Premium Rush: a Thrilling Bike Ride

Premium Rush is only the second movie I've seen in theaters this year--and on opening weekend, no less. It looks like it won't make much at the box office: it debuted 7th this past weekend, just ahead of the new conservative documentary 2016: Obama's America (which you can't pay me to see). Considering the timing, and the pro-cycling theme of the movie, I'm not surprised. Premium Rush is a low-key action movie, with no explosions or a lot of shooting. Instead, the thrill lies in the chase: car on bike, bike on bike, bike on foot, car on foot, foot on foot, and so on. Fans of urban cycling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt shouldn't be disappointed--though perhaps fans of following the rules of the road will be.

(mild spoilers follow)

The story follows a daredevil courier named Wiley, who's assigned to a special delivery: a "premium rush" (hence the title). All goes smoothly until he's stopped by an NYPD detective who, it turns out, has a really bad gambling problem, and wants the package desperately. Wiley refuses, of course, as this courier service is a secure service, and so the chase begins. Later, when Wiley loses the detective for a moment, a hapless bicycle cop catches him breaking road rules, and will stop at nothing to catch him. Along the way we meet some courier colleagues of Wiley's, among them overconfident rival Manny and ex-girlfriend Vanessa, who help him deliver the package. Throughout the film we go backward and forward in time, obtaining a new piece of the puzzle, building up suspense and excitement all the way.

The story is pretty much what you'd expect from a popcorn thriller like this--though I couldn't guess at the contents of the envelope until I was given sufficient clues, so it's not predictable, and the coincidences aren't that far-fetched. Aside from a chaotic, claustrophobic flashback that occurs after Wiley gets into an accident, the camera work is well done: we feel the same rush as the couriers do when they ride. Special effects, thankfully, are sparing, used only to enhance the experience of navigating the bustling streets of NYC on two wheels and for slo-mo. And like the NPR reviewer said, the setting actually feels like New York: from the gridlocked traffic to the rude pedestrians to the slightly grimy look and feel of the objects surrounding them. The cast is also quite diverse, giving a far more accurate representation of NYC residents.

Characterization was also well-done here. There is a villain to hate, and some of the cop characters come off as a little doofy, NYC road users as assholish. But this is being told from a courier's point of view (mostly). Wiley, our hero, is certainly likeable enough (thanks in part to JGL's charm), though not without his flaws. He preaches the gospel of Brakeless Fixie, and almost as overconfident as his rival, breaking dozens of road rules over the course of the movie. We get a real sense of who the characters are simply from the way they act and talk to one another: a sign of really good screenwriting. The little backstory that we need to know is woven seamlessly into clipped cell phone conversations. And as far as the couriers go--I believe it. Tough, daring, aggressive, and they don't take shit from anybody--including the cops.

This movie is largely harmless in the category of stereotyping and oppression: nobody likes cops anyway; many cyclists are assholes (especially in NYC, I'm sure); there's sufficient diversity of race and gender; and members of the lower classes are whom we root for. However, I did have a problem with how aggressive Manny and Wiley were in, um, expressing their affection for Vanessa, and even more so by the dispatcher's blatant sexual harassment. Vanessa's a tough chick, and I was hopping she'd punch him out, any of them out--but she just pushes them away or brushes it off as a joke. She says in the movie that she wants to quit couriering so she can have a "steady job"; but maybe she's just sick of all the harassment.

Overall, the movie works as a great commercial for bicycle couriers--or, at least, urban cycling: exciting, well-constructed, and suspenseful. General Score: 4 stars out of 5. Oppression Score: 3 (mainly for the sexual harassment thing). Highly recommended if you just want to watch a fun popcorn flick and forget the world for two hours.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going out for a bike ride.

Are Books For Hipsters?



This past weekend, I attended the Boston Book Festival, where writers, readers, and thinkers of all most stripes could convene and share thoughts and ideas; learn more about local bookstores, publishers, and nonprofits; and get free stuff. I left the festival with enough reading material to last me at least a month, plenty of free shit, and a lighter wallet. It was a great day, and I had a pretty good time.

But, I noticed something I had noticed at a different event last month (that being a Primus concert). But for some reason I'd never really noticed before.

Man, are these people white.

Courtesy of Hot Guys Reading Books

At the BBF, there were some Asians (both east and south), and maybe a couple black people. All of the presenters at the panels I attended were white (though some people of color presented at other events). And it wasn't just the whiteness that took my notice. It was the similarities between these people that you could identify what type of reader they were. Nonfictioners dressed conservatively, passing for mainstream professionals dressed casual, but not too casual. Most were probably older than 30, and made good money. Younger nonfiction readers (whom I saw plenty of in the line to Chuck Klosterman's book signing) were textbook hipsters, though many could pass for normal on a liberal-arts college campus. Klosterman himself looks kinda like that. I didn't really notice a significant male-female ratio disparity, but plenty of the younger guys had beards. Hipsters cross over into fiction, their favored genre being literary fiction. I'm kinda glad I didn't go to the Jennifer Egan panel (though I do want to read her book), because that was probably overrun with hipsters. There are also nerdy readers, who dress unconsciously and often sport facial imperfections; you find them more often in science-fiction and fantasy circles. There's also the artsy nerds, who pierce their bodies and dye their hair and wear black, and maybe cosplay (if they're more nerdy). These folks were at the graphic novel panel, and maybe at the Steampunk one, too. As for the other people over 30, they basically looked like regular people or professors (or regular professors). Maybe a smattering of artsy or nerdy--I imagine that most people tone down their look as they get older. One thing was for sure: a person wearing Abercrombie and Fitch or (Science forbid) Ecko would look out of place in this crowd.

The predictable makeup of this book-buying demogrphic speaks to the current limits of the written word--or at least, the marketing of it. Plenty of people of color write thought-provoking books, so why weren't more of them featured? Did the organizers of BBF realize they were inviting a whole lot more white people--or maybe other nonwhites theyasked were busy that weekend. Is it really just a symptom of a greater issue in publishing, where whites get all the attention?

I think it speaks to an even greater issue: education. The BBF is a showcase for writers and intellectuals, most of whom have at least a Master's Degree, and have little to no recognition among mainstream readers. Romance, thrillers, horror, and other trashy genres are not represented here. However, these genres (as well as YA, which actually has a place in "higher" literature) are the books most people read, and pay for the more intellectual and artistic ventures. In this way, higher literature is more of a subculture, with a small, concentrated demographic. Just like any other subculture, they adopt a certain way of dressing and talking to identify themselves. These people graduated from liberal arts colleges (or that part of the university), work in academia or publishing, vote Democrat, and hold corresponding liberal views. Obviously, there's a lot of overlap with the hipster population. Though I think the lack of radicals was because they're all at Occupy Boston.

So why are books largely considered to be the realm of the educated? Well, it takes education to read, and more to make sense out of what you read. It takes even more to talk about it in a reasonable, rational manner with others. And the thing is, most people don't get that education, whether it's because they're poor, received little encouragement at home, or are otherwise dissuaded from reading (eg. favoring the instant gratification of TV and video games over books). Most of the BBF attendees were of European or Asian descent, races that are often better-educated than blacks, (and so goes the earning potential) and liberal because, well, we're all smart, and truth has a "well-known liberal bias". Whites, moreso than other races, are encouraged to "follow their dreams," and therefore are more likely to pursue unlucrative artistic careers like writing. (disclosure: this is from personal experience only) Whites also make up the majority of faculty members at many univerisities.

This, of course, all boils down to economics: whites make up the majority of rich people in the US, and therefore are more educated, because they go to better schools and can afford a good college, and therefore are more likely to read for fun. The unfortunate effect is that reading is becoming an elitist activity, especially as the gap between the rich and poor widens, after-school programs get cut, and public libraries closed down. As they say, knowledge is power, and if knowledge becomes less accessible, the possessors of said knowledge grow more powerful. While I doubt that this avid book-reading demographic's going to take over America (money is more powerful), we have to get people interested in reading and writing again, if only to harness untapped critical thinking skills and open people's eyes to the injustices committed towards them and their community every day. Then we can make a change.

So, back to the original question: are books for hipsters? Yes. And everyone else, too.(There's way more non-hipster books out there, trust me) Literature has something for everyone, if you look hard enough.