Mad Max: Fury Road

 

Mad Max: Fury Road is essentially a remake of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. The differences are vast, but there is some familiarity. The narrative introduction explaining the background sets the tone in the same mannerism. The character Max Rockatansky appears to be at the same point from the original trilogy timeline and even pilots the same 1973 Ford Falcon XB (V8 Interceptor) for a short time in the beginning of the film.

However, the similarities began to fade from there. There's the same fight for a non-renewable resource, except this time it's water. The road raging villains are present, but in a mostly over-the-top mutated and albino form. And from there on, it becomes more and more evident that the "look" of things was the focal point.

Fury Road does succeed in it's attempt to create dazzling imagery. The cinematography is on point, the landscapes are striking and the action scenes are wildly entertaining. And without the nauseating use of shakey-cam, the audience is able to fully take in and appreciate the technical orchestra of it all. For a few moments, the film is a truly brilliant spectacle. Of course, the chase scenes in particular are notably amusing.

However, where The Road Warrior was raw, focused and patient, Fury Road seems overly aggressive and comes on a bit too strong. The film feels more like a music video from the 90's; all the action up front with just a hint of a story subtlety incorporated within. Although the action is beautifully choreographed and the CGI is surprisingly tasteful, but the film suffers from an unbalanced feeling. The Road Warrior seemed masterfully crafted, with each scene standing on its own, all the while building to possibly the most suspenseful car chase climax ever filmed. In short, The Road Warrior exists to tell a story with all the action, effects and stunt work providing support to the narrative- Fury Road reverses the roles. 

Senses Fail - The Importance of The Moment of Death

 I first came across Senses Fail in High School. They had an EP out called "From The Depths of Dreams." It had a generic emo/ pop punk sound that I wasn't big on. A few songs were catchy and stuck with me. So when they put out their first full length "Let It Enfold You" I decided to have a listen. It was more of the same, except exaggeratedly so. I essentially dismissed the band after giving up on the record.

It wasn't until recently that Senses Fail caught my ear again, while listening to Pandora (Brand New Radio). The song was called "Can't Be Saved." It was engaging and held my interest long enough for me to take notice. When I realized that it was Senses Fail and that the song came from the record that followed "Let It Enfold You" I decided to give the band another chance. I'm glad that I did. The band ventured away from their mostly pedestrian take on third-wave emo and actually developed a heavier sound that seems to suit them well.

Senses Fail are set to release their sixth full length, "Pull The Thorns From Your Heart." The band has diversified their approach with each album. But with their latest single "The Importance of The Moment of Death" the band displays a completely dissociative sound. The song is stripped back, featuring a driving riff and an overall punk rock approach. Senses Fail seem bent on reinventing themselves, which can be risky for a band as well established as they are. However, if what we have so far is any indication, it's hard not to be excited about the new record and the new direction.

You Should Be Offended

There seems to be a direct correlation between low intellect and becoming offended. When someone is offended, they tend to act irrational, letting primitive emotions take over. Once in this mindset, the ability to rationalize and think logically is diminished. Those that find themselves offended more often may lack a certain degree of foresight and sensibility, as it is evident becoming offended and reacting emotionally rarely lead to a suitable solution. So this means that people with lower intelligence are more likely to be offended more often, since becoming offended is typically caused by frustration due to a lack of comprehension or understanding in a situation. For instance ->

"Mom's Against... "

Bored and feeble mothers have been teaming up for a while now, to whine and complain about everything from Marilyn Manson to video games. Instead of taking responsibility and investing some time, effort and thought into raising their children they're reaching out to rest the blame for their own incompetence on anyone and everything else.

"Racists"

If you try hard enough, you can argue any issue is a racial issue.

"Feminists"

Misguided and uninformed teens crying foul on Tumblr has become an overnight trend. These are not actual feminists arguing for equal rights or discussing social constructs. These are confused high school kids and/ or college age know-it-alls trying to find anything that can be construed as offensive.

Also, it should be noted that the word "offended" is interchangeable with the following; enraged, outraged, insulted, ashamed, humiliated, ridiculed. So finally, if you're offended by any of this, just ask yourself "Am I an idiot?"

Brand New - Mene

Although I was listening to Brand New in high school, around the time "Deja Entendu" came out in 2003, I didn't have the same appreciation for them that I have now. The band just recently released a new song, their first in six years. I love that they refer to themselves as simply a "punk rock band" via their website. I love that they still write songs with the same intensity as when they started. And I love that they're back after six years, generating the same energy and excitement.

I'm done with Tumblr

Even from the beginning Tumblr always seemed somewhat difficult to use, seemingly by design. And nothing ever worked exactly the way it should. The page headers didn't stay fixed, video and picture alignment would occasionally shift to the left and editing text format required a great deal of patience.

Over the last few years, Tumblr has removed much of its functionality and outward customization. It's no longer possible to edit pictures once you've uploaded them. It's also essentially impossible to upload a song without owning the rights to it, even though there remains a default option to do so. Worst of all, you can no longer edit HTML within a post.

Tumblr has always been poorly scripted and infested with bugs and hipsters. It's time I moved on.

Hashtag done with Tumblr.