4.01.2005
PRODUCT REVIEW :: Navman AA005600 Pin Personal Interactive Navigation
I'M NOT HAPPY TO SEE YOU. THERE IS A PDA IN MY POCKET.
I'm the type'a guy who gets totally stoked looking at the latest gadgets & gizmos online and in magazines. So when I came across the Navman PiN, I was thrilled with the possibility of such an all-in-one solution. Well, let me tell ya ... this little bugger kicks arse. It's a veritable PC in your pocket: Word, Outlook, Windows Media Player, you name it. Still not sold? How about a voice recorder, GPS and Internet in a device smaller than your wallet? Cop SanDisk's 256MB WiFi SD Card, and you'll be good to go.
I'm the type'a guy who gets totally stoked looking at the latest gadgets & gizmos online and in magazines. So when I came across the Navman PiN, I was thrilled with the possibility of such an all-in-one solution. Well, let me tell ya ... this little bugger kicks arse. It's a veritable PC in your pocket: Word, Outlook, Windows Media Player, you name it. Still not sold? How about a voice recorder, GPS and Internet in a device smaller than your wallet? Cop SanDisk's 256MB WiFi SD Card, and you'll be good to go.
3.31.2005
PRODUCT REVIEW :: Microsoft K4800019 Black USB + PS/2 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard & Mouse Combo
SO IT, LIKE, TYPES AND STUFF
This is the same design as MS's wired version, with customizable buttons and a two-tone color scheme. The keys are a transparent, charcoal gray and super quiet, all but muting the loud clicks & clacks that annoy my granny while I do homework in the middle of the night. The included mouse boasts precise cursor movement, a comfortable design, side scrolling and a bevy of options you can personalize with the included software.
This is the same design as MS's wired version, with customizable buttons and a two-tone color scheme. The keys are a transparent, charcoal gray and super quiet, all but muting the loud clicks & clacks that annoy my granny while I do homework in the middle of the night. The included mouse boasts precise cursor movement, a comfortable design, side scrolling and a bevy of options you can personalize with the included software.
2.09.2005
PRODUCT REVIEW :: Macally PODFM Full Channel Auto/Home FM Transmitter and Car Charger for iPod
... THE RED SOX, THEN SEX, AND THEN MY iPOD FM TRANSMITTER
Sure, 10,000 songs in your pocket is cool. But the reason I bought an iPod is so that I could stop, once and for all, fumbling for a new CD every time I have the urge to hear a particular song while driving. Macally's FM Transmitter accomplishes this feat with a fresh, functional design, clear sound and my favorite … a low price.
Sure, 10,000 songs in your pocket is cool. But the reason I bought an iPod is so that I could stop, once and for all, fumbling for a new CD every time I have the urge to hear a particular song while driving. Macally's FM Transmitter accomplishes this feat with a fresh, functional design, clear sound and my favorite … a low price.
PRODUCT REVIEW :: Belkin iPod TuneDok Car Holder Model F8E467
LIKE A GLOVE
I picked this up on a whim but it turned out to be a pretty darn good buy. I now have my iPod perfectly positioned for optimum viewing & control. I use it with Macally's FM Tuner in an '03 Nissan Sentra and it looks so fresh & so clean. The Pod, holder & tuner are each silver and white, matching my ride's interior/exterior color scheme. Cooler than the other side of the pillow? Oh yeah ... daddy like.
I picked this up on a whim but it turned out to be a pretty darn good buy. I now have my iPod perfectly positioned for optimum viewing & control. I use it with Macally's FM Tuner in an '03 Nissan Sentra and it looks so fresh & so clean. The Pod, holder & tuner are each silver and white, matching my ride's interior/exterior color scheme. Cooler than the other side of the pillow? Oh yeah ... daddy like.
12.30.2004
PRODUCT REVIEW :: Altec Lansing AHP-512 Headphones
DUDE, JUST BUY 'EM ALREADY
These headphones pack a wallop and offer superb sound control without making a dent in your wallet. An adjustable headset, earpieces and volume control module on the headphone cord are groovy, but the coup de grace is the stellar sound quality. These will put your iPod's earbud headphones to shame.
These headphones pack a wallop and offer superb sound control without making a dent in your wallet. An adjustable headset, earpieces and volume control module on the headphone cord are groovy, but the coup de grace is the stellar sound quality. These will put your iPod's earbud headphones to shame.
11.18.2003
MUSIC REVIEW :: Reflection Eternal/Train of Thought, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek
A CLASSIC. PERIOD.
If you don't already own this disc, man, wake up! You're sleeping on one of the best hip-hop CDs of all time. I've personally owned this album for at least a year and it still doesn't get old. So much so that I had to check out what some of ya'll wrote as reviews, just to support my feelings that "Train of Thought" is one of the top 5 hip-hop joints ever released. Evidently most listeners feel the same.
If you don't already own this disc, man, wake up! You're sleeping on one of the best hip-hop CDs of all time. I've personally owned this album for at least a year and it still doesn't get old. So much so that I had to check out what some of ya'll wrote as reviews, just to support my feelings that "Train of Thought" is one of the top 5 hip-hop joints ever released. Evidently most listeners feel the same.
Thing is, "Train of Thought" isn't simply rap, or even hip-hop for that matter. This solid debut from Reflection Eternal is just plain music ... to merely label it as rap or underground or whatever tag you wanna slap on it would downplay its significance. Kweli and Hi-Tek are a match made in musical heaven. Kweli is an aggressive battle rapper, an insightful lyricist and a soulful wordsmith. Fused with Hi-Tek's dexterious production; whether over a bluesy bounce, a funky bassline or an african drum, Talib's spiritual introspection and social commentary over Hi-Tek's utterly immactulate beats are truly timeless contributions to hip-hop culture, and music in general.
Some of the aforementioned reviewers on this site were arguing about Talib Kweli being the greatest lyricist ever. I tend to agree. There's no need to choose a side anymore; 2Pac and BIG's music and contributions to society are evident ... not to mention ... ummm, they're dead. Support artists who are alive and who speak for us. I'd probably get stoned for saying this in public but Talib Kweli makes more relevant remarks about the state of hip-hop culture, love, women, memories and life than B.I.G. did in the span of his career. Nuthin' against my man Biggie Smalls, but he didn't have Hi-Tek weaving musical tapestries under his rhymes either. He had Puffy. The bottom line here is if you want to listen to an album that would compliment your musical collection, regardless of your individual tastes, cop "Train of Thought." Talib's extraordinary yet seemingly effortless flow backed by Hi-Tek's atmospheric production make this album a worthwhile addition to any listener's musical library.5.01.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Murder by Numbers
'NUMBERS' SUM UP TO STURDY THRILLER
Murder by Numbers is many-sided in scope, allowing it to work on a number of different levels. To merely label it as a thriller would belittle the performances and effort rendered by writer and actor to create such intriguing characters.
It seems everything clicks here -- the characters to the script, director to cinematographer -- to create a believable mystery with startlingly realistic characters and settings. To say Murder by Numbers is just a thriller is an understatement. It's a character study within a murder mystery, a tale of redemption and a slick drama with as much substance as style.
So what exactly is murder by numbers? For high school seniors Richard Haywood and Justin Pendleton (Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt), it is getting away with the perfect crime. Brilliant outcast Justin and popular rebel Richard form a club of two on boredom and the neglect of their upper-middle class parents, bonding in a crumbling building on a seaside cliff. Here the boys share their deepest secrets and fantasies while drinking alcohol and getting high, soon realizing that this relationship is the closest either of them has ever had.
Over the days and months that follow, the boys hatch a plan to guarantee their total loyalty to each other, to share an experience few have known: to commit the perfect murder.
But veteran detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) is not easily fooled. While her new partner Sam (Ben Chaplin) is happy to follow the clues to their logical conclusion, Cassie is experienced enough to trust her hunches and resist the obvious answers. Her abrasive, tomboyish exterior is, however, a disguise to mask deep scars. Her past emerges in bits and pieces of flashback, though few contain surprises. There is never any mystery about the fact that the murder she is investigating reawakens her most painful memories.
The relationship between the twisted killers and the mismatched cops is as interesting as the plot that unfolds, and director Barbet Schroeder meticulously reveals the truths that each character is hiding throughout the film's two hour running time.
Justin and Richard's relationship is just shy of sexual, but as they clash and embrace, you never get the impression that they are gay. It is a deliberate touch to further characterize these smart kids with fat wallets and empty lives. They have done something together that is both exciting and dangerous, and they are the only souls on earth who know about it. It deepens their relationship to an extent unknown to either of them, but things slowly begin to unravel as fear, paranoia, guilt and suspicion begin to take effect.
Sandra Bullock's journey as Cassie is fascinating too, but seems somewhat contrived and wraps itself up all to easily for someone caring so much baggage. Nonetheless, Bullock rises above the constraints of the script, turning in her best performance since she drove a bus rigged with explosives alongside Keanu Reeves in Speed.
Murder by Numbers scores with sharp chills and top-notch acting, qualities that too many thrillers leave behind.
Murder by Numbers is many-sided in scope, allowing it to work on a number of different levels. To merely label it as a thriller would belittle the performances and effort rendered by writer and actor to create such intriguing characters.
It seems everything clicks here -- the characters to the script, director to cinematographer -- to create a believable mystery with startlingly realistic characters and settings. To say Murder by Numbers is just a thriller is an understatement. It's a character study within a murder mystery, a tale of redemption and a slick drama with as much substance as style.
So what exactly is murder by numbers? For high school seniors Richard Haywood and Justin Pendleton (Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt), it is getting away with the perfect crime. Brilliant outcast Justin and popular rebel Richard form a club of two on boredom and the neglect of their upper-middle class parents, bonding in a crumbling building on a seaside cliff. Here the boys share their deepest secrets and fantasies while drinking alcohol and getting high, soon realizing that this relationship is the closest either of them has ever had.
Over the days and months that follow, the boys hatch a plan to guarantee their total loyalty to each other, to share an experience few have known: to commit the perfect murder.
But veteran detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) is not easily fooled. While her new partner Sam (Ben Chaplin) is happy to follow the clues to their logical conclusion, Cassie is experienced enough to trust her hunches and resist the obvious answers. Her abrasive, tomboyish exterior is, however, a disguise to mask deep scars. Her past emerges in bits and pieces of flashback, though few contain surprises. There is never any mystery about the fact that the murder she is investigating reawakens her most painful memories.
The relationship between the twisted killers and the mismatched cops is as interesting as the plot that unfolds, and director Barbet Schroeder meticulously reveals the truths that each character is hiding throughout the film's two hour running time.
Justin and Richard's relationship is just shy of sexual, but as they clash and embrace, you never get the impression that they are gay. It is a deliberate touch to further characterize these smart kids with fat wallets and empty lives. They have done something together that is both exciting and dangerous, and they are the only souls on earth who know about it. It deepens their relationship to an extent unknown to either of them, but things slowly begin to unravel as fear, paranoia, guilt and suspicion begin to take effect.
Sandra Bullock's journey as Cassie is fascinating too, but seems somewhat contrived and wraps itself up all to easily for someone caring so much baggage. Nonetheless, Bullock rises above the constraints of the script, turning in her best performance since she drove a bus rigged with explosives alongside Keanu Reeves in Speed.
Murder by Numbers scores with sharp chills and top-notch acting, qualities that too many thrillers leave behind.
4.17.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Frailty
'FRAILTY' FIRST MUST-SEE MOVIE OF 2002
Finally.
Four months into 2002 and the first must-see movie of the year has finally come out. And in this case, it has come out swinging (with an ax, among other things).
Frailty, directed by and starring Bill Paxton, is an eerie Southern Gothic tale that blends elements of an X-files episode with a slasher flick, then veers into the supernatural and back for a final twist that rivals The Sixth Sense, even if you did see it coming.
I did, but it didn't matter. The film is laden with so many twists and turns that even if you do figure it out, there is more to the story than you ever thought possible which makes the conclusion that much more satisfying.
The story follows an FBI investigation in present day Texas. A young man named Fenton Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) approaches the lead FBI investigator, claiming he knows the identity of a serial killer who calls himself 'God's Hands.' The FBI agent (Powers Boothe) is curious, but skeptical until Fenton reveals that the killer is his younger brother Adam.
Fenton recounts in a series of flashbacks, how he and his brother grew up in a very loving family, raised by their widowed father.
All that changed, the day his father awoke, believing he had been visited by an angel and given a mission to destroy 'demons' -- seemingly normal looking people, who walk this earth as pure evil.
Fenton's father, and then his brother Adam, swore to carry out this "divine" mission. Fenton refused to participate in the killings.
Out of loyalty however, he refused to go the police, until now. The FBI agent follows Fenton to the family's rose garden only to find that neither evil nor innocence are what they seem.
And Frailty is the same way.
The audience didn't know whether to laugh or cringe when Paxton tells young Fenton, "Do it like I showed you," motioning toward a restrained 'demon,' "The neck is first." Here is dad, seemingly consumed by murderous religious fervor, patiently coaching his son on the fine art of hacking someone to death with an ax.
It was brilliant.
The entire film leaves you on the edge of your seat, thanks to Paxton working double time as star and director. Behind the camera, Paxton shifts a normal Texas town into a grisly, dark world where nothing is as it seems. And in front of the camera, he turns in the performance of his career as a caring father and ... serial killer? Or demon slayer?
Frailty is a much stronger film than the title suggests, and if it does not make a killing at the box office, it could very well be the sleeper hit of the year.
Finally.
Four months into 2002 and the first must-see movie of the year has finally come out. And in this case, it has come out swinging (with an ax, among other things).
Frailty, directed by and starring Bill Paxton, is an eerie Southern Gothic tale that blends elements of an X-files episode with a slasher flick, then veers into the supernatural and back for a final twist that rivals The Sixth Sense, even if you did see it coming.
I did, but it didn't matter. The film is laden with so many twists and turns that even if you do figure it out, there is more to the story than you ever thought possible which makes the conclusion that much more satisfying.
The story follows an FBI investigation in present day Texas. A young man named Fenton Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) approaches the lead FBI investigator, claiming he knows the identity of a serial killer who calls himself 'God's Hands.' The FBI agent (Powers Boothe) is curious, but skeptical until Fenton reveals that the killer is his younger brother Adam.
Fenton recounts in a series of flashbacks, how he and his brother grew up in a very loving family, raised by their widowed father.
All that changed, the day his father awoke, believing he had been visited by an angel and given a mission to destroy 'demons' -- seemingly normal looking people, who walk this earth as pure evil.
Fenton's father, and then his brother Adam, swore to carry out this "divine" mission. Fenton refused to participate in the killings.
Out of loyalty however, he refused to go the police, until now. The FBI agent follows Fenton to the family's rose garden only to find that neither evil nor innocence are what they seem.
And Frailty is the same way.
The audience didn't know whether to laugh or cringe when Paxton tells young Fenton, "Do it like I showed you," motioning toward a restrained 'demon,' "The neck is first." Here is dad, seemingly consumed by murderous religious fervor, patiently coaching his son on the fine art of hacking someone to death with an ax.
It was brilliant.
The entire film leaves you on the edge of your seat, thanks to Paxton working double time as star and director. Behind the camera, Paxton shifts a normal Texas town into a grisly, dark world where nothing is as it seems. And in front of the camera, he turns in the performance of his career as a caring father and ... serial killer? Or demon slayer?
Frailty is a much stronger film than the title suggests, and if it does not make a killing at the box office, it could very well be the sleeper hit of the year.
4.03.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Panic Room
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN 'PANIC ROOM'
Panic Room is one of those films where you find yourself wanting to shout advice to the characters on screen. "Don't open that door!" and "Hurry, they're coming!" spring to mind. But for all of director David Fincher's Hitchcockian homages and excessively violent scenes, the end result is far from the "panic" I was looking forward to squirming through. It almost made me want to shout something else at the screen, perhaps following it with a hand gesture.
Still, Panic Room is far from a bad movie. In fact, it's one of the better films to come out so far this year. So why, you ask, am I disappointed?
Well, Fincher directed Fight Club and Seven, and the media (I hate those guys) have been comparing this new film to Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, which is arguably one of the coolest movies ever.
Panic Room's ingredients: Ultra-violent, dark and claustrophobic, are what all of the aforementioned movies would create if they were mixed together. But the most essential element in any thriller is suspense, and that is where this film falls short. It is there, occasionally making its presence known, but it all but gets up and walks out of the theater halfway through the movie.
That leaves the bulk of the responsibility to salvage what's left to the actors, who all do a superb job, most notably Jodie Foster and Jared Leto.
The premise is rather simple. Meg Altman (Foster) and her daughter Sarah (newcomer Kristen Stewart) purchase an enormous home on the Upper West Side after a bitter divorce with her pharmaceutical tycoon ex-husband. In addition to its vaulted ceilings, a half dozen fireplaces and an elevator, the veritable mansion also contains a "panic room," where, in case of a home invasion, a family could seemingly hide inside a vault-like enclosure and call for help or wait for the intruders to leave.
Unless what the burglars are looking for is in that room (cue dramatic music).
We soon find out the previous owner of the home has left millions in a safe inside the panic room, and on the pair's first night in the home, three intruders break in to steal the hidden fortune, under the assumption that the house is still vacant.
Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam play the crooks to perfection, and what ensues is a perilous game of cat and mouse as the invaders attempt to get into the panic room where Meg and Sarah are hiding.
Fincher's use of the camera is extraordinary, capturing shots that would make Hitchcock jealous. Of course Hitchcock didn't have access to computer-generated images, either. The camera passes through tiny spaces such as a coffee pot handle, key holes, vents, even between floors, always in one continuous shot, making it all the more impressive. It is truly dazzling filmmaking.
Panic Room only falters because of the hype that has been made of it. It's not a great movie, but it's pretty damn good. The directing is excellent and the acting is first-rate. What more could a movie-goer ask for? Oh, there was that whole suspense thing, wasn't there?
Panic Room is one of those films where you find yourself wanting to shout advice to the characters on screen. "Don't open that door!" and "Hurry, they're coming!" spring to mind. But for all of director David Fincher's Hitchcockian homages and excessively violent scenes, the end result is far from the "panic" I was looking forward to squirming through. It almost made me want to shout something else at the screen, perhaps following it with a hand gesture.
Still, Panic Room is far from a bad movie. In fact, it's one of the better films to come out so far this year. So why, you ask, am I disappointed?
Well, Fincher directed Fight Club and Seven, and the media (I hate those guys) have been comparing this new film to Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, which is arguably one of the coolest movies ever.
Panic Room's ingredients: Ultra-violent, dark and claustrophobic, are what all of the aforementioned movies would create if they were mixed together. But the most essential element in any thriller is suspense, and that is where this film falls short. It is there, occasionally making its presence known, but it all but gets up and walks out of the theater halfway through the movie.
That leaves the bulk of the responsibility to salvage what's left to the actors, who all do a superb job, most notably Jodie Foster and Jared Leto.
The premise is rather simple. Meg Altman (Foster) and her daughter Sarah (newcomer Kristen Stewart) purchase an enormous home on the Upper West Side after a bitter divorce with her pharmaceutical tycoon ex-husband. In addition to its vaulted ceilings, a half dozen fireplaces and an elevator, the veritable mansion also contains a "panic room," where, in case of a home invasion, a family could seemingly hide inside a vault-like enclosure and call for help or wait for the intruders to leave.
Unless what the burglars are looking for is in that room (cue dramatic music).
We soon find out the previous owner of the home has left millions in a safe inside the panic room, and on the pair's first night in the home, three intruders break in to steal the hidden fortune, under the assumption that the house is still vacant.
Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam play the crooks to perfection, and what ensues is a perilous game of cat and mouse as the invaders attempt to get into the panic room where Meg and Sarah are hiding.
Fincher's use of the camera is extraordinary, capturing shots that would make Hitchcock jealous. Of course Hitchcock didn't have access to computer-generated images, either. The camera passes through tiny spaces such as a coffee pot handle, key holes, vents, even between floors, always in one continuous shot, making it all the more impressive. It is truly dazzling filmmaking.
Panic Room only falters because of the hype that has been made of it. It's not a great movie, but it's pretty damn good. The directing is excellent and the acting is first-rate. What more could a movie-goer ask for? Oh, there was that whole suspense thing, wasn't there?
3.13.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: The Time Machine
IF I COULD TRAVEL BACK IN TIME, I WOULD GET MY MONEY BACK
There is an unwritten rule when remaking a movie: the new version must be better than the original, or, as is the case with Tim Burton's The Planet of the Apes, a new interpretation with the basic elements still intact. The Time Machine, starring Guy Pearce, does not qualify as either.
That's not to say that the original Time Machine was a spectacular piece of cinema. Based on author H.G. Wells science fiction novel of thesame name, the 1960 film showed an ominous view of the future where the human race has split into two. The more powerful of the two species, The Morlocks, dwell underground and prey upon humans above the surface. Pretty cool stuff for that era, I imagine. If I had been born 27 years earlier, I would have gone to see it.
It has now been 107 years since Wells wrote The Time Machine, and it is safe to say that our generation has different ideas about the future.
Rather than using the original as a model to create his own vision, Director Simon Wells (H.G.'s great-grandson) has basically recreated the first film with not-so special effects and bad dialogue.
Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, an absent-minded math professor who builds a time machine after losing someone close to him. Alexander soon learns that fate cannot be changed, so he journeys into the future instead to see what will become of the world. To make a short story shorter, he accidentally ends up some 800,000 years into the future where, as in the original, humans have split into two species. Why he bothers to hang out in this savage period is a mystery, especially when his machine still works once he arrives.
Some of what made the original film fun was its campiness, the graininess of the footage and the utter lack of special effects. In this updated version, all of that is lost and replaced with a story that takes itself to seriously and special effects which, if you've seen Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings, are not terribly impressive. That in itself is a disappointment because the visual effects are unquestionably the star of this vehicle.
You certainly can't blame Pearce. Anyone who has seen L.A. Confidential or Memento can concur – the guy can act. He does his best to give a solid, realistic performance as the time traveler, but with the dimwitted script he never had a chance.
There are so many improbabilities in The Time Machine it is on the verge of silliness. How the professor builds a machine that can travel in time when, early on in the movie, he marvels at the sight of an automobile, should offend viewers.
The filmmakers again insult our intelligence in the time traveling sequences. The earth drastically changes throughout time, yet there is his machine, sitting in the same spot, apparently unaffected by construction, falling space debris and a second ice age. If he had zipped into some hole in the space-time continuum, OK, whatever. But it's nonsense that his machine would conveniently stop in between two buildings when, in all likelihood, a skyscraper should have been on sitting on his head is inexcusable.
If I could travel back in time, I would get my money back.
There is an unwritten rule when remaking a movie: the new version must be better than the original, or, as is the case with Tim Burton's The Planet of the Apes, a new interpretation with the basic elements still intact. The Time Machine, starring Guy Pearce, does not qualify as either.
That's not to say that the original Time Machine was a spectacular piece of cinema. Based on author H.G. Wells science fiction novel of thesame name, the 1960 film showed an ominous view of the future where the human race has split into two. The more powerful of the two species, The Morlocks, dwell underground and prey upon humans above the surface. Pretty cool stuff for that era, I imagine. If I had been born 27 years earlier, I would have gone to see it.
It has now been 107 years since Wells wrote The Time Machine, and it is safe to say that our generation has different ideas about the future.
Rather than using the original as a model to create his own vision, Director Simon Wells (H.G.'s great-grandson) has basically recreated the first film with not-so special effects and bad dialogue.
Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, an absent-minded math professor who builds a time machine after losing someone close to him. Alexander soon learns that fate cannot be changed, so he journeys into the future instead to see what will become of the world. To make a short story shorter, he accidentally ends up some 800,000 years into the future where, as in the original, humans have split into two species. Why he bothers to hang out in this savage period is a mystery, especially when his machine still works once he arrives.
Some of what made the original film fun was its campiness, the graininess of the footage and the utter lack of special effects. In this updated version, all of that is lost and replaced with a story that takes itself to seriously and special effects which, if you've seen Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings, are not terribly impressive. That in itself is a disappointment because the visual effects are unquestionably the star of this vehicle.
You certainly can't blame Pearce. Anyone who has seen L.A. Confidential or Memento can concur – the guy can act. He does his best to give a solid, realistic performance as the time traveler, but with the dimwitted script he never had a chance.
There are so many improbabilities in The Time Machine it is on the verge of silliness. How the professor builds a machine that can travel in time when, early on in the movie, he marvels at the sight of an automobile, should offend viewers.
The filmmakers again insult our intelligence in the time traveling sequences. The earth drastically changes throughout time, yet there is his machine, sitting in the same spot, apparently unaffected by construction, falling space debris and a second ice age. If he had zipped into some hole in the space-time continuum, OK, whatever. But it's nonsense that his machine would conveniently stop in between two buildings when, in all likelihood, a skyscraper should have been on sitting on his head is inexcusable.
If I could travel back in time, I would get my money back.
2.27.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Dragonfly
EVERYONE HATES THIS MOVIE ... BUT ME
Free.
That pretty much sums up the reason why I'm writing this issue's review on Dragonfly. It was a free screening. Frankly, I wouldn't have paid to see this movie, so it seems appropriate that the only way fate would lure me into the theater is because I'm a cheapskate. If you don't believe me, ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you.
The real irony here isn't that I watched a movie I didn't want to see, it's that I enjoyed it. But the thing is, I'm the only person who did. I've read 23 reviews on Dragonfly and I'm the only critic, honestly — I'm numero uno — who is going to give this thing a kind word.
But as the saying goes, so be it.
Dr. Joe Darrow (Kevin Costner), head of emergency services for Chicago Memorial Hospital, has his picture-perfect life shattered when his wife is killed in a bus accident on a remote mountain road in Venezuela. A doctor herself, Emily Darrow (Susanna Thompson) was on a medical mercy mission with the Red Cross, a mission Joe begged her not to go on.
Six months after her death, Emily's body has not been recovered, and Joe begins to shut down without the closure he needs. Family and friends try to comfort him, but Joe remains isolated by unexpressed grief. Reminders of Emily are everywhere, mostly taking the form of dragonflies, which she collected when she was alive.
Soon strange things start happening to Joe at home, in his dreams and when visiting his wife's former patients. Said patients are children who have survived near-death experiences, who tell Joe that Emily is "inside a rainbow" and that she is trying to communicate with him. Joe, being an atheist, has trouble believing at first, but the signs he receives are too strong to ignore.
The filmmakers and Universal Pictures have requested that critics not reveal "any of the plot revelations that we feel are essential for the audience's full enjoyment," so I don't want to overstep my bounds and ruin anything for you. Suffice it to say that the twists in Dragonfly are eerily intriguing and ultimately satisfying in the end.
Kevin Costner plays Joe effectively and with conviction. Going from normal to confused to utterly obsessed is surely a difficult feat for any actor, and Costner exceeds expectations. Kathy Bates leads a strong supporting cast which includes Joe Morton, Linda Hunt and Jacob Vargas, who gave a memorable performance as a Tijuana cop opposite Benecio Del Toro in Traffic.
The competent cast is helpful, but what makes this movie so engaging is all the chills along the way. Not nearly as creepy as The Sixth Sense and not as well-made as The Mothman Prophecies, Dragonfly falls somewhere in the middle, with a spooky uneasiness all its own.
Free.
That pretty much sums up the reason why I'm writing this issue's review on Dragonfly. It was a free screening. Frankly, I wouldn't have paid to see this movie, so it seems appropriate that the only way fate would lure me into the theater is because I'm a cheapskate. If you don't believe me, ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you.
The real irony here isn't that I watched a movie I didn't want to see, it's that I enjoyed it. But the thing is, I'm the only person who did. I've read 23 reviews on Dragonfly and I'm the only critic, honestly — I'm numero uno — who is going to give this thing a kind word.
But as the saying goes, so be it.
Dr. Joe Darrow (Kevin Costner), head of emergency services for Chicago Memorial Hospital, has his picture-perfect life shattered when his wife is killed in a bus accident on a remote mountain road in Venezuela. A doctor herself, Emily Darrow (Susanna Thompson) was on a medical mercy mission with the Red Cross, a mission Joe begged her not to go on.
Six months after her death, Emily's body has not been recovered, and Joe begins to shut down without the closure he needs. Family and friends try to comfort him, but Joe remains isolated by unexpressed grief. Reminders of Emily are everywhere, mostly taking the form of dragonflies, which she collected when she was alive.
Soon strange things start happening to Joe at home, in his dreams and when visiting his wife's former patients. Said patients are children who have survived near-death experiences, who tell Joe that Emily is "inside a rainbow" and that she is trying to communicate with him. Joe, being an atheist, has trouble believing at first, but the signs he receives are too strong to ignore.
The filmmakers and Universal Pictures have requested that critics not reveal "any of the plot revelations that we feel are essential for the audience's full enjoyment," so I don't want to overstep my bounds and ruin anything for you. Suffice it to say that the twists in Dragonfly are eerily intriguing and ultimately satisfying in the end.
Kevin Costner plays Joe effectively and with conviction. Going from normal to confused to utterly obsessed is surely a difficult feat for any actor, and Costner exceeds expectations. Kathy Bates leads a strong supporting cast which includes Joe Morton, Linda Hunt and Jacob Vargas, who gave a memorable performance as a Tijuana cop opposite Benecio Del Toro in Traffic.
The competent cast is helpful, but what makes this movie so engaging is all the chills along the way. Not nearly as creepy as The Sixth Sense and not as well-made as The Mothman Prophecies, Dragonfly falls somewhere in the middle, with a spooky uneasiness all its own.
2.13.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Collateral Damage
TERRIORISM EASILY COMBATED IN REEL WORLD
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a helluva career playing the same role in all of his movies. But at 54, his reign as the supreme action hero may be in jeopardy.
His last two outings, End of Days and the Sixth Day, the latter running in theaters about as long as the title suggests,were flops, and it looked as if the man best known as the cyborg in the Terminator series might soon be saying hasta la vista to Hollywood.
Then along comes Collateral Damage, which, you may recall, Warner Bros. pulled from its original October release date because the terrorist-themed action flick was deemed inappropriate after the events of Sept. 11.
Good call. And a lucky break for Arnold — the movie's received so much press it will surely be the blockbuster he's needed to break out of his box office slump.
Does it live up to the hype? Nah. But Collateral Damage is one of the star's better films.
Schwarzenegger plays L.A. firefighter Gordy Brewer, an otherwise peaceful man who becomes hell-bent on revenge after his wife and son die in the bombing of a downtown plaza. A Colombian rebel leader known as "The Wolf" (Cliff Curtis) claims responsibility for the attack, and, after the investigation is stalled in a mess of red tape, Gordy decides to head to Columbia and track down his family's murderer himself.
How he actually gets into war-torn Columbia is never explained, and, in a movie like this, why bother? Collateral Damage walks that fine line between fantasy and reality, and when you sacrifice one for the other, it throws the story off balance.
Are we to believe that an everyday firefighter can track down an elusive terrorist in the Columbian jungle when our own government, utilizing all of its agencies and armed forces, can't find an elusive terrorist in a cave in Afghanistan? It is a perfect example of the difference between the real world and the reel world.
But you can't take any Schwarzenegger flick too seriously, which means there is still some fun to be had. The action, which is the draw of any of his films, does not disappoint. From Arnold jumping into a river to avoid his assailants and then falling down a waterfall to the explosive ending in our nation's capitol, Collateral Damage definitely causes some, ummm, damage.
Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) wisely injects some humor during and in between action sequences so you don't quite care as much about all of the improbabilities that abound.
Probably the coolest thing about this movie, however, is the fact that the hero doesn't once use a gun. As a firefighter, Schwarzenegger cleverly employs axes, homemade bombs and flammable gases to take out his enemies.
But just because this is one of Arnold's better movies does not make it a good one. Unless you're a diehard Schwarzenegger fan, you would be better off renting Collateral Damage when it comes to video and wait for the release of Terminator 3, which is now in the works.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a helluva career playing the same role in all of his movies. But at 54, his reign as the supreme action hero may be in jeopardy.
His last two outings, End of Days and the Sixth Day, the latter running in theaters about as long as the title suggests,were flops, and it looked as if the man best known as the cyborg in the Terminator series might soon be saying hasta la vista to Hollywood.
Then along comes Collateral Damage, which, you may recall, Warner Bros. pulled from its original October release date because the terrorist-themed action flick was deemed inappropriate after the events of Sept. 11.
Good call. And a lucky break for Arnold — the movie's received so much press it will surely be the blockbuster he's needed to break out of his box office slump.
Does it live up to the hype? Nah. But Collateral Damage is one of the star's better films.
Schwarzenegger plays L.A. firefighter Gordy Brewer, an otherwise peaceful man who becomes hell-bent on revenge after his wife and son die in the bombing of a downtown plaza. A Colombian rebel leader known as "The Wolf" (Cliff Curtis) claims responsibility for the attack, and, after the investigation is stalled in a mess of red tape, Gordy decides to head to Columbia and track down his family's murderer himself.
How he actually gets into war-torn Columbia is never explained, and, in a movie like this, why bother? Collateral Damage walks that fine line between fantasy and reality, and when you sacrifice one for the other, it throws the story off balance.
Are we to believe that an everyday firefighter can track down an elusive terrorist in the Columbian jungle when our own government, utilizing all of its agencies and armed forces, can't find an elusive terrorist in a cave in Afghanistan? It is a perfect example of the difference between the real world and the reel world.
But you can't take any Schwarzenegger flick too seriously, which means there is still some fun to be had. The action, which is the draw of any of his films, does not disappoint. From Arnold jumping into a river to avoid his assailants and then falling down a waterfall to the explosive ending in our nation's capitol, Collateral Damage definitely causes some, ummm, damage.
Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) wisely injects some humor during and in between action sequences so you don't quite care as much about all of the improbabilities that abound.
Probably the coolest thing about this movie, however, is the fact that the hero doesn't once use a gun. As a firefighter, Schwarzenegger cleverly employs axes, homemade bombs and flammable gases to take out his enemies.
But just because this is one of Arnold's better movies does not make it a good one. Unless you're a diehard Schwarzenegger fan, you would be better off renting Collateral Damage when it comes to video and wait for the release of Terminator 3, which is now in the works.
1.16.2002
MOVIE REVIEW :: Orange County
'ORANGE COUNTY': NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE
Orange County is not just another teen movie. OK, so there is the gratuitous "cup scene," where someone almost drinks urine that is meant for a drug test (as opposed to American Pie, where Stifler drinks a "spiked" beer).
But for the most part, writer Mike White's (Chuck & Buck) script is a refreshing change from the usual low-brow efforts aimed at the youth market.
Colin Hanks (son of Oscar winner Tom Hanks) stars as Shaun Brumder, a geeky surfer who, after one of his best friends drowns trying to ride a "monster tsunami wave," decides he needs to redirect his life into something more worthwhile than getting plastered and carving waves.
He then conveniently discovers a half-buried book on the beach. After reading it about 50 times, he decides that he wants to be a writer and study under the author, a professor at Stanford University.
The first half of the movie moves at a leisurely rate. Okay, at a snail's pace. We are talking sloooooow. The bright spots come from an all-star supporting cast, including Chevy Chase as a student council adviser who, following Shaun's suggestion of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison as a graduation speaker, wonders if the school can get Britney Spears.
Shaun's college counselor and his perpetually screwed-up family are what stop him from getting into Stanford on his own merits, so it's up to his drug-addled brother (Jack Black), and wholesome girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk, daughter of Sissy Spacek), to drive him up to Stanford and convince the Dean to add his name on to the acceptance list. Hilarity and heart finally ensue.
A stream of cameos from comedy veterans including Harold Ramis, Ben Stiller and Kevin Kline keep the movie humming along, but the real star of Orange County is none other than Jack Black, doing his best John Belushi impersonation.
Whether it's vacuuming while on speed wearing tighty-whitey underwear or burning down the Stanford Admissions building—again, in his underwear—Black steals every scene he's in with his expressive face and physical comedy.
The supporting cast, especially John Lithgow and Catherine O'Hara, strengthen the movie with their engaging performances as Shaun's nearly hopeless parents.
A pleasing, although predictable ending and an intelligent script also make the film an enjoyable watch. But in the end it's the light, human comedy that young people will be able to identify with that make Orange County a winner.
Orange County is not just another teen movie. OK, so there is the gratuitous "cup scene," where someone almost drinks urine that is meant for a drug test (as opposed to American Pie, where Stifler drinks a "spiked" beer).
But for the most part, writer Mike White's (Chuck & Buck) script is a refreshing change from the usual low-brow efforts aimed at the youth market.
Colin Hanks (son of Oscar winner Tom Hanks) stars as Shaun Brumder, a geeky surfer who, after one of his best friends drowns trying to ride a "monster tsunami wave," decides he needs to redirect his life into something more worthwhile than getting plastered and carving waves.
He then conveniently discovers a half-buried book on the beach. After reading it about 50 times, he decides that he wants to be a writer and study under the author, a professor at Stanford University.
The first half of the movie moves at a leisurely rate. Okay, at a snail's pace. We are talking sloooooow. The bright spots come from an all-star supporting cast, including Chevy Chase as a student council adviser who, following Shaun's suggestion of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison as a graduation speaker, wonders if the school can get Britney Spears.
Shaun's college counselor and his perpetually screwed-up family are what stop him from getting into Stanford on his own merits, so it's up to his drug-addled brother (Jack Black), and wholesome girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk, daughter of Sissy Spacek), to drive him up to Stanford and convince the Dean to add his name on to the acceptance list. Hilarity and heart finally ensue.
A stream of cameos from comedy veterans including Harold Ramis, Ben Stiller and Kevin Kline keep the movie humming along, but the real star of Orange County is none other than Jack Black, doing his best John Belushi impersonation.
Whether it's vacuuming while on speed wearing tighty-whitey underwear or burning down the Stanford Admissions building—again, in his underwear—Black steals every scene he's in with his expressive face and physical comedy.
The supporting cast, especially John Lithgow and Catherine O'Hara, strengthen the movie with their engaging performances as Shaun's nearly hopeless parents.
A pleasing, although predictable ending and an intelligent script also make the film an enjoyable watch. But in the end it's the light, human comedy that young people will be able to identify with that make Orange County a winner.
5.09.2001
NEWS MENTION :: Citrus College Clarion Newspaper
JOURNALISM STUDENTS TAKE HOME TOP HONORS
They’ve done it again.
For the third consecutive year, Citrus College journalism students have earned the Pacesetter Award, the highest honor presented by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Citrus College is the only college in Southern California to have ever won the award three years in a row. What’s more, no other college in the San Gabriel Valley has ever been bestowed the honor.
Citrus students collected a total of 29 awards, including General Excellence for their work on both the Clarion newspaper and Logos magazine, during the JACC 2001 State Conference held on the campus of CSU Fresno, April 27-28. At the conference, more than 500 students from community colleges across the state participated in writing, photography, page design, editorial cartoon and copy editing contests and also attended workshops on a wide range of journalistic topics.
“I was astounded and gratified to come home from the conference with the Pacesetter Award for the third year in a row,” said Meg O’Neil, professor of journalism. “Our journalism program has been fortunate to have such a strong pool of devoted, gifted and motivated students who are totally dedicated to serving Citrus College by working on student publications.”
Also showing promise is Michelle Mondragon, fall 2000 editor in chief of Logos magazine. Beyond general excellence, Mondragon received a second place award for magazine cover design and third place for overall magazine design/layout.
“Upon learning of the magazine’s general excellence win, I was very pleased,” Mondragon said. “It feels good to know that people recognize the work we did as something of value.”
For Jorge Medina, spring 2001 Clarion editor in chief, value has come in the form of his experiences on the newspaper. A third place sports story winner at the JACC conference, Medina said joining the newspaper staff at Citrus College saved him academically.
“Before I joined the newspaper, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career,” Medina said. “My experiences here writing stories, designing pages, and being editor have given me a career focus. I know now that I can and will have a successful career in the communications field.”
Medina also noted that he has been proud to be editor in chief of the campus newspaper during a time when many talented new students have joined the staff.
“It’s important to acknowledge the fact that at JACC, many of the awards were won by students who have been in the program for only one semester,” Medina said. “I believe that says a lot about our future prospects.”
Professor O’Neil agrees with Medina, saying the recent triumphs at JACC are definitely an indicator of future growth. As part of that growth, O’Neil said the college would introduce a broadcast news writing class this fall.
“With the introduction of the broadcast news writing class, we hope to broaden our students’ academic and career choices, ultimately providing them with the opportunity to experience news gathering in the print, broadcast, and online fields,” O’Neil said.
For more information about the Citrus College Journalism Program, call (626) 914-8588.
Below follows a complete list of Citrus College JACC winners.
They’ve done it again.
For the third consecutive year, Citrus College journalism students have earned the Pacesetter Award, the highest honor presented by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Citrus College is the only college in Southern California to have ever won the award three years in a row. What’s more, no other college in the San Gabriel Valley has ever been bestowed the honor.
Citrus students collected a total of 29 awards, including General Excellence for their work on both the Clarion newspaper and Logos magazine, during the JACC 2001 State Conference held on the campus of CSU Fresno, April 27-28. At the conference, more than 500 students from community colleges across the state participated in writing, photography, page design, editorial cartoon and copy editing contests and also attended workshops on a wide range of journalistic topics.
“I was astounded and gratified to come home from the conference with the Pacesetter Award for the third year in a row,” said Meg O’Neil, professor of journalism. “Our journalism program has been fortunate to have such a strong pool of devoted, gifted and motivated students who are totally dedicated to serving Citrus College by working on student publications.”
Among those students is Jeff Johnston, fall 2000 Clarion editor in chief. His Clarion semester won the general excellence award, which qualified the paper to win the Pacesetter.
“With such a tradition of excellence maintained during the last few years, I am proud to tell people that I am a student journalist at Citrus College,” Johnston said. “To be able to personally play a role in continuing and upholding that excellence, and to leave my mark here, is truly validating.”
Beyond the general excellence accolade, Johnston won four other awards, including a $250 scholarship in the name of Art Carey, a retired San Jose City College journalism professor. The scholarship is awarded to students who show excellence in their journalistic work so far and the promise of a bright future in the media field.
Also showing promise is Michelle Mondragon, fall 2000 editor in chief of Logos magazine. Beyond general excellence, Mondragon received a second place award for magazine cover design and third place for overall magazine design/layout.
“Upon learning of the magazine’s general excellence win, I was very pleased,” Mondragon said. “It feels good to know that people recognize the work we did as something of value.”
For Jorge Medina, spring 2001 Clarion editor in chief, value has come in the form of his experiences on the newspaper. A third place sports story winner at the JACC conference, Medina said joining the newspaper staff at Citrus College saved him academically.
“Before I joined the newspaper, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career,” Medina said. “My experiences here writing stories, designing pages, and being editor have given me a career focus. I know now that I can and will have a successful career in the communications field.”
Medina also noted that he has been proud to be editor in chief of the campus newspaper during a time when many talented new students have joined the staff.
“It’s important to acknowledge the fact that at JACC, many of the awards were won by students who have been in the program for only one semester,” Medina said. “I believe that says a lot about our future prospects.”
Professor O’Neil agrees with Medina, saying the recent triumphs at JACC are definitely an indicator of future growth. As part of that growth, O’Neil said the college would introduce a broadcast news writing class this fall.
“With the introduction of the broadcast news writing class, we hope to broaden our students’ academic and career choices, ultimately providing them with the opportunity to experience news gathering in the print, broadcast, and online fields,” O’Neil said.
For more information about the Citrus College Journalism Program, call (626) 914-8588.
Below follows a complete list of Citrus College JACC winners.
3.22.2001
BOOK REVIEW :: Faith in the Family: Honoring and Strengthening Home and Spirit by Dale Salwak
GOTTA HAVE FAITH
It was with reservations that I began reading Faith in the Family, Citrus College English Professor Dale Salwak's latest effort. I am not a churchgoer, and I am a former Salwak student, two prejudicial factors for any would-be objective reviewer.
It was with reservations that I began reading Faith in the Family, Citrus College English Professor Dale Salwak's latest effort. I am not a churchgoer, and I am a former Salwak student, two prejudicial factors for any would-be objective reviewer.
By page 18, however, Salwak's firm grasp of the English language, storytelling ability and messages about family values and faith struck a cord within me.
Stories from the author's own life, as well as from a variety of people with diverse backgrounds, illustrate what families can offer to children and parents alike. These lessons are reinforced with scripture passages and quotations from notable novelists, poets and biographers to provide the reader with a subsequent understanding of the importance of familial relationships.
Salwak is thoughtful and insightful, weaving together tales of his youth with powerful imagery and clarity. He possess the uncanny ability to recollect the feeling of what it was like to be a child, lacking experience but full of curiousity.
In one particularly moving passage, the reader is taken back to the author's earlier years to illustrate an important lesson he learned about giving thanks for the lives of his family.
Faith in the Family is arranged into nine chapters, each touching on a different aspect of family life. The need for connection in the family, caring for and teaching children, respecting and relating to our own parents and other subjects are explored, always relating back to the book's central theme of "honoring and strengthening home and spirit."
The overarching spirituality and religious tones in the book are not crammed down the readers' throats. Rather, the inherent insights were carefully collected, then constructed and compassionately pieced together to appeal to readers from all walks of life.
The book overflows with practical advice and should be passed around by family members to share in its wonderful wisdom.
In the midst of the Information Age, with school shootings and political sex scandals topping the news, there is a definite need for Faith in the Family. Salwak shows readers through experience the indispensability of family, and the nature of the book itself -- part history, part story and part advice -- allow the reader to examine their own relationships and form their own interpretations of its guidance.
Truly an essential read, Faith in the Family's advice offers a "how-to" approach to help reap the rewards of family living.6.20.2000
MUSIC REVIEW :: Hip Hop 101, Various Artists
SCHOOL IS NOW IN SESSION
Although comprised essentially with unknown and up-and-coming artists, executive producers De La Soul are poised to school the rap community on the fundamentals with Hip Hop 101, the first compilation released by Tommy Boy Black Label. The year old rap imprint has assembled some of the newest and most innovative MCs and producers on 101, resulting in a catalog that is high in concept, broad in scope and true to the art form.
Although comprised essentially with unknown and up-and-coming artists, executive producers De La Soul are poised to school the rap community on the fundamentals with Hip Hop 101, the first compilation released by Tommy Boy Black Label. The year old rap imprint has assembled some of the newest and most innovative MCs and producers on 101, resulting in a catalog that is high in concept, broad in scope and true to the art form.
The styles displayed on this release are eccentric to say the least, and it seems as if De La Soul were sleeping on the production process of 101. The album sounds pieced together without any connection or overarching theme which makes the overall feel of the album inharmonious. But then, it's not a mix tape, and the individual tracks presented here have their roots firmly planted in the soil of hip-hop's underground.
101 is 14-tracks deep, each featuring an artist with their own distinctive rap styling and flow, backed with original, head-banging instrumentals. Whether it's a rookie, such as the opener with Self Scientific ("Best Part"), to veteran hip-hop heads like De La Soul ("So Good," featuring Camp Lo), the intelligent lyrics and accomplished production is evident on each track.
The surprise standout among the many stellar songs is "Pockets," a story told by Medina Green, who, on this particular day, is having a conscience battle with his right and left jean pockets. Both pockets have a distinct personality that raps and sings on the track, which puts an entirely new and humorous outlook on the question of how to fill your pockets.
With no big name artists, flashy album covers or overplayed singles, Hip Hop 101 is Tommy Boy's valiant attempt at bringing the underground to the mainstream. This offer has strong individual tracks, skilled MCs rapping over fresh beats and no unnecessary intros, skits or fillers. It's straight to the point, and the lessons taught on 101 are clear: round-up some talented rappers with something to say (other than how much money they've got) and get a DJ and a beat going, and you've got yourself hip-hop in it's purest form.
It would be wise to consider giving this album a listen. If not, it may result in detention.5.15.2000
MUSIC REVIEW :: Screwball, Y2K
SCREWBALL'S DEBUT RELEASE IS Y2K COMPATIBLE
The saying goes, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." Apparently, this cliché also applies to album covers as well. With a torn and bloody baseball corkscrewed with a threaded flathead as their logo, the most trite expression in the new millennium as their album title and the group themselves posed wearing bright colors but attempting to look hard, rappers KL, Hostyle, Poet and Kyron already have their work cut out for them.
The saying goes, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." Apparently, this cliché also applies to album covers as well. With a torn and bloody baseball corkscrewed with a threaded flathead as their logo, the most trite expression in the new millennium as their album title and the group themselves posed wearing bright colors but attempting to look hard, rappers KL, Hostyle, Poet and Kyron already have their work cut out for them.
That is why it is likely their debut release from Tommy Boy will be passed in the aisles of music stores this summer for rap albums of a lesser caliber. But the Queensbridge (NY) quartet of Screwball defy the odds with their sleeper hit Y2K.
Not adding anything new to the mix that hasn't already been overdone by other artists, Screwball's standout quality is not their lyrical content, nor the individual skills of the artists, but the production and atmosphere of this release as a whole. Screwball incorporates their distinct NY style and flavor, and while they are not as hot as Mobb Deep, they blow fellow QB rappers Capone -n- Noreaga out of the water.
Screwball puts rappers in their place over another DJ Premier gem on "F.A.Y.B.A.N."; prepares the masses for warfare on the eerie title track; drops some classic hip-hop over Biz Markie's beat making abilities on "Biz Interlude"; spits venomous verses on the anthem, "H-O-S-T-Y-L-E," and asks the cowards "Who Shot Rudy?"
Y2K is surprisingly tight for a virtually unknown group, and Screwball's underground status makes them aggressive for mainstream acceptance. This may be why their lyrical content is so narrowly focused, however, the foursome exude a lot of energy and the album's positives far outweigh the negatives.4.20.1990
HIP HOP LYRICS :: 03.13.05
JUST ME VENTING
Still my own worst enemy
seems everyone’s ahead’a me
the dilemma be, this energy
could be used to better me —
Than get the better of me
everything is lovely
above me, the love he
gives, lives & IS
what drug me
to see what IS
this funny
feelin’? the meanin’? to be
a human bein’?
to be,
or not to be?
I’m not who you thought I’d be
I forgot that I’ve got I.D.
just in case St. Peter’s cardin’
to get in
it’s a V.I.P. affair
aware there
may be a charge when
I enter, my center
has been sent back to sender
with postage partially paid
and partially due
this is partially made, up
and partially true
the part where we knew
that things fall apart start anew
a few
times broken, my heart is
a few
rhymes spoken, the artist
formally known as
normally home alone has
it’s advantages
but the disadvantages?
the present’s a gift, like Santa gives
So enjoy, before it vanishes
look at life like your grandma is
time to unwrap those bandages
that expose roads & manages
to find shortcuts
but It’s just warm-ups
to paths less traveled
on behalf of halves baffled
why your glass is best half-filled
so drink it
I think it’s
better than at a stand still
the clock’s hands will
span ‘til man’s through
& threw into a human landfill
HIP HOP LYRICS :: Reverberation
*SPOILER ALERT* Anti-Bush
Sometimes my mind wanders
And I ponder why I squander
So much time
To clutch dimes
And bust rhymes
Of a fonder
Space and time
To replace this grime
This chase to find
grace
is a waste of time
Just fine, must grind
Don’t stray behind
A culture that’s blind
Confined
To what’s been designed
Minds aligned with the media
Let corporations get seedier
While the Bush’s get greedier
The needy get needier -
Images on tape
Escaped
To feed multimedia
Encyclopedia Britannica
White, black to Hispanica
Across the
Make a splash like Titanic
Gigantic when we’re united
Every one is invited
Reunited as one
None
culturally divided
Ignite when I write it
Incite and excited
They fight to indict us
But the light is inside us
Our might is the brightest
So let our conscious’s guide us
And the trust will provide us
A rush that’s just
Just in spite us
Such a touch is like Midas
And quite the burdon to carry
It’s absurd whose preferred
W. Bush
and not Kerry
Our future is scary
Contrary to what you might hear
So it’s time to fight fear
Right here
Right now my sight’s clear
Against this conservative’s
nerve to give
Reserves with kids
And those who protect and serve
without the respect
they deserve
Observed and objective?
The media serves his perspective
His claims of protection
Used fear to win the election
The Bush resurrection
Will be met with contention
To reject his selection
And suspect his intentions
And directions
And connections
To false U.N. inspections
Dissection of his defection
Is reflection of my objection
To flubbed actions
Snubbed factions
Soldiers missing like
Subtraction
The remainder
have disdain ‘fer
using us for his gain
But the blame is our own
For his reign not overthrown
An overblown
overgrown
Man-child claims his throne
So lets atone to storm the palace
And throw stones until we’re calloused
And reclaim the natural balance
That the republicans stole with malice
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