If someone reliable could tell me when in the future films would become solely based on finances it’d certainly save me the hassle of looking up articles on the Internet. If someone told me it would be next week I wouldn’t be shocked in the least since in it’s current state it’s just about at the point where it’s not about telling a story but a good way to rope in a few thousand people and scam them out of $10 because Will Smith pretends to act (I’ll get into that in just a moment.) As an up and coming independent film maker I have many issues of how things are dealt with in Hollyweird. To rattle of several quick ones — planning sequels months prior to the film’s release (it’s a half-cocked gesture mostly from the studios and regardless of how good you think it is or how profitable you believe it will become you must keep in mind the judgment of the public will have the real say), the MPAA and their rating system and advertising standards, 20th Century Fox (I’ll get into them later as well), studios pushing for PG-13 ratings for a wider audience (I don’t care what educational background you have but to try and make “Punisher: War Zone” PG-13 because “The Dark Knight” conveniently was and made a shit-ton of money doesn’t make it just. How can you make a man’s head exploding soft-core?), and painful “actors”. Let’s break it down, kids.
In case you haven’t noticed that for the last several years 20th Century Fox has prowled on modern celluloid like a drunk man in a bar or a 13 year-old white kid from Iowa who thinks he’s black, they think showing their cock will win affection. Wrong. Lately they’ve really been pouring gas on themselves. The bigger stunt recently is their lawsuit against Warner Bros. over upcoming comic book movie “Watchmen”. The studio claimed that Warner Bros. didn’t hold the rights to make the Alan Moore graphic novel or at least distribute the picture, never minding the fact that Warner Bros. owns DC Comics/Vertigo for which the graphic novel resides on. So now they are currently in a legal battle to do either one of two things — make it so that Fox is the distributor (which can only mean they will ghastly edit the movie into a mind-numbing 90-minute feature that contains only the parts where there is fighting and shit blowing up with no intellectual transition) or to completely wipe the movie’s release date off the calendar completely, never releasing it. Though luckily given that the justice system moves about as fast as tree sap downhill in the winter the trial may not actually begin until January of 2009, a mere two months before it’s slated release date. Given that Fox has a tendency to shoot their wad like they know what they’re doing chances are (this is at least wishful thinking) the case will rule in Warner Bros.’s favor.
Another valid point that Fox has no idea what they are doing to tell a story visually is going around the creators to have it your way. This is unprofessional and also a dick move. One instance stated in the following article is on the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” which tells the tale of how Wolverine came to be (Weapon X program, scrapes with Sabertooth, etc.) and needless to say a very dark tale which requires seemingly dark environments. One such environment was changed without the director’s knowledge. What called for something “dark, dinghy and somber” was changed to something less depressing with lighter colors and cleaner textures. Now if in the correct fashion this can work in favor but unless you’re doing some “One Hour Photo”/”American Psycho” clean-looking thriller then you are a pussy of a film maker. Changing a set’s design to something more cheery (a colorful euphemism) is almost a denial of reality itself, thinking it can’t be this dark and disgusting when in truth it can be because it fucking is! You can’t cover a bald Kevin Spacey in Laffy Taffy and believe he just killed Brad Pitt’s girlfriend (if you can, please lower your dosage.)
Changing lanes here — YOU CAN’T PUT WILL SMITH IN EVERYTHING! Okay, chances are I’m blaspheming here but you know what I have to say this, why should I really give a shit about a movie because Will Smith is in it? Because conveniently 98% of the movies he’s done have raked in billions? Will Smith isn’t that fantastic an actor. His barometer for character ranges from a good guy who says “fuck” a lot to a good guy who doesn’t say “fuck” at all. Occasionally he’ll mix it up and have the good guy be a bit of a dick or an arrogant douche but for the love of God just knock it off. It doesn’t matter how fantastic he seems you can’t cast him as “The Karate Kid” or Captain America, it’s wrong on every level imaginable to the sane. If I could ever afford his salary for a movie I’d have him play a serial killer who hardly speaks just to break the mold, and when he does speak it’s in a strange language. To help illustrate my point, whenever I see a movie that has Will Smith in it I know it’s Will Smith, I can’t believe he’s anyone else. I can believe Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Trent Reznik, I can believe Josh Hartnett as Slevin Kelevra and The Salesman, but you throw Will Smith into a role I’m gonna know it’s him regardless. Captain Hillard, Muhammad Ali, Jesus Christ, I’ll only think, “Oh, hey, Will Smith.” You may think I’m daft for uttering or even thinking such a thing but I’ve heard a similar tear about Christopher Walken and look at his fucking acting skills. (Inside joke: 111th biopic on Andy Warhol starring Chris Walken.)
A couple other mini-rants. If you’ve never been to Massachusetts or talked to someone from there for more than 20 minutes then it’s news to you that often people from their have a habit of shooting their mouth off. Mark Wahlberg is from Massachusetts, so for him saying that Max Payne could take down Batman in hand-to-hand combat makes sense coming from him but is ghastly offensive to the point where if I saw him in a pub I would shatter the closest bottle near me and jab it into his eye socket. First of all the two characters are miles apart, Payne wants revenge for his wife’s death while Bruce Wayne/Batman wants justice for them and others. And also dropping the obvious factor to play in, he’s fucking Batman. Imagine if you will a man standing before an expert martial artist who is performing a series of moves for intimidation and Joe Guy takes him down by jabbing him in the throat. And in the interview where he made this claim he mentioned it was strictly in the matter of fisticuffs, not the box office which shows even more delusion since if you’ve seen any previews for “Max Payne” you’d know that Fox has ruined another video game on the big screen. Well kids I’m putting out the ashes for now. My next piece will detail the new releases of Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” and Nine Inch Nails’ “The Slip”, and how the two contrast each other. See you on the other side, keep it sketchy.
This guy is AWESOME! Amy might not agree (and my apologies for ganking your series title for this) but I have to say that this is some of the most amusing and amazing nerd rap I’ve heard in a while. Why is it nerd rap? Well, watch for yourself.
Ignoring his awkward posing, this is by far the best lyrical treatment I could think of to describe the role of design in SEO. Everything he puts forth here is exactly correct, from clear navigation, use of standards, browser testing, and a clear call to action.
The SEO Rapper has it right, and even though you may feel like this is perhaps in the same league as the anti-drug rapping of the 80s-90s (yo yo, kids don’t do drugs, stay in schoo’, be respec-ful of your parents, ’cause no one likes a fool!), those who are new to the whole “SEO” thing might want to pay attention. For those who have had an education on the subject already, you’ll definitely get a kick out of this approach to the core concepts of search marketing.
Props to antifuchs in #ectomo for pointing this out to me.
I just signed up for Mixwit! The interface for this “mix tape” making web app is a joy to work with. I can’t wait to get some of my other cohorts in on this, because I’d like to make this a regular blog feature. I have always enjoyed making mix tapes and cds for friends. It was always a very involved and heartfelt process. There’s something about music that speaks directly to the heart, and sharing your favorite music is a really good way to give people insight into who you are and how you think. (Which is why differences in music are so often dealbreakers in otherwise perfectly legit relationships, I think. Although I know that it’s not always the case. You’re a lil bit country, I’m a lil bit rock’n'roll, etc etc.)
In an attempt to add some much needed variety to the image macro or LOL image market, one website has risen to the task with a remarkable strategy that not only takes on the image macro concept as a whole, but also makes fun of Vanilla Ice at the same time. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like making fun of Vanilla Ice (except maybe Vanilla Ice himself)?
WordToYour.com is an image macro blog dedicated to delivering the absolute most ridiculous photos of humans, animals, and situations possible.
Although the site has posts dating back to August of 2007, there is no generator for the “word to your” captioning. In order to have your photographic and captioning genius displayed on the site, you need to email the proprietor at wordtoyour A gmail.com (where A is for at, children!). On the one hand, this seems relatively slow and tedious in this faced paced world of caption generators and photo hosting sites. I mean, if I can’t take an embarassing photo of my friend’s child eating out of the cat’s dish with my cell phone, upload it to Flickr instantly, and then slap a caption of malformed english on it within five minutes, then what good is even trying, right?
Well, I for one am of the school of thought that not everyone’s adorable little furball (that broad discription includes children as well, FYI) is worthy of captioning in the first place. Just look at icanhascheezburger. They found a great niche in the cat macro, and suddenly everybody’s 50 year old aunt thought their widdle kiddums was just hilarious enough to be famous on the internet. (Exhibit A)
So, if it takes a bit longer to get the photos captioned, and up, then there is a possibility that only the worthy will survive. WordToYour.com has done a pretty awesome job so far. I read through the entire archive and aside from being utterly horrified once or twice (Exhibit B), I definitely lol’d quite a few times.
Obviously it’s subject to interpretation, personal preferences, and that lot, but I submit that the short, sweet “Word to your protective glass!” captures the inherant ha-ha value of the image far better than the much longer caption as seen from ICHCB.
I strongly recommend visiting WordToYour.com. After all, it’s about damn time for someone else to piss in the memepool.
J-Dilla, also known as Jay Dee, is widely regarded in the hip-hop community to be one of the most innovative producers ever to grace the turntables. Known as a “producer’s producer,” Dilla’s work was so highly esteemed that many of the biggest and most important names in hip-hop (like Common, Talib Kweli, ?uestlove, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest and Madlib) looked to him not only for inspiration, but for actual production work on what ended up being some of their most accomplished albums to date.
J-Dilla was also one of the first to release entire albums of sample-heavy, instrumental work, which incidentally is how he ended up collaborating with another master of the genre: Madlib. Madlib had been extremely impressed with Dilla’s innovative style and couldn’t help himself but to play with some beats for inspiration. The compliment didn’t escape Dilla and this initial meeting led to the creation of the now somewhat legendary JayLib.
Part of what makes their album, Champion Sound (2003), so distinctive stems from the way it was recorded. The duo met only once during the making, and the rest of the album was recorded by sending beats and vocals back and fourth. The collaboration ended with half of the album consisting of Dilla beats with Madlib’s vocals and the other half Madlib beats with Dilla’s vocals. I hesitate to call the final vibe earthy but for lack of a better word, it does feel somewhat organic in that there is nothing forced about the way these two artists blend their individual styles.
Dilla was a pioneer in blending hip-hop with a kind of neo-soul music that brought to life both genres and infused the result with a little bit of jazz, funk and a personal touch that can only be described as heart.
I think I mentioned once before that I’m not dreadfully astute when it comes to the world of hip-hop, mainstream, underground, or otherwise. I fibbed a little there. I am a budding fan of what’s been dubbed as “nerdcore”. While I’m sure anyone familiar with nerdcore has heard the name MC Chris (and possibly controversy surrounding his involvement with the term/movement nerdcore), I’m not as sure you’ve heard this spacey, minimalist remix of his better known track: Fett’s ‘Vette. N8ur also did a pretty sweet job remixing MC Chris’ Tractor Beam.
For more on MC Chris, check out his Slashdot interview, or really any of the resources listed at the bottom of the wiki page. Also, be sure to let n8ur know what you think of the remixes!
You’ll you either love or hate Atmosphere. As it’s known today, the group consists of producer Anthony Davis and lyricist Sean Daily or “Slug.” The moniker is telling in that his lyrics often center on a Dave Eggers’ like self-awareness that generally morphs not so subtly into a masochism with which we’re all familiar. The music is grimy, emotional and very real.
A self-described “white boy from Minnesota,” you won’t hear Slug rhyming about any ghettoes or hard-knocks. Rather he’ll speak to you about heartbreak and self-loathing in a way that often hits a little too close to home. The melodic but sometimes raw-edged beats make the perfect complement in that they evoke a broken emotional state infused with a touch of self-conscious irony.
I realize that, thus far, I’ve given you little reason to want to subject yourself to his sometimes wrenching commentary, and the more I think about it, I’ve got little to say on that topic except: Trust Me.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (um, that’s true only if you’re as emotionally fragile as I am) you’ll crank it up and let Slug articulate all the bullshit that you can’t seem to get out. (”All she wanted was a little bit of solid.”) Okay, well, this is getting a little personal here; but I guess that speaks to exactly why I love Atmosphere so much. Slug reminds me of a particular ex-boyfriend: drunk, manipulative but oh so soulful. [And everyone in his life would mistake it as love.]
Some of my favorite lyrics:
Fuck You Lucy:
And I travel with feels so I can deal with touch/ It’s like that/ Thank you very much/ Fuck you very much/ And everyone in his life would mistake it as love.
Little Man:
I know there’s gotta be something kickin’ your bruises/ How’s the love? How’s the music? How’s the self-abusiveness?
A girl named Hope:
And that’s the sound that a dog will make /When he’s just been hit by a car.
The Woman With The Tattooed Hands:
There’s good and evil in each individual fire/ identifies needs and feeds our desires/ as long as we keep our spirit inspired/ she can bite her bottom lip all she wants.
My favorite albums are: God Loves Ugly, Seven’s Travels and You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. Check them out!
This guy is a genius. He’s a musical prodigy. He’s got more than 13 aliases, each allowing for a metamorphosis of character and style that is stunning in its diversity. He’s a composer, a drummer, a DJ, a jazz musician, a beat-maker, a lyricist, a producer and one of the most original minds in music, not just today, but ever. In 2003 he told Mugshot Magazine that he considers himself a “DJ first, producer second and MC last,” but in limiting himself to those three categories he is either extremely modest, self-deluded, or high as shit.
While he might be most well known for his quirky pseudonym, Quasimoto, this funky and often psychedelic form of hip-hop does not even begin to define Madlib’s complicated aesthetic. Of course, that might be because Madlib’s aesthetic defies definition. It is a relative abstraction based on the character he is embodying, and is anything but static. The son of a jazz and soul musician, Madlib has been a pioneer in blending the genres with an understated hip-hop that is a fresh take on all three.
Search for Yesterday’s New Quintet, The Beat Konducta, Quasimoto, DJ Rels, Ahmad Miller, Monk Hughes, Malik Flavors, Joe Mcdurphy, Monk Hughes and the Outer Realm, The Joe McDurphy Experience or Astro Black and all will bring you back to Otis Jackson Jr.- Madlib.
From 2002’s “Blunted in the Bomb-shelter,” a remixed dub of old reggae beats infused with a touch of ska, to 2004’s “Madvillany,” a collaboration with another bizarre genius of sorts, MF DOOM, Madlib is well recognized within the hip-hop community to be an innovator in changing the way we think of the genre.
Check out: Mind Fusion Vols. 1-3, Blunted in the Bomb-shelter, Beat Konducta Vols. 1-4 (India, his most recent, is a subtle fusion of traditional Indian music with modern beat-making techniques), Yesterday’s New Quintet and Sound Directions: The Funky Side of Life, for just a taste of what this guy’s got up his sleeve.
Blender magazine recently named rapper Common #36 on its “The 40 Worst Lyricists in Rock.” Not that Blender ever held much credibility for me, but this atrocity is enough to discount anything the magazine will ever say again. Among others included on this list: Jim Morrison in at #10, Ian Anderson at #18, Robert Plant at #23, KRS-One at #25, Paul McCartney at #38 and Billy Corgan ranking in at #39.
I get it. Oohh how controversial of you Blender. Their rationale for naming Common #36: “Never Trust a Rapper in a Sweater Vest.” Because, that’s what we judge musical quality on these days. Let’s be serious for a minute here: a sweater vest? Who does this guy think he is? Black people aren’t supposed to wear sweater vests! Why, Common’s just a white guy in blackface!
Now I get it.
Poor disillusioned Blender. As proof of Common’s “earnest neo-soul thoughts,” they quote his “worst lyric ever” from the track “Making a Name for Ourselves.” It’s a fun, upbeat track and somewhat removed from most of what Common generally raps about. The verse, “I’m your worst nightmare squared/That’s double for niggas who ain’t mathematically aware,” does not necessarily evoke the “earnest neo-soul thoughts” they seem to have a problem with. Way to back up your claims, guys. Worse still: The verse happens to be split between Common and Canibus, who is the guest rapper on the track. If you’re going to make bogus, unfounded claims, at least get your bullshit straight.
This crap got me thinking. There are so many voices in hip-hop that are underrated, misunderstood or simply unknown. Now, I’m not saying that Common is any of the above. He’s won numerous awards for his music and lyricism. He’s pretty mainstream and certainly well loved. But I’m sick of real hip-hop (No Lil’ Bow Wow here) not getting the credit it deserves in the musical world. I don’t purport to be an expert on the genre. Not even close. However, I love hip-hop. I want to share some of my favorites with the hope that you’ll [ignore anything Blender Magazine ever has to say] check them out yourself.
Some kids play in the sandbox. We play in the.... litterbox??? The RKNet staff is pleased that you decided to stop by. Currently this is a multi-author project, with a rotating cast of totally kooky characters. Contact giania [at symbol] gmail [dot] com if you'd like to play here too.
