[Trailer] The Spectacular Now
http://youtu.be/0dCfbBwFI2Y
For some, high school was a period of self-discovery where we would shape ourselves into the people we would become in our adult age. Along the way, however, we faced new challenges everyday, whether they involved girls, parties, school work, etc. For others, high school was a cesspool of debauchery that we didn't want to take part of, where we honed our talents and skills to prepare for college and beyond. Whether you peaked or flourished in high school, it's a rite of passage 99% of us go through on our way to growing up.
In James Ponsoldt's (Smashed) upcoming film, The Spectacular Now (based off of the novel of the same name by Tim Tharp), Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is living it up during his Senior year of high school, doing everything he can in the eponymous "spectacular now." However, when a change in his lifestyle occurs and he meets a classmate named Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a girl who lives a completely different life from him, Sutter begins to wonder if living for the moment is really the path he wants to take in life.
The Spectacular Now is indie film bait with the common trope of self-discover, coming of age themes, but that's exactly what I'm attracted to. With both Teller and Woodley receiving actor awards following the film's premiere at Sundance, I'm definitely interested in the film, which will be coming to theaters this August.
ShowYouSuck: "Super Street Fighter IV"
At the beginning of the month, ShowYouSuck bit us with the MikeJaxx produced, Chris LeSage featured "Watching Walking Dead." At the crack of this early morning, the Chicago rapper pulled a quarter-circle forward + Fierce with his latest song, "Super Street Fighter IV." Given its title, the song is full of Street Fighter references as Show flexes his Ryu skills. I've had my ass handed to me by him, so I can vouch for his Street Fighter black belt.
The fun, upbeat song will be followed by a change of pace as ShowYouSuck has also announced his next record will be titled, "XXX (straight edge)," which according to him will be "a bit more serious and intense." Given the song's title, I expect my brother to go in on the sXe lifestyle. For now, let "Super Street Fighter IV" give a Shoryuken to your ears below.
Also, if you live in Lawrence, KS, you can catch ShowYouSuck tomorrow at the Bottleneck at 9pm!
[RH Photos] Spring Awakening Day 2
Day 2 of this year's Spring Awakening showcased a lot of local love as noted Chicago groups and DJs PHNM, Team Bayside High, and Flosstradamus were joined by other big EDM acts like Bassnectar, Zeds Dead, Paul Oakenfold, Wolfgang Gartner, and others took to the four stages and got the EDM crowds sweaty. One thing I realized over the weekend is the very distinct anticipation in the air as everybody waited for the beat to drop. Once it happens, a sea of hands would erupt. The looks on everybody's face during that pause, the level of energy people keep up while they gyrate, fist bump, juke, twerk, and what have you is something to behold. It's not like anything I've seen during my years spent in mostly punk rock and hip hop shows. Kids these days and their bass-heavy music, right guys?
Some of my photos from Spring Awakening Day 2 are below, while the rest of the day's photos can be found here. Photos are © Geoff Henao (final three photos are © Alex Lapenia).
Microsoft pulls an Xbox One-80, backtracks from absurd policies
Independent gaming website Giant Bomb broke a news story about Microsoft turning its back on its ridiculous DRM policies for its next generation console, Xbox One. Microsoft has since confirmed their intentions to backtrack from such policies in a desperate attempt to win back consumer support, as well as level the playing field with its direct competitor and rival, Sony's PlayStation 4.
For those not paying attention to the uproar Microsoft's Xbox One announcement created, execs had planned on mandating an internet connection for the system as well as creating a stupid system that wouldn't allow consumers to sell, trade, or simply share their games with others. Microsoft is now stating that the Xbox One will function much like the current Xbox 360, allowing gamers to buy and sell used games, share disc-based games with friends, and only necessitate an internet connection upon first activating the system.
It's very, very surprising that Microsoft would be so willing to pull away from the policies they tried so hard to force upon the gaming community during their E3 conference last week. While it's partially true that the sudden retraction was caused by consumer backlash, it's all a business move to make money; unfortunately, some higher-ups will probably face severe ramifications for the shenanigans Microsoft had to face over the last week. Furthermore, if they can easily change face on their policies right now, who's to say they won't once again following the Xbox One's release?
Then again, if you're smart, you already pre-ordered a PS4 and won't have to worry about such things.
[via Microsoft]
Flosstradamus announces #HOODIEBOYZ summer tour
A few days removed from their weekend appearance at Spring Awakening, Chicgaoan DJ duo Flosstradamus has announced their #HOODIEBOYZ summer tour. Beginning tomorrow in Las Vegas, the tour dates feature both club and festival appearances, such as the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, various Mad Decent Block Party dates across the East Coast, and even a few European dates. I might be a little biased, but Flosstradamus had one of the best sets at Spring Awakening, and it's good to see them spreading their music all across the world.
You can find the full list of tour dates alone, as well as a preview of the Flosstradamus remix of Major Lazer's "Bubble Butt."
Chicago powerhouse DJ duo Flosstradamus are gearing up for a string of blowout festival and headlining dates this summer on their #HOODIEBOYZ SUMMER TOUR (full dates below), Kicking off their journey on 6/20 in Las Vegas for Bassrush Massive, J2K and Autobot are set to traverse across the world, making many a Mad Decent Block Party stop before closing out on 9/8 in Boston. Flosstradamus are hot on the heels of their two month Underground Nights Tour, a massive hometown showing at Spring Awakening Festival's main stage, and the releases of their latest mixtape B?NNED 2, featuring samples from Kendrick Lamar, Danny Brown and Rihanna, and their DJ Sliink collaboration, Nomads. With no signs of slowing down, the Chicago twosome plan to incite mass hysteria across the globe, with or without CRWD CTRL.
http://youtu.be/gqYWXocsGDs
[Video] JJ DOOM: "Bookhead"
The latest video for the Jneiro Jarel and MF DOOM collaboration, JJ DOOM, has just released. Following the camera trickery in the previous video, "Guv'nor," "Bookhead" finds the supervillain donning a convenient store security mirror while he peers through a library, linking the video to the "Bookhead" title. The camera angle alternates between a normal wide-angle lens to a first-person convex angle to simulate the mirror mask, which was an interesting touch. It's not as compelling as the "Guv'nor" effects, but it's good to see director Steve Powers experimenting with his camera.
http://youtu.be/jTCI_bqMi_w
[Trailer] Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
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The first official trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is out, following the last teaser trailer that came out a month ago. The Channel 4 News team of Ron (Will Ferrell), Brian (Paul Rudd), Brick (Steve Carrell), Champ (David Koechner), and Veronica (Christina Applegate) find themselves greeting the 80s by moving to New York to take part in a 24-hour news network. Joining the cast are Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), James Marsden (X-Men), and Meagan Good (Brick).
The first Anchorman was surprisingly funny, considering it being a Will Ferrell movie, but this second one doesn't appear to have the same magic. With all of the opportunities that the 80s setting present, it's disappointing that the direction doesn't harp on all of the 80s cliches. Also, what's up with that unnecessarily racist "joke" at the end of the trailer? Ferrell's comedy stems on awkward scenarios, which results in very hit-or-miss results that tend to lean towards a definitive miss.
Hopefully the trailer doesn't represent the entirety of the film. We'll find out as we approach Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues' theatrical release date this Christmas.
[Video] Jambalaya Fest Recap
[iframe id="http://player.vimeo.com/video/68589026?portrait=0"]
Last month's three-day Jambalaya Fest in Texas featured an amazing lineup of Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, RL Grime, Zeds Dead, Big Boi, and G-Eazy. The promoters for the event, Score More, recently released a small video recap of the shows. The festival sounded amazing for Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt alone, but with big names like Big Boi and RL Grime attached, the shows must have been extremely memorable for everybody that attended. Hopefully the "traveling festival" will come to Chicago soon.