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.

MGMT - Congratulations [REVIEW]

A lot of people aren't going to like this album, and most of those people were fans of Oracular Spectacular. However, if you weren't on the MGMT bandwagon before this album, I wouldn't hop on here, either. This album is strictly MGMT; a very immersive, and overindulgent affair by Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, that is as self-aware and paranoid as its predecessor, yet far more personal, and adventurous.

It starts off with the first transition listeners will have into MGMT's far more folk-driven experience, which is It's Working. It's one of the less experimental efforts on the album, and feels more like something on Oracular Spectacular than anything else; at the same time, it's lush landscape, and beautiful vocals make this a grand introduction to what's about to follow. The "surfer-rock with gothic undertones" vibe starts with this song, and never lets up. If you threw The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips, and Nine Inch Nails into a blender, you might be able to come up with half of the elements that the following 8 tracks of this album is about to comprise of. 

A Song For Dan Treacy, based on Television Personalites frontman, Dan Treacy, follows. Here's where the album really starts to distanct MGMT from its roots; if anyone remembers that scene in Tim Burton's Ed Wood where Vampira waves her hands frantically to entrance viewers while that demonically groovy music plays in the background, this is basically that, but with MGMT. 

 Someone's Missing & Flash Delirium follow, and these two songs are possibly the most single-ready of an album with no singles. The former is a beautiful, yet tragically short song that takes all of the best elements of the bands sound, and has Andrew tell a great story lyrically over one of the album's most beautiful arrangements. The latter is the first song leaked from the album, and it's just fucking fantastic. Like a bad-trip gone awkardly right, Flash Delirium is one of the most hauntingly funny songs I've heard in my twenty-one years, including lyrics such as the "hot dog's getting cold," followed by self-aware lyrics like "you'll never be as good as the Rolling Stones." I'll be damned if they aren't trying.

I Found A Whistle maybe the least grabbing song on the album, although it is also one of the more eclectic ones. It stood out to me more than most of the songs on first listen, however, it's lacking the power that the rest of the album really charges with. Siberian Breaks follows, and it's a 12 minute opus. Some people say that this track feels bloated, and I can emphasize. However, in that twelve minute running time, MGMT manages to include almost all of the elements of their past work, and run with it in a song that is just extravagent more-so than self-indulgent.

Brian Eno follows, and it's probably my favorite song on the album. Based on the super-producer who helped expand the ambient music genre, Brian Eno sounds like a dark retelling of the Munsters theme thematically, and tells an absolutely hilarious, and depraved tale lyrically. Brian Eno is something of a God in MGMT's world, and this song honestly reminds me, at least lyrically, of early Primus records. A goofy song that neither satires or parodies anyone or anything, and still goes about it in a very serious, and enjoyable way. Brian Eno is like MGMT's Mr. Krinkle.

Lady Dada's Nightmare, which is awarded with the best song title of the year, is an instrumental piece of work done by the band. Perhaps inspired by Lady GaGa (y'think?), although this song sounds nothing at all like her music; it provides a sparse, surrealistic sound in the beginning, and gets downright demented in the second half, which is filled with gruesome screams of terror. Although the band doesn't provide any lyrics in this song, this is one of my personal favorites from the album; this does sound like a soundtrack to anyone's nightmares, and most of mine do include Lady GaGa.

Congratulations ends with the title track, which is one of the easiest listens of the whole album. Very laid back, and celebratory, this is basically the bend looking back at the past two years of their career, both scathingly, and with reluctance. It's obvious that MGMT never wanted to end up where they're at in their career, and hope to change their stance as hipster demigods with this album by half-alienating their fanbase, and half revealing who they really are. It's a fantastic song that caps of an absolutely breathtaking album.

Congratulations isn't for everyone. To keep it short, it's absolutely FUCKING WEIRD. Magestic at the same time, this is MGMT's most cohesive effort yet, and they completely derail the idea of a sophomore slump. I'd suggest checking out OS if you haven't listened to the band yet, as it's far, far easier to digest than it's successor. However, after you're familiar with the band and their eccentricities, give Congratulations a few spins. This maybe the early album of the year in any genre.

Meth, Ghost & Rae - Wu-Massacre [REVIEW]

I love the Wu-Tang Clan. One of the very first hip-hop acts I ever listened to; Enter the 36 Chambers also being one of the first albums I've ever heard. Their debut, and every album leading up until their second group effort, Wu-Tang Forever, is classic, almost flawless displays in what hip-hop is capable of when fully utilized. GZA, RZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Method Man were always at the forefront of the group, while Masta Killa, U-God, and Inspectah Deck played the lesser known, but still great soldiers; the first sect of that group, the cousins, have changed a lot during the years. ODB unfortunately passed away, while GZA fell off into monotony and RZA decided to film movie scores instead of focus on albums, since the former career is far more lucrative. The second is the group we'll be discussing today.

Ghostface Killah has always been the most consistent of anyone on the Wu-Tang; he really has never released a bad album, and yes, I'm including Ghostdini. His oft-P.I.C. Raekwon has two classics under his belt, the landmark Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and its sequel. Method Man is probably the most well known of all the Wu-Tang, as he has become something of a household name since "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man" dropped 18 years ago. In 2010, they're really the best the Wu has to offer. Which is what makes this album rather dissapointing.

Now, is it their fault this album doesn't live up to expectations? Not completely, no. A lot of the blame rests on Def Jam's shoulders. They rushed the project along, and hyped it up in epic proportions. They're really expecting great sales, or media attention from this album, so they've released FOUR singles, 3 alternate album covers, one music video, and one promotional mixtape since this project was announced three months ago. All of these covers were designed by famed comic book artist, Chris Bachalo, of Generation X & Death fame. Four singles were released, that makes up one-third of this 12 track album; and two of those tracks are 30 second skits.

So, yes, there's around 30 minutes, at most, of music on this project. 6 of the 10 songs clock in at under 3 minutes long; which hurts the product extremely, especially with tracks like Criminology 2.5 and Mef Vs. Chef 2, both of which are only 2 minutes long. I suppose they live up to the "2" in their names.

None of the songs really grab you, at all. A part of the problem really is the incredibly-aggitating length of the records, which, I don't understand how they completely blame Def Jam for. Did Def Jam really cut Criminology 2.5 in HALF because of time restraints? I doubt it. I have no idea why Raekwon's verse was cut off, nor why Ghost's was taken from No Man's Land, a bonus cut off of OB4CL2. Mef Vs. Chef 2 has the best production on the album, but 2:01 is NOT enough. It feels like an interlude. In fact, most rappers' interludes are longer than most of these songs. This is hard to classify as genuine MUSIC at this length. I understand that They wanted to show off their liquid swords, but damn guys, HOW HARD IS IT TO ADD A FUCKING HOOK?

And talk about more than fucking guns already, huh? We know, you're raw. You're hard. You're the hardest rappers out there. But honestly, you criticize Waka Flocka for not having lyrics, and saying rappers of your ilk are outta touch, when you're not covering any ground that Waka or any of these other young "trappers, not rappers" are covering, and you can't even afford the time to write a hook. Honestly, you guys ARE out of touch, no matter how much it hurts me to say that. The difference being that these other rappers are in their early to mid twenties, and you guys are almost old enough to be their fathers. Come on guys, grow up.

I don't understand it, honestly. OB4CL2 was fantastic, and Ghostdini was a great approach in another direction for Ghost. Those albums came out about 6 months ago, respectively. And this is what they come up with as a follow up? You can't completely blame Def Jam for this, and their time restraints. Even with more songs, these guys weren't really going anywhere with this effort. In fact, there really isn't any effort. It comes off more as a quick attempt to grab cash from hardcore Wu-heads by Meth, Ghost, Rae AND Def Jam. I feel like they're all in cohoots to rob us, especially with all the hyped and alternate cover BS going into this project. The marketing is better than the overall product. If only Def Jam put this much effort into their GREAT albums.

It's not all bad, don't get me wrong. Dangerous, Miranda, It's That Wu-Shit, and Our Dreams are all pretty good, if not kinda generic. There's just nothing really great about this album, either. It's just kinda, blah. I doubt anyone'll be listening to this album past April, if they even remember it for anything other than being a failed marketing ploy.

Sorry, Wu. But you left me down this time, and I'm sure you left plenty others down, too. Try harder next time, and try to take some of the blame for once, huh? These are the same guys who blamed RZA entirely for 8 Diagrams being a dissapointment, yet I'd listen to that album again over this.

Next Day Air [REVIEW]

Heavy cocaina shawty. Next Day Air is the first film in awhile to revive the coke-flick, and one of the few to take a comedic approach to it. It's no Scarface or New Jack City, and Benny Boom, a great music video director, is certainly no Brian De Palma or Mario Van Peebles; however, the lighter approach taken to the genre is refreshing, and the cast of black and hispanic actors are all up-to-standards, and in certain cases, above (why doesn't Mike Epps get more roles like this? Why doesn't Mike Epps get a genuinely good comedy script that focuses on him as the star? Such a squandering of good talent).

Next Day Air is collage film that takes cues from the Tarantino-style of film building, meshing together multiple stories about gangsters and gentlemen (or in this case, NDA workers who smoke too much hashis on their deliveries), and have them all meet up in the end for the obligatory shoot-out. Some directors have made a career out of this Tarantinosplotation; Guy Richie being the most famous, and successful of these, Joe Carnahan another. While many try to immitate Quentin to mockingly bad results, Benny Boom makes the adaption to the big screen transition much smoother than I originally expected. Although none of the film-making is breath taking, or even down-right compelling, the sense of comedic-timing is there, and most of the shoots are decent enough, especially the derivative shoot-out near the end.

As I said before, the acting is very competent, something rarely seen in these types of comedies outside the obvious notable exceptions (Friday, uh... Barbershop?). Mike Epps is fantastic in his role as Brodie, and his homeboy, Guch, played by Wood Harris. Donald Faison, of Scrubs, is humorous in the lead role, although not nearly as eye-grabbing as his fellow NDA associate, Mos Def, is in his few scene-stealing moments. Yasmin Deliz is beautiful, and provides her job as eye-candy throughout the film; she's a decent young actress who I hope to see more of (and I mean that literally). Omari Hardwick is the real star of this film though; he has a presence that most of his peers on this film lack, and his character, Shavoo, is probably my favorite in the film. He reminds me of a young Denzel, and with roles in both Kick-Ass and the A-Team in 2010, it looks like he's on for far greater things.

Not this great, though.

The score is nothing memorable, and the movie does lack that laugh-out-loud type of humor that it so desperately craves; it's a good film, which provides a few smiles, but at times it may've sufficed better with darker humor. The characters were mostly too hardened to believe they were as genuinely stupid as they were portrayed, but I guess at the same time, if this film wasn't light-hearted it's comedic approach might've gotten lost in all the drug-dealing shenanigans. Although I appreciate the approach at a cocaine-comedy, it really turned out about as well as you'd expect it to; unless you're listening to Gucci Mane, it's hard to find trapping funny. And this movie lacks all of the deadpan hilarity found in a lot of the hip-hop based on the same subject matter.

Overall, Next Day Air's definitely worth a watch if you can find it cheap, as it's a decent comedy, and even better if you're interested in the genre this film falls under. I'll be watching it again, and can see myself enjoying it more upon consecutive views; however, it's nothing groundbreaking, and it doesn't set out to be.

Freeway & Jake One - The Stimulus Package [REVIEW]

Well, Barack pretty much deaded our stimulus packages. However, with his mistake, comes one of the dopest underground hip-hop albums in recent memory; Freeway and Jake One's Stimulus Package. Freeway was at one point an upcoming emcee, as he was on Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label in its prime, and alongside his State Propery fam, Beanie Sigel, was poised to blow. He pretty much dominated Jay-Z's The Dynasty cut, 1-900 Hustler, and from there, built a steady buzz, before releasing his debut album, the almost exclusively Just Blaze-produced Philadelphia Freeway; a critically acclaimed album that didn't do nearly the numbers it was expected to.

Jake One is an underground producer who rose to his own prominence since the release of his 2008 compilation album, White Van Music, which was his first true union with Freeway. Before his foray into the underground, and critical acclaim, he was almost solely a producer for G-Unit; producing some of the group's best songs on both their group outings and solo efforts.

Both emcee and producer have very unique styles; Freeway has one of the most unique voices in rap, a high-pitched gruff voice helps elevate his flawless rhyme scheme, and distinguish himself from the other dope rappers coming out of Philly. Jake One is a producer from Seattle who is obsessed with chopped up soul samples, and comes off in ways as a mix between early Kanye West and Just Blaze; perfectly fitting for Freeway since those are the producers who made Roc-A-Fella famous during its heyday.

They normally say you can't judge a book by its cover, but in this case, the packaging for The Stimulus Package is just as dope as the music inside. Rhymesayers, the label releasing this album, tend to come up with unique ways to conceal, and market their products, to entice consumers to buy it. MF DOOM's MM...FOOD? re-release came in a tin-foil Pop Tarts inspired package, while Atmosphere's Life Give You Lemons came in a booklet; The Stimulus Package goes above and beyond with a cd case modeled after a wallet, with the CD booklet written on the back of a few custom bills with Freeway and Jake One's faces on it. Very innovative, and an incentive to purchase this.

The music inside is no joke though; the album starts off with the "Stimulus Intro," featuring Free's partner in crime, Beanie Sigel. They both deliver short verses over the dope 70s inspired Jake One beat, leading into one of my favorite joints on the album, the energeting "Throw Your Hands Up." I think most underground hip-hop tends to lack energy, and true passion vocally, but in Freeway's case, those aspects most certaily aren't missing. Freeway makes you wanna throw your hands up as he goes over the concept of this album, dropping dope bars.

The next two tracks maybe the most laid-back on the album, and kinda pale in comparison to the songs about to follow. Although Free goes in on "One Foot In," and "She Makes Me Feel Alright" is a good first single, they're completely overshadowed by two of the best tracks on the album following it. "Never Gonna Change" is Freeway's take on the Notorious B.I.G.'s classic "Warning" with an incredible beat supplied by Jake One, while One Thing with Raekwon The Chef provided two of the dopest (literally) crack-rappers to ever live with a delicious sample.

The haunting "Know What I Mean" was the street-single from the album, and is one of the other stand-out cuts. Freeway's tales of Philadelphia's hustle are greatly indepth, and he's horribly underrated as a storyteller. "The Product," where Free takes on the familiar concept of rapping from the perspective of a drug, in this case, crack, is nice, although it's been done before. It's no "Baltimore Love Thing," but again, Freeway's inspired delivery boost this track further than it would've been had another emcee done the track.

The next three tracks 5 tracks all feature guest appearances, and range in quality. The Birdman assisted "Making Moves" is far better than one would expect from a song featuring a Birdman cameo, and "Sho' Nuff" with Bun B hook up two of rap's most criminally underrated, but widely respected, emcees from the East and South and put them on a dope beat. Neither spit anything revolutionary, but they're sufficient, and that's all you could ask for. Young Chris goes in on "Microphone Killa," however his punchline-kid delivery gets him outshined by the veteran Freeway. "Freekin' The Beat" with Latoiya Williams is good, and has a nice concept (making love to music), but it's probably my least favorite cut on the album. "Money" with Omilio Sparks, more of his Roc-A-Fella alumni is dope, and Mr. Porter, also known as Kon Artist from D12, provides the great hook. I'm not sure when Kon got so great at singing, but he's the highlight of this song.

Two very similar tracks close out this album; the first solo cut in awhile, "Free People," is one of the standout joints, and shows Freeway at his most grown. The closing "Stimulus Outro" is pretty much a lesser version of "Free People," but it still delivers.

So far, with very few albums being released this year, this maybe my favorite. Freeway is in prime form, and Jake One provides some of his finest production yet. This'll probably make quite a few year end lists, and should be popular amongst the ignorant hip-hop elitists as much as it is among the commercial rap lovers who occasionally dip in the underground. A little bit of something for everyone.

And if you liked The Stimulus Package, make sure to check out Free's new tape, Freelapse, which is Freeway spitting over a variety of Eminem beats.

Old Man Logan [REVIEW]

I'm not an avid comic book reader anymore. Not that comic books have gone down in quality (there's probably more creativity, engrossing characters, and moving story archs than ever), or quantity (God knows the comic industry just as many independents as it ever has) - it's just that the medium doesn't appeal to me like it used to. That, and I can just watch the movie.

Wait, wait, hold up - I know. The comic books are almost always better (what's up, Watchmen?!), and a greater amount of talent, and time goes into the original comic books than the adaption of them to the big screen. Plus, Hollywood has a tendency to fuck with our cherished superheroes. The World's Only Universally Hated Homosexual (even by homosexuals) Joel Schumacher absolutely destroyed Batman's reputation with Batman and Robin, Superman was over once they kicked Richard Donner off directorial duties, Spider-Man 3 was a giant clusterfuck because the studios pressured Raimi to add Venom, and the most recent Wolverine movie absolutely destroyed a handful of characters, including Gambit, Emma Frost, The Blob, and motherfucking Deadpool. The video game based on the movie was better than the movie for fuck's sake; that's just an oxymoron.

However, it takes less time, and effort, to watch a comic book adaption, and that suits my lazy ass perfectly. What does that have to do with this piece? Well, it takes a special type of comic book for me to really put forth the money and reading skills to actually give it the time of day it deserves. Old Man Logan is one of those special types of comics.

Written by Mark Millar (of Wanted and Kick-Ass notoriety), with art provided by Steve McGiven, Old Man Logan gives us the very familiar "bad-ass superhero far past his prime has to put away his Hoveround scooter and kick some superpowered ass." This concept's been done before with many other heroes, including Spider-Man, and more notably, Batman in Frank Miller(no relation)'s The Dark Knight Returns. Old Man Logan goes a bit deeper than the others though; the story laid here by Millar is easily one of the best I've ever read (hey, I used to read more).

Logan is no longer the animal known as Wolverine. Instead, he's an old farmer living with his family somewhere out in the desert that once was California. Living a normal life as a lowly rancher just trying to meet ends meet at the end of the day (that's a tongue twister); hard to imagine the cigar-chomping, prostitute fucking, motorcycle tumbling, adamantium-clawed samurai putting aside his nihilistic ways, marrying some normal bitch, having kids, and milking cows in a straw hat all day, but here, it works. Until his landlords, a bunch of Hills Have Eyes looking motherfuckers, come to collect their money, and Logan doesn't have; thus, our story begins.

Did I mention that these redneck scumlords were offspring of the Incredible Hulk? Or that the Incredible Hulk OWNS California? Or that the Incredible Hulk banged his own cousin, She-Hulk, because she was the only one capable of holding his sperm, thus creating GAMMA RADIATED IMBREDS? A whole fucking colony of them? Yeah, this gets even more fucked up, believe it or not.

"Ah shit."

So, it turns out that the supervillains have taken over the world, after eliminating every superhero but Logan and, for some reason, Hawkeye (I think that's just because Millar had so many "edgy ideas" for an old blind womanizer with perfect aim - he's like Ray Charles, if you replaced the piano and smile with an ugly purple suit and arrows).

In order to get the money to pay his rent, because apparently superhero social security isn't as outstanding as it once was, Logan has to help Hawkeye with a drug run as they go across country in Spider-Man's old buggie. It's far more bad-ass than it sounds. As you'll come to find out, the supervillains control a certain part of each territory in the United States. Hulk has California, Michael Clark Duncan's future offspring fulfills his destiny of becoming Kingpin, and he runs Nevada (after defeating Magneto for the title - a funny bit of unmentioned humor giving the guy who could hit jackpots for days fucking Las Vegas), Dr. Doom got the Bible Belt (heh), Norman Osborn got - something pretty insignificant, and Red Skull got New Babylon, our renamed nation's capitol. And this is where Logan and Hawkeye must travel.

So, this is essentially a road-trip in the vein of Zombieland (check that review!), Road Warrior, and Easy Rider, only with two insane superheros, and a Spider-Man painted jeep full of contraband, as they make their way across the country for a drop-off. There's so much more to it than than though; I honestly can't say much more than that without ruining the entire story. All I can say is, Logan was essentially hired to become Hawkeye's bodyguard on this quest, but in the last fifty years he's become a pacifist after an incredibly tense, and heartbreaking moment in the story that left the X-Men dead and the beast known as Wolverine retired; a moment which lead to this disaster of a country that the villains have taken over.

Many badass battles and stories follow, which include the Red Skull adorning his dead enemies "skin," a Symbiote-possessed T-Rex, and Bruce Banner beating the shit outta Logan, before finally getting pissed off, becoming the Hulk, and fucking eating Logan. There's some seriously depraved shit in this, as one might expec from Millar, but all of it reeks of epicness.

Epic.

So, yes, Old Man Logan is fucking awesome. It has re-invents most of the characters 50 years in the future, and all the characters are at their most in-depth, and interesting. The story has great pacing, and never loses a step. The art is beautiful, and McGiven deserves some real credit for so many amazing takes on classic characters. This comic packs so much punch, and you won't want to put it down once you pick it up. Go buy it now.

There Is Something In The Sea

No, it isn't groundbreaking. Yes, the story pales in comparison to the original Bioshock's darkly disturbing masterpiece. No, it hardly adds anything that makes the gameplay any different than the last time we visited Rapture three years ago. Yes, it's still a fantastic game, and worth every penny.

I can see Bioshock 2 dissapointing a lot of people. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who didn't take the trip to Rapture last time; without knowing the backstory of this game, the story would fall rather flat. However, oddly enough, I feel that if I never played the first, and got to experience that truly unique experience, I'd probably say that Bioshock 2 is one of the best games I've ever played.

It's definitely up there. Bioshock 2 has you return to the utopia under the sea, only known as Rapture. This time around, you get to fulfill what EVERYONE fantasized about in the first one, aside from a crazy-syringe induced orgie with Fontaine (am I the only one?); you become a Big Daddy. Mr. Bubbles. The protector of all sisters that happen to be little. The motherfucker that made your controller rumble like an earthquake had just hit your front lawn. The creature that has a roar as intimidating as anything JJ Abrams has ever created. You're a goddamned Big Daddy, and not just any Mr. B; you're the very first. Welcome, Project Delta.

So instead of starting off the game with a wrench, we get a drill attached to our arm. That's certainly an improvement. We also get our first plasmid rather quickly in the game. In fact, maybe one of the things that's inferior about this title to the first is it's pacing; you're thrown into Rapture, and hardly ever do you get a moment to think about the amazing world around you. Not like in the first title, at least, where death could come from any corner. It still can in Bioshock 2, and you're not nearly as indestructible as you'd think a Big Daddy would be (you're definitely no Bouncer); but you're not some guy named Jack who just happened to have a really shitty day (or so he thinks).

The story revolves around you, Project Delta, the very first Big Daddy, and Eleanor Lamb, your Little Sister, who is also the first of her type. A lot of bad juju happened to you in the span of ten years, and you get seperated for many different reasons; the main one being Elle's mom, Sofia Lamb, who is a serious fucking bitch. Reminds me of my mom. And any woman my dad's ever brought home. And every woman I wanted to bring home. Go figure.

The graphics, engine, and gameplay is completely lifted from the first; which isn't a bad thing, seeing as the first excelled in all areas. Very little innovation in gameplay, aside from being able to both duel-wield a plasmid and a weapon, which is far more convenient than it was in the original. At the same time, with all this time, I expected at least a couple new elements to be added. Don't fix what's not already broken, and all that, but I do feel like I'm playing some really belated albeit great DLC for OG Bioshock.

Where as the first game had a host of characters you'd never forget (Andrew Ryan, Suchong, Sander Cohen, Dr. Steinman, even Atlas and Fontaine), aside from the main cast, your buddy Sinclair, and a strong black woman from the Bayou named Grace, the characters here are really lacking when compared to the first. Horrible lacking, even. Plus, there's only really 6 different types of enemies in this game; splicer, spider splicer, brute splicer, big sister, big daddy, alpha big daddy. Every boss is just a suped-up version of one of those; most of the bosses don't even bother fighting, they just send those aforementioned goons at you, and then proceed to fucking die. Sofia Lamb has NOTHING on Andrew Ryan, or even, Atlas. I might come off as sexist, but a woman in charge of Rapture? One who acts like Rodham, looks like Palin, and is only slightly higher on the IQ scale than both? No, no thank you.

The multiplayer, from what I played, is good. Nothing groundbreaking here; you won't give up Gears, L4D, Halo, GTAIV, and Modern Warfare to start building up your Bioshock skills, but it's fun, and it's a real treat for fans of the first game. Definitely a nice feature, but I hope other single-player classics that're coming out this year (I see you, Dead Rising) have more established multiplayers. 

So, I addressed mostly my complaints on this game. And I still thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan on playing multiplayer for awhile. The story is great for a video game, if you're not comparing it to the original (and you shouldn't, though it's hard not to). It's emotive, and it does allow you to get very submerged in that scuba suit (no pun intended, nhjic),  especially in the parts with Eleanor. The father/child story is very moving, and one of the better emotional moments I've seen in a video game. It really does touch your heart (pause), and I'd like to see Eleanor's story continue. The ending, unlike the first, and the final boss battle, is pretty goddamned incredible. taking on the role of the Big Daddy is also both very tense, and enjoyable. Since you're a Big Daddy, this game throws everything and the kitchen sink, stove, and refridgerator your way; you're gonna need to keep those first-aid kits on deck. the moments where you have your little sisters collect adam is one of the tensest moments of the game, and also, most strategic; i always enjoyed the time I spent protecting my little sister. Plus, the Big Daddy is just badass; much better than being some guy named Jack.

Bioshock 2 is great. Not amazing, not outstanding, not spellbinding, or anything Peter Travers would write about Avatar in Rolling Stone. Definitely my favorite game in awhile, despite its flaw. Anyone who was a fan of the first needs to play this at least once; and if you weren't, well, what the fuck is wrong with you? Regardless, Bioshock 2'll make you appreciate Bioshock that much more, and not just because Bioshock is infinitely superior.

Invest in it.

Would you kindly...?

So, Bioshock 2 drops tomorrow. I'm as psyched for this as anyone else, if not more so; the original Bioshock remains one of, if not, my favorite game. I was a little late to play it in early '08, as I didn't have a 360 until then; however, Bioshock was the first title I grabbed upon getting it, and once I started playing, I couldn't stop.

I could go into the usual hoopla about Bioshock; how it had some of the most innovative game-play of its time, and absolutely gorgeous graphics. Which I will, and which it did. The combination of puzzles and first person shooters wasn't completely new territory, but with all the hacking mini-games, and genuine mysteries you had to solve throughout the title, it took it to a new level. I can't say I was the biggest fan of the aforementioned mini-games, as they became annoying as they grew more difficult; however, it's no surprise that future titles, such as Fallout 3, took a similar premise when it came to hacking mini-games, though Fallout's password-manipulating were significantly less annoying than the pipe-puzzles. The mysteries surrounding Rapture, a puzzle in themself, hold some of the true allure of Bioshock; for one prime example of this, the demented Sander Cohen has you dabble in some real Haunting In Connecticut shit by taking photos of the dead. However, unlike those funeral parlor photos, those poor folks you're taking pictures of were sentenced to this fate by you. Although, yeah, that's kinda a similar story in Haunting in Connecticut too.

The graphics.. still look at beautiful today as they did over two years ago. Rapture is gorgeous. Easily my favorite video game setting, as it is just as emersive as it is stunningly macabre. Although you can never travel outside of the inner city of Rapture (a fault they're correcting in the sequel), the ocean surrounding Rapture looks beautiful; the city itself is based on every 1960's living stereotype gone terribly awry. Billie Holiday's haunting voice serenades you through the radio; the aforementioned Sander Cohen is pretty much Rod Serling meets Alfred Hitchcock if both lost their minds any further, and had an unhealthy fascination with bunny rabbits. The very first boss battle is an early practioneer of plastic surgery, and the leading moments to this battle depict one of the most morose, yet stunning crucifixions you'll ever witness in any form of media; and if you know of any others, please keep them to yourself. The less we know, the better.

The story is the real bread and butter of Bioshock, though. It boasts a story on tie with some of cinema's greatest thrillers; the first two acts of the game's story driven solely by the egomaniacal Andrew Ryan, easily one of the greatest villains to ever grace his face in a video game. Andrew Ryan's monologues are stuff of legend, as seen in the youtube video that proceeded this review, and they only get better. He is the greatest atheist, chauvenistic, God-complexed, sociopathical, genius-intellect asshole ever. Aside from uncle at Christmas parties. But he's dead now, so he doesn't count.



Unforuntately, when the story switches hands in the third act, it takes a HUGE slip in quality. It's still worth finishing the game, as it continues to be great, however once that golfclub leaves your bloody hands, the absolute best part of this game is over. The final boss battle is also one of those huge dissapointments, however that's another thing they're fixing in the sequel.

So yes, even though the third act is took a dip, this game stands as wholly enjoyable; an experience anyone whose even casually into video games should try at least one. One of the most beautiful, thought-provoking, and action packed forms of entertainment ever released upon the world; not just in the realm of video games. Bioshock will always stand as one of gaming's greatest achievements, and stands triumphant amongst all the cookie-cutter shooters that're released seemingly monthly. Hopefully the sequel can due this game's legacy everything it deserves.

Now, would you kindly go and give this game a try if you haven't already?