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years on novo amor in his singapore concert at esplanade annexe studio

‘Years On’ is Coming Right On Time

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

‘Years On’ is a song title from my favorite musician you might find in this blog too, Novo Amor. You’re probably right, it’s a moniker, his real name is Ali Lacey. Long story short, I figured his music out circa 2018. Two years later, I got the chance to interview him (online, of course!), and four years later, we finally met in person…four times in a 3-month period.

Novo Amor is that type of musician who lets his songs’ meaning be open, so you (too) can interpret his music yourselves. But for me, this writing is my interpretation of ‘Years On’, one of Novo Amor’s songs released back in January 2024. This song would be (or maybe already) in his (currently) newest album, Collapse List.

This song was released at the rightest time, as I unfold myself after having my first solo trip abroad. An awakening trip, I might say, because it’s not about the distance, but more of finding my self worth. Yep, it’s that big.

March, 2023

It started out at the end of March 2023, when Novo Amor announced his shows in Singapore. “Hmm, Singapore,” I thought, as a person who has never gone there before and now felt challenged. 

Anyway, it’s been four years since I interviewed Novo Amor. Knowing that they even made it to Singapore, I feel obligated to have a fun trip going there to give some effort to meet him too.

“Will this be my first solo trip, ever?” I continued the thinking process, wondering if this is finally the time when I have to set sail on a new experience. I’ve been working as a writer all I’ve ever known and have been staying at home since the pandemic. After finally getting a new passport in 2022, I think this’ll be the chance to feed that adventurous side of me, isn’t it? So, I decided to buy a ticket for those 2 Novo Amor shows in Singapore.

But well, oh well, this smort kid apparently took too much time thinking and planning, so she missed out on getting both tickets. Resulting her to look for people who want to sell their SG tickets and asked Ali if there’s any way for her to buy the tickets. But miracle does happen, here’s the reply she got:

 

We’re here to see you, readers, smile too.

Am I not the luckiest girl alive that night? Considering the entire situation, screaming “YES, I F*CKING AM” wouldn’t be too excessive for me, because I didn’t expect to get anything for free.

Fast forward to December

I’m in the midst of a healing process, after going through big misunderstandings in my family that went on for months, the nature of my relationship, a seemingly never-ending burnout, and such. Bringing these on my shoulder, I expected nothing but going back home safely to my nest, because apparently, the only thing I waited for was the day I watched Novo Amor, live on stage.

Carrying the weight of 2023’s ups and downs, I flew to Singapore. I was totally scared at first, because I’ve prepared everything I could think of, but still don’t know what this trip will hold.

But alas, who’s gonna spend all day long chilling at the hotel when you’re on a trip? So, day one after arriving, I went to TreeTop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir. Had a 12,6 km walk in total for that day, that equals to 19k steps… including the wrong paths I took.

[insert img2nya, ini caption buat project gantungan] I brought this bag charm project for Ali that I started to make a few days before the trip, so it’s still ongoing in this photo and it was with me along this SG trip 😀

If you wanna read my full itinerary, I probably will share it in another article to avoid way too-detailed sharings in this article. Later, when I have wrote the article, you can click the picture below to know what I’ve been doing in Singapore besides attending Novo Amor’s concert.

The D-Day

The day #1’s show is on. It was a blessed, yet rough afternoon, at least for me. I walked for another thousands of steps, wearing a short dress, rain was falling almost all day long, and I didn’t bring my umbrella. I was on my trip to Esplanade Annexe Studio from Chinatown. It was 7:09 pm when this thoughtful hooman sent me this message:

 

I’m aspired to at least be this thoughtful.

I was kinda shocked, but of course being happy is beyond all feelings. Confidently, I told him I’m near Esplanade Annexe. Actually I was, if I didn’t get lost (again) that night. Long story short, I made it there one minute before 8 pm (thanks to the free pass, I don’t have to queue *still wanna cry remembering this lovely experience*) with wet shoes and half damp velvet jacket.

After all the walks, the new experiences, the wait, the effort, I finally made it there. It was more of self fulfillment, a new breakthrough in my life, that I was able to watch my favorite musician perform live in another country I’ve never visit before. Not gonna lie, some of you might have taken some guesses too, and some of you guessed it right.

The song still rings in my brain when I’m typing this (and apparently got played on my TV when I’m still writing this paragraph). I cried when Novo Amor played the first notes of Opaline, because it felt like the sound evaporated along with the heavy burdens I carried all these years. I remembered the day I lost my dog, the months of family relationship shattering for nothing, those days when things ended faster than it started. All happened in a split of seconds, then I got my eyes in tears instantly and it grew even bitterly better when ‘Carry You’ was playing.

“Such experience of a lifetime,” I thought, not knowing I’m gonna have this “such experience” for four times in 3 months span. I melt.

After the shows, I got the chance to meet Ali backstage then asked for a hug because I knew no one while on this trip, Novo Amor is probably the only human entity I know know. And you know what, it felt like having an older brother getting your back, I felt safer.

Aaand, it happened twice! I came back the next day to cry over ‘Carry You’ again and met Ali backstage to hand him the finished bag charm plus a box of Christmas cookies I bought in a mall. We also had some conversations about experiences in Singapore, who wrote Faux lyrics (it’s Ed!), Scout (for those who know), even relationships. Crazy to think I can talk about personal stuff I don’t talk about with my regular friends, but talk about it with someone I only met (in person) twice!

Not just Ali, apparently, but the rest of the Novo Amor band were extremely kind and friendly! I can’t help but to feel seen in a good way, because I’ve lived long enough knowing the statement “Never meet your heroes”, but now I guess whoever said this must be having the wrong heroes.

And the rest, is history…

The ‘Years On’ Part

I see Novo Amor’s ‘Years On’ as a sense of introspection and a struggle with inner thoughts. I was once a quiet person who often kept her thoughts to herself, rather please other people and do things I don’t actually wanna do. I was passive, not even thinking about having any dreams anymore and living life like a dead person trying to catch some breaths just to feel alive. I was only following situations here and there and trying to get along with it, I was just “sit back and lose”. I have friends and people around me, but the word “love” and their warmth meant nothing to me.

Connecting with God through this solo trip and meeting people who are thoughtful and considerate have brought my willingness to live life again, to share more love with others, because it feels good to be loved and to be cared for. On my way back after meeting Novo Amor band on the second day, I started to feel like I’ve got my self worth back. It felt easier to forgive myself. 

That night, I was sitting on a bench near the venue while calming myself down after meeting Novo Amor band, recorded a 10-minute voice note of me venting and retelling things that happened in the backstage, so I wouldn’t forget it in the future. When I almost reached the end of that voice note, Ali replied to my DM (I bet he’s on the way back already) and I could hear myself talking with teary eyes, overflowing with happiness.

 

How could I not be?!

I came back to the hotel as a person who can be a little easier on herself, most of her weights are lifted away. She knows that she’ll be okay, and the fact that her life might not be easy, but she has got people around who cares for her, who are willing to do things for her, that she’s okay and she’s brave enough to get through things, “Hell, what I wouldn’t do.“

From that night, after forgiving myself, I slowly feel like I deserve to be loved, acknowledged, and be heard in the right way. Things felt simpler, when I wanna do things, I gotta do it. When I wanna have something, I should work for it instead of thinking too much. It won’t be instant, but that doesn’t mean I should stop fighting for it. There’ll be some slow days, when I don’t feel productive, but that’s okay, because life’s not always sunshine and rainbows, isn’t it?

I started to realize that this happiness is not coming from a particular reason, nor the hands of others. It comes from the discovery, the hope, the listening of my heart. It was me being kind to myself, embracing the person I’m becoming, and learning to live with myself. “Happiness comes from within”, as they always said.

The ‘Afterglow’

I started to stop caring when some people said it’s pure luck. No, it’s not. There’s a price I had to pay. It took me at least four years, one online interview, more than five articles for Novo Amor and Lowswimmer, and countless tweets and DMs to finally know and meet them in person, plus another two from listening to Terraform for the first time to writing an article review for free and having an online interview.

Those new experiences in Singapore sealed my old life while creating the new one. A version of me who knows what she wants to do with her life.
A version of me who wants to connect with humans.
A version of me who wants to give more love toward others.
A version of me who’s willing to make a change.
A version of me who slowly forgives herself and knows that she, after all, is also a human.

And apparently, the fear that I felt earlier is because some parts of me actually died along the way, with the burdens, the problems, the things that held me back from being who I’m supposed to be. Knowing this fact, now I’ll just embrace every fear I might face, because just like some parts of skin that shed, the new ones will regenerate as a better version of it and it’s totally okay.

One thing for sure is that I’m glad I let Ali know that going to Singapore was my first trip abroad, alone. It was also the first time we finally met after the online meeting in 2020. Because a few days before I started writing this lengthy article, I unintentionally did a gallery digging and found some screenshots I took when ‘If We’re Being Honest’ music video was released.

I asked this question that Ali replied, about Novo Amor coming back to my hometown, Jakarta. He literally said that “I really hope it’ll be next year” and turned out it was like a manifesto.

 

Be careful with your words.

Four years after he said that, I met him four times by the time he made it to Jakarta. It somehow felt like I met him at least once in a year since the last time he hoped it’d be “next year“. I might sound like a little maniac right now, but pouring some extra thoughts over something you love wouldn’t hurt, right? Right?

So now, go, romanticize your life, recognize things that bring you joy. And I’ll be here, making things louder and letting myself be seen, as I quote it again from ‘Years On’ for the last time, “Just to make a sound, make it real loud”, because I know life won’t last forever and this would probably be my peak youth. Adios por ahora!

novo amor if we're being honest featured image

‘If We’re Being Honest’: Novo Amor’s Most Magical Song to Me

Published on by tristin5 Comments

In summer 2018, ‘Birthplace’ was his first song that I heard and I was like, “Damn, I love this voice.” After that, I loved ‘Terraform’, his other single which lyrics I still don’t understand until now, and the series of loving all his works started then. Around a week ago, on September 3rd, Ali Lacey, better known as ‘Novo Amor’, released his new single, ‘If We’re Being Honest’ that turned out being my magical song.

I used to keep Novo Amor’s songs as my own secret playlist, like ‘this music is mine’. You’ll be too lucky to find my Spotify account and see how many playlists I put his songs into. To be honest, whether you’re too close to me or too strange to me, I’m not gonna share Novo Amor to you. Also, I’d never think to try to figure out the musician’s personal life though, because I didn’t wanna be so subjective since his music has been great already. But this suddenly changed when Novo Amor released his new single, ‘If We’re Being Honest’, the magical song that leads me to write this story.

I still can’t get over it so you might find some excessive fangirling responds I write here. It all started in one morning that I thought will be as boring as the past weeks, where I get my mood so fucked up, but apparently this song changed my entire boring day (even weeks!) into something lighter. I felt like this song helped me carry up half of the weigh I’ve been lifting.

September 3rd: Release Day of “If We’re Being Honest” by Novo Amor

“Newest hit from Novo Amor is now on J**x. Listen to If We’re Being Honest right now!” said this one music app I rarely use, who keeps asking me to use it again, but then I only responded with saying “What…the…heck…”. Days before, I thought Novo Amor released a new song called ‘Shape and Patterns’, but that was just a short video about his new upcoming collaborative album, “Cannot Be, Whatsoever”.

Not letting myself forget this update, I googled this new song, and I found “Novo Amor – If We’re Being Honest (Lyrics)” by this channel “Penguin Music” was uploaded 3 hours ago in YouTube. I was like “Yum, here we go!” then I clicked play. Turns out, the music video is premiered in the next 9 hours. I clicked “Remind me” and yet I didn’t have the heart to close the YouTube tab. I told myself that this is going to be my reward after I do my work today, so let me do my best. (But I keep coming back to the YouTube tab to see the remaining time, LoL!)

Unlike his previously released songs (Halloween, Decimal, and Opaline), this is the kind of song I’m going to love and put it in my playlists, most likely would be in my “On Repeat” playlist. Yes, I’m madly in love this song! This is the kind of song that gets me, just like “From Gold” and “Carry You”. I deeply in love with the drums part so much, it flies me, you know. You’ll only get this when you hear them.

After a dozen of replays while I’m working, I decided I wanted to share this magical experience I’m having as an impromptu review. Let’s start with an opening, I thought. Then I asked myself, “What was his name again?”
“Oh okay,” after I googled.
“Damn, he had an interview with CreativeDisc, how come I’d never figure this out?!” I mumbled, but then I read the transcript to get some more insights.

Cut to the chase, it was 15 minutes before 10 pm, I sent a reassuring chat whether everyone’s having their day made after listening to this song, just like the one I had. Right after I sent my chat, the person we’ve been waiting for has come, as seen in the image below.

novo amor if we're being honest chat box 1

Not so long after, I asked a question about him coming back to Jakarta and play a show. Guess what? He replied!

I squealed in happiness of getting my first response from him (the feeling stays until now because I find myself smiling at 3:45 am while I’m writing this blog). After replaying the music video and showing it to my Mom, I finished, then submitted the article. It came up the next day and you can read it in Bahasa Indonesia here:

‘If We’re Being Honest’; Surprise Novo Amor untuk Album Barunya, “Cannot Be, Whatsoever”

September 4th: The Offer

I thought it’ll be just that, I submitted the article, the article is posted, I promoted the article, done. But apparently, after I shared my article in Twitter, Ali himself gave it a like and it’s messing with my serotonin in a good way. Yep, that made my day again because at the end, the article reached the website’s most popular posts!

novo amor if we're being honest popular posts

I was still thinking it’s all enough. I got 2 of my tweets liked by Ali in Twitter, the article’s exposure is getting better, while I keep streaming ‘If We’re Being Honest’ over and over again. Until this one midday where CreativeDisc asked me about interviewing Ali, it goes like,

“Tristin, if you get a chance to interview Novo (Ali), do you want to? Can we do it by Zoom? Haha”

Then I almost got choked and having this butterflies in my stomach while reading this deadly damage in a form of words. I didn’t reply it immediately and waited like 2 minutes while digesting this information. I said I’d never do any interviews with any musician using English language yet, AND BY ANY OTHER CHANCES WHY HIM. I believe I’ll got my star-struck syndrome relapsed. But blah blah blah and eventually I said “So as not to regret it in the future, I’ll agree to it first”.

The request to interview Ali was sent to Novo Amor’s management and all I did was preparing my mentality, wondering what should I ask, and knowing that I need to do a lot of research since I’d never read anything about him online and ONLY listened to his songs in the past two years. The news has arrived, we’ll do the interview on Monday at 7 p.m. WIB. Damn, THIS Monday? And I only got two fcking days to prepare? But challenge accepted.

September 5th to 6th: Preparation

Obviously, I did as much research as I could to figure out who is he and how’s he like. Armed with my moderate skill at interviewing, I made a list of 10s questions and did some rehearsals. By ‘rehearsals’ I mean I literally recorded myself in a Zoom meeting and watch the preview. Man, I couldn’t even imagine myself talking to the guy who sang all the songs I’ve been singing in the bathroom, in my bedroom, in the office, even on the ride when I’m alone.

I didn’t even think about reaching him out like how I reached Greyson Chance out because I thought that he only wants us to listen to his music and interpret it on our own. And through his interviews I researched, it was right. He likes his songs meaning remain mysterious so we can understand them ourselves. For me, I only need to feel it to understand the song in a way I can’t even explain it to myself. I could cry, smile, being like a person who’s in love with her life, and that could come only from the same song.

September 7th: The D-Day

I spent my morning just like usual, working. But I feel something’s off, like something’s holding me and it ruined my mood (again). I’m feeling nervous, but the playlist I used to listened to is the reason why I feel this. I tried so hard not to care about this feeling, but my body can’t lie.

It was 2 p.m. when I told my Mom, “OMG, Mom, it’s less than 6 hours left from the interview,” and she was like, “Ugh, you’re overreacting.” You know how Asian moms would act. Less than two hours later, I got this butterfly in my stomach turned into some kind of monsters, I felt my stomach churned, followed by my heart beating fast, excessively sweating, and shortness of breath. After, like, four times going back and forth to the restroom to had some poopoo, I thought I wanted to take a sick leave, but cancelled it bcs the office hours is nearly over.

I calmed myself down after reading an article about how to stop panic and anxiety attack then took a deep breath and knowing that I shouldn’t let my heart beats fast or I’ll instantly “wake up” the monsters again. Remembering this, although it’s almost 5 in the morning when I write this, I can’t help myself not to giggle because how weird my body was. My Mom and Dad seemed worry about me but I told them it’s okay, Dad offered me a herbal drink and I drank it to suggest my brain to feel better.

It’s finally 7 p.m., I already took a bath and changed to my black pyjama T-shirt. I’ve prepared my working room, did some makeup so I wouldn’t look too pale, and set a camera to record how did the interview look like from behind my back. It was kinda cute, though, getting this much effort just to do a 30-minute video call with the guy I barely know whose songs I love so much.

Ali is apparently a nice guy, though, he entered the zoom meeting room on time and was really chill and friendly throughout the interview. You can see this interview I attach below, but what you might not know is that I still got around more 10 minutes to talk to him but I was too nervous when he asked me to ask him my personal questions. I only asked him my two other spare questions while actually there’s this one fun question I should’ve ask, but I didn’t.

“Hmm, mayybee that’s all, I guess,” I said very doubtedly, then my senior interviewer jumped in and joined the conversation to say thanks and said that I was fangirling over him these past days, which frankly right. The more you get to know your favorite musician, the deeper you love them because you both have the same taste in music, am I right? He said “That’s cute,” right before I cut and said panicly that I thanked him for what he did and told him to never stop making music.

September 8th: Songs Recommendation

As you can see in the interview, I said I’m going to look for the songs Ali into. Yeah, that wasn’t just a chit-chat question. I listened to the songs, and for all the pressure I had while listening to Bloom by Great Grandpa for the first time, I cried. And the other one is Labrador by Hailaker, a band Ed Tullett made with Jemima Coulter, Ali was kinda involved in the process of making their album and he said he liked Labrador.

September 9th: Playlist

The next day, I tweeted to Ali that I listened to the songs above and I asked for more songs recommendation since I love the first two he told me. Since I kept Novo Amor as a music I ‘own’, it’s been years since the last time I trade playlists and it’s even longer since I listened to a playlist that ‘clicked’ with me. I actually don’t really believe that people can share the same taste in music, until this one.

Ali replied my tweet with an entire playlist he made in his another Spotify account. Among those musician I know, I found a song that has been my favorite since the end of 2018, Smoke Signals by Phoebe Bridgers, whose album (Stranger in the Alps) is in my most played album in 2019!

Songs by songs are being played and I was like, “Oh. My. Goodness. I’d never feel so ‘clicked’ with a playlist recommended by other human being!” And I was literally squealing and crying tears of happiness. To Ali, if you ever read this, I think it’ll be great if we can spend some more time talking, please don’t get tired of my questions, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALWAYS MAKING MY DAY!!!

Days after the interview: The ‘Research’ Wouldn’t Stop

After talking to him on the interview, knowing him a little bit through our conversations (that I listened again to write the summary article), and his interactions in his media socials, IDK why I get the impression that he’s actually funny and really enjoyable to talk with, but some of his followers think he’s a rigid person, it’s weird but cute.

Anyway, another “‘research’ that would’t stop” happened while I was doing research for this article. So apparently, in an interview, Ali stated that ‘Stranger in the Alps’ by Phoebe Bridgers is the last great record he recently heard in around July 2018, which I figured out around five months after that.

The other one I found is apparently, Novo Amor’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is a rearranged version of Guns n’ Roses’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, which also embarrassed me because I’d never realise that until I read the lyrics. This song was once used for an AXE/Lynx Black ads. HAHA, now you know how lack the information I knew about Novo Amor’s discography.

From now on, I think I’ll try to stay connected to the information Ali shared to his fans, because apparently that’s an important thing for me to know the musician whose songs I love so much. Thanks to Novo Amor’s ‘If We’re Being Honest’, I actually couldn’t feel more thankful for this fun experience I was having. If you still have some time, please take a look at the summary article I wrote by clicking this image below:

novo amor if we're being honest

Well, as you can see, I wrote this 2K words article to share my story about that four magical days I’ve had with Novo Amor after If We’re Being Honest. Now I felt like I was just coming out through this article, because I used to keep Novo Amor as my own secret playlist until ‘If We’re Being Honest’. Since you guys know the story already, the situation is now changed. But, as long as this way of exposing my playlist could help me support him, I’m gonna do it. So, click here to pre-order ‘Cannot Be, Whatsoever’.

It’s been 7 a.m already. Good morning and I need to sleep, I think this’ll end here for a while. Bye!

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta

Meeting Greyson Chance: Part 2

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

Here’s the [Part 1]

I have to admit, for almost these 4 years studying as a journalist, this probably my most favorite busy schedule I could ever wish. Not just meeting the unreal person as my Mom said, but also got some supports from my parents. Yep, they went to Greyson’s hotel to lend me the camera bcs sadly I can’t bring it to the venue for all reasons, and they waited there for like 5 hours bcs I can’t give them the exact time schedule. 🙁

Let’s go to the D-Day. I went alone by an ojek to the venue, meeting new friends, sharing about how much efforts we’ve made for Greyson, and those fangirling stuffs, like almost every fangirls do. I gathered up with the meet and greet team which consists of 10 fans, including me. I’m happy to know that these people aren’t as crazy as most fangirls I imagined, they were awesome and so cool to each other and I’m not gonna lie, some of them seems fun to be friend with.

As usual, some dramas happened, but eventually we made it there to the not-so-crowded-venue with Greyson standing on the stage, preparing for his final rehearsal. I thought we were gonna see him doing the sound check, but nah. Greyson came down from the stage to see us and to be very honest, I can tell he’s a very kind person from the way he looked at these strangers who said were his fans, to the 10 of us.

As I always wished to see, he was so fcking nice to us all, unlike how wild he looked like on stage, he’s still that soft, kind, warm kid from Oklahoma that I’d known even before I saw him in person. Despite of all stories he shared, including the ones where he got kicked out from his labels (yeah, labels), he doesn’t change a bit, just taller and more hairy.

Let’s get to my point of view seeing him in person, I’ll make this as short as I could. “Okay, who’s next?” he asked. “Me,” with my awkward smile as I spoke shyly. I gave him 2 things, a bracelet I finished outside the venue a few minutes ago and a letter that I turned into word puzzle. You can watch it here:

He asked my name, I put the bracelet into his left arm, gave the letter to him and he said “cool,” “awesome,” “badass,” etc. sounds like it’s all his appreciation template, but I don’t care bcs I, too much, love the words he said. I said hi to Alex, his manager, and Greyson said Alex got his own fans in Philippines. I also told Greyson about me noticing the ring he always wear since years ago.

Yep, this too-detailed fangirl noticed that ring, I like that ring and I kinda know the story, but I don’t get why the reason he’s still wearing that ring until he told us that day. Well, I even wore a ring on the same finger so I can tell everyone I’m engaged with Greyson, that’s pretty embarrassing for a grown up girl like me, but on a second thought, this is one of the things that keep me young, isn’t it? 😛

The meet and greet has done, I redeemed my ticket, and go to Greyson’s hotel for the interview. TBH I’ve never met the other interviewer before as this was my first time doing an interview with this media. I met the owner and a reporter, they were also fun to be friend with though, what a happy day to spend! We waited for like 15-30 mins before get to prepare for the interview. Each media got 5 mins and one team consists of 2-3 media, I got 2.

I can see Alex and the other team member was chilling at the bar, and then the star has finally entered the hall. I was like wow he changed his outfit, maybe he’d took a shower, with that white shirt and brown jacket, he greeted us, the interviewers, he shook my hand and said “What a cool t-shirt. Wait, have we met earlier?” I replied, “Yeah, you remembered me?” But TBH my brain was like yes dummy, you hugged me twice several hours ago.

It’s eventually our turn, we actually got 10 minutes, but then Greyson said “Can we get 15 on this?” Wonderful! Fifteen minutes straight watching Greyson’s interview, live! In case you wonder what did I do, I wrote some base questions asked by Creative Disc, and I was there only to record the interview, so I got some time to just look at him and standing by behind the camera, you can watch it here. After doing an interview, he took some photos with the interviewers, including me ofc!

Definitely gonna use this as my phone wallpaper! P.s.: I intentionally put the smaller size of this image, so it’s not your browser, it’s the photo

Before we took another photo together, he asked, “So, you’re a fan, but also a reporter?” and I was like, yes my king, I did this all to you. Sadly, he told me he couldn’t wear the bracelet I gave him bcs he afraid it’ll distract his piano playing, but he promised me he kept it in his luggage. It’s okay darling, I’ve swallowed all your promise, like, since forever ago.

Not so long after, he signed 10 albums and my notebook from a fan-meeting event 4 years ago called “Rocking the Planet X,” he asked my name with additional call, “darling.” I kinda freeze and didn’t take any good picture, nor video of him signing my notebook, but at least he spelled my name right. No, I spelled it, he wrote it down with a message “To Tristin, xx MOVE FORWARD.”

The moment has passed, but unlike what usually happened in some of my half-conscious dreams, this time I brought some real things to keep, like the hugs, album and notebook signs, photos, videos, and four new friends that now I could share my life with, yep, it’s you Marsya, Gabby, Nova, and Sherly. I hate to say this writing exceeds my words target. So I’ll just sums up that the concert was awesome, I smh several times, remembering how’d he act when he’s not on stage, compared with his stage persona, man, he’s the star! I knew it since the first time I heard him singing Football in 2013.

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta
One of the best moments I’ve had in years.

I think that’s all I’ve got. What do I expect from everyone who read this? Well guys, take your time on a tour to my blog. Thank you for giving a damn to my fangirling story, your precious time, eyes, and brain is fully appreciated. Maybe I’ll continue writing reviews for film after this. Adios por ahora!

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta

Meeting Greyson Chance: Part 1

Published on by tristin2 Comments

“When he hugged me with that broad shoulders, it felt like all the efforts, the dreams, the make believes, and all the time it took to get me here, was all paid.”

My Mom was never believe me and she said to me once, “Find a real person to be loved, you can’t love someone’s unreal.” Those words hit me like a giant stone falling onto my body. Since then, she always ignores, like, almost everything about Greyson.

I feel like this topic is kinda outdated, but here it is, the D-day, when I met the person I always thought was impossible to meet.

It was May 10th, when my friend told me about Greyson is going to throw a concert in Jakarta. I told him I don’t believe that and I’ve been having trust issues about Greyson’s concert in Jakarta. I totally don’t care, until I figured out myself from a trusted source.

I know that this time, I’ll see this guy performing right in front of my eyes. At that very moment, I was like “💩💩💩, how can I get the ticket? Should I kill someone or infiltrate the promoter crews?” Not even a single day passed that I’m not thinking about getting the concert ticket. I mean, beside Greyson, this is going to be my first time attending a concert!

Time goes by until the ticket purchasing day, where everyone was rushed to get the chance getting the ticket, while I woke up and opened the website like 40 mins after. My heart was beating so much faster, even faster than when I was on my thesis defence. At the end, I got the Presale 1 ticket, not really bad though. The only bad thing was, there’s no VIP ticket in Indonesia, sucks.

The story doesn’t skip from there. While I was doing my final thesis, I was also thinking about how can I get the chance to meet him in person. I wanna break my Mom’s statement that says I will never see Greyson in person.

I kept thinking to look for a job as an interviewer, and I remembered my friend, who knows a music media, and worked as their freelance reporter once. Long story short, I gotta write for the media and let them decide whether I’m qualified enough for the job. I accept the challenge, and I keep reminding myself that I shouldn’t put a high expectations on it.

Several weeks later, the media owner texted me and told me that the media (Creative Disc) is doing a giveaway. TBH, my too-careless-self thought it was a concert ticket giveaway, I didn’t notice the message at the first place. Turns out it was a meet and greet ticket give away, holy f*ck, what’s happening on this earth, why’s everything coming right in time, like the universe is trying to get me to his arms. I really wanted to hug this skinny bear I was always dreaming of.

Voila, it wasn’t so hard for me to do the challenge, as you can see on this post. It was like an interview to me, like asking me how much I know the company. Man, I even know the office security’s name.

Since I was a kid, I could never really do cheating, except when it comes to playing GTA, that’s the only, only exception. So I was just waiting, keeping myself calm, not thinking too much about it, and not trying to join the other giveaway bcs I don’t really wanna do those things they ask. I kept my distance from the media’s owner bcs unlike those bootlickers, I want to make it as fair as it could be.

The announcement day has come and as some of you might wish, I won the meet and greet ticket! Suck that bithc! Sorry Greyson taught me that on the interview session, he also taught me to say sorry after saying harsh words. Peace out.

Hell yeah, so I won the ticket and you could never feel how “winning” I was when I told my mom about it. She was like, “Believe it or not, I’m giving up on this argument. Now I’m on your side.” Yes, she was on my side and you’ll see it on the Part 2 post.

The happiness didn’t stop there. Along those months of waiting, I wrote some articles for the media, including Portraits album review. You can tell me when you find the article, I’d be happy to discuss it with you. And yep, I passed the challenge.

Another long story short, the D-day has come, I was hired to record an interview with Greyson with my own camera, and I’ll proudly share my schedule that would be:

  1. Attending the meet and greet with Greyson.
  2. Joining an interview with Greyson.
  3. Attending Greyson’s concert.

OK now we’re really going to the next post.

Next post?

Resep Friendship Goals a la Ron dan Flip di Film BlacKkKlansman

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Usai mendengar kabar putusnya pasangan rilesyensyip gols yang terkenal di yutup itu, tim HPNG mau ikutan bikin artikel tentang goals juga ah biar dapet vibe-nya. Tapi agak berbelok nih, yang ini tentang friendship goals dari film BlacKkKlansman yang (sayangnya) nggak tayang di Indonesia. Meskipun nggak tayang di Indonesia, filmnya tetep worth the watch kok. Sumpeh dah.

 

Buat kalian yang ngga kuat spoiler, you better click “Back” immediately.

Nah nah, buat yang gak mempan sama sepoiler atau mungkin udah nonton filmnya, berikut ini tim HPNG udah merangkum beberapa resep persahabatan a la Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) dan Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) yang patut dijadiin friendship goals. Mana tuh yang katanya real friend, BFF, atau bestie kalian, masuk kategori friendship goals nggak? WQWQWQ~

 

  1. Mau menerima perbedaan

Ron emang “anak baru” di divisinya para detektif dan berkulit hitam, dan kali ini dia mendapat kasus untuk berhadapan langsung dengan petinggi Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Mengingat Ron-lah yang mendapat kasus ini, mau nggak mau dia yang menjadi Person in Charge (PIC) dan harus ngasih briefing buat Flip, seorang senior detektif Yahudi berkulit putih. Meskipun kita bisa melihat perbedaan warna kulit dan jabatan yang mereka emban, tapi Flip nggak begitu menggubris perbedaan itu dan malah berusaha untuk melaksanakan tugas dari Ron sebaik mungkin.

 

  1. Percaya dengan satu sama lain
Adam Driver stars as Flip Zimmerman and John David Washington as Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKLansman, a Focus Features release.
Credit: David Lee / Focus Features

Salah satu hal tersulit dalam sebuah persahabatan adalah mempertahankan kepercayaan, setuju ngga? Contoh yang dapat kita ambil adalah saat Ron memercayakan Flip untuk memerankan Ron Stallworth berkulit putih, which that means, nama dan reputasi Ron dipertaruhkan. Sebaliknya, Flip juga percaya sama rencana yang dibuat sama Ron meskipun dia ngga tau gimana akhirnya nanti, karena Flip percaya kalau Ron knows what is he doing. Meskipun mereka berdebat dan kepercayaan masing-masing hampir runtuh, but the plan still goes on, right?

 

  1. Dapat saling mengandalkan

Bahasa Sundanya sih “having each other’s back”, yaitu saat Flip hampir ketauan sama Felix (salah satu anggota KKK) kalau dia adalah seorang Jew (orang Yahudi), tapi digagalkan oleh Ron, inget ga tuh yang pas Ron ngelempar batu ke rumah Felix tepat sebelum Flip dites pake Jewish Detector? Setelah Ron kabur dan hampir ditembak pun Flip ngerebut pistol dari tangan Felix dan dengan sengaja melewatkan tembakan ke arah Ron. Kompak yaw!

 

  1. Mau mengalah

Ada pengorbanan yang harus dilakukan agar suatu rencana dapat berjalan dengan lancar, bener ga bener ga? Kalau di film ini, karakter Flip-lah yang mengalah dan melakukan pengorbanan. Oh ya? Iya, soalnya Flip adalah seorang Jewish yang nggak rasis, tapi harus pura-pura jadi orang kulit putih yang rasis AF, bertentangan banget sama prinsip hidupnya kan? Meskipun tim HPNG belum nemuin adegan di mana Ron harus mengorbankan sesuatu, bukan berarti Ron ngga mau berkorban, cuma belom dapet panggung aja~

 

  1. Ada timbal balik
Topher Grace stars as David Duke and Adam Driver as Flip Zimmerman in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, a Focus Features release.
Credit: David Lee / Focus Features

Bukan senyawa timbal lo tebalikin ya~

Eh, bukan nasi timbal jugak!

Nama kerennya adalah “take and give”, atau “pertukaran sosial” bahasa akademisnya. Contohnya begini, inget kan Ron pernah menggagalkan rencana Felix untuk ngetes Flip pake Jewish Detector? Nah, kali ini Flip lah yang berkesempatan menyelamatkan Ron, yaitu saat Ron dipukulin polisi karena dikira mau memperkosa si Connie, istrinya Felix. Sebuah persahabatan yang loyal bisa bertahan lama kalau keduabelah pihak bisa saling berbagi kebaikan, iyagaseh?

 

Itulah resep a la Ron dan Flip yang bisa kalian gunakan agar dapat meraih predikat friendship goals. Sekarang coba cek lagi, kalian punya temen yang masuk kategori friendship goals nggak? Atau orang yang selama ini kalian anggep bestie ternyata nggak masuk dalam alasan di atas? Tapi inget, hati-hati loh ya bedain friend-ship dan friend-zone, uwuwuw~~

 

 

Artikel ini sudah diunggah ke website Happening Films pada 7 Februari 2019.

Ini Nih Film Nominasi Oscar yang Nggak Tayang di Indonesia

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Menjelang malam penghargaan Oscar yang diadakan pada bulan Februari nanti… Wait, masih bulan depan sih, tapi karena nominasinya udah mengguncang antero jagat maya, tim HPNG tergoda untuk ikut berkontribusi dalam kehebohan momentum Oscar ini.

Jadi gini, tim HPNG punya serangkaian judul film yang masuk nominasi Oscar 2019. Dari ratusan judul, masih banyak judul yang asing di telinga kita. Kenapa bioskop Indonesia nggak tayangin ya? (Mungkin karena bioskop Indonesia lebih doyan , hihi~)

Continue reading “Ini Nih Film Nominasi Oscar yang Nggak Tayang di Indonesia” →

Kisah Perjuangan Seorang Ibu Menyelamatkan Anaknya

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Eits sabar sabar, nggak salah kok judulnya. Kalian yang udah nonton mungkin paham dengan judul artikel ini. Tapi jangan cemas, judul yang tertera di atas bukan keseluruhan spoiler kok, cuma “teaser spoiler”. Hehe.

 

As we all know, film ini sebenarnya mengisahkan David Kim (John Cho) yang telah ditinggal mati oleh istrinya, Pam (Sara Sohn), akibat menderita kanker darah. Setelah kehilangan sosok ibu di rumah, hubungan David dengan anaknya, Margot (Michelle La), terasa baik-baik saja hingga Margot tiba-tiba menghilang tanpa jejak dan hanya meninggalkan clue berupa 3 miscall saat tengah malam.

 

Keesokan harinya, David yang panik menelepon kepolisian setempat untuk segera melaporkan kehilangan anaknya. Selang beberapa waktu, seorang detektif bernama Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) mengabarkan David bahwa dirinya merupakan detektif yang akan membantu David mencari Margot. Detektif Vick keukeuh nggak ngebolehin David terlalu melibatkan diri dalam pencarian (hmm).

 

Namun, demi membayar rasa penasaran, David tidak menggubris permintaan detektif Vick dan malah ‘mencari’ jati diri anak gadisnya dari laptop Margot yang tertinggal di dapur. Akhirnya, David mendapat berbagai jawaban mencengangakan (apa?!). Mulai dari percakapan Margot dengan pamannya, Peter (Joseph Lee), hingga transaksi sebesar $2500 ke pengguna tak dikenal melalui layanan transfer uang, Venmo.

 

Keunikan film indie yang tayang premier di Sundance Film Festival 2018 ini terletak pada cara penayangannya. Pasalnya, kita bisa melihat dari keseluruhan adegan film yang disajikan dalam layar monitor, baik layar laptop, HP, atau TV. Selain itu, ada sederetan aplikasi familiar yang ditampilkan, seperti YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook hingga Google Maps. Related banget deh sama teknologi yang sering kita pake saat ini.

 

Let’s go deeper.

Berbagai konflik yang ditampilkan secara konstan sepanjang film membuat para penontonnya tak dapat memperkirakan apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya. Rangkaian kode juga terlihat muncul pada beberapa tampilan dalam film, seperti (SPOILER ALERT!) tayangan CCTV yang menunjukkan lokasi terakhir mobil Margot ternyata menunjukkan pesan lain, yaitu adanya mobil putih yang mengikuti. Nah makin kepo buat nonton nga nih? Ehe.

 

Keseluruhan petualangan kisah pengenalan ayah terhadap anak semata wayangnya ini tak akan hadir tanpa adanya konflik (yaiyala), yaitu penyebab hilangnya Margot yang ternyata akibat ambisi seorang ibu yang ingin menyelamatkan anaknya. Bener ga, bener ga?

 

Nah, intinya, kalian yang belum nonton, buruan nonton gih. Film ini udah memenangkan 2 penghargaan dari Sundance Film Festival loh, by the way. Tunggu apa lagi? Kuy download tonton filmnya!

 

 

Artikel ini sudah diunggah ke website Happening Films pada 21 Januari 2019.

Glass: Sekuel Koentji Pertemuan ‘Unbreakable’ dan ‘Split’

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Buat kalian yang udah tau ceritanya, pasti udah nggak asing lagi dengan makna judul film ini. Yap, Glass. Nah buat yang belom tau nih, Glass itu bukan film yang literally ngebahas tentang gelas ya, shay. Tapi  sekuel dari film Unbreakable yang dirilis tahun 2001 dan Split yang muncul di deretan Now Showing bioskop sejak Februari 2017. Serangkaian film ini menceritakan kehidupan “super hero” yang diciptakan oleh si Mastermind.

Ibarat gelas yang masih sedikit terisi, kita nggak mendapat begitu banyak gambaran saat menonton kedua trailer yang diunggah Universal Pictures. Well, cukup menggoda sih untuk mengundang rasa penasaran, apalagi pas liat potongan akting James McAvoy yang as we all know memerankan banyak karakter dalam 1 tubuh. Ah, belom lagi si Samuel L. Jackson, sang Mastermind yang pas dapet pengarahan malah bengong se-bengong bengongnya. Bo.

Now, let’s get on track, nama Glass ditujukan pada Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), si jenius yang menderita Osteogenesis Imperfecta, sebuah kelainan fisik di mana tubuh tidak mampu memproduksi protein tertentu sehingga tulangnya sangat rapuh. Duh duh, ironis banget gak sih pemikiran sekuat baja tapi fisik serentan kaca *uhuk*. Tapiii, justru si pemancing konflik inilah yang melahirkan karakter-karakter lain. Tambahan info, Elijah ini Mama’s Boy loh, unch!

Karakter kedua adalah David Dunn (Bruce Willis), si Guardian Angel yang selalu disalahpahami sama polisi karena penampilannya yang nggak meyakinkan. Bayangin aja, ngga peduli apapun cuacanya, dia selalu pake jas hujan ponco dong, gimana nggak disangka potential thief?! Nah, kemampuan spesial David Dunn sendiri adalah kekuatan fisik yang super kuat (bahkan dia nggak pernah sakit atau terluka) serta kemampuannya ‘merasakan’ kehidupan orang lain hanya dari sentuhan fisik. Kayak gini nih yang aku suka, peka! Eits tapi dia punya kekurangan juga gengs, trauma masa kecil saat Dunn hampir mati tenggelam membuatnya takut terhadap air, kayak Monkey D. Luffy gitu lah takutnya sama aer.

Si “super hero” terakhir adalah Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), manusia dengan 24 kepribadian. Obviously kelebihannya adalah jumlah kepribadian yang dia miliki (wkwk nggak deng), kekuatan karakter yang satu ini ada pada The Beast (bukan pasangannya Belle loh ya) atau kepribadian ke-24 yang fisiknya kayak seekor binatang buas yang kelaparan. Ya meskipun spesial, tapi kehadirannya nggak diharapkan sih. Speaking of which, di sinilah tingkat profesionalitas James McAvoy sebagai aktor, setidaknya ada 5 peran berbeda yang ditunjukkan sekaligus dalam 1 adegan di film ini, wahwah awesome banget gak sih si Professor X kita ini.

Nah ketiga karakter ini akhirnya dipertemukan di seri film yang menurut sang sutradara nggak akan ada sekuel lanjutannya ini. Dari trailer yang udah muncul, seorang psikiater, Dr. Ellie Staple yang diperankan oleh Sarah Paulson, terlihat ingin meyakinkan mereka bahwa kecerdasan dan kekuatan mereka hanya imajinasi komik belaka. Tapi karena sesuai janji yakni tanpa menyertakan spoiler, I wouldn’t tell you akhir dari rencana Dr. Staple, bcs it’s not that easy, Fergusaw. The thing is, Sarah Paulson cukup terlihat ngeselin di sepanjang film. Haha kzl abis deh w.

Film arahan M. Night Shyamalan yang sekaligus menjadi pencipta ‘universe’ ini menjadi tontonan wajib buat kalian yang: (1) beneran kepo sama kelanjutan kisah film Unbreakable dan Split, (2) mau liat gabungan film drama dan thriller yang bersatu, (3) ikutan temen atau gebetan nonton aja, (4) pengen liat James McAvoy. Ya meskipun, for me, endingnya cukup mengecewakan. Kenapa mengecewakan? Ya makanya nonton, Jubaedah!

Selain serangkaian cerita yang terasa pilu untuk diresapi, ada juga beberapa adegan dengan cameo maupun non-cameo yang tiada disangka, misalnya kehadiran Joseph Dunn (Spencer Treat Clark), ituloh anaknya David Dunn yang dulu suportif banget sama kekuatan super papanya, terus ada juga kehadiran cameo si S******** yang tau-tau lagi bertransaksi sama Joseph (hayo transaksi apa nich? Tenang, bukan transaksi yang 80 juta itu kok. Wqwq~). Pokoknya nanti pas nonton Glass jangan lupa gengs…

Jangan sampe lupa…

Pokoknya jangan…

Kalian sampe lupa…

Untuk…

Pesen tiket.

Okay? Okay.

Adios por ahora.

 

Artikel ini sudah diunggah ke website Happening Films pada 18 Januari 2019.

Si Pemain Drum vs Pelatih Musik Killer

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“Dentuman drum itu redam, tepat saat dia memasuki ruangan. Si pemain drum kaget, mengarahkan pandangannya kepada pria plontos berpakaian hitam itu. Dia tahu, sosok itu adalah orang terpandang di kampusnya.

“Beberapa minggu kemudian, si pemain drum berada di kelas para pemusik jazz senior. Dia duduk di posisi pemain drum cadangan, menjadi asisten pemain drum inti. Si pria berkepala plontos yang masih mengenakan pakaian hitam memimpin paduan suara alat musik di kelas itu.”

Itulah contoh opening feature film Whiplash, gengs. Nah yang ini baru review-nya secara sub-objektif (maksudnya subjektif tapi ditambahin fakta objektif). Hehe. Hehe. Heh!

Berawal dari rekomendasi teman dan hasil colongan film dari hard disk mentor, saya berniat untuk membuat review mengenai film yang dirilis tahun 2014 ini. Drama berdurasi 107 menit ini dibintangi oleh J.K. Simmons yang sebelumnya pernah memerankan karakter menyebalkan di trilogi Spider-Man (2002–2007), yaitu sebagai bosnya Peter Parker di Daily Bugle. Selain itu, ada juga Miles Teller, si aktor underrated yang pernah main di film Spectacular Now (2013) dan The Awkward Moment (2016)–bareng Zac Efron.

Seperti yang terlihat di paragraf pertama, film ini mengisahkan Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), seorang maba—mahasiswa baru, di Shaffer Conservatory of Music yang ingin menjadi drummer jazz profesional seperti Charlie Parker. Lalu J.K. Simmons mendapat peran sebagai pelatih musik Andrew yang botak dan lagi-lagi nyebelin bernama Terence Fletcher. Sepanjang film, kita akan melihat betapa killer-nya Fletcher ngelatih Andrew dan pemain musik lain, nggak sebanding deh sama guru-guru killer SMA yang killer-nya sebatas ngasih ujian atau kuis dadakan. *uhuk*

Mulai dari teriakan, tamparan, ******** *****, sampai ******** (biar nggak spoiler), kerasnya latihan para drummer jazz dari Shaffer Conservatory Studio Band membuat kita (well especially me, who was a drummer) menyadari betapa kerasnya perjuangan menghasilkan musik berkelas, ya meskipun nggak gitu-gitu amat sih caranya. Tapi, ada penjelasan Fletcher yang bikin ngeh, yaitu ternyata kalimat “good job” merupakan pernyataan paling berbahaya yang bisa diucapkan oleh seorang guru. Pasalnya, pujian seperti itu bisa membuat seseorang berhenti meningkatkan kemampuannya karena dia udah merasa cukup, bener ga bener ga? Eits, tapi bukan berarti kalian boleh berhenti bersyukur, ya!

FYI, sebelum meraih kesuksesan hingga memenangkan penghargaan dalam kategori Best Editing dan Best Motion Picture of the Year pada ajang piala Oscar, sang sutradara, Damien Chazelle, tadinya kesulitan mencari sumber dana. Akhirnya, dia membuat Whiplash versi short film lalu memenangkan nominasi sebagai film pendek terbaik di Sundance Film Festival, nah setelah mendapat dana yang cukup, baru deh dibuatin versi full film-nya. That, my child, is the power of a great short film!

By the way, selain kolaborasi Commisioner Gordon (Simmons) dan Mr. Fantastic (Teller), ada sepupunya Superman juga di film ini. Yak, Supergirl-nya CW TV, Melissa Benoist, yang menjadi love interest-nya Andrew. Penasaran gimana Mr. Fantastic pedekate sama Supergirl? Well you can take a guess though, everything is possible in a movie.

Film yang mendapat rating 8.5 di IMDb ini menjadi tontonan wajib bagi klean yang sukak musik, drum, atau film berat penuh intrik dan memancing emosi. Tambahan info lagi, 10 menit terakhir dalam film ini tadinya dihapus, tapi akhirnya dimasukin lagi sama si Om Damien, mungkin supaya emosinya makin dapet. Nah nah, apa tuh kira-kira? Makanya nonton aje udeh.

Artikel ini sudah diunggah ke website Happening Films pada 9 Januari 2019.

5 Film Animasi Ter-Happening 2018

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Beragam jenis film happening mewarnai jagat layar lebar di 2018. Mulai dari A Quiet Place, Lady Bird, Avengers: Infinity War hingga film lokal seperti Aruna dan Lidahnya. Duh masih banyak lagi yang nggak bisa disebutin di artikel ini.

Tidak terkecuali, film animasi yang bertebaran di hampir semua daftar tayang film baru setiap bulannya, bersaing dengan aneka film drama, horor, dan action. Berikut ini kita udah merangkum 5 film animasi paling happening di 2018 versi Tim HPNG. Markili, maree kita lihat!

1. Incredibles 2


(Incredibles 2/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2018)

Film animasi ter-happening pertama adalah Incredibles 2. Sekuel The Incredibles (2004) yang tayang pada pertengahan tahun ini menceritakan keluarga Bob Parr (atau Mr. Incredible) yang harus menghadapi aturan baru mengenai larangan bagi para superheroes untuk bertarung dengan musuh karena akan menimbulkan banyak kerusakan – seperti yang terjadi dalam The Incredibles. Namun seorang CEO perusahaan telekomunikasi, Winston, ingin melegalkan kembali para superheroes dengan segala kemampuan yang dimilikinya. Selain keluarga Incredible, Frozone pun kembali muncul sebagai superhero bersama karakter superhero baru seperti Voyd yang bisa berpindah dimensi, He-Lectrix si manipulator listrik, Screech yang bentuknya kayak burung hantu, Krushauer yang bisa telekinesis, dan masih banyak lagi.

2. Ralph Breaks the Internet


(Ralph Breaks the Internet/Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture, 2018)

Plot Ralph Breaks the Internet (eh, atau The Internet Breaks Ralph?) berawal dari kebosanan Vanellope yang terus menerus memenangkan balapan di Sugar Rush dan usaha Ralph membantu Vanellope, perdebatan sepasang sahabat ini mengantarkan mereka ke suatu petualangan kocak yang akan memecah tawa para penontonnya. Film berdurasi 116 menit ini mengambil latar waktu enam tahun setelah sekuel pertamanya, Wreck-It Ralph. Berbagai punchline yang disajikan oleh Rich Moore dan Phil Jonston nggak akan membuat kalian bosen deh nontonnya.

3. Isle of Dogs


(Isle of Dogs/Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2018)

Demam moncong yang menjangkit para anjing di Megasaki membuat Walikota Kobayashi memutuskan untuk mengirim semua anjing ke Pulau Sampah untuk diisolasi. Keponakan yatim-piatu Walikota Kobayashi yang berumur 12 tahun, Atari, mencari anjing peliharaannya, Spots, yang menjadi penghuni pertama Pulau Sampah. Di sisi lain, Profesor Watanabe dan asistennya berusaha mencari obat penawar untuk menyembuhkan demam moncong ini. Perselisihan dari kedua sisi ini menimbulkan konflik yang dramatis, ditambah cerita drama klasik pencarian anjing yang hilang. Tapi jangan khawatir, keunikan film besutan Wes Anderson ini terletak pada interaksi para anjing dan Atari yang terjebak di Pulau Sampah. Totally recommended!

4. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse


(Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse/Sony Pictures Releasing, 2018)

Satu lagi cerita tentang Spider-man yang rilis di tahun 2018. Pada film ini, pemeran utama Spider-man dimainkan oleh Miles Morales yang berasal dari New York. Kesalahan yang terjadi dalam setiap dimensi memaksa para Spider-man bertemu dan bergabung dalam satu tim. Akibat nyasar, Miles Morales bertemu dengan Spider-man dari dimensi lain, seperti Peter Parker – the character that we all know, Gwen Stacy hingga Peter Porker atau Spider-ham.

[Honorable mention:]

Loving Vincent

(Loving Vincent/Altitude Film Distribution, 2018)

Karya Dorota Kobiela dan Hugh Welchman yang memakan waktu pembuatan selama empat tahun ini menceritakan kisah seorang pria yang mengunjungi kota terakhir yang ditinggali oleh seniman lukis Vincent van Gogh. Armand Roulin diutus oleh ayahnya, Joseph Roulin untuk mengirimkan surat untuk Vincent di Perancis. Film berdurasi 95 menit ini menjadi honorable mention berkat penggunaan lukisan minyak di keseluruhan adegannya.

5. The Grinch


(The Grinch/Universal Pictures, 2018)

Terakhir, ada film animasi dari rumah produksi Illumination yang menceritakan makhluk hijau yang super skeptis dan membenci hari Natal, The Grinch. Akibat peristiwa traumatis di masa kecilnya, The Grinch ingin membalas dendam kepada para penduduk di Whoville. Bersama Max, anjingnya, The Grinch menyamar sebagai Santa Claus untuk mencuri kado dan pohon Natal di Whoville, namun rencananya terhalang oleh seorang anak bernama Cindy Lou Who yang meminta The Grinch untuk membantu ibunya, Donna. Saat artikel ini ditulis, film yang tayang sejak 9 November ini meraih skor 6.4 dari IMDb.

Mulai dari film bertema keluarga, drama, action hingga film bertema Natal, kayaknya udah cukup lengkap nih film animasi yang tayang di 2018. Gimana, gimana, kalian setuju nggak dengan urutan 5 film animasi paling happening versi HPNG Films? Yuk share pendapat kalian di kolom komentar!

Tulisan ini sudah terbit di website HPNG Films pada 27 Desember 2018.
Ilustrasi cover artikel dibuat oleh Yashika Asmi.

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