Archives For Rants

Grammy 2010 Afterthoughts

January 31, 2010 — 2 Comments

Well, color me surprised twice this weekend.

Taylor Swift just won Record of the Year, which doesn’t really upset me… but really? I enjoyed it, but that’s it. But to be fair with the Grammy, the album was the biggest selling hit last year… and to an industry that’s struggling with physical album sales, that’s possibly a LOT.

I wasn’t really supporting any particular artist this year, as I kept my year listening to Asian music. However, I really respect Lady Gaga’s live performance, despite my not really enjoying her albums.

As for Swift’s performance, she picked a bad day to sound bad. However, she wasn’t the only one with a weak performance. Right after a very strong beginning by theatrical queen Lady Gaga with some piano by queen Elton John, and pretty good performance by Beyonce — I mean, that Alanis cover did give her some extra points — the show pretty much went on the average road.

I was really disappointed with Pink’s performance, not because it was bad. It was technically fine, and not many would sing in-tune while spinning a la Cirque du Soleil. The performance, however, lacked any energy to pump the audience there or at home…

Moreover, the Grammy Awards have proved that there’s no Michael Jackson tribute without Janet. I must admit that Celine, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Usher sounded vocally great, but the performance was nothing but lacking as a performance. Add to that pimping the performance as a 3D act, which wasn’t really 3D for viewers, but for people there — which prompted a 3d-glasses-wearing Beyonce, and others included Rhianna — but I doubt all the people there had 3D glasses at hand.

I wasn’t a big fan of Green Day’s 21st Century album, but the performance was okay-ish, since I do like musicals. However, I doubt old school GD fans appreciated it.

And there was too much Bon Jovi.

MTV owned Grammy’s MJ tribute, but MJ’s kids were kinda cute.

Music in the west was weak overall.

Check back next time…

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RIP Miramax

January 29, 2010 — 3 Comments

Well, not a death particularly.

But it’s a sad day as Disney (who bought them for only $70M) has decided to shut down Miramax.

Yes, that same Disney that keeps feeding us with ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, cancels Pushing Daisies… and gave us Miley Cyrus to rot the minds of our younger generation.

Miramax gave us The Piano, Reservoir Dogs, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Clerks, Doubt, There Will Be Blood, Gone Baby Gone, Happy-Go-Lucky, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, No Country for Old Men, Kinky Boots, Finding Neverland… just to name a few.

Good taste is dead. *sighs*

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quick me updates~ NY, I Love Ya (not) and other dvds

January 25, 2010 — 1 Comment

Let’s see… just saw New York, I Love You.
as far as my expectations, I was disappointed… I did like two of the shorts. I was entertained by Brett Ratner’s segment (Olivia Thirlby and Anton Yelchin), but my favorite has to be Joshua Marston’s segment with Cloris Leachman.

Natalie Portman’s segment was okay… but her acting segment was kind of weak — plus, the bald cap she used (coz that was a bald cap, right?) bothered me a little because we know how her shaved head looks like.

Because I wanted to see something new by Shunji Iwai, I had high expectations and was let down. Nothing really wrong with it. Christina Ricci is okay, and I guess Orlando Bloom is okay… but did it have to be him?

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I also got my screener for Precious, which I have seen already… but it’s nice to get to watch it on my DVD player. I’m getting ready to vote for Independet Spirit Awards ^^ Second time around!

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Amazon hasn’t published my DVD Review of Linda Linda… why is that? It was a perfectly fine constructive critic that would have made Linda Linda a better release. If they don’t publish it this week, I will publish it here.

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I’m almost done re-watching Pushing Daisies…
These are my last DVD buys:

  • Pushing Daisies Season 1
  • Pushing Daisies Season 2
  • The Animatrix
  • Linda Linda Linda
  • Kamikaze Girls
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Is it cool to be Stupid?

January 22, 2010 — Leave a comment

At least it could be…

Diesel Stupid PhilosophyLike balloons, we are filled with hopes and dreams. But. Over time a single sentence creeps into our lives. Don’t be stupid. It’s the crusher of possibility. It’s the worlds greatest deflator. The world is full of smart people. Doing all kind of smart things… Thats smart.  Well, we’re with stupid. Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret free life. Smart may have the brains…but stupid has the balls. The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be. Smart critiques. Stupid creates. The fact is if we didnt have stupid thoughts wed have no interesting thoughts at all. Smart may have the plans… but stupid has the stories.  Smart may have the authority but stupid has one hell of a hangover. Its not smart to take risks… Its stupid.  To be stupid is to be brave. The stupid isnt afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.  Smart had one good idea, and that idea was stupid. You can’t outsmart stupid. So don’t even try. Remember only stupid can be truly brilliant.

So, BE STUPID

Continue Reading…

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Why Is Avatar? – 2009 Films in Review

January 18, 2010 — 4 Comments

I enjoyed Avatar. I did. When those flighty things were hovering on screen, I playfully stretched my arm and tried to grab one. I’m sure if it had been my first 3D film, I would have ended with a terrible headache. However, did it need a nomination? And most important, did it need winning?

I remember on 2008, I was uncertain which film to choose as a favorite. I had loads of fun with Slumdog, and I was one of those that actually liked Benjamin Button. Obviously, there was The Wrestler, Milk, Doubt, Entre les Murs, Il y a Longtemps que Je t’Aime, The Dark Knight, Revolutionary Road, Waltz with Bashir.

But my favorite of 2008 was Let the Right One in.

Obviously, LtROi didn’t win anything. But still, 2008 was a great year for films. And it was a pretty good year for acting as well! With Richard Jenkins’ The Visitor (though I think this is technically 2007), and Michael Shannon’s Revolutionary Road — which I totally called for Best Supporting, by the way.

With 2009, however, I kept waiting and waiting. Kept telling myself that studios wanted to push their films for late releases for award season. After their release, I felt mostly underwhelmed with a vast majority of films. And I have seen nearly 100 films dated 2009, and I haven’t given none of them a 9 rating on IMDb. Merely 12 of them with an 8 rating, which include (500) Days of Summer, Red Cliff Part II, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, Mother, Mary and Max, Precious, Public Enemies, Star Trek, Up, Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are.

Out of 117 films in 2008, with 22 at an 8 rating. That’s double the films! LOL

So did Avatar win because it’s a weak film year?

Discuss. LOL

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Women and Marriage on Film

January 12, 2010 — Leave a comment

Yes, this is a romantic comedy post.

Entertainment Weekly has a new post titled What Hollywood Gets Wrong about Women and Marriage, in light of the recent release of Amy Adams’ Leap Year.

Obviously, Rom-Coms are a branch of Chick Flicks, and Chick Flicks are doomed. Especially in the West, where Chick Flick is a super negative tag on a film. Whip Ip (which I enjoyed a lot) is a Chick Flick, and it’s fun. My dad enjoyed it a lot. We should totally watch Roller Derby together.

But Rom-Coms, where they specifically want a female character to find love/get together/get married with someone, they are doomed on a different level. American (as a continent) Romantic Comedies forget that it’s not about people getting together or marrying, and completely forget the characters. In the end, we just don’t care enough for the character to care if she is or not getting the guy.

Do you recall any good romantic comedies of the past 10 years?

I remember I liked Imagine Me & You, My Sassy Girl (Korean version), Saving Face, Love Actually, Were the World Mine, Love me if You Dare~~~ well, that’s a pretty gay selection. LOL

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Another Political Rant Post

January 12, 2010 — 3 Comments

Venezuela’s currency is sinking lower.

Argentina’s president doesn’t want to pay the country’s international debt.

Mexico reported 69 deaths to drug-related crimes in just 24hrs.

Peru… been there, done that. Well, except the 69 deaths, I can’t remember anything about that… but I do remember about terrorists and the narcoterrorists.

I’m all for voicing your opinion, but saying whatever you want (like yelling fire in a public place) or instigating violence and hate with what your saying is not permitted. Sorry to say.

Governments should give their people what they NEED, not what they WANT. Obviously, we don’t know what we [as a country, not as individuals] need because we are too selfish to look more than the tip of our noses [is this saying even plausible in English?]. We will never get anywhere if one political party goes left, then the other party goes right — Sadly, that’s the business of politics.

Maybe democracy is just a tiny bit overrated~~~

After all, the one who wins isn’t necessarily the most capable, but the most popular.

And no, I’m not a disillusioned idealist. I stopped being an idealist in high school.

And yes, I just finished watching 4 seasons of Battlestar Galactica. LOL

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The Decade in Pop

January 2, 2010 — Leave a comment

Pitchfork has a really interesting article on how Pop music has changed these past 10 years, with a surprising take on the what was BackStreet Boys, Britney Spears, TLC, Christina Aguilera and Hanson. You know, since most people try to deny they listen to them at some point in their lives.

Here’s one measure of how well they succeeded. Breaking through behind the Backstreet Boys on 1999’s pop roster were a crew of former Mouseketeers: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and ‘N Sync’s Justin Timberlake. Even the commentators who loved their records didn’t give them a hope of longer-term success. But 10 years on, Spears is midway through the year’s highest-grossing tour, Aguilera is lining up M.I.A. and Santigold to work with, and Timberlake can pick his hip-hop collaborators as he wishes. (Not to mention snaring a Pitchfork Single of the Year.) It’s fair to say the class of ’99 exceeded every expectation.

My only issue is the focus on the American market. Sure, BackStreet Boys, Britney, Aguilera and everyone were popular worldwide, across cultures. Since the market’s shift to online music, it hasn’t been really the case… so the 2nd half of the article feels dull, just like the ‘worldwide pop music’ market. How about an exciting comment about Pop music in Asia? I keep saying Asia is actually saving “pop acts” alone by taking it to different levels.

You can read the article here.

Also~ Pitchfork has its Decade lists…
From its 200 albums, we only concur on five choices. They also repeat artists… 2, maybe 3 albums per artists, while I chose 100 albums by 100 artists including soundtracks. Oh yeah, I also have albums in Chinese and Japanese and Korean, and French. They don’t.

I’m kinda mad at their lack of variety.
It’s as if music in English is the only one that matters…
Check all their Decade lists here.

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If you wanna check mine.
Best Albums of 2000-2009
Best Songs of 2000-2009
– part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

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Mininova is Gone?

December 28, 2009 — 1 Comment

When did that happened?

Well, at least you can still upload your OWN original content to share, if you want. I wish more singers, groups, musicians, filmmakers would use the platform of torrents to distribute their work. After all, all you need is a private tracker to allow a few people… in case you want to charge some for it.

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Grammy 2010 Nominations

December 3, 2009 — Leave a comment

Well, I certainly don’t keep track with Grammy Awards anymore, so should I be adding the event to my Award Season calendar? Or should I just wait to run into it when it’s airing?

Grammy nominations were announced last night, and I’m glad I’m not the only one wondering why are the Grammy nominations so similar to MTV, the AMA and every other music-related award show? Just take a look at the General Field nominees to see what I’m talking about.

Record of the Year
Beyonce – Halo
The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Lady Gaga – Poker Face
Taylor Swift – You Belong with Me

Album of the Year
Beyonce – I Am… Sasha Fierce
The Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D
Lady Gaga – The Fame
Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Taylor Swift – Fearless

Song of the Year
Lady Gaga – Poker Face
Maxwell – Pretty Wings
Beyonce – Single Ladies
Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me

Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Continue Reading…

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