This video for the Sleigh Bells is pretty damn good. I like the track and the lead singer does a pretty good "I don't give a fuck" strut with the varsity jacket and the baseball bat. But this video just dropped and it made me flash back to a few months ago when some of my favorite video directors, the duo BBGUN, did a really sick one take video for J. Cole's single "Who Dat"...
The whole damned video is truly one take with all the explosions and the TV cut in...couple with a dope song, I love this video. It looks so clean to, shot on 35 mm, which looks almost as good as The Red, which BBGUN used on this...(watch it in HD)...
Donnis is good, but I don't like this song as much for him because of the largely electro synthetic that lacks a good drum, and the concept is a combination of 'Memento' and 'The Hangover', which is an idea that I definitely fucks with. But did you watch fullscreen HD? Damn if that isn't impressive looking.
Al Pacino is undoubtedly one of the greatest film actors of all time, but his fall these last 10 years is pretty terrible. Pacino along with Brando and De Niro were so good at the height of their powers before they fell into making just bad movies. Pacino though, used to be such a subtle actor, always about to explode. Watch Godfater Part II, and he always is about to explode into something otherworldly, a rant and explosion of such ferocity that you get pushed back in your seat like a plane taking off. Scarface fucked him up by having him do nothing but yell, which he suddenly thought was the only way to work. You Don’t Know Jack was great, his recent Jack Kevorkian film for HBO, but I think his speech in Devil’s Advocate at the end is so good, so perfectly delivered, that it makes up for his recent failures. He rants, yes, but it is controlled and completely within character as Satan. It is probably made better in comparison to the rest of the movie and Keanu’s faux southern accent, but damn if him laughing and discussing freewill at the end doesn’t make me grin with pleasure at the quality and brilliance of it all. So good on its own, it blanks out Righteous Kill and 88 Minutes from my mind. Still can’t believe Keanu killed himself at the end. Such a Jesus friendly cop out. If you knew that you were the son of the devil, why would you kill yourself? Catholic guilt is a bitch, but Pacino sure as hell isn’t.
Michael Jai White, one of the most under appreciated action stars ever, who got screwed over by a flop of a Spawn movie, is in this as a karate instructor. And thanks to autotune, she doesn't really sing on what is an overwhelmingly 'Meh' summer hit song.
As ridiculous and funny as this is, it's less offensive edits than having Greedo shoot first. In this, he gets it in the back while talking to Beckham. Def in the spirit of the original.
Would the NBA allow someone like Reggie Miller to even exist anymore? I just finished watching ‘Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks’ and he is amazing. His career stats aren’t that great, only over 20 points a game a few times, but his legend is so much greater due to his showmanship, I really wonder if someone with the flops and the trash talking would be allowed in today’s family friendly NBA. Mind you, I have nothing hatred and distain for the NBA and their commissioner, David Stern. But I love basketball, can’t deny it, so I watch the NBA because the games are occasionally not a waste of time and are actually good basketball. But, in my mind, it was more an indictment of the business of sports no longer being for the same audience it once was, it is all designed for mothers because the NBA wants to sell to fathers and children on family outings because that’s just more tickets, candy and jerseys. Oh well…great documentary by the way, I encourage you all to watch it.
Not my favorite song from the Roth boy, but the video shot by BBGun looks great. Real smooth, 2:30 one take where random stuff goes down in the grocery store.
This video is pretty dope, but ill be damned if I really love this song. I think the verses are catchier than the hook though. Sad the tracks so short.
I was so excited. ‘B.o.B. vs. Bobby Ray’ was amazing. 22 tracks with the first half more rapping and the second half more singing, but all catchy and really well done, adhering to B.o.B’s core elements that brought him to peoples attention in the first place. It probably should’ve been his first album. There are at least 5 or 6 tracks that could’ve gotten serious airplay on Hip-Hop/Urban radio. Up until his ‘May 25th’ mixtape from earlier this year, I really believed the young gun from Decatur, Georgia could do no wrong. But then when ‘May 25th’ finally did drop, I realized that he had changed. I breezed past most of the songs, none of them having the same strong lyrics tied to uptempo beats that had catchy hooks. He was already set for stardom, but these songs seemed to be more pop music. The song that just sold over 1,000,000 copies digitally, ‘Nothin on You’ featuring Bruno Mars is really pretty awful. He raps ok, but instead of being something that you would consider bumping loud and proud as you nod your head, I really just considered passing it off to some friends 13 year old sisters as the next pop sensation. It just sounds so weak. He sings and plays his guitar more at his shows than rapping anymore. I think his evolution can best be summarized by when I recently saw B.o.B open up for Lupe Fiasco, his sidekick Playboy Tre, who is a great rapper on his own, with mixtapes of his solo material that bring the heat, was standing off on the side of the stage for most of the show looking sad except for the 2 songs that he cam out to drop verses for ‘Bet I Bust’ and ‘Voltage’, which both have what you really want from hip-hop: fucking soul! He just looked so sad, the liquor store mascot, chilling in his fitted while Bobby Ray bounced around with an acoustic guitar and sang more tracks that sound more like Fallout Boy than anything Outkast would put out.
He used to be praised as potentially the next Andre 3000, a skinny youngster from Atlanta who rapped and sang with proficiency about streets and girls, but also just random thoughts that went on in his head. B.o.B first came to my attention about 4 years ago when my friend Brandon played ‘Cloud 9’ in the car one day, causing me, the driver, to slow the car and bob as the bass line flowed out of the speakers and B.o.B rapped in his sing song, nasally voice before singing the hook himself. The song was sad, it was emotional, it was ridiculously sick for a guy who was 18 at the time. The sky was the limit from there, which is fitting to say because after ‘I’ll Be In The Sky’ started gaining momentum, I was geeked that he could reach the pinnacle of rap music and really get to Andre 3000’s level. But I’ll be damned if somewhere along the line, in the last year and half, if something hasn’t changed in the boy to make him just not as good an artist. It’s sad to see his devolution from promising rapper, to great artist to really mediocre pop music, all in the course of three years. He could redeem himself, to me, with some more music that sounds like it used to, music that makes me turn my head and pay attention and smile along with him, but from what has leaked from his new album so far, including a song with the lead singer of Paramore, I have absolutely no intention of paying money for the album like I have with other up and coming artists first releases whose singles actually sounded like the music that made me pay attention in the first place. I have attached two videos below, one fore ‘Haterz Everywhere’ which is from his ‘Cloud 9’ Mixtape, and the other for his new single ‘Nothin on You’. Also, the download link for a mixtape of untagged and mastered tracks from his mixtapes called ‘Should Have Been the First Album’, which only makes me more upset about the actual first album.
Sooo...MTV had someone interview Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y, two very botanical rappers, and I don't think that anyone told the lady interviewer what she was exactly getting into with these guys. Hilarity ensues.
Shot real dope of one fashionable stickball game in the street, featuring Va$htie and Q-tip on the ones and twos. Looks great. Facebook won't take it, but the site has it. HD baby!
I love 'Speed Racer' and I actually really like 'Southland Tales.' I reviewed 'Speed' back when it came out and gave it a 7.5/10, but I think now that a 8.5/10 makes more sense. Movie was really well done. Also, 'Southland Tales', I am more confused by peoples dislike of it than anything. There were lots of negative comments when it was finally released, but I think its not great by any means, but does enough things well and has a good enough cast to carry it's bizarre future world predictions to the point of an enjoyable viewing experience.
Weezer used to be the best and most socially awkward rock group in the world, and now they seem to be the most famous music nerds who actually enjoy their fame. This songs video seems to show how much they actually like being where they are and how much they appreciate their fans. As far as the actual song goes, I never thought a pop producer like Uncle Luke would help Rivers, a guy with a great ear for pop, make an awesome pop track. I'm realizing now that when it comes to actually writing about music, I mostly do it about Weezer. I think that the reason is because of their odd place in the public eye. They started as lo-fi, independent musicians who made a great first major release, and then followed that up with a much darker, some would say better album with 'Pinkerton' that seemed to be setting them up for long term rock god status as River's song writing ability could do no wrong after two albums. Then came the 5 year hiatus during which lots of band turmoil unfolded. And then came the third album in 2001. I like 'The Green Album' which is short, sweet and full of great melodies. It wasn't as good as their first two albums, but showed that they could still do good things despite a long layoff. 'Maladroit' was also good. 'Make Believe' was really bad. And I love Weezer, and am completely biased in my appreciation of them, but that album is painful to listen to other than 'Beverly Hills', which still isn't good, but it's easy to listen to. But I have had an epiphany starting with 'The Red Album' in 2008: somewhere in those five years, Rivers decided to give up being a rock god and started doing Lady Gaga covers at their shows. And I am ok with that. Mind you, I still wonder sometimes what the album Rivers would've made in 1998, without the turmoil of the 5 years off, would've sounded like. I bet it would've been amazing. But really, fuck amazing at this point. With so much awful rock music going on now, I appreciate something that I can even listen to without cringing. I like it, and while their new music doesn't expand my horizons as much as it could, its good to have something in that zone that doesn't push anything, but is way better than anything that already exists in that zone. It's similar to other top-40 rock bands now, but just better. I wish I had a more expansive vocabulary to explain this, but I can't. I think the video above does as good a job as I can to explain my Weezer appreciation.
So, I am not mad about the *supposed* casting of John Krasinski as Steve Rogers aka Captain America. I feel that the supposed issues with the script and Joe Johnston's incompetent directing since 'The Rocketeer' almost 20 years ago will bring down the film. I feel that John Krasinski is a much more proactive choice to play the lead. He has the face and the build, and could potentially bring a lot of personality to the character. He has so far only been cast in the role of Jim Halpern and I feel, since he is actually a trained actor, could provide a much wider range than people expect. He has a higher ceiling in the role than my personal choice for the role of Jensen Ackles, of ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Smallville’ and ‘My Bloody Valentine 3D’. Ackles is the perfect Cap to the T. He looks exactly like the character in the comic books, has the build, the voice and in acts like Cap in everything that he has ever been in. But being the perfect Cap from the comics wouldn’t be enough to save the film from a bad director and a bad writer. Krasinski’s charm could do that and at least minimize the flaws of the films other parts by being bigger in the role. With production supposedly starting up pretty soon, I hope the producers figure it out and get the ship on track soon with whoever they are going to pick. I was really sad when I heard that Ackles was likely out of the running because of scheduling conflicts because he really would be perfect, like Downey in ‘Iron Man’ or Ledger in ‘Dark Knight.’ Not that he would get an Oscar for the role, because Captain America isn’t that type of role, but it is still a physically imposing role of the perfect soldier fighting a villainous Nazi with a red skull. So that is why I am not mad about Krasinski. If Chace Crawford or some wimpy, pretty boy gets the roll though, I will be furious. And before anyone says that Krasinski is a pretty boy, realize that he is 6’3” and could easily put on enough muscle to stuff Chace Crawford or Scott Porter in a garbage can. A side note is that I just read that Chris Evans has screen tested, and while he is the perfect Johnny Storm, he is too short and too much of a smart ass to be Cap. Although, again, I wouldn’t be mad if got cast in the role either, but for now, I don’t think that is a serious consideration. Go Jensen!
Just when I thought the success of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION would boost Dolph's career, I saw this video of him on a German singing show doing Elvis. It's actually pretty amazing to watch, drum solo and karate and grunting in a tux.
