Ivan’s Journal - Marion the Marionette

Here I am, graduated from college but still waiting for graduation ceremony. It’s time to apply for jobs and have fun. Daily college routines were finally over and I was free to do whatever I want… well, almost… I still had to find a job and did interviews here and there.

I didn’t have enough money to travel to places outside Asia – long distance places. So how did I manage to see the world beyond mine? Well, sometimes I watched discovery channel and TV programs about traveling. How about adventures? I like to play games and sports a lot when I was in college. It’s the cheapest way to spend my spare time. How did I manage to see the world beyond dreams and imagination? Hmm, why don’t we create one? I always wonder how they made those movies and games.

One day, my curiosity led me to a free course of graphic design held by Binus College, which was coincidently held an open house event not far from my house. That brought me to the world of graphic design. I took a course of Photoshop and 3D Animation at that time.

The trainer happened to be younger than me and his 3D animation skills were great. He specialized in architecture and many of his portfolios were about architectural projects. I had few conversations with him and he happily shared his knowledge to me. So I went to a bookstore, bought 3D software, and locked myself at home.

The result? I managed to create my own 3D characters. I was close of making my own animation movie entitled “Marion the Marionette – Some Puppets Need No Player”. Unfortunately my computer didn’t have enough strength to do the rendering process. Well, I wasn’t planning to plunge myself deeper in design graphics anyway. So, I made myself 3 digital friends and many still image pictures as results of locking myself at home for 3 months.

Although my 3D digital friends didn’t come alive in the form of movies, at least they came alive in my thoughts and few real screenshots. Let me show and tell you about them:

Marion the Marionette – Marion was the first character that I created. I made him as a main character. Marion is a wooden marionette puppet without strings and has a controller above his head. Whenever he’s asleep, the controller falls off and he definitely needs help to put it back on. The controller have to be placed back above his head, otherwise he will stay asleep forever.

Marion likes to sit near the fireplace at night. He doesn’t like to get too close to the fire though, as his wooden body cannot stand the heat. He has a simple and friendly nature. The character who values friendships, likes to joke, enjoys laughter, and always ready for adventures.

Lillian the Ballerina Doll – Lillian is a doll made of waxes and ceramics that has a small golden key behind her slender waist. She has red hair with a cute bun tied with a red tape. She had a slim, flexible, and agile body gestures who likes to wear a pink ballerina costume and ballerina shoes. When her golden key stops spinning, she will be put to sleep. The only way to wake her up is by the help of others to spin her golden key again.

Lillian likes to dance very much as she became a dancer since she was made. Being a shy type of girl, she doesn’t like to talk much and prefer to watch things. Although her quiet nature often makes her look distant, but she is always ready to help others in times of troubles.

Pete the Snowman Toy – Pete is a toy that is made of plastic in the form of a bluish snowman. He has a round belly and chubby face. Being a toy, his life depends on the battery, which is placed inside his back. Whenever his battery runs out of power, he’ll be put to sleep. He needs help from his friends to replace his battery. He likes to wear his blue Santa Claus’s hat and big blue ribbon on his neck everywhere he goes.

Little Pete is always cheerful and lively. Although a little bit fainthearted, he is willing to brave danger if it comes to helping his friends. He enjoys the cold weather and likes to play in the snow a lot. Often he gets too excited sliding and rolling in the snow, someone should remind him that he should stay close to a battery store.

Well, that’s a brief introduction of my 3D digital friends. I hope someday, you can watch their adventures in the big screen with big smiles… CHEESE… ;-)

Ivan the Freelancer

CITY OF LONELINESS

Do you ever feel lonely in this world? This movie tells a great story about that. You’ll feel loneliness very close to your face. How about if we put another feeling called “fear”? As this movie is not only about loneliness, but also fear. How long can you survive living in loneliness and fear at the same time? Nobody there and you can loose your life anytime. It sounds creepy enough.

The movie is actually brought from a novel entitled “I Am Legend”, which was written in 1954 by Richard Matheson. The novel tells a story about the last man alive in the future of Los Angeles, California. Notice there’s a difference in the city where the event took place. The movie’s version is in New York but the novel’s is in Los Angeles. Previous movies which had been adapted from that novel are The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971).

Directed by Francis Lawrence, “I am Legend” tells a story of a virus that wiped out the entire city. Well, not entirely, as few people were immune. People never stop looking for a way to create a better living. One of the ways is through science and experiments. Hoping to find a cure for cancer, the experiment turned out to be a total chaos. It produced nasty plague which was capable of transforming humans into savage and vicious mutant zombies or vampires.

The outbreak of the plague actually took place in the year of 2009, but the actual struggle begins in 2012. During that time, the plague had wiped out the whole humanity and caused symptoms of vampirism to the people where they lost their consciousness and became blood-thirsty creatures. They couldn’t stand daylight and one single ray of sunlight could burn them to the death. So they could only go out at night.

Robert Neville (played amazingly by Will Smith) happened to be one of the last human beings who are immune from the virus’s effects, and lived alone in New York City. He was a scientists (although he didn’t look like one) who also had a military background. Neville tried to use his scientist’s intelligence and military’s strength to survive as long as he could in a city, which was no longer looked like a city. Through flashbacks, Neville’s past slowly revealed. The memories of his family and being separated from them were pushing his will and draining his spirit at the same time.

Neville only had one mission, which was to find a way to reverse the effect caused by the virus using his own blood which contains immunity substance. He had to use the time efficiently to build strong defenses around his house, dispose vampire corpses, and gather supplies as much as he could when he faced loneliness at daylight. When the sunset came, he had to protect himself from the horde of vampires that lurked the night searching for any humans that still walked the earth. The mutant zombies, who used to be humans, roamed the night watching every step Neville made, waited patiently for him to make a fatal mistake.

One thing that could ease his mind was a company of his best friend, a German shepherd dog named Samantha (the dog’s real name is Abbey, trained by Steve Berens). Neville and his family had Samantha since she was little. She had grown up to be a strong and smart companion for him. They tried their best to protect each other and comforted each other’s mind, until something really terrible happened.

As Neville learned about his foes, he knew that the end was near. He knew that those monsters were also studying his every move. The city now had its own population and he’s not a part of it. The legend had been reborn. It’s now up to him whether he could reverse the population back as the last hope of all humanity rest on his shoulder.

Ivan the Freelancer

STORIES FROM DIFFERENT SIDES

The uniqueness is not about its storyline, not about the actors, and definitely not about the special effects, but it’s about its concept. You’ll see why once you had seen it.

The story is about the attempted assassination of President Ashton (played by William Hurt). The event which started at 12.00 pm only took about 20 minutes, and occurred in one place but it produced a movie of 90 minutes duration. Watching this movie was like watching video playbacks from multiple cameras. You could see the action from many points of views, which led into one conclusion.

Directed by Pete Travis, Vantage Point tells a story when President Ashton attended a global war on terror summit in Salamanca, Spain. Each time the president attends an important event, he / she is usually guarded by The Secret Service. This time Agent Thomas Barnes (played by Dennis Quaid) and Agent Kent Taylor (played by Matthew Fox) were the two Secret Service agents assigned to protect the president at the summit.

Agent Barnes took a bullet for President Ashton six months ago and this summit was his first comeback since then. Nobody and even he knew whether he was prepared for this dangerous mission. Agent Barnes had suspected that something had gone wrong from the beginning, but then he realized that the real situation was a lot worse. Few terrorists managed to sneak in and mix themselves with the crowd.

When the president stepped up the podium, he immediately shot twice and fell to the ground. The crowd went panic and the situation turned into chaos. Not long after that, bombs began to explode. Agent Barnes tried his best to rush against time to uncover the assassination and save the president’s life before everything’s too late. The action got more exciting when each side actually had backup plans.

Few people witnessed the incident and only through their eyes we could see and reveal the truth of what really happened. They all saw the tragedy from different sides as Agent Barnes rushed to the rescue. Barnes took a bullet for the president once… Was he willing to take another this time? Only you can witness the devotion and dedication of most loyal secret service agents in fulfilling their tasks.

In many situations, we often forgot that we need to see things from other point of views in order to see the real truth. The skilled investigators do this every time they try to solve cases. We shall do the same.

Ivan the Freelancer

POKER FACE

Bond (played by Daniel Craig) is back. But the story of “Casino Royale” actually tells us about Bond before he had his license to kill. After two quick successions in assassination missions, he earned his “Double O” title instantly. The “007” finally got his first mission from his boss, “M” (played by Judi Dench). Directed by Martin Campbell, “Casino Royale” perfectly uncovered how James became “Bond” and how an agent became a legend.

There’re certain elements that always made Bond movie worth watching, the storyline, the girls, the enemies, the cars, and the gadgets. All that elements combined usually made a great action movie. But this time, there’re two more elements that makes this movie even more exciting; the high stakes poker games and stock options.

“Do you believe in God, Mr. Le Chiffre?” One of the bad guys asked. “No, I believe in the reasonable rate of return”. A man who happened to be a banker with a sinister face replied. There was a transaction which took place in the middle of the jungle in the beginning of the movie.

The MI: 6 set Bond on his first mission to disclose the names of terrorists. But first, he had to face a ruthless banker named Le Chiffre, who controlled the funds of the terrorists. Bond’s main targets were actually the terrorist behind Le Chiffre. But he couldn’t get to them without passing Le Chiffre.

Most bankers play the stock market by investing their money and use strategies like long, short, call, put, etc, according to the market condition. But the lunatic Le Chiffre had a different strategy to win the market and raise more funds for a group of terrorists who happened to be his clients. Instead of waiting for the market reaction like most of other bankers, Le Chiffre decided to take control of the market himself by planning to destroy an airplane and take down a flight company in the world of Miami.

Why blowing up an airplane? A smart banker knows that fortunes can always be won by applying correct strategies, whether the market goes up or down. But he could get double prize from the stock market plus the insurance for blowing up his own shares. Little did he knew that Bond was very close behind him. Bond managed to stop all Le Chiffre’s men from blowing up the plane, thus ruined his plan to reap his rewards. Instead of gaining profits, Le Chiffre lost a lot of money and faced a consequence of loosing his head for loosing his clients’ money.

Not having any other choices, Le Chiffre decided to apply another talent of his, gambling. In order to raise the money for his investors, Le Chiffre decided to bet all his assets on the poker table in Casino Royale, in Montenegro. Not a very smart thing to do, considering Le Chiffre is a banker. A banker never bets because stock market is not a place to gamble... It is a place of investment. But unfortunately, Le Chiffre seemed confident with his poker skills as he’s a man with skills both in stock market plus on the poker table. What a combination!

MI: 6 had the next plan to defeat Le Chiffre, hoping that he will loose all the money and seek protection from them. Only then the information about the terrorist can be extracted as an exchange for his protection. “M” sent Bond as the best poker player in the agency and Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green) as a British treasury and accountant. Their mission was to take down Le Chiffre and beat him in his poker game. Only if Le Chiffre looses his money, then the whole organization will collapse.

The story gets exciting as Bond and Vesper ventured danger together as the stakes of poker game was no longer about money. It’s interesting to watch how they had to face and deal with their own ego to survive the casino game that could claim their life. Watch as Bond had to give everything he got to win the game, which was almost impossible, even though he had learned before, that a poker is not about playing cards… It’s about how to “read” people.

Bond was so close of making the wrong decision that could endanger his career or maybe his entire life as he and Vesper became so deeply in love. Bond never expected what he had to face even if he won the poker game. How this story ends, you have to see it for yourself. Bond had all the trainings he needed but still had to learn his most important lesson, “Don’t focus too much on your enemies that you forget to watch over your friends”.

Ivan the Freelancer

A NEW AMERICAN CRIME CLASSIC

“I don’t wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” That’s the great line that comes from an Irish mobster named Frank Costello (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson), who ruled the South Boston section of Boston streets and dominated the law by his own style. The kind of man who gave birth to corruption and made the society became restless. But in order to do that, he had to make some people happy.

There’re two men who graduated from Massachusetts State Police Academy, but took different sides of the law after graduation. Young officer Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who came from a broken family became a perfect mole to infiltrate the Irish mob. He worked undercover on a mission to squeeze as much information as he could to bring down Costello and his crew. Captain Oliver Queenan (played by Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (played by Mark Wahlberg) considered Costigan’s crooked family background as one of the main reason why he’s the right one for the job. They played good cop bad cop kinda things and pushed Costigan so that he could do his job right.

One thing they didn’t know, Frank Costello also found a boy named Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon) and made him ready for a job to become his eyes and ears inside the police department. Sullivan joined the Massachusetts State Police Academy and graduated at the same time as Costigan, under a watchful eye of Costello. Sullivan and Costello became very close. He provided all information about the police activities so that Costello could roam the streets freely. Nobody suspected Sullivan who acted as Costello’s informant.

So the two undercover men who graduated from the same academy took a different path and performed double life at their own risks. Costigan had to experience the life like most of criminals to become a perfect mole and to infiltrate Costello’s ranks. He was put in jail and went through tough processes like any other criminals did. The only people on earth who knew his true identity as undercover cop were Captain Queenan and Sergeant Dignam. On the other hand, Sullivan played a role as a cop with a high rank in the Special Investigation Unit, but actually served as Costello’s spy. The only person who knew his true identity was Costello himself.

Each other had to tread very carefully, trying to cover their true identity, as one single wrong step could mean a death penalty. Things got worse when each side began to smell a “rat” inside each other’s crew, but couldn’t tell which one. Both Costigan and Sullivan tried their best to discover the “rat” in their team. They had to face dangerous situations under pressure from each other’s mastermind.

Things got more complicated when Costigan and Sullivan happened to fall in love with the same girl named Madolyn (played by Vera Farmiga). Madolyn was a psychiatrist who worked in the police academy. She met Sullivan first and became lovers. Later on, she moved to live together with Sullivan. Being a psychiatrist for the academy means she had to deal with stressed and under pressured cops who needed treatments. The situation brought Madolyn and Costigan together as he became her patient. He happened to had hard times in keeping himself from loosing his mind. They soon had an affair behind Sullivan who hid a plan on his own.

Things got messy when they got closer and closer to disclose the others’ true identities. The movie had more than one climaxes and you can never guess its ending as you watch them crossed, double-crossed, killed, and be killed. Never know who’s going to die next. The more they made progress, the worst the situation became. If you love surprises and unexpected endings, you’ll love the Departed. They all learned their lesson, “Trust no one”.

Ivan the Freelancer

WHITE POWDER BY THE BLACK PEOPLE

American Gangster movie had long been forgotten. But the interesting storyline is still suitable to be remembered and discussed. The movie is directed by the talented Ridley Scott. This unique movie is great not only because it’s brought from a real life story and played by great actors, but also teaches us lessons of life even from the most cursed business.

An Afro-American man named Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington) who’s very familiar with the Harlem neighborhood started his business from becoming a driver for his boss, until he managed to become one of the most powerful drug lords in New York City. His boss was actually a powerful mafia who run drug dealing business but eventually got lost and went bankrupt. That’s when Frank saw an opportunity and quickly gained access to take over his boss’ place. That’s how this real story began in the year of 1970.

It’s very rare for a black people to be able to reach a position so high, as high as Frank Lucas, especially in the mafia world of drugs business. His success even exceeded his former boss. Harlem was known for its reputation for a tough and dangerous environment. Being familiar with the territory, Frank could easily control and dominate the battlefield. Having deep knowledge and experience about the territory is absolutely necessary in building and running any business.

Drugs had market of its own in America. That market is ready and very well educated – meaning that there’re enough fools who’s willing to destroy their life for the sake of enjoying the sensation of consuming drugs. That market was very well-established and ready to be harvested. The white powder could be found easily almost everywhere. The situation was perfect for any kinds of businesses to enter the market, because most of the time you don’t need to spend big budget to promote your product or to educate the market.

However, Frank was not satisfied with all kinds of drugs that were circling the streets. Although the market condition is good, the competition will be very tight and strict. Any mistakes or misplaced act in confronting the competition in this evil business usually means death or lifetime punishment. The first step is to find a supplier. So one day, Frank decided to gather his people who had the same purpose or ambition like him. They explored rural places from remote villages to the corner of jungles to find pure and powerful white powder / drugs.

An excellent quality of product is crucial, no matter what kinds of products you’re dealing with. In marketing, the best way to kill a bad product is by promoting and distributing it. Frank was lucky to find a supplier who posses great and strong stuff, plus they operated deep within the secluded jungle where even their own clients didn’t know the exact location.

The supplier thought Frank had lost his mind, because he intended to sell and distribute drugs to the big city without back up and without using the existing distribution channel. But through a tough negotiation, the supplier finally agreed to sell his goods to Frank. A big grin appeared on their faces showing that the deal was finally done. “My man!” Said Frank to the supplier a moment before he went back home to prepare his next move.

The next thing to do was preparing distribution channels. This was one of the most important things that Frank didn’t forget. The distribution channel was also one of the things that made him successful. He managed to distribute his products directly to the streets – direct selling, and able to bypass all mediators which is normally used by other drug dealers. Guess what? Lower product price and operational cost made the profit skyrocketed.

The white powders were delivered from the jungle using planes that supposed to carry war supplies or corpses of American soldiers who died at war. The powders were smuggled inside the plane and even inside the coffins. Once it reached the destination at the city, Frank with his crew can freely distribute the drugs without having to deal with the mediators who usually charge more money.

Fresh cash filled Frank’s pocket quickly along with so many people who got drunk because of consuming his nasty powders. His lifestyle improved and quickly gained new acquaintances on the upper hand. He also bought a big house for his old mama and family. Little did they know that the money was collected from evil business?

Frank didn’t forget to give a name to the great white powder of his. “Blue Magic” is the brand he finally chose, and he realized that people should know the difference between his products and other products on the streets. He even got pissed when he found out that somebody was changing the brand of his product with other names. The dealer didn’t care about it and insisted that he could name the product with whatever he likes once he bought it.

The main problem occurred when the police started to smell the news of Frank’s exceptional white powder, “Blue Magic”. Even the police admitted that the powder was far more powerful than other drugs on the streets. The most difficult task was tracing the source of Blue Magic because the fact that they’re using different methods and different distribution channels. Finally, an honest cop named Richie managed to uncover Frank’s operation, although he had to sacrifice his own marriage.

The next problem was a few corrupted cops began to intimidate Frank, asking for a share profit from his fortune. Corruption spread quickly like cancer to the most unexpected places and were untouchable by laws. A fortune which is collected from dirty businesses and rotten money will definitely reveal itself because you cannot cover the stinking smell of it. It made Frank and his family cornered like rats surrounded by hungry cats.

Actually that’s not the only cause of Frank’s failure. The fatal mistake was that he didn’t calculate the risk of the distribution channels and the continuity of supplies. The problem occurred when the planes that used to carry Blue Magic were no longer flown in the right tracks as Frank had wanted. This made Blue Magic became scarce and hard to be stocked. This brought up a question for you, “Is your distribution channel safe and how about the continuity of your supplies?” Most of the time, a business falls because of failure in managing distribution channel and scarcity of supplies.

The honest cop Richie happened to find out about this distribution channel and quickly searched every plane for evidence. War couldn’t be evaded. A clash between honesty and corruption, between justice and crime exploded. It’s a pity that Frank didn’t have a backup plan for the continuity of his drug dealing business. A big fortune had to be paid with blood and a long time spent in jail.

The ending part of this movie will not be told here, so that you can still enjoy the original DVD / VCD of this American Gangster movie (hasn’t been released when this article was written). Anyway, an act to make a fortune for you yourself above the misery and suffering of others is not a good thing to do, right my man?

Best Scenes:

• A sexy singer with tight green shorts singing “Only the Lonely”
• Frank popped a guy’s head for refusing to pay 10% share of profit
• Gunfights between cops and drug lords
• Frank said the word, “My Man!”
• Ending scene when Frank got out of jail

More about Frank Lucas:

• Legend said that Frank is the first black drug lords who got out from the rein of Costa Nostra (Italian Mafia).
• He developed his own route and distribution channels from South East Asia directly to the streets of Harlem.
• He visited Asia only once but managed to sell many drugs.
• In 1972 and 1973, he was estimated to have sold, imported, and distributed more than 800 kg pure heroin with $240 million market value.
• He had cars like Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Corvettes, etc.
• He dated a step daughter (Billie Mays) of a legendary baseball player named Willie Mays.
• His height is 192 cm.
• He ran his business along with his three most trusted brothers and recruited 100 people from the streets.
• The Italian mafia didn’t want to pack and sell heroin directly to the streets, so they sold them with certain price to the black distributors or wholesalers. Frank found an innovative way to import the drugs directly from Vietnam with a price less than 1/10 of Italian mafia’s price and sold them directly to the streets. That’s how he managed to pass the mafia.
• He sent his drugs inside the dead bodies of American soldiers who died at war in Vietnam, after their organs had been removed.
• He claimed that he earned $1 million per day in 1970’s.
• He was sentenced for 70 years in jail in 1976 and may still run his operations although behind bars.
• Now he lived under the Witness Protection Program of the federal government for disclosing many names of the people who were involved.

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan's Journal - THE BIRTH OF A WRITING TALENT

I couldn’t remember the first time I’ve ever hold this printed media called “Marketing”. It was still in the tabloid form at that time. It never crossed my mind that I could be a part of it, yet it became a part of my career.

It was no different like any other tabloids. There’re maybe hundreds of them spreading all over. But as far as I can remember, it was the only tabloid that spoke about marketing. So I bought one, took it home, and read it. That’s all about it. I’ve never buy it again since then. I even forgot the topic of the tabloid when I first bought it.

Few years had passed since then, when suddenly I met a friend of mine who said he read a magazine – majalah called “Marketing” because he worked as a marketer. Majalah Marketing?? As far as I know, there’s no such magazine. When I searched for it at the bookstore, it turned out that the Marketing tabloid had transformed into magazine. Now, it’s called Majalah Marketing.

I was working with my friends at that time. We ran a business of production house, making videos / photos about wedding and company profile. We even sold computers and built websites for extra money. Life was tough and not much cash around. Building a business was never easy, but it was the only thing we had to do to survive at that time. We did everything to make money ‘here, there, and everywhere’. It was a fun and challenging job though.

One day, a friend of mine named Olaf, rode a bicycle and dropped by at my house. He said he knew someone who’s working at Majalah Marketing. That someone turns out to be Mr. Andrianus Pohan, an old friend of mine at high school. I’ve never met him again since I graduated from high school.

The next day, I decided to contact Mr. Pohan. It turned out that there’s a job vacancy at Majalah Marketing. Guess what, the job matched my previous experience and the office is not far from my house. I always say, you shouldn’t pass an opportunity when it knocks your door. So I went to the mal, bought the latest edition of Majalah Marketing, and found myself sitting at Pizza Hut, reading it. I remember it was the January 2006 edition about “Premium Market”.

It was not long after that, I found myself having a conversation again to Mr. Pohan. He said he wanted out and needed a replacement. I shook his hand saying that I’ll take my chances of replacing his position at Majalah Marketing.

Few days later, I sat on a chair in the waiting room of Majalah Marketing. The receptionist handed over a form that I had to fill in. It was a standard form of employee’s identification and background. The next step was the interview. I went up to the second floor, seeing the office’s activities at a glance.

Someone pointed me to a room where the interview would take place. When I opened the door, I found a man who turned out to be the editor in chief of Majalah Marketing, Mr. Rahmat Susanta. We had a conversation for a while, until he finally nodded his head several times and asked me a question, “When do you ready to begin?” I took that as a positive sign for me that I am accepted. It was the shortest and most comfortable interview I’ve ever experienced. Modest and smart – that is my first impression of him.

Later, I found myself working on a computer in order to develop and maintain the company’s website. As time went by, I started writing articles for the magazine. Little did I know that my work brought me into this blog – “The Popcorn Story”.

Ivan the Freelancer

A MASKED CRUSADER

The title of the movie is “Batman Begins”, so it surely tells the beginning of Batman. Directed by Christopher Nolan, and played by Christian Bale as the Batman, the movie explores the origins of the legendary dark knight. It is a story about a man who finally chose to become a creature that once he feared most, the bats.

I must say that this is the best and most realistic Batman movie ever, because it manages to capture the whole essence of Batman, as a child, as a human, as a billionaire, as a lover, and as a hero. No ridiculous enemies, no kinky costumes, no weird cars, no funny lines, and no stupid fighting moves.

Many people said that Batman is a funny hero. He has wings but cannot fly, wears a mask because not confident to show his face, wears underwear outside his tight hot pants, and he even looks funny when he fights. This movie is able to correct all of those old beliefs. Batman even got himself a great car. Hey, even though he’s a batman, doesn’t mean he has to ride a car that looks like a bat!

We all know that the person behind Batman is a man named Bruce Wayne. The story begins with little Bruce living with his parents in a huge mansion. Bruce’s father was a billionaire and a powerful businessman in Gotham city. He owned his own building called Wayne’s. There’s nothing to tell about Bruce’s mother though, except she lived happily with Bruce and her husband.

One day, Bruce was playing outside the mansion and accidentally fell off to a deep hole which leads to a bat cave. Bruce broke his leg and couldn’t get out from the hole. A moment later, he heard strange sounds from inside the dark hole. Suddenly, a flock of bats flew out from inside the hole towards him. He was so scared and terrified at that time, being not able to do anything while surrounded by bats flying all over him.

Luckily, he was playing with a girl who managed to rush and ask for help. Bruce had a trusted butler named Alfred who rushed to the rescue. Finally, the butler and his parents managed to get Bruce out of that hole. Bruce went to a shock and became terrified of falling and bats ever since.

One night, Wayne Family went out to watch an opera show. Bruce was so little at that time, and wasn’t prepared for the next awful things that happened to him. The trauma of falling and bats made him weak and often felt uneasy at certain times. In the middle of the show, he asked his father so that they can all come home early with him. Bruce’s father, who loved him so much, understood that Bruce just need to find fresh air. So, they left the opera and went home.

It was dark and late at night at that time, when Bruce and his parents walked the streets. Suddenly a man pointed a gun towards them, asking to hand over all their money and jewelries. It took a moment for them to realize that they had been robbed by a drunken hobo. The situation went bad when the criminals became panic and accidentally shot and killed Bruce’s parents. Bruce was unharmed but unable to do anything to save his parents. He could still hear his father’s last words before his death, “Don’t be afraid.”

With his parents’ demise, Bruce had nobody but his trusted butler, Alfred, as a family. His trauma of falling, bats and the lost of both of his parents were so unbearable to him. Poor little Bruce went to great mental shock, putting the blame to himself why he asked his parents to go home that night. He felt responsible for his parents’ death and had to face life without someone who can guide him. Not only that, his father left him a very big responsibility. Someone had to take care of Bruce’s father’s legacy of Wayne Enterprise and his wealth.

The board of directors of Wayne Enterprise quickly took over the business empire and waited for young Bruce to take over when he’s ready. Bruce also met detective Jim Gordon who helped him caught his parents’ killer and comforted him through bad times.

It is not only Bruce who had problems. The city of Gotham also had its own problems. The city was so corrupted, filled with many jobless and poor people. The crime was high and the streets were no longer a safe place for most people. Bruce’s father once had a dream to solve the city’s problem by using all his abilities. But unfortunately, the city with its problem itself took him out of this world. The city cried out for a hero.

Bruce decided to face his problems by traveling throughout the world, seeking the means to fight injustice and turn his fear against others. Once he grew up, he felt that his anger was bigger than his guilt. He met people who gave him new insights, and helped him find his ways through hard training, mentally and physically.

The story becomes more exciting as we can watch how Bruce was finally able to face the truth, managed to turn his weakness into his strength, and became a man of a new character. He finally understood what his father always said to him, “Bruce, why do we fall? So we can learn to get up again.” It makes us realize, that a hero is not born from a legacy, but born through a process.

Bruce Wayne finally made his way back to Gotham City as a new character. He became his own trauma, the Batman, who’s able to unleash the power to save his own city from doom. Together with his friends, Alfred the butler, Jim Gordon the detective, and Lucius Fox the loyal employee at Wayne Enterprise, they fought the battle that they couldn’t afford to loose for the sake of their own generations.

Upon returning, Batman also found his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes, who has grown up to be a beautiful girl. She soon played an important role in shaping Bruce’s character and be a part of his love life. He learned his next lesson, “It’s not who you’re underneath, but it’s what you do that defines you.”

What is the outcome of this great adventure? How’s the fate of Gotham City along with its people? What is Batman finally become? How about his love life? Those questions only you can answer by watching this great movie. Unfortunately, Batman is only a symbol. It is not the Bat; it’s the Man behind it that defines him.

Best Scenes:

• Batman jumped and flew from the top of the building after saving Rachel and a kid – He finally flies!
• Bruce Wayne stood in the cave and surrounded by bats
• Batman saved Rachel with his car and brought her to his cave
• Fighting scenes in the train between Batman and his own fighting guru
• Ending scenes - The last conversation between Bruce Wayne and Rachel, between Batman and Lieutenant Jim Gordon

Ivan the Freelancer

THE GREEN GIANT

Eric Bana played a role as Bruce Banner, a man who had a problem in controlling his anger. Directed by Ang Lee, this movie brought the famous Marvel comic to the big screen as an excellent picture.

The scientist conducted an experiment under a military supervision. When the experiment eventually developed, the scientist tried to use a human, other than animals, as a subject for his experiment. Unfortunately, the military didn’t approve his actions and finally threw him out of his job.

After expelled from the project, the scientist turned mad. Mad enough to do his experiment to his own son, Bruce Banner. This act also caused him to loose his marriage. He often had fights with his wife, leaving little Bruce unable to do anything.

Being mentally disturbed, Bruce grew up to be a great scientist like his father, not knowing that something had lurked inside his veins hiding a great power ready to be unleashed. He met Betty Ross (played by Jennifer Connely) who happened to be his colleague at the lab. Betty was the daughter of a military’s powerful person who happened to be the one who fired Bruce’s father a long time ago.

Betty and Bruce worked together hand in hand at the same lab to develop a special project. They became close and Betty knows Bruce better than anyone else.

One day, there’s an accident at the lab that caused Bruce to be hit by a gamma beam. That gamma beam caused reactions to Bruce’s body that even he himself was not aware of. The beam should have killed him, but instead he became stronger and it triggered the “monster” underneath him.

Bruce frequently had bad dreams and became restless when he slept. He often got visions about his terrible childhood moments. It took a while for him to finally realize that there’s something wrong with his body. But it was too late. The chain reaction inside Bruce’s body cannot be stopped.

Until one day, when Bruce was alone at his lab, something bothered his mind so much that it triggered the chain reaction inside his body. Being not able to control his anger and mind, he transformed into a monster of the legendary green giant, The Hulk. He went berserk with incredible strength and caused so much destruction, nearly destroyed the entire lab.

Bruce could finally go back to his normal human form when his anger was no longer controlling him. But every time he felt great anger, the chemical reaction inside him would take control of his mind and transformed him into that green monster again.

The story escalated when Bruce finally had to deal with his own father’s madness, his terrible childhood memories, and the whole military power. He didn’t know whether to call the power within him a blessing or a curse. Betty struggled hard to find a way to deal with the green monster using other than brute forces. But she got her father standing between him and Bruce.

This is not a movie about anger management, but it surely reminds us what happen if we cannot control our anger. Usually it ends badly and it will bring almost the whole world against you. We all had unpleasant childhood memories, terrible past times, and many other problems that cause us to loose our temper. We all had “the green giant” inside of us. It became a problem if you cannot control it.

So, the Hulk tried to prove that he couldn’t be stopped. Even all the military power couldn’t stop his rage. Few tried to save him, yet many tried to waste him. The whole world was against him. How far a man can push his anger upon the whole world?

Ivan the Freelancer