pt.2 on CT's war on MASS is coming i guess, im lazy.
anyways i was driving home from work today and i heard a ACOUSTIC GUITAR RECREATION OF EAZY-E's BOYZ In DA HOOD! This was on Radio 104.1 the subject of the previous post.
I really enjoyed the cover, but at the same time I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I understand it is ironic and funny to have a rock version of one of the most HARDCORE GANGSTER RAP songs EVER but it just feels weird to me that white boys being derogatory and violent and misogynistic is alright and acceptable but not the rap music it is based on. Of course, it is completely justifiable that the radio station chose to play this cover song and not the original because it was MUCH MORE in tune with it's rock format. Still, it adds to the weirdness i feel in regards to station 104.1's treatment of rap music described in the post below.
Here is the cover version of the song: I'm sure you can find the real version on youtube too. Both are really good songs, I kind of enjoy this acoustic cover, all weirdness aside.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Connecticut Declares War on Mass. Pt.1
Okay, I was going to make a big deal about this story but I really think I don't know enough about the people involved to risk embellishing it ways that make it untrue to what really happened.
Back in the 1980s, Hartford had still not fallen as far into the gutter as it is situated right now. It was a time when we were still the insurance capital of the world and not Gotham city without a Batman. These two guys were working at the DECD in Hartford: Stuart Fitzpatrick (who i work with now) and this guy Tim. They were both coming out of UCONN (Tim a year older than Stuart) and were in their mid twenties in mid level positions. The DECD basically works under the Governors office and for the State of CT so they were a part of the executive branch of CT's state government.
Anyways one Friday night in 1986 these guys went down to a bar and had a couple drinks, apparently they were not wasted just a little juiced. Tim convinced Stuart that they should go back into the DECD and pull pranks on their coworkers. Stuart was very reulctant but Tim refused to take no as an anwser. Apparently he had been doing such things by himself some Friday nights and wanted Stuart in on the action. Tim's previous forways were much more minor but tonight the plan was to switch the exact composition of desks so one persons desk would suddenly be on another persons desk. Pretty stupid right, I guess even back in the 80s CT wasn't the most poppingest place to get down tonight.
Anyways, what really changed everything that night was that Tim found (aka jimmy opened their bosses drawer) the Governor's Seal. With that seal (and things have been changed now) you could basically make any press release/policy memo/proclamation and it would be official policy as far as the executive branch is legally able to make such policy. Now the argument is still ongoing on who first proposed the idea of what to do with the seal, Stuart maintains it was Tim's idea because he felt Mass deserved it after what the Red Sox (aka Buckner) did and that he wanted no part in the Seal. They composed a executive order proclaiming war on Massachusetts, thinking it was hilarious while they were doing it. Tim stamped the Governor's Seal on it and Stuart when as far as to put it in an envelope and write the address of the Governors office in Boston, all in a friendly game of oneupmanship to see who could take this prank to the brink and who would pull back first. However, they weren't stupid enough to send it because they would have got fired real quick, they just left it on Stuart's desk, in a letter tray with the intent of showing it to everyone in the office on Monday.
However, the story doesn't end there.
Part 2 will be up soon, this is way too much writing. blog posts should not be this long.
Back in the 1980s, Hartford had still not fallen as far into the gutter as it is situated right now. It was a time when we were still the insurance capital of the world and not Gotham city without a Batman. These two guys were working at the DECD in Hartford: Stuart Fitzpatrick (who i work with now) and this guy Tim. They were both coming out of UCONN (Tim a year older than Stuart) and were in their mid twenties in mid level positions. The DECD basically works under the Governors office and for the State of CT so they were a part of the executive branch of CT's state government.
Anyways one Friday night in 1986 these guys went down to a bar and had a couple drinks, apparently they were not wasted just a little juiced. Tim convinced Stuart that they should go back into the DECD and pull pranks on their coworkers. Stuart was very reulctant but Tim refused to take no as an anwser. Apparently he had been doing such things by himself some Friday nights and wanted Stuart in on the action. Tim's previous forways were much more minor but tonight the plan was to switch the exact composition of desks so one persons desk would suddenly be on another persons desk. Pretty stupid right, I guess even back in the 80s CT wasn't the most poppingest place to get down tonight.
Anyways, what really changed everything that night was that Tim found (aka jimmy opened their bosses drawer) the Governor's Seal. With that seal (and things have been changed now) you could basically make any press release/policy memo/proclamation and it would be official policy as far as the executive branch is legally able to make such policy. Now the argument is still ongoing on who first proposed the idea of what to do with the seal, Stuart maintains it was Tim's idea because he felt Mass deserved it after what the Red Sox (aka Buckner) did and that he wanted no part in the Seal. They composed a executive order proclaiming war on Massachusetts, thinking it was hilarious while they were doing it. Tim stamped the Governor's Seal on it and Stuart when as far as to put it in an envelope and write the address of the Governors office in Boston, all in a friendly game of oneupmanship to see who could take this prank to the brink and who would pull back first. However, they weren't stupid enough to send it because they would have got fired real quick, they just left it on Stuart's desk, in a letter tray with the intent of showing it to everyone in the office on Monday.
However, the story doesn't end there.
Part 2 will be up soon, this is way too much writing. blog posts should not be this long.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Is This Radio Racism?
104.1 is my new favorite radio station of the summer, along with hot 93.7 and the local NPR at 90.5 it is what i listen to when i'm driving too and from work or anywhere in between (take that you metro riding, hoof striding city dwellers!). It plays a variety of rockish music, mostly milder and alternative rock from the 80s, 90s, and of more recent times. Basically, most of the time, it plays good music.
Now this station is definitely a rock station but for some reason they play an abnormal amount of Beastie Boys, which is really the only rap they play. I know some people may think Beastie Boys are not strictly rap, but they mostly are. Almost all of their songs have hip hop drums even if some of their songs have electric guitar backing. I always thought it was weird that they played Beastie Boys, an all white rap group, and not Run DMC which is a very similar sounding all black rap group (if I was more educated on the subject and could confirm with fact my suspicions I would say that the Beastie Boys just straight up jacked Run DMC's style). However, I assuaged those fears by saying to myself that while the Beastie Boys were VERY similar to Run DMC they had a softer edge to their songs and more of a party attitude which could explain why they were played by 104.1 In addition, I had known the station to play one black artist in semi-regular rotation: Bob Marley. On top of that, I'm not positive but I think i remember them playing some Gorillaz songs WAYYY back a few months ago that included Obie Trice and De La Soul on feature spots. So no biggie right? This radio station is not racist....
That is until a couple nights ago when I heard them play "Jump Around" by House of Pain. This song is by an all white rap group from the early 1990s that definitley tries to mimic the hard edge, heavy bragging rhymes of other black rappers from the same period. The song, while catchy, can definitely get annoying and there are many songs from black hip hop artists that should be getting play on this station if "Jump Around" gets played. To be sure, the station doesn't play "Jump Around" or any rap all that often but still, if they think the style of rapping in "Jump Around" which is filled with anti cop and pro violence messages is okay to play and they play Beastie Boys all the time then they should definitley be playing Run DMC. I listen to the station constantly and I am totally disatisfied with their selection of hip hop.
I know this is a very minor disagreement, I still listen to 104.1 and enjoy their music but it's weird and selective choice of hip hop music does bug me. I always am bothered when they play the Beastie Boys, whose songs are usually good, because it reminds me that they give no spins to black rappers but white seems to be okay.
PEACEEE, NANNNDHISHHHhhhhhHH
Now this station is definitely a rock station but for some reason they play an abnormal amount of Beastie Boys, which is really the only rap they play. I know some people may think Beastie Boys are not strictly rap, but they mostly are. Almost all of their songs have hip hop drums even if some of their songs have electric guitar backing. I always thought it was weird that they played Beastie Boys, an all white rap group, and not Run DMC which is a very similar sounding all black rap group (if I was more educated on the subject and could confirm with fact my suspicions I would say that the Beastie Boys just straight up jacked Run DMC's style). However, I assuaged those fears by saying to myself that while the Beastie Boys were VERY similar to Run DMC they had a softer edge to their songs and more of a party attitude which could explain why they were played by 104.1 In addition, I had known the station to play one black artist in semi-regular rotation: Bob Marley. On top of that, I'm not positive but I think i remember them playing some Gorillaz songs WAYYY back a few months ago that included Obie Trice and De La Soul on feature spots. So no biggie right? This radio station is not racist....
That is until a couple nights ago when I heard them play "Jump Around" by House of Pain. This song is by an all white rap group from the early 1990s that definitley tries to mimic the hard edge, heavy bragging rhymes of other black rappers from the same period. The song, while catchy, can definitely get annoying and there are many songs from black hip hop artists that should be getting play on this station if "Jump Around" gets played. To be sure, the station doesn't play "Jump Around" or any rap all that often but still, if they think the style of rapping in "Jump Around" which is filled with anti cop and pro violence messages is okay to play and they play Beastie Boys all the time then they should definitley be playing Run DMC. I listen to the station constantly and I am totally disatisfied with their selection of hip hop.
I know this is a very minor disagreement, I still listen to 104.1 and enjoy their music but it's weird and selective choice of hip hop music does bug me. I always am bothered when they play the Beastie Boys, whose songs are usually good, because it reminds me that they give no spins to black rappers but white seems to be okay.
PEACEEE, NANNNDHISHHHhhhhhHH
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
MMMmmmm Soft Serve Ice Cream
I always had an affinity for soft-serve ice cream. Soft Serve is just so creamy and cold and it feels good to slush around in your mouth before swallowing in a pleasurable gulp. As a kid, it was great fun choosing from the many different flavors and toppings and styles to create a perfect soft serve mix. I definitely enjoy soft serve more than its hard counterpart. Regular ice cream is a lot colder when it hits your mouth and it sucks when your ice cream gets freezer burned. Well, I guess regular ice cream has an advantage in that almost no one has the equipment to make soft serve at home. In anycase, soft serve is apparently surging as a fine cuisine treat or so the New York Times would have you believe. I found this article interesting. If you like reading about food while hungry at work, or want to learn more about everyone's favorite delicious summertime treat THEN CLICK HERE.
Also, the post about CT's war with MA in 1986 is coming up real soon, I talked to the guy who told me the story and got it in a lot more detail but I'm not really supposed to talk about it so I'll have to change some names and some inconsequential details.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
WOOOOOOW
wow, this may be the coolest thing ever. At last weeks DECD picnic this guy I work with told me an amazing story. In 1986 Connecticut actually declared war on Massachusetts. It seriousley is the most amazing story, it may take me a couple of posts to tell the whole thing though. stay tuned im too busy right now to delve deep. peaceeeeeeeee
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What To Reveal While Marketing a Movie?
Warning: while not a review, the below might contain many immediate and explicit spoilers for the movie "Batman: The Dark Knight"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I first watched the new movie "The Dark Knight" I had no idea that Harvey Dent would turn into Two-Face midway through. I mean, I had considered the possibility. But, because of the marketing for the movie I had seen, I thought it was more likely they were setting him up as the villain for the third film. It was then a thrilling surprise for me when his Two Face persona became an integral part of the movie and I agree with the film makers that he added a much needed character development arch to "The Dark Knight".
After watching the film I felt compelled to go back and watch all the trailers I had deliberately chosen not to watch. You see, as some people know, once I decide I am going to watch a film I usually choose to not learn anything new about it. I do this because I believe that a movie becomes more enjoyable as more of it is discovered organically and not known before hand. In this case, the very first trailer was enough for me to decide I would watch this movie and I tried to stop watching any of the newer trailers.
I was surprised to see in the new trailers a very revealing 2 second clip of Harvey Dent with half his face being soaked in flammable gasoline. This basically let everyone know that Harvey would become Two Face. If I had seen it, it really would have made the movie less enjoyable for me. My first impressions after watching the movie was that the movie studio had struck a great balance in the way it marketed the film. I believed by not showing too much of Harvey Dent and focusing on the joker they enticed everyone to see the movie with Heath Ledgers sadistic and twisted performance while not revealing too much of the story.
I bet many producers and movie studio executives have an enormous stake in the success of their 100 million plus budget summer movies. It is no secret that most of these movies make (or lose) the majority of their investment back during the opening weekend. In addition, a lot of other decisions about a movies future financial success is decided by the considerable buzz generated by an impressive opening weekend. This includes merchandising, future dvd orders and dvd rental figures.
In light of all this, I guess the movie producers didn't care that much about holding back what happened to Harvey Dent because they probably knew it wouldn't stop people from seeing the film. If anything, it might have made people more excited. In addition, the obsessively dedicated fans of Batman (I am not one of those people) might have discovered this by themselves. However, what made me excited was the mystery around Harvey Dent. I could not tell while watching the film if he could be trusted and what they were going to do regarding his eventual transformation into Two Face. By revealing it, the movie studio has shown, in my mind, that I am correct in trying to avoid information about a movie. Most of the time movie studios can't be trusted in making sure all the surprises and crucial plot turns are left out of trailers and advertisements. I'm happy that I didn't see any of the newer trailers for The Dark Knight, it made the film that much more epic and enjoyable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I first watched the new movie "The Dark Knight" I had no idea that Harvey Dent would turn into Two-Face midway through. I mean, I had considered the possibility. But, because of the marketing for the movie I had seen, I thought it was more likely they were setting him up as the villain for the third film. It was then a thrilling surprise for me when his Two Face persona became an integral part of the movie and I agree with the film makers that he added a much needed character development arch to "The Dark Knight".
After watching the film I felt compelled to go back and watch all the trailers I had deliberately chosen not to watch. You see, as some people know, once I decide I am going to watch a film I usually choose to not learn anything new about it. I do this because I believe that a movie becomes more enjoyable as more of it is discovered organically and not known before hand. In this case, the very first trailer was enough for me to decide I would watch this movie and I tried to stop watching any of the newer trailers.
I was surprised to see in the new trailers a very revealing 2 second clip of Harvey Dent with half his face being soaked in flammable gasoline. This basically let everyone know that Harvey would become Two Face. If I had seen it, it really would have made the movie less enjoyable for me. My first impressions after watching the movie was that the movie studio had struck a great balance in the way it marketed the film. I believed by not showing too much of Harvey Dent and focusing on the joker they enticed everyone to see the movie with Heath Ledgers sadistic and twisted performance while not revealing too much of the story.
I bet many producers and movie studio executives have an enormous stake in the success of their 100 million plus budget summer movies. It is no secret that most of these movies make (or lose) the majority of their investment back during the opening weekend. In addition, a lot of other decisions about a movies future financial success is decided by the considerable buzz generated by an impressive opening weekend. This includes merchandising, future dvd orders and dvd rental figures.
In light of all this, I guess the movie producers didn't care that much about holding back what happened to Harvey Dent because they probably knew it wouldn't stop people from seeing the film. If anything, it might have made people more excited. In addition, the obsessively dedicated fans of Batman (I am not one of those people) might have discovered this by themselves. However, what made me excited was the mystery around Harvey Dent. I could not tell while watching the film if he could be trusted and what they were going to do regarding his eventual transformation into Two Face. By revealing it, the movie studio has shown, in my mind, that I am correct in trying to avoid information about a movie. Most of the time movie studios can't be trusted in making sure all the surprises and crucial plot turns are left out of trailers and advertisements. I'm happy that I didn't see any of the newer trailers for The Dark Knight, it made the film that much more epic and enjoyable.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Reader
Tonight after dinner, I ate a piece of left over cake from my parents 25th anniversary party. It has left me feeling a little too full for any evening exercise. Instead I wish to stretch out my sore, contracted muscles whose state is courtesy of yesterdays basketballing. However, I feel like I also need to stimulate my mind, in fact, stretching would be incredibly boring without any kind of mental activity. Also, I can't be left to my own thoughts, they can't be trusted (see: pressure washer incident). What I really want to do is read this new article at NewYorker.com about Obama. However, I can't adequately stretch and read this article at the same time. What I really would need is someone to read the whole 15 page article out loud for me as I stretch. I realized when I thought this how ridiculous that would be, hiring someone to read articles out loud for you as you do other things. However, I really would like to both stretch and be read to at the same time. I guess being extremely rich or having a caring girlfriend/wife would really come in handy right now. I really would feel bad making someone do such a task anyways, unless they too were interested in reading said article. In any case, I have neither read nor stretched but instead have written this blog post to explain my feelings to you, whoever you are, now reading this.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
QUAI-54 2008 Dunk Contest Review
preface: the idea of dunking as a sport is still confusing to many people because dunking is unmistakably linked to the sport of basketball. Dunking must be completely delinked to basketball, it must be thought of as a show sport and must be linked instead with similar style athletics like figure skating, gymnastics, and skateboard/bmx/motox competitions.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Guy Dupuy (first name pronounced Gee) has dominated French dunking for the last two years. He won the QUAI 54 dunk contest in 2006 and 2007 and in the same two years won France's most prestigous dunk contest: The French Professional League Allstar Dunk Contest (amateurs are allowed to enter the competition). He is a tall, lean 6'6" primarily 1 foot jumper who has amazed with many combinations of windmills, between the legs, and behind the backs done off lobs and while jumping over many people. Coming into this contest he had to be considered the favorite.
The other two participants included Marlon Jules and Kevin Kemp aka Golden Child. Marlon Jules is a veteran Slam Nation dunker who won Quai 54 in 2004. Since then, for whatever reason, he has not improved on his arsenal of dunks. In this years contest he did most of the dunks he was known for but must have been having a bad day because he missed some crucial dunks that would have given him a boost.
The last participant, Golden Child, is definitley a testament to the power of viral videos. He is an american brought in specifically for the Quai 54 dunk contest. Originally from Atlanta, he moved to the Washington State area and as a 16 year old starting taping for Bad Karma Streetball. His videos, posted on the internet, showed a small 6'1" man jumping so high his head was easily over the rim. This led to a trip to Romania to participate in the Stage 1 Streetball 3 on 3 tournament dunk contest and to Quai 54 2008. These happenings are interesting because they show that dunkers and dunking fans all over the world are becoming more aware of each other. Dunkers don't try and outdo the dunkers they meet in real life they now try and outdo the best dunks they see on the internet. This has led to more and more dunkers coming together across the globe for bigger dunk contest so the best of the best can meet each other in direct competition.
3 people for a dunk contest is a pitifully small number, but it doesn't matter because the real battle is just between Guy Dupuy and Golden Child, it is amazing to see two of the greatest talents come together on one court. Golden Child did end up winning the contest, unseating Guy as the reigning champion but it was an intense showdown. Guy did most of his most famous dunks with the exception of the lob behind the back, which he missed (not shown in the video). He floated through the air on his between the legs dunks, crushing them through the rim while still allowing for maximal extension and rotation. What may have stopped him from winning was his lack of new dunks. This almost seems too critical since Guy has already done so much innovation in regards to 1 foot dunking but his one new dunk this year, the off the back of the backboard between the legs was not so impressive because he caught the ball so low to the ground and got very little extension on it.
Golden Child was not perfect either, he needed several attemps to complete a lot of his dunks. However, he was in many ways a refreshing contrast to Guy's style. He is shorter at 6'1" and jumps off 2 feet instead of 1 so he shoots straight up in the air, and oh how does he shoot! The dunks he pulled out in the contest were both innovative and impressive in their difficulty. Had he manage to complete the 360 in between the legs dunk there is no doubt he would be the clear victor, but even missing it I give him the slight edge in this contest. He pulled out two new, amazing dunks: the between the legs over a person holding the ball in the air and the 360 behind the back. In addition, his 1 and 2 hand lob dunks where he caught the ball and smashed it into the ground with his body sky high in the air were incredible displays of athleticism.
Overall, this was a great contest between two great dunkers and I hope they meet again many times in the future.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Rooting for the Sponsors at Sporting Events
Random Commentary on The Events of My Life (Through The Television)
--------------------------------------
The grass is green and the sun is bright; on the court for his Wimbledon 2008 semifinal match is Rafael Nadal, the Spanish wunderkind of Tennis. After dominating the first set Nadal is struggling in the 2nd against opponent Rainer Shuttler (pronounced shitler) who manages to break his serve. Veteran commentator and former tennis great John McEnroe points out several times that Nadal's errors are caused by him slipping on the dry, worn out baseline grass of the Wimbledon center court. This is followed by several slow motion shots of Nadal's feet fumbling when running to make returns. Finally, while Nadal takes his traditional 3 hours before serving, NBC runs a close up sideshot on his sneakers. They are parted slightly with his front heel raised in the air as he puts slight pressure on his toes. The shot is reminiscent of many a shoe company advertisement and on the sneakers are two large, bold, emblazoned Nike Swooshes...
One can only imagine the Nike executives watching Breakfast at Wimbledon who spit out their morning coffee aghast at what has transpired. While nary a consumer bats an eye these executives have their whole morning ruined because of a 1 minute freeflowed segment needed to fill in the time between the end of one point and the start of the next. Who knows, but maybe Monday morning meetings are called over blackberries/iPhones/sidekicks to go over the terrible event and see if anything can be done to pressure NBC sports producers/broadcasters to stop similar future segments by threatening to move their advertisement dollars to more cooperative sporting events.
Several points afterwords Nadal's family, from the stands, threw him down another pair of sneakers and he went on to win the match. I'm sure Nike executives breathed a sigh of relief because Nadal was contractually obligated to strap on another pair of Nike's rather than the newest kicks off the Reebok line.
--------------------------------------
The grass is green and the sun is bright; on the court for his Wimbledon 2008 semifinal match is Rafael Nadal, the Spanish wunderkind of Tennis. After dominating the first set Nadal is struggling in the 2nd against opponent Rainer Shuttler (pronounced shitler) who manages to break his serve. Veteran commentator and former tennis great John McEnroe points out several times that Nadal's errors are caused by him slipping on the dry, worn out baseline grass of the Wimbledon center court. This is followed by several slow motion shots of Nadal's feet fumbling when running to make returns. Finally, while Nadal takes his traditional 3 hours before serving, NBC runs a close up sideshot on his sneakers. They are parted slightly with his front heel raised in the air as he puts slight pressure on his toes. The shot is reminiscent of many a shoe company advertisement and on the sneakers are two large, bold, emblazoned Nike Swooshes...
One can only imagine the Nike executives watching Breakfast at Wimbledon who spit out their morning coffee aghast at what has transpired. While nary a consumer bats an eye these executives have their whole morning ruined because of a 1 minute freeflowed segment needed to fill in the time between the end of one point and the start of the next. Who knows, but maybe Monday morning meetings are called over blackberries/iPhones/sidekicks to go over the terrible event and see if anything can be done to pressure NBC sports producers/broadcasters to stop similar future segments by threatening to move their advertisement dollars to more cooperative sporting events.
Several points afterwords Nadal's family, from the stands, threw him down another pair of sneakers and he went on to win the match. I'm sure Nike executives breathed a sigh of relief because Nadal was contractually obligated to strap on another pair of Nike's rather than the newest kicks off the Reebok line.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Review of "Hancock" starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron
Review of "Hancock"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I adore Will Smith almost to the point of homosexual love that's why it pains me to admit he is mortal and often his movies are not so good. As a child growing up watching Smith movies it was very easy to gloss over (or more likely, not even notice) the plot holes and other chicanery which I now so easily observe. "Hancock," which opened July 2nd, 2008 is a decidedly uneven film.
The movie offers a new and refreshing look at the superhero. Smith plays John Hancock a drunken, rude hero of the superman type who stops crime while creating an unbelievable amount of unnecessary property damage. The city he protects, Los Angeles, hates his drunken heroics and moreover the fact that no one can hold him accountable for his belligerent actions. Into this situation steps Jason Bateman playing Ray, a LA public relations man who can't get his idea to change the world off the ground. When Ray is saved from an oncoming train by Hancock he befriends the beleaguered superhero and offers him his services in an effort to boost his image. The rest of the movie, which stems from this initial setup begins well enough but then takes some crucial wrong turns.
It seems like this movie had a chance to develop into worthwhile fiction but something went terribly wrong in the Hollywood movie making machine. Traditionally, superhero films always have a villain that acts as a foil to the protagonist. In "Hancock" Smith, Bateman, and Theron are the main focus but they decided to tack on a villain anyways. However, they do it in such a stupid, absolutely nonsensical way that it totally derails the film. The villain, who has no superpowers except being termed a "criminal mastermind" and a "psychology major" is a one armed man (If Smith's old buddy Tommy Lee Jones had joined him in this picture it could have been Fugitive 3/US Marshalls 2) whose role in the movie seem so bogus its incredible.
Overall, the first half the movie presents an interesting character and situation; Hancock's destructive acts beg the viewer to consider how they would behave with godlike abilities and no one able to restrain them. Smith, Bateman, and Theron all perform wonderfully and that does help hold the movie together. Bateman especially gives Ray some real depth, traditionally in films PR men are looked upon in a negative light. However Bateman doesn't make Ray a vomit inducing do-gooder but rather plays him as a regular person, with good intentions, who sees Hancock as his opportunity to boost his career and maybe help him achieve his relateable desire to have some type of positive impact on the world.
The running time of the film is woefully short at 92 minutes and at the end of the first two acts the whole movie seems to be finished, with a resolution completely reached. This is where the film veers off in a weird and mystical direction in which we are told certain facts point blank and forced to accept them, the flow of the story is changed very quickly for the worse. Luckily, some good direction in the last sequences of the film makes it watchable but in the back of the mind you will always be thinking about how strange the story has become. The story in the 3rd act is just not that compelling, it felt stiff and the vague answers we are given to the mystery of Hancock's origin are incredibly unsatisfying. Maybe if the last act had more depth and there was more emotional interaction (i.e. dialogue not slow motion cries of anguish) between the 3 characters it could have worked better.
Lastly, it is a shame that even in 2008 a kiss between a white and black character has to be masked or hidden from the audience, I don't know why movie executives still feel mainstream America cannot handle such a ho hum occurrence. It either reflects badly on us or their perception of us. One final note, the epilogue of the film, which could have been sweet and touching is instead totally cornball and lame.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I adore Will Smith almost to the point of homosexual love that's why it pains me to admit he is mortal and often his movies are not so good. As a child growing up watching Smith movies it was very easy to gloss over (or more likely, not even notice) the plot holes and other chicanery which I now so easily observe. "Hancock," which opened July 2nd, 2008 is a decidedly uneven film.
The movie offers a new and refreshing look at the superhero. Smith plays John Hancock a drunken, rude hero of the superman type who stops crime while creating an unbelievable amount of unnecessary property damage. The city he protects, Los Angeles, hates his drunken heroics and moreover the fact that no one can hold him accountable for his belligerent actions. Into this situation steps Jason Bateman playing Ray, a LA public relations man who can't get his idea to change the world off the ground. When Ray is saved from an oncoming train by Hancock he befriends the beleaguered superhero and offers him his services in an effort to boost his image. The rest of the movie, which stems from this initial setup begins well enough but then takes some crucial wrong turns.
It seems like this movie had a chance to develop into worthwhile fiction but something went terribly wrong in the Hollywood movie making machine. Traditionally, superhero films always have a villain that acts as a foil to the protagonist. In "Hancock" Smith, Bateman, and Theron are the main focus but they decided to tack on a villain anyways. However, they do it in such a stupid, absolutely nonsensical way that it totally derails the film. The villain, who has no superpowers except being termed a "criminal mastermind" and a "psychology major" is a one armed man (If Smith's old buddy Tommy Lee Jones had joined him in this picture it could have been Fugitive 3/US Marshalls 2) whose role in the movie seem so bogus its incredible.
Overall, the first half the movie presents an interesting character and situation; Hancock's destructive acts beg the viewer to consider how they would behave with godlike abilities and no one able to restrain them. Smith, Bateman, and Theron all perform wonderfully and that does help hold the movie together. Bateman especially gives Ray some real depth, traditionally in films PR men are looked upon in a negative light. However Bateman doesn't make Ray a vomit inducing do-gooder but rather plays him as a regular person, with good intentions, who sees Hancock as his opportunity to boost his career and maybe help him achieve his relateable desire to have some type of positive impact on the world.
The running time of the film is woefully short at 92 minutes and at the end of the first two acts the whole movie seems to be finished, with a resolution completely reached. This is where the film veers off in a weird and mystical direction in which we are told certain facts point blank and forced to accept them, the flow of the story is changed very quickly for the worse. Luckily, some good direction in the last sequences of the film makes it watchable but in the back of the mind you will always be thinking about how strange the story has become. The story in the 3rd act is just not that compelling, it felt stiff and the vague answers we are given to the mystery of Hancock's origin are incredibly unsatisfying. Maybe if the last act had more depth and there was more emotional interaction (i.e. dialogue not slow motion cries of anguish) between the 3 characters it could have worked better.
Lastly, it is a shame that even in 2008 a kiss between a white and black character has to be masked or hidden from the audience, I don't know why movie executives still feel mainstream America cannot handle such a ho hum occurrence. It either reflects badly on us or their perception of us. One final note, the epilogue of the film, which could have been sweet and touching is instead totally cornball and lame.
Friday, July 4, 2008
New Wesbite and Talk about Human Specialization
You know, I wanted to create a website were people could view what I sometimes wrote down. Not a diary of my life but a place I could express my views and opinions and display my lame attempts at being witty. So I created "Kill Flanders" in the summer of 2007. From the top I wanted to design the site myself, I didn't want to have to bend to someone elses designs or become the user of someone elses service when I could do it myself. But my design sucked, it's not that I couldn't make a good design, I've created two professional websites before. However, a combination of laziness/lack of software made me not want to create anything actually appealing and instead left my little corner of cyberspace a plain, often badly formatted place that no one would want to visit, even myself.
It seems now that my focus has shifted, although not exclusively, to movie reviews (actually, my main focus is learning how to spell better lol) and I want to have a site where people would want to view my essays so now I'm at blogspot. I guess specialization can make us all better, sometimes. In this case, if I really cared about having a really cool looking, unique site than I would have/could have done it myself. Instead, I just want a place that is nicely formatted and makes viewing text easy so I have chosen to allow blogspot to host my posts. To be sure though, I am definitely going to create a back up of everything on my harddrive haha, far be it from me to completely trust them with my precious words.
Anyways, Instead of reposting every article I wrote in the past I will just link to the old site so if you want, you can peruse what i used to do.
www.geocities.com/nuchinab
2nd anyways, stick around true believers! In store for you if you come back will be irregular patterns of postings which would feature movie reviews, links/essays about things I find interesting, and almost assuredly: childish gossip.
PeACEEEeeeE,
Nandhish
It seems now that my focus has shifted, although not exclusively, to movie reviews (actually, my main focus is learning how to spell better lol) and I want to have a site where people would want to view my essays so now I'm at blogspot. I guess specialization can make us all better, sometimes. In this case, if I really cared about having a really cool looking, unique site than I would have/could have done it myself. Instead, I just want a place that is nicely formatted and makes viewing text easy so I have chosen to allow blogspot to host my posts. To be sure though, I am definitely going to create a back up of everything on my harddrive haha, far be it from me to completely trust them with my precious words.
Anyways, Instead of reposting every article I wrote in the past I will just link to the old site so if you want, you can peruse what i used to do.
www.geocities.com/nuchinab
2nd anyways, stick around true believers! In store for you if you come back will be irregular patterns of postings which would feature movie reviews, links/essays about things I find interesting, and almost assuredly: childish gossip.
PeACEEEeeeE,
Nandhish
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)