Surrogates [Review]

Surrogates is a sci-fi action thriller starring Bruce Willis . An adaption of Robert Venditti's graphic novel of the same name. Surrogates is one of those future set; thought provoking movies about mankind and the advent of a new technology that is wildly accepted by many but looked at in disgust by few. Essentially Surrogates is this:

I, Robot - Will Smith + Bruce Willis / Less explosions = Surrogates

And really that's not truly a bad thing cause while I enjoyed I, Robot; perhaps if Bruce Willis was in it instead of Smith it might've been better, cause lets face it when you think of Bruce Willis you think of the bad ass cop who has saved are asses from terrorists four times.


Yippie Ky-Yay Muther Fucker

And when you think of Will Smith; well come on you know what you think of; do you really need a picture? Anyways; in Surrogates the world is revolutionized by robot avatars called "Surrogates"; robots that a human essentially 'becomes' you know like in James Cameron's Avatar. Everyone has them except a group of humans who deem them a disgrace and live in squaller; savage looking reservations in each major city; all led by Ving Rhames. A new weapon is discovered that not only can destroy a Surrogates body and also frying it's 'brain's' inner workings but also can kill the user themselves. Bruce Willis plays FBI Agent Tom Greer who begins investigating the murder of the son of the man who invented the surrogates; who is played by the same guy who created Robots in I, Robot geez he's really smart eh? Anyway this is where it starts to become one of those movies where a simple plot device; a murder; turns into an unravaling mystery. Willis eventually discovers that SPOILER: The guy who invented Surrogates is the one who ultimately got his son killed. It turns out that Ving Rhames is really a Surrogate to the inventor and acts as a prophet for humanity of the Surrogates end. He does this after becoming disenchanted with the corporation who manufactures the Surrogates after a disagreement: In short he made them so people with disabilities, like himself, could lead a normal life the company, VIS, wanted to manufacture them for everyone. So the plot thickens as Willis discovers that his Superior at the FBI, who is apparently leaving to work for VIS, had hired someone to kill the Inventor but mistakenly killed his son.


There's a subplot to the main story involving Willis feeling emotionally distant from his wife; wanting to actually be with her in person instead of through their Surrogates. It's revealed later that the two had a son who died in a car accident which explains why his wife prefers to use Surrogates so that she wont loose him the same way; but it seems as well that shes become so adjusted to Surrogate life that she comes off as a bitch instead of someone with a deep problem. It really lacks any memorable moments with the exception of some Surrogates demostrating their feats of strength which are pretty much the same ones that the Robots in I, Robot do. Really the movie at the end comes off as it's lacking something. I can't put my finger on what it really is. The design of the movie is really good though. It's set in the near future but everything really looks the same as it does now as far as cities. Which sets it apart from other Future set Sci-Fi movies because really that's what the future will look like, lets be realistic about it ok? But just like every other future movie everything pretty much as followed the "iPod Touch" style interface. It's pretty good, but not memorable I'd reccomend watching it if you're looking for a good action movie only if the stores are out of something like From Paris With Love. Surrogates gets a 3/5.

3OH!3 - MY FIRST KISS feat. Ke$ha (Official Music Video)

3OH!3 Streets of Gold [Review]

Note: The entire album is available for everyone to listen to on youtube pre-release.
The boys from Ballerado are back with their sophmore album due out next week on the 29th; Streets of Gold. After months of waiting its almost here and I hope you wear a helmet when you listen to it cause its gonna blow your mind....


Anyway.

Once in a rare time does an album come out that could potentially produce a hit single from every song. I believe that this is one of those rare albums. Want, was a great cd but a lot of the tracks on it werent exactly mainstream enough for that type of exposure. Streets of Gold is however. Almost every song is great; the only one that sort of falls flat of having that type of deal is "House Party" while at the same time being an awesome song itself, I just couldn't see the mainstream music media latching onto it. With that being said, there are some very good songs on this disc; while at the same time they devert from their style that makes them notable in my opinion. Tracks like "Dont Trust Me" and "Starrstrukk" from Want were well produced and main stream enough to draw in people; including me. But what did I find when I listened to that whole album? A foundry of awesome and different songs the likes of which I had never herd before. They're satirical style made me fall in love with their music instantly. While Streets of Gold does have some that style they have swapped their singing and musical style with something more main stream. But that's not really a bad thing now.

Beaumont and I can do anything lead the album off, Beaumont being an instrumental track while I Can Do Anything being the proper first song. ICDA(I can do anything) is a good opening track; it introduces you to their new musical style while keeping their same satirical nature from Want. With lines like "We can do an album; we can do a viral; Spread it like an STD you got back in highschool." And also introduces us to what probably is their attitude to people who would say "Why dont you go back to the "Want" style." with their lyrics of the chorus "I aint gonna take no shit no one." serving as a great shout out to people who might be thinking that way.

The lead off single from the album; My First Kiss; is next, and serves as a real introduction to their new style with ICDA being kind of like a "fuck you we'll do whatever we want." Ke$ha makes a cameo in the song; likely returning the favor to the group for appearing on "Blah Blah Blah". If you were like me, you were a bit dissapointed that the boys didnt have too many lines in that song; but Ke$ha dosen't pull a Katy Perry here and take over a part of the song. Outside of singing the lines "My first kiss went a little like this....and twist." She also harmonizes with Sean Foremen in the Chorus. The song itself is good, and catchy. A perfect lead off single for the group. Likely it'll do the same that "Dont Trust Me" did for Want; but just like "Dont Trust Me" got the group a lot of attention, and Starrstrukk blew them up the next song will eclipse all three in terms of popularity....

(Note: check the post below for the official My First Kiss video)


"I think I've been here before; I think I've run into you; I know the things that you do; cause this is Deja Vu!" Deja Vu, the third single from the album. It has the structure; rythem and catchy chorus; memorable lines like "And the girl in the back you'll stick your tounge down my mouth" make this one of their best songs I believe. It defenantly has the potential to not only go to the top of the charts but also put their other songs out of peoples minds. In the song itself it describes a night that the character in it feels like hes living over and over; Asking a police officer when hes finally got get arrested for doing 'bad things' despite the fact that said officer has had run-ins with the character a lot; Getting into a fight with a greaser in the bar, and getting kicked out of said bar, everynight it seems. It's a great narrative about how the bands life probably seems to have been blurred together in their travels as a constant re-living experience or ...Deja Vu.

We Are Young; the next track, and the first track that completely deviates from their style in a musical sense. Opening with a nice drum beat and a bass line thats reminenct of "eye of the tiger" through out the song. It's different from what their other songs are from Want, and the first three tracks provide a nice safety net that ease you into the new style of the album. The song itself is about the young people taking on the world; you get a nice feel as to this is how they both felt when they started making music together and signed to a deal.

Touching on My is a song done somewhat in their original noted style from Want. It was the second single released, and I believe the weakest of those released thus far. The song itself is catchy and the beat is good; but it just feels like its missing something; dunno what tho. The song itself is somewhat 'censord'; with electronic 'beeps' replacing where the curse words would be but the beeps themselves are also intagreated into the beat so even when they arent suppose to be 'cursing' it appears. This censoring somewhat surprises me considering how the language was in Want. But then again it could be because of their appearance on the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack with their song "Follow Me Down", which In my opinion is their worst song; was quite requested on radio disney; peaking at number 2; and overall with the exception of "house party" generally the album is pretty clean of profanity. Overall I feel it is one of the weakest songs on the album but its still pretty good.

"Gonna have a house party in my house..." opens the next track; house party. It's pretty basic really and kicks back to their style of songs from Want. Really theres not much to comment on cause its a fun song but repetitive; would be good though for a house party....

R.I.P. seems like a reflective song from the bands point of view about a women who they left behind in Colorado to pursue their dreams of music. But also criticizing the women at the same time for not feeling the same way about the singer. It's a pretty good song and could be a chartable love song.


I know how to say is the next song. This one is a fun, fun song. Its got a lot of different styles mixed in. Some kick backs to the doors with the keyboarding, An jingle of bells that reminds me of Rollin' Stones "Symphony for the Devil"; speaking of the stones, the lyrics "Never gonna stop; I'm a rolling stone" is catchy itself. The narrative in this one lets you into the band's lives about how they are always traveling, telling stories of how they love many women in different parts of the world. Only one word really describes this song; Fun.

Double Vision; original I thought it was gonna be a Foreigner cover, but it wasn't. Instead this song opens with a bright ray of sunshine. It reminds me of one of those feel good songs for somereason and it should be since the singer is surrounded by so "Many fine women". But it does have a message about relationships, in that he loves the girl in the song yet he dosent think he can have a relationship because hes surrounded by so many fine women that hes seeing "Double Vision"

I'm Not the One; is pretty good, musically its kind of a slow and methodical love song about telling someone they're not the one to 'hurt you'. Nothing realy notable about the song but it is good and continues the same style established earlier in the album. Streets of Gold, the next song finally sees "Nat" step up as the singer as he mostly stays in background for most of album only backing up Sean. I put these two together in one part of the review because while they're good songs and defeantly can be a single in their own right theres just nothing about either one that sticks out as in the other songs.

See You Go; the penultimate song; Brings you back to the 3Oh!3 style in the begining while later blending with their newer style. It's a good song and catchy; but kinda falls into the same category as "I'm not the one" and "Streets of Gold" with a similar narative from "RIP" Only from their prospective completely telling a lover that they got everything they need, so dont go.

Love 2012 is about as close to an "epic" song you'll get from 3Oh!3; the beat is great and the lyrics are good; and just like those predictions of the 2012 apocalypse its just that. A love apocalypse, a song about love ending and the singer finding that in the end he needs himself more than someone else right now. A great closing song to a great album and really ties together the narratives set up in My First Kiss; that continue through the entire cd.


Overall the Album is great; And it's actually a great concept album; something that if Want had it, well you really had to dig to connect the story. Begining with start of a love with My First Kiss and ending with it all falling apart in Love 2012. Every song really connects with each other. While in Want I was drawn into that album with "Dont Trust me" and "Starrstrukk" and found a great unexpected album, Streets of Gold really illustrates how the band has matured over the past two years since Want's release. Every song has a narrative; something that Want kind of lacked, but at the same time I loved that album for that reason, and love this one for having one. The only complaint I have is that Nathan, "Nat" takes a back seat to Sean Foreman. Granted Foreman is in my opinion a better singer, and overall a better pick for a frontman of the group, I loved Nat's vocal style in Want and it is missed in this Album but at the same time hes made some great beats so it's not like hes not there. Overall this Album is great, Want allowed 3Oh!3 to get noticed by mainstream but Streets of Gold will totally blow them up even bigger. I dont want to sound too over-confident in the album but I believe 3Oh!3 could own 2010 just as much as Lady Gaga owned 2009 in their genre but that'll be a hard climb to make and it's only up to the fans to decide if they do. Streets of Gold drops next week; Tuesday, June 29th 2010. You can pick up the deluxe edition exclusively from www.3oh3music.com. And Target is running an incredible deal on it for 7.99 next week. Streets Of Gold gets a 5/5

Defendor [REVIEW]

Woody Harrelson comes fresh off his career-reviving role in Zombieland with the dark comedy/super hero drama, Defendor. Defendor got its first trailer not long after Kick Ass, another satrical look at super heroes, got its first; however, Defendor was far less hyped, had a much smaller budget, and got pushed in and out of theaters far quick February of this year. Having not seen Kick Ass yet, I can't compare the two films, and despite the fact that both involve regular people portraying realistic vigilantes in a comedic light, I've been told they're both far different films.

Defendor, at its core, is an homage of sorts to two DC classics, most obviously Batman, although, also the Watchmen, notably Rorschach. Woody Harrelson's Defendor is an innocent, albeit moderately slow grown men who never had anyone to idolize in his life other than our modern legends, that of comic book super heroes. Not to give away any spoilers, but he never knew his father, his mother was taken from him at a young age, and he was raised by his stubborn, bitter old grandfather. Taking both elements of Batman and Rorschach's histories, Arthur Poppington (Harrelson's true idenity) is a combination of both those character if they were less batshit crazy, and had more childlike innocence.

Defendor is looking for his arch-enemy, Captain Industry, which is nothing more than an industry for the drug game. He goes around beating the shit out of lowly criminals, before one night saving a crackwhore (well, she is) from a corrupt cop/dopeboy. This starts off the film's main story, and also establishes our heroes' kinda love interest, in a creepy "I'm old enough to be her father, so we'll never genuinely embrace" way. Also, the crackwhore is played by the lovely Kat Dennings, of Nick and Norah fame.

oh, those ashy lips.

Regardless, Defendor finds his Captain Industry, and hunts him till the bitter end. Honestly, this film is just fucking great. Woody Harrelson's career has been rejuvenated, and thank God for that. The man is just an amazing comedic/action star, and he's just so capable of making the audience feel sympathy for his character. Between this and Tallahasse, Harrelson is back in prime-form, and needs to keep getting these great starring roles to further enforce his standing. Woody's proven himself to be Ron Perlman levels of bad-ass, and deserves that same attention and respect.

The writing/directing, handled by Peter Stebbings, a first time director, is genuinely excellent. Very atmospheric, and moody when it needs to be, while the comedic timing is still precise. The supporting cast is great at keeping the film rooted in reality, when Defendor's antics can get intentionally campy. It's hard to pick out any flaws with Defendor; it runs a perfect length, and tells a fantastic original story, something we hardly ever get in the superhero genre.

From the wildly hilarious beginning to the downer, yet mildly uplifting climax, Defendor never loses its focus. It's a great movie that takes the conventions of modern super hero films, and throws them out the window. I'd definitely recommending buying the DVD to any fan of comedy or super heroes, as this is a film you'll want to watch again and again.

Date Night [REVIEW]

The king and queen of NBC's primetime Thursday TV schedule hook up for their first movie together, and it's about as great as you'd expect. Date Night is a rom-com/crime thriller that goes above and beyond most Hollywood comedies in terms of quality, and genuine hilarity. And honestly, after looking at the credits for this film, and considering the plot, it's rather surprising how well this film turned out in the end.

With the director of such horrible comedic failures such as the Night at the Museum movies, Cheaper By The Dozen, and the Pink Panther, and a writer whose only other contributions have been to Shrek The Third, this film looks like it's built for disaster on paper. And honestly, is the directing or the writing top notch? Although the plot is never genuinely overlooked, it's many twists and turns are elementary at best, and some of the scenes would be generely worthless if they weren't readily available for comedic purposes. The directing is nothing ground-breaking, but it holds up well, and all of the scenes are shot with the same flair that was used in the Night at the Museum movies, just in a far more reasonable and rational film.

What really sets this film apart is the all-star cast it sports; Steve Carell (of the Office and The 40 Year Old Virgin) and Tina Fey (of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live) star in this film, and their supporting cast is absolutely crammed. Ray Liotta, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, and Taraji P. Henson are some of the most noteworthy of this ensemble cast, and all of them hand in first-class performances even when they're not given the the greatest of characters. All of them add another dimension to their characters that make them take off of the screen, and everyone else in the film is equally good.

This is virtually a two-man show though at heart, and you'd think that Fey and Carell have been working together for years with the undeniable chemistry they have in this film. They play the role of a couple lacking excitement in their lives to perfection in the beginning of the film, although their characters aren't too much of a departure from their starring NBC roles. Later in the film, when it comes time for the two to provide more of a connection, they deliver two of the best performances of their career.

Although this film relies heavily on sight gags, the jokes are still sharp, and that's obviously due to the improvisation that both Carell and Fey are famous for. Despite there be so many jokes that rely on the actions taking place on screen, all of them are handled tastefully, and the film never delves off into slap-stick territory. Despite the fact that the plot is very exaggerated, and unlikely, the movie does keep one foot rooted in reality while allowing the unimaginable to help to the characters in the film in the meantime. That's where this film gets most of its charm, too; nothing is unbelievable, but anything that can go wrong, does.

This film stands amongst Pineapple Express and the Hangover as some of the best comedy adventures to have come out in the last two years, and stands out as its own seperate entity due to the romantic comedy elements. Rom-coms are hardly ever this clever, or gut-bustingly funny, and this is one of the few films that take the buddy comedy-approach and simply add a couple in their place. In an age where bromance movies are all the rage, Date Night is pretty damn charming,  and commendable for showing that romantic mishaps can be just as funny as drug or alcohol induced escapades.

Gucci Mane - The Burrprint 2: HD [REVIEW]

Gucci Mane. A genius to some, a retard to others. Very few rappers (outside of Lil' Wayne and Cam'ron, who're his most contemporary peers) have ever attracted this much split affection/hatred, and very few can actually grasp the idea of him as an artist. On the surface, he's a very shallow artist, who can't stop rapping about his jewelry, cars, women, or trap-roots. He's hard to decipher (at times, nearly indecipherable), because his accent is rooted in an Alabama slur, he has a lisp, and his delivery, which varies on nearly every song he appears on, is a slivering, sliding, snake-like whisper which rarely breaks free from the monotony of his inflection.

His character is that of a real life villain. He has killed at least one person in his life (in self-defense), he's stolen pretty much every dude in Atlanta's girlfriend for at least a night, he wears more jewelry than Liberace, he has more money than the last five generations of your family tree, and he probably sold crack to your grandma. He's a very easy target for hip-hop purists, and he's simply a very easy individual to hate. He's an asshole, and he doesn't give a fuck what you think; honestly, he's that bad-ass that almost every man has wanted to be at least one point in their lives. 

But he's also probably one of the most honest, and unadulerated artists in any genre of music. He's gained an extremely loyal cult fanbase that rivals that of the aforementioned Lil' Wayne and Cam'ron, and last year, after all that grinding, he finally broke into the mainstream and he's now getting the attention he deserves. He's honestly one of the most personable artists I've ever listened to; when you listen to Gucci's music, you feel like you know him. How can you get so attached to someone that's lived a life that makes most others look insignificant in comparison? Because at the end of each album, mixtape, or song, it is abundantly clear; Gucci Mane is no super villain, he's merely a human. 

He's as fragile, and frail as the rest of us; but he is simply a survivor. Listening to Gucci lets you live vicariously through his lyrics; each song is a triumph in itself. His self-depreciating lyrics, deadpan sense of humor, and very understated intelligence makes him one of the most vulnerable artists in hip-hop. At the same time, his "don't give a fuck what anyone thinks" attitude pretty much tells you that you can try to take a swing at him; but you're likely to end up dead behind the local middle school if you do. That same attitude also allows him to make some of the strangest, experimental, and quite simply avant garde rap the genre has ever seen. Don't misunderstand that, this isn't arthouse rap; this isn't music that's trying to be smart. This is very self-aware trap rap that is merely a veil for a man who's afraid to get too personal on his records, so he merely drops the struggles he's faced in his life amidst all the gun and jewelry talk, usually to the point that if you're not listening (and most Gucci fans AND haters aren't listening) you'll completely miss it.

In all of his interviews, you see someone that's nothing like the Gucci Mane character that is so predominant in his music. You see Radric Davis, the thirty year old who is soft-spoken, well-educated, and surprisingly wise beyond his years. He's lived five lifetimes in those thirty years; this is a man who had to grow up from the time he was just a child, and never had the opportunity to look back. And maybe this is why his fanbase is so loyal, so attached to him; because he's just so damn relatable.

Gucci's in jail right now, and this is a compilation of songs that he recorded late last year, all of them showing the VERY huge leap he took as an artist from sometime in mid-08 until late-09. There's about a dozen guest features, yet it doesn't feel like it; maybe because over half of them are on the all-star trap anthem "Coca Coca." This mixtape combines all of Gucci's styles, and flows, and puts it in an easily digestable format. From the intro, which is a live freestyle from jail over the phone (including the "One Minute Remaining" message for authenticity), until the very last song, this is a journey into Gucci Land. Weird metaphores, outbursts of singing, GENUINE singing on Antisocial, which is one of the strangest songs in all of Gucci's huge catalog, a whole dictionary full of adlibs, some of the best beats in modern hip-hop supplied by Drumma Boy, Fat Boi, and the rest of Gucci's usual suspects.

There is far too many songs to do a track by track analysis, and honestly, Gucci is the type of artist who is better understood by listening to a full album instead of listening to individual tracks. Simply put, there's something for everyone on hear, and this is just some of the funnest music you'll hear all year long. It's obvious before he got locked up, Gucci was feeling on top of the world, and this mixtape shows that. But then again, when isn't he?

Support the kid. This is some of the best music you'll hear all year, and just makes the wait for him to get out even more unbearable. At least until then we have The Burrprint 2; another defining statement by one of hip-hop's most misunderstood artists.

The Broke Gamer Review: Mirror's Edge

Usually I post some video game reviews under the title "Cheap ass games", but I've decided to re-title the posts as "The Broke Gamer Review".




It's a Friday night, you've got nothing to do, and can only spare about 20 dollars, its time to head down to your local video game store and pick up something cheap for your broke ass. Welcome to The Broke Gamer Review.



Mirror's Edge is an action platformer presented in a First Person view format. Make no mistakes this is no first person shooter. Retailing for about 17.99 (Used at Gamestop) Mirror's Edge is a fun and fast paced video game for under twenty dollars. Sometime in the future you play as Faith, a runner. Runner's are like couriers but they get to shoot people, better think twice about stiffing the bike messenger next time. They run here, run there. Giving people info, taking info, generally doing things against the 'law' in this city. Faith becomes caught up in a scandal when her sister is framed for killing a would be Mayoral Candidate and she is looking for the real killer and answers as to why her sister was framed.

Now, I said it's not a first person shooter, but there are guns you can use in the game. However the entire game is based on running, and no it's not some treacherous Nintendo deal that disguises exercise as a video game. You run everywhere, and anytime you have a gun it slows you down, the bigger the gun the slower you run. In fact the entire game pretty much tells you to avoid the enemy at all costs, unless you cant help but not to. Basically youll run everywhere, and jump over everything. It's a great experience to be had. The game is totally different and unique from any other. The city is pure White, beautiful colors mixed in with it as well. It gives the game an overall look that separates it from other things out there. And the cut scenes, are all done in an anime style format, no CGI which itself gives it something that separates it from other games.

The running is highly addictive and when you're on a roll, it really sucks to get stopped just cause you didnt jump at the right point, or ducked too early, and youll just stop, it makes it worse when theres enemies shooting at you, and you're more than likely to get killed when something slows you down. And you better hope that you can grab that ledge if not youll fall all the way to ground at a velocity that probably liquefies Faith. The story itself is forgettable, and theres no interesting characters in it that really make you want to continue the story, however the gameplay drives the story itself. FPS fans might be turned off when they find out that it isnt a run and gun adventure game. And if you get motion sickness really easy I wouldn't recommend playing it. The developers put a little dot in the center of the screen, giving the illusion of a cross-hair, to make you focus on that area so you wont get sick, but still it could be hard for those who suffer from the illness to play it. And the dot, despite looking like a cross hair, isn't. It's just there for that purpose, trying to aim with it is about fifty-fifty on accuracy.

Overall it's a great game that sets it apart from anything out there, but nothing story or character wise is truly memorable, and it seems sometimes that even if you nail the button right and jump right the game will still make you miss your target, or hit something to slow you down. Mirror's Edge gets a 3/5.