ᴥ X-Men: Days of When Superhero Franchise Done Right

SPOILER ALERT!

You've been warned.

Two years before the world was dazzled by a man in red-blue spandex body suit web-swinging across Manhattan in 2002, a bunch of "human with superhuman ability", known as "mutant", had already saved the world from evil mutants who wanted to change the world leaders into mutant. Don't get it confused with the monstrous lizard who wanted to change people into lizards. That was from a different universe and different timeline. My point is, even though the critically and commercially successful Raimi's Spider-Man was largely considered as the one film that marks the rise of superhero genre, I think we should never neglect X-Men for it, along with Blade, was the first serious modern superhero film since Hollywood stopped making Superman films.

As a matter of fact, judging from today's outcome I strongly believe that X-Men franchise reigns supreme. And that fact would be the newest installment: Days of Future Past. As mind-boggling as the title is, Days of Future Past has gone to a place that no franchise has gone before. Whoever is in charge of the development for this film series, they're doing it the right way.

X-Men: First Class emerged in the midst of reboot wave, presenting itself as seemingly a reboot to the X-Men cinematic universe, by casting younger actors and taking the timeline back several decades. No one complained, because this reboot rules. And then came along X-Men: Days of Future Past, its direct sequel, so fresh and groundbreaking, as if saying to the audience, "Hey look, we reboot the X-Men story. LOL nope JK." [insert some meme face here]

What could a running superhero franchise possibly do to undo the damage its previous installment has done and at the same time make the supposedly reboot become relevant to the rest of the story that precedes it?

The answer is, time travel, baby!

Not just some time travel, but a time travel done right. Like how it's done in this film. Let's not overthink how Kitty Pryde ended up having the power to send someone's consciousness back in time. Really, some minor bug like that could easily be outweighed by the good things. Like I always say, no movie is perfect. It's just how the bads and the goods will add up to. Clever storyline, check!

But the genius of this film doesn't stop at being able to mess with your mind, it also succeeds to capture your heart. Powerful acting by the cast ensemble, check! Believable human mutant drama, check! A clear theme and message, check! But moreover, what I want to underline here is how this film managed to perfectly utilize its viewers’ nostalgia, especially those who grew up with the original X-Men trilogy.

I've said it and I'll say it again. Sometimes we like a film not because it is so great, but simply because it can connect you to the past. Like how this film supposedly will change the course of what has happened so far in the previous films. Like HOW IT SUPPOSEDLY WILL BRING BACK SCOTT SUMMERS TO LIFE. As shallow as it is, we miss the old crew, don’t we? Scott, Jean, Storm... hell, even I miss The Iceman. I squealed when Bobby Drake, played by the same actor as in the original trilogy, is seen kicking ass very early in the film. My heart jumped out of my chest when Famke Janssen and James Marsden appeared, alive and well, toward the end when the future has been reconstructed.

I mean, wow, Brian Singers. Just wow. You have touched my cinephile heart in a way that other films can't. You give the original cast a proper send-off before moving on with the new cast and new story in now an alternate timeline. Very brilliant. So much thought and care has been given here and it shows. I wish more franchises would have been given as much thought and care. I am looking at you directly in the eye, Sony.

ᴥ Kemasan beauty produk.

Ngobrol ah. Beauty lagi ah (padahal kemarin bilang mau stop).

Aku suka risih kalo baca ulasan produk perawatan kulit sama makeup oleh beauty blogger lokal. Kebanyakan dari mereka pengen kemasan produk lokal mencontoh kemasan produk Korea ato Jepang yg imut (ato super imut). Iya kan? Produk perawatan kulit dari sana biasanya didominasi warna pastel, ada gambar cewek manis, terus bentuk kemasannya juga bikin gemes. Misalnya ada hiasan pita ato blusher bentuk cupcake. To be honest, lucu emang. Dan juga bikin gemes dan terbayang-bayang terus. Bikin pengen punya tapi sayang kalo dipake. >_<

Kalo aku ditanya, aku ga begitu suka. Alasannya sih pada dasarnya aku emang bukan pecinta kemasan yg imut. Terus juga, aku ga rela ah, kalo dengan desain imut terus harga produknya jadi harus tambah. Aku punya makeup remover yg sekarang udah re-package jadi lebih unyu (baca di sini). Tapi ternyata harganya jadi nambah sampe lebih dari 100% dari harga awal yg cuma sekitar Rp 7.000,00. Walau masih affordable, tapi kalo tahu harga semulanya aja segitu, sayang ah. Sekarang ini aku jadi suka menghela nafas kalo pake remover-nya. Takut habis. 

Kalo bagi aku, suatu kemasan yg penting itu paling ga menyediakan info yg dibutuhkan konsumen, misalnya penjelasan produk, cara pakai, komposisi (penting banget ini, apalagi buat yg punya alergi bahan tertentu), logo halal, dan tanggal kadaluwarsa. Untuk layout-nya, aku suka yg "bersih" (ato minimalis mungkin?) Keseluruhan produknya, kalo bisa jangan ada kesan "murahan". Penting buat konsumen, biar seneng yg pake.

To sum everything up: menurutku, kemasan produk sebaiknya memberikan info yg dibutuhkan konsumen dan menghindari ketidak-affordable-an harga.

Image via Nati Amour.

ᴥ Wishlist

Postingan tentang beauty bakal di tahun ini, aku tutup sama wishlist.

Aku punya produk-produk yang udah aku repurchased sampe ga kehitung berapa kali. Tapi kadang, aku juga pengen ada sesuatu yang beda. Entah dari jenis produk yang sama tapi merk beda ato produk yang ga biasa aku pake.

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Selama ini, aku pake bedak tabur dari Wardah. Teksturnya yang lembut banget karena partikel bedaknya sendiri berukuran mikro, bikin kulit terlihat flawless setelah beberapa waktu. Kalo pake primer dulu, setelah beberapa lama akan kelihatan ada efek dewy. Walaupun isinya banyak, kemasannya gedhe dan rapuh. Hal ini bikin aku pengen ganti bedak tabur biar bisa dibawa ke mana-mana. Pilihanku jatuh di antara Face on Face Loose Powder yang punya Hyaluronic Acid sama Pixy Loose Powder yang wadahnya keliatan kokoh. We'll see.

Aku juga pengen Pixy Voluminizing Waterproof Mascara. Bulu mataku itu pendek, lurus, tipis, sama jarang. Jadi aku pengen yang bisa bikin tebel. Aku udah ga rewel pengen bulu mata yang lentik karena inget aku punya temen yang bulu matanya panjang dan tebel tapi ga lentik dan agak jarang. Tapi aku justru liat itu sebagai sesuatu yang membuat dia adalah dia. Jadi untuk sekarang ini, selama seleraku belom ganti, aku pengen ngebikin bulu mata yang tampak tebel. Sedangkan Pixy Eye & Lip Makeup Remover aku masukin wishlist karena kemasannya yang beda. Semoga cuma dikemas ulang, bahannya jangan (aku kemarin liat ada mineral oil yang masuk di produk keluaran Malaysia, yang keluaran Indonesia kan ga ada).

Aku lagi cari toner yang oke buat mendampingi toner dari dokter yang punya alkohol (kayaknya) banyak. Aku juga pake Air Sari Mawar Putih (klik di sini) tapi kadang aku ngerasa ga mantep. Karena suka banget sama Pixy Cleansing Express Brightening, Pixy Fresh Toner Brightening jadi incaranku.

Bukan aku kayaknya kalo ga nyinggung sedikit tentang lipstik. Warna amanku ada di kisaran soft peachy pink dan ternyata punya lipstik andalan yang cuma satu itu boring juga. Ngikuti seleraku sekarang sama lipstik yang warnanya di antara sheer sama bold dan ga high maintenance seperti lipstik matte, aku pilih lipstik dari Sariayu Tren Warna 2014, warna kode B4 yang sewarna bibir, walau kegoda sama B2 juga. ;) 

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Itu wishlist-ku. :)