
I can't believe that Brooklyn Decker is only 25 years old and has married for 3 years!
Liam Neeson... there's no need to describe him as he is as always, awesome :)
And Rihanna, she was cool! She could act pretty well! :)
Oh yes, last but not least, there is Peter MacNicol who plays a small part as the Secretary of USA.

I enjoy watching this movie :)

Fully Human Fully Alive

This book is written to make us understand better about the world, about our vision, about "insight", perception, misconception, and awareness.

What is reality?
"Two men looked out from prison bars.
One saw mud, one saw stars."

Five essential steps into the fullness of life:
1) to accept oneself - be gentle with yourself (Desiderata)
2) to be oneself - we are free to have and to report our emotions, ideas, and preferences
3) to forget oneself in loving - genuine caring and concern for others

"There is no learning to live without learning to love"

4) to believe - to discover meaning in our lives
5) to belong - a sense of community, to be "for" one another.

Normal Day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, savor you, bless you,
before you depart.
(Mary Jean Irion)

This book explains to me the characters of people
who are fully alive
who are receptive to changes
and always say "YES" to life and love.

Emotions are always the result of a given perception and interpretation.
There should be quiet times in every life for such reflection, reevaluation, and reinterpretation.

All of us have to find some purpose or mission in life which will confer upon us a sense of personal distinction and worth. We need to believe that our lives will make a different for someone or for something.

God says: I will be with you to
illuminate your darkness,
strengthen your weakness,
fill your emptiness,
heal your brokenness,
cure your sickness,
straighten what may be bent in you,
revive whatever good things may have died in you.

Remember that you are a pilgrim.
Your destiny is eternal life.

Thanks be to God :)
Be blessed!

Mary of Nazareth

Buku "Mary of Nazareth" karangan Marek Halter ini menceritakan tentang Mary, jauh sebelum ia menerima kabar gembira dari malaikat Gabriel. Cerita dimulai sejak 6 tahun sebelum Masehi, ketika Mary masih tinggal bersama kedua orang tuanya.

"Layaknya sebuah kisah yang mengubah nasib dunia, buku ini mengandung kemegahan sejarah yang ditulis dengan intensitas mengagumkan sampai masuk ke dalam alam pikiran karakter-karakternya. Sebuah epik yang tak boleh dilewatkan."
(Andrea Hirata, Penulis Tetralogi Laskar Pelangi)

Mary di buku ini digambarkan sebagai sosok yang keras kepala, pejuang keadilan, pemberani, dan lembut hati.
Sosok yang berbeda dengan bayanganku selama ini.

Seperti yang dikatakan Andrea Hirata, buku ini ditulis dengan intensitas mengagumkan. Aku sungguh terbawa oleh situasi dan emosi karakter-karakter yang ada di dalamnya.

Menyenangkan tentunya untuk membaca dan menambah wawasan mengenai tokoh penting dalam hidup Yesus tetapi tidak banyak cerita yang bisa kita dapatkan dari Kitab Suci.

Namun, buku ini diakhiri oleh sebuah surat yang dibaca dan diterjemahkan oleh Marek Halter.

Surat itu ditulis oleh Mary, yang mencurahkan pikiran dan perasaannya ketika Yesus disalib.
Dalam surat itu, dikatakan bahwa Yesus tidak wafat di salib, tetapi tidur.

Sebuah pernyataan yang membuatku bertanya-tanya akan kebenarannya.

Aku percaya akan apa yang dituliskan oleh Kitab Suci bahwa Yesus wafat di kayu salib dan bangkit kembali 3 hari kemudian.

Bila buku Marek halter ini adalah kisah fiksi, aku harap ia sebaiknya menuliskan demikian, daripada menciptakan sebuah pertanyaan yang dapat mempengaruhi iman seseorang.

Sep 05, 2010 - review by Wellington:

Making a departure from my non-fiction reading, I picked up a historical novel about the most famous mother of all time.

The story starts out with Miriam and her family struggling to survive the yoke of the tyrannical Roman rule under King Herod. By a freak accident, Miriam's father is set to be crucified. The precocious Miriam boldly sets out to rescue him with the help of a dangerous friend, Barrabas.

It's a crisp book that doesn't weight the soul down with diatribes of heavy handed preaching. OK, there are a couple of them but most of the story focused on Miriam and how she became the Virgin Mary.

At the end, the author tacked on the Gospel of Mary which will never find its way to the Bible that you know because according to her, Jesus faked his death like Juliet. You would think that one of the two people who first found Jesus alive might be the authority on the matter.

Now, the book probably took a lot of liberties to tell the story. But who is to say history has not taken their own liberties?

*Gambar dipinjam dari sini.

John Carter

Temen: "Van, nonton film John Carter yuk."
Aku:
Film apaaa lagi itu... iklannya sih dimana-mana, tapi kok aku ga tertarik buat nonton -.-


setelah nonton trailer...
Aku: "Yaa.. boleh... ayuk." Sapa tahu menarik.

Setelah nonton filmnya...
Wuihhh... keren!! Hahahaa....

This movie is based on the novel "A Princess of Mars".

It pictured a life of a young man back in 1882. This young man, 15 years before (1868) has traveled to Mars and lived there. This movie tells the story of his life when he was in Mars.

It was entertaining to imagine, what if we could live in Mars :)
The language, the people, and the condition of the planet are different.

The title of the novel has spoken, it has something to do with a princess of Mars.
Yes, he fell in love with the princess of Mars :) Disney ohhh... Disney.

To cut the long story short, he needed to go back to Mars because he was sent back to Earth.

My take away from this movie is that, we need to belong to something. It could be a place, or people, or someone dear in our heart. That's where our home is. We need to fight for our own happiness, and bring happiness to others as much as we could.

It's important to be a people-centered person because we live in a society. We need others, and vice versa.

Called and Chosen

"There is only one vocation, it's vocation to Love."
(Father Anthony Kenny Tan)

For many are called but few are chosen.
(Matthew 22:14)
This book reveals 17 vocation stories of our beloved Priests.
My friend passed me this book 2 years ago, which at that time, I did not have time to read it.

"The priestly vocation is a gift from God."
(Pope John Paul II)

After reading their stories... I am able to understand more about vocation.
Each of the priest is special, and they were called in special way, because God knows them best.

There is also ups and downs, struggles, failures and even decision to leave the priesthood in the early stage. But as they grow in faith and faith is what keeps them going... they are still here, as priests, to serve the people.

The Calling.

You may wonder, "How does it feel to be called?"
"How do you know you are called?"

Well, I'd like to suggest you to go and see a priest, or religious Sister (if you are a woman) to seek for Spiritual Guidance if you are discerning about these questions because it's not easy to be convinced that you are called.

Most of the time, one who is called would felt something and felt the need to share the strange (yet peaceful) feeling with someone who one thinks might understood and able to give some guidance. Therefore, seek help from a religious Sister or Brother or Priest might be helpful since they have been through it before.

I like the sharing from Father Joachim Chang,

"Marriage is also a vocation, but how many of us would spend eight days in the retreat centre to discern and ensure that we are called to be married and ensure the person we are planning to marry is the right one?
But when it comes to the priesthood, we must make 10 retreats, check with everyone and must make sure we do not make a mistake. There is a double standard here."

"Even if God were calling a person to the priesthood and if that person decided to get married instead, God would still bless his marriage. However, he may not be as happy as he would have been if he had accepted the calling to become a priest."

May God bless our Priests, religious Brothers and Sisters :)

*Picture is borrowed from here
You can also visit Serra Club's website here.

HUGO

Hugo Cabret is an orphan. He lives in the walls of a train station.

His dad used to own a watched shop and he taught him how to fix watch. After his dad passed away, his uncle took him to stay with him in a train station and his only job is to make sure that the clock is working.

Before he died, his father left an automaton (a mechanical man who is supposed to write with a pen). He was trying to fix it and to find out what the automaton could do. Hugo tried so hard to find the missing pieces of the automaton because he was convinced that the automaton contains a message from his father. Also, he thought by fixing the automaton he won't feel so lonely anymore.

His journey involved some people whom he met daily. One person led to another, and from little pieces of puzzle slowly Hugo understands about his father's dream, people's dreams, and the history of the movie theater.

I guess for myself, again I learn about letting go of the past, accepting what life has given me, and treasure the people who care about me.

Hugo said,
"I imagine that the world is one big machine. Machines don’t have any extra parts. They have just as many parts as they need. By seeing the world as a machine, I can see myself as having a place in it. I must have a purpose, if the world is like a machine!"

So I guess, there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Everything, and everyone, has its own purpose. Things happen for a reason :)


Another great movie :)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I was interested to watch this movie because:
1) Academy Award Nominees
2) Best Movie of the year - People
3) Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock are in this movie

It is based on a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.

This movie is about a boy named Oskar, whose father died in the 9/11 tragedy. Oskar describes the day as "The Worst Day". Oskar is very close with his father. They used to do a lot of things together as father and son.

This movie is Oskar's story; his perception of "The Worst Day", memories about his dad, the struggle, grief, and motivation to find out what's left of his dad just so he can remember him longer.

On "The Worst Day", Oskar was released from school earlier, he went home but nobody was around. His father called and left messages in the answering machine since there's no one answered the phone. Oskar was too scared to pick up the phone, and felt guilty later on because he didn't pick up the phone. He kept the phone with all the messages so nobody will need to hear it like he did.

Learn to let go, to accept the tragedy, and to move on with your life are the messages of this movie.

This is a movie about family.
Oskar came from a good family background, good family support. His parents are loving, and he even gets closer to his granny after his dad passed away. During his journey, he was also involved with his grandpa, with whom he receives support and learns to accept other's limitation.

If you see it from different perspective, this movie is also showing how strong his mum is.
She needs to survive for Oskar, to support him, and to accept him despite how he reacts about the loss of his dad.

There was one conversation between Oskar and his mum which left a very deep impression in my heart:

Oskar: "I wish you were in that building instead of him."
She responds, "So do I."
Oskar: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
She responds, "Yes, you did."

My heart was very sad to hear that particular conversation. Imagine that your own son prefers your spouse and wishes that you were the one who died and refuses to accept the reality. She has a very big heart to answer him calmly, and yet still love him with all her heart.

Great movie!


Ps:
*Highly recommended to watch.
*You may find more about the movie from Wikipedia, and the movie's website.
*Picture is borrowed from here.