Mad Max: Fury Road
Micayla Vermereen, Opinions Editor
Let’s, for a second, consider a world in which women are tradeable commodities, stockpiled by power-hungry male overlords to expand the family line and told to breed until their backs break. Let’s consider a world in which women are named for their dispositional characteristics — Capable, Fragile, Furiosa. And let’s consider a world in which they find each other, band together, risk life, limb, and fetus to make their own futures away from this world. And let’s consider what happens when they succeed.
Enter “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
With George Miller at the helm of the ship and a cast comprised of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Zoe Kravitz, upon others, I knew the newest installation in the “Mad Max” series was going to be a good one. I had no idea just how much of a force it was to be reckoned with. I left the theatre wanting to bring back everyone I knew, from my 9-year-old brother to the entirety of my sorority. I wanted everyone to see the pure strength radiated by the characters in this film and see how few hands it takes to remold the future.
Creed
Josh Barajas, Sports Editor
The scene in Ryan Coogler’s “Creed” where Adonis Creed, Apollo’s illegitimate son, fights against heavyweight champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan is equally as epic, if not more epic, than any other climactic fight in any other “Rocky” movie.
Everything about this scene was captivating. The ring entrances were the best I’ve ever seen, both in real life and in a film. The punches actually looked like they hurt. The dialogue between Rocky and Adonis was flawless – If Sly Stallone doesn’t get an Oscar, we riot. However, the best line in the entire film, and it’s included in this fight scene, belonged to Michael B. Jordan. Rocky is begging Adonis to stop fighting, but Creed refuses because he says he has something to prove. Rocky incredulously asks what it is and Adonis snaps, “That I’m not a mistake.” I’m not saying I cried, all I’m saying is that there was a lot of dust in the movie theater I was in.
The best part, however, was the soundtrack that went along with this scene. Let me start by saying that the filmmakers started teasing us with the Rocky theme from the beginning of the movie, but didn’t quite give it to us completely. They continued hinting at those legendary trumpets playing those all-familiar notes over and over, a little bit at a time, until the final fight. There, when the championship bout finally turned Creed’s way, there it was. And it was beautiful, unforgettable. I wanted to jump out of my seat and shadowbox, but I had enough respect to stay in my seat with my watery eyes glued to the masterpiece unfolding on the giant screen.
The Peanuts Movie
Bobby Yagake, Assistant Photo Editor
Although Charlie Brown purists criticize “The Peanuts Movie” because of its more modern and faster sense of humor, it is a faithful revival of the specials and comic strip because the filmmakers did not change the best part of the iconic character. Though he messes up the school dance, rips off the backstage curtain during the school talent show and accidentally knocks down the Little Red Haired Girl’s fence, what makes him triumphant is one of the biggest and simplest achievements for anyone; being a good person. He is able to make his sister, Sally, happy after she is booed at the talent show by dressing up as a cowboy to go along with her cowgirl performance, have a good friend, Linus and make Peppermint Patty proud to know she scored higher on a test than he did. Doing this also lets him ultimately get what he wants, becoming friends with the Little Red Haired Girl.
In the older Peanuts specials, Charlie Brown’s failures often overshadow his important success whether it be him getting a sapling for his Christmas tree in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or him serving toast and pretzels in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” Sometimes all we can think of when we look back to these specials are those failures. However, his numerous failures only emphasizes his successes. Charlie Brown choose the little tree because he wanted to. He, Linus and Snoopy could only serve pretzels and toast on Thanksgiving because there was no way they could make an entire Thanksgiving dinner in a short amount of time, but at the same time he wouldn’t want to simply send Peppermint Patty and her friends home only due to not having a full meal. Charlie Brown concentrates on his failures because he wants to be a better person. When we remember what a good person he is, we appreciate him more; we remember he doesn’t have to change..
Human
Ariana Sawyer, News Editor
It isn’t just a move, it’s an education, a social movement, an answer to the question: What does it mean to be a human being?
The first feature film led by two nonprofits, “Human” explores the nature of love, war, happiness, hatred and violence through the eyes of some 2,020 people in 63 languages from 60 countries over three years. The film consists of a series of brief monologues interspersed with extraordinary birds-eye images of life around the world.
The best thing about this film is that it isn’t just entertainment as usual. It will make you need to do something to affect change in the lives of people who are more similar than they are different from you. Out of this desire to create a global social movement, the movie is available on as many platforms as creator Yann Arthus-Bertrand could think of – either cheaply or for free – to reach the largest audience possible.
If this film doesn’t rip out your heart, you probably haven’t got one.
Amy
Madison D’Ornellas, Managing Editor
There are many heart wrenching moments in Asif Kapadia’s excellent documentary “Amy”. It was difficult not to be emotionally moved while watching a film almost completely narrated by Amy Winehouse herself. As unfair and saddening as it is, watching the home videos, early interviews and paparazzi footage leading to Winehouse’s preventable death is effectively captivating.
A scene from the film that sticks to me is the moments before, during and after “Back to Black” received its Grammy. We watch Winehouse wide-eyed, beside herself and wrecked, in the best way.
She was so good, wasn’t she?