Whiplash? Is That Your Boy?

That's Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, the new villian in next summer's Iron Man 2. You know him? I don't know him and I ain't messing with him. He must be your boy.

Hey Have You Seen That New Shutter Island Trailer?

How we livin' peoples! Apple has the trailer for Scorcese's newest film Shutter Island. It stars Leonardo Dicaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Apple describes the film as "the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.".

When's the last time we saw a scary Scorcese pic? Been way too long. And the power of Scorcese huh? It's great how just watching footage from one Scorcese movie can immediately just make you want to sit down and spend a day watching nothing but Scorcese movies. This trailer immediately made me want to watch Cape Fear, then Cape Fear got me thinking about King Of Comedy and you know what? Maybe I should give Bringing Out The Dead one more shot (wasn't too crazy about that one the first time around), then Bringing Out The Dead made me want to hit up Taxi Driver, so on and so forth. You know what? I'm going to go toss Cape Fear at the top of my Netflix queue. Enjoy this trailer kids. Shutter Island opens in theaters October 2, 2009.

I Pledge Allegiance To The House Groove.

A few weeks ago I wrote a quick post about an article that appeared in the Chicago Reader. The article was a story about Chicago House music, specifically Chicago Hip House music and it's revival that was beginning to be felt in the music scene. I liked the article and I figured someone else out in InternetLand might enjoy it as well so I passed it along. Within minutes of me posting it on Facebook I recieved a message that read simply "Don't bring back hip house.". I knew who the person was. He's a prominent House DJ in Chicago, definately one of my favorites, but I won't say his name because frankly I didn't ask permission and that wouldn't be professional.

I did want to know why he didn't want me to "bring hip house back" so I asked him why. "Hip house almost killed house music". Really? Clearly that didn't turn out to be the case. House music is still going strong today while eventually Hip House did seem to become more of a novelty. But the immediate response and request to not bring Hip House back really intrigued me. Are House music lovers divided? Is there a separation of House and State? Are there 2 camps in the land of House? Unfortunately I believe there are. All does not seem well in the land of House. There is a rivalry. There is a rivalry of rhythmic design and no one is wanting to get off of the dance floor.

"You see House music is a universal language spoken understood by all."

-Larry Heard House classic Can You Feel It.

On one side of the dance floor there are those who love the House music of today. They aren't looking to just go down House music's memory lane. They enjoy House music that doesn't only remind them of their high school dances. They don't use House music for nostalgic effect. It's as relevant to their lives today as to when they first heard it in a friend's basement, a club, or crowded around the radio with a finger on the play and record button of their tape deck so they could own for themselves a WBMX Saturday night live ain't no jive dance party. Their House music today doesn't just rely on those moments of the past. They've taken their history of House and moved forward with it. The House music they listen to and play is of today's age.

On the other side there are those who are satisfied going back to the glory days of their youth with House music. They want to hear the classic hits and everything else can fall to the wayside. They want to sing about their Fantasy Girl, they want to jack it up to The Love I Lost, and they reaaallly want to know when it's time for the Perculator. Being at a club where this style of House music is preferred and trying to play some new Deep House is risk-taking, likely to be met with looks of confusion towards the DJ booth, and eventually whispers of "What's his problem? How come he don't play no good House?".

"Gotta have House! Music all night long. With that House! Music you can't go wrong. Gimme that House! Music to set me free."

-Marshall Jefferson House classic Move Your Body

Is this rivalry the Sox/Cubs rivalry of music in Chicago? I don't think so. There's a lot of hate in that rivalry and for all the preferences House music lovers have I've never heard one group use the word hate when describing how they feel about a different style of House. I've been on both sides of the dance floor and you know what I've noticed? People just want to hear good music. Music is art and art cannot be simplified and judged and called right or wrong. On a Saturday night when we feel good cause we know we look good, the mood is right, the feelings right, you got your boys and your girls around you, we want one thing. We want to hear good music. There are nights where I want to hear some soulful Deep House that feels so good, so bumpin', so gospel-like that I can tear it up on the dance floor catching the House Holy Spirit with one fist up in the air, my feet right on the beat, and with a smile from ear to ear and you better keep up with me girl cause this is what I consider good livin'. Other nights I want to kick it old school and I want to remember why I started loving House music in the first place so go ahead DJ and tell me about Tyree Cooper, the producer, awesome super duper trooper. But it's never going to be one or the other for me and I hope it won't be for you. Like the song says, "In the beginning there was Jack and Jack had a groove. And from this groove came the grooves of all grooves. And while one day viciously throwing down in his box Jack roared and declared "Let There Be House!" and House music was born."

Highly Recommended Watching:

History Of House - Documentary about history of house music from its origins in the late 70s disco scene, to 2000. Additional content: "Disco to Hip-Hop","Universal Techno","1989 SUMMER OF RAVE", and "BBC News: World in Action - The Acid House Report."

Recommended Listening (Some of my favorite House cuts):

Larry Heard's Can You Feel It
Marshall Jefferson's Move Your Body
Earth People's Dance
Robert Owens' I'll Be Your Friend
Derrick May's Strings Of Life
Green Velvet's Preacherman

Ricky Carmona

Hey Have You Seen That New It Might Get Loud Trailer?

One of my favorite sites, CHUD, just posted this trailer and allow me to share it with you. It's the new trailer to It Might Get Loud. It stars Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. It's a documentary about the three of them sitting down with each other and telling their story about their love for the guitar. It's directed by David Guggenheim who also directed the documentary An Inconvenient Truth which I still haven't seen. But slow down! It's like the third or fourth movie coming up in my Netflix queue so I'll be knocking that one out soon enough.

This trailer looks great. We're going to get to see how each of them comes up with their own sound on the guitar, visit some of the locations of where Jimmy Page recorded tracks, and then we get to see all three of them jam together. I can't wait to see and hear that. What was that sound you just heard in the background? That was me slamming down my paper son cause I want a ticket to this on the quickness. It Might Get Loud arrives in theaters on August 14th.

Hey Have You Seen That Timecrimes Trailer?

I first saw the trailer to Timecrimes when I went to go see Let The Right One In last year. The trailer told me it was about time travel, it's in Spanish, and someone who looks like Darkman's brother is in it. I threw my 10 bucks at the screen and screamed, "I'm in! Dale Huevo!". For reasons that I can't recall now I ended up missing Timecrimes during it's theatrical run and wasn't even aware that it was out on DVD until my friend Patrick Garone told me he saw it. His review? "It's good. It's like Back To The Future Part 2 n'shit but in Spanish." Dale Huevo!!!

I finally hollered at that Timecrimes and I highly recommend it. Going into detail about the movie will definately spoil some of the fun surprises in there. Trust me, holler at this movie. Go ahead and check out the trailer for yourself and then holler at it on Netflix. It will do you no harm.



CHUD's review

David Carradine? He Gone!

Damn. This is not the news I wanted to wake up to this morning. David Carradine was found dead today in a Bangkok hotel. The really sad part is that it's believed to be a suicide. Damn. Of all the ways for Bill to go out it shouldn't have been like this. Here is what MSNBC.com had to say.

I saw David Carradine a few years ago walking around in Downtown Chicago. Like with every celebrity I meet I freaked out then I referred to him as a character he played in a movie instead of his real name. I walked right up to him and said, "Aww Hell naw. you're Bill. Awesome!" He shook my hand, smiled, gave me the 5 Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique and went about his bidness.

The world will know him as David Carradine but to me he'll always be Bill.

He's One Of Us. He's A Goodfella.

Conan got made. That's what I was thinking when I watched his debut as host of The Tonight Show this past Monday night and as silly as it sounds it felt like we all got made with him. Conan is the voice of our generation in late night television and the books were opened, he got the OK, and now he's a made guy. Who was the first musical act that Conan chose that really drove home to me that from here on out this is going to be my Tonight Show? My guys, Pearl Jam. Word.



And this is out of respect. It ain't my favorite scene. I don't know the dude who wrote that.

Buena Vista Social Club? Are Those Your Boys?

My name is Ricky. I'm a Cuban American and I have a secret that I need to tell you. For all of the amount of movies that I am proud to admit that I watch there are always certain movies that I am embarrassed and disappointed in myself for having not seen. That is not my secret though, here's my secret. Until last night I had never seen the documentary the Buena Vista Social Club. Now let me say it again, I'm a Cuban American and I had never seen the Buena Vista Social Club before. Conio!!!

What is my problem? What is my major malfunction? I've seen one of the most overrated movies about a fake Cuban, Scarface (you read that right it's overrated people), at least a dozen times while on the other hand here is a true story about real musical legends from my country and I never bothered to watch it until almost ten years after its release. I'm embarrased people. Mom and Pop you can hit me over the head with a chankleta anytime you want.

I'm going to be sappy here but I don't care because that's how much I loved this movie. This is one of those movies that as you're watching a smile begins to creep onto your face and by the end you're grinning ear to ear until the credits roll. This one's going up there alongside When We Were Kings and Hoop Dreams as one of my favorite documentaries ever. It definately has one of my favorite names I've ever heard, Compay Segundo. You only get that name if you're big time and Compay Segundo is Big Time.

The whole band is Big Time. All of the musical performances are amazing and this one here is my favorite. The song is called "Candela" which translates to Fire. This shows the whole Buena Vista Social Club onstage in Amsterdam with several band members really getting a chance to shine. I can't recommend this movie enough peoples. I'm going to be real professional this week and watch it again with my Pops. If you're unsure as to whether you'll be into this movie why don't you check out the trailer. Alright. I'm not asking it, I'm saying it. Buena Vista Social Club. They are my boys.