St. Millie: "No Damn" (prod. by Von Vuai)
A month after St. Millie dropped "Get 'Em High" with Lili K, the Treated Crew member comes in full force with the Von Vuai-produced "No Damn." Millie ended 2012 on a high note as his debut mixtape No Religion But Up found critical acclaim and helped elevate the rapper's name to the next level. "No Damn" continues where he left off with No Religion But Up. If you've been sleeping on Millie up until this point, "No Damn" should wake you up to his talent.
[Trailer] The Act of Killing
http://youtu.be/SD5oMxbMcHM
One of my colleagues screened The Act of Killing at SXSW this past March and tried his best to share the experience with me; of course, no matter how he tried, I just didn't understand what he was trying to share with me. This is not due to his inability to explain the documentary, but rather, the documentary itself is not the type of doc we've ever seen. The Act of Killing, focused on the Indonesian massacre during the late '60s, took an experimental direction in its explanation of the near-genocide. The filmmakers not only interviewed some of the surviving murderers, deemed heroes by their country; they made them re-enact their memories of killing and stylized each re-enactment in a Hollywood-style short.
What results is this meshing of fictionalized acts of violence fueled by true memories of murder, death, and killing. In the process, the filmmakers analyze the psychology of the killers in hopes of understanding their psychology and guilt decades after they committed such heinous acts. The Act of Killing, just based on this trailer below, shifts the documentary form into a haunting examination of real-life killers. With the help of both Werner Herzog (Into the Abyss) and Errol Morris (Tabloid) signing on as executive producers after screening the documentary, The Act of Killing will have a limited theatrical release on July 19th.
[RH Review] Fast & Furious 6
The Fast and the Furious franchise has been experiencing a bit of a rebirth since Fast & Furious was released in 2009. Directed by Justin Lin, Fast & Furious tied together to the first film of the franchise, The Fast and the Furious, and established a continuity for the next sequels to follow. 2011's Fast Five brought an injection to the franchise that Fast & Furious lacked, bringing in newcomer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a formidable opposite to franchise star Vin Diesel. With a tighter narrative that slowly moved away from the street racing it was known for and towards a more crime-centric, heist focus. The result proved to be one of the year's most surprising and entertaining films, regaining acclaim and interest in the process.
With Fast & Furious 6, Lin brings the majority of the cast back, along with some new faces, to leave his final stamp on the franchise. However, was it better than the surprisingly good Fast Five? After all, how can you top a car chase through the streets of Rio de Janeiro while dragging along an entire bank vault behind you?
Fast & Furious 6
Director: Justin Lin
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 24, 2013
Taking place days after the events of Fast Five, DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) approach Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) about a heist that took place in Europe. Despite the riches Dom and his group gained following the successful Rio heist seen in Fast Five, they're unable to return to the States due to their criminal records. Luckily, Hobbs offers the crew full pardons on one condition: they capture Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a criminal mastermind intending to steal a computer chip that could cause mass destruction.
Of course, with the amount of money Dom's crew stole in Fast Five, there's little incentive for them to assist Hobbs... until he reveals that Shaw's second-in-command is Dom's thought-to-be-dead ex-girlfriend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Armed with this information, Dom and Brian contact Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris Bridges), Han (Sung Kang), and Gisele (Gal Gadot) to pull off one final job that will bring them both their freedom and reunite their family into one piece.
"Family" serves to be the biggest theme throughout the film. While Lin and series screenwriter Chris Morgan introduced a bit of the family angle in past Fast and Furious films, it's pushed into the forefront throughout F&F 6. This little nuance helped humanize a film full of superhero-like characters, and to be honest, it was pulled off pretty well. You really can see how tight-knit the circle of friends are, as well as why they would risk their lives unnecessarily. Don't get me wrong, the film's plot twists aren't anything you couldn't figure out within the first half-hour of the film. However, I feel that F&F 6 is very self-aware of its narrative and rolls with it. There's a scene where one of the characters points out how Shaw's crew is almost a direct match for their own, then spins it into a quick joke; this kind of self-aggrandizing is exactly what the film needed.
Another upgrade to the sequel is the film's pacing. Whereas before, too much time was spent on exposition and backstory in an attempt to legitimize the narrative, F&F 6 sets the premise and gathers the entire crew fairly quickly, resulting in an increase in action and excitement. And who would have thought that Lin and company would be able to up the ante over the ridiculousness in Fast Five? There are more explosions, faster car races (in an attempt to stay true to the series' roots), and not one, but two amazing third-act chase scenes.
Fast & Furious 6 has been announced as Lin's final film in the series, so it only makes sense that he leaves with a bang. It's still not going to garner a great critical response or make audiences re-think action films, but it's wholly entertaining and the very definition of a Hollywood summer movie. The future of the series will depend on James Wan's vision for the next film, but if the post-credits scene is any indication, I get the feeling Fast & Furious 7 will help elevate the series to an even higher level.
Score: 7 out of 10
Jambalaya Fest Austin Contest Winners
UPDATE: We have our winners! Congratulations to Andres Ramirez, John Flores, and @SillerXOWiller. I've contacted you on the normal channels, but if you haven't received a DM/Facebook message, email geoff[at]rubyhornet.com. Congratulations to the winners, and huge thanks to everybody that entered!
Do you live in Austin, TX and want to catch some rappers rapping raps, including Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt performing a set together under EarlWolf, Zeds Dead, Big Boi, RL Grime, and G-Eazy? Of course you do. But wait, you say you don't have any money for the show? It's all good, because we're giving away three pairs of tickets to Jambalaya Fest Austin happening this Friday, May 24th at the Austin Music Hall. Interested in winning? The contest details are below. We're going to be choosing names Thursday afternoon, so make sure you enter early! Remember, you can still buy tickets for the show here.
There are three ways to enter: Facebook, Twitter, and on the Ruby Hornet website itself. You can:
1. Like this post on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment on this page.
3. Tweet "I wanna win tickets to #JMBLYA Fest Austin! http://rbyhrnt.com/16BOiS0 #RHJambalaya @RubyHornet @WeScoreMore" NOTE: RTs won't count.
Each way counts as one entry, so you can get up to three entries if you like the Facebook post, leave a comment below, and send out the tweet. Good luck! Again, we'll be choosing winners Thursday afternoon.
Earl Sweatshirt: "Guild" (feat. Mac Miller)
The bullrush towards Earl Sweatshirt's highly-anticipated Doris continues with this new song, "Guild." With Mac Miller featured on the song, "Guild" features the two rappers delivering their verses in a lower octave to create a dark tone for the song. Earl continues to display his lyrical growth with every Doris song release. We all had early hyper for him when EARL came out, but it seems like he might be able to meet the lofty expectations he garnered with his debut EP.
It's been a good week for Mac Miller on Ruby Hornet as he produced the hot "In a Minute" by Sir Michael Rocks with Ab-Soul and Dash. Earl Sweatshirt, meanwhile, begins his trifecta of Jambalaya dates tonight in Houston. Check out "Guild" below, which was premiered by Fader. A solid release date hasn't been announced for Doris, but I know it'll be the only thing I listen to for the weeks following its release.
[via Fader]
[Short Film] ABE
http://vimeo.com/64114843
The conflict between robots and human emotions isn't new in fiction; decades of various art forms have touched on whether robots could ever have the capacity to understand free thought and emotions, with the capacity of love being a huge aspect. While sometimes the concept can grow long in the tooth in feature-length films, short films tend to be the perfect medium for the topic. Those who are familiar with my alter ego's film writing know exactly how much I love the short film form. So much more attention is given to every scene where each detail builds towards the importance of the short.
ABE, directed by Rob McLellan, combines two topics very near and dear to my heart: robots and short films. While it made the rounds at the beginning of the month, I watched the short and let it marinate in my mind for the past couple of weeks. The short is about a robot, the titular ABE (Sam Hoare) waxing poetic about his past to a female captive (Claire Huskisson). The film matchs its amazing blend of CG animation and live-action acting with a psychological thriller tone that examines ABE's existential crisis.
You can read more about ABE at the film's official website.
[Trailer] Maniac
http://youtu.be/CiULAdLufJs
Maniac screened at last year's Chicago International Film Festival, and I've been kicking myself since October for missing it. Starring Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), the Franck Khalfoun-directed film is shot mostly in first-person, adding an extra layer of authenticity to the horror film. While most horror films are typically shot and narratively-focused on the victims, Maniac's first-person twist seems like the kind of twist needed for a genre that's been over-saturated lately with zombies and serial killers. Don't get me wrong, though; Maniac is still about a serial killer, but coming from his literal perspective is exactly what attracted me to the film despite my general disinterest in the genre.
Luckily, the film found distribution through IFC Midnight and will find a limited theatrical release on June 21st. It almost took a year, but I'll finally be able to eradicate my mistake of not seeing it last year. You can catch the trailer and the film's first US poster below or on the film's iTunes page.
[via /Film]
[Trailer] We're the Millers
http://youtu.be/lLIimU9NYyg
The majority of comedy films tend to follow plot formulas involving a mild-mannered character stumbling across a problem that goes through a series of outlandish challenges to take care of the problem while discovering something new or life-changing about himself along the way. Broken down like that, it seems kind of plain, doesn't it? What writers and directors have been doing is elevating the absurdity surrounding these characters and their obstacles. Sometimes, it works out; most of the time, it doesn't.
We're the Millers, based on the first trailer below, seems like it could go either way. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball), the film is about a drug dealer named David (Jason Sudeikis) who's in huge debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). In order to pay it off, Brad sends David on a job to smuggle weed into the country from Mexico. However, to successfully do so, he needs to create a fake family to not raise suspicion from the border agents... the problem is that he doesn't have a family. Instead, he hires a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a runaway (Emma Roberts), and one of his potential customers (Will Poulter) to pose as his family. And, as always, hilarity ensues.
The trailer gives good exposition on the film and shares the comedic tone of the film, which seems to be going for over-the-top hilarity involving dick jokes and Jennifer Aniston as a stripper. Wonderful. We're the Millers is scheduled to release in theaters August 9th.