The Musings of an Eccentric Diva: 01/01/2008

Friday, January 25, 2008

FRIDAY FLASHBACK JAM 2: Aaliyah- Back and Forth 1993

I'm a little late to the game on this one, I gave this song a good listen last year and now it's in constant rotation.

Labels: Friday Flashback

FRIDAY FLASHBACK JAM: The Clash-This Is Radio Clash 1981

One of the coolest groups ever. Enough said.

Labels: Friday Flashback

Sunday, January 20, 2008

RANDOM VIDEO: Fergie-Clumsy

I'm ashamed to admit I like this song even though I despise pop artists. Too bad the bitch looks like someone stomped her face in with a Timberland workboot,damn she is fugly! The girl can't help it I guess.

Labels: Random Musings, Random Nonsense

Saturday, January 19, 2008

MOVIE REVIEW: The Girl Next Door 2007

When 12 year old David meets Meg McLaughlin, he is smitten right away. Meg,a pretty,outgoing girl is new to the neighborhood and living with Ms.Chandler and her family after she and her sister Susan loses their parents in an auto accident. The Chandler home is a hang-out spot for the neighborhood kids so Meg's presence in the house is a plus for David. What David soon learns is that Meg and her sister are subject to abuse and humiliation at the hands of Ms. Chandler and various others sources. Can he save Meg before the physical and mental damage do her in completely? No more spoilers from me y’all!

Based on a true story, this film was so powerful it moved me to tears. I waited an entire month to see this film as it was on backorder from Netflix. The brutality the character suffered was very hard to watch and at times I had to turn away. This is definitely not for the squeamish but I think it is an important film that needs to be seen. I was shocked by the risk the director (Gregory Wilson, a brotha!) took by casting child actors for the roles, if the characters were played by young adults the impact would not have been the same. I kept reminding myself that most of the events that took place in the film really happened to a 16 year old girl and her story is considered one of the worst cases of child abuse in history. How anyone could be so cruel to another human being just escapes me. I won’t give away too much of the storyline here because I’d rather people see the film for themselves. Here is a link to the story of the real-life teenager of which the film is based on.

VERDICT: 3 1/2 Soul Claps

Labels: Movie Reviews

Friday, January 11, 2008

FRIDAY FLASHBACK JAM 2 (Zesty Edition): Jermaine Stewart- The Word Is Out 1986

Now here we have the Prince of Zest himself, Jermaine Stewart. Jermaine's hair game was THA BIDNESS!!!! He sure was pretty too! The dance sequence was hilarious, Jermaine was handling them hoes. RIP JS.

Labels: Friday Flashback

FRIDAY FLASHBACK JAM (Zesty Edition): Cheryl Lynn-Encore 1983

What is going on with the fellas in this video?!?? They have more interest in each other than Cheryl. The dance-off is HILARIOUS, the zest just oozes through my computer screen!

Labels: Friday Flashback

Thursday, January 10, 2008

THE YEARLY MUSIC WRAP-UP 2007

Here are my favorite cd’s of 2007. With the exception of the first four, the rest of are in no particular order.

1.4Hero- Play With The Changes
2.Jazzanova-Belle et Fou
3.Koop- Koop Island
4.Benny Sings- Benny At Home
5.Ledisi- Lost and Found
6.Eric Roberson- Left
7.Adriana Evans-El Camino
8.Wouter Hamel- Hamel
9.Mos Def- Mos Definite
10.Ghostface Killah- The Big Doe Rehab
11.Lily Allen- Alright, Still (fresh, cute, and different)
12.Jill Scott- The Real Thing Words and Sounds V 3
13.Talib Kweli- Eardrum
14.Chaka Khan- Funk This
15.Amy Winehouse- Back To Black (I would be lying if I said I didn’t love this cd, so sue me)
16.Common-Finding Forever

Labels: Random Musings, Random Reviews

Sunday, January 06, 2008

MOVIE REVIEW: I Am Legend 2007

Manhattan is Ground Zero for a plague that has eradicated everyone on Earth. The plague was created as a cure for cancer but it backfires. Dr Robert Neville (Will Smith) and his German Shepard Sam are the lone survivors. Neville is a US Army virologist who was at the forefront of creating a vaccine for the plague before all hell broke loose. He and his dog spend their days hunting for food and supplies in downtown Manhattan…which is deserted, overgrown with brush and inhabited by *cough cough* lions and deer , watching old newscasts and movies, exercising , and oh yeah…..protecting themselves from half-human, bloodthirsty night dwellers. The night dwellers are a result of the plague. Once nightfall hits, Neville must barricade himself inside of his home to protect himself and Sam from the creatures. Each day Neville goes to a bridge to broadcast a message that will hopefully draw survivors to his attention. In between foraging for food in the day and zombie watching at night, Neville diligently continues to come up with a cure to revert the night dwellers back to their human form. Will his vaccine work or will Neville become zombie bait? No more spoilers from me y’all!

Alrighty! First off, I am not a Will Smith movie fan. Personally I think he’s awesome but as an actor I find him a bit too cutesy and corny for my tastes. The premise of this film has that been there/done that feel to it. When I read this was a semi-remake of The Omega Man, one of my favorite films of all time, I was even more skeptical. I think the one factor that got me to watch this is the last man on Earth being a Brotha (or something like that, we are talking about Will Smith here lol). take on the story. I should’ve followed my first mind, this filmed reeked. The first half of the movie was fine and it was really cool trying to figure out how they made Manhattan look so deserted. Will did a great job of showing how a person would react to loneliness and isolation. His costar Sam the dog was just AWESOME..the best part of the movie. Insert lions, deer and Will racing around in a brand new Ford Mustang ….sounds ridiculous, yeah but this isn’t even the worst of it…I was still mildly entertained at this point. Where they lost me is when they introduced the night dwellers. Those bootleg, dollar store video game leftovers were neither scary nor entertaining. They went WAYYYYY overboard with the CGI effects in this film, I usually skip these types of films altogether. I think the film would’ve been more effective if the zombies were portrayed by actors in makeup versus those stoopid CGI creatures. Also, there were lot of inconsistencies and things that just didn’t add up in this film from a logic standpoint which I won’t give away here. Towards the end of the film the audience is hit with a heavy-handed religious message that seemed to be thrown in at the last minute to cater to the Christmas season movie-going crowd. The ending of this film is a tanker altogether, for me it was not in sync with the rest of the storyline. If you want to close your brain for 2 hours and enjoy a totally mindless piece of drivel, then see this film…if you are part of the thinking crowd, save your money and rent the stellar Omega Man instead

VERDICT: 1 Soul Clap

Labels: Movie Reviews

Friday, January 04, 2008

FRIDAY FLASHBACK JAM: You Can't Play With My YoYo- Yo-Yo 1990