Filed under: Comedy, Movies, NBA, Playoffs, Sports | Tags: Chevy Chase, Chick Hearn rap, Fletch, Kareem vs. Bruce Lee, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Finals
Standing 6’5″ (6’9″ with the afro), even Kareem and Chick Hearn had to give it up to the amazing Fletch. Click the jersey above to see Fletch in action.
Now let’s hope the Lakers can harness their inner Fletch and take out the Celtics in tonight’s Game 7.
Filed under: Canada, Movies, Sports, Television | Tags: 30 for 30, 30th Anniversary, Canada, documentary, ESPN, Marathon of Hope, Steve Nash, Terry Fox
On April 12, 1980, a 21-year-old dipped his prosthetic limb into the chilly water off Newfoundland and set off on one of the greatest endeavors any Canadian has ever undertaken. Terrance Stanley Fox had lost his leg three years earlier to bone cancer and he was determined to help make a difference. He decided to run across our huge country from Newfoundland to the shores of British Columbia in an effort to raise $24 million dollars for cancer research (a dollar for every Canadian citizen at the time). His effort captivated our nation, inspired countless people of all abilities and gave everyone who was interested a real glimpse into the power of the human spirit.
Unfortunately, Terry was unable to finish his momentous journey, having to end his marathon just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario after 143 days of consecutive marathons, or 5,280 total kilometres. While his run did not make it to its conclusion, the momentum he built allowed him to reach his fund-raising goal by the end of 1980, the same year Terry was awarded the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year. He had cast such a large spotlight on his dreaded disease and had united an entire country that he was as revered on school playgrounds as hockey legends Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr or a young Wayne Gretzky. Then, as quickly as he came into our Country’s collective consciousness, he was gone. On June 28, 1981 Terry fell into a coma and died with his family at his side. His funeral was broadcast across Canada and the entire country participated in an unofficial day of mourning. Our greatest sporting hero was gone…
But not forgotten. Terry’s legacy is as unbelievable as was his relentless determination. He continues to be regarded as one of our Country’s greatest heroes and the Terry Fox Foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research over the past 30 years. He has 14 schools named after him, countless roads, parks and trails, even a mountain and a ship in the Canadian Navy. Adidas even re-released 6,500 pairs of his iconic sneakers in 2005 to help raise over half a million. In 2010, his yearly Marathon of Hope is the single-biggest one day fundraiser for cancer research in the world. Fellow Lou Marsh Award winner and perhaps Canada’s second greatest athlete ever, Steve Nash, grew up idolizing Terry and has directed a documentary for ESPN’s 30 for 30 film series titled Into the Wind that will look into Terry’s journey and the impact he had on so many Canadians. The release date hasn’t been finalized but the film should be out this spring.
Let’s all take the time today to remember the story of one of the bravest Canadians of all-time and to remember everything that he stood for. We have all lost someone close to us to cancer and it is with the courage of all those battling or who have battled the disease that we can work together to someday eliminate it.
You were the man Terry and R&S salutes you!
Filed under: Movies, Reviews | Tags: 2, Apollo Creed, Review, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone
A while back I ended up watching Rocky 2 on TV. It had been a long time since I had seen it, so I figured what the hell. If you ever intend on watching the movie, you probably shouldn’t read this because I’m about to give away the whole thing.
I’ve seen all the Rocky movies, some of them multiple times, but Rocky 2 was the only one that I really didn’t have any recollection of. Rocky is a classic, possibly the best sports movie of all time. Rocky 3 has Mr. T and the homo-erotic beach training scene. Rocky 4 has Drago. But, Rocky 2 really wasn’t memorable for any reason whatsoever.
In our modern age, Rocky’s underdog triumph of the will would make him uber-famous overnight a la Susan Boyle. But, unfortunately for our hero, this was the 80′s, pre-internet. So, when we meet up with him, he’s back down in the dumps, scraping by working a dead end factory job. Oh, and did I mention that his wife, Adrian, is also pregnant. Oh, and did I mention he can’t fight anymore? Yeah, it seems that Apollo did some damage to Rocky’s eye and now the doctor says he must quit boxing or risk going blind. Adrian reminds him of this pretty much every time she comes on screen. I wonder what he will do?
Meanwhile, in spite of emerging victorious, Apollo is all torn up about the fight with the Stallion. The people think he lost and he must silence his critics. He desperately wants a rematch, but Rocky is nowhere to be found. Naturally Creed thinks Rocky is ducking him, but that’s not the case, is it Adrian?
The movie pretty much continues on like this for the next little while. Things get worse and worse for Rocky and Adrian, Rocky loses his job, Rocky sells his car, Rocky loses his locker at Mickey’s gym, Rocky and Adrian argue over whether or not Rocky should fight, blahblahblah.
At this point a now desperate Creed decides his only course of action is to call Rocky out publicly, lure him out of his seclusion. Rocky, incensed by Creed’s tactics and eager to get back in the ring drops one of the best lines ever on Adrian, “Adrian, I never asked you to stop being a woman…. Please, don’t ask me to stop being a man”, at which point Mickey shows up and to the surprise of no-one Rocky decides to fight.
Mickey comes up with some pea-brain plan that Rocky should fight Orthodox rather than Southpaw and the training starts. Predictably, Apollo looks great and Rocky looks as though he completely forgot how to skip rope or punch over the course of a couple months. Amazingly, this isn’t the only time during the series he will experience this inexplicable phenomenon.
Then a pivotal scene! Tragedy strikes. It seems the combination of lifting some heavy stuff at the pet store, being pregnant and arguing with Rocky and her brother, Paulie, is just too much for Adrian to handle and she slips into a coma. Yeah, that’s right… a coma! This aint no in and out sort of deal either, she’s in it for the long haul. This scene is pivotal to the entire Rocky series. Up until this point the series had attempted to be serious drama, but after Adrian falls into the coma, the unintentional comedy is so abundant that there was really no turning back.
With his wife in a coma, Rocky is too distraught to train and spends every moment at Adrian’s bed-side. Rocky reads to Adrian and writes poetry, all at about a grade one level. Rocky’s poetry was so inspiring that Adrian wakes from her coma and with her blessing, the training is back on. Watch the entire coma scene here, if you think you can stomach it.
From this point on it’s basically the same as Rocky 1, except the outcome of the fight is different. The training scene is exactly the same. Once you’ve seen all the Rocky movies, one thing really sticks with you… it’s shocking how many times Sylvester Stallone went back to the well. Every Rocky movie has a training scene and they are all essentially the same. In every successive movie, Rocky is broken down further and further, so that the outcome is that much more fulfilling to us the viewers. In some ways Rocky 2 is a lot like Evil Dead 2. Only in the case of Evil Dead 2, the comedy was intentional. However, I will say this… Although it is probably the most forgettable of the early Rocky movies, it may just be the most important to the entire series. By introducing the over the top cheese element that was lacking in the first Rocky, Rocky 2 paved the way for all the later cheese in the series that we would all come to love.
Filed under: Movies, Music | Tags: B-Side, Bill Withers, Bill Withers movie, Lean on Me, Living Legends, Still Bill
Everyone knows Bill Wither’s “Lean On Me”. It’s an absolute classic track and one of only nine songs to reach #1 twice, recorded by two different artists. Mr. Withers is the creative genius behind such powerful songwriting, yet he is rarely mentioned among the all-time greats from the ’70s. The reason for his lack of spotlight is definitely not due to lack of quality songs, as Bill is also the muse behind gems such as “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Use Me”, “Grandma’s Hands” and “Lovely Day”. The true reason has more to do with the man himself. Bill has always been skeptical of the fleeting nature of fame, even refusing to quit his menial job after recording “Ain’t No Sunshine” because he didn’t trust the music industry. This aversion to the limelight led Bill to walk away from recording all together in 1985 after his last studio album, which shortened his professional music window to just 15 years. Yet his brief and unorthodox career continues to live on…
Sampled by everyone from Kanye West to Cunninlynguists to The Fresh Prince to Teddy Riley, Withers has been embraced by crate diggers and hip-hop heads for his classic sound and unrivaled realness. His songs are from the soul, they tell real-life stories and are always expertly crafted. Bill has always been hailed as one of his generations best songwriters. But finally, for all the gifts this man has given the world of music, someone has decided to take a detailed look into his life and mind and shine the light back onto one of the true living legends.
The good folks at B-Side released “Still Bill” in 2009, and it features amazing footage, photos and interviews with the man himself, his family and friends and other artists such as Sting and Angelique Kidjo. If you live in the NYC, you can check it out at the IFC Center. If you aren’t in the big apple, you can pre-order the DVD, which is slated to drop sometime in the Spring.
With the recent loss of Teddy Pendergrass, there are only so many great voices from the ’60s and ’70s still around. Let’s not wait for them all to pass before we give them thanks for their amazing gifts and celebrate their influential careers. Bill Withers is definitely “Still Bill”, and any fan of the man, his music or his era would be slipping hard if they missed this flick.
Filed under: Hip-hop, Movies, Music | Tags: Artistic expression, Copyright Criminals, Copyright law, DJ Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike, PBS, sampling in hip-hop, The Funky Drummer
Every hip-hop head knows James Brown’s “The Funky Drummer”. You had heard the drum countless times, in various forms, before you ever even realized it was the Godfather of Soul. De La Soul’s “Oodles of O’s”, Eazy-E’s “We Want Eazy”, Ice T’s “Original Gangster” and even Kris Kross’ “Jump” all sampled from the classic track (amongst others), yet that would never be evident to the layman. Such is the beauty of sampling, and one of the biggest arguments for its validity as a form of authentic musical expression.
The movie Copyright Criminals, which will be televised tonight on PBS and available on DVD January 26th, takes an in-depth look at the magic of sampling, the musicianship behind manipulating and recreating a sample and the history of the sample in popular music. According the movie’s website:
Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.
With insight from hip-hop legends such as Chuck D, Mixmaster Mike, Q Bert, El-P, Shock G and Pete Rock, this movie is bound to shed light on one of hip-hop’s most powerful tools. Hopefully, it will also clear misconceptions for those of you who don’t see the validity or creativity in producing a beat using sampled snippets of other works.
I have always felt sampling was one of the most creative forms of musical expression and marvel at the musical genius of producers like Kno, DJ Premier, Ant, Dr. Dre and The RZA who are able to take a song or break and bring it to life again, only better, stronger and more developed. As if the sample is a caterpillar and the finished beat is a butterfly.
It’s not like groundbreaking artists such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Elvis Presley didn’t effectively sample from the artists they were listening too. Yet they are considered three of the most influential artists of all-time. Just listen to Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love” and then listen to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. “You Need Love” samples can be heard throughout Zep’s popular version. Did Led Zep steal Willie’s song or did they just want to infuse the spirit of it within their own track to create an even better song that paid homage to their vital influences?
So now you know where R&S stands on the sampling issue. We love it. What say you?
Filed under: Hip-hop, Movies, Music, Videos | Tags: Lupe Fiasco, Rap-Rock, Solar Midnite, Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, Vampires, Werewolves
I try to avoid anything with the Twilight taint like the plague, but I stumbled upon this video over on the great blog for Profound Aesthetics and got sucked in. The video is for Lupe Fiasco’s newest track, “Solar Midnite”, which is from the Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack. While a new Lupe song is always cause for celebration, this particular track is different. Lupe gets his rock on. Don’t worry, you can forget any thoughts you just had of Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park. This is some Rap-Rock that is actually good.
Lupe had this to say about the track:
“Solar Midnite is my first commercial release that I actually produced as well as wrote. The New Moon team asked me if I could do a song specifically for the film. They invited me to an early screening of the unfinished film from which I pulled different elements that I thought would translate into a great song. I pulled in vocalist and bassist Graham Burris and acclaimed musician Matt Nelson to help fill it out my vision musically and “joila” Solar Midnite was born. The song basically deals with the chaotic love story that takes place between the characters. It’s more on the rock side of my musical catalog and comes straight from my die hard fanhood of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Anthony Keidis, one of my FAVORITE RAPPERS.”
I know this track has been out for awhile, and 16 year-old girls everywhere have undoubtedly already played this song out while fantasizing about forbidden vampire love, but I still felt it was worth a share, especially if you are like me and run the other way when anyone mentions the T word. And go check out Profound Aesthetics when you’ve got time. They run a great blog and produce some amazing t-shirts. Don’t sleep.
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, Television | Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger Commercials, Great Wall of China, Japanese Commercial, Tommy Lee Jones
I had no idea that TLJ was such an accomplished builder. Also good to see he can still get paying work after “Man of the House“.
Spotted at BoingBoing
But seriously, is there any type of commercial better than a Japanese celebrity commercial? I think not.
Exhibit A: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Filed under: Movies | Tags: 007, action star, Filipino, primordial dwarf, rap, Secret Agent, Weng Weng
Standing only 2’9″, Weng Weng was a Filipino movie star in the early ’80s. Born in 1957 as Ernesto de la Cruz, Weng Weng was a primordial dwarf. In fact, he is the shortest actor to ever hold the lead role in a major film. Due to Weng Weng’s unique stature he became a sort of minor celebrity and often hung out at the Presidential Palace with the Marcos family. He was actually named as an honorary Filipino Secret Agent, and this real-life event inspired his most famous role as Agent 00 in 1981′s “For Y’ur Height Only”.
“For Y’ur Height Only” was an obvious James Bond parody and is one of the most popular Filipino movie exports ever. Unfortunately, it was also the apex of Weng Weng’s career, and he only acted in a few more movies before his life began to spiral out of control. After a period of hard times and heavy drinking, Weng Weng died at age 35 of a heart attack. He remains one of the most popular Filipino exports (besides dried mango slices and Manny Pacquiao). He is probably the greatest “little person” actor ever. Seriously, has anyone heard a Mini-Me rap as good as this?
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, Music, NBA, Sports | Tags: Cleveland Cavs, Eye of the Tiger, Phoenix Suns, pre game intro, retro, The Warriors
“Pheeeonix. Come out and play.”
I saw this on The Score tonight and couldn’t believe it. Great tribute to The Warriors, a great film, and you can’t miss with Eye of the Tiger. Varejao and Ilgauskas also rated high on the comedy scale. Combine that with some slick retro jerseys and a win over the Suns, and it was a good day to be a Cavs fan.
Shaq really loves his Cyrus. Don’t forget, this isn’t The Big Replicators first crack at “Can you diggg it!!”
Filed under: Movies, Sports | Tags: 1995, Apartheid, Clint Eastwood, Francois Pienaar, Jonah Lomu, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Nelson Mandela, Rugby World Cup, South Africa
The latest film by legendary tough guy/director supreme Clint Eastwood, entitled Invictus, is a biopic about Nelson Mandela and his role in South Africa’s epic triumph at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It delves into Mandela’s life after he was released from Robbin penitentiary, his rise to become President and his role as master motivator for the South African Springbok rugby team as they overcame the odds and won the world’s 3rd largest sporting event (after the World Cup and Summer Olympics).
The film stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela, Matt Damon as Springbok captain Francois Pienaar and Zak Feaunati as New Zealand All Black ubermutant, Jonah Lomu. I can’t wait for this flick, given my memories of this remarkable sporting event, the social ramifications of the victory and Eastwood’s track record as a compelling and gifted director. Should be great stuff. Damon even sounds like he nailed the Saffer accent.
The Springboks were heavy underdogs in the tournament, and faced off against a legendary New Zealand squad that featured explosive winger Jonah Lomu. Lomu was ahead of his time, a 6’5″ monster who could run a sub 4.4 40m and would knock would be defenders aside like they were bowling pins. He was even offered a contract to play in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys after his performance at the World Cup. Sadly, a rare kidney disease cut his career (and almost his life) short. Don’t know Jonah Lomu? Now you know…
Filed under: Comedy, Hip-hop, Movies, Music, Nerds, Television | Tags: Eminem, Fantasy, Flight of the Conchords, Frodo, gangsta, Klenginem, Klingon, Lazy Sunday, Narnia, rap, Star Wars, WarCraft
Meet Klenginem, Klingon’s version of Eminem and King of all dorks. I don’t even know what to think right now. I knew that some Trekkie dorks out there spoke Klingon, just like Hobbit uber-fans are known to converse in Elvish. But Klingonese rappers? This takes the cake.
While Klenginem might be the worst musical monstrosity to come out of Germany since David Hasslehoff, it does give R&S a chance to reflect on some great Fantasy-themed raps, which are thankfully spat in English. Follow us as we get our nerd on.
Flight of the Conchords – “Frodo”
Lazy Sunday (Narnia Rap)
Star Wars Gangsta Rap
WarCraft: The Rap
We tried, but it looks like there are only 4 cool Fantasy-themed raps in existence. Know of some others? Hit us up in the comments.
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, NHL, Sports | Tags: black, Hockey, Mighty Ducks, Soul on Ice, Tracy Morgan, trailer, Willie O'Ree, Youngblood
I don’t have many details about the trailer above, all I know is that it looks like the best hockey movie since “Youngblood” (or maybe “Mighty Ducks 2“). I’ve watched this trailer about 5 times, and I think I laugh harder each time. I don’t know when this movie was made, when it comes out, if it’s real or any other details. But I do know its blend of social struggle, race issues and America’s 9th favourite sport is sure to make it a big hit.
Shouldn’t you be out dribbling the basketball… with your homies?
Hilarious stuff. The hockey scenes look less realistic than the football scenes in “Any Given Sunday“, the fights look like a reenactment of arcade favourite Final Fight and the soundtrack sounds as black as a Nickelback concert. Bottom line… this looks awesome.
They should have got Tracy Morgan to play the lead. Brother knows hockey.
Willie O’Ree must be so proud.
Thanks to Kutos for sharing such a gem with the world.
Filed under: Movies, NBA, Sports | Tags: Clay Bennett, David Stern, Howard Schultz, Oklahoma City, relocation, Seattle, Shawn Kemp, Sonicsgate, Supersonics, Thunder
I’ve been reading a lot lately about how the Oklahoma City Thunder are the NBA’s most talented young team and how Kevin Durant is the sport’s next superstar and to be frank, it’s really pissing me off. Why, you ask? Because I live in the Pacific Northwest.
I live in Vancouver, BC, and the loss of the Grizzlies still stings my soul. While the team was God awful and suffered from some of the poorest management in modern NBA history, it really sucks that a global, basketball-loving city like Vancouver got a sweet taste of the NBA nectar, only to lose it to the thriving metropolis of Memphis, Tennessee. But I was able to treat my NBA withdrawal with a 3-hour drive from Lotus Land to the Emerald City.
Like all good things, my NBA pilgrimages came to an end. In 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics suffered the same fate as the Grizz, and there is now a hole in the heart of the Pacific Northwest that all the NBA exhibition games and Steve Nash charity soccer matches in the world could never fill.
Well, the sad story of Seattle’s loss has been chronicled in a new documentary titled Sonicsgate. It chronicles the myriad of circumstances, characters and calamities that led to the demise of a 41-year-old basketball tradition that only lingers in fading memories. With a soundtrack featuring some of Seattle’s best acts (Saturday Knights, Blue Scholars and Jake One) and interviews with those closest to the entire ordeal, Sonicsgate delves into the dirty truth behind one of David Stern‘s biggest regrets as NBA supreme ruler commissioner.
The movie will premier on the web October 12. Should be required viewing for anyone who is a fan of the NBA, sports business and the Pacific Northwest. And for fans of the Indiana Pacers or Sacramento Kings, it could be foreshadowing the fate of your NBA team.
To help lighten the mood, enjoy a little Shawn Kemp action.
Filed under: Hip-hop, Movies, Music, Videos | Tags: 80s, Back To The Future, Doc Brown, Eclectic Method, Marty McFly, mashup
The Eclectic Method are back with another crazy video. This time they twist up some sweet Delorean action. Do these guys ever quit with the gems?
Filed under: Boxing, Movies, Music, Sports | Tags: 1974, Africa, BB King, Bill Withers, concert, documentary, Don King, James Brown, Muhammad Ali, Music, power, Rumble in the Jungle, soul, Zaire
With summer blockbusters like Transformers 2, The Hangover, Harry Potter and District 9 getting all the chatter, there is no movie that I want to see more than Jeffrey Levy-Hinte‘s Soul Power. This documentary takes an in-depth look at the Zaire ’74 Music Festival, a massive concert that was promoted by Don King to coincide with the classic Ali v. Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle“. Everyone knows about the Rumble, Ali Boombayah and the impact the trip to Africa had on the G.O.A.T., but the concerts that were set to coincide with one of boxing’s greatest spectacles have remained an afterthought. Not after Friday, July 10th, when the film begins its limited release.
With the Rumble originally set to go down in September, a pantheon of musical genius from the US and Africa was compiled to compliment the fight. Legends such as the great James Brown, Bill Withers, BB King, Celia Cruz and The Spinners (Spaceballs theme!) were teamed with African contemporaries such as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Tabu Ley to create a musical voltron the world will be lucky to witness again. When George Foreman suffered a cut in training and the fight had to be postponed until the end of October, it was too late to stop the concert due to logistical issues. The three-day show went on a month before the fight, contributing to its relative obscurity.
Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte recently shared this about the movie with Rolling Stone:
“For me, what I loved is that at every moment people are making music. They’re making music when they’re speaking, when they’re on the stage, when they’re in their hotel rooms, when they’re walking down the street. Obviously, I put together the film to accentuate that, but that was my overriding sense, and also in this kind of united through the rhythm, [they are] united through this, it’s trite to say, universal language of music.”
The film was recently screened at the Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews and promises to be a grand combination of incredible music, boundless optimism and cultural awakening. And let’s be honest, how can a movie featuring Muhammad Ali, James Brown and Don King not be entertaining?
Click here to check show times in your area.
Filed under: Hip-hop, Links, Movies, Music, Videos | Tags: Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Download, Eclectic Method, Kutiman, mashup, Mike Relm, music videos, Quentin Tarantino, remix, Rip: A Remix Manifesto, Temptations
Let’s be straight. I’m well aware that the mash-up concept reached it’s apex a few years back, with DangerMouse’s “Grey Album” and almost anything by Z-Trip motivating countless heads to come-up with their own “unique” combos. Now you can find Jay-Z rapping over anything. So the style is quite played. But the video mash-up is a much more stunning and cerebral version, and it is now being incorporated in the live shows of visionaries like DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, Mike Relm and more.
Check the Eclectic Method for example. Their Temptations video (embedded above), which was commisioned by Motown Records themselves to help commemorate the labels 50th anniversary, hits you not just on a sonic level but on a visual level as well, allowing for a more complete musical experience. If you didn’t get that experience from watching the Temptations vid, check this out. It is the Eclectic Method’s tribute to one of my dopplegangers, Quentin Tarantino.
You can watch it with no video and be impressed by the audio. Or you can go vice versa, and also be impressed. But watching AND listening makes it one of the most creative forms of musical art around. I highly recommend checking out more from the Eclectic Method by perusing their website. They have tonnes of amazing videos, with the king being Lock Up Your Videos, a 45 min+ collection of music videos mashed up for maximum enjoyment. Download it for free (or pay what you’d like a la Radiohead), kick back and enjoy.
I’ve sang the praises of the video mash-up before on this blog, primarily with an earlier post on the Israeli wunder-nerd Kutiman and his amazing ThruYou YouTube project. Advocates for this most creative art form are sprouting up everywhere, and this advocacy is most apparent in a new movie entitled Rip: A Remix Manifesto (trailer below).
In Rip, filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores the mash-up and its increasing relevance on modern music and popular culture. He looks at the art form itself, the inherent copyright issues and argues for the validity and viability of this truly new medium. It’s a great movie and can be viewed for free or downloaded using the pay what you want model (US only). If you appreciate Eclectic Method, DJ Shadow, Kutiman, Girl Talk, Z-Trip or any other artist that is experimenting with video this way, do yourself a favor and check out the movie.
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, NBA, Sports | Tags: Alando Tucker, Finger Licking Productions, Goran Dragic, Grant Hill, Robin Lopez, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, SuperBADge
This has been making the rounds today and I had to post it up. Steve Nash has always said he wants to pursue a film making career after his bball days are over, and everything I have seen him create has been money. From his Vitamin Water commercials to his Nike Training video (which he directed), he’s got artistic flair and comedic control. Not a bad combo.
Got to love the Robin Lopez cameo, considering I’m his doppleganger. Actually, since I now have short hair, I guess I’m Brook’s doppleganger. Confused?
One of the other “perps” is “The Slovenian Steve Nash” Goran Dragic. And I think the other dude is Grant Hill. Good comedy all around, especially the Slovenian pop song at the end. And Shaq might bust out one of the greatest bush dives ever caught on film. He kicks up more dust when he lands than a comet landing in the middle of the Arizona desert.
This video gets better after each viewing.
Atta boy Nashy.
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, NBA, Sports | Tags: DJ Mbenga, Goonies, Hey you guys, Kobe, Kobe Bryant, lookalike
From Hot Clicks.
Kobe knows his Goonies.
Filed under: Comedy, Movies, Toys/Figures | Tags: Bruce Lee, Frodo, Hobbits, Iron Man, motion, Patrick Boivan, Samwise, stop
I was reading my weekly GMan&Rizk newsletter and they had a link to this video, so I had to share.
The dude who makes these, Patrick Boivan, has some serious skills. Just check out Bumblebee whooping Optimus Prime.
Filed under: MLB, Movies, Sports | Tags: A-Rod, Dr. Manhattan, lookalike, orange skin, watchmen
Steve Nash isn’t the only athlete who looks like he was straight out of The Watchmen. A-Rod’s orange skin makes him a perfect candidate for the orange version of Dr. Manhattan. Both are extremely powerful, are under the intense public microscope, have ties to NY and have inflated skills due to scientific means.
Filed under: Movies, NBA, Sports | Tags: lookalike, Rorschach, Steve Nash, Steve Nash's secret identity, watchmen
Filed under: Clips, Movies, Nerds | Tags: Alan Moore, classic, DC, Dr. Manhattan, graphic novel, movie, newsreel, trailer, watchmen, Zach Snyder
One of the most anticipated movies of the year is less than a week away from release, and R&S is more than a little excited for Zach Snyder’s interpretation of Alan Moore’s spectacular graphic novel, The Watchmen.
For those that don’t know, The Watchmen is one of the most critically acclaimed graphic novels ever written. It was one of the first comics to explore the dark side of superheroes, and it completely blows the doors off the traditional superhero concept. Alan Moore really set out to do something different with this one, and you can listen to him talk about his motivation and inspiration for the book here.
Zach Snyder killed it with his visually stunning adaptation of “300“, and from all the trailers I have seen, The Watchmen is going to be no exception.
The movie comes out this Friday and will also be available in glorious IMAX.
Filed under: Clips, Comedy, Hip-hop, Movies, Music, Nerds, Television | Tags: Crispin Glover, Joaquin Phoenix, Late Show with David Letterman, Screwed up guests on Letterman
Where’s Crispin Glover?
Joaquin is a joker. His hip-hop odyssey is a farce; he’s a disgrace to the mic and the movement. I love it when he tells Dave he’d like to come back and perform some hip-hop, to which Dave replies, “We’ll keep you in the rolodex.”
Filed under: Clips, Download, Hip-hop, Movies, Music | Tags: City of God's Son, Experimental Hip-hop Opera, Ghostface, Jay-Z, Joe Bataan, Kenzo Digital, Nas, New York City, Notorious B.I.G., Raekwon, Samuel L. Jackson
For all those who love the storytelling element of hip-hop, here’s a real treat. Kenzo Digital has put together ”City of God’s Son“, an “experimental hip-hop opera” which combines an ill soundtrack with a complete visual art dimension (which will be unveiled in NYC this summer). This is no “Carmen: A Hip Hopera“. Here’s what Kenzo had to say about his visionary project:
“City of God’s Son” is an experimental hip-hop opera starring Nas, Jay Z, Ghostface, Biggie Smalls, Raekwon, Samuel Jackson, Delroy Lindo, and Laurence Fishburne. It is a crime drama/coming of age tale of three fictitious characters growing up in a crime ridden city in a jungle. This project explores the icon of the gangster in modern media, and weaves musical history and gangster film history into an operatic music based story of brotherhood and survival. An homage to 90’s New York hip-hop, “City of God’s Son” is the redefinition of the remix. Featuring legendary soul singer Joe Bataan.
You can download the one hour audio track for free here.
Listen to it straight through, it’s dynamite. Joe Bataan kills it as the narrator.
And if you are in the Big Apple this summer, be sure to check it out live. Support innovation.
