Relapse drops

As you may or may not know, I’m a huge Eminem fan. Yes, really. And yesterday, his new album Relapse dropped, and I’ve been listening to it very busily today at work while I was coding. The two songs that were released, We Made You and 3 a.m., showcased a style that had some undertones of his earlier works in terms of lyrical attacks, but didn’t have the original playfulness as we were used to. After listening to the whole album, I can say this- Eminem’s lyrical wit still hasn’t dropped, but his musical stylings have.

One of the strengths of the album (just as all Dre-produced albums) is that the beats are simple, while allowing the lyrics to do the heavy lifting. However, the album does feel much darker than previous work, with a type of zaniness that can only be described as circus-like. It’s all a game to Em, and he himself is part of the whole spectacle. In one skit with Steve Berman (his actual manager, I believe) , he laments that he had a ‘drug problem’ which is why he’s been out of commission for 4 years. Steve blasts him for coming up with the same excuses as everyone else “in this town,” and so forth. Rather good self-mocking skit. The whole album plays a bit out like this- him realizing that he’s absolutely part of the cog that created him, while also despising the machine in and of itself. For fans of all his previous albums, note that Ken Kaniff makes a comeback as well.

If there’s one problem I’d find it’s that there aren’t enough songs that pop out immediately as chart toppers, something that was the problem with Encore as well. Whereas The Eminem Show was wall-to-wall made for radio play, this one will probably take a little bit longer to gain some traction. There’s some harkening back to Infinite in tonality, and the parts that I felt didn’t catch on immediately have a more old-school rap flavor– mid 90s, not late 70s. Thankfully though Em skips out on the AutoTune T-Pain effect that’s been used so heavily by Kanye and lately, Jamie Foxx. He skips the fads and goes straight for the lyrics which may serve him well ultimately, but until some interesting videos are released, it may take a bit of getting used to. But hey- he’s not doing that badly- Relapse (Deluxe Version) is the #1 Album downloaded on iTunes, while hot on its heels is… Relapse again, the “non-deluxe version,” I suppose.

Check it out if you get a chance. Em being who he is, I’m sure each single he drops will get to the airwaves inevitably anyways.

Tags: Music, Review

Slumdog Millionaire is a moving, gripping, visual feast

I just watched Slumdog Millionaire, and it was easily the best film I’ve seen in a very long time. The visuals are breathtaking, the editing, the production– all first notch. And yes, it absolutely deserves all the accolades that it’s gotten thus far. I feel like I have to break this down into parts. So here goes.

The story

To keep it simple, the story revolves around a boy named Jamal who manages to get himself onto the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The question however, is how does he manage to get answer after answer correctly, and the story weaves his story into back-and-forth cuts with the present where the bucolic Indian police are torturing him. Within this is also his old friend Latika, who was one of the slumdogs with his brother Salim, but in a fragmented manner ends up as a love interest later in Jamal’s life.

Direction

By far the strength of this movie– Danny Boyle does a phenomenal job of not just tying the sharp screenplay with the looks and feels of India. There’s a rabid energy that emanates from each frame during the shots shot outside (as opposed to the studio where Jamal is on the show), and sheer vibrance even within the disparate settings of the slums. However Boyle does show some restraint in painting all of India as a slum as many Western filmmakers have done, and also shows the call-centers where many people work, which are just as modern as any in America. (From personal experience, those Dell buildings in Bangalore are a whole lot nicer than that I saw in OKC.)

Another huge triumph by Boyle is getting an amazing amount of emotion and honesty out of the child actors that play Jamal, Salim and Latika during various periods of history. It’s a bit odd to note that the child actors, in my opinion, were better than most of the adults (save for Irfan Khan as a police inspector). Considering that they make up a majority of the film, the emotional highs and lows are fully palpable and Boyle makes sure that the audience is with him every step of the way.

Acting

As mentioned earlier, my favorite actors in the film were the children. Not since The Sixth Sense have I seen so much from such young actors. And we’re not talking about kids who are playing cute– we’re talking about some seriously heavy lifting, acting-wise, and they pull it off with aplomb. Aside from that Irfan Khan gives yet another strong but subdued performance as the police inspector who’s interrogating Jamal about how a slumdog knows the answers to some very difficult question. It’s a role that will not get any acclaim- but Khan impressed me the first time as Gogul’s father in The Namesake.

Dev Patel does admirably and keeps his acting simple. Though most of his scenes are with short dialogue and furtive looks, he avoids the pitfalls of overplaying the melodrama that the script could have fallen into. This is in contrast to Anil Kapoor, a veteran Bollywood actor, who is trying very hard to not slip into his old Bollywood tricks of flat characters. He starts off slimy, and stays slimy, through the end. No arc, no nothing. He sticks with the lines, and doesn’t interpret them to be a fully realized character. I would’ve preferred Amitabh Bachchan, the original host of the show back in India.

Freida Pinto (adult Latika) is also used sparingly, and for good reason. Her line readings were sufficient but not overly impressive. But, and I have to say this– she sure is stunning.

Production

From the score by A.R. Rahman to the quick cuts in editing to the brilliant cinematography, everything about this movie’s production clicked. It felt like one cohesive unit, all striving towards the same message– as movies should be. Rahman, already an award winner in India many times over for his scores, manages yet again to keep the movie firmly based in India in its organic nature, without resorting to the typical sitar-and-tabla whinings that you may hear at your local Indian restaurant during dinner hour. It is breathtaking, and hearing it in a theater makes it all the more impressive.

Final thoughts

Slumdog Millionaire is definitely on my ‘buy when it comes out’ list. The film manages to actually make one laugh, cry, and everything in between without coming off as formulaic or cheesy– a difficult feat. Personally I remember seeing many of these same children when I lived in India and how they begged– it was painful for me at first, but then I had to learn to turn a blind eye in order to continue on with my days. This movie brought it all back, and the true disparity that millions of Indian children live in. And it’s in the despair that Slumdog Millionaire scores well because it gives hope to the human spirit and of never giving up. Watch it.

Tags: Acting, Review

KANYE, son!!

Alright first off, apologies for not having pictures up. I was waiting to post about the concert until I had something to put up but I went down to Norman (where my sister and parents live) and was going to copy the files to the iPod. Did I? No. Why? Because I totally had a brain fart. But let’s talk about the concert!

So we went to the Ford Center in Oklahoma City (Vinni and I), and it’s a rather nice venue for concerts/sports games, etc. Anyway, at 7pm the concert starts with a couple of rappers who are trying their damnest to get the crowd going. Nope. Not happening. For whatever reason the bleachers weren’t even full and Vinni and I looked at each other in disgust and just thought, “If this were Kenny Chesney or Tobey Keith I’m sure the place would be packed. Oklahoma.” But, to be fair, they were singing songs that none of us knew anyway so it was a bit hard to get into it. The ‘warmup crew’ as I like to call them ended their set, and we waited while they changed the set for the next artist.

N.E.R.D, son. That’s right, Pharrell and Co. As soon as Pharrell came out Vinni turned into a total groupie. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing– my usually reserved little sister who just makes sarcastic, dry comments in retort to anything pop-culture related started screaming, “PHARRELL!! OH MY GOD IT’S REALLY HIM!! YOU’RE SO CUTE!!!!!”

I just blinked; my jaw on the floor.

Anyway, the energy they imbued on stage was electric– a good number more people had filed in by this point into the concert, and these guys totally rocked our pants off. Well, maybe not mine but a lot of girls in the audience, definitely. My sister being one of them. Talk about AWWWWWKKKKWWWWWWURRRRD. At one point he pulled up a couple of hot girls from the audience onto the stage to dance with– Vinni turned green with envy. If she were a comic book character, frikkin lasers would’ve shot out of her eyes and incinerated the hoochies onstage.

Their set ended, and Vinni asked me to see if I could buy the “Stronger” glasses. I stood in line for 20-30 minutes waiting and finally got two pairs of cheap paper knockoffs that were $10 each. Damn. Whatever, it’s part of the experience, and it was for my little sister. So I grabbed ‘em and ran upstairs where Rihanna had already started her set.

And suddenly, I became the groupie. She was…. immaculate. Sure you put on a lot of makeup to cover flaws and such on TV. But her– she really WAS as stunning and flawless as you see on TV. And unlike Vinni’s screaming rampage, I just stood there, awe-struck and staring. Of course she performed S.O.S., Pon de Replay, and Umbrella, and she was completely friendly and sweet to the audience. At one point she yelled out, “I love you, Vinoj!!!” And by that what I mean is she yelled, “I love you Oklahoma City!!” Whatever. She meant me. Don’t hate.

After that set there was a good 45 minutes of set change for the final act– Kanye. Two words sum up his performance: WICKED AWESOME. Sure sure, I could’ve come up with a littany of other synonyms but sometimes the simplest way is the best. The entire crowd (and by now most of the auditorium was packed with people standing, cheering and whatever else) was absolutely rabid, and he completely fed it by putting on a knock out show. I have no idea how he maintains that energy from city to city but the guy was dancing, moving and rapping all over the stage to all sides of the house. Brilliant showmanship. If you ever get a chance to see this Glow in the Dark Tour, I highly recommend.

Now I must admit, this was the first concert for me so perhaps I don’t have much to compare it to. But for what I could see, being an actor, he had the magnetism and charisma of a seasoned performer who had the crowd as putty in his hands.

Anyway, the show ended around 11 and both Vinni and I left, with a gift book that was handed out– a book by Kanye that was a motivational tool sort of thing. Lots of little life proverbs and advice for dealing with people. Very insightful and powerful.

All in all, a great night. THANK YOU AND YOU’RE WELCOME!

Tags: Happenings, Review, Vinni

WHEW! Lotsa reviews!

Alright I know, I’ve been slacking on writing on here. It’s because once I get back from work, all I want to do is sleep. I even got one of those Blockbuster Total Access things where they ship you the movie like NetFlix does, and I just pass out.

ANYWAY, I’ve put up reviews of some movies I’ve watched within the past week or so. We’ve got (deep breath) Transformers, Grosse Pointe Blank, My Left Foot, Mistress of Spices, Sicko, and Black Snake Moan.

So check em out and write back if you think totally differently or agree or whatever.

Tags: Acting, Review, Work

Another movie review

I’ve reviewed Hannibal Rising as well in my ongoing Summer Movies series. Check it out.

Tags: Review

Summer movies

Check out my summer movies section!

Tags: Acting, Review

Christian rock sucks.

Blatant statement there, isn’t it? But I think that as a whole, I’m about right. Think about the likes of Carman for instance. He’s a cheese-head who strives to stick to whatever the newest trend is at the time in order to gather people for ‘the flock’, whatever that is. And for the majority of bands, it really is that– they may have a couple of good songs in them, but because of the lack of fame and riches, not many bands attempt Christian rock. Hence, there’s less competition. Less competition = less quality. Simple microeconomics.

And then there’s BarlowGirl.

Weirdly, Arshy sent me a song of theirs- Porcelain Heart – and she didn’t know it was a Christian band until I told her today. And that’s a good sign, because it means that it’s quality. See if you can download it somewhere, because it’s certainly worth it. Their album, Another Journal Entry, has a few of the cliche Christian rock sounds that are found everywhere, but other than that– guys, this band is REAL. Their lyrics are sharp, their sound is good, and I’m generally impressed. Porcelain Heart especially sounds a bit like Evanescence, which is a band I really enjoy especially because of Amy Lee’s vocals.

When I was listening to it this afternoon, I heard a song called Enough that was a bit of the standard Christian rock that I mentioned earlier, and I deleted the entire album. Vinni asked me if I’d heard Never Alone, and I responded that I hadn’t. I explained why, and she said, “Yeah you probably deleted it because you read that they were a Christian band.”

Was this true? Had I really done that? I sat down and thought really hard about it, and she was right. I didn’t like that my prejudice had gotten the best of me, and so I’m giving the entire album a second listen. And that’s why I decided to write that it’s worth looking into. Sure it’s got a little girl-power element along with some good rock, but hey, guys can listen to that too and still retain their masculinity, right?

Moral of the story is one that’s been around forever– don’t judge a book by its cover.

Tags: Arshy, Review, Vinni