Bayu's life is comfortable, apart from Yowis Ben's growing popularity, Asih, his girlfriend, also always supports Bayu in his every dream. Bayu begins to feel anxious about his future when Nando, his keyboard player, decides to study music abroad, Cak Jon decides to leave Yowis Ben and pursue his love, Mbak Rini, who is engaged to an officer, Captain Arjuna. The situation is made worse by the arrival of Susan, Bayu's ex, who makes them close again without Asih's knowledge. Will Bayu succeed in defending Yowis Ben and maintaining Asih's love, when Bayu is secretly close to Susan again?
When it comes the horror genre, I am VERY hard to please or impress, much less scare. Coming from a current mindset of appreciation for chilling, unsettling, tension-inducing efforts such as "Hereditary", "The Conjuring" (ONLY the first one to date, mind you), "Lights Out", "The Babadook", "Midsommar", "Talk To Me", "Oddity", "Bring Her Back", and the like
Lee Daniels’s Billie Holiday biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday was released on February 26th, 2021, and my immediate reaction to it was one of discomfort.
The power to function. As people, we are richly blessed to have the wide ranging scope of what we can accomplish…physically and mentally…that aid in everything we desire to strive for and, ideally, accomplish. However, what if someone was experiencing daily life with these elements….only in a more muted manner?
The movie is centered around the title character who goes on a Christmas adventure.
In the film adaptation, director Jon M. Chu turns each musical number into a massive show stopper, with grand set pieces and a wealth of diverse dancers. Yet, in this attempt to show reverence for the people of the Washington Heights barrio, Chu, or maybe more specifically those in charge of casting, left out a crucial part of the community, Afro-Latinos.
This is ambitious horror filmmaking, and in a lot of ways, I fully admire its ambitions. For me, the film’s sloppiness defines its overall quality.
