This weekend, we'll all be shiny and chrome
It's life in the hot zone—dun nun-nan-nun-naaaa. Life in the hot zoooooonnnnneeee!
Big thanks to all of the new subscribers, and welcome to weekend. You made it.
Let me know what you think: Find me on Twitter @bpreeves or shoot me an email at breeves.writer@gmail.com.
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Believe it or not, this image is from the Wegman’s parking lot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard last Saturday afternoon. See, word got around that they had toilet paper and Clorox wipes, and the heavies from Gastown and the Bulletfarm just couldn’t keep away. I took one look, threw my War Machine into over-drive, and zoomed out of there before things got real. (See the movie review below if you need a gloss.) The anxiety level in New York hasn’t quite reached the level to justify blood sacrifice to appease a pantheon of avenging gods, but with playgrounds closed and new instructions to wear masks at all times, a future ruled by gasoline doesn’t seem quite as far fetched as it did three weeks ago. If there’s ever hand sanitizer around again, it will be an all out war. One look at the grocery store line, and you want to socially distance yourself from everyone.
Privacy is getting tough these days, though. Between sharing small spaces with your loved ones and pets at all times and the never-ending churn of conference calls and Zoom happy hours, it’s hard to find a minute for oneself. And the thing is, you definitely don’t want to turn down an invitation to socialize via video—getting to talk with friends and family is one of the few psychically nutritious activities we have left, and I wouldn’t want a world without it—yet once you’re on, it requires an intensity of focus far beyond meeting someone for a drink or dinner or to hit balls at the driving range. The reality is most video interactions do not involve a shared activity beyond talking to the other individuals on the call. The only thing you can focus on is each other, and that is both good in that it brings us together, but also difficult because it requires real effort at all times.
One thing I’ve found myself doing as a result is engaging in more deep listening with music than I typically would. Ordinarily, I listen to jazz when I write—I’ve sung the praises of WBGO here before—but since the quarantine began, I have found that I am engaging with a wide range of music on a much more intense level than I previously did. This includes jazz in general—Kamasi Washington and Miles Davis are both deep fonts of inspiration—but I’ve also been particularly drawn-in by Peter Gabriel and Childish Gambino. They might seem like an odd couple, but both construct their music from dozens if not hundreds of overlapping influences and deliver lyrics that turn back around on themselves recursively. There’s some depth there.
As my range of interactions in the outside world have been curtailed, the depth and layers of the best musicians have increasingly become a respite for my tired brain. Miles Davis’ approach to music is a bit of a mind-fuck when the whole world is behind closed doors, but if you really, really think about it, there’s a truth to it: “Don’t play what’s there. Play what’s not there.”
And to quote Miles once more: “Someday I’m gonna call me up on the phone, so when I answer, I can tell myself to shut up.”
WEEKEND WATCH PARTY: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The most recent installment of the Mad Max franchise is without a doubt one of the best movies of the past decade. Yes, I know that’s a bold statement, but I’m willing to stand by it. While Fury Road lost out in the Best Picture race to Spotlight—an important but nevertheless bleak film—I would bet real money that few people have gone back to watch the movie about the Boston Globe in the years since. Fury Road, however, is two hours of non-stop, balls to the wall, flame-broiled action that also succeeds in being a compelling character study, a feminist quest for power and a tale that reaches dramatic heights typically reserved for ancient myths and the opera.
Mad Max: Fury Road, from Director George Miller and writers Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris is nominally about its title character, Max Rockatansky (played with gruff insanity by Tom Hardy), but its real protagonist is Imperator Furiosa, a one-handed big rig driver and post-apocalyptic road warrior played by an absolutely electric Charlize Theron. The plot is pretty straight forward: The world is a shattered desert and Max is held prisoner by Immortan Joe, a warlord with a respirator and a passion for gasoline. When Imperator Furiosa steal’s Joe’s wives and flees for safety in a distant “green place,” Max makes a break for it, dragging a dying soldier who worships Joe along with him. A mad chase through the desert ensues and the action never lets up. There are spike and armor covered war rigs, attack cars, people flying through the air, motorcycle swarms, gouts of flame, and a bevy of warriors and barons of the apocalypse in hot pursuit of Furiosa, Max and the future of humanity.
The film was ultimately nominated for 10 Oscars and won six in the technical categories, and it is truly a triumph of filmmaking craft. Fury Road eschews CGI for practical special effects—the vast majority of cars, props and stunts in the film are real—and a high frame rate, swift cutting, and propulsive sound and score make the film a non-stop adrenaline rush and a masterclass in pacing and direction. The cinematography and art direction are simultaneously beautiful and stark.
Even those who typically don’t enjoy science fiction or visions of our not too distant post-apocalyptic future (I’m speaking specifically of my better half) love this movie. And if you don’t believe me: It has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fair warning, though. This movie is intense and not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of violence and some very strange and potentially disturbing imagery. But don’t be squeamish! If you give it a chance, you too may find yourself dreaming of a future that’s shiny and chrome.
Mad Max: Fury Road is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, the Apple Store or YouTube.
Care for a drink?
Reader Anna Meier was inspired by our discussion of the perfect martini a few days ago and wrote in with her own cocktail creation. It’s called the Ransack, and I thought it would make a good pairing with Mad Max: Fury Road.
Here’s how you make the Ransack:
3 oz. amaretto
1 oz. whiskey
0.5 oz. cinnamon liquor (She cautions to use something good and not to settle for Fireball.)
A few dashes of orange bitters
Combine, stir and serve with ice.
Reading List:
I mentioned the other day that AWA Studios had put issue 1 of The Resistance online for free. Well, they’ve released their entire line for free digitally, and I’m not kidding when I say they’re all good. Check them out. I think Red Border is particularly cool.
Watchmen is considered by many to the single most important graphic novel ever written. With the world gripped by an invisible yet deadly threat, I’ve been thinking a lot about Adrian Veidt. If you know what that means, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you don’t… well, it’s time to read Watchmen (and support New York City’s Midtown Comics while you’re at it).
The New Yorker covered the “new trend” of celebrity chefs sharing their home cooking on Instagram. It’s worth a read, and who knows, you may come up with some fresh inspiration.
Benjamin Reeves is an award-winning screenwriter, journalist and media consultant based in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Twitter @bpreeves or write to him at breeves.writer@gmail.com.