Five Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels to Read While in Quarantine
by Mason Kupiainen
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by Mason Kupiainen
by Arianna Sergio
by Mason Kupiainen One of the most powerful people—if not the most powerful person—in the entertainment industry is Bob Iger. Ever since he became CEO of Disney in 2005, he’s helped bring the company out of what many consider to be the “Second Dark Age”—during which many of Disney’s films were failures—and turn them into the dominating studio they are today. He’s been the man who pushed Disney into buying additional assets and helped them become the highest-grossing studio of 2019. Iger has been an important figure for not only Disney but all of entertainment. When the news broke that Iger was stepping down and handing over his position to Bob Chapek, many people became concerned with how Disney would continue without Iger. With this in mind, let's take a look at some of the things Iger has done for the company and the legacy he’ll leave in the entertainment industry.
by Mason Kupiainen Slasher movies have been a staple in the horror genre ever since Halloween popularized the subgenre in 1978. Since its release, Halloween has inspired an entire genre and many films that have tried to copy its formula, including the Friday the 13th series. As with all franchises, there are many great films and just as many terrible ones.
by Mason Kupiainen It’s no secret that video game adapted movies are not very good. Time after time, Hollywood has tried to take a popular video game property and adapt it to the silver screen with little-to-no success. Not only do these movies receive poor reviews, but box office numbers have shown genuine disinterest or distaste in these movies. Looking at the box office, the highest grossing video game movie is Warcraft with $439,048,914. For comparison, looking at a similar genre, the highest grossing comic book movie is Avengers: Endgame with $2.8 billion. These two genres are very similar, with many of the same fans, but why is the box office gap so wide? Why are so many people going to see comic book movies and not going out to support video game movies, despite the fact that more people play video games compared to those who read comic books? There’s not one simple answer. However, there are a number of reasons why the critical and box office for these movies is so low.
by Baylie Clevenger The sun is bright and happy; almost seeming to foreshadow the night ahead. The road is bumpy on the way out of Muncie, but we don’t mind. 250 miles. 100 miles. 50 Miles until we reach our destination. Zero miles. We’re here—only a few hours until the lights, laughs, and loud sounds. We’re in Detroit and we came for the music.
by Mason Kupiainen The second-largest box-office market in the world is China, trailing just behind the United States. Before the coronavirus outbreak, China was close to topping the U.S. box office, but now it has become improbable. Big budget blockbusters, like Warcraft. Transformers: Age of Extension, Pacific Rim, and Rampage made a majority of their money in China and depended on those numbers to help them from not becoming complete disasters. Since China’s box office has been shut down for the time being, this has put an enormous question mark on the success of upcoming films like Mulan and F9, and the effects on the industry as a whole.
Growing up, Hannah Weibert, a first-year trumpet performance graduate student, said her father constantly told her stories about his experience as a trumpet player.
By Blake Chapman The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board. Since the current generation of video games stepped onto the scene back in 2013, we have witnessed some of the most spectacular moments ever before in gaming. Within this last decade, video games have grown from a niche genre in the scope of the entertainment industry to a powerhouse of influence and economics dominating the global market. Money is not the only factor of notable importance though. When looking back on this generation, it is the ability that games have to connect across differences that excites me the most. Esports and its professional players have garnered as much respect and notoriety as traditional sports teams and athletes. Games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Disco Elysium, and even the Quantic Dream collection have redefined storytelling in an interactive space. Arguably, the most impressive aspect of the last ten years of gaming is the range of artistic expression only possible in a virtual landscape. The rise of indie culture has offered some of the most beautiful games ever conceived. Along with beautiful graphics, you have experiences that become more personal and emotional the deeper you dive in. Undertale, Cuphead, and Life is Strange are just a few games that are like this. https://youtu.be/AURVxvIZrmU However, not a single year goes by that controversy is absent from the headlines of gaming media. Now that 2019 has come to an end, it seems that we will be discussing the discourse of that year far into the future. Between the abandonment of EA’s newest live service ‘Anthem,' Blizzard’s abhorrent reaction to community dialogue about the Hong Kong protests, all the debates surrounding the gameplay of Hideo Kojima’s ‘Death Stranding,' and online personalities’ fall from grace like Projared; there are a ton of topics to cover and debate. One confrontation that happened throughout 2019 reminded me how fragile the gaming community is and how close it can get to caving in on itself. The online strife surrounding Gamefreak’s development of ‘Pokemon Sword and Shield’ drove gamers to turn their scorn and dissatisfaction against each other. When the dust settled, their rage had evaporated and everyone decided to just deal with the end product instead of working toward legitimate change. The lack of proper care on Gamefreak’s part was the biggest disappointment in gaming for 2019 and caused this longtime Pokemon fan to reconsider my affinity to the franchise.
by Baylie Clevenger Every year, Feb. 14 rolls around to provide the world with a very particular feeling; the feeling of pressure, love, disappointment, and a certain capitalistic expression of love and devotion that we cannot seem to shake. No matter what the 14th brings you, at least we have love songs. In particular, the industry has recently been booming with queer love songs that deserve recognition and could accompany you and a loved one or significant other this Valentine's Day.
by Emily Worrell Once again, Valentine’s Day is coming around, and whether that excites you, terrifies you, or makes you want to hit something, there is no denying that Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to watch a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the quality of films in this genre is incredibly hit-or-miss, and it can take hours of scrolling through Hulu or Netflix to find one that even sounds halfway decent. To save you from that fate, here are the top three romantic comedies from each streaming service (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney +, and plain old Blu-ray/DVD), with honorable mentions included.
by Tanner Kinney At the tail end of 2019, critically-acclaimed film studio A24 released their last film of year with Uncut Gems, an insane piece of entertainment that follows Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a diamond dealer and big-time gambler that gets into some real sorts of messes. It was a shocking move and something that critics and audiences weren’t entirely sure about, but a lot of people came out loving. If you’re curious in reading more about this film, check out our review here. Uncut Gems ended up becoming a bit of an Oscar contender in a few categories, particularly that for Lead Actor. In a year where many people considered Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker in Joker to be the big front-runner, Adam Sandler was going to potentially be his toughest opponent. And, for the record, Sandler deserves the recognition for his quality work. Sandler was ready to pull out all the stops, and he wasn’t afraid to make threats. While promoting Uncut Gems on the The Howard Stern Show, Sandler said he’d be “there to win.” Additionally, he said if he didn’t win, he’d “come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay.” Which, from the mind behind legendary dumpster fire Jack and Jill and my absolute favorite piece of cinema in “Dunkaccino,” is the greatest threat to modern cinema. So, now that the Oscars are over and done with, Sandler’s Uncut Gems didn’t just not get nominated for Best Picture, it didn’t get nominated for anything. The film got, as they say, “snubbed”. Which means we are in the timeline where Sandler is going to craft the worst Adam Sandler film possible. If he’s reading this right now, I’m going to offer some of the greatest terrible Adam Sandler film ideas I can come up with. All I ask is a little bit of credit as a treat, and some royalty checks. It’s a fair exchange for these high quality films, trust me.
by Elizabeth Jolly In the last 3 years, superhero films led by women have been an explosive topic, with millions of box office dollars coming in for films featuring women as heroes. Yet decades before this, superwomen were box office disasters - so what changed? How has the evolution of superhero films headed by women brought us to the upcoming film Birds of Prey?
by Taylor Smith New York City has always sparked the greatest curiosity in my mind. It has always been a city I have seen countless times in movies and could only dream about visiting, a city where you were either born there or made enough money to move into a penthouse in Manhattan. No one in my family really liked the idea of going to a “bigger, dirtier Chicago,” but I have always longed to understand what made the City That Never Sleeps so special, to understand what it was about it that captured so many people. In June of 2018, I stepped foot in what has since become my favorite place on Earth for the first time, and since then, I have promised myself that one day I would be able to call New York City my home, and here’s why.
by Baylie Clevenger In 2012, One Direction entered my world and absolutely rocked it. I was obsessed. I had posters, necklaces, albums, and t-shirts galore… and Harry was always my favorite. I remember pretending on Twitter that Louis was my favorite because at the time liking Harry the most was frowned upon for fear of being labeled a “fake fan.” The moral of the story is that I have loved Harry Styles for a long time and I have listened to every piece of music that features him… and I got to thinking about how much that has changed since I was 13 years old with posters plastered on my wall.
by Baylie Clevenger A rainbow flag tied around a microphone stand and some glitter letters reading “Queer” set the scene. Folks file in, holding colorful programs for the event ahead. It’s a night to share stories and be heard. It’s Queer Monologues. Unity Week comes around once a year to promote and inspire unity and understanding among Ball State students. Through a series of events, both information and entertainment-based, students use this week to express themselves as well as understand others. QM is one of those events. QM is sponsored by Spectrum and the event features a small cast of queer individuals who share the stage in Pruis Hall to tell their personal stories about the queer experience both in Indiana and at Ball State through a series of monologues. For Althea McWilliams, a senior Ball State student studying Psychological Science and Women’s and Gender studies, Queer Monologues was a way to express herself in a creative and entertaining way. “My favorite part about QM is being able to tell my story in a way that's comfortable for me. Everyone is extremely supportive and I love that feeling when you know you have the crowd hooked,” she said. “To share my story is a little heart wrenching because it brings up feelings of grief, but it was much needed. It's a great platform for people in the community to find solidarity and allies to gain some empathy and understanding. If more people would listen, not just hear stories everyone would have a better understanding of other's experience and actions.” Though QM can be a place to share some feelings of grief, it’s also a place to feel accepted and create a sense of community and, well, unity. According to their website, Unity Week seeks to “...challenge perspectives on matters of diversity, inclusivity and solidarity in an evolving social climate. Unity Week 2020 marks the 40th annual Unity Week celebration at Ball State University.” Since the university is aiming to create social inclusion, McWilliams reflected on QM and how inclusion is created specifically on campus and through this event. “Well I've been 'out' since I was 12. I don't necessarily think BSU had an impact, but many students here have fostered safe environments for students to meet each other and have critical conversations to understand our identities,” said McWilliams. “Through those conversations, I've been able to better identify my relationship with gender, so that's been helpful.” McWilliams also says that the event was meant to make the experience of oppression feel more real. “Empathy is key to understanding someone else's experience and academia tends to dwindle down the human condition to numbers and facts. This in a way dehumanizes marginalized voices to those of privilege and can even further the social 'othering' if the material is not taught by a culturally competent instructor. Events like this are pertinent to give a space to directly to show the reality of an oppressive experience,” she said. Overall, McWilliams said that this event is a positive way to have a voice and give one to others while also connecting with other students in a theatrical way. “My personal goal was to be a voice for myself and others who haven't found their voice. I want people to know they can do it too, even if it seems intimidating. Sharing your story can give you the chance to reclaim the narrative and there's a sense of empowerment in that. I wanted to give myself the chance to share an intimate, traumatic experience I had that helped shape me into the person I am today. I used it as a chance to give a eulogy I was never given the space to before. This year's QM was truly transformative and I'm so thankful Brooklyn made it happen.”
by Olivia Weinzapfel On Jan. 17, 2020, Mac Miller’s posthumous album was released, a little over a year after his sudden and tragic death. The album, Circles, was produced and finished by Jon Brion, per the request of Mac’s family. Brion, who had helped Mac work on the project before his passing, released it on his behalf as his last album and last piece of work for the world to hear. Karen Meyers, Mac’s mother, published an Instagram post on Jan. 8 announcing the album’s release date and gave a brief overview of the conceptualities and significance behind it. The two-paragraph exposition revealed that not only was Mac working on another project before his untimely death, but it was to be completed by his visionary companion Brion, and set to release just a week later. Circles would be a conceptual counterpart to Mac’s last LP, Swimming. As mentioned in the post, the spirit alluded to by the parallels was the idea of “Swimming in Circles.” Jon Brion, a songwriter, movie composer, and producer, worked closely with Mac and his visions for both Swimming and Circles. Brion is credited with co-producing over half of the tracks on Swimming, and was expected to amount about the same contribution to Circles. Mac had his solidified vision for the latter, and Brion was to help sharpen the divination of everything it was to become, from the lyrics to the overall sound. “There were supposed to be three albums: the first, Swimming,was sort of the hybridization of going between hip-hop and song form. The second, which he’d already decided would be called Circles, would be song-based. And I believe the third one would have been just a pure hip-hop record. I think he wanted to tell people, “I still love this, I still do this.””— Jon Brion, in an interview with The New York Times. Swimming, which was released on Aug. 3, 2018—just a month before Mac’s death— is a full-body, stream of consciousness work that is extremely introspective and induces the purest forms of emotional vulnerability for the active listener. As Brion mentioned, Swimming is more hip-hop based—which is what really gives it that stream-of-consciousness component. The album is subjectively melancholy, bringing Mac’s mental tribulations to the forefront of the musical conversation. For many, this album hit harder following his death, namely because he presented himself as very vulnerable, and we were essentially left with this image of him as someone who was in the midst of trying to overcome his psychological distress; however, his time was cut short in trying to break through that wall of adversity. This dismal awareness was heavy, and echoed in the hearts of many fans and admirers every time they listened to “Wings” or “Come Back to Earth.” While this was the reality of the situation, Circles transcended this idea, and offered us a little bit more closure from the artist. Circles, although not an embodiment of a mental breakthrough, still breaks the downbeat pattern of the previous album. In Circles, Mac’s perspectives seem to shift, transgressing and focusing more on the world and his relationship with everything around him in a slightly more positive light, rather than being so inner-focused, as in Swimming. Circles is everything that the word bittersweet means; it’s a somber experience to listen to new music from a beloved artist that was so soon taken from us, but it’s beautiful to have this last piece of his voice and expressions that repaves our idea of him as he conveyed himself in Swimming. In a way, it really acted as a last goodbye and final accomplishment. As a precursor to Circles, the posthumous single, “Good News,” was released on Jan. 9th. This earnest song set a great precedent for the rest of the album, since it still confronts a bleak subject but takes on a new optimistic undertone. The rest of the songs in Circles match this idiosyncrasy, shifting the attitude on certain subjects to a more light-hearted side of the conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIHF7u9Wwiw The album, to no one’s surprise, is a masterpiece in itself. As Brion said, it takes on more of a song-based tracklist, and compared to Mac’s previous recordings it deems itself slightly experimental. The entrancing funk embedded in almost every song makes it every bit as infectious as Swimming was, but in its own respects. It is perfectly curated and beams with Mac’s talented artistry. Brion, to his credit, also— in the most honorable way—finished producing the album all while upholding Mac’s vision and preserving his sound. Most of the tracks on Circles are more song-like than we’re used to from our beloved rapper, and a decent majority of them are noticeably more upbeat. But even with this in mind, a lot of lyrics still hit a little too close to home, most notably one of the lines from “Good News,” in which Mac sings, “There’s a whole lot more for me waitin’ on the other side.” As a complementary bonus to the album itself, music videos were released for every song on the day of the album’s release. The videos were distributed by DatPiff and organized into a playlist on Youtube; they were also featured as video covers for the songs on Spotify. Each one complements its song perfectly, translating each individual track into a visual aesthetic. This only further solidifies the album as a finished body of work, and as Mac’s last piece of art for all of us to indulge in. On the day of Circles’ release, all social media platforms were flooded with comments of emotion and praise, all induced by the album’s impact. The effect that Mac and his music had/has on us and how this final album was the perfect point of closure was the main focal point of the public mind. This posthumous album gave us a perfect goodbye from an artist who not only made a large generational impact, but who we all felt like we knew on a personal level. From those who simply enjoyed his music to those who credit his music for helping them through the toughest of times, Mac reached and touched everyone individually. Circles was like an ambient parting, and it all felt just as personal as his music has always been in the hearts of his fans. With Circles, Mac reminds us all to live in the present and make the most that we can out of the life we’re given. In the song “Everybody,” he leaves us with, “Everybody’s gotta live// And everybody’s gonna die// Everybody’s gotta live// I think you know the reason why.”
Editor’s Note: At the request of the Youth Opportunity Center (YOC), for privacy and safety reasons, The Ball State Daily News did not interview residents, which is why there are no quotes, photos or information identifying them.
by Baylie Clevenger The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board. A man in a tutu can change the world. Believe me. And if not me, believe Morgan Leckie. Leckie is a professor of both English and Women’s and Gender Studies here at Ball State University. She is well-versed in all things gender after having studied it for most of her academic career. Now back to that man in a tutu—that man is Harry Styles. Styles performed on Saturday Night Live in late 2019, and since then the internet has been buzzing with talk of how he presents his gender. In particular, people seemed to be displeased with his choice to wear an elaborate, pink ballet costume in some of the promotional photos, calling Styles' performative and claiming he used femininity for popularity and money.
by Jack Gillespie The '10s have finally passed, after what seemed like a never-ending decade, and the landscape of popular music has seen countless shifts in that time. The way music is marketed, made, consumed, released, and even popularized is leagued differently than it was in 2009. Many phases and waves have come and gone as well: the EDM boom, the renaissance of the modern pop divas à la Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Rihanna, etc., dancehall, tropical house, and the ascension of rap as the nation’s dominant musical genre. One way one can get a good idea of what music defined the decade is to look at the biggest songs of the decades. What tracks caught the attention of the country in a way few tracks can? And a more important question: which of those tracks were actually worthy of the platform? This list has the best that the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had to offer in the ‘10s, as well as the worst. In order to fully understand the past, you need to take a look at both the trash and treasure.