My recent post on the updated AFI top 100 American movies was inspired by a visit to a music forum wherein the list was posted and debated. When the actual integrity of this list was brought into question, a fellow forum member mentioned that the AFI at least had a sense of history. To hammer the point home, he linked up the "Total Film" top 100 movies of all-time, as voted on by some 40,000 of that mag's readers.
1 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
2 Fight Club
3 Pulp Fiction
4 The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
5 The Shawshank Redemption
6 GoodFellas
7 The Godfather
8 The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
9 Jaws
10 Donnie Darko
11 Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
12 The Usual Suspects
13 The Matrix
14 Raiders Of The Lost Ark
15 Se7en
16 The Godfather: Part II
17 Gladiator
18 Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
19 Aliens
20 Sin City
21 The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
22 LA Confidential
23 Taxi Driver
24 Die Hard
25 Batman Begins
26 Back To The Future
27 Schindler’s List
28 Spider-Man 2
29 The Big Lebowski
30 Heat
31 Reservoir Dogs
32 Blade Runner
33 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
34 Alien
35 X-Men 2
36 Annie Hall
37 Léon
38 Casablanca
39 Apocalypse Now
40 Memento
41 Jurassic Park
42 It’s A Wonderful Life
43 One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
44 Monty Python And The Holy Grail
45 The Third Man
46 The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
47 Toy Story 2
48 A Clockwork Orange
49 Moulin Rouge!
50 The Apartment
51 The Wild Bunch
52 ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
53 Trainspotting
54 Raging Bull
55 City Of God
56 Stand By Me
57 The Thing
58 Scarface (1983)
59 Airplane!
60 The Silence Of The Lambs
61 Blue Velvet
62 Seven Samurai
63 Citizen Kane
64 2001: A Space Odyssey
65 Shaun Of The Dead
66 Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
67 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
68 Lawrence Of Arabia
69 Halloween
70 The Searchers
71 Rocky
72 Once Upon A Time In The West
73 Platoon
74 Kill Bill: Vol. 1
75 Magnolia
76 The Deer Hunter
77 The Shining
78 American Beauty
79 Fargo
80 Chinatown
81 Saving Private Ryan
82 Vertigo
83 King Kong (2005)
84 Goldfinger
85 The Wizard Of Oz
86 Dawn Of The Dead
87 Requiem For A Dream
88 The Terminator
89 Psycho
90 Brokeback Mountain
91 Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb
92 The Bourne Supremacy
93 The Incredibles
94 Some Like It Hot
95 Spirited Away
96 Rear Window
97 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
98 This Is Spinal Tap
99 Forrest Gump
100 The Exorcist
A list by "fans" will automatically be stocked with more "commercial" films, as they aren't (generally) ranking their choices with as many points of criteria as the critics use. Also, Total Film's readership is likely of a median age that indicates unless they are hardcore film nuts, their choices will lean towards the last 10-15 years. Thus, to criticize this list for not having any sense of cinematic history is ridiculous. Rather it would be prudent to savage it on the shit tastes of so many thousands.
Peter Jackson is clearly god to Total Film readers; I approve of the Lord of the Rings films (although they are ranked much too high here), but King Kong? Really? That's a travesty on par with Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho. I think Jackson got an Oscar revoked for putting that out.
The sequels at 28, 33, 35, 47...no. Not on a list of best all-time movies. Fight Club at number 2 pretty much speaks for itself. Not unlike putting Choke on a list of 100 all-time best novels.
But there are great choices...Trainspotting, Stand By Me, Airplane, Shaun of the Dead, Goldfinger, LA Confidential. Also, major respect for rating Goodfellas in the top 10 (dear AFI, please grow balls re: Scorsese's greatest film) and for giving a spot to Empire Strikes Back, so clearly the finest of the Star Wars films (and number 2 on my personal favorite movies list).
I guess I should rant again about Willy Wonka not being there, but I'm much more intrigued by the fact that there are, per these rankings, 61 films better than Seven Samurai. Whoever didn't vote for Seven Samurai (or put it in your top 10) please understand: that movie is superior to any of your individual lives. If Seven Samurai were somehow to disappear from circulation (DVDs and tapes disintegrated, digital torrents deleted) the entire film industry would be irreparably decimated, but if any of you fell off the face of the Earth tomorrow, the few people who even had cause to care would lose interest after two weeks.
A fun list, then...maddening, perplexing, pleasing, hilarious. A good list should endeavor to be all those things and even more.
Seven Samurai Top 100 Films Total Film
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
In 2016, "Knocked Up" Will Debut in the Top 50
Saw the AFI's updated "100 Years, 100 Movies" 10th anniversary edition.
I am tickled that a list has an anniversary edition. I love lists insofar as they concern topics I give a crap about, and well, who doesn't love to debate movies? Plenty of people, I'm sure, but the hell with that.
You will notice that a whopping 23 flicks got the heave-ho. Of those excised, I can only really bitch about Amadeus, which has a hilariously severe F. Murray Abraham performance and many Oscars to its credit. The biggest loser, though, is James Dean's acting legacy: Giant and Rebel Without a Cause, see ya. Dying young doesn't have the luster it used to, I guess.
Seems then that the updated list is more than anything a shot at "redemption" for the AFI. Thus, we have the debuts of The General (stunning debut at #18, to please the Keaton freaks), Nashville (Altman fanatics somehow still not satisfied), Do the Right Thing (AFI now comfortable in honoring Spike Lee now that he is 100% irrelevant), and Blade Runner (for the subterranean cinephiles). All of those films deserved to be on there in the first place. Can't say likewise for Titanic (look for that to be gone next list) or Shawshank Redemption (what is with the cult that has built for that film? Pure inexplicable).
And Toy Story. Hmm. Nah. First off, I oppose Tim Allen in all his forms; secondly, anything that makes kids that happy I am immediately wary of.
Crazed revisionism: Raging Bull 24 to 4? Hey, Marty got his Oscar, that's enough love. That is like his third best movie anyway (behind Mean Streets and Goodfellas). The Searchers up 84 spots to #12. The Searchers? The friggin' Searchers? Look also at the leap for The Unforgiven--Is nostalgia for Westerns the new nostalgia for Frank Capra films?
Deserved leaps: Vertigo and The Deer Hunter. I wonder if current affairs helped influence the jump of the latter.
Final weirdness: #39 Dr. Strangelove dropped 13 places; #40 The Sound of Music improved 15 spots. #33 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest dropped 13 digits and #34 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs rose 15 places. HMMM. Interesting coincidence in the numbers and placement, but an even more intriguing trend so far as edgy films falling a bit out of favor while family classics shoot up in the list. No real indictment on my part, just a notice I took.
However, no Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. So I'm still kinda on the "screw this list!" tip.
AFI 100 Films
I am tickled that a list has an anniversary edition. I love lists insofar as they concern topics I give a crap about, and well, who doesn't love to debate movies? Plenty of people, I'm sure, but the hell with that.
You will notice that a whopping 23 flicks got the heave-ho. Of those excised, I can only really bitch about Amadeus, which has a hilariously severe F. Murray Abraham performance and many Oscars to its credit. The biggest loser, though, is James Dean's acting legacy: Giant and Rebel Without a Cause, see ya. Dying young doesn't have the luster it used to, I guess.
Seems then that the updated list is more than anything a shot at "redemption" for the AFI. Thus, we have the debuts of The General (stunning debut at #18, to please the Keaton freaks), Nashville (Altman fanatics somehow still not satisfied), Do the Right Thing (AFI now comfortable in honoring Spike Lee now that he is 100% irrelevant), and Blade Runner (for the subterranean cinephiles). All of those films deserved to be on there in the first place. Can't say likewise for Titanic (look for that to be gone next list) or Shawshank Redemption (what is with the cult that has built for that film? Pure inexplicable).
And Toy Story. Hmm. Nah. First off, I oppose Tim Allen in all his forms; secondly, anything that makes kids that happy I am immediately wary of.
Crazed revisionism: Raging Bull 24 to 4? Hey, Marty got his Oscar, that's enough love. That is like his third best movie anyway (behind Mean Streets and Goodfellas). The Searchers up 84 spots to #12. The Searchers? The friggin' Searchers? Look also at the leap for The Unforgiven--Is nostalgia for Westerns the new nostalgia for Frank Capra films?
Deserved leaps: Vertigo and The Deer Hunter. I wonder if current affairs helped influence the jump of the latter.
Final weirdness: #39 Dr. Strangelove dropped 13 places; #40 The Sound of Music improved 15 spots. #33 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest dropped 13 digits and #34 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs rose 15 places. HMMM. Interesting coincidence in the numbers and placement, but an even more intriguing trend so far as edgy films falling a bit out of favor while family classics shoot up in the list. No real indictment on my part, just a notice I took.
However, no Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. So I'm still kinda on the "screw this list!" tip.
AFI 100 Films
Sunday, June 3, 2007
I Don't Watch Blues Music, and I Don't Listen to "Grey's Anatomy"
Hagerstown residents were too fraught with ambivalent tension over this weekend's Western Maryland Blues Fest--the 2007 version of which featured two artists that I'd actually heard of; no, not exactly a huge fan of the genre--to provide a weeks worth of thrilling "You Said It" discourse in the Herald-Mail. But somehow, amid all the grumbling over the imminent further glut of downtown traffic and wistful yearning for some ambition and ingenuity of their own, natives of the land Little Heiskell watches over (as well as those in the surrounding subscribing areas) made the Tuesday and Wednesday editions decent reading.
First, Tuesday, 5/29.
"Congratulations to the South Hagerstown High alumni group who had a wonderful dinner for us Saturday evening at the old remodeled school gym. It was fantastic. Lou Scally was the DJ..."
Ok, stop. End transmission. Cease further correspondence. Lou freakin' Scally on the ones and twos? "Lyin' Lou", the man so ineffably cool that he had a goddamn alley named after him...this dude manned the turntables at a party? Talk about events that need to be put on YouTube. Especially if he played this song:
Wednesday, 5/30
"Bothered, bewildered, disillusioned, and very disappointed in the last episode of Grey's Anatomy last week on ABC. These writers better get their act together, or they're going to be losing a lot of good faithful listeners...."--BOONSBORO
Eh, that's why I don't listen to the TV as much as I use to; I find it much more personally satisfying to watch a good book.
"President Bush is the best president that this country has ever had, including Lincoln and Washington. Make no mistake about it."--ROHRERSVILLE
All right, that's it. I am taking your hat and you will not get it back until you stop being stupid.
"I do delivery around town, so I ride the streets of Hagerstown like all day long, and it's just amazing at how many adults you see out, hanging out and just walking around, doing nothing--or pushing 10 kids around. Does anybody work around here? No wonder our economy is so bad."--HAGERSTOWN
The economy would be in better shape if people got paid $8.50 an hour for plopping their morbidly, sadly obese selves on their front steps and having loud half-conversations with friends/family. If certain unwashed men got an extra $6.75 for every time they yelled almost-hilariously inappropriate comments to me as I walked to work downtown, it just might fill the emotional and moral void that threatens to suck them, and the women and children they routinely abuse and isolate, into existential oblivion. Oh, who am I kidding? It would just be used to purchase more Schlitz. (You know, if you're gonna destroy yourself with alcohol, at least pick a decent beer. The similarity between Schlitz and the word "shit" is too perfect to be a cute coincidence.)
Greys Anatomy Lou Scally Hagerstown
First, Tuesday, 5/29.
"Congratulations to the South Hagerstown High alumni group who had a wonderful dinner for us Saturday evening at the old remodeled school gym. It was fantastic. Lou Scally was the DJ..."
Ok, stop. End transmission. Cease further correspondence. Lou freakin' Scally on the ones and twos? "Lyin' Lou", the man so ineffably cool that he had a goddamn alley named after him...this dude manned the turntables at a party? Talk about events that need to be put on YouTube. Especially if he played this song:
Wednesday, 5/30
"Bothered, bewildered, disillusioned, and very disappointed in the last episode of Grey's Anatomy last week on ABC. These writers better get their act together, or they're going to be losing a lot of good faithful listeners...."--BOONSBORO
Eh, that's why I don't listen to the TV as much as I use to; I find it much more personally satisfying to watch a good book.
"President Bush is the best president that this country has ever had, including Lincoln and Washington. Make no mistake about it."--ROHRERSVILLE
All right, that's it. I am taking your hat and you will not get it back until you stop being stupid.
"I do delivery around town, so I ride the streets of Hagerstown like all day long, and it's just amazing at how many adults you see out, hanging out and just walking around, doing nothing--or pushing 10 kids around. Does anybody work around here? No wonder our economy is so bad."--HAGERSTOWN
The economy would be in better shape if people got paid $8.50 an hour for plopping their morbidly, sadly obese selves on their front steps and having loud half-conversations with friends/family. If certain unwashed men got an extra $6.75 for every time they yelled almost-hilariously inappropriate comments to me as I walked to work downtown, it just might fill the emotional and moral void that threatens to suck them, and the women and children they routinely abuse and isolate, into existential oblivion. Oh, who am I kidding? It would just be used to purchase more Schlitz. (You know, if you're gonna destroy yourself with alcohol, at least pick a decent beer. The similarity between Schlitz and the word "shit" is too perfect to be a cute coincidence.)
Greys Anatomy Lou Scally Hagerstown
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Follow-Up To My KRS-One Live Experience
You recall my recent review of KRS-One at the Black Cat in DC, don't you? Of course. Today whilst browsing YouTube I found the following footage from said show; most are shot by fans in the audience, but the last (and longest) clip is from a TV show that intersperses interview footage with that of the show. Look for the white girl in the front getting foinky! Sweet Jebus, I am so glad I don't consider what I may look like on the Internet when I enjoy myself at a concert.
"South Bronx"
"Freestyle"
"Classical"
"More Freestyle"
"Yet Even More of KRS"
"The Mic Check Show"--check out the dancers at the end!
YouTube KRS One Black Cat
"South Bronx"
"Freestyle"
"Classical"
"More Freestyle"
"Yet Even More of KRS"
"The Mic Check Show"--check out the dancers at the end!
YouTube KRS One Black Cat
Monday, May 28, 2007
We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Blog
For the second straight week, the "You Send It" roundup appears on Monday. Writing is going to drive me batty.
Monday was weaksauce on an undercooked chicken breast, but the remainder of the week did quite well.
TUESDAY, 5/22
"The Democrats only offer you more taxes, the gay marriage and anything else."--BOONSBORO
THE gay marriage? Like, the ultimate in homosexual nuptials? What the hell would that be, Harvey Fierstein wedded to John Waters with Nathan Lane presiding?
"But what do you do with somebody who blows cigarette smoke in your face and pollutes your lungs when you're walking into a shop or any place else?"--WAYNESBORO
Just wait...you are soon to find out.
WEDNESDAY, 5/23
"...Miss Hillary Clinton, who God forbid that this country ever gets to the point where we allow her even the ability to be our president."--HAGERSTOWN
Well, see, this is rather a wasted sentence. I present to you the requirements for being President of the United States:
1--must be a natural born citizen of the United States (Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago)
2--must be at least thirty-five years of age (Hillary Clinton is, as of this typing, 59 years old)
3--must be a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years (yessir).
So she meets all 3 of the above requirements. Truly then, Hagerstown caller, America has gone to Hell in a basket of some sort.
THURSDAY, 5/24
"To the person who called in...about people blowing cigarette smoke in your face when you enter a place: if you don't like it, just hold your breath. Don't breathe while you're entering...because America tells you that you can't smoke, that's when we're going to smoke even more, so get used to it."
Oh, here's a lovely attitude. While I do often feel that adults in general would improve their quality of ilfe by occasionally allowing themselves to regress back to the simpler pleasures and considerations of childhood, this is a little too much. "Mom says I can't, so I'm gonna do it even more"? That's fantastic. "Don't breathe while you're entering"? You can't tell me what to do! I'm gonna breathe even more! I'm gonna take gigantic, drawn-out, planet-swallowing inhalations! I'M GONNA BREATHE IN YOUR FACE, AND I DON'T CARE HOW HEALTHY IT IS, IT'S MY BREATH!
FRIDAY, 5/25
"This is America. We need to close our borders."--HAGERSTOWN
All I will say on the issue of illegal immigration is that it's one of those topics that really peels back the onion skin. I oppose it because, well, it's illegal. But legal immigration does not bother me at all. Why would it? But there are certain of people who feel that any and all comers from foreign lands shouldn't be allowed here. Scratch that...amend to "any and all dark-skinned comers from foreign lands."
That's why I heartily support free soapboxes. We can see how many people actually just care about observing law (with those who follow it rewarded and those who do not follow it punished) and how many folks are just xenophobic isolationists.
Hagerstown
Monday was weaksauce on an undercooked chicken breast, but the remainder of the week did quite well.
TUESDAY, 5/22
"The Democrats only offer you more taxes, the gay marriage and anything else."--BOONSBORO
THE gay marriage? Like, the ultimate in homosexual nuptials? What the hell would that be, Harvey Fierstein wedded to John Waters with Nathan Lane presiding?
"But what do you do with somebody who blows cigarette smoke in your face and pollutes your lungs when you're walking into a shop or any place else?"--WAYNESBORO
Just wait...you are soon to find out.
WEDNESDAY, 5/23
"...Miss Hillary Clinton, who God forbid that this country ever gets to the point where we allow her even the ability to be our president."--HAGERSTOWN
Well, see, this is rather a wasted sentence. I present to you the requirements for being President of the United States:
1--must be a natural born citizen of the United States (Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago)
2--must be at least thirty-five years of age (Hillary Clinton is, as of this typing, 59 years old)
3--must be a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years (yessir).
So she meets all 3 of the above requirements. Truly then, Hagerstown caller, America has gone to Hell in a basket of some sort.
THURSDAY, 5/24
"To the person who called in...about people blowing cigarette smoke in your face when you enter a place: if you don't like it, just hold your breath. Don't breathe while you're entering...because America tells you that you can't smoke, that's when we're going to smoke even more, so get used to it."
Oh, here's a lovely attitude. While I do often feel that adults in general would improve their quality of ilfe by occasionally allowing themselves to regress back to the simpler pleasures and considerations of childhood, this is a little too much. "Mom says I can't, so I'm gonna do it even more"? That's fantastic. "Don't breathe while you're entering"? You can't tell me what to do! I'm gonna breathe even more! I'm gonna take gigantic, drawn-out, planet-swallowing inhalations! I'M GONNA BREATHE IN YOUR FACE, AND I DON'T CARE HOW HEALTHY IT IS, IT'S MY BREATH!
FRIDAY, 5/25
"This is America. We need to close our borders."--HAGERSTOWN
All I will say on the issue of illegal immigration is that it's one of those topics that really peels back the onion skin. I oppose it because, well, it's illegal. But legal immigration does not bother me at all. Why would it? But there are certain of people who feel that any and all comers from foreign lands shouldn't be allowed here. Scratch that...amend to "any and all dark-skinned comers from foreign lands."
That's why I heartily support free soapboxes. We can see how many people actually just care about observing law (with those who follow it rewarded and those who do not follow it punished) and how many folks are just xenophobic isolationists.
Hagerstown
Saturday, May 26, 2007
SHOW REVIEW: KRS-One At The Black Cat, 5/18/07
Best...post title...yet.
Simply put, the best live hip-hop show I have ever seen. I have only been witness to five, but hey, one of those was the mighty Wu-Tang Clan.
Patrick picked me up after work; the drive to Olney was blastmastered by Criminal Minded. As the car eased down the surface-immaculate suburb to the house Patrick calls home, a nearby middle school eased out a casual exodus of students. From the passenger seat I glanced over to the sidewalk and caught sight of a young girl obviously thrilled that it was Friday: as she walked towards home, she broke out into this hesitant-by-design pop-lock. This visual, combined with the loping piano of notorious borough-bitchslap "The Bridge Is Over" snaring my ears, was simply hilarities.
"I don't even think she has an iPod or anything", I told Patrick. "She's just dancing to her own ineffable Awesome."
"Wow. Works great with the beat."
Pad Thai was munched and ESPN was watched. Seeing media talking heads try and sell people on why the NBA Finals should be acknowledged this year if the dirtier-than-Pigpen San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of their series started Patrick off on "dynastyism" in the NBA, the tendency of a few teams to monopolize the championship. As we expected, the NHL playoffs got 15 seconds airtime. Still hurts, huh, Worldwide Leader?
Whether we go to the Black Cat or 9:30 Club for shows, Georgia Avenue must be driven down. While many in the "nicer" surroundings would only be found there if knocked unconscious outside their fine homes and dragged to, say, the Wings N Things, it is a fun road to observe from one's passenger side window. "Omni-restaurants" abound: look, here's a place that serves subs/chicken/pizza, there's a joint that serves Chinese/seafood/pizza/burgers, oh shit, look at that--subs/chicken/pizza/burgers/seafood/Chinese/ice cream! The undisputed king of the "omnis" is Wonder Chicken. Not only does it serve as a marker indicating we are close to Howard University and thus ready to make our turn to the club...it's called Wonder Chicken, for God's sake.
Patrick and I almost always attend shows together. Mothers Day last week, however, he saw To Live and Shave in LA solo. I had wanted to go, but...my mom. Ya know? I promised I'd be with her. I take that serious as my father's cancer.
"So," I asked Patrick as we stopped at one in a series of interminable red lights. "When you were talkin' to Frank, Rat Bastard, AKA...did you ask him about ATP?"
Pause.
"Oh shit! I totally forgot that we saw him there! Ah, shit!"
"See, I knew I shoulda gone with you. Even though with my mom, I just knew. Without me, you forget the crucial shit. You remember Noise Against Fascism, but you forget ATP. Unbelievable."
"Oh my GOD." Patrick can hardly believe his oversight.
Parking only took a half hour. We ended up parking in front of a school, unsure of the legalness of it all. Fortunately, a cop was parked opposite us. However, he was not 100% sure if we would be ticketed or not. Wow, that Blue Curtain is some serious business.
We chilled in the bar for a couple hours until we were let upstairs; the crowd was ample and a real sample--white, black, Asian, Hispanic, fellas, ladies. Everyone loves Blastmaster!
"Man", I told 'Trick. "This almost seems unreal. KRS is a legend in hip hop. He's playing the Black Cat. This is what, 500, 600 tops? It's like Paul McCartney playing the Sonar."
It took quite a bit for the first openers to take the stage. Time was passed by the two average white fans up front with talk of music and sports.
Emon I Fela was the first opening act, a teenage (!) girl with the sass of Salt and or Pepa, but the effervescent rhyming skills of old-school MC Lyte and empathetic intelligence of Lauryn Hill at her least-insane. A quintet of musicians backed her (2 on synth, one on bass, a guitarist, and drummer) while a stool-bound man provided soulful adlibs and choruses. Emon is from DC, apparently, and stood out with not only her songs but her overall presence, decked out in bright bagging clothing, with custom Nikes and oversize eyeglasses. While the crowd was hungry for knowledge reigns supreme, Emon got a great reception and deserved it.
A thorough-ass DJ set from a DC hip hop radio jock followed, going from "The Message" to "Cher Chez Le Ghost" in terms of timeline. The DJ set pre-headliner is less a chance to show off on the 1s and 2s and more an opportunity to let the concertgoers show and prove. Hence, there was no shortage of hearty recitations when any number of classics made their appearance over the PA: "Top Billin'", a medley of Eric B. and Rakim, "La Di Da Di", Wu-Tang, "Time 4 Sum Askshun", a stunning string of A Tribe Called Quest songs ("Scenario Remix" had everyone in the place going hoarse), before chilling with "Umi Says" by Mos Def. I was by this time sweating like a sweaty thing, and had to remove my jacket, baring my grey Snoopy shirt for all to see.
There was one more opener, a solo MC/poet from DC. His name I can't remember, lamentably. His initial look grabbed me as a militant Freeway, with his expansive goatee and bald head underneath Muslim headgear, but his lyricism was quite different. He delivered politically, racially charged rhymes with a fiery voice and never doubted his control for a nanosecond. He told a story about appearing on Def Poetry Jam and reciting a poem that warranted FBI at his apartment the next day. It began, "I am not angry/I am anger/I am not dangerous/I am danger". The power of words!
During his brief set, a problem arose on the other side of the audience. Whether it was a fight, or just an impatient fan starting shit, we never found out.
Then finally...after what seemed like 95 hours in 119 degrees...
Yeah, KRS-One wears a shirt with his face on it.
As far as a chronological set list...SNOOPY, PLEASE! The whole scene was far too drenched with sweat, arms, hands, cameras and beats.
Speaking of cameras, it didn't take long for Patrick to tell me: "He is the hardest performer to get pictures of ever. He moves so much!"
"THE REAL HIP HOP IS OVER HERE!"
KRS-One has a long-standing reputation as a rare beast: the entertaining live rapper. His action on stage, his delivery, and choice of songs are all impeccable and should set a template for the brave to follow. He threw us classics ("Criminal Minded", "South Bronx", "Outta Here", "Love's Gonna Getcha", "Self-Destruction") and tracks off his upcoming collabo album with producer Marley Marl "Hip Hop Lives". For the newer songs, KRS implored his DJ to turn the beat low so we in the audience could really hear what he was saying.
"Hip means to know, it's a form of intelligence
To be hip is to be update and relevant
Hop is a form of movement
You can't just observe a hop, you gotta hop up and do it"
And here is the chorus of the year:
"You wanna get away with murder?
Kill a rapper"
As is almost par for the culture's course, there was an especially buoyant white dude up front who knows all the lyrics. Don't take that as some snide insult, by the by. I noted that in addition to him, there were a few black guys, a few black girls, and my white gal ass. Truly a diverse front row in this day and age of hip hop performances.
In addition to straightforward renditions of some hits, he gave us such treats as legendary verses over different beats ("My Philosophy", "You Must Learn") and fresh freestyles over classical pieces. (Kris over Vivaldi? Why the hell not!)
MCing is only one element of hip hop, so KRS invited any b-boys and/or b-girls in the audience to take the stage and show off. DC represented for the ladies lovely; indeed, of approximately 8 or 9 folks who got up there to pop, lock and break, only one possessed testicles. He was okay, and a couple of the girls were just half-assing, but the rest of them, oh my hell. Insane, crazed moves. Rhythm for days and nights. "This is braaave", KRS reminded us as they did their thing. "This takes COURAGE."
Kris loves DC. "I go back to Go-Go with y'all. I don't think you understand, I go back to Trouble Funk with y'all!"
In classical guerrilla promo style, KRS and his peeps handed out posters for the new album and KRS took about 10 minutes in between songs blessing those of us lucky enough to get hold of a poster with his signature, wielding the mic and the Sharpie with equal adroitness. Very hilariously, he signed the plain white back of a few of them, including mine.
"Which side are you gonna hang up?" Patrick half-joked.
"White people only get the white part signed", I cracked back.
As drenched with perspiration as we all were, no one was dripping the beads like the man on stage. At one point, he even told the club to kill the air conditioning. Whoa.
His hype man, Channel Live, was stoned and onpoint throughout, a rare and welcome combo. When KRS let him take center stage to drop a few hot verses (calling out 50 Cent for bigging up George Bush was a real treat, and so called-for) until a perturbed Teacha finally took over again and told Channel Live, "People like you don't need a microphone!" Ah haha.
How'd it all end? The fuck you mean, is the Bridge fuckin' over? He only did up till the "Queens keeps on fakin' it" line, which was more than enough. I was bellowing his lyrics back to him (as was everyone else up front) and got inadvertently punched in the head a few times from an appropriately-zealous, wildly pumping fist. Really, did I expect differently? No bothers, brothers and sisters.
Before he exited stage "holy shit", KRS handed out "dap". If you don't know, lemme explain. "Dap" is a form of hand gesture wherein one person slaps their hand into the proffered outstretched hand of another person and grasps it for anywhere from a half second to two seconds (anything longer may be considered "weird"). Well, when KRS-One gave me some dap, I thought I fuckin' owed him money. I will likely never receive a sweatier, stronger dap in my life, and he held that grip for like 3 or 4 seconds until we both relented. I think it actually took me a couple seconds to grip back where he was happy that this was an equal give'n'take dapping. Fucking wow, I'm telling you.
"We should get some more posters", I advised Patrick. "They might be selling them."
"Okay, but water first." Parched, we headed to the bar where the 'tender generously gave us a couple glasses of glorious H2O. Patrick's eagle eye caught a folded KRS and Marley poster by the far right of the floor and we snatched it with weary surreptitiousness. By the soundman's post in the middle of the floor, we found another one! That made two for me (one signed) and one for my man. Unbelievable luck. Or stupid people. How could you just abandon those posters? The real hip hop is not on the floor!
Black Cat DC KRS-One
Simply put, the best live hip-hop show I have ever seen. I have only been witness to five, but hey, one of those was the mighty Wu-Tang Clan.
Patrick picked me up after work; the drive to Olney was blastmastered by Criminal Minded. As the car eased down the surface-immaculate suburb to the house Patrick calls home, a nearby middle school eased out a casual exodus of students. From the passenger seat I glanced over to the sidewalk and caught sight of a young girl obviously thrilled that it was Friday: as she walked towards home, she broke out into this hesitant-by-design pop-lock. This visual, combined with the loping piano of notorious borough-bitchslap "The Bridge Is Over" snaring my ears, was simply hilarities.
"I don't even think she has an iPod or anything", I told Patrick. "She's just dancing to her own ineffable Awesome."
"Wow. Works great with the beat."
Pad Thai was munched and ESPN was watched. Seeing media talking heads try and sell people on why the NBA Finals should be acknowledged this year if the dirtier-than-Pigpen San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of their series started Patrick off on "dynastyism" in the NBA, the tendency of a few teams to monopolize the championship. As we expected, the NHL playoffs got 15 seconds airtime. Still hurts, huh, Worldwide Leader?
Whether we go to the Black Cat or 9:30 Club for shows, Georgia Avenue must be driven down. While many in the "nicer" surroundings would only be found there if knocked unconscious outside their fine homes and dragged to, say, the Wings N Things, it is a fun road to observe from one's passenger side window. "Omni-restaurants" abound: look, here's a place that serves subs/chicken/pizza, there's a joint that serves Chinese/seafood/pizza/burgers, oh shit, look at that--subs/chicken/pizza/burgers/seafood/Chinese/ice cream! The undisputed king of the "omnis" is Wonder Chicken. Not only does it serve as a marker indicating we are close to Howard University and thus ready to make our turn to the club...it's called Wonder Chicken, for God's sake.
Patrick and I almost always attend shows together. Mothers Day last week, however, he saw To Live and Shave in LA solo. I had wanted to go, but...my mom. Ya know? I promised I'd be with her. I take that serious as my father's cancer.
"So," I asked Patrick as we stopped at one in a series of interminable red lights. "When you were talkin' to Frank, Rat Bastard, AKA...did you ask him about ATP?"
Pause.
"Oh shit! I totally forgot that we saw him there! Ah, shit!"
"See, I knew I shoulda gone with you. Even though with my mom, I just knew. Without me, you forget the crucial shit. You remember Noise Against Fascism, but you forget ATP. Unbelievable."
"Oh my GOD." Patrick can hardly believe his oversight.
Parking only took a half hour. We ended up parking in front of a school, unsure of the legalness of it all. Fortunately, a cop was parked opposite us. However, he was not 100% sure if we would be ticketed or not. Wow, that Blue Curtain is some serious business.
We chilled in the bar for a couple hours until we were let upstairs; the crowd was ample and a real sample--white, black, Asian, Hispanic, fellas, ladies. Everyone loves Blastmaster!
"Man", I told 'Trick. "This almost seems unreal. KRS is a legend in hip hop. He's playing the Black Cat. This is what, 500, 600 tops? It's like Paul McCartney playing the Sonar."
It took quite a bit for the first openers to take the stage. Time was passed by the two average white fans up front with talk of music and sports.
Emon I Fela was the first opening act, a teenage (!) girl with the sass of Salt and or Pepa, but the effervescent rhyming skills of old-school MC Lyte and empathetic intelligence of Lauryn Hill at her least-insane. A quintet of musicians backed her (2 on synth, one on bass, a guitarist, and drummer) while a stool-bound man provided soulful adlibs and choruses. Emon is from DC, apparently, and stood out with not only her songs but her overall presence, decked out in bright bagging clothing, with custom Nikes and oversize eyeglasses. While the crowd was hungry for knowledge reigns supreme, Emon got a great reception and deserved it.
A thorough-ass DJ set from a DC hip hop radio jock followed, going from "The Message" to "Cher Chez Le Ghost" in terms of timeline. The DJ set pre-headliner is less a chance to show off on the 1s and 2s and more an opportunity to let the concertgoers show and prove. Hence, there was no shortage of hearty recitations when any number of classics made their appearance over the PA: "Top Billin'", a medley of Eric B. and Rakim, "La Di Da Di", Wu-Tang, "Time 4 Sum Askshun", a stunning string of A Tribe Called Quest songs ("Scenario Remix" had everyone in the place going hoarse), before chilling with "Umi Says" by Mos Def. I was by this time sweating like a sweaty thing, and had to remove my jacket, baring my grey Snoopy shirt for all to see.
There was one more opener, a solo MC/poet from DC. His name I can't remember, lamentably. His initial look grabbed me as a militant Freeway, with his expansive goatee and bald head underneath Muslim headgear, but his lyricism was quite different. He delivered politically, racially charged rhymes with a fiery voice and never doubted his control for a nanosecond. He told a story about appearing on Def Poetry Jam and reciting a poem that warranted FBI at his apartment the next day. It began, "I am not angry/I am anger/I am not dangerous/I am danger". The power of words!
During his brief set, a problem arose on the other side of the audience. Whether it was a fight, or just an impatient fan starting shit, we never found out.
Then finally...after what seemed like 95 hours in 119 degrees...
Yeah, KRS-One wears a shirt with his face on it.
As far as a chronological set list...SNOOPY, PLEASE! The whole scene was far too drenched with sweat, arms, hands, cameras and beats.
Speaking of cameras, it didn't take long for Patrick to tell me: "He is the hardest performer to get pictures of ever. He moves so much!"
"THE REAL HIP HOP IS OVER HERE!"
KRS-One has a long-standing reputation as a rare beast: the entertaining live rapper. His action on stage, his delivery, and choice of songs are all impeccable and should set a template for the brave to follow. He threw us classics ("Criminal Minded", "South Bronx", "Outta Here", "Love's Gonna Getcha", "Self-Destruction") and tracks off his upcoming collabo album with producer Marley Marl "Hip Hop Lives". For the newer songs, KRS implored his DJ to turn the beat low so we in the audience could really hear what he was saying.
"Hip means to know, it's a form of intelligence
To be hip is to be update and relevant
Hop is a form of movement
You can't just observe a hop, you gotta hop up and do it"
And here is the chorus of the year:
"You wanna get away with murder?
Kill a rapper"
As is almost par for the culture's course, there was an especially buoyant white dude up front who knows all the lyrics. Don't take that as some snide insult, by the by. I noted that in addition to him, there were a few black guys, a few black girls, and my white gal ass. Truly a diverse front row in this day and age of hip hop performances.
In addition to straightforward renditions of some hits, he gave us such treats as legendary verses over different beats ("My Philosophy", "You Must Learn") and fresh freestyles over classical pieces. (Kris over Vivaldi? Why the hell not!)
MCing is only one element of hip hop, so KRS invited any b-boys and/or b-girls in the audience to take the stage and show off. DC represented for the ladies lovely; indeed, of approximately 8 or 9 folks who got up there to pop, lock and break, only one possessed testicles. He was okay, and a couple of the girls were just half-assing, but the rest of them, oh my hell. Insane, crazed moves. Rhythm for days and nights. "This is braaave", KRS reminded us as they did their thing. "This takes COURAGE."
Kris loves DC. "I go back to Go-Go with y'all. I don't think you understand, I go back to Trouble Funk with y'all!"
In classical guerrilla promo style, KRS and his peeps handed out posters for the new album and KRS took about 10 minutes in between songs blessing those of us lucky enough to get hold of a poster with his signature, wielding the mic and the Sharpie with equal adroitness. Very hilariously, he signed the plain white back of a few of them, including mine.
"Which side are you gonna hang up?" Patrick half-joked.
"White people only get the white part signed", I cracked back.
As drenched with perspiration as we all were, no one was dripping the beads like the man on stage. At one point, he even told the club to kill the air conditioning. Whoa.
His hype man, Channel Live, was stoned and onpoint throughout, a rare and welcome combo. When KRS let him take center stage to drop a few hot verses (calling out 50 Cent for bigging up George Bush was a real treat, and so called-for) until a perturbed Teacha finally took over again and told Channel Live, "People like you don't need a microphone!" Ah haha.
How'd it all end? The fuck you mean, is the Bridge fuckin' over? He only did up till the "Queens keeps on fakin' it" line, which was more than enough. I was bellowing his lyrics back to him (as was everyone else up front) and got inadvertently punched in the head a few times from an appropriately-zealous, wildly pumping fist. Really, did I expect differently? No bothers, brothers and sisters.
Before he exited stage "holy shit", KRS handed out "dap". If you don't know, lemme explain. "Dap" is a form of hand gesture wherein one person slaps their hand into the proffered outstretched hand of another person and grasps it for anywhere from a half second to two seconds (anything longer may be considered "weird"). Well, when KRS-One gave me some dap, I thought I fuckin' owed him money. I will likely never receive a sweatier, stronger dap in my life, and he held that grip for like 3 or 4 seconds until we both relented. I think it actually took me a couple seconds to grip back where he was happy that this was an equal give'n'take dapping. Fucking wow, I'm telling you.
"We should get some more posters", I advised Patrick. "They might be selling them."
"Okay, but water first." Parched, we headed to the bar where the 'tender generously gave us a couple glasses of glorious H2O. Patrick's eagle eye caught a folded KRS and Marley poster by the far right of the floor and we snatched it with weary surreptitiousness. By the soundman's post in the middle of the floor, we found another one! That made two for me (one signed) and one for my man. Unbelievable luck. Or stupid people. How could you just abandon those posters? The real hip hop is not on the floor!
Black Cat DC KRS-One
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
And Over To Your Right, You'll See a Banana-Nose and a Hockey Puck
Two more "Beacons of the Interweb" have joined my mighty blogroll. Conveniently, although not intentionally, they now occupy the top two spots (it's simple alphabetics, you gotta love it).
Aaugh.com is indispensable for those who want news, previews and reviews on the world of Peanuts publishing. The imminent arrival of what looks to be the definitive Charles Schulz bio (688 pages!) is enough to make me push Linus off a doghouse with glee.
The world does not need another sports-related blog, it needs another good one--enter Barry Melrose Rocks which as you may have been able to ascertain from the name deals with the National Hockey League. Longstanding Beacon Deadspin hipped me to an outstanding article on BMR dealing with the atrocious debacle that went down Saturday when NBC switched from coverage of an NHL playoff game set for overtime to the Preakness. (There really isn't a thing about that whole mess that's positive. Yes, the Sabres were eliminated, but I didn't get the joy of seeing it as it happened, and furthermore Hard Spun didn't win the Preakness. If you watched the Derby and the Preakness, no horse ran harder or more consistently.)
There is only one proper way to end this post....
Peanuts
NHL
Aaugh.com is indispensable for those who want news, previews and reviews on the world of Peanuts publishing. The imminent arrival of what looks to be the definitive Charles Schulz bio (688 pages!) is enough to make me push Linus off a doghouse with glee.
The world does not need another sports-related blog, it needs another good one--enter Barry Melrose Rocks which as you may have been able to ascertain from the name deals with the National Hockey League. Longstanding Beacon Deadspin hipped me to an outstanding article on BMR dealing with the atrocious debacle that went down Saturday when NBC switched from coverage of an NHL playoff game set for overtime to the Preakness. (There really isn't a thing about that whole mess that's positive. Yes, the Sabres were eliminated, but I didn't get the joy of seeing it as it happened, and furthermore Hard Spun didn't win the Preakness. If you watched the Derby and the Preakness, no horse ran harder or more consistently.)
There is only one proper way to end this post....
Peanuts
NHL
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