Review of "Almost Famous"
“Almost famous” is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Cameron Crowe. In the nineteen seventies, a adolescent high school kid by the name of William Miller was given the opportunity to write a story about a rock band called Stillwater. William lived a very simple life where he was raised in a single parent household with an overprotective mother and rebellious sister. All of that changed once his sister let him listen to her rock records for the first time. Listening to rock & roll was a life changing experience for him; it took away his innocence. William loved rock & roll so much that he decided to become a writer for the music. Lester Bangs later became his mentor and periodically gave him advice to help him get noticed. Once noticed, William was presented with opportunity to write an article about Stillwater to be featured in Rollingstone magazine.
The whole movie was devoted to the love of Rock and Roll so if you aren’t a fan, then you will feel a little disconnected from the movie. There are a couple moments in this movie where one may feel like they may want to take a quick snooze. If one were to pursue in the slumber, the loud acoustics and drums would awaken them. Usually someone wouldn’t associate the words boring, dry, or bland with a rock and roll film but this one had its moments. On a positive note this film allows one to look deep in the lifestyles of rock and roll artists. It lets one see behind the music, behind the fans, behind the groupies, and behind the band. The ending could have been a whole lot better. The ending seemed as though it was rushed or that Crowe didn’t know how to end the movie. Towards the end, William goes back home to his mother. Unlike most movies about of rock and roll life, “Almost Famous” doesn't dwell on the depressing aspects of it. The movie had its fair share of personal drama and moments of heartache but it was not overwhelming.
Oh You Fancy, Huh
23-year-old, Toronto-born Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s highly anticipated hip-hop album of 2010 “Thank Me Later” isn’t exactly what everyone expected. A lot of fans including myself have a bittersweet feeling towards the album. Prior to releasing the album, Drake released left and right r
eally hot mix tape tracks with amazing metaphors and catchy lyrics that one couldn’t avoid seeing or hearing, whether on a facebook status or blasting in someone’s car. “Thank Me Later” was so highly anticipated because Drake’s mix tape tracks were on every hip-hop lover’s itunes list without even having an album out yet. With experiencing an unsuccessful singing career, Drake turned to rapping and with the collaborations of his mentor, Lil’Wayne, he became a phenomenon. “Thank Me Later” is a very personal album. He talks about his life, women, fame, family, and his notoriety. His album reminds me of a musical journal or diary almost. On a positive note, Drake portrays himself as a normal, down to earth, self conscious, imperfect, regular guy rather than an overrated cocky jerk (cough, cough Kanye West) like most famous people. Drake claims that he wanted fans to feel the different layers of the debut.
A recent interview with a hip-hop fan by the name of Taye, said that the album was just mediocre. He mentioned that all of the songs sounded the same and that Drake only made music for one type of crowd. “Once you have heard one song, you have heard them all.” explains Taye. One thing that a lot of people notice is that Drake shines the most whenever he has a veteran hip-hop artist featured on the song. The best songs on the album are “Over,” “Up All Night” featuring Nicki Minaj, “Fancy” featuring T.I. and Swizz Beatz, “Shut It Down” featuring The Dream, “Show Me A Good Time,” and “Unforgettable” featuring Young Jeezy. Most of these songs listed had an appearance with an extremely popular or talented artist. 
In “Fancy,” women all over would get a sudden boost of confidence when listening to the song. Everyone who had there hair, nails, and everything done were considering themselves fancy. Swizz Beatz sets things off with a crowd-hyping “Go, go, go, go ahead” chant and T.I. eventually jumps in with a relaxing, yet easy type of flow. “Over” and “Show Me A Good Time” seemed to re-energize the album. Perhaps it has something to do with the tracks both being produced by Kanye West. Although “Over” was overly played and was highly popular, Drake dropped simple, yet sharp crowd-pleasing bars. In “Shut It Down,” the Dream heats things up and slows things down in this smooth ballad.
Drake is one of the many few artists who can transition between an R&B sound and a hip-hop flow, and he does it well on this track. The tracks on this album were hits and misses. There a few favorites but the ones that weren’t favorites were skipped. It’s not an album where you can sit and listen to without skipping around. Arguably, “Thank Me Later” is an album that successfully balances commercialism with true hip-hop.
I Was Born With Unusual Circumstances
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, starring Brad Pitt, was a well-written movie by Eric Roth and directed by David Fincher. It starts off with an old woman named Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, on her deathbed in a hospital residing in New Orleans. Daisy draws her last breaths filtering through her memories, while her daughter reads to her from a diary belonging to Benjamin Button. Button was, through some type of magic or curse, born into the world with cataracts, arthritis, and no elasticity in his skin. Basically he was born a little old man. Button called it “being born with unusual circumstances.” His mother died shortly after giving birth to him. His father, frightened by the wrinkly baby, left him on the doorstep of a home for the elderly. Luckily a lady who worked at the home, named Queenie, played by Taraji P. Henson, decided to raise him. As times goes forward, or should one say backwards, he runs into Daisy several times throughout the film. She happens to be the love of his life, but the on again off again relationship can be a little confusing. Button travels the world, fights wars, encounters many different women, and so much more throughout this three-hour film. There are some parts in the movie that are kind of slow and may even be considered unnecessary. They should not have made this movie so long and drawn out, the motive is to want to keep the viewers interested at all times.
The visual effects were breath taking and extraordinary. One may wonder how the filmmakers could alter a baby Benjamin to look so old yet so young. The first w
ord to come to mind to describe the infant’s skin is doughy. The skin had a dough-like consistency. It is hard to determine where Brad Pitt actually steps in as Benjamin. If not paying careful attention, one may miss the point when he eventually does. Everything looks so real that on several occasions, one may forget that there were visual effects involved.
Overall this is a bizarre, yet beautifully told story. It is one of those deep movies that actually make you think afterwards. Viewers will be unprepared for all the physical and emotional power of this film. Going through life backwards is a completely different perspective than anyone could ever imagine. This movie will make one appreciate life a little more even with its trials and tribulations. The ending, however, is quite a tearjerker for those who are sensitive to unhappy endings. Many critics have compared this movie to “Forest Gump” for some reason or another. The obvious similarity to both movies is that Eric Roth writes them both. According to hubpages.com, “both stories are told in the same fashion and tone. In Forrest Gump he (Forrest) narrates his story in his own perspective, whereas in the case of Benjamin Button his daughter reads his diary to Daisy. Both movies have many emotional factors in common, such as a man's emotions and feelings when others consider him as a strange one. Both movies are related to war and also depict sailor's life (or life on water).” Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Taraji P. Henson did remarkable performances. This movie won many Oscars and would be recommended to anyone who enjoys the drama genre of films.
Review of Emek's Album artwork for New Amerykah Part II *revised*
Deserted at birth, Emek has overcome many triumphs in his unfortunate life. Luckily he won a scholarship to attend an art school. According to http://www.emek.net/, this helped him to be able to escape being forced to work in a plutonium mine. Little had he known, there wasn’t a good future for the artists that attended the school. If he had known, he probably would have reconsidered attending it in the first place. The alumni seemed to live a life of crime or were never heard from again, thus being unsuccessful in their careers. To escape the fate of his fellow classmates, he decided to take a risk and become a rock ‘n’ roll artist.
Emek’s artwork for Erykah Badu’s “New Amerykah: Part II (Return of the Ankn)” overtly emphasizes Badu herself as being reborn from wisdom. It shows vines sprouting out of the tree of knowledge. Noticeably, there is a level of symbolism that seems to be characterized with the number three; three moons, three hidden babies, three trees, and three ankhs. Closer inspection reveals that there are many objects surrounding the Mecca Badu’s shoulders. The objects are very political. For example, there are things like a foreclosed home, cigarettes, and a military tank, just to name a few. According to many, purple was the color of choice mainly because it represents the wisdom and raised consciousness of the crown Chakra. Purple is also the color of royalty as well. At the top of the metallic head, one may notice that there is a mini Badu coming out. She emerges out of the metal, armored body of her previous self, holding a tuning fork. Emek states, “She is wearing armor to protect her from the harsh realities of life. Her lyrics “out my mind, just in time,” inspired the concept of her climbing out of the old shell, fresh and innocent and powerful, and the tree of life is also growing from there.” He was inspired to draw her quite large because of the first track of the album, Twenty Feet Tall.
Looking at the cover from a graphic designer’s standpoint leaves one with a “what the hell?” kind of feeling. How could Emek even come up with something like this? The imagery is beautiful, colorful, psychedelic, and a little peculiar, but has the same vibe as her songs. It is an album that one may pick up at a CD store and gaze at for a long time. There is so much to take in when one looks at it. The meaning can be easily misinterpreted. Emek makes this collision of the organic vs. the mechanical world. He also adds wit, social commentary and fantasy in his works. All of his posters and CD covers are hand drawn and then painted or digitally painted. In this new digital age, album covers are becoming an lost art. However, this artwork would make one want to buy the album based on this interesting imagery. Before Emek comes up with his drawings, he listens to the album intensely. Listening to the Badu album, he drew this cover to be more personal then political. Even the smallest details contain messages. Emek states, “Both Erykah and I were raised without a TV in our house, we grew up on record cover art.” An artist as bold as Erykah who is willing to take the risks she does definitely needs the armor Emek has drawn for her.
