It's finally that wonderful time of year when the snow begins to melt, the leaves begin to come out on the trees, and you don't have to wear a coat every day. This is my favorite time of year--the time when you can comfortably wear t-shirts, flip flops, and cruise around with the windows rolled down and the radio as loud as possible. In that spirit, I wanted to share with you the songs I'll be listening to this March:
1. "Gamma Ray" (Beck) - From his latest release...just a fun song.
2. "Love Letter to Japan" (The Bird and the Bee) - I recently discovered this group...they have a unique sound and this is a pretty catchy song.
3. "That's Not My Name" (The Ting Tings) - No matter what her name is, I love this jam.
4. "Gives You Hell" (All-American Rejects) - We've all been here. A great f-you song.
5. "Chasing Pavements" (Adele) - Adele is a talented unique artist...this is the biggest single off her new release.
6. "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" (Robert Randolph and the Family Band) - Diva's mentioned this one before, but if this song doesn't put you in a good mood, nothing will.
7. "Viva La Vida" (Coldplay) - I heart Coldplay.
8. "Bang Bang" (K'naan f/ Adam Levine) - This is the free download on iTunes right now. I definitely recommend it.
9. "Good Life" (Kanye West) - You know I gotta include some Mr. West on my playlists. This is one of my favorites.
10. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (Digable Planets) - An oldie but a goodie.
11. "Just Like Me" (Jamie Foxx) - Jamie's lastest track...smooth vocals, nice beat, excellent song.
12. "I Love College" (Asher Roth) - This reminds me of the lamest white guy you know trying to do Jay-Z at the Karaoke bar. So I enjoy this tune quite a bit. :)
13. "Live Your Life" (T.I. f/ Rhianna) - I am a huge T.I. fan...this song has a good message.
14. "I'm On a Boat" (The Lonely Island f/ T-Pain) - You might remember this digital short on SNL. Andy Samberg and crew have put out an album with many of their songs...including D*** in a Box, Lazy Sunday, and Natalie Portman's rap from a couple seasons ago. If you're an SNL fan, this is a must-have.
Remember you can download all these songs from my iMix on iTunes...just search for Pop Culture Gospel. And Happy Cruising!!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
One Missed Call - One Movie I Wish I'd Missed
"One Missed Call" tells the story of Beth Raymond, a college student whose friends begin to mysteriously receive voice mails from the future recording the sounds of their impending deaths. She goes to the police, who think she's crazy, except for Det. Jack Andrews, whose sister has apparently met the same fate. They team up to figure out what the crap is going on. And then, in true horror movie fashion, Beth hears the creepy ringtone on her phone, and guess what? She's got a new voicemail.For a horror movie, this one was decent I guess. I was yelling "Don't open that door!", "Get out of there!", and "You stupid hussy, what are you thinking?", so I guess it was a successful scary movie. It reminded me a lot of "The Ring"...creepy little girls, using technology to kill people, and a pretty predictable plot. If you want to be sufficiently creeped out, it's a solid rental. Ed Burns and Shannyn Sossaman are both adequate in their roles.
Rating: Two angel wings!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Sign of the Times?
Last night, I received an interesting phone call. A representative from the production team of Feature Films for Families/F1 Films/Believe Pictures called to let me know that a new movie would be coming to theatres on Friday, The Velveteen Rabbit. If I were to commit to going to see the film this weekend, I would receive a coupon to purchase a free DVD from the production company (which I can only assume would be a movie called "Only the River Runs Free", the only other film listed on their site...great selection guys.).
It was an intriguing offer, and a new marketing strategy I hadn't seen before. But mostly I thought it was strange. Are smaller movie studios doing so badly that they have to practically bribe people to go see their films? If this is true, it's not a good sign for independent film, which makes me sad. These filmmakers are the true artists and visionaries of the film industry, and it's hard enough for them to eke out a living. I hope this is not the beginning of the end of these type movies, as some of my favorite movies were not produced by the bigger studios.
So, if you get a chance, go see The Velveteen Rabbit in theaters Friday. It's a great story, and you'll at least get a free DVD out of it. And consider it your quest to help keep these smaller studios alive.
It was an intriguing offer, and a new marketing strategy I hadn't seen before. But mostly I thought it was strange. Are smaller movie studios doing so badly that they have to practically bribe people to go see their films? If this is true, it's not a good sign for independent film, which makes me sad. These filmmakers are the true artists and visionaries of the film industry, and it's hard enough for them to eke out a living. I hope this is not the beginning of the end of these type movies, as some of my favorite movies were not produced by the bigger studios.
So, if you get a chance, go see The Velveteen Rabbit in theaters Friday. It's a great story, and you'll at least get a free DVD out of it. And consider it your quest to help keep these smaller studios alive.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The winner of the Best Award Show of 2009 is...
THE OSCAR'S!
Last night's Academy Awards were far superior to the last few years of long, boring, monstrosities.
The red carpet pre-show was the perfect length with only a couple awkward moments brought on by incompetent interviewing. A brunette Ryan Seacrest tripped up with Jack Black & wife, Miley Cyrus forgot to mention the name of the movie she was touting, Marisa Tomei gave Seacrest the death stare-no love lost there! Introducing us to the program's stage producer and music producer was a super bonus that emphasised new details in the evening.
On to the show...
Hugh Jackman was delightful. He began with a fantastic opening, claiming he built it in his garage Saturday night as the Academy couldn't afford an opening with the recession. The pizza boxes, paint rollers, and lamp shades assisted in creating the image of Hugh staying up all night with his hot glue gun making the sets. Anne Hathaway's "impromptu" performance as Nixon made it all the more adorable.
The first award set the stage for the entire show. The Academy had kept the presenters a secret, with good reason. The new format brought out 5 past winners of each award to speak about the individuals nominated. It was much more interesting and fascinating to see the awards presented in this way. See the Best Supporting Actress award presented. Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor were all presented in this fashion. It was gorgeous.
One of the lesser developed ideas for the evening was to take the audience through the process of movie making with the awards. This seemed a little half-baked and we lost sight of it a few times. The highlight was by far Tina Fey and Steve Martin's screen play presentation. Some other great presenters were Jack Black/Jennifer Aniston for best animation and Natalie Portman with Ben Stiller who was channeling Joaquin Phoenix for cinematography. Hilarious.
Seth Rogan and James Franco, spoofing their own Pineapple Express, replaced the recent Will Ferrel and Steve Carell comedy duo in a Judd Apatow short film.
Michael Moore moments were provided by Bill Maher (presenting documentaries) and Sean Penn (upon winning the best actor award).
The Musical is BACK! was a huge number staring host Hugh Jackman, Beyonce, Zac Ephron, Vanessa Hudgens (both from High School Musical), Amanda Seigfred, and Dominic Cooper (both from Mamma Mia). Created by none other than Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge & Australia). Definitely the highlight of the evening!
Back to the movies Heath Ledger rightly won the Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Dark Knight as Joker.
The movie montages were fantastic showcasing not only nominated movies but other romances, action movies, and animations that weren't nominated.
The sound track presentations by Alicia Keys (was adorable and awesome) and Zac Ephron were amazing with performances of the songs by the original artists.
Queen Latifa sang over the "In Memory" video montage, lovely. Much better than having only a score.
One of the best impromptu moments was when Kate Winslet, upon winning the Best Actress Award told Meryl Streep (with a record of 15 lifetime nominations) that she would just have to "suck it up" after not winning this one.
Slumdog Millioniare was the big winner of the night, the best speech by it's director Danny Boyle who accepted Best Director in the spirit of Tigger per a request from his kids. The picture also took home Best Picture Award.
A complete list of winners can be seen here.
Last night's Academy Awards were far superior to the last few years of long, boring, monstrosities.
The red carpet pre-show was the perfect length with only a couple awkward moments brought on by incompetent interviewing. A brunette Ryan Seacrest tripped up with Jack Black & wife, Miley Cyrus forgot to mention the name of the movie she was touting, Marisa Tomei gave Seacrest the death stare-no love lost there! Introducing us to the program's stage producer and music producer was a super bonus that emphasised new details in the evening.
On to the show...
Hugh Jackman was delightful. He began with a fantastic opening, claiming he built it in his garage Saturday night as the Academy couldn't afford an opening with the recession. The pizza boxes, paint rollers, and lamp shades assisted in creating the image of Hugh staying up all night with his hot glue gun making the sets. Anne Hathaway's "impromptu" performance as Nixon made it all the more adorable.
The first award set the stage for the entire show. The Academy had kept the presenters a secret, with good reason. The new format brought out 5 past winners of each award to speak about the individuals nominated. It was much more interesting and fascinating to see the awards presented in this way. See the Best Supporting Actress award presented. Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor were all presented in this fashion. It was gorgeous.
One of the lesser developed ideas for the evening was to take the audience through the process of movie making with the awards. This seemed a little half-baked and we lost sight of it a few times. The highlight was by far Tina Fey and Steve Martin's screen play presentation. Some other great presenters were Jack Black/Jennifer Aniston for best animation and Natalie Portman with Ben Stiller who was channeling Joaquin Phoenix for cinematography. Hilarious.
Seth Rogan and James Franco, spoofing their own Pineapple Express, replaced the recent Will Ferrel and Steve Carell comedy duo in a Judd Apatow short film.
Michael Moore moments were provided by Bill Maher (presenting documentaries) and Sean Penn (upon winning the best actor award).
The Musical is BACK! was a huge number staring host Hugh Jackman, Beyonce, Zac Ephron, Vanessa Hudgens (both from High School Musical), Amanda Seigfred, and Dominic Cooper (both from Mamma Mia). Created by none other than Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge & Australia). Definitely the highlight of the evening!
Back to the movies Heath Ledger rightly won the Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Dark Knight as Joker.
The movie montages were fantastic showcasing not only nominated movies but other romances, action movies, and animations that weren't nominated.
The sound track presentations by Alicia Keys (was adorable and awesome) and Zac Ephron were amazing with performances of the songs by the original artists.
Queen Latifa sang over the "In Memory" video montage, lovely. Much better than having only a score.
One of the best impromptu moments was when Kate Winslet, upon winning the Best Actress Award told Meryl Streep (with a record of 15 lifetime nominations) that she would just have to "suck it up" after not winning this one.
Slumdog Millioniare was the big winner of the night, the best speech by it's director Danny Boyle who accepted Best Director in the spirit of Tigger per a request from his kids. The picture also took home Best Picture Award.
A complete list of winners can be seen here.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Secret Life of Bees should remain a secret and New In Town
Perhaps it's because of the hype, but the Secret Life of Bees was a bit disappointing. Queen Latifa and Alicia Keys were fantastic and it was nice to see Dakota Fanning in a more age appropriate role-young teenager. Paul Bettany, who seems to just pop up randomly these days was excellent as the soul-lost father. The supporting cast was fine. The movie is drenched in sadness. The plot is okay, but slow. One Angel Wing.
New In Town was a cute chick flick. Don't expect much substance or many plot twists, if you've seen many "girly" movies it won't be hard follow this one from the beginning. It's good clean fun with some great actors and adorable Minnesota humor. One Angel Wing.
New In Town was a cute chick flick. Don't expect much substance or many plot twists, if you've seen many "girly" movies it won't be hard follow this one from the beginning. It's good clean fun with some great actors and adorable Minnesota humor. One Angel Wing.
Fireproof: the beginning of Christian Hollywood?
As part of NPR's ramping up to yesterday's Oscars, they aired a segment today on the movie Fireproof and Christian movies. As a Christian and movie buff, I payed close attention. (You can read the transcript here.) I applaud the creators of Fireproof for glorifying God through their gift. It is a step above the usual "christian" media.
To me "Christian" movies have always been on a level with Lifeway (a HUGE Baptist corporation that has it's conservative fingers in just about everything), overly trite "inspirational" music, and salvation tracts that turn people off more than they teach. They have their place and do many good things for many good people, but generally don't spread the love of Jesus to the already unreached or skeptical.
Yes, Fireproof was made to entertain, preach, and affirm Christians, but can you expect a movie to build up a relationship with your unreached neighbor? Christian movies can be reminisent of church-goers who only use christian phone companies, christian, plumbers, and only have Christian friends.
The entertainment industry can be a greedy, worldly, and selfish entity. Even out of the most evil things can produce beauty and knowledge. There are many movies, songs, and stories that are not "christian" but have spoken to my heart in a way only possible through a Higher Power. If I only watched Christian movies, I would miss such amazing films as: Slumdog Millionaire, Hotel Rwanda, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, Glory, Rent, Pride and Prejudice, to name a few. If I only listened to Christian music, I wouldn't hear God's voice through U2, Kanye West, or Billy Bragg.
Sure, we should guard ourselves and our minds, but as Christians, we should live in the world, but not be "of" the world. After all, Jesus hung out with prostitues and tax collectors.
To me "Christian" movies have always been on a level with Lifeway (a HUGE Baptist corporation that has it's conservative fingers in just about everything), overly trite "inspirational" music, and salvation tracts that turn people off more than they teach. They have their place and do many good things for many good people, but generally don't spread the love of Jesus to the already unreached or skeptical.
Yes, Fireproof was made to entertain, preach, and affirm Christians, but can you expect a movie to build up a relationship with your unreached neighbor? Christian movies can be reminisent of church-goers who only use christian phone companies, christian, plumbers, and only have Christian friends.
The entertainment industry can be a greedy, worldly, and selfish entity. Even out of the most evil things can produce beauty and knowledge. There are many movies, songs, and stories that are not "christian" but have spoken to my heart in a way only possible through a Higher Power. If I only watched Christian movies, I would miss such amazing films as: Slumdog Millionaire, Hotel Rwanda, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, Glory, Rent, Pride and Prejudice, to name a few. If I only listened to Christian music, I wouldn't hear God's voice through U2, Kanye West, or Billy Bragg.
Sure, we should guard ourselves and our minds, but as Christians, we should live in the world, but not be "of" the world. After all, Jesus hung out with prostitues and tax collectors.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Infinitly Awesome
A great little movie with a couple of super actors. The always adorable Micheal Cera is fantastic and anything that Kat Dennings' is in will be amazing (see Charlie Bartlet, ER). This one little night changes their high school-seniors-headed-toward-college lives forever. The music is super good, the supporting actors hysterical, all I can say is Where's Fluffy?
THREE angel wings!
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