DAMusic. DAMovies. DAMerican Idol.

Official Movie Poster for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse!! June 30, 2010 is the date!

Wow. This definitely exceeds expectation. Considering previous Idol releases, like Diana Degarmo’s [haha], I think she’s got one of the better debut albums. Not quite Daughtry or David Cook or Kris Allen, but it’s packed with quality songs.

Most songs are well written and really allow Allison to showcase her vocal prowess. She can reach those notes but at the same time, she sings with so much passion and emotion, it’s infectious. These songs were made for her, and she elevates them to a level few artists are ever able to. She is no Disney pop princess, she’s one true rock princess!

Here’s my take on the 13 tracks:

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fuckyeahads:

nevver:

Global Warming

American Idol season 8 is definitely on a roll. Kris Allen’s video looks cool, Allison Iraheta’s video looks fun, and Adam Lambert’s video looks edgy with a smile. I’m a bit baffled with this guy as i’m not generally a fan of his, more so the hoopla that surrounds his AMA performance days ago. Having said that, this video has that perfect mix of sex and playfulness [lacking playfulness was a major shortcoming of the AMA performance]. See, now THAT is what he should’ve done on the AMAs. That level of performance!!! I’m hoping that the AMA performance isn’t the visual that will be associated with this song.

The numbers are out and it’s confirmed! Kris Allen debuts at #11 on The Billboard 200!!

John Mayer, as predicted, pulled the biggest number for last week’s album releases with sales of 286,000 copies. A little less than his previous album opener at 317,000 copies sold. Andrea Bocelli came in second with 192,000 copies sold. A couple of big names also released their albums last week including Norah Jones, who came in third with 180,000 copies and 50 Cent with 160,000 copies for the fourth place. Also, Usher’s protegee, new comer Justin Bieber finished with 137,000 copies sold for the sixth slot. Surprisingly, Simon Cowell’s protegee Leona Lewis’ sophomore album Echo only sold 67,000 copies on it’s debut week landing at #13. The number she generated is less than half of her debut album sales of 205,000 copies on its first week, which also debuted at #1 last year on The Billboard 200.

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fuckyeahads:

Everlast: All or Nothing

IDLE MIND 11/25/09

Ok. Well, I have already given my take on his performance at yesterday’s American Music Awards and you can actually read it HERE.

But apparently, the hoopla doesn’t stop there! Now, Adam Lambert is crying out DISCRIMINATION for editing his performance for the West Coast. I heard that the simulated blow job was edited out.

“If it’s gonna be edited, then in a way that’s discrimination. I don’t mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney and Christina weren’t edited,” Adam said. “It’s a shame. Female entertainers have been risqué for years. Honestly, there’s a huge double standard.”

Adam. While Britney, Madonna and Christina, and to some extent, even Prince and David Bowie, did indeed push the envelopes of sexuality, they never did it in a way that seemed overtly trashy. The simulated oral sex isn’t the equivalent of kissing if you are a broadcast network like ABC.

I think you need to stop whining. You had your chance, and you blew it. Own it! You, your record label, and the media took a huge gamble and it FAILED! BIGTIME! That’s the chance you take, so throwing out the discrimination card now just reeks of utter desperation, and that doesn’t look “fierce” – it looks pathetic and pathetic is not entertaining.

Also, I thought you didn’t want to be political or a role model and foster child for gay rights as you as you just want to sing and be know for you voice. Now you’re calling out double standards and discrimination? What, you’ll only be “gay-gay” when you chooses, and the rest of the time we should do as you say and accept it? Such a hypocrite.

I’m a pretty liberal person and in no way homophobic, but I didn’t get his performance at all. I do think his performance was a bit trying too hard. It’s one thing to gyrate through your entire performance, but to gyrate, make crotch-grabs, devour someone’s face with your mouth, and shove one dancer’s face on your crotch – I mean, I think we get the drift the first time around. Not only were the vocals surprisingly sub-par for Adam, but the visuals seemed contrived. The first half was cool – the dragging of the chick and then the whipping of the guys or whatever. But then as the performance progressed, it just gave off an amateurish vibe – like a kid playing dress-up and wanting to impress the grown-ups.

Personally, there was nothing fun about his performance. According to his song, this is supposed to be for our entertainment, not his. Go figure!

I watched Twilight before actually reading all four [4] books and to be fair, New Moon was the least of my favorites. But as a reader [I can definitely say this now. Ha!] and a movie-goer, I was thoroughly pleased with the film. The most anticipated romance tale of the year was decently made. Nice.

Frankly, this film offered some major improvements – visually and technically – from its predecessor.  From the music to the camera angles, everything came off as very polished. There was no hint of excessively overbearing camera shots that Hardwicke used in Twilight. It was generally clean and crisp, and quite visually stunning.

The overall cinematography was lush and the color schemes evocative. The art design was also sophisticated with a number of moody and beautifully composed set pieces. I found the fight scenes very good [something the first film was a bit cheap on] and the special effects almost flawless [except for some].

I was also impressed with the narrative and the great use of transitions. The previous film just jumped and skipped to the next plot point without any decent transition. This film, however, actually had a pace and a coherency to it that allowed the audience to understand the story without reading the books.

As for the acting ensemble, I thought that they definitely turned up a notch in this film – aside from the fact that all crass dialogue was quite bearable now. Ha!  The three leads, in particular, ironically overshadowed the rest of an elite cast.

Kristen Stewart pulled me into every scene. She was utterly convincing as a clinically depressed teenager and I felt her when she went through her phases of depression. Robert Pattinson also delivered as perhaps the most challenging role. He understood subtlety and was exquisitely understated when required. But it was Taylor Lautner who, I thought, turned out to be a revelation. He showed an expansive emotional range. I’m actually beginning to think that the movie Jacob is ten times better than book Jacob who comes off as whiny apparently.

Sadly, I still had some quibbles with the film.  I thought that some scenes were unnecessarily long and the first half dragged a bit. The pace was painfully slow to a point where it almost became nonsensical. Also, the make-up of the Cullens, especially of Robert Pattinson was still horrendous! More so, Jasper’s hair, which looked like a dead cat flopping around up there. It was unintentionally funny. Seriously. They should do something about that!

Obviously, this movie is more like a transitional bridge in the series. While it is not, in any way, Oscar material, I think it fulfilled the cinematic promise of the book. And compared to its predecessor, everything was relatively better. Relatively being the operative word here. Ha! Nicely done.



I have to say this though, the ending scene and final line was probably one of the best cliffhangers in recent memory.

Music Video: Friday I’ll Be Over U - Allison Iraheta

Impressive! My thoughts later..

It’s no secret that I’m more of a Kris Allen fan, and Adam typically leaves me hot and cold [when he’s good, he’s great, but when he’s bad, yeeesh]. When I first heard the snippets, I was underwhelmed. To me, it was Adam singing Muse, Adam singing Pink, Adam singing Gaga, Adam singing Weezer, etc. However, after hearing the whole thing, there are moments of total awesomeness here. Some songs seem to embody the kind of music Adam wanted to put out, and they play to all his strengths. It does feel a bit disjointed, though, going from one to another particularly in the beginning. I think that it’s going to be the music people will love or hate… not much for people to feel so-so over.

Here’s my take on the 14 tracks:

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Ok. This was a tricky one. I mean, I was thoroughly entertained and satisfied with the film but I felt like my brain was utterly wasted on the CGI and special effects bonanza. I don’t know.

Obviously, it was everything I expected from a movie like this. I was seriously in great awe with the splendid special effects of the film - collapsing buildings, flaming cars, planes falling down, earthquakes, explosions, tsunamis etc. The destruction sequences throughout were absolutely breathtaking to behold. A real trip and a feast for the eyes and ears.

I also found the actors quite effective and believable. In parts, I felt an emotional connection with some of the characters.

However, the movie was filled with cliches and it was way too predictable for comfort. I thought that the story had great potential but stayed so shallow. It was almost entirely lacking of any interesting backstory or intellectual substance whatsoever. There was very little mention of the Mayan calendar, Mayan history, or any of the prophetic wisdom that has foreseen the supposed end of days.

The film also had too many ‘close calls’ for the lead actors that it almost seemed totally unrealistic. These moments were too cheesy, implausible and too melodramatic that it didn’t really contribute anything to the movie.

And even though it touched on some deeper overtones involving us as human beings, the ending was slightly awkward and the action somewhat lost its luster. I was actually a little desensitized to the real thing - if it ever happens. 

Now, if only the cliches were a bit less over-the-top and the premise less predictable, this could have been one heck of a masterpiece. Having said that, the film was still satisfying to say the least even if it didn’t bring anything new to the table. But as a disaster film, it took destruction to a whole new jaw-dropping level.

Waah! I’m getting more confused! Ha!

I feel so vindicated right now! It looks like he validated my fantardism with this album. Ha! I got to say, this effort thoroughly exceeded my expectations. The songs here are far away from cookie-cutter! The record seems very high-quality, and doesn’t seem overproduced at all, unlike most of the post Idol’s debut albums. Also, the album flows effortlessly from song to song and there is a cohesiveness and somewhat of a story line going on.

Although he did the Fray/Rob Thomas/Maroon 5 thing, it is with a soulful twist and lots of rhythm in these songs. I am also glad that his unbelievable phrasing, which I loved during his American Idol run, is still there. His voice also sounds better than the last time I remembered. There is a bunch of higher register and falsetto in these songs and he sounds gorgeous in these parts. I had no idea that he had so many shades/levels to his voice; he says he can’t act, but his voice sure can. I believe that he is definitely starting to find his own sound here.

Here’s my take on the 13 tracks:

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Michael Jackson, without a doubt, is one of the world’s greatest performers! Really. Setting aside all his personal life struggles and psyche, his artistic achievements put him in the pantheon of modern culture.

This film/documentary easily reignited my appreciation for the man. I was completely blown away. He entertained me from beginning to end as it just overflowed with his energy, passion and dedication.

I thought that all his performances had the perfect blend of technology and art. His voice sometimes showed his age, but the dancing were as great as they always have been. The intensity and passion only made me think how spectacular the real concert would’ve been.

Also, nothing was ever less than compelling mostly due to the level of talent the production has. Dancers. Musicians. Back-up singers. Sets. Costumes. It was literally a parade of the Best of the Best.

But aside from the stellar performances, it was interesting that the film revealed a very different side of Michael Jackson - something I didn’t expect. The footage was so intimate that I saw him as a real person and not just an excellent music-machine [you know what I mean. ha!] slash entertainer. He was cracking jokes. He was hands on with the details of the concert. He treated everybody like a friend. He was humble. Unbelievably a good person.

Overall, the movie was an excellent tribute that the fans deserve to see. It was a final precious work from a perfectionist, a visionary, an unsurpassable artist, an icon, a real person. Michael Jackson.