The Underground — Issue #105
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: A YouTuber takes down Rogue One, a look at the evolution of Disney animation, a badass new electric car that could literally defy gravity, and an explanation why cities are where they are.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. The Top 10 worst reasons you liked Rogue One. I loved Rogue One because it gave me everything I was expecting in the film. I even gave it a good review. However, the problem with writing a review of a film within a few hours of watching it sometimes influences the review because the film is still fresh and loved in your brain. As time went on, I started to see the flaws in the film and would probably go back and give it a lesser rating.
YouTuber Jenny Nicholson points out that all the stuff you liked in the film were actually bad reasons to like it. The more she goes on, the more her sarcasm and wit makes me want to hate the movie. I still like it, but you can’t deny her points. Make it a mission to not go and read the comments. It’s amazing how stupid people are when you make fun of things they like.
2. A 2.5 minute breakdown of the evolution of Disney animation over the past 80 years. It takes no film expert to appreciate Disney animation. People collect special editions of its animated films whenever Disney feels like making a hundred million dollars. I’ve been in many houses where there is an entire shrine of VHS tapes on a wall, and then on the other side are DVD’s of the same films on another wall. It’s amazing how far people will go to own all of these.
The video below shows how Disney’s animation has evolved from 1937 – 2016. Here’s a list:
– Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
– Pinocho (1940)
– Fantasia (1940)
– Saludos Amigos (1942)
– The Three Caballeros (1944)
– The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
– Cinderella (1950)
– Alice in Wonderland (1951)
– Peter Pan (1953)
– Lady and the Tramp (1955)
– Sleeping Beauty (1959)
– One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
– The Sword in the Stone (1963)
– The Jungle Book (1967)
– The Aristocats (1970)
– Robin Hood (1973)
– The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
– The Fox and the Hound (1981)
– The Black Cauldron (1985)
– The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
– Oliver and Company (1988)
– The Little Mermaid (1989)
– The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
– Beauty and Beast (1991)
– Aladdin (1992)
– The Lion King (1994)
– Pocahontas (1995)
– The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1996)
– Hercules (1997)
– Mulan (1998)
– Tarzan (1999)
– Dinosaur (2000)
– The Emperor´s New Groove (2001)
– Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
– Lilo & Stich (2002)
– Treasure Planet (2002)
– Brother Bear (2003)
– Chicken Little (2005)
– Meet the Robinsons (2007)
– Bolt (2008)
– The Princess and the Frog (2009)
– Tangled (2010)
– Wreck-It-Ralph (2012)
– Frozen (2013)
– Big Hero 6 (2014)
– Zootopia (2016)
I’ve seen every single one of those films at least once, and a few of them a lot. Worth it.
3. The Faraday Future FF91 is the electric car we should all hope to own.
Electric cars are great because they’re good for the environment, but muscle car lovers complain that the car doesn’t have any oomph to get them interested. That day has come and gone. The Faraday Future FF91 has an average range of 378 miles (a consistent 55MPH will increase range up to 482 miles), and the equivalent of 1,050-horsepower that can explode it’s minivan looking exterior from 0 – 60MPH in 2.39 seconds. You can’t see me, but I just looked out my window and gave my car the finger.
“Autonomous driving is a large part of the FF 91…it uses 30 sensors — including a retractable LiDAR system [Light Detection and Ranging — a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure variable distances to the Earth] — from around the car to enable a self-parking function where it can hunt around a parking lot, not just take over after you’ve lined the car up.
The FF 91 will also use an open ecosystem where any app you have on your smartphone…will integrate across platforms. Multiple modems and two Wi-Fi antennae, it’s claimed…make the FF 91 the “most convenient hotspot on earth.”
Just as impressive as what is in the FF 91, is what is not in the FF 91…There are no door handles. Instead, buttons open and close motorized coach doors…There are no keys. Cameras use facial recognition to identify the driver, and…to identify passengers. Whether you take a seat in the front of your…FF 91…or in the back of an FF 91 halfway around the world, the car will automatically adjust…to your preferences.
There are no mirrors. High-definition displays replace the rear view and side view mirrors, and HD cameras…provide a far wider range of view than any traditional mirrors…If the company can pull things together, work its way through reported financial troubles and executive departures, and manage to launch this…vehicle, it will be a game-changer.”
It’s been estimated that the supercar will cost around $180.000 when it’s finally released. That’s not too expensive when you take a look at other cars that could go for millions. Check out the short videos below and get ready to trade up.
4. Why cities are located where they are. The most I know of why many cities are where they are is because they are close to a fresh water source or have good soil for planting crops. As humanity exploded and started to take over the world, it gets more and more confusing. Like… why would you build a huge casino town in the middle of the desert? Oh, right, burying people in the middle of nowhere is super easy when they try to start something in the middle of your mob casino.
The video below takes the time to explain why cities are located where they are. It’s actually quite interesting how population booms happened where they did. It also explains why I was so bad as Sim City 3000. I was a horrible mayor and always ended up blowing everything up with an alien invasion.
Feature Image – Credit: Herval flickr
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com