A Blank Page. Benny And Mice

Welcome,welcome, this is a segment i like to call "a blank page" why? because this post is usually not movie related,and seeing at the top of the page it reads "MOVIE REVIEWS" this post will be irrelevant to some readers,or you know if i had any. so today we are going to talk and maybe pay some tribute then none other Benny and Mice

Benny and mice are graduates of the arts institute of bandung,from then they started to make sketches and/or comic strips mainly focusing on satirisation on the indonesian social culture most often focusing on comedy bits,they did this for a while until they caught up the attention of the Kompas newspaper agent,after that they work for Kompas  from as early as 2004 drawing newspaper strips focusing on the same topic,satire. they published the strip daily,on the back of the newspaper,turns out that the society loved their tongue-in-cheek satire and bashing of the society and was praised as one of the greatest artist in their bussiness.

A strip from 2006 edition

Not only they made newspaper strips but also comicbooks too, such as "Jalan-jalan ke bali" or complications of their own strips as well, but sadly in  July 2010 the duo of critics have to part their ways as benny decided to pursue his own projects and the strips are now drawn by mice,aptly named Mice Cartoons.

The duo's last strip

Enough about that though,because this post is for tributes so lets get tributin' shall we,from my opinion Benny and Mice is great and brilliant,the same for most people of course,but when people say that they like Benny and Mice they will mostly say because of the humor and their delivery,when in my opinion it's a little deeper than that,what i love from benny and mice is their satire and criticism,most artist may add social commentary or critic on a subtle way,but as you can see, in their strips subtlety is completely thrown out of the window here,they just blantantly draw them,even say it word per word in their strips,an act which several comic strips involving criticism considered it a tough act,obviously seeing the success of benny and mice.

Perhaps why they are so successful lays in their initial delivery,the comic in hand is relate-able to people and the humor itself is usually wrapped in hyperbole or overreacting resulting in a funny reaction,and considering how up to date they are its easy to bash society as we move on,but the feat that they made was really impressive, they made their satire targets actually love their criticism,they love how funny it was and how constructive it was etc etc, and also people are fond to bash easy targets,and the comic strips is like a full warehouse of weapons to bash them,but really the greatest factor is how relate-able the topics are in the strips,its just their signature look. 

In the end even though Benny and Mice parted ways they will still remembered as brilliant and revolutionary characters,and i as a critic,audience and a huge fan will still respect and enjoy their great works and i.m sure many people will still too.Cheers and stay awesome

Need For Speed Review And Thoughts

Like the bane of almost every videogame movies,this movie will eventually be lost and forgotten

It seems that even pretty visuals cant distract the audience forever from the tired and cliche plot and horrible acting in this movie,it suffers from every complain from a typical videogame movie,not getting the feel of the game itself,and being released on the same week as the hit teen movie Divergent doesnt help,it is a totally expected letdown

But i do have to give the movie credit though,because they actually tried and care for their own movie,not relying on the sheer brand name and cool cars on the movie itself,for example all the car stunts done in the movie are all real, no CGI and no camera manipulation,purely the stuntman's talent and sheer effort,and it really shows too,some visual and effects in the movie are quite stunning and might even distract you from the painful acting and plot although from a short while,this shows that,this movie can be a good stand-alone title without using the Need For Speed name,i really enjoyed the sequence when the car is lifted by the helicopter.

But saying that,these surprising visuals come of as a hidden gems,so little in the movie,just imagine there are a total of 3 races in the movie alone,and it both isn't really that good,when the initial premise of your movie isn't even that good,you have to take a look back for the minute.

The plot and the acting is not even worth the review,its your typical actors,stereotypes and the story too used and predictable,the drama the movie is trying to deliver failed miserably,the is no chemistry and only offer cheap laughs that arent to funny too,if their excuse is that the focus of the movie is the effects and the cool cars,that reason is nonsensical where their main focus fails too.

The movie suffers from the same curse of videogame movies,a lot of audience and critics is already skeptical when the movie is not even released yet,and i as a critic and audience,respected their effort,but totally expected this let down.Cheers and stay awesome.

4.5 out of 10

Damn,i know i should have watched divergent instead.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review And Thoughts

This movie in my opinion is one of marvel’s strongest title in the MCU so far,even almost topping The Avengers and that is saying a lot,for everyone knows that even though MCU is a big superhero franchise,they love to jump around in many genres,for example Thor: The Dark World is a fantasy movie,with a dash of space opera thrown in,and the Ironman saga is a political thriller and science fiction movie,Much like Ironman movies, Captain America’s sequel is also a political thriller movie,but done right.

So,why this movie gets to be compared to The Avengers?at least according to me. Because me as a critic,felt the thrill,suspense and excitement the movie is trying to deliver,every plot twist is done charmingly perfect,every time an important moments is being delivered I was on the edge of my seat,totally unexpected from the Captain America Franchise,looking back on its predecessor this sequel is the great follow-up avoiding sequelitis on the process too

We start of the movie with its initial premise,well for the most part,Ol’ captain America trying to cope with the modern era,the sequence following this is beautifully done delivered the charming but grim feel we were supposed to have,but the kicker in the sequence is,The Reunion of Steve Rogers and Agent Peggy carter(yes she is still alive,although very aged),in an almost The Notebook-esque scene(but not as cheesy) is a great scene to start to movie with.

The next plot twist(s) that maybe earned the reputation of the movie is The (Temporary)Death Of Nick Fury and the reveal of hydra compromising S.H.I.E.L.D,the atmosphere of literally no one to trust,with nick fury dead(for the moment) we see captain america trying to scrap whatevery ally he could find,and eventually finding out the truth,this is my favorite part of the movie,no doubt “The Hydra Reveal” that one sequence really placed the movies foot as a great experience for me,the total burst of unexpected plot twist in one single sequence left me totally speechless,dazed and in awe,just like how captain must have felt,bravo movie.

But for every great scene there must have some kind of retribution,for me the reveal that nick fury isn’t dead made the movie loses a lot of steam,i know that they couldn’t possibly kill him,but after that almost everything is predictable,but I do love the implication of this movie though,with S.H.I.E.L.D gone,what will happen to our heroes,what will happen to tony stark? What will happen to black widow with her information is all spread,what’s next? Yes this movie made a unexpected turn in the MCU,a good one of course,and me as a critic,fan and audience can’t wait to see what’s next in the MCU arsenal. Cheers and stay awesome.

Oh and everyone already knows that its bucky,I don’t even have to point it out.

8.5 OUT OF 10