There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Alicia Keys in eighties garb and a nightgown? Yes please. But I’m not sure what is more out of place, the inexplicable “2 Weeks Ago” or the for no reason inclusion of the epidemic in Africa. For a not out of place public service announcement check out:
Radiohead tends not to get much talk on the 9th Green on account that I am not pretentious enough to care even if they are letting people download their album for free. But this video does highlight a very serious subject with human trafficking and should get you to thinking the next time you head down to Walmart to buy, well, anything. There are reasons to how Walmart and stores of its ilk can keep there prices so low and it mostly has to do with 70% of their products come from China where employees tend not to get health insurance or anything that resembles minimum wage in the USA. For more information check out End Exploitation and Trafficking.
I was on the fence for this Michael Jackson remake, but after seeing this Fall Out Boy video, I think I may fall into the dislike side. John Mayer was wise to sit this one out. Unfortunately Buster Bluth didn’t follow his lead. What’s sad is I think I can find all the MJ references in the video.
Falling Down - Scarlett Johansson
Instead of using this space to talk about boring the song and video is, I would rather talk about the recent news that Scarlett Johansson is engaged to the dude from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Parlor. Wait, huh? How did this happen? I know I am not up on the high school gossip of rags like US Weekly, but wasn’t she dating the equaling boring dude from 40 Days and 40 Nights?
“Today almost half of Americans hold a negative view of Islam. One in four hold “extreme” anti Muslim views.” I guess things like that happen when a group of Islamic men use airplanes as missiles if it is warranted or not. But as I have found in life, when you are quick to make fun of yourself, oddly enough the quicker people are to accept you. And that is what five comedians are doing as highlighted in the upcoming PBS series America at a Crossroads with their newest installment Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age premiering this Sunday, May 11 at 10:00 (you may want to still check your local listing just in case).
Judging how African Americans comedians such as Richard Pryor in the seventies, Eddie Murphy in the eighties, Chris Rock in the nineties, and Dave Chappelle this decade have been able to help thaw the race relations since the era of Jim Crowe by poking fun of their race and how everyone reacts to the color of their skin, these new Muslim comics just may be able to help ease the animosity that still lingers from the 9/11 attacks as seen in one review that had a caption reading, “trying not to suicide bomb” on stage.
The comics profiled are pretty diverse unto themselves, with only their religion sometimes binding them, with the five being descended from Iran, Palestine, India, Egypt, and one that is half Palestinian and half Italian. It is interesting see how each balances humor with their religion considering how none of them would be about to do their routine as is in their native country.
Here is a preview of America at a Crossroads:
My personal favorite of the five was Ahmed Ahmed:
Then a funny skit about Arabs being the new Black:
What up Mustafa? I am totally using that in the future. You can find a bunch more clips from America at a Crossroads on its YouTube page. And here is a little more information on America at a Crossroads for those that tend not to watch public television (personally I need my weekly Bob Ross fix):
Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is part of the acclaimed series America at a Crossroads, created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to present an in-depth, provocative series of films exploring the challenges confronting the world post-9/11. CPB developed the initial concept for America at a Crossroads in 2004, with an open call for film projects. More than 400 proposals were submitted from public television stations and independent documentary filmmakers around the world. In 2006, CPB named WETA the producing station to oversee all films throughout production. Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is part of a series of specials following the premiere week in April 2007. The series has a major interactive Web presence at www.pbs.org/crossroads. Funding for the series was provided by CPB.
It has been over a decade since the last time Mike Myers hosted the MTV Movie Awards and if I am not mistaken; his Riverdance spoof was one of TV Guide’s top ten funniest things on television ever. Granted it has been about that long since Myers has been consistently funny (I have the second Austin Powers being that specific date). No music performance announced yet, but last year they boasted both Rihanna and Amy Winehouse. I have the rundown of the nominees below and who I voted for. Vote for yourself over at MTV.com.
Who Will Win: Transformers Who I Voted For: Superbad
I would scoff at the inclusion of the Pirates movie because I and everyone I know panned it, but I thought that about the second one, but it won last year. But I still think the nerds will come out in force for Transformers, which I didn’t see because I didn’t want my childhood destroyed again by Michael Bruckheimer.
Best Male Performance Will Smith - I Am Legend Shia LaBeouf - Transformers Denzel Washington - American Gangster Matt Damon - The Bourne Ultimatum Michael Cera - Juno
Who Will Win: Will Smith Who I Voted For: Michael Cera
My vote for Michael Cera was more because I wanted to vote for his Superbad role, but Juno will have to do.
Who Will Win: Javier Bardem Who I Voted For: Javier Bardem
How is Venom nominated but no Sandman? That may be the biggest snub of the year. Not that anyone could beat the creepy dude from No Country for Old Men.
Best Comedic Performance Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Adam Sandler - I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry Jonah Hill - Superbad Seth Rogen - Knocked Up Amy Adams - Enchanted
Who Will Win: Seth Rogan Who I Voted For: Adam Sandler
This may come down to the Apatow guys with Rogan edging it out thanks to Hill’s sub par job on Saturday Night Live. Granted with my name, I am required to vote for Sandler.
Best Fight Matt Damon vs. Joey Ansah - The Bourne Ultimatum Tobey Maguire vs. James Franco - Spider-Man 3 Hayden Christensen vs. Jamie Bell - Jumper Sean Faris vs. Cam Gigandet - Never Back Down Chris Tucker & Jackie Chan vs. Sun Ming Ming - Rush Hour 3 Alien vs. Predator - Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem
Who Will Win: The Bourne Ultimatum Who I Voted For: Spiderman 3
In a measure of full discloser, the only fight here I saw was from Spiderman.
Who Will Win: Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey Who I Voted For: Ellen Page and Michael Cera
I think I say this every year, but they need to kill this category.
Breakthrough Performance Zac Efron - Hairspray Seth Rogen - Knocked Up Jonah Hill - Superbad Michael Cera - Superbad Chris Brown - This Christmas Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray Megan Fox - Transformers Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Superbad
Who Will Win: Christopher Mintz-Plasse Who I Voted For: Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Vote McLovin, if only for his PSA with Kristen Bell.
Best Summer Movie So Far Iron Man Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Sex and the City: The Movie Speed Racer The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Who Will Win: Iron Man Who I Voted For: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I guess this replaces last year’s lame Best Movie You Haven’t Seen, but the Studio’s are Paying Us Big Bucks to Promote Them. Of these, only one has actually been released so far, so this is still lame.
As a life long suburban dweller, I really do not have much experience with parking decks and even most of them have been above ground, accessed in the daylight or overcrowded at the end of a ball game. Come to think of it, the only time I have been in an underground parking deck may have been playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. So P2, a suspenseful thriller about being confined to an underground parking deck, really isn’t up my alley.
Despite taking place on Christmas Eve, the timing had to do more about picking a day where no one would be there late (sans our heroine of course), than making this a holiday theme thriller, granted a well placed Blue Christmas is used. The protagonist in question is Rachel Nichols (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) who plays the damsel is distress quite well in a how does she not pop out of that dress with all that action going on kind of way.
She is put into that dress by lowly parking attendant Wes Bentley (Soul Survivors) who takes matters into his own hands when Nichols laughs off his suggestion of eating Christmas dinner with him when her car doesn’t start as the last one out of the parking deck. Needless to say Bentley meticulously planned everything to keep Nichols inside the building locking all the exits with the underground dwelling helping out with the bad cell phone reception.
But as Nichols breaks free, the movie turning into a slow moving, literally, Bentley goes after her with Jason Voorhees-like speed throughout the whole movie, plot with somewhat interesting encounters, like when Nichols finds a ax or is stuck in an elevator, buffered by boring cat and mouse games. It is hard to tell what is more to blame, Bentley, who cannot command a movie when he is one of only two people on screen, or the screenwriters who thought the location of a darkly lit underground place could write itself as a horror flick that they skimp on actual thrills, but P2 may have been an idea best left on the drawing board.
Quote of the Week: It looks like something Elton John would drive in the Everglades. (Penny, The Big Bang Theory)
Song of the Week: Burning Love - Elvis Pressley (My Name Is Earl)
Big News of the Week: Read the 9th Green with Your Breakfast: For a while I have been flirting with the idea of posting new posts in the morning, but never ended up doing so because the extra ten minutes of sleep always wins out over that idea. But last week, Blogger introduced a new feature where you can have future dated posts so the 9th Green can be updated as I sleep. God bless technology. I am thinking of a 6:00 AM post time but if you have any suggestions, shoot me an e-mail or drop a comment. I am going to give this test throughout May starting most likely Tuesday and I will see how it goes before I make it permanent or go back to the early evening that I have been doing this year.
Coalition Links of the Week: With the Sex and the City movie looming, Buzz proposed a dozen essential episodes of the series to watch before May 30. (BuzzSugar)
With the start of season 2 of Robin Hood on BBC America, Sandie shared her interview with Richard Armitage, who plays Guy of Gisbourne. (Daemon's TV)
Marcia created a Lost drinking game, ensuring that she'll never again be sober on Thursday nights. (Pop Vultures)
With apologies to Supernatural, Scrubs and My Name Is Earl, Vance is supa dupa excited from the amazing Thursday onslaught of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, Lost, The Office and Survivor. (Tapeworthy)
This week, while Jace thrilled over Doctor Who and his casting scoop (Catherine O'Hara signs on for Rob Thomas' new drama pilot Good Behavior), he once again found himself enthralled by the latest episode of Lost. (Televisionary)
In the wake of a prominent death on Battlestar Galactica, Dan got all Mr. Wizard on us and did some hasty internet research on what would actually happen to you if you got sucked out of the airlock and into outer space. It ain't pretty. (TiFaux)
Jennifer was outraged to hear of the impending cancellation of Aliens in America and launched into a red-faced rant about the current state of television. (Tube Talk)
Raoul talked to the rather fascinating Lauren of America's Next Top Model. (TV Filter)
The Big Bang Theory: If there were ever a litmus test for if you were a geek or not, it may be how hard you laughed, or if all, when Leonard started up the time machine and his crew went into fast-forward mode. For the record, I don’t think I laughed harder at that then anything else in the past year. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Greek: When my free time last month was reduced to zero, on Mondays I decided that I would tape The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother and just catch up with Greek by streaming. But when I went over to ABCFamily.com, for some absurd reason you can stream episodes 1-10, 15 and 16. Um, what about episodes 11-14, coincidentally three of which I had missed. Now I’ll have to wait to rent the DVD or hope for a marathon as I am too cheap to buy Greek on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: I do not think there is a show that flirts with the shark more than How I Met Your Mother. And the show certainly tap-danced around the shark once again by putting Barney on the outs with Ted. Once Barney crossed the line I do not see how he get redeemed. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
My Name Is Earl: So Catalina was lesbian for a whole episode? Guess that is better than none, and the gay homosexual’s reation to her confessing her love for women was hilarious. Not so hilarious was Earl getting married to Alyssa Milano and another Michael Rappaport sighting. Can we please get these two off this show. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: Even though it was pretty obvious that Amanda found the idol, I was still on the edge of my seat, shouting, “please have the idol” at the television all throughout the tribal council until she finally reached back for it. I’m not sure I want to add a six DVD set of this season to my collection, but I have the cull together all of this season’s tribal councils together on in DVD because almost everyone has been great. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Lost: Well that didn’t take very long for Jack flashforwards to get boring much like his flashbacks since the first season. So even though he made a point of not seeing Aaron for whatever reason, growing a Grizzly Adams beard in the process, he seemed to pull it all together for no apparent reason, agreeing to raise the boy. Yawn. But what was worse was his is he going to die from a burst appendix storyline on the island when we already knew he’d make it. Of course it will be a couple week, if not next season until we learn more about the most interesting part of the week in what was up with Claire and her dad? Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.
Next Week’s Pick: Survivor, 8:00 Thursday and Sunday at 8:00 on CBS: In a story I broke earlier in this post, this season’s tribal councils have been the most entertaining ever. That could set us up for a boring conclusion to the Fans vs. Favorite but with the hidden immunity idol being put into play last week by Amanda may have shaken things up to where we may see even more scrabbling as the remaining five get widdled down to the sole survivor.
No band better sums up the late nineties better for me than the Dave Matthews Band to the point that I wrote a thesis paper that there was no higher concentration of hot chick in a given place than the Dave Matthews Band concert. I did theorize that the Playboy mansion may have been the only place with a higher concentration but unfortunately I still have yet tested out that hypnosis. Hot chicks aside, it was mostly about the music and that is why the band is the first to have multiple inductions into the Scooter Hall of Fame.
Where Under the Table and Dreaming had better collection songs, Before These Crowded Streets was a better complete album. Before These Crowded Streets also saw the band goes in a darker direction. Dave had always written some dark lyrics, but this album is when the band’s music when in darker directions. It is appropriate then that they dusted off Halloween from the Recently EP to include on the album as it still remains their darkest song with Dave just going off the deep end at the conclusion shouting “burial” and “Love Is Hell” over and over again. (I think, Dave seemed to want to keep the song ambiguous as the song’s lyrics are the only ones missing from the insert and the lyrics seem to change every time they play it live.)
Halloween then transitions into my personal favorite track off the album, The Stone. From the haunting intro that then goes into Boyd Tinsey’s frantic violin and then changes once again when the chorus hit, it moves into a sweet ode, that goes back the frantic beginning seamlessly when they get to the next verse. And as great as the song is on the album, you really haven’t truly heard the song until you have experienced live (check out Listener Supported if you are unable to see the band or if they end up not playing the song on your stop as they tend to end with an off-putting wall of strings that just come to a complete halt that isn’t found on the album).
You could tell early on that the band was going dark thanks to the headless Dave featured video for Don’t Drink the Water. The song is a sarcastic look through the eyes of early settlers as they displace Indians from their land which really hits its stride at the end when Alanis Morissette, who also shows up on Spoon with some more backing vocals, joins the band with a creepy harmony to Dave’s bridge.
That’s not to say Before These Crowded Streets is all doom and gloom. The album actually starts off with the sweet bouncing ode Rapunzel (well after Pantala Naga Pampa sets the mood nicely). The there is the perfect summertime song Stay (Wasting Time) that is a prerequisite for any block or pool party even a decade later. What also makes the album unique is that there is a half dozen or so thirty second jams throughout the album that just brings everything together which I wish the band would have continued to do for the rest of their albums.
The first quarter for music is pretty boring but the past winter saw surprise releases from Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Gnarls Barkley and The Raconteurs that came out without the usual months long hoopla, instead coming out within days of their announcement. Hopefully that trend continues because there isn’t much on the docket for the spring that really piques my interest that much. Wait, apparently the trend has as you can expect an album from Foxboro Hot Tubs (i.e. Green Day’s garage band side project) “any day” now. Here is a list of the albums that at least caught my eye.
If you are interested in preordering the albums from Amazon, the link on the album name will take you their, the links on artists names will take you to their iTunes page. If I left one of your favorite artists off the list with an upcoming album feel free to drop me an e-mail or feel free to wax poetic in the comment section on which albums you are looking forward to. (Note: release dates subject to change):
May 6 Home Before Dark - Neil Diamond: Yet another round of songs from the Diamond created with the help of Rick Rubin. You can preorder Home Before Dark on iTunes and get a bonus preorder-only track.
Gavin DeGraw - Gavin DeGraw: His first album was listenable in an easy listing kind of way. But that was five years ago. DeGraw says the new batch is more rock as evident from the first single, In Love with a Girl. But how rocking can something be when working with Daughty’s producer? You can pre-order Gavin DeGraw on iTunes.
Snack Time - Barenaked Ladies: It has been a while since they have created a great song, but rarely do they put out anything bad.
May 13 Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie: If the eight minute opus of I Will Possess Your Heart is any indication, the new album will be a big departure from the breakthrough of their last album. You can preorder Narrow Stairs on iTunes and receive a bonus track.
Blame it on Gravity - Old 97’s: Maybe the best band no one outside of Texas has heard of is back for some more southern rock.
Rockferry - Duffy: The latest Bristish import who is like Amy Winehouse without the modern feel, potential drug overdose, or jail time. The more I listen to Mercy, the more I am looking forward to the whole album. You can pre-order Rockferry on iTunes.
May 20 3 Doors Down - 3 Doors Down: Third time wasn’t the charm for the band as Seventeen Days was a huge disappointment. Hopefully they can rebound. You can pre-order 3 Doors Down on iTunes and get a bonus pre-order only track.
Anywhere I Lay My Head - Scarlett Johansson; Julianne Hough - Julianne Hough: Julianne Hough is what I like to refer to as moderately attractive, but I couldn’t make it more than a minute into her video before I had to turn it off. Johansson’s stab at Tom Wait songs do not fair much better. Hopefully the two stick to their day jobs.
Same Old Man - John Hiatt: Simply one of the best songwriters of the past couple decades.
June 3 Perfectly Clear - Jewel: Her last album bombed now Jewel is trading in her van for a cowboy hat for a country album.
The Glass Passenger - Jack’s Mannequin: Shortly before the first album was released, Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Natually they were not able to promote the album since he was recieveing cancer treatments so the gem was widly unnoticed. Now that his treatments are over, hopefully the new disk will reach a larger audience.
June 10 Seeing Things - Jakob Dylan: The Wallflowers are basically a one album wonder, a decade after that hit; Bob’s son has hooked up with Rick Rubin for a solo album.
Seeing Sounds - N.E.R.D.: When not producing for other people Pharrell William is pretty hit or miss with his solo outings and trio N.E.R.D. You can download the first single Everybody Nose for free over at Spinner.com.
Self Portrait - LaLah Hathaway: All I know is that her dad is named Donnie whom you may know best as the dude that was referenced by Amy Winehouse, “There’s nothing you can teach me that I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway.”
June 17 Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay: There has been nothing more disappointing this decade that X&Y to the point where the album almost sounded like a Coldplay cover band. The band has said to have broadened their musical palette this time around with lead singer Chris Martin, taking a break from singing hooks for rappers, discovering lower register for his vocals this time around. This week only, you can download their first single, Violet Hill on their website, Coldplay.com.
June 24 Weezer - Weezer: Just start calling it The Red Album now to avoid confusion with their two other self titled albums. You can pre-order Weezer on iTunes and receive a pre-order only track and a unique password to purchase Weezer concert ticket on Ticketmaster.com before the general public.
didn’t follow his lead. What’s sad is I think I can find all the MJ references in the video.
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being that specific date). No music performance announced yet, but last year they boasted both 
. So P2, a suspenseful thriller about being confined to an underground parking deck, really isn’t up my alley.
) who plays the damsel is distress quite well in a how does she not pop out of that dress with all that action going on kind of way.
) who takes matters into his own hands when Nichols laughs off his suggestion of eating Christmas dinner with him when her car doesn’t start as the last one out of the parking deck. Needless to say Bentley meticulously planned everything to keep Nichols inside the building locking all the exits with the underground dwelling helping out with the bad cell phone reception.![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
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