Gone Camping(Childish Gambino)

On November 15, 2011 Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover will be dropping Camp his first commercial album and I happen to have stumbled upon it a bit early.  CHILDISH GAMBINO IS BY FAR THE MOST UNDERRATED RAPPER IN THE GAME. I only capitalize that so that people realize that I truly feel this way.  There are many rappers out there with so much hype who cannot compare to Childish lyrically, and because I don't care what people think I'm going to name a few, Waka Flaka Flame, Gucci Mane, and Soulja Boy, to name a few. These guys are given so much admiration, but Childish can make the music there making if he was mute, Childish has metaphor after metaphor that will blow your mind, he talks about what HE wants to talk about and could care less what anyone else thinks of him. He constantly crosses the line and that is fantastic. For example a line from the single "Bonfire" he says "This shit I'm doing this year insanity, i made the beat then murdered it, Casey Anthony", Too soon? Who cares, controversy creates cash. Now here's the catch, he doesn't need the money!  He won an emmy for writing on 30 Rock, is in the main cast for NBC's Community which is one of the funniest shows on television.  This guy has more talent in his middle finger then half of the rappers people are wasting their time on. I also got Drake's Take Care and Mac Miller's Blue Slide Park and neither one could keep me from prematurely cutting off the album and going back to Camp with Childish Gambino. This cd has the epicness of anything else that came out this year I dare you to listen to the cd in full and not be in love with Childish's flow, So yea I'm giving this a 9/10 and that's only because I'll need room to rate his next album.

"We Are The Walking Dead" (The Walking Dead)(First Comic Book Review)

  I've built myself up to be a little nerdy when allowed right? Cool, cool, cool, cool in the words of Abed from Community, A+ to anyone who gets the reference. Now I ask this because I'm going to do my first comic book review, and it's a good one. See I have recently gotten back into reading comic books, and the reason for this, The Walking Dead. This series is infallible, it made me laugh, it made me want to cry at times, it showed me exactly how people would react in such an extreme situation, such as a full on zombie apocalypse. The Walking Dead isn't your typical zombie bullshit, see I love anything zombie related but this, this is different. This story isn't about the undead, it's not about how bad the world is, it's about the characters. Since I started reading the series I have gotten attached to many characters, and a lot of those characters have died, either they were eaten alive, murdered by psychopaths, or killed by there own friends or family members because they were bitten. No character is safe, or so it seems. Anyone can die at any time and that's what keeps me tuned in, Robert Kirkman the writer/creater truly knows how to pull on his readers heart strings and he is able to do it in a zombie stricken world, that makes him a hero of mine.
    See The Walking Dead television series is good for what it is but it can't truly capture the feeling of the comics, it has you afraid to see what is going to happen on the next page because your worried they might kill off your favorite character. Of course there is everyone's favorite police officer Rick Grimes. Rick seems to overcome everything, but the best part of Rick is that he will do anything it takes to keep his family safe. The things Rick has done for his family are unspeakable but necessary to keep his family safe in such a troubled time. I'm giving The Walking Dead comic book series a 9/10 but the T.V. show I'll give a 6/10 even though I really liked it a short 6 episode first season makes it tough to grade it any higher but hopefully the second season will be just as fun as the first, just a little longer.

Tunechi's Back (Tha Carter IV)

 Hey all, I know it's been a few weeks but I got a good one for you today. Continuing with the music reviews today I'm doing Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV.  In my opinion it's an instant classic, with collaborations with Drake, Rick Ross, Nas, Busta Rhymes, John Legend, Andre 3000, and T-Pain how could it not be? Well it's a very good album but it doesn't have the epic feel that Tha Carter III had but of course this isn't Tha Carter III this is Tha Carter IV.
  It's been about three years since Lil Wayne's Grammy award-winning album Tha Carter III which included fan favorite singles A Milli, Lollipop, and I Got Money.  Tha Carter IV does not disappoint, the lead single 6 Foot 7 Foot feat Cory Gunz has hit number one on itunes as has his second single How to Love.  Weezy dropped his latest single She Will which features his protege Drake recently and that one is soaring the charts as well.
  The reason why I love this cd so much is because hip-hop is changing and so is Wayne he switches up his sound whenever needed without losing what makes him Lil Wayne. Lyrically he is on fire, maybe that jail time was good for him, he came back spitting fire in every verse.  He continually adapts his lyrical content to provide a true window into his life.
  Wayne is amazing on his own but he also has some really awesome collaborations on this album, my favorite being How To Hate featuring T-Pain. Now I'm a huge advocate of anything with T-Wayne involved, and this song is no different a catchy hook from T-Pain that is chock-full of inappropriate things, which is why I love them together.
   So whatever you call him from, Birdman Jr, The Fireman, Weezy, Lil Tunechi to Lil Wayne, if your a fan this album is for you. It's an array of style from serious songs like Nightmares of The Bottom and President Carter, to songs that are hype and fun like 6 Foot 7 Foot and Blunt Blowing, either way this cd is a good listen I'm giving it a 8/10...

#WTT (Watch The Throne)

   "Human beings in a mob, what's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a non-believer, who don't believe in anything?" This is the first line you hear when you first hear Jay-z and Kanye West's highly anticipated collaboration album Watch The Throne.  This is appropriate as the cd is filled with songs about pretty deep concepts.
    I got the cd Monday night at about 1:30am and I did not like it at all. Honestly I didn't like this cd until I listened to it about five times or so, there were songs that stuck out at me at first but as a whole I wasn't sold.  Now I feel a little different, the album is fun to listen to and pretty addictive and it's not because the material is so amazing it's because I've been listening to Jay-z and Kanye for so long and I love their styles. This sounds like a Kanye West album with a guest appearance on each track and that guest is Jay-Z. it doesn't feel like a true collaboration cd.  For example Eminem and Royce Da 5'9 put out Hell:The Sequel their collaboration album as their group alias Bad Meets Evil and it was very good. It was so good because it showed just how good these guys work together, on Watch The Throne the chemistry is good but off in ways.  The track they sound best together is the final track called Why I Love You featuring Mr. Hudson who is a singer signed to Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music label.  In the song towards the end they go back and forth to the point that the last sentence they go back and forth on every word and it was one of the coolest parts of the entire album and it was literally the last line.
   I know a lot of people don't agree with me and I know all over Twitter and Facebook everyone has been praising the album as if it was made of pure gold. Now it's fun to listen to because Jay-Z doesn't put out a lot of material any more and it's always good to hear Jay but this could have been loads better, especially after all the delays and hype behind it. this album is a good listen but it's mediocre for these two guys, I'm giving this a 6/10 because it could have been better.

You Damn Dirty Apes!!!

    The Rise of The Planet of The Apes was, for lack of a better word, impressive.  I expected very little from this, to make a prequel to a legendary series and to match the quality needed to overcome the expectations of a Planet of The Apes movie is not an easy feat. 
    Now if you've read my other reviews you know that if there isn't good acting I won't write about it or I generally dislike it, like The Smurfs (which didn't get it's own post because it made me sick). This movie on the other hand was awesome!!! James Franco, John Lithgow, Frieda Pinto, and Tom Felton, need I say more? Yes, they were all on their A game, James Franco continues to amaze me, he came from being the small town stoner kid on Freaks and Geeks, to the stoner weed dealer in Pineapple Express, to the brave guy stuck in a cavern for days in 127 hours.  Franco showed why he is one of the top rising stars in Hollywood, he shines as he shows the emotion and intelligence needed to be the man who indirectly started the rise of the apes while trying to find the cure to Alzheimer disease. john Lithgow played Franco's father who had Alzheimer disease and Tom Felton played this little jerk kid who worked at animal protection for the apes. Felton's English accent was actually really good and convincing.
     Overall this movie was really good the action was insane and the story was very well written. I would recommend this to most people except the little child who sat in the row behind me who could barely handle the emotion. Anyone who isn't a small child should be able to take it. I'm giving this a 7.5/10.

Oh Captain My Captain (Captain America)

   This is about to hit it's 500th page view and that is awesome... So any who's ready for some Captain America? of course you are, and Cap was pretty good, I personally expected more but I am very happy with it.  It had it's moments, the action was phenomenal, the acting was pretty good, Chris Evans did a better job then I expected.  Now don't kill me Chris Evans fans because I'm a fan too but this role is different then the characters he normally plays.  He is normally a wise ass and he's damn good at it, but in this he was a humble kid from Brooklyn put into a super situation, that's not to say that he didn't throw in a few wise cracks.
    The movie looked amazing from the costume, to the shield, to recreating World War II, everything was done beautifully. Not to mention the Avenger's trailer for those who aren't too impatient and can wait until the credits are done.
    With the poo poo platter of super hero movies thrown at us in recent summers it's hard to choose the best but Cap has to be up there with Thor and Green Lantern, but I wouldn't put it in the level of the Iron Man flicks. Look, overall this is a very good movie especially if your a Captain America fan, could it have been better? Most definitely but none the less it was a good film and I give it a 7/10.

A Horrible Review(Horrible Bosses)

This one's late and short because I'd rather you read my Harry Potter post =) also comments are cool so don't be afraid to do so.

   Horrible Bosses was hilarious, and that is the only word that fits. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie day are at he helm of this R rated comedy about killing their bosses who makes their lives miserable. Their bosses are played by Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Anniston respectfully. They can't stand their bosses so they try to find a guy to kill their bosses for them, they end up finding "MotherFucker Jones" who is played by Jaime Foxx and doesn't kill their bosses for them but tries to help them by telling them how to kill them themselves. This film is filled with non-stop laughs from start to finish as well as a nicely told story and the main three guys had amazing chemistry, which made for many great jokes and situations that they were thrusted into

   So all in all definitely worth seeing if your a fan of comedy, this is one of the funniest films of the year and is up there with the  Hangover Part II. Overall I'm giving this one a 7/10.

Thank You Jo!!!

    13 years ago I was eight years old it was the first time I heard of Harry Potter, little did I know that it would have as much of an impact on my life as it did. I've grown up with these books and films that were all conjured from the mind of the genius named J.K. Rowling, who among many other things including, the second richest woman in the world, a visionary, an enthusiast of imagination, she was, is, and always will be my hero. If one day I can say I made an impact that was even a small percentage of Mrs. Rowling's Id be happy with my life.
   10 years and 8 films later and the highest grossing franchise of all time is over. After seeing the movie twice now all I can say is that it was "bloody brilliant." Everything that was needed to complete the tale of everybody's favorite boy wizard was accounted for, from the destruction of the horcruxes to the final battle between The Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named. Not to mention the most memorable parts of the novel. From Molly's big line to the reveal of Snape's true allegiance, this movie was jam packed with action, suspense, emotion, and amazing effects. Anything you could hope for in a film and more is what was delivered in the ultimate finale Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
     Now maybe I'm biased, hell, I'm definitely biased, but this film was amazing from start to finish. I will never see a movie that I will be more emotionally attached to then this film. I've lived my last 2 years awaiting this final film from re-reading the entire series multiple times to checking Mugglenet.com on a daily basis, to listening to the podcasts, to obsessing day in and day out about these intricate story lines that Jo weaved so brilliantly, so finely throughout her epic tale. There will never be a series that I can connect with like the Potter series, I've tried the Percy Jackson books, I'm trying the Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and The Sookie Stackhouse novels and nothing seems to stack up. Maybe I haven't tried hard enough or maybe I've just been through so much while following this series, either way I just want to thank Jo Rowling for the 13 years she gave me, for allowing these books to be made into films, and most importantly for making me realize that reading isn't stupid but that it's fun and that imagination lives in all of us no matter how old.
    If you haven't guessed by now I'm giving this film the first 10/10 that I have given. Biased or not my opinion of this film will never falter just like the troops who defended Hogwarts on May 2, 1998(the real time date of the Battle of Hogwarts). Now I leave you with Jo Rowling's words(paraphased) from the world premiere in London... As long as you have the books and movies to turn to Hogwarts will always be open to those who need it...

Extraterestrial Reviewing(Transformers 3)

It's been a while since my last post. Miss me? Well no need to worry I'm back with a good review of Transformer: Dark of The Moon. Now I know a lot of people don't like the Transformers movies and they got a bad name for some of the tasteless jokes and assumed racism in the second of the trilogy, but I have always been a huge fan of the Transformers franchise. Now about the racism I mentioned was that twin bots talked in ebonics critics automatically *assumed* they were African American characters and that it was tasteless of the Michael Bay project. Well here's my take Their robots, they were green and red not black, the racism comes from those critics who jump to believe that they were black characters. In today's culture hip hop is at an all time high. These bots were said to be young, and were mimicking the times and the last I checked every hip hop artist isn't black.

   Now back to the new film. If I had to explain it in one word... Epic. Why? Simple, it was all out war, some of the best action scenes I have ever seen, add 3D and it was out of this world. Michael Bay might seem like a Nazi to Megan Fox but to me he seems like a brilliant man. You see he pushed the movie up three days to a Wednesday release, also a June release. This July is jam packed with block buster and ground breaking films, from Horrible Bosses, which is becoming one of the most talked about comedies of the summer, to Captain America, or the historic and my personal weakness Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. Transformers is the first to take off in July which is sure to be an amazing month for true movie fans.
 
   Transformers: Dark of The Moon is visually stunning, nail-biting, kick-ass action not to forget Megan Fox's insanely gorgeous replacement Rosie Huntington-Whitely makes for one good movie definitely a great way to end a good Trilogy. I give this a 7/10 only because of my biased fan hood but those who didn't like the last one will like this one better if your a casual movie goer this movie promises a good time.

127 hours later (127 Hours)

Last night I finally watched 127 Hours and all I can say is wow. Going into it I had worries about James Franco by himself for an hour and a half but I was, thankfully, proven wrong. Of all the Apatow kids I have to say Franco has become the best actor, and that's not to take anything from Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, or Jason Segal but Franco does a wide range of movies and he continues to get better as an actor. Now, back to 127 Hours, the movie takes place in a mountainous region of Utah, where James Franco purposefully tells no one exactly where he was going.  He wanted to be alone, although he does meet two girls not long after he starts his hike.  They mess around and swim for a few minutes which leads to Franco leaving them and ultimately falling down a crevice with a big rock which pancakes his arm against the wall.  Franco's character is an outdoor man and knows a lot about survival skills, this comes in handy as he is down in the hole for 127 hours before his journey comes to a conclusion. Now, this is based off a true story, which is remarkable because this is truly an incredible tale and I think everyone should give this movie a shot. I give it a 9/10...

Savvy?

Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides received fairly bad reviews across the board. Most sites thought it to be terrible. My problem with critics is they don't rate the movie on the demographic and the expectations that incorporate the following of a movie. Pirates of the Caribbean has never been about making an Oscar winning artsy film, these movies are about action and comedy and having fun at the movies. Acting wise I think everyone was great Geoffrey Rush reprised his role as Captain Barbosa and did, as always, a terrific job. Rush never disappoints and this was no exception playing Jack Sparrow's counterpart in a way. Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz played Blackbeard and his daughter respectively, marking the two new main characters in the Pirates series. Without Will Turner(Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swan(Keira Knightley) the movie needed some new characters for Captain Jack to interact with. Speaking of Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp once again was at his best as the kooky and estrange Captain of the Black Pearl. Now I may be a bit bias as Johnny Depp is my favorite actor but Captain Jack is my favorite character that he plays. There is something about him, he is hilarious and always getting into trouble but even after 4 movies you still feel like there is more to Captain Jack then he is letting on and that's why he is such a great character. He still has potential to do something truly big and if the rumors of another trilogy is true then I'm sure he will once all is said and done. I'm giving this one an 8/10 I know a lot of people will not agree with me but to be truthful this movie is good fun for friends and family and that's the best kind.

One Last "Oh Yeah!"

I just saw Pirates of The Caribbean 4 and I will be posting a blog about that but this blog is a more important matter so to speak.  Earlier today the news broke that wrestling great "Macho Man" Randy Savage passed away after having a heart attack behind the wheel of his car and crashed into a tree in Florida this morning. He was 58 years old. For those of you who don't know who Randy Savage was then you should invest in an abode above the rock you've been living under. Wrestling fan or not everyone has heard of The Macho Man. His legacy is great one of the best WWF/E Intercontinental champions of all time, one of the top schtick men in the business, for those of you who don't know what that means it means he was amazing with a microphone. Savage captivated all those who watched had the pleasure to be entertained by him. Unfortunately I am a bit too young to have seen him in his prime, on the other hand I have seen many of his matches and promos as I am a huge wrestling supporter and fan. I know a lot about the sport because, well, I grew up loving what these men did every day. Sure, you can bring up steroids and how it's all fake and all that what-have-you but the truth of the matter is... Wrestling is much more intense and real then most people realize. Is it true that it is scripted? Yes. Is it true that they don't fight as hard as they would if they "actually" wanted to hurt the other competitor? Yes. Is it true that no one gets injured? That it's easy? That any one can do it? No. To become a professional wrestler at the peak of it's popularity is not an easy feat. These men are very athletic, they train all year long and above all they never stop entertaining the fans. I use the word entertainer because that is what they are just as Actors and Professional sports players, wrestlers are entertainers, and in the existence of the business of sports entertainment there has not been many people who could entertain the way The Macho Man Randy Savage entertained. Today we lost a great performer and a man who truly loved his fans, someone who truly loved to entertain.

Rest In Peace Mach Man Randy Savage, you will be missed.

"A Long Way From The Jerk" (First Music Review!)

Personally I enjoy all types of music as long as the song sounds good. Now the new cd "Too Cool To Care" by the New Boyz is very good, maybe not a best seller or a platinum selling cd, but it is definitely worth a listen or five. With catchy songs like "Backseat Driver" or "I Don't Care" which have a dance/club vibe to them and songs like "Black Dress" and "Beautiful Dancer" which slow it down a little and show that the album has some substance too. Overall it's a very good cd with a lot of catchy hooks and amazing beats that just make you want to move. Normally these guys aren't the first people I promote but I had to write this because I have been listening to it non-stop all day and I can't stop so I'm giving this a 7/10 but as soon as I'm out of the first day obsession with the cd it'll probably be closer to a 5-6/10 but still worth a listen.

"I bloody well have a stammer"(The King's Speech

I watched the King's Speech today and I have to say it was really really good. Now I know what your thinking. Hey Chris? Why do you love every movie? Well I don't but why would I blog about something I hate? I have a new outlook on life and part of it is to stay positive, so yea for now I'm only doing movies I like unless something is terrible in which I'll have to tell people this way they don't see it.
For Example:
Cloverfield
The Hulk(2002)
The Room

most new horror remakes like Halloween, Halloween 2, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street.

So there don't say I don't hate anything, now to keep it roling, The King's Speech was good for a few reasons the most important being that Colin Firth was amazing as King George XI and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Louge, the speech therapist, was out of this world the way these two worked together on screen was what made it worth watching and adding in minor to major costars such as Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, and Michael Gambon made it even more enjoyable because everyone really did a great job. Now for those of you who don't know who any of these people are or just some of them don't feel bad I have a ridiculous knowledge of British actors as most good ones have appeared in the Harry Potter series in which I know everything. Now I give The King's Speech a 9/10 for it's amazing story telling and of course the acting.

The Asgardian Avenger Review(Thor)

This Friday I saw Thor in 3-D I-Max.  This was my first I-Max movie since King Kong back when the Franklin Institute opened their screen in Philly.  Now back to Thor, I think that Chris Hemsworth impressed me more then I expected. After big casting like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Edward Norton as The Hulk (although he is being replaced with Mark Ruffalo in the Avengers(2012)) I was hoping to see a big name as the Norse god of lightning *cough cough* Brad Pitt *cough cough*.  The idea of Norton and Pitt back together made me think of Fight Club and how amazing it could be if the two had super powers, however this was not meant to be and for good reason.  Pitt couldn't have gotten into the shape Hemsworth is in.  Thor is one of the biggest superheroes in the Marvel universe so he needed to be big and muscular and that's exactly what he was.  The thing that really made me love this movie was the way the movie was shot.  The angles that Kenneth Branagh(Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) used in this film were amazing it was more then a close up here a wide screen view of action there but more artistic angles, for example transitioning into a scene where Hemsworth and Natalie Portman have a heartfelt conversation and the camera transitions in at a slanted angle and it allowed you to know something was wrong.  It was done very very well and I recommend seeing this film to anyone who enjoys big summer blockbusters and/or are super comic book fans. I give it a 7/10

New Blog New Me

Well this will be my new blog as I didn't like the old one so I deleted all my posts. For the most part I'm only going to use this for movie and music reviews but if some crazy news comes out I might just touch on it well I hope you enjoy.


Scream 4

What's your favorite scary movie? How many times have you heard this line? if you were born in the 90's probably a lot as Scream has been around since I was young. This one is no different then the others. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette reprise their roles in the fourth installment of the classic thriller franchise and they were just as cheesy and hilarious as ever. Now if your expecting to jump and have nightmares don't see this movie, if you want to have a good time with your friends go see this. It really was a good time to just be with friends and watching a movie that basically makes fun of it's own genre. New comers Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettierre and Rory McCaulkin do an outstanding job of fitting in to the Scream universe. As a side note Anthony Anderson was hilarious for the few scenes he had and I will always be a fan of his stuff. So the bottom line is... Go see this movie its actually not bad for acting and substance its about a 4/10 but for enjoyment purposes and a great night out its a 7/10.