The Purge: Election Year Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night I decided to check out the 3rd installment of the The Purge series. How fitting that this third film has the title of Election Year? In yesterday’s blog I mentioned that I am a big horror film fan. I don’t know why I do this but, I always put Purge into the horror category and that just isn’t what it is. There is nothing scary about The Purge. This is definitely more of a Thriller. I can say that I enjoy them for the most part and there aren’t any films that I look forward to like this one (other than Marvel films). Before I begin to give my thoughts on the film I want to add that there may be spoilers. I’m going to try my best not to give much away.

The premise of this film is that is is Election Year. Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) was forced to watch her family murdered on Purge night twenty years prior. She is now running for President and wants to put an end to The Annual Purge. For those who are unfamiliar, Purge night is where all crime is legal for 12 hours no matter the severity. Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) is now a secret agent whose job to to protect Sen. Roan. The antagonist in this film is the leadership of the NFFA (New Founding Father’s of America). The NFFA wants to continue purging as they feel not all people can have but, they all want. Purging is a way to cleanse the country of the those people.

The underlying theme of the film deals with politics and religion. I can see how some may become angry at the way the film plays out. It captures some of the realities that we are seeing in the world today. The poor don’t believe in Sen. Roan and don’t have hope that she can win. It’s not until Sen. Roan becomes a target that she finds herself face to face with the working men and women. Supporting characters include Joe (Mykelti Williamson), a store owner who decides to stay out on purge night to protect his convenience store. Marcos (Joseph Julian Soria) who has been taken under Joe’s wing. Laney (Betty Gabriel) was also taken under Joe’s wing. Laney goes out on Purge night and she helps people in need.

Sen. Roan and Leo crosses paths with Joe and company after coming close to death. It isn’t long before the NFFA finds Sen Roan and places her as this years sacrifice. It’s up to Leo and his new friends to save her. Without giving away the film, it has it’s fair share of big moments. I would recommend it if you like this type of film. My friend didn’t like it as he felt it embodied the Hollywood and media stereotypes. The Purge Election year presents the best set of characters and storylines to date. It’s interesting to see the world from a real life standpoint without rules and this is a pretty good representation.

Final Grade: C+

 

3 Day Weekend, It’s Time to Celebrate

For most people in the U.S today begins a three day weekend. As we head toward the 4th of July holiday, many of us have already made our plans. It’s a popular choice to drive down to the beach in my area. Many are happy to just sit back, relax, barbecue, and watch 4th of July fireworks. I haven’t decided what I’m to do with my extended weekend. I never do much of anything on most holidays anyways. This afternoon I plan to see the newest film in the Purge Trilogy titled, “The Purge: Election Year”. I am a really big horror film fan. Look out for a review on that tomorrow 🙂

A nice chunk of my Saturday will place my focus on my exam for my summer Statistics course. I am amazed at how much I enjoy it. I never liked math going through school and I still dislike it now. Somehow, I can make perfect sense of Statistics. I can honestly say that I’m looking at an A in the course right now. I’ve never earned an A in any math course in my life. I’m actually excited to take the darn thing…who would of thought?

Short post today! Happy Friday Everyone!

Live Music, Tidal, and Bad Advertising

Music streaming has become a very big deal recently. According to Billboard.com, digital music services which include streaming has surpassed physical sales for the first time ever. We have our fair share of choices; the heavy hitters being Apple Music, Tidal and Spotify. I personally have only Tidal at the moment. Thus far it seems like Tidal has provided me with the most bang for my buck. I enjoy watching the live concerts that Tidal provides it’s users. I have my own thoughts about the service itself and I will get to that in a few moments. A few days ago Tidal began to promote that the Future Now Tour; starring Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas would stream it’s opening show live on Tidal. Excitement ran through my bones as I have tickets to this show for next month in Hershey Pennsylvania.

Before I get to my main point, let’s talk about Tidal for a second. To me it seems like events through Tidal never go as planned. Just last week I attempted to purchase tickets for the Made in America Festival. Despite the bad reviews from attendee’s last year, I really would like to see Rihanna. I clicked the Tidal link which took me to Ticketmaster presale only to notice that I couldn’t buy tickets. To top it all off, they eliminated the VIP options with no sense of explanation. Earlier this year thousands of people purchased the newest Kanye West album and failed to received their downloads. It’s been an ongoing thing and last night was Tidal’s second strike with me.

I set aside time out of my evening to sit down and enjoy the Future Now Tour. I really enjoy Demi Lovato and her voice is amazing. As a co-headlining tour, both Jonas and Lovato shared the stage. Jonas performed three song to open the show. Lovato followed up with three of her own. They then brought out special guest T.I to perform three songs. Just when things began to pick up, the stream reverted back to the beginning…WHAT? Tidal advertised a show and only showed 30 minutes worth. I took to Twitter to vent my frustrations and one of the first things I saw was Tidal urging people to re-watch the concert. It was never a full concert to begin with. Demi and Nick sounded amazing by the way! Good thing I was able to secure tickets and plan to enjoy the show next month. Tidal needs to get it together. Is anyone else having issues with Tidal?