[Dream Cast] Five Actresses Who Should Be Considered for Ghostbusters
The rumors of an all-female Ghostbusters reboot have been around for months now, but with Peter Venkman himself, Bill Murray, supporting the idea and even offering his own cast suggestions, I think the possibility could be very real. After all, we're experiencing a new wave of comedy films that prove that female-driven comedies can be successful both critically and commercially. While I absolutely love Murray's suggestions of Kristen Wiig, Emma Stone, Linda Cardellini, and Melissa McCarthy, five other actresses instantly came to mind.
Read on as I suggest my dream cast for an all-female Ghostbusters reboot.
[NCMF Interview] Keys n Krates
This post was originally published by our affiliates at Chicago Music.
With North Coast Music Festival 2014 beginning tomorrow, we'll be providing all types of coverage from the Chicago festival's fifth anniversary. This interview with EDM group Keys n Krates comes from our partner Three Card Photography's very own Jesse Pizano. Read on to familiarize yourselves with Keys n Krates, the amazing year they've been having, what to expect from their live set this weekend, and what's on the group's plate following North Coast Music Festival 2014!
You guys are about to hit the stage at North Coast Music Festival. How are you guys feeling?
Matisse: Great! Chicago is one of our favourite places to play and North Coast is such a great festival.
How has the year been treating you guys so far?
Flo: Pretty incredible. We've really seen our fan base grow exponentially over the last six months and it's been pretty surreal to be honest.
For those that have never heard of Keys N Krates, can you describe your sound?
Tune: Weird rap beats that evoke emotion but still make ya wanna have a dance party. Lots of emotional chord progressions, pitched up vocal samples, synths, weird chopped up samples and bangin rap drums.
What track off of your new EP, Every Nite, took the longest to make?
Tune: "Understand Why" took a long time. We did three to four different actual versions of the tune with at least five mix downs per version. It was a nightmare, but we are stoked on the final version we came up with.
Chicago Owes Jackie Robinson West a Day of Peace at Their Parade
Written and originally published on our affiliate site City on the Take by Joel Radwanski.
In one of the most heartwarming stories in the history of Chicago sports the Jackie Robinson West Little League All Stars are United States Champions. The boys have grown into young men in front of a city's and country's eyes and has made every Chicagoan proud. They have shown that when a community invests in their children amazing things can happen.
After winning the Great Lakes championship to earn their trip to the Little League World Series JRW became the first team from Chicago to go to Williamsport since 1983. The team left for Williamsport with the intention of capturing a championship, not the hearts of a city and a country. However, with their display of sportsmanship, character and never give up attitude they have created more than just civic pride, they have created hope. The watch parties in their Pullman neighborhood were full of joyous onlookers celebrating everything the boys of JRW did.
All of Chicago owes these young men. We can start when Darold Butler's team arrives back at Midway airport on Monday after being in Pennsylvania since July 31st. Lets give them a city they can be safe to walk the streets in. Children should never be concerned with random bullets and the constant threat of violence. Children should be able to walk safely to school, attend practices and do all the other neighborhood things that make adolescence so special. Children shouldn't have to worry about whether or not if they cross the street they're in a different gang's territory and wrong to be there. We owe the young men of the Jackie Robinson Little League a safe city to return to.
While JRW was winning the U.S. championship and the hearts of a country, they were in a bubble at the LLWS. Coach Darold Butler spoke about how the kids didn't know the impact they were having back in Chicago. Butler, said, “Been living in a bubble, no cable, no tv in the dorms. It hasn’t hit me yet, so it hasn’t hit the kids." The boys have been taking in all the festivities that come with attending the spectacle. They stay in dorm rooms among the kids from the other 15 teams at the event with activities all day long to keep them occupied. Only their messages on social media have clued them in on the love they're getting in Chicago.
I doubt any of the boys on the team knew that while they where there a 9 year old boy was gunned down in a neighborhood just north of theirs in Chicago. Antonio Smith was found dead with multiple gun shot wounds in a backyard at 1200 west 71st Street. The backyard sits at railroad tracks between two warring gang factions. There has been a reward offered to find the killer of the 9 year old CHILD Antonio Smith.
The JRW team was getting to bed early on Friday August 23rd to prepare for their victory in the U.S. Title game and were unaware of the carnage that was taking place back in Chicago at the same time. 11 people were shot, including a 3 year old boy who is still hospitalized, just on Friday night.
This has to stop! We must start protecting the children and not the perpetrators of these crimes or the cycle will never stop. We must take back our neighborhoods now. No longer can we let the most base of our society make the good and decent live in fear. If 13 boys of JRW who were told their whole life they couldn't do it or that they were playing the wrong sport can win a National championship and all of our hearts, then we can take our neighborhoods back. We, the good and decent folk of Chicago outnumber the vile and wicked, lets flex our muscle. Lets spread the word of character and rising above like the JRW team has shown us.
I beg for, I pray for, and I demand a day of non-violence in Chicago! The Jackie Robinson West parade and celebration will be Wednesday August 27th in downtown Chicago. Lets go a whole day without any violence, these young men deserve it. For one day, forget about grudges, forget about territory, forget about the code to lay your life down for your street. Lets walk together through the streets of Chicago and celebrate our little heroes and use them as a ray of hope that our future in Chicago can be brighter.
We are all proud to say Jackie Robinson West is National Champions. But, how proud would all of us be if we used they as an impetus to create a safer and more humane Chicago. There would be no greater victory for them to be able to walk their streets without fear of a stray bullet.
You can question what I would know about what happens in Chicago. I understand, we all have our doubts. I am a decent human being that was born on the Southside and I live here now. I take public transit and clearly see the difference in the two worlds that are the south side of the city of Chicago. My neighborhood has gone from bad 20 years ago to being nicknamed, "Pleasantville," now. The neighborhood banded together to rid itself of gangs and crime and every week there are still meetings to continue the improvement.
The death of 9 year old Antonio Smith should not be forgotten. Would he have a smile like Ed Howard's the silky smooth shortstop of JRW. Would Antonio have the wit of Trey Hondras? Would Antonio have the arm of Marquis jackson? Would Antonio have the swing of Pierce Jones? Would Antonio be the leader that Brandon Greene is? Would Antonio have the fight of Joshua Houston. We'll never know the answer to these questions because Antonio Smith never made it to 10 years old.
Lets do this Chicago! Lets have a day of nonviolence in honor of Jackie Robinson West! There could be no greater honor to bestow upon those young men than to give them a day of peace in Chicago.
Who knows, maybe the life we save on Wednesday could be the person who makes all the difference for all of us in the future. Or, maybe if we go Wednesday without a senseless murder, maybe we could do it on Thursday also.
Taylor Swift: Cultural Appropriation or Misguided Attempt at Music Evolution?
Photo by Virgil Solis
Taylor Swift, the songstress forever linked to Kanye West following the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, has had quite the career before and after K.W. Despite all of the awards, fame, and success, a real artist will want to continually change their art, showcasing growth and evolution in ways that are entertaining, inspiring, and above all else, interesting. Using the aforementioned Kanye as an example, he's not the same artist now that he was back during The College Dropout, showing major growth over his past three albums alone (808s and Heartbreaks, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Yeezus), but can you blame him? Taylor, meanwhile, has lined up the ex-boyfriends and break-up songs alongside her plentiful awards while still sticking to the same formula that found her her success. It's about time she evolved, no?
Earlier this week, Taylor Swift released the music video for her new song, "Take It Off," which you can watch below. The fallout has been widespread following the video's release thanks to many claiming the video and singer as racist and appropriating black culture in some of the scenes. If you haven't watched the video yet, Swift takes part in and dresses up in different types of dance cultures (ballet, break, cheerleading, etc.) while she sings about dancing/shaking off any problems that come her way. It's a cheesy, yet positive song about being able to overcome differences and issues that may arise. The controversy comes from Swift's representation of "black culture" with some questionable stereotypes being portrayed in some of the scenes.
However, is this inherently racist, or just woefully ignorant? The song's theme, as I stated, is a positive message about facing adversity no matter the situation, as illustrated in the video with the various subcultures represented. Detractors are angry of the portrayals of twerking consisting of predominantly black dancers. Realistically, though, wouldn't there be detraction if the majority of the twerkers were white (or even a different culture)? I don't think the "Shake It Off" video appropriates black culture, but rather misrepresents all of the dancing cultures to a bare minimum.
In saying that, I find issue with the change in Swift's song and its appropriation of modern Top 40 songs. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan, nor do I listen to (or care about) Top 40. What I find alarming is Swift's attempt to expand upon her music career with this song in which she raps, very poorly at that, to fit into a current sound that is anything but what she's known for. There's a break in the middle of the song in which Swift says:
Hey, hey, hey
Just think while you been getting down and out about the liars
And the dirty dirty cheats of the world
You could have been getting down to this sick beat
Yes, Taylor, "Shake It Off" features one of the sickest beats to ever hit Radio Disney. Thanks for pointing it out to us. What follows after the break an awkward sounding Swift talk-rapping about seeing an ex-boyfriend and wanting to dance with another guy with nice hair. What? In an attempt to evolve her music from its country-pop roots to a more contemporary sound, Swift stumbles with a generic-sounding "rap" that is completely out of place and character. I understand risks and going outside of your comfort zone, especially in art, but when it's something as misguided and blatantly wrong like this, it's infuriating.
And please, don't even get me started on Swift's attempts at dancing in this video... If any accusations of cultural appropriations are being levied against Swift, it's the appropriation of the current pop sound and her attempts to fit into that dynamic with her own music. Misguided? Definitely. Racist? Hardly. Watch the video below and let us know what you think.
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Don't Turn a Blind Eye to the Events in Ferguson, MO
I try to stay away from stuff like this on an "official" level. There's so much social unrest and lack of justice, to only comment on one event would be a disservice to the countless others that came before it (and will come after it). I've always seen it as my position to entertain, to share information and "cool shit" as a way to find a reason to smile in the face of events that would prevent us from doing so. However, this past weekend's events concerning Mike Brown have led to wards a level of disgusting police militarization and exploitation of power that I can't just stand back and not say something about it. The thing is, while your social network feeds may be full of updates coming from Ferguson, MO, there are still plenty of people in the country who simply aren't aware of what's happening thanks to a media blackout of coverage. I have a platform where I can reach people who may not be aware, so why not use it to spread awareness?
Last Saturday, a young man named Mike Brown was shot dead by a police officer in Ferguson, MO after putting his hands up to surrender. The details are still blurry as to what elevated the confrontation to that height, but the fact remains that an unarmed black man who was surrendering was shot dead by an officer. The fallout of the killing exploded, with no real justice being delivered by the people put in power to serve it. Even to this day, five days after the shooting, officials have refused to release the name of the officer who pulled the trigger, on-site witnesses have yet to be interviewed by the police department, and the complete lack of a proper investigation into the unfortunate end of this man's life has still not taken place.
As unfortunate as it is to say, the majority of you reading this come from Chicago, a city that knows its fair share of gun violence and police brutality. While not every murder and shooting receives national coverage, Chicago is still the third largest city in the country, and we will still receive our fair share of attention that a small town like Ferguson, MO never would have. Here's the discrepancy: Mike Brown's killing honestly would have gone unknown had it not been for independent entities like Al-Jazeera and Anonymous helping spread the news, but it took peaceful protest, peaceful demonstration to alert the country of the injustice he and his family have faced. Even then, as I pointed out earlier, there will still be many people who will go through their day still unaware of what's happened.
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My point in writing this is two-fold. One, it's to bring general awareness to the events that have taken place in Ferguson, MO since the weekend. You may not consider yourself political, you may not feel comfortable getting involved with events that are so deeply rooted in racial tension, you may not even want to even focus on such negativity (and really, who can blame you?). However, what these police officers have shown to us transcends race, transcends politics, transcends basic human treatment, transcends our rights as Americans.
Two, it's to show that these police officers are exploiting their power and acting above the law. Journalists and members of the press have a right known as Freedom of the Press, and as such, we're given the right to share and communicate our information across outlets without interference from those in charge. Yet, as I watched live streams of last night's events, members of the media were being blacked out, being told to shut off their cameras. In the video a few paragraphs above, you can see a canister of tear gas shot at members of Al-Jazeera as they were setting up their equipment. We can't allow these attempts of covering up happen. We can't stand idle during this.
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The preceding video is what put me over the edge. Shot on site of a protest in a Ferguson neighborhood, you can see demonstrators simply chanting. Yet, as the police approached closer and closer and as demonstrators held their ground, the police began to shoot tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, which you can see around the nine minute mark. As it dispersed, the police continued to draw closer, shooting into residential neighborhoods. I've taken part in protests over the years, but never have I been witness to such despicableness. The "official word" from the Ferguson police department is that shots were fired or protestors were throwing molotov cocktails, to which the police began shooting in response. I call bullshit.
We have to show our support. Whether it's a simple tweet, sharing videos, calling Missouri state officials, attending protests, whatever it is, we have to stand up against these atrocities and share awareness with those around us. Like I wrote earlier, I've always seen my position at Ruby Hornet as one to simply entertain, and I will continue to do so after this is published. Will I (or RH as a whole) cover real events in the future? I don't know. However, what I do know is that I couldn't just sit around and write about the release date of the new Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers release date or something so largely asinine while something of real substance was taking place around us.
If you live in a major city, peaceful protests are scheduled to take place today. Look below on the flyer for more information about them in your city.
Top Artists to See at Lollapalooza 2014
Lollapalooza 2014 is this weekend, signaling the official beginning of the summer's end. Seriously, what the hell happened to our summer? All of our seasons got pushed back, with spring barely even registering on the calendar (or on our thermometers). Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine that August is in just a few days, and with it comes Perry Farrell's little alternative music festival that could. Admittedly, Lollapalooza has lost some of the luster that it once had, but is still one of Chicago's (and the United States') premier annual music festivals. With so many artists playing this weekend, both Aleks and I have compiled a small list of our personal recommendations for this weekend. We hope we can put you on to some new artists!
[Interview] Vee Miyagi Discusses No Color
This is the second in a series of two pieces by Contributing Writer Jessi Grant exploring No Color, a new campaign dedicated to creating a foundation of diversity and positivity within the Chicago arts and creative scene.
Art is often praised for its ability to connect. Through performance or visuals, the artist has the power to unite people and help them further understand one another. Chicago MC Vee Miyagi has decided to use this element of art for the advantage of his and other communities through the creation of No Color. Founded in March of this year by Miyagi and his friend Steven Reaves, No Color aims to bring artists of different background together in order to support a larger mission of community outreach. Ruby Hornet was fortunate to attend the first No Color event at Insit Studios last month. We recently followed up with Miyagi to learn more about No Color and his inspiration as an artist and activist.
Captain America and Marvel's Diverse Future
Since 1940, Captain America has [mostly] been portrayed by Steve Rogers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed All-American archetype meant to represent American ideals in the face of the then-threat of Nazi Germany. The title "Captain America" has outgrown the man as Captain America represents an icon, an idea, a belief of American justice and patriotism. Without getting too into the fictional story behind the Captain America comics or Steve Rogers, many story arcs have analyzed the definition of who and what Captain America is.
Many stories have seen other characters take the mantle of Captain America outside of Rogers. For instance, Isaiah Bradley was the first black character to share the Captain America name in the 2003 limited series, Truth: Red, White, & Black, which took the initial super soldier serum story that gave Rogers his powers, but also drew parallels to the Tuskegee syphilis experiments that took place from 1932 to 1972. However, whereas Truth: Red, White, & Black depicted an alternative Captain America never meant to replace Rogers, Marvel's new direction for the character will not only re-envision the future of the Captain America brand, but also represents Marvel's willingness to update and modernize their stories and characters to befit current American culture.
Last week, the company announced that Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon (portrayed by Anthony Mackie in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) will become Captain America this fall in the pages of All-New Captain America #1. With Wilson in the fray, Marvel will not only be able to move away from the "displaced man from history" trope that Rogers always represented, but can depict a Captain America that holds different values and views that differ greatly from Rogers', but still correlate to what the stars and stripes represent. Captain America editor Tom Brevoort elaborates:
“[Sam] didn’t grow up in the 1930s, he’s a modern day man in touch with the problems of the 21st Century. For most of his professional life, Sam has worked as a social worker, so he’s seen the worst of urban society up close, and how crime, poverty, lack of social structure and opportunity can affect the community. So he’s got perhaps a greater focus on the plight of the common man, and perhaps a greater empathy for the underprivileged than maybe even Steve himself[...] Sam, like Steve, will be led by his personal morality and beliefs as to what is right and what is wrong—and where his beliefs may differ in their shading from those of the previous Cap are where the interesting stories will be found.”
The move makes sense from a creative and narrative standpoint for Marvel. However, it also represents something much larger than a simple comic book: Marvel's willingness to adapt and modernize decades-old establishments that have, for better or worse, become outdated. Three years ago, the company introduced a new Spider-Man to their Ultimate universe, Miles Morales, a young half-Black, half-Latino teenager who took over the Spider-Man name after Peter Parker's death. In the three years since his debut, Morales has become one of the company's most popular characters. However, while he may be the star of the Ultimate line of comic books, he didn't replace the standard Peter Parker found in the main Marvel comic books, instead representing a push towards a spotlight on minorities on a smaller scale within the Ultimate line. Still, the willingness to introduce a multiracial character into a large role was huge for both Marvel and the reception and acceptance of minorities in major pop culture circles.
Earlier this year, Marvel introduced the first Muslim character, Kamala Khan, to have their own comic book with Ms. Marvel, the fourth character to take the name of Ms. Marvel. Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager, has been viewed as a window through which non-Muslim readers can see. Also announced last week was Marvel's intentions to replace the current Thor character with a woman. With a black/hispanic Spider-Man, a Muslim Ms. Marvel, a female Thor, and a black Captain America, Marvel is flipping the white hegemony historically found in comics by elevating a wide range of racially-diverse characters into the spotlight under the names of the company's most iconic heroes.
Furthermore, it's the perfect time for a mainstream entertainment juggernaut like Marvel to feature a minority character in a substantial role. It's one thing to create a new character with a new background, mythology, etc.; it's another to include a character in the long-line of history and prestige that something as iconic as a brand or name carries with it. By appointing Sam Wilson as the next Captain America, Marvel is showing their investment and faith in the character, the comic's writers, and audiences' acceptance of the shifting status quo.
Naysayers may just see the move as a gimmick. And to be honest, those are very real concerns, especially considering the entire Captain America franchise outside of the comics. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier finished its box office run with above $700m in revenue. Considering the announcement of a new Captain America was just announced, it will be many years before the possibility of a black Captain America hits the screens. By that point, will Sam Wilson still be in the stars and stripes? Will Marvel even want to portray a character not named Steve Rogers as Captain America on the big screen? Earlier this year, when current The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield expressed his support of Miles Morales appearing underneath the Spider-Man mask in theaters, Marvel balked at the idea of another character portraying one of their tentpole characters.
Marvel took a major step towards the diversification of their characters and brand. In doing so, they also acknowledged the changing landscape of American culture, setting forth a precedent where it won't be news that the next Iron Man will be Chinese or Spider-Man will be Filipino/Colombian. For now, all of us minorities can be happy that a company with such prestige as Marvel's is willing to buck the American white hegemony for one that better represents modern-day America.