#SURVIVETHENIGHT … MORE LIKE #SURVIVETHEYEAR

Anyone else feel like this year has been a lot like drinking spoiled milk? Straight sour. Of all years that could be flushed down the toilet, I would not have guessed one that seems so appealing number wise. 2007? Sure, sounds questionable. 2013? Yep, unlucky number thirteen is a definite swerve. But 2020? So even. So round. So doubly delicious to write. And yet, this has been the year from hell. One thing after another with only a faint light at the end of the tunnel.

It started pretty normal, all things considered. At least for like a week anyways. Granted, mine took an early dive bomb with a concussion. Without going into details, I’m now a big supporter of helmets in all activities – winter or otherwise. I also think that ski resorts should not legally be allowed to charge extra for a helmet. If you’re renting equipment, just make it part of the cost, I won’t even notice. Make it extra, though, and all of a sudden I’m invincible and filled with the liquid courage of a college student on Spring Break. It was definitely a personal problem, I will admit. Nonetheless, that was about the extent of a TRP only related issue.

We all know what happened over the next few months. To summarize in a word: death. That’s never really how you want to look back and remember a period of life. Everyone has dealt with the events on differing levels and I’m not going to dive into that. Recently it feels like our reality has turned into something borderline Purge level. If you’ve never seen that movie franchise, you’re not missing anything except stress, fear, and a high level of untrust towards people everywhere. The basis is that there is a 24 hour period where no laws apply and people can live their wildest fantasies. Sounds pretty nice … in theory anyways. I, for one, would get a yacht and cruise along the French Riviera with bottomless bellinis and shrimp cocktails. Much to my disappointment, however, this is not the same image the movie characters have in mind.

If you were given a full day to do anything you wanted, would your first thought be murder, rape, or theft? I would hope not! Do people really lay awake at night dreaming of taking someone’s life? I literally cannot even process that thought. Yet, we have a giant cast of characters, in multiple iterations of the movie, that want nothing more than to terrorize and spread hate. They all happen to have those disturbing masks (you know, the clear doll ones with colorful outlines on the eyes, noise, and mouth). They go out looting stores and houses and generally destroying things just because they can. They want to hurt people because they think it’s entertaining, I guess.

Now, I have a lot of questions about #SurvivingTheNight that I want to put in your head so that you too can spend your days wondering about fictional things. Prepare yourselves, here they come:

  • If you knew the Purge was coming, because it is announced in advance, why would you not go somewhere far, far away to stay safe? Like, I don’t know, the middle of upper Canada or rent a sailboat and anchor down somewhere long from any shoreline?
  • Does everyone just have creepy doll masks in their houses or just demons? Is that the warning sign for your gut instinct that maybe you won’t get along with this person? 
  • How does the doll mask industry prep for the high demand? Do they even know it’s coming? Do the employees willing mass produce these knowing they will be part of acts that are literally unlawful, thus the point of the Purge?
  • Why doesn’t anyone do normal things like steal all of the Chewy Chips-Ahoy and illegally stream Disney Plus off a neighbor’s account?
  • What happens when you recognize someone and you both survive? How do you not judge that person forever for what they consider to be a deep dark fantasy?
  • Who is in charge of stopping the Purge and how is that enforced? Like do law enforcement officers suddenly appear from the graveyard and start arresting people?
  • Why don’t the Purge offenders target law enforcement? Then their beautiful, twisted, world could go on forever with no one to stop it?
  • After knowing about these movies, and about other events in the world today, why on Earth do you not / are in the process of getting an underground bomb shelter?!

Those were all of my questions just from the trailer, so if I actually watched the full film I’m sure we could 100x that list. But, alas, scary movies are not my jam so I stick hard and fast to my rule that if the commercial freaks me out I will in no way be watching the movie. Scary commercials really should come with warnings before hand – it still confuses me that those can be shown to anyone but as soon as someone says sh*t the bleepers earn their pay. You can read my whole post on that nonsense HERE.

Alright, jumping off my pedestal for now. If you know someone who would enjoy this and want to share it with them, that would seriously mean a lot to me. I’m so grateful to all the current readers and subscribers. If you want to get these in your inbox twice weekly don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks for reading!


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TWELVE TROLL OBSERVATIONS FROM THE TROLLS WORLD TOUR TRAILER

It’s been a few years since Dreamworks turned back time and decided that the troll “action” figures needed to be animated in their own entire feature film. Of all the popular toys, though, from the late 1900’s, this was probably the safest choice. Also, the children of today have no smurf-like characters to compare tiny things to. As an “adult”, I didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it enough for a World Tour, but the children have spoken so here we are.

There’s a LOT to unpack from the official 2 minute and 46 second commercial. Easter eggs galore that I really hope expand into the movie itself – maybe Easter egg is not an appropriate metaphor here since they’re bigger than a troll. Pebbles? Music notes? Whatever you want to call it, if the movie is anything like the trailer, it will be confusing, highly predictable, yet somehow addictive and catchy.

Rejected Cricket Characters

A Cricket commercial extra is our first intro to the movie. Like the sun from Teletubbies, but blue, fuzzy, and appears to be at least a young adult. Which would kind of fit with the timeline of life.

Charlotte and her Web

Charlotte herself appears and has changed drastically since her 2003 film debut. For starters, she put on a Barney colored costume and lowered her voice several octaves. She now sounds like Joey when he’s talking to a woman.

Alice in Wonderland

Poppy channels her inner Alice and travels to Wonderland for her opening trailer music scene. Dancing flowers, mushrooms, and caterpillars. Only missing the rabbit with his stopwatch and one would not be sure which movie they were watching.

Avril Lavigne is Back

Avril Lavigne’s troll version is the main villain, but has mad guitar skills and can shred with the best of them. I could get behind the rockers.

Are History Classes not a Thing at Troll School?

Clearly, the Trolls don’t have history classes in school. Do they even have school? Everyone would pass if they gave each other a hug so graduating would need to be taken with a hint of skepticism. Did they think they were the only ones? Selfish.

Made in 2nd Grade

Did…did one of the illustrator’s children design the ancestor lineage? It’s like an arts and crafts project gone slightly wrong. It looks like someone dropped a bunch of triangles and circles on the page.

Techno is Organized…Who Knew?

The techno trolls are surprisingly organized, but also seem to be the least stressed. Is anyone surprised by this? You shouldn’t be. Their fan section looks straight off a music producer’s beatpad.

Mean Girls

The rocker trolls are unnecessarily dramatic. Yes, they have Avril Lavigne as their leader, but really? The whole world? Keep it in check. Everyone deserves to live the life they want sans music genre dictators.

Cuffing Season – It’s Never Too Early

Poppy has her fantasy cuffing moment with Branch standing right beside her. No pressure or anything Branch, but that is definitely a hint!

Country Songs are Accurate

The country trolls look nice, but appear to be holding some deep founded grudge. Probably from a broken heart at some point in between the circles and triangles of their history.

Biggie is Relatable…Still

Biggie is every person on a roller coaster ever in this commercial. We only get him for a few seconds, but he maximizes them. In the air: “Oh, look. I think I can see our house from up here!”. Me, on a roller coaster: “I think I can see my car from up here!”.

Tiny for President

Tiny has more swag than any human I’ve ever met. His whole body is shiny, and in a classy way if I may say so myself. He doesn’t use backup dancers, or hype men, because he is enough on his own. Then his voice is a beautiful mix between Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones. I’m here for it.

Lowkey, I’m excited to see this movie. Not pay for a theater ticket excited, but definitely in a if-it-comes-to-Netflix-and-I’m-done-binge-watching-my-current-series excited. The title is a tad misleading, after the trailer breakdown, I think Trolls: Separated By Genres, Reunited Against Rock would have been more appropriate, but then again, I’m not a movie titler for a reason.

Alright, jumping off my pedestal for now. If you are secretly excited for the new Trolls / modern day Smurfs movie don’t be ashamed – own that side of you like troll Avril owns her bark guitar. Thanks for reading!


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