Another year, another edition of Skillz' annual year-in-review rap. Of course it's a little late, but with the amount of hangovers, I'm sure a few of you guys didn't miss much. I'm not going to lie. 2010 made me worried about a lot. There were a lot of high-profile deaths and a lot of hi-jinx in Hollywood that made me wonder 'where are we going?' But that's neither here nor there. It's a new year and time for a new chronological start. Hopefully everyone is in good spirits. We know Skillz is. Check out his 2010 Rap-Up and have a good Sunday, people!
Sooo, now that Mel Gibson has racist and sexist-ranted his way out of Lethal Weapon 5, we've got to find other older actors to run wild in action movies. Fortunately, Bruce Willis is still on the scene, and Morgan Freeman has always been a sleeper in the genre. This particular offering has a predictable plot, but reeks of entertainment value, considering the host of explosions, guns, high-tech gear, and one-liners in the trailer. Plus, the interactions look hilarious!! Check out the trailer from Comic Con...
Machete is a Robert Rodriguez-directed film about an ex-Federale (Mexican policeman) who gets put up as a hired gun to fight against a corrupt US Senator sending illegal immigrants out of the country. The movie features Danny Trejo (didn't know he had so many films under his belt; Wiki this man) in the lead as Machete, and a hell of a lot of swordplay, given the title. It's funny this movie is coming out right now. The racial, cultural and sociological undertones in this movie are going to be ridiculous, considering the way immigration is being handled by our friends in Arizona. As opposed to the much more peaceful solution of protests and lobbying and voting, Machete's premise is a sick little fantasy of mine: a rogue warrior fighting for the rights of the people with huge guns and unreal explosions. Whether you're watching for the action or the story, this looks like it's going to be a doozy. Check the trailer...
You couldn't have come up with a more generic and boring name... Where are your PR people?
I never thought we'd come to a day in the NBA again where one player's moves and leanings superseded that of the rest of the league. That said, I can remember when Michael Jordan was the game of basketball, and I gladly accepted that ideology, along with copious amounts of his sneakers and memorabilia. That's not the case for you LeBron. While I'm in sheer awe of your athleticism and ridiculous aptitude for the game of basketball, it's really disconcerting to see how you've turned something as simple as signing a damn contract into a 3 week long LeBron-athon. It's ridiculous. We've been hearing about this vaunted 'Summer of 2010' since 2008, and I'm honestly sick of it. Detox doesn't have that much hype, and it's probably never coming out. But seriously, LeBron, you need to just sign with a team and end all of this hoopla. Now that Chris Bosh has effectively latched himself onto Dwyane Wade's member, it's looking like wherever you go, you will be the main man. If that's the case, there's no excuse for you not to ball out of control in the upcoming season.
Sure, you just joined Twitter, but what's with you contributing to the media firestorm by joining at this time and then scheduling a press conference tomorrow? It's like you're trying to make this whole process into a ridiculous climax, when we all know a week afterward, most people will be just 'mehhh' about it (especially if you're not on their team). Why couldn't you be like the homie Kevin Durant? That man signed a 5-year extension worth $85 million, and we barely heard about it. Hell, if I didn't check my Twitter randomly at 10 this morning, I might not have even known! LeBron, I'm not trying to deter you from having fun with the whole process. In fact, I lauded the fact that you weren't going on a 10-city tour like the rest of the free agents, and basically turning the country into the United States of LeBron. It's just that you milking the process is getting really really old. Whatever the case, LeBron, tomorrow is D-Day. Wherever you end up, you're going to be the best player, so does it really matter anymore? And better yet, wherever you end up, are you remotely guaranteed to be close to a championship? I doubt it...
EDIT: Apparently Bron Bron is donating the proceeds from his LeBron-athon to the Boys & Girls Club of America. That's pretty commendable. You can't even be mad at that, though it's still chump change compared to what he's going to make no matter where he signs...
I remember exactly where I was when I saw the first Paranormal Activity. It was in a dark room, and my viewing partner and I were admittedly shook, trying not to frighten one another. Needless to say, the movie was a scary one, developing slowly but having you on edge by the end. In May, the director Oren Peli greenlit a sequel to Paranormal Activity. That means more 'found footage', more shaky cameras and more realistic horror. I think what made the first so good was how normal everything seemed in Micah and Katie's life outside of the fact that Katie was possessed by a vengeful demon. They lived the most normal of lives, but were getting yanked out of bed and scared shitless by said demons. I guess this time around, it's going to be more normalcy juxtaposed with supernatural experiences. The dog in the trailer was going nuts, and when animals start getting anxious, you know something crazy is happening. Okay, enough drooling. Check out the trailer and look out for Paranormal Activity 2, slated to release in October...
If last week's draft was the beginning of the Summer of Madness, then today is the calm before the storm. At 12 AM on Thursday, July 1st, 2010, the NBA will become a feeding frenzy. No one's team is safe. Everyone is grappling for position as the number one contender for a max-contract free agent. The prospects are alluring. LeBron James is enticing you guys to come to Cleveland. Chris Bosh is tweeting about where he wants to go and telling everyone about his travels. Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade are having secret dinner meetings with everyone. Teams are already letting free agents know that they'll be contacting them. My question to you, teams, is as follows: Why is free agency supposed to be the end-all be-all of building a franchise?
Guys, take a look at basketball history. Remember those ridiculous dynasties in the 70s, 80s and 90s? Remember how the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics went back and forth as the best teams in the league? Remember how the Bulls pulled off two 3-peats behind Jordan and Pippen? Remember the Bad Boys of Detroit who had the repeat before them? What about the Spurs and Lakers of this past decade? What was the fabric behind all of those teams? What made those teams so good? I'll give you a second... Think about it (DING). The answer is continuity, NBA teams. Continuity, not high priced free agents was what made these teams great. The core players were the same in every championship run. Whether it was Zeke, Joe Dumars, Rodman & Adrian Dantley sticking together for 5 years before their two 'ships, or Shaq, Kobe & Company, or just Kobe & Company, or the Showtime Lakers, there have always been solid cores of players for every championship caliber team. Rather than exploding the team after every losing season (coughcoughKnickscoughcough), these teams stuck with the players they knew were doing the job, and then built around them. That's not the case today, teams.
When you look at all the players ready to make moves come Thursday, it's exciting, yet sad. There's no such thing as player loyalty or any desire for continuity. Even LeBron, aka Mr. Cleveland, is courting offers from potential suitors like it's a firesale. I suppose its a sad day when the NBA's supremacy becomes a high-stakes bidding war. Then again, are you teams engaging in the hype even positioning yourselves that well? The teams that usually contend already have their places in piece, and aren't worrying about integrating another star into their system. I don't know teams. You'd think that starting from the ground up, rather than trying to go fork overkill would be the best idea. Even so, the allure of signing one of the best players in the league is undeniable. Just make sure you remember a timeless Latin phrase: Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware)...
If you're a video game fan (#shoutout to real fans; not bandwagon heads), you remember the game Mortal Kombat like it was yesterday. Between Jax, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Johnny Kage, Liu Kang, Kano and Goro, the characters and plot were entirely too trill. And let's not get on to the finishing moves. This video was a promo given to Warner Brothers to convince them to greenlight a re-adaptation of the story (real fans know the last movies were crap sandwiches dripping with wack sauce). In the video, you see Jax and Sonia Blade interrogating a shadowy figure who turns out to be Scorpion. Note, that this isn't for the faint of heart. It's a lot grittier than the original movies and the video games, which were campy with their violence at times. Hell, this could be a horror movie with how bloody these 7 minutes are. Whatever your stance on video game violence (quit being a baby), the promo will be getting more airplay, especially as E3 (the world's biggest video game conference) draws closer. I hope they give us more to salivate on when E3 finally happens in one week...
There are few things more summer-y than a nice afternoon out on the water with friends. I suppose that's the look that streetwear brand Orisue was going for in the lookbook for their Summer 2010 collection. They brought out the yacht, some libations, some females and had a grand-old time dressed in the freshest of attire. The collection draws from both preppy and streetwear styles, with a few striped t-shirts, short sleeve oxfords and other pieces that seem to just meld for a good look. Not even going to lie. The party on the boat looks pretty fun. Whatever the case, check out the rest of the collection at Orisue and some choice flicktures...
This picture is worth so much more than 1,000 words...
My oh, my oh MY... How the once mighty have fallen. ATL, I was probably your biggest fan in 2008. No one picked you guys to go to the Playoffs that year. I did. No one thought you would win a game against the eventual champion Celtics. I did, and ended up winning a few dollars, while you guys took the Celts to 7 games. No one thought you'd be able to keep up the improvement for the next two years. And you know what?? They were right. Hawks, you guys have gone from a Cinderella story in the NBA to a team that's gotten as good as it's going to get.
Not only did you get VACUUMED (swept can't even be used anymore) by the Magic, you guys got blown out every game this series. You made Dwight Howard look like the best big man in the league (he is far from that) by letting him impose his hoe-wifing, no post move-having self all over Al Horford and Josh Smith's face. Marvin Williams didn't show up, as usual. When are you guys going to just give up and admit that you drafted the wrong Williams (Deron isn't doing much better after getting swept himself, though) in 2005?? Joe Johnson, you looked like a SCRUB. There are no words for how terrible you played. If this is what teams should be expecting out of a 'max-contract' player, then they will be getting robbed of every penny come July. As a man who's playing for his contract, you were playing like you had already signed the dotted line. No, you haven't. You and your backcourt mate, Mike Bibby, played like you deserved to be riding the bench, like above. I think I saw Bibby hit one shot all series. Even Jamal Crawford seemed out of sink, and he's usually the one pulling the offense out of nowhere. I don't know what the deal is, but it's obvious you guys have hit your peak.
Joe 'No defense & no max contract' Johnson
The thing is, I should've seen this coming. Last series against the Bucks, you guys looked bad. And not good-bad.. Sluggish bad. Unprepared bad. Overconfident bad. You let a Bucks team playing without their star big man (Andrew Bogut) bring you to 7 games, much like you did to Boston 2 years ago. Brandon Jennings, although a bit inconsistent was torching your 'defense' at times, while John Salmons and Carlos Delfino quietly closed the casket on you. Hell, you guys were down 3-2 before finally buckling down and sending the Bucks home. Regardless, that doesn't excuse the woeful performance against the Magic. I'd go as far as to say that this team needs some drastic changes in the offseason. Whether it's shipping Bibby or Smith or Johnson or Williams or SOMEBODY, something needs to be done to shake up this roster, because it looked dead in the water last night. I guess when you don't have the support of the fans like Joe Johnson (sarcasm), it doesn't matter how bad you play...
Haven't posted any clothes in a minute, since nothing's really caught my eye as of late. As a matter of fact, I'd say that most of the brands I used to bang with have put out sub-par Spring collections. Maybe it's a shift in their M.O.'s or maybe it's me getting older and less cool with over-the-top designs. I suppose that's why I dig ONLY NY's Spring 2010 Collection. It's very simplistic in their t-shirts, hoodies and caps. The collection rocks with quality vintage cotton with simple logos. In fact, ONLY has extremely good branding. You never find yourself wondering 'Why'd they put that out?' or 'That doesn't fit with the rest.' It's just apparel. Well made and well designed in the mold of NYC street culture. Check out some more choice flicktures and the rest of the collection at ONLY NY...
If you don't know what that is behind the dude, I revoke your hood pass...
The good folks at LRG blessed us with a video and a lookbook of their Summer 2010 collection. This year, LRG is going for a more casual look. They went to some exotic location for the shoot, and did a lot of frolicking on the beach, a yacht and in what seems to be the jungle. The Spring collection looks like it's drawing from vintage 90's Ralph Lauren with some of the tops and looks very Miami Vice-esque with some of the others. All in all its really colorful, and another step up from LRG after having lost some of its clout over the past few years. Check out Big Sean, Cory Gunz and some of the LRG Skate Team in the video and the flicktures...
The good people over at Rocksmith Tokyo have been building a solid following over the past few years with quality streetwear. This spring, the Japanese brand is calling their collection the most refined to date. Also, in true streetwear fashion, they've brought together a menagerie of up-and-coming hip-hop artists and radio hosts to add a little UMPH to the visuals for the collection. Check out some of my favorite pieces and check the rest of the collection at Rocksmith...
Only a true nerd or 80's fan will remember the movie Tron, where Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) essentially gets sucked into the video game world, complete with CGI-induced beams of light and cool suits through a dystopian lens. December 17th of this year, we'll see what happens to Flynn's son, Sam, as he explores the same world that trapped his father in 1982. The trailer for Tron: Legacy looks like it's going to be a Pokemon-esque explosion of CGI (who remembers those kids who had seizures in Japan?) and an expansion of an already great storyline. Honestly, Tron should have been revisited years ago, so seeing it come to fruition should be unbelievably DOPE. Check out the trailer...
I'm generally not the biggest fan of taking animation to live action. However, I was never really an Avatar (James Cameron cost Disney millions by swiping that name) fan, so seeing this movie won't ruin a classic like GI Joe did. 'The Last Airbender' (the official title) follows the first season of the show, where Aang (the last airbender; hence the title) tries to restore balance to the earth. Yeah, it's a bit of a trippy premise if you're not into fantasy, but visually it looks pretty cool. Not sure if it's going to compare to the real other Avatar, but with a bunch of bad buddy comedies slated for this summer, there might not be much more to watch...
Do you know what the difference between rap and hip-hop is? I'll give you a second. Whereas rap is saying you love something, hip-hop is being in love. Whereas much of rap is going through the motions, hip-hop is much more extensive. All-Star Weekend, you turned into rap, a shell of your former exciting self. I'm not sparing the rod this year because last year was even less disappointing. Let's see how far you've slipped:
First of all, ASG, what's up with all of the corporate sponsorships and bubble-gum R&B/pop acts? If it wasn't T-Mobile and Taco Bell ads being repeated left and right, then it was Shakira and Alicia Keys as long-winded headshakers of performances and Usher making me feel uncomfortable with his Batman-esque corset during the introduction.
Skin-tight plastic does not make me want to play or watch basketball...
Second of all, All-Star Saturday night SUCKED. Point blank. The three-point contest had at least two participants who shouldn't have been in it (Paul Pierce, you aren't the best shooter in the world; you just got hot). Then, the dunk contest was a yawner to say the least. Gerald Wallace looked like he didn't want to be there, and did some of the blandest, emotionless dunks ever. Shannon Brown did a dunk that I can do after failing terribly at his first (somewhat) impressive dunk. DeMar DeRozan tried to copy Vince Carter with his dunks. And the winner, Nate Robinson did what he's been doing: be short and dunk. I have no problem with him winning it this year, because it sucked, but for future reference, get Nate out of the contest. His dunks wouldn't be as cool if he was 6'4" instead of 5'7". The dunk contest seriously might have taken a shotgun blast to the head with the way 2010's contest went. Either you get the stars to come out and go HARD, or you cancel it. That brings me to my final point, the actual All-Star Game.
DONTLETSHANNONDUNK.COM
ASW, I was one of a few people who didn't criticize some of your omissions from the teams, although I know some of the players didn't deserve to be there. I'm simply going to say that this year's game was a tad bit less boring than the dunk contest, but was unbelievably uncompetitive and boring. I didn't fall asleep because of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (their dunks and alley-oops could have won the dunk contest) being the superstars that they are and actually being competitive. Other than that, you're game this year was a YAWN. The game was about as intense as Summer's Eve lotion, and the eerie silence in your record crowd of 108,713 displayed that perfectly.
Clearly the most exciting parts of the weekend were when this man touched the court.. Everything else?? Meeehhhhhh....
This was the biggest crowd to watch a basketball game EVER. All-Star Weekend, you could have been the boost that basketball needed. You could have been the reason that people got their interest in the NBA again. For people that don't watch basketball on the regular, the you should have been spectacular and bigger than big. Instead it was like a giant circus with unfunny clowns, tiny elephants and fake fire-breathers. I can honestly say that I've never been let down by a sporting event as much as I was with your ASW 2010. To say you were a slam dunk this year is more than a lie; it is a travesty...
Togo's national soccer team have been officially disqualified from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The region's governing football body for football has confirmed that the team, known as the "Hawks", will take no further part in the tournament being hosted by Angola after failing to appear for their first group game against Ghana on Monday, according to CNN affiliate ITN.
The squad flew back home to Togo after three of their traveling party were killed and two players seriously injured by a machine-gun attack which occurred as their bus crossed the border into the northern, oil-rich state of Cabinda on Friday.
Why is death an impetus for lack of understanding? Or better yet, why does the death of a comrade (only word I wanted to use; I'm not a Commie) not inspire people instead of make them fearful and contentious? The latter is your stee-lo, FIFA. Togo was eliminated from the CAF African Nations Cup after failing to show for their first match. No, they weren't on a delayed flight or getting a new pair of shin-guards for Emmanuel Adebayor. THEY WERE GETTING ATTACKED BY MACHINE GUNS! I could understand if the team was being a fist full of assholes and just not showing up, but where do sympathy and reverence come into play?
Soccer has always been one of the sports I respected because of how regal and tradition-based it is without being a bore. Now, can that really be said? And better yet, what of the security of the rest of the squads in the Nations Cup? If the Togolese team is getting shot up before they even get to the tournament, then I shudder to think what could happen when all of the teams are together. And to that same effect, what's going to be the deal when the World Cup goes down in June?? Is the security going to be that loose? Whatever the case, FIFA, you guys need to both beef up your security and LET TOGO PLAY. By disqualifying them, you're letting those crazed attackers think they won, which would be the ultimate L, no matter who wins the Nations Cup...
It would seem as if 2010 is all about resurgence, with all of the clothing brands looking to put 2009 behind them. I know a lot of you dudes out there used to rock LRG. The somewhere between that hoodie with the skeleton and them being sold in every store imaginable, people stopped going hard for them. Maybe it was a muddled sense of design, or lack of direction, but LRG seemed to just fall off. 2010 might be the year they take off again with their Spring collection. While the line is still the colorful blend that we remember from LRG, the cuts are more reserved and clean, and the fits aren't as big. Hell, they even got Mike Posner to pose for the lookbook (debatable decision). Check out some flicks from their 2010 Spring Collection...
He sucks as a musician, but I suppose being fresh can alleviate that..
There are certain movies that you can't help but smile at. This is definitely one of them. I've watched the trailer at least 5 times now, and even my mother wants to see it now. Babies follows the first year of life for four babies around the world. They're located in Japan, Mongolia, Namibia, and of course the US of A. The social and economic implications of the movie will be incredible, as we see how in some countries (I'm not even gonna say which ones), the standard of living is low, and child-rearing is difficult. Raising a child might seem like it is the same everywhere, but Babies will serve to debunk that myth visually. This reminds me a lot of Earth, just with people. There's no word of a release date, so keep your eyes peeled for updates...
PS: Just researched a little more and the movie's coming out on April 16, 2010.
Just when it seemed like every superhero avenue had been explored in depth, someone decides to revamp the whole 'rag-tag bunch of nobodies who turns into superheroes' genre. If you saw Mystery Men (sad to say I did), then you know how badly done this can be done. However, from the trailer for Kick-Ass (and the red-band, unrated trailer below), we might finally be in luck. Of course they have to throw in the discouraged, frustrated teenager, but the little girl in the next trailer makes me want to see this. Check both trailers...
Forget 2012. The world might end after 2010 with all of the dope happenings going on. Along with NBA free agency, the sneaker game is looking like it's gonna hit a serious resurgence in 2010. With the exception of the SB division (everything I've seen looks like garbage), Nike has a lineup that might put it back on top next year. Check some more pictures of what's becoming one of my favorite shoes these days, the Air Structure Triax 91...
