The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is one of the movie that I can't wait to see this year.  That's why with fiery spirit, last weekend I watch it in the cinema. Most show was sold out! Wow! This movie is pretty popular here in Indonesia. So, is this movie live up to expectation? I would tell you my opinion about it!

Have I ever told you that I'm a fan of Jennifer Lawrence?

Honestly, for me Catching Fire is a gloomy movie. Of course it is, since war is brewing in Panem. In this movie Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) was having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to her experience in The Hunger Games. She didn't realize that her act against the will of Capitol would spark rebellions in 12 districts of Panem and she would serve as a symbol of rebellion. She experience sad and terrifying things, hence the tone of this movie become somber.

Being the 2nd part of a trilogy is problematic because it neither had the advantage of starting the story nor finish it. So it generally become the weakest in the trilogy. Well, maybe except The Empire Strikes Back. Speaking of Star Wars, I don't know why many 2nd part of trilogy movies fells like it try to follow the path of The Empire Strikes Back. Catching Fire is not an exception, which mean this 2nd film is darker than the first film, with cliffhanger and unsatisfied ending. Why almost second part of a trilogy that I saw follow the “darker before it gets lighter” mentality? But I must say that I love Catching Fire and the first movie equally.

I would say things that I love from this movie first. The production design and the CGI is good. They do a good job in create Panem. The costumes are good and beautiful. The acting is good. Jennifer Lawrence bring the frail side of Katniss Everdeen perfectly. And she's really cool with the way she use her bow and arrow. Stanley Tucci as Caesar and Elizabeth Banks as Effie are scene stealers. The addition of Phillip Seymor Hoffman, Jena Malone and Sam Claflin as Plutarch Heavensbee, Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair are refreshing. The things that I don't really like are the movie score and some story telling. It doesn't really show how Katniss's feeling shift from Gale to Peeta. I think Katniss-Peeta's love story lack its deep in this movie.

Overall, I think Catching Fire is a good movie and I enjoy it. I even would say that this movie is better than the book. But my opinion might be biased because I only read the translated book in Bahasa Indonesia. Sometimes when a book is translated to another language it lost some feelings or nuances because the translated version fails to relay it properly. That's my opinion. How about you?

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Hellofest 9, 9 November 2013

So on 9 November 2013, beside watch Thor: Dark World and Ender's Game, I also managed to went to Indonesian Book Fair in Istora Senayan and Hellofest 9 in Senayan Swimming Fool's field. There's a lot of stand that sell manga and anime's merchandise. I want to buy  Mikasa Ackerman's key holder but by the time I return to the stand that sell it, it's already sold out T^T. That's why I bought a Star Trek key holder instead. Here are some of the pictures that I took there:

The wall

L and Amane Misa. Where is Yagami Raito?

Another cosplayers

Shingeki no Kyojin Cosplayer

Weekly Shonen Jump that I  bought in this  event

Unfortunately, due to the time limitation I only be there for about 2 hours and didn't managed to watch any performance (only bought some merchandises and sight seeing). But I enjoy to watch a lot of cosplayer there. One woman even cosplayed as Mak Lampir, one of the famous wicked witch in Indonesia. Wkwkwkwk.. By the way,  I accidentally dropped my Star Trek Key Holder on my way home T^T. Silly me. On November and December, I guess there's a lot of Japanese Festival held in Indonesia so maybe I will try to buy Mikasa Ackerman's merchandise next time.  Wish me luck!

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Today's Rant: For You Whom I Have Met and Haven't Met Yet

One of my most favorite scene in Hunter x Hunter anime is when Gon say to Killua that he's glad he got to know him while Killua think it backwards, that he should be the one who feel grateful to have met Gon. Awww... So sweet.... What a beautiful friendship between 2 different people with different personality. That scene made me thought about a lot of things. Friendship, fate, life, humanity. Human is both an individual and social being. We want a sense of autonomy while still have dependence with each other. No matter how independent or individual a human can be, they usually still longed for recognition, respect, and love from other people. There's always a hole in our heart that can only be filled with our relationship with people around us. 

People say that God bring someone into your life for a reason. Either they come as a blessing or a lesson. For the 27 years of my life I've met bunch of people with different attitude, values and norms. I enjoyed being with different kind of person because I found out that human being is amusing. :D. I usually had a pure interest to other people's thought and experiences. Really, I was good at making friends, even with someone who normally avoided by others. Conversely, now I tend to think that other human beings are troublesome. :D. I don't know. Maybe I was bored dealing with so many people. Because getting ups and down in our relationship with other people sometimes are miserable and tiring. It tend to waste my emotion towards something that I deemed not productive. I was friendly, often have initiative to start a conversation with other people. But now it increasingly difficult to me to blend into a new environment. Let alone blend into a new place, now even when I have to talk to a stranger I feel clunky. Although I'm very aware that our ability to communicate and build networks with others have a profound impact on our career, lately I'm not interested in making new friends. I just don't care. Am I just being too individual right now, or what?

All of my life I always feel out of place. Even when I was in a crowd with my friends, I often feel alone. It doesn't help either that my taste and preferences usually different with other people. When I watch movie with my friends in a cinema, we usually ended up being in different theaters because we watch different movies. >///<. I don't like bands or artist that they adore and vice versa. When I go karaoke with my friends, they usually don't have any idea about the songs that I sing there. I love anime and manga, while they thought that it's just for kids and judge anyone who like them is still childish (they clearly never read a manga before. That's why I never bother to explain myself). Rather that buy fancy fashion items in shopping sphere like my friends, I usually buy books instead. I love to go to museums, place that associated with words  "shabby" and "uninteresting" by my friends. The list goes on and on.... It's not surprising that many people think that I'm a bizarre and eccentric person. That's why I'm really glad someone invented internet. I can be connected with people who have same passion and preferences! I don't feel like I'm alone anymore. Then I realize that my reluctance to communicate with other person may be have something to do with the feelings that no one understand me. My one-sided feelings where I think I always try to tolerate them, to understand them but they never try to put up with me, make me think why I have to care? Why making new friends when I couldn't hope they will try to understand me? Without I realize, I gradually interact with people only as necessary.

Back to the topic about Gon and Killua, recently I've come to conclusion that everyone always feel slightly different with other people. So, there's no reason for me to feel that I'm the only one that out of place or not understood by other people. Well, no human is the same. Not's just me, everybody is unique with their own bizarreness. So I think it's unlikely that there's people who will understand us perfectly. If I think about it now, human beings are interesting exactly because we can't fully understand them. There's a magic of curiousness that surrounding the word "unknown". He he he. As usual, this mindless rant begin spiraling out of control. I just want to say to people that I have met that I will try to get rid of my reluctance to interact with you. For you whom I haven't met yet, I look forward to meet and know you. Maybe I can even find my "Gon" or "Killua" amongst you. Now I'll sod off. Let me relax for a while, clear my mind, free some space for creativity and excitement. So that I'm ready to ride the swing of life and face the world tomorrow.

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Ender's Game (Review)

I watched this movie after Thor: The Dark World. So glad that I did. A science fiction and action movie that isn't mindless! I haven't read the book at the time I was watching this movie, but some people said it's not as thought-provoking as its book. Really?? I think this movie is entertaining and thought-provoking. The book must be so awesome if it's more thought-provoking than this. That's why as soon as I get out from the cinema, I search Google Play Book and buy it without hesitation *laugh.

The Theatrical Poster

So Ender's Game is a science-fiction movie where children is trained to be the next commander of Earth fleets. Some years in the past, humanity encounter attack from bug-like alien known as "the Formics" and lost a great deal of population and land. Never want that to happen again, the International Fleet created the Battle School, a program designed to subject children with the best tactical minds to rigorous training. The movie follows the story of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, one of the trainee that eventually chosen as the commander.

The movie is quite faithful to the book, with some changes and a lot of cut to the story. The main difference is the book tells more complicated story about the relationship of Ender and his siblings, Peter and Valentine. The Wiggin siblings are extremely smart and while Ender is busy in the battle school, Peter and Valentine has prominent role in Earth's affair. The movie only follow the story about Ender without much said about his siblings. It made this movie lacks the deep of the book. For example about the process where Ender finally gain respects from his fellow trainee that really short and about his relationship with Valentine. But aside from that I'm still think the movie is good. I recommend you to watch it!

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Thor: The Dark World (Review)

At first, I was reluctant to watch this movie in the cinema as I expected that it would only made me see another superhero movie without any deep meaning and lots of "bangs" and "explosion". The only reason I finally watch this movie is because I'm somehow a fan of Loki <3. Turn out I'm not entirely wrong. It was a 2 hours meaningless fun movie.

The Theatrical Poster

This movie title is Thor: The Dark World, but the opening and ending scenes are about Loki. Made me think that maybe Loki is the star of this movie. *peace*. Many people said that this movie is funny with lots comedy in it, I disagree. I didn't laugh my ass off, only smile or chuckle at some scenes. The best scenes in this movie are the one where Loki looks devastated after losing one of the important people in his life and the bickering scenes between Thor and Loki. The chemistry between Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston is great. What I like too is the way that Natalie Portman has a big role in the action scenes of the movie, not just as "Damsel in Distress". Kat Danning's performance as Darcy, Jane Foster's co-worker is very refreshing too. The special effects are good. The cinematography and the music score are so so.

There are 2 complains from me for this movie. First, the villain. Maybe it's just me, I don't like the villain. I found him to be uninteresting and not intimidating at all. As I believe that a hero is only as good as his/her enemy, I found Thor to be a little interesting in this movie. I must admit that I found Thor in the first movie more interesting. The second is about the ending. I mean all those scenes where Loki give his life to save Thor and in the end he turn out to be like that?? Really?? Marvel better not said that this ending mean he has killed Odin or I'll be pretty mad. The ending credit scene drop some hints of the next Marvel movie as Sif and Volstagg give aether to a collector whose name I don't know and start talking about "the infinite stone". What is that? I guess I will find that out in the next Marvel movies.

Well, that is my opinion. How about you? Comment below and let me know :D.

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Indonesia, Negara Surga Barang Bekas Dunia

Belakangan ini saya suka bersusah hati jika teringat dengan Indonesia, negara tercinta yang meskipun konon memiliki pertumbuhan ekonomi tertinggi nomor 2 di dunia tetapi masih juga menyimpan sejuta permasalahan yang belum terselesaikan. Well, sebenarnya saya juga tidak yakin kalau hal ini bisa disebut sebagai suatu masalah. Mengingat jika dilihat dari sudut pandang yang berbeda bisa saja malah dipandang sebagai berkah. Memang bukan topik yang kontroversial. Meskipun demikian, tetap saja saya "gatal" ingin mencurahkan pikiran. Hari ini saya ingin berbicara tentang barang bekas dari negara lain yang beredar di Indonesia.

Kereta api bekas. Sumber: news.viva.co.id

Adalah berita soal pembelian 180 kereta api bekas oleh PT KAI yang tiba- tiba menarik minatku. Jika kita melihat di sekitar kita, bisnis barang bekas sepertinya cukup menjanjikan. Lihat saja lapak- lapak di pasar dan toko-toko yang menjual baju bekas. Ada pula toko-toko yang menjual komputer dan barang elektronik bekas kepada masyarakat. Sebagian besar dari baju dan komputer bekas tersebut diimpor dari luar negeri. Tak sedikit pula perusahaan yang memang sengaja mengimpor barang seperti besi-besi bekas untuk diolah di dalam negeri. Banyak alat transportasi (bus, kereta api) yang dibeli pemerintah kita merupakan barang bekas dari negara maju. Bahkan katanya persenjataan militer dan alusista kita juga demikian. Tiba-tiba saja saya tersadar bahwa peredaran barang bekas dari negara lain memang masif di negeri ini.

Sebenarnya hal di atas bukanlah sesuatu yang salah. Perbedaan harga yang jauh antara kereta api bekas dari Jepang dan kereta api baru buatan PT INKA merupakan alasan utama PT KAI memutuskan membeli yang bekas. Hal ini tentunya dapat dimaklumi mengingat PT KAI merupakan BUMN yang wajib mencari untung untuk dapat bertahan. Apalagi gosipnya Kementerian Perhubungan tidak memberi subsidi transportasi umum yg memadai (bahkan ada selentingan PT KAI harus seperti pengemis yang meminta dana Public Service Obligation berkali-kali). Walaupun dapat dimengerti, tentu saja hal ini mengorbankan kesempatan kita untuk menjadi bangsa yang mandiri dan berdaya saing tinggi dalam memenuhi kebutuhan produksi kereta api. Gerakan 100% cinta produk Indonesia sepertinya hanya jargon. Kalah oleh logika ekonomi akibat harga barang produksi dalam negeri yg kalah dari barang bekas negara lain. Saya pernah mengikuti rapat tentang pembangunan industri bahan baku di Indonesia. Salah satu masalah besar yang muncul setelah pemerintah bersusah payah menginisiasi pembangunan pabriknya adalah kurangnya pesanan dari dalam negeri. Padahal sebenarnya demand bahan baku di Indonesia sangat besar. Tetapi rupanya pelaku usaha lebih memilih untuk mengimpor bahan baku dari luar negeri yang lebih murah dan mungkin memiliki dokumen mutu yang lebih lengkap. Pesanan merupakan hal yang sangat krusial bagi perusahaan. Bagaimana bisa berkembang bisa hanya memproduksi barang tanpa ada pembeli? Untuk bertahan saja sulit. Jika memang ingin sungguh-sungguh melepaskan diri dari ketergantungan terhadap impor luar negeri, diperlukan kebijakan dan sinergi yang baik antara pemerintah dan pelaku usaha, agar tidak amburadul seperti sekarang. Ah.. saya ini sebenarnya lagi ngomong apa sich.. Kok tiba-tiba tulisannya meloncat ke arah lain? Maaf.. maaf..

Back to the topic, sebenarnya bisnis barang bekas bukanlah sesuatu yang salah. Baju-baju bekas saya juga biasa dihibahkan ke handai taulan terdekat. Selain menghemat pengeluaran untuk membeli baju baru, juga sekalian ikut memberi dampak positif bagi lingkungan. "Reduce, reuse, recycle", bukankah demikian slogan yang sering didengung-dengungkan pecinta lingkungan? Masyarakat dengan kantong pas-pasan dapat memiliki barang elektronik idaman dengan membeli barang bekas. Demikian pula dengan pemerintah, yang mendapat keuntungan dari penghematan APBN. Penjualan barang bekas juga memberikan kontribusi bagi ekonomi dengan memberikan pekerjaan bagi banyak orang, mulai dari importir hingga pedagang. Lalu dimana letak masalahnya bagi saya? :D

Kontainer yang dicurigai merupakan selundupan limbah dari luar negeri. sumber: metrotvnews.com

Keberatan saya yang utama adalah adanya kecenderungan negara lain membuang barang bekasnya ke Indonesia, bahkan ada juga yang sengaja membuang limbahnya kemari. Ada hidden cost yang mungkin tidak disadari oleh bangsa kita. Bahwa kitalah yang menanggung kerusakan lingkungan jika tidak berhasil mengolah barang bekas yang sudah tidak dapat dipakai lagi. Bahwa negara kita otomatis juga menjadi tempat pembuangan sampah luar negeri tersebut. Tak heran negara lain begitu senang melego barang-barang bekasnya yang sudah tidak terpakai ke negara kita (dan negara berkembang lainnya. Negara maju biasanya tidak mau membeli barang seperti itu). Mereka tidak usah pusing-pusing memikirkan bagaimana nanti mengolah barang-barang tersebut ketika sudah menjadi sampah. Ketentuan tentang pengolahan sampah dan limbah di negara maju sangat ketat untuk memastikan hasil olahan sampah dan limbah tersebut tidak membahayakan manusia dan tidak mencemari lingkungan. Oleh karena itu biaya pengolahan sampah dan limbah di luar negeri itu sangatlah mahal. Jika dilihat dari dampak terhadap lingkungan, pembelian barang bekas ini menguntungkan mereka dan merugikan kita. Setiap kebijakan membutuhkan cost-benefit analysis, termasuk hal ini. Seberapa besar keuntungan yang dapat kita ambil dengan keputusan pembelian ini (dilihat dari masa pakai barang, kenaikan produktivitas dibandingkan membeli barang baru, dll) dan seberapa besar biaya yang ditimbulkannya (biaya perbaikan sebelum barang bekas tersebut dapat dipakai, pengolahan sampahnya, dll).

Kebijakan apapun pasti memiliki sisi negatif atau positif. Meskipun demikian, saya pribadi sich tidak rela jika Indonesia menjadi negara surga barang bekas dunia. So that's my opinion. How about you?

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