Almost Famous” (Directed by Cameron Crowe, 2000)
Patrick Fugit plays the young and quiet William Miller, crafted into a follower of his mother Elaine (Frances McDormand). McDormand plays the concerned mother whom we see push away her oldest child, Anita (Zoey Deschanel) to the breaking point. She “flies the nest” to become a flight stewardess and never looks back. While leaving home she leaves her brother with choice words, “One day you'll be cool. Look under your bed, it'll set you free.” The deer eyed William runs upstairs to find his future passion awaiting him, a stack of rock records.
Time passes and music has become a main staple in Miller’s life, following underground fanzines and improving his music collection. Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in a quirky first meeting becomes Miller’s mentor. He is immediately weary of him and quickly analyzes his motives and judges his surface. This paints Bangs as slightly chaotic person which renders spot-on to his real life translation. Miller begins writing reviews for Bangs and has his first task of covering a Black Sabbath Concert. In an overly naïve gesture, Miller attempts to get backstage to interview the band, falls short when he tells the door guy he writes for a magazine. He meets Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) outside the venue and immediately is enamored by her presence. He follows the opening band Stillwater in by gussying up to the band members and finds himself having the night of his life.
One day Miller receives a phone call from Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone Magazine whom saw his work at smaller level magazine. Miller immediately accepts and offers to cover Stillwater. His mother and Lester attempt to talk him out of it but the young Miller knows nothing else could catapult him to this level of success so quickly. He finally leaves town and joins the band and Penny Lane and friends to tour the states. He finds that the band is in total disarray. Sex and drug problems run rampant and his quiet disbelief is evidenced on his face.
The true words that can shape any critic come with a phone call to Bangs, “My advice to you. I know you think those guys are your friends. You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful.” Although you never see the thought process of Miller, you can see an underlying fear of letting his pals in Stillwater down. It brings you back to your teenage years just trying to fit in, but at a point you become your own person, and throw all the fakeness away. Miller paints the picture as it is for Rolling Stone, and the story get panned as the group denies every part of their antics on the road.
“Almost Famous” is a film about self exploration and finding your voice, a coming of age story with your mom in the background screaming for you to stay young. The film is made of the small moments that make you laugh hard and reminisce about the days you were lost as a teenager.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Teenage Dream Review
Katy Perry, “Teenage Dream” (Capitol)
Katy Perry is back with her second major studio album “Teenage Dream” a supposed more adult sound to her 2008 release, “One of the Boys”. Her album is a diary snapshot of her wacky paired relationship with shock comedian, Russell Brand and her overall party demeanor. It boasts a blend of pop, electronic rock, heavier than her previous album, particularly on the synth aspect.
The popular summer anthem “California Gurls” blared on every teenage girls’ IPod and beat up car stereo system. The bubbly and bright pop song featured an unusual fellow star, Snoop Dogg, also deems to be an apparent response to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys respective hometown anthem, “Empire State of Mind”. Memo to Katy Perry, you do not get as much “credit” as you think for having a rapper in your song.
The over synthesized electro pop “E.T.” makes her sound even more robotic if remotely possible. It stays true to its alien-esque title. She croons, “Wanna be a victim/Ready for abduction/Boy, you’re an alien/Your touch so foreign/Its supernatural/Extraterrestial.” Comparing love and sex to aliens is best left to James Cameron, although many may debate he may not even have a tight grasp on it himself.
The album title track and “retro pop” second single, “Teenage Dream”, is as strong as she appears to get. She strains her voice to covey the feelings of youthful bliss and love and immediately reminds you of your jittery awkward high school crushes.
The real bread winner in the bunch is the eclectic gay club staple “Peacock” were she not so coyly makes a play on words, “Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?/
Don't be a chicken boy, stop acting like a beeotch/Come on baby let me see/What you're hiding underneath/I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock/Your peacock, cock”. Utter shock may overcome you at this point, but let us not forget this queen also brought us “I Kissed a Girl”.
Katy Perry makes an attempt to make a deeper imprint on our youth and she definitely succeeds. The numbing and over produced songs make for perfect elevator music for the current pop-loving youth.
Katy Perry is back with her second major studio album “Teenage Dream” a supposed more adult sound to her 2008 release, “One of the Boys”. Her album is a diary snapshot of her wacky paired relationship with shock comedian, Russell Brand and her overall party demeanor. It boasts a blend of pop, electronic rock, heavier than her previous album, particularly on the synth aspect.
The popular summer anthem “California Gurls” blared on every teenage girls’ IPod and beat up car stereo system. The bubbly and bright pop song featured an unusual fellow star, Snoop Dogg, also deems to be an apparent response to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys respective hometown anthem, “Empire State of Mind”. Memo to Katy Perry, you do not get as much “credit” as you think for having a rapper in your song.
The over synthesized electro pop “E.T.” makes her sound even more robotic if remotely possible. It stays true to its alien-esque title. She croons, “Wanna be a victim/Ready for abduction/Boy, you’re an alien/Your touch so foreign/Its supernatural/Extraterrestial.” Comparing love and sex to aliens is best left to James Cameron, although many may debate he may not even have a tight grasp on it himself.
The album title track and “retro pop” second single, “Teenage Dream”, is as strong as she appears to get. She strains her voice to covey the feelings of youthful bliss and love and immediately reminds you of your jittery awkward high school crushes.
The real bread winner in the bunch is the eclectic gay club staple “Peacock” were she not so coyly makes a play on words, “Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?/
Don't be a chicken boy, stop acting like a beeotch/Come on baby let me see/What you're hiding underneath/I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock/Your peacock, cock”. Utter shock may overcome you at this point, but let us not forget this queen also brought us “I Kissed a Girl”.
Katy Perry makes an attempt to make a deeper imprint on our youth and she definitely succeeds. The numbing and over produced songs make for perfect elevator music for the current pop-loving youth.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Social Network Review
“The Social Network” (Directed by David Fincher, 2010)
“The Social Network” exposes us to the world of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) the most renown of the Facebook co-founders’ and youngest self-made Billionaire in the world. Considering Facebook boasts over 500 million users as of July, one would only assume that all of Hollywood and “friends” were abuzz with its release. The film, adapted by Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, follows the story of Mark Zuckerbergs calculated quick rise notoriety and fortune.
The film garnering a healthy amount of Oscar buzz brought me into the theatre with high expectations. The movie began with faced paced start with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) get into a dizzy tangent that ends abruptly when Eisenbergs character offends and belittles Rooneys status. This sets the tone for what to expect from the geeky yet overly narcissistic social network mastermind.
The film begins with the birth of the Facesmash, which stemmed from a late night binge on beer and coding, with help of close friend and co-Facebook founder, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Facesmash was a website that ranked female members of Harvard based on headshots. Facesmash ultimately crashes Harvard’s network and leads young Zuckerberg straight into the angry wrath of Harvard and their female population. He takes his creation with pride and the witty outbursts during his board hearing allow the audience to connect with his mechanical yet arrogant mind.
The Winklevoss twins played by Armie Hammer and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) stand to be the breakout roles of the cast. All members of the elite Porcellian club, they ask Mark if he would like to work on a website together that allows a user to make a profile and upload photos and information pertaining to them. After what appears to be some hesitation, Mark finally agrees. Mark then begins writing the coding for his first social networking site, Thefacebook. The movie begins to bring us in and out of litigations between Mark and his friend, Eduardo and peers, the Hammer twins and Narendra. The passion and tension breaks out as everyone done wrong by Mark get little to no recognition for their work put into the website. Eisenberg does well at holding back any emotion and plays the evil and smart villain to a T.
The movie took me on a rollercoaster and exposed me the “dirty” rise of Facebook. The discovery portion of the lawsuits allowed me to see just how much Zuckerbergs narcissism overtook his life. It is a story of greed and the mechanics behind Mark Zuckerbergs mind.
“The Social Network” exposes us to the world of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) the most renown of the Facebook co-founders’ and youngest self-made Billionaire in the world. Considering Facebook boasts over 500 million users as of July, one would only assume that all of Hollywood and “friends” were abuzz with its release. The film, adapted by Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, follows the story of Mark Zuckerbergs calculated quick rise notoriety and fortune.
The film garnering a healthy amount of Oscar buzz brought me into the theatre with high expectations. The movie began with faced paced start with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) get into a dizzy tangent that ends abruptly when Eisenbergs character offends and belittles Rooneys status. This sets the tone for what to expect from the geeky yet overly narcissistic social network mastermind.
The film begins with the birth of the Facesmash, which stemmed from a late night binge on beer and coding, with help of close friend and co-Facebook founder, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Facesmash was a website that ranked female members of Harvard based on headshots. Facesmash ultimately crashes Harvard’s network and leads young Zuckerberg straight into the angry wrath of Harvard and their female population. He takes his creation with pride and the witty outbursts during his board hearing allow the audience to connect with his mechanical yet arrogant mind.
The Winklevoss twins played by Armie Hammer and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) stand to be the breakout roles of the cast. All members of the elite Porcellian club, they ask Mark if he would like to work on a website together that allows a user to make a profile and upload photos and information pertaining to them. After what appears to be some hesitation, Mark finally agrees. Mark then begins writing the coding for his first social networking site, Thefacebook. The movie begins to bring us in and out of litigations between Mark and his friend, Eduardo and peers, the Hammer twins and Narendra. The passion and tension breaks out as everyone done wrong by Mark get little to no recognition for their work put into the website. Eisenberg does well at holding back any emotion and plays the evil and smart villain to a T.
The movie took me on a rollercoaster and exposed me the “dirty” rise of Facebook. The discovery portion of the lawsuits allowed me to see just how much Zuckerbergs narcissism overtook his life. It is a story of greed and the mechanics behind Mark Zuckerbergs mind.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Critical Condition
The newest generation expects everything for free...and they expect it fast. The new media and social networking rapid influx over the years has given everyone the power to review or critique movies, music, art and your range of kitchen products. The “roundtable” or literal chat room debate from professional print critics to a pseudonymous book blogger over what makes for a good critic, compensation in the digital vs. print world and combing through internet reviews was littered with good ideas and realizations.
Sam Jones it appears has made his online literary reviewing foray in late 2002, or at least, that is how far back his blog dates back to. It seems as though he has fallen off the blogging wagon, having only written two blog posts in 2010, perhaps after having an epiphany from Critical Condition. Further research finds he seems to be a more avid Twitter user, maybe 140 characters was more his style.
Sam Jones took me on an interesting rollercoaster while reading his logged responses. He first grabbed my attention during the harmonious conversation on passion driving a good and well rounded critic. The moderator, Kris Vire, questions where education fits into passion for reviewing. I feel like some of the critics take her comment for a critical assessment of someone whom is not formally educated or has further education after high school. Sam thinks a good critic must have a strong knowledge base of what they are reviewing, the field and the surrounding. He writes, “Formal education is probably not more important than passion, but knowledge of the medium you’re criticizing is.” I feel like he hits spot on point. A person who calls themselves a critic should be able to understand the foundation or core of what they are reviewing and not just in a formal sense, through reading and past experiences.
When the conversation turns to making a living off of critiquing Sam takes the standard business response, “The question is whether the market appreciates the editorial function enough to pay for it.” It brings me back to a previous line when he basically insinuates that maybe his hobby or passion is writing or critiquing yet he has not devoted his career to this, “And yet I know it’s a practical fact that someone who has devoted their career to this, at their best, will be far better than anything I can do.” It immediately made me feel disconnected from him, was he possibly one of these Joe Schmoes that wrote for the sake of writing because it was free and easy.
I think overall it was interesting to see how Sam responded to the conversation being one of the little guys that it is so easy to break down. Yet, I feel he barely made a blip in the conversation to really try and stand up for his online presence.
Sam Jones it appears has made his online literary reviewing foray in late 2002, or at least, that is how far back his blog dates back to. It seems as though he has fallen off the blogging wagon, having only written two blog posts in 2010, perhaps after having an epiphany from Critical Condition. Further research finds he seems to be a more avid Twitter user, maybe 140 characters was more his style.
Sam Jones took me on an interesting rollercoaster while reading his logged responses. He first grabbed my attention during the harmonious conversation on passion driving a good and well rounded critic. The moderator, Kris Vire, questions where education fits into passion for reviewing. I feel like some of the critics take her comment for a critical assessment of someone whom is not formally educated or has further education after high school. Sam thinks a good critic must have a strong knowledge base of what they are reviewing, the field and the surrounding. He writes, “Formal education is probably not more important than passion, but knowledge of the medium you’re criticizing is.” I feel like he hits spot on point. A person who calls themselves a critic should be able to understand the foundation or core of what they are reviewing and not just in a formal sense, through reading and past experiences.
When the conversation turns to making a living off of critiquing Sam takes the standard business response, “The question is whether the market appreciates the editorial function enough to pay for it.” It brings me back to a previous line when he basically insinuates that maybe his hobby or passion is writing or critiquing yet he has not devoted his career to this, “And yet I know it’s a practical fact that someone who has devoted their career to this, at their best, will be far better than anything I can do.” It immediately made me feel disconnected from him, was he possibly one of these Joe Schmoes that wrote for the sake of writing because it was free and easy.
I think overall it was interesting to see how Sam responded to the conversation being one of the little guys that it is so easy to break down. Yet, I feel he barely made a blip in the conversation to really try and stand up for his online presence.
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Good, The Bad, and The Mediocre: A Review of a Review
The daunting task of distinguishing between a good review and a not-so-good review haunted me until I finally began the search. How am I supposed to review a reviewer, having never done a review myself? I began to flip through popular musical blogs and world renowned newspapers and periodicals.
The first questionable review I stumbled upon was on the self pronounced, “Essential guide to independent music and beyond”, and otherwise known as Pitchfork. Ian Cohen’s review of Weezer’s latest “Hurley” album left me with a dry mouth. I was unable to discern on any accounts what the album even remotely sounded like, but alas I will breathe easily at night knowing that “Nobody is going to confuse this with 1990’s Weezer.” Cohen skims around the actual sound and dives straight into the lyrics which he does little to expound upon his disdain for:
“Smart Girls” is laughably half-assed, which is more that I can say about lyrics that lack so badly for any sort of detail that you could simply replace “Smart” in the title with “Dumb” or any other Adjective.”
This review was written for those in the know; Weezer’s closest admirers or their harshest critics. It seems as though Cohen went on a tangent about all the reasons he hates Weezer, including in his diatribe their record label and of course lyrics but never really delves into why it is not up to his level musically.
My second chosen review of a show comes from the New York Times. Jon Carmanica opens his review with a bit of angst and arrogance when he mentions the arena the artists have chosen, “For Jay-Z to inaugurate the new Yankee Stadium as a concert hall: uninteresting. Playing for tens of thousands of hometown fans: been there.” My head begins to spin only for the fact that I find myself seeking the relevance. The artist must own their stage and not let it overpower them, how many other stages can these artists play, and ultimately, if there is a demand to see these artists why not hit the big stage?
I was able to appreciate the remainder of Carmanica’s review because I felt like I could truly envision the show and the artists that hit the stage. Each guest bringing a different element to the show in which Carmanica brought their persona to life in a rather colloquial way.
“A telling moment during his set came when Eminem re-emerged, rather quietly, to perform their collaboration, “Renegade.” On record, it’s two titans squaring off, but here it felt like two giants conscious of each other’s space.”
I feel like this review went into all different aspects of watching a live show. I especially enjoyed the fact that there was historical dating mentioned with nearly every song. He took the time to parlay through every song and surprise guest
Weezer, “Hurley” (Epitaph, 2010)
Review by Ian Cohen of Pitchfork.com
Jay-Z and Eminem’s “Home and Home Tour” (Yankee Stadium, 1 E. 161st Street NY)
Review by Jon Carmanica of the New York Times
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