Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Thus the third time Harry Potter back in action! But this time dear Harry got it a bit darker and a bit more interesting, I must say. And for you teens out there, our Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has become quite a hunky guy alongside with his best mates, Hermione (Emma Watson - with not-so-bushy-now hair) and Ron (Rupert Grint). Enjoy the guys and drool!!

Having blowing out his nice-in-a-very-sadistic way aunt Marge out of the Dursley's house, Harry storms off to another year in Hogwarts. That means another adventure and probably another encounter with Lord Voldemort. But not this time. This time Harry only has to encounter a psycho killer who's a follower of Voldemort. Not only that, but also a horde of dementors (which is a thing who guards Azkaban) in pursuit of the psycho known as Sirius Black (Gary Oldman).
Hogwarts also has a lot more surprises in this movie. The big and sensitive Hagrid becomes one of the professors and yep, you guessed it, another Defense Against The Dark Art (sp?)'s professor. So what else is new? The Famous Marauder's Map. What does it look like? Well..don'cha have to find it out yourself? ;)

This third installment of the Harry Potter series gives me (or us) a refreshed view of Harry Potter. Being directed by Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Great Expectations), the world of Harry Potter turns unexpectedly dark and serious - unlike the previous movies. We can also see that the characters really do grow naturally physically and psychologically. The costumes and the settings also support the movie in a beautiful way. We can see the complete landscape of Hogwarts such as the path leading to Hagrid's hut.

On the other hand, although it doesn't take time as long as the previous two movies, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban doesn't satisfy enough. The Prisoner (of Azkaban) only visualizes the book, which is of course has more complete explanations. For you out there who doesn't read the book (which is a pity and also impossible because almost every person reads Harry Potter), I suggest..yeah..read the book. I'm also disappointed with the way the characters express their sadness. At one time when Harry was mourning the fact that Black is his godfather, I didn't catch if he was crying or not. He sounds like crying, but I didn't see any tear or anything similar to that.

Personal Pick:
- Check out the Weasley's twins, Fred (James Phelps) and George Weasley (Oliver Phelps)! They've grown their hair in that famous British style which I like so much. I even search the actors in the Net!
- Funkier Albus Dumbledore (Micheal Gambon). With all due respect to the late Dumbledore, our new headmaster of Hogwarts plays his part really good. If I were to choose my high school's principal, I would choose him.

That's all from me. Since this is my first time ever writing a review, I really appreciate all the suggestions and all the critics. =) Until then.. Mischief managed! *poof*

Links

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Official Site

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - IMDb.com

New name, new member...

New look? Hmm, I'll think about it.

We've got announcement to make. As it today, the blog will be called Double Mocha Latte. With the addition of my darling little sister...wait, my darling sister, we think the blog need a facelift...well, a title-lift...wait...oh whatever. Since my sis will also doing some posting, the range of subjects we're going to review is wider. My sis, the self-proclaimed curly haired rock chick, is totally into music. She will doing some album reviews, among other things. Hopefully this would fill in the blog (since I haven't doing any updating for a while now). Enjoy!

Double Mocha Latte Team Moderator,
LemonTea

Lucky 7

Another romantic comedies! Yeah, yeah...I confess. I'm totally love romantic comedies. It's the most entertaining genre ever. And no...not every romantic comedies are enjoyable. Believe me, I've came across some that's not into the category of enjoyable. Anyhoo, let's talk about the movie.

I saw Lucky 7 on Cinemax just yesterday. I actually made some plan to watch it when I saw the synopses, because it sounds good. But I didn't watch it until yesterday, when I accidently flip around the channels and came across the movie.

The Story
Lucky 7 tells the story of Amy Myer (Kimberly Williams), a lawyer from Seattle. Amy's mom (Gail O'Grady) dies when she was 7. Before she dies, she left some kind of timeline (schedules, rules, bla bla bla, based on time). One of them is how to find the perfect husband. The rules (or guidelines) goes like this: the perfect man for perfect husband is lucky boyfriend number 7 (hence the title). From watching the movie, I found out that to determine wether he is a boyfriend or not is when the man announces that Amy is his girlfriend.
One day, Amy meets this gorgeous and handsome man (so the synopses says) named Daniel (Brad Rowe) at a bagel store. Daniel is a handsome, succesful, and somewhat to be ideal man. But the glitch is...he's only boyfriend number 6. So...Amy cooks up a scheme to make Daniel the lucky number 7. Fortunately for Amy, she has found the pseudo-number-six man. His name is Peter Connor (Patrick Dempsey), the man who work at the bagel store. Also fortunately for Amy, Peter also has a scheme. He was invited by his old friend to their wedding. And...he needs a pseudo girlfriend to prove to his golddigging ex that he's over her. So they goes to the wedding and pretend they are happy couple. But here's where the problem starts...they actually fall in love.
So...will Amy follows her heart or her mother timeline? Well, guess. Nah, just kidding. The movie ends with happy note (you know what I mean).

The Review
I just like this movie. It's a remake of an old classic (or so say the Cinemax site). It's also a very enjoyable romantic comedy. I would give it a B+ (the plus is for Patrick Dempsey - he's totally cute in it, not like when he plays the NYC mayor's son in Sweet Home Alabama. Totally better).

The Links
Click here to read the synopses at Cinemax site.
Click here for the movie page at IMDb.com.

Kapulaga Resto Cafe

Just like the name, Kapulaga is a restaurant and also a cafe. Kapulaga is located at Jalan Teuku Umar number 6, Bandung. The building used to be a house. It is very obvious if you see architecture, also the neighborhood surrounding Kapulaga. It also can be seen from the room arrangement inside.

As you walk inside, there's a dining area on the terrace with several tables providing seats for three each. Perfect for dining on sunny days. Not recommended on rainy days though, you might get wet. Inside, there's another three dining area, separated by big open door. The farthest dining area has a few tables with booth-like couch, instead of chairs. Another dining area is outside, just left of the terrace dining area. It's also perfect for dining on a sunny weather. Not recommended on rainy day, although each table has their own big umbrella. Overall, the atmosphere is cozy and homy, very good for lounging or dining with friends.

The menu combines Western and Eastern food. There's a list of pasta and steaks, also salad and soups for appetizer. But Kapulaga also provide a list of Oriental and traditional food for appetizer and main course. Kapulaga also sells alcoholic beverages here, mostly wine. The wine ranges from 39.000 to 200.000-ish rupiahs. But for those who doesn't drink alcohol, there's also non-alcoholic drinks like Lemon Tea (my personal favorite); coffee e.g. Cappucino, Caffe Latte, etc; also fruit smoothies. My personal recommendation is Pattaya Chicken Steak, which is chicken steak with sweet chilli sauce, a mix of west and east taste. Another is the Chicken Salad, broiled chicken with cuts of potato and apple, covered in mayonaise. One thing to be remember is that the main course a big portion, so make sure you're ready to finish it all up or share it.

Contact Information
Kapulaga Resto Cafe
Jalan Teuku Umar 6
Phone (022)250-1220

Shrek

This is the twisted fairy tale of an ogre named Shrek (voice Mike Meyers). The movie tells a story of an ogre who suddenly looses his beloved swamp to a bunchful of fairy tale characters. To get his home back without any interference, he confronts Lord Farquaad (voice John Lithgow), the short, cruel, self-absorb prince who really wants to be a king. Lord Farquad then cuts him a deal, if Shrek could bring him Princess Fiona (voice Cameron Diaz), who is captured in a tower with a dragon guarding it, then he gets him swamp back. Shrek then goes the rescue with a donkey, Donkey (voice Eddie Murphy), who he saved previously from the clutches of Farquaad's army. So...to cut the whole thing short, along the way, Shrek finds friendship and love.
I really love this movie, which is based on a book with the same title. This is not the common fairy tale read to you for bedtime stories. This is twisted (in a good way) and pretty much in touch with reality. My favorite bit is when Princess Fiona says she supposed to be beautiful - she's an ogre now (a curse is involve in it), Shrek replies "But you are beautiful". Awwwww, it just melts my heart. Now if I could just find a man who would say that to me.

Link
Official site - http://www.shrek.com
Does it need description? It's the official site. Flash 5 required.
IMDB - Shrek
IMDB page for Shrek.

Sex and the City

This is the famous series on HBO which stars Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes, and Kristin Davis as Charlotte York. The stories mainly based on a titular column on a New York newspaper, written by Carrie Bradshaw. This is a very good series. The four girls are different personalities. But they are all best friends who support each other, although sometimes they gotten into a fight. Like one time when Charlotte made Samantha upset because of her remarks on Sam's sexual activities. Or when Miranda got pregnant, while Charlotte was trying to be but failed. The series now reached its' final season, and is now on fall break before entering the winter season. This is totally a girl power series, a must watch for all of you single (or not) girls out there!!!

Link
HBO - Sex and the City
Episode guide, cast and characters bio, scrapbook, bulletin board, etc.

Bridget Jones's Diary

This is a two-series books by Helen Fielding. It tells a story about a British woman in search of...love? Well, basically it's about a journey most women has to get through in her life. The first book tells a story of Bridget falling in love with her boss, Daniel Cleaver, and gets involved with him. Later on, she finds out that he's actually already engaged to an American woman. Daniel isn't the only man in her life, there is also the lovable Mr. Darcy, who at first doesn't seems too lovable. They first meet at a family gathering, giving each other the wrong impression. But as time goes by (and as Daniel breaks her heart), she finds something she's been looking for in Mr. Darcy.
I love this book. It's sooo girl power, in a simple sense. I learn a lot from this book, because Bridget is so down to earth and just like average women. I'm still reading the second books, called The Edge of Reason. But so far, the story is about Bridget and Mr. Darcy's relationship. The first is already turned into a movie with the same title, staring Renee Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as Daniel, and Coling Firth as Mr. Darcy. The second one...still 'in talk' status, but already listed as 'upcoming'.