The Losers and The A-Team

I really can’t tell you in written words how big my smile is as I am writing now. I almost started this piece by saying that I had a dilemma on my hands choosing which movie I was more excited for: THE LOSERS or THE A-TEAM. One of them is directed by the guy who did STOMP THE YARD, a movie that I will never see, but stars Stringer Bell, The Comedian, Zoe Saldana and the always really, really good Chris Evans and is based on a comic book series that I have read numerous times because it is brief, tightly wound and so damn fun. THE LOSERS trailer that came out today looks exactly like a movie based on the book should. It looks fast paced and fun. No one is going to try to win any awards from it, but I can already predict that the movie will get about an 8 or a 9 out of 10 from me when it is released on April 9^th. It is a movie that we see often in Hollywood, but rarely seen done with the right mix of humor, sexy time and explosions. Michael Bay puts too much of those things in his movies, deletes most of the humor and takes away the fun, light heartedness of the movie. Films like TANGO AND CASH and STAR TREK get the balance, and while some of you might hate on TANGO, I personally adore that movie because it never hesitates in its relentless drive to be as unserious as possible. TREK also, despite having moments of seriousness, was pretty much the most fun I’ve had at a theater in a long time. And that’s why THE LOSERS gives me hope that maybe more of these 90 minute funfests will actually be good. John Cena has tried a couple of times to make these kind of movies and failed miserably. THE A-TEAM looks like it could do this right. It’s directed by Joe Carnahan, who hasn’t made a bad movie yet, but that’s because he has really only made 2 movies because of the incredible amount of bad luck he has had with his productions. NARC was a brilliant little crime film that made Ray Liotta really scary, and SMOKIN’ ACES had some issues, but also  had enough brilliant moments due to its nonstop pace to be a movie I can firmly say I enjoy. THE A-TEAM also has a bang up cast and is based on a tv show that lends its concept well to big budget action. I think the trailer for that has me hesitating a little bit however, and I can’t definitively say why, but it was the same sort of hesitation I had the first time I saw the trailer for WOLVERINE last year. Great looking action scenes, good one liners, good looking story, but something just isn’t right. I will hold final trailer judgment for a more complete look at the plot (assuming there is one). So right now I have to say that I am little more excited for THE LOSERS but really, both films look like really badass action movies that I will probably go see at midnight. Dudes blowing shit up on film is gonna come back big, Fuck avatar, the god damned fern gully knock off.

Adidas Original Star Wars Commercial

Nike SB 2010 lineup

Kicks on Fire'has a complete listing of whats coming out. I'm looking at you boat shoes.
Other than that, not really a good looking year for the SB line. But for some reason, those boat shoes got me really looking hard. The green Hi's are ok also, but I wouldn't pay money for them. The black P-Rod III's are really damn ugly in my book and the Zoom Bruin's are pretty 'meh'. Boat Shoes!

 

 

 

Type - Man Crush(No Homo)

This video is amazing. Just amazing.

Tiger Sets the Record Straight

I am Tiger Woods from TWoods

Donald Glover and his masterful interpretation of the words and life of Tiger Woods.

Mike Posner - Drug Dealer Girl

The video of Mike Posner's goofy ode to his distribution lady. Starring Rosa Acosta stretching and walking around being Mr. Posner's girl.

Run tiger run!

Kid Cudi - "Pursuit of Happiness feat. MGMT & Ratatat" Visual Aid

Sick video. Drake gets a co-star credit. And Josh Hartnett directed it, which is dope.

Michael Bay's Victoria's Secret Ad

I dare anyone to try and think of another director who could make this ad fit his personal style more than Mr. Bay. I mean, there were explosions behind those girls. Big ones. Just sayin...

Young Money - Bedrock

I really don't know what's gotten into me, but for some reason, I am really digging this and the 'Everygirl' tracks that Lil' Wayne's Young Money collective have been putting out. Dare I say it, but I think I might be getting excited for their album!

Shoe Stuff

Spent way too much time looking around for nice shoes even though I definitely don't have enough money to buy any of them. Shouts to Kicks on Fire and Pick Your Shoes.

Fluff x Nike SB Bruin (Grey and White)

Air Jordan 12 XII Retro (black / grand purple / aquamarine)

Lacoste Stealth Storm (Grey)

T-Pain's 'Take Your Shirt Off'

This video is dope and I don't give a fuck if you disagree. Not my favorite song, but it gets the job done for sure. Petey Pablo!

Major Lazer: Keep it getting Louder

Major Lazer "Keep it Going Louder" from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

Part 2 where I get personal about Kid Cudi

This started as me doing a slow lead into my appreciation of Kid Cudi, but turned into me breaking down a more general love/hate thing that goes with a previously unheard of artist blowing up and their fame getting all over your face and in your ears. Cudi’s rise to fame was weird because the Kanye West co-sign had people jumping on his bandwagon fast because many of them thought that he was Kanye’s protégé, but Kanye was just a fan who signed the Kid to his label and made him famous without really changing anything about him. But by being in the spotlight, Cudi’s introspective sing/rap style got harshly criticized by some, criticism I guarantee wouldn’t have been put to him if he had remained an underground figure either because no one would’ve heard the album or because the less mainstream critics are much more open to experiments and new things. But even then, once he got big, the stench of mainstream got on him and the underground critics rejected him (Pitchfork claims to be Indie, but their review gave the album a 4.1 even though the actual review didn’t seem to dislike the album…) as much as the stuffier, higher profile majors like Rollingstone and Spin.
Wow, I now realized just how petty this follow-up piece is, especially since it’s going up right after the first article where I basically call out myself for acting like a fucking baby, especially for an rapper. But I really can’t help it and wanted to put something out on the topic because it’s pretty personal to me that I went to go see Pete Rock during my freshman year and wound up seeing a goofy kid with a ‘delicious vinyl’ shirt did like 5 songs, ‘day n nite’ being one of them, and liked him so much I bought the iTunes mp3 when I got home, and then about a year later, the radio has that track being one of the 5 or 6 they actually play. It was great to be so early on him, my roommates were pissed actually cause by the time everyone else seemed to catch on, they were already sick of the song. And for anyone who doesn’t know already, ‘embrace the martian’ is his best song by a long shot in terms of his verses, a Crookers beat and just it being a catchy dance song that has dope verses. I kind of chuckle every time I hear him talk about being Mr. Solo Dolo because he is far from that now. I wonder what it was like to have heard him before I did, such as his work that got him that spot opening, because not just anyone can open up for Pete Rock in New York City. Wale, Torae, and Skyzoo were also on the bill, and those guys are also pretty legit. OH well, I’m probably gonna regret posting such an unfocused and rambling personal piece right after the focused one I just put up but fuck it, I wrote it and its my blog so what says goes I guess. Anyone even read these by the way?

Losing your Fandom

Finding an undiscovered artist accidentally that you love is great. But there is always that jealous feeling that happens when the person gets another fan. Its great to mention someone that no one has heard of and then to play the song and turn them on completely on to the artist, and forever their fandom is something that you birthed, you are the parent of that persons appreciation for something beautiful. But then when you mention that artist to someone who has heard of them, you go “Oh, but have you heard THIS song?” and they say yeah, and you dig a little deeper until you can top them in terms of knowledge of an artist, thus reestablishing your superiority as a fan. But then there’s the moment when they get big, and get a music video or become the indie song that everyone loves, and just that one song, and you’re standing in the middle of a crowd yelling that they have another song that’s even better but no one can hear you because they are just enjoying the song of the moment. And you want to let go, you want to just enjoy the moment when something that was so close to you suddenly got so close to everyone else, but you can’t because while you truly love that artist, they are just going along with the crowd, and that’s not you. You aren’t just a part of the crowd, you are a big fan and an avid supporter of this person. You hunt them down and seek out them to see them for cheap in the basement of a church in Brooklyn. But that one song that catches on, it propels them too high for you to do that anymore. You have to pay big bucks to see them and there is someone who has their new stuff before you and its gone. That single moment where its you and 19 other people who love this beautiful thing is never coming back. You want to be so happy for the artist, and you are because they have fame and fortune while just being themselves, playing those songs you loved in the beginning for everyone else. But its so hard to go from being one of the 19 to being one of 5,000. It’s overwhelming to be banging along one day solo and then to suddenly open your eyes and be surrounded by people. And yes, it is extremely selfish and pretentious to say that you found them first and that you are the one true fan, but its not true, and you know it deep down, but you say it anyway because you want it to be true SO bad…but then everyone thinks your that one weird asshole and they back away and leave you alone. And once again, you are that one person, all alone, sitting at home listening while the others go and pay the $50 to see the artist that you loved so much once, and still do, but you cant…not in the same way. It’s a pure moment that has passed you by and either you join the mindless mob or you be the weird intellectual who drinks scotch alone on a Saturday night intentionally.

Jimmy Fallon doing "Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire" as performed by Neil Young

Captain America Reborn

To start, I just want to say that I read a good amount of comics if no one knew that. And I really do like Captain America the character and the book that bears his name. When he was killed a couple of years ago, I was sad, but dealt with it. Now, as he is coming back into the Marvel universe via “Captain America: Reborn” I am sadder than I was before, and not because of his death, but because instead of dying he was shot with a magical time bullet and got lost in time. I wish that there was a better rational for this, and *spoiler* Cap just got rescued from time and brought back to life, except with his arch nemesis, Red Skull, inhabiting his body. But a fucking time bullet? That is such unimaginable bullshit…of all the rationales they could have gone with to bring Steve Rogers back to life, they went with the “it wasn’t a real bullet, it was a time bullet” rationale? I am so infuriated by Ed Brubaker, an excellent writer, for going with this explanation without an ounce of irony about how ridiculous it is. And I fully grasp comic books and their ridiculousness: they’re comic books for god sake and shouldn’t be taken serious, but to go back and say that a character who was assassinated was actually shot with a bullet that got him lost in time is pushing the limits of what I will accept from a book. I will continue to read Captain’s stories because up until Reborn, they were brilliant tales of action and espionage, which is probably what made Marvel believe that they could get away with something that was so far “out there,” and that’s part of what is so infuriating. I know its bad and I should stop, but there is still that glimmer of hope that they title will get better eventually, and as long as the same creative team remains on it, I will be forced to keep reading, but really, fuck you Brubaker for doing this to the readers who don’t have a thumb stuck up their ass as they read the book. Side note, just to assure those of you out there who think he might’ve lost his mind, “Incognito” is still fucking fantastic whenever it comes out, which is rarely. So here’s to you Captain America for being so much. right up until you were shot with a time bullet. Gonna say it again: a time bullet that gets a person stuck in time. Time bullet.

Blade Opening Scene

The opening scene of BLADE isn’t perfect. There are shots that aren’t really good and some moments where the lighting continuity is just off, but the atmosphere set by the opening blood rave is amazing. I’m sorry, but the combination of blood coming down from the ceiling, the strobe light and the thumping techno just combine for this ridiculously cohesive moment of pure adrenaline that sets up this dark, sadomasochistic world where a wisecracking Wesley Snipes kicks vampire ass.

Mal arrives on Castle

Raphael Saadiq's "Staying in Love"

I once read a review that said that Saadiq's rhythm was off on this song. I would want to ask that critic if anyone cares?

James Franco gueststars on General hospital

So...This is the promo for James Franco on an upcoming arc of 'General Hospital.' Anyone tivo this?

Weezer Critics

Wow, so...I regress alot here apparently but I have just read multiple reviews for Weezer's new album "Raditude" and the reviews at their best say that the album is mediocre and at their worst they complain that it isn’t “Pinkerton.” Really? The reason you don’t like the album is because it isn’t “Pinkerton?” Dear god man, get out of your tight red jeans and take off your fake glasses, which I don’t care if they are just an accessory, make you look like a douche bag, and realize that Weezer as a band has become a pop music band that is still a whole lot better than most of the pop charts. The fact that they still play their own instruments and write their own songs is almost enough for me to just like them for doing that, regardless of the quality of their music. The fact that most of the songs on the album are fairly comprehensible and tolerable is an added bonus. So yes, Rivers Cuomo isn’t as witty and subversive as he used to be when you were in high school in the mid 90s, but I cant help but laugh openly at the ridiculousness of the Jermaine Dupri and Lil’ Wayne collaboration ‘Can’t Stop Partying’ which is like Rivers playing a joke on the two hip-hop acts, pointing out just how ludicrous their genre’s mainstream has become. I like that song for that reason, not because it’s actually a good song mind you. And for the most part, fuck, I like it. It’s better than “Make Believe” and it’s going to be something that I won’t delete and lose the disk on purpose like I did with “The Red Album.” And as funny as ‘Pork and Beans’ is, it’s still not elitist rock like the first two disks were. And I love those two albums, don’t get me wrong, but it’s true that they are smart rock n roll, while “Raditude” is less smart pop rock. There’s no edge or anything challenging about them, but I don’t hate something for being overeasily accessible. I like the new album. There, ‘nuff said. Haha, I can’t believe I said ‘nuff said and actually meant it to some degree. Seriously though, I like it for the right reason and it seems many people don’t like it for the wrong reason of comparing it to their other works. Doing that loses the fact that artists change, and we as listeners, should try it sometimes to. If it wasn’t for that, my dad wouldn’t like anything made after Jackson Brown in the 70s.

Staples Center Collapses and Kills the Clippers

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game


This shit had me cracking up...those poor fans

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil Trailer

An extended trailer of a horror comedy with the guy from Reaper and the always fantastic Alan Tudyk. The film is about two hillbillies in the woods who get mistaken for psycho killers by college students on vacation. Looks pretty god damned hysterical.

Christopher Walker reads 'Poker Face' by Lady Gaga

Bobby Brown and MIke Tyson sing "monster mash"

hoobastank does ghostbusters

i really don't think that i've heard the name hoobastank since middle school, but i saw this and had to throw it up because ghostbusters is an amazing movie and this is a pretty damn good version. i wanna say its as good as a cover can get by not totally doing "their interpretation" and fucking it up like so many usually do.

Nothing new, but some odd music stuff and what I've seen.

So...haven't seen a movie in a while but realize that it's been a few months since I've put anything up so I figured I would just write anything to say that I haven't been slacking. Even though I most certainly have been slacking. Lotta music stuff going on lately though. New Lil' Wayne dropped the other day and it's mostly autotune free and he raps and that's pretty enjoyable, although no where as exciting as Dedication 2 was the first time I heard this frog voiced kid who did "the block is hot" tear down other peoples beats. Also, Mike Posner put out a free mixtape that leaked early for no apparent reason but it's really damn good stuff. As for movie stuff, I just saw 'Scream' for the first time in a while and it really is just such a tightly wound satire of horror movies that scares pretty good on it's own, still after all these years. Jamie Kennedy's best work by far. Gotta go out and find the other 2 before Halloween on Saturday...Oh man! I also finally saw Righteous Kill, the Deniro/Pacino cop movie and it's one of the most depressingly bad movies I've seen in a while. I usually love those terrible cop movies but not if it has multi-oscar winners in the lead. And a pretty amazingly good cast around them, but there are some scripts that even the actors couldn't salvage. Also saw 'Fired Up' which, other than the always good Eric Christian Olsen, was way below my already bottom feeding expectations. ECO is actually who I have as one of the character's in teh feature I'm working on now. For some reason, he's just funny in everything, like a younger Bill Murray who played more video games and did slightly different drugs. Did see 'Zombieland' twice...liked that flick a whole lot. the opposite of 'Righteous Kill' in that the simple concept and fairly straight forward cast is rescued from potential crap by just being really smarter than it should be. So that's all I got for now...good thing I don't post often enough to get someone writing me about how I've lost my journalistic integrity over this shit. If you do read this though, on a serious note, make a comment if you think I should just start posting more random things I find. I'm getting tired of posting it all on facebook. How much integrity do I have in regards to being a strictly "movie review" site. Peace, I'm out like Murph.

Harry Potter for a Minute and Something completely different

A disclaimer: this is not a review of Harry Potter. I saw the film yesterday (opening day) and it was pretty good. Except for some changes from the book that I found unnecessary and an extra helping of teen hormonal issues, the movie was a lot of fun and probably the best to look at technically. And for some reason, the score was great. It is most unfourtunate though that Ginny Weasley is a good chunk of height taller than Harry at this point. Oh well…What I am actually writing about though is a quick, 2 moments that I have had in the last week. While listening to the radio, I have found myself nodding along to and enjoying songs by unknown artists. When I finally looked down to see what the songs were I saw that they were in fact a Nickleback song and a Black Eyed Peas song called “I Gotta Feeling.” I wanted to make a confession that as soon as I saw the artists for this songs, I changed the radio then looked around at the other cars to make sure no one had caught me listening. But then I realized that neither of the songs sound anything like the artists previous work. So I wanted to tip my metaphorical sombrero to NIckleback and Will.I.am for changing up their styles and tricking me into almost enjoying their stuff for a matter of moments. It was fun while it lasted, but then their past histories of trash, garbage and utter pieces of shit that passed for previous work came to mind and I felt like I was infront of a crowd holding my dick. So with that, I have to go to work.

p.s. this is my 50th post on the site, so if you want to send me a present, I would accept it

Public Enemies

There really isn’t any reason a Michael Mann directed John Dillinger biopic starring Johnny Depp should be boring at all. It just shouldn’t happen. But Public Enemies, for some reason, is dull. The actors and everyone involved has outstanding chops and while the film does spend a good portion of the time focused on Christian Bale’s straight laced company man Melvin Purvis, there is no exposition into what makes this man tick. So Depp as Dillinger is really the only character in the film with any heart at all. None of the characters backgrounds is really explored but Depp is able to convey the motivations of Dillinger simply with an upturn of the lip or the raise of an eyebrow. Bale on the other hand is so stern and straight-laced, he really forced me to be dragged along with his storyline. The subplot about how Dillinger’s crime spree gave J. Edgar Hoover enough sway to really turn the F.B.I. into a juggernaut should be given its own movie, because there was obviously a lot that went on with Hoover, one of history’s most interesting characters, but all we see in this film is him looking angry that his agents aren’t catching enough high profile bad guys.
The film runs about two and a half hours, but instead of being an indepth look into the world of one of the greatest bad guys ever, it seems to drift along as the cops just keep messing up while the cool anti-hero skirts along to his next hiding spot. If the film was 90 minutes and more of a ‘run of the mill’ summer action film, it wouldn’t be very good or satisfying, but at least there would have been a set direction. The opening jailbreak scene, where Dillinger busts the rest of his friends out of jail is riveting, with huge shots of men with Tommy Guns shooting at the guards in towers, running across a dessert and the crisp sound of bullets flying, whizzing around. But after the men reach their hideout, the film slows down to a crawl. The three or four shootouts that actually are in the film are incredible, probably the best shootouts since maybe Heat. But once the fight is over and the gangsters get away, the film goes back to scenes of Bale looking stern, Hoover looking angry and Depp smirking with a beautiful Marion Cottilard on his side.
The character of Dillinger isn’t presented as a good guy in any way though, which is a good thing. He tries to show redeemable aspects in his loyalty to his friends and when he returns the money to bank patrons, but he even says that this is just so that the public will like him in the paper. But while he does nothing but steal and kill, the way that he goes about his life on the run really makes the audience care for his well being. The poor upbringing and the true believe in all things American are such simple things that allowed for a connection to the character that the rest of the people in the film fall by the wayside. And maybe Dillinger wasn’t really that exciting, which would explain the films boringness, but the way that Depp is able to show the soul of the man who really just wants a pretty girl, a Tommy gun, a nice suit and a fast car is a fascinating look into criminal life in the depression. The only other person who really has their good moments is Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson, but he’s just crazy, but he makes crazy fun. And in a film devoid of fun moments, it’s a nice change of pace.
So to summarize, in an era of all kinds of sensationalized legends of crime, Public Enemies tries to bring the real story to the screen and I don’t know enough history to say whether its right or wrong, but it sure isn’t as exciting and compelling as the stories would have had anyone believe. If it wasn’t for Depp simply being fantastic and making the audience love a man without redemption, this film would have been really hard to watch. But since Purvis has his own story to be told, no matter how void of anything worth seeing it is, Depp doesn’t nearly have enough screen time in this epic to make the films entire runtime worth while. I want to say I liked it, but there was just so much lacking in terms of a driving story, compelling characters and quantity of the excellent action sequences to make me recommend the film to anyone else out there.