Ad Astra

I've been craving a good sci-fi film for a while, feels like it's been a while since there's been a good space focused movie like this one. Ad Astra is a movie that promises to be the same caliber as great space movies like "Gravity" and "Interstellar". The movie stars Brad Pitt and is directed by James Gray (Who made that good movie "Lost City of Z"). The story centers around Brad Pitt's character, an astronaut who is named Roy McBride, as he gets a special mission relating to his father. McBride's father has been missing for decades and was presumed to be dead after a failed project in Neptune. That presumption comes into question after strange activity coming directly from Neptune starts affecting the Earth and surrounding planets in catastrophic ways. Roy's father could still be alive and he could be the reason this is happening, which is why Roy is used to possibly find him as his only living family member.

Ad Astra is an interesting movie, to say the least. The thing about this movie is that it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing really. Brad Pitt's performance is a very quiet one, where his character actually doesn't say much in the movie. Instead, we get most of the story through his own thoughts narrating his feelings throughout the story. Through his thoughts, the movie shows you what kind of person he is and how he feels about the world around him, which is important to know as the story progresses and you see his change. The ultimate message of the movie/moral is one that I think is important, but perhaps a bit disappointing to me. The reason why it's disappointing is that throughout the movie, there's a lot of mystery about what exactly is going on in Neptune. I don't want to go into much detail about it because I don't want to spoil the movie, but I was kind of disappointed in the final act of the movie. It wasn't bad, but I guess I just wanted it to be something different, maybe a little more epic perhaps.

Where this movie truly shines though are it's visuals. This movie is a treat to the eyes and every second was a joy to watch. From the opening minutes, I was hooked by the great visuals and shots of space and the great effects mixed with built sets used for filming. It has a great atmosphere and along with the music really captured my attention throughout its entire runtime. Like I said before, this is a more quiet and slow-moving story, especially towards the latter parts. Though there are still some great action sequences that I thought were really well done. There's a lot of attention to detail used in the sets and of course, outer space looks great. My favorite thing about these kinds of movies is always the use of light in the shots and this movie uses light in a lot of interesting ways for some beautiful moments or intense moments. That alongside the more subtle/quieter performances made for a really interesting experience. Everything feels really grounded and believable in this future world (with small exceptions) and I felt like this could perhaps one day be the future of our world.

Ad Astra was a treat to my eyes on a visual level. The only thing keeping this movie from being great was a slower told story that I feel didn't have the best pay off at the end. It was still a satisfying one though, and I still enjoyed pretty much every minute of this movie. Any fan of Sci-fi or space movies should give this a watch. I think it's a movie that a lot of people might find boring, especially if you're looking for action or a lot of character development. I think it has a good message, fantastic visuals, good acting and a good mysterious tone for the first chunk of the movie. I really enjoyed it overall and I'd gladly watch it again at some point.

A Look Back: 2 0 1 2

2012 was believed by dozens to be the end of the world, the year that earth would explode and the sun would come crashing into us and end all of life as we know it or something like that. That didn't actually happen obviously (probably), but it did inspire a great year of pop music... or at least that's the only reasonable explanation. 2012 was one of the best years for pop music and the charts in general. So many great songs this year and lots of variety coming in from different genres and new artists. Like always, there were plenty of terrible songs, but it felt like a lot less this year and the good music seemed to stick around more than the bad from what I can remember. So I'll be listing all my favorite songs and my least favorite songs from 2012 here. But before that here's some songs I wasn't really sure about:

Good?: Jessie J - Domino

This song is really weird. I want to like it because of it's pretty catchy and Jessie J's vocals are pretty fantastic. The problem is I have no idea what she's singing about. I assume it's about love or some kind of relationship, but some of the lyrics just don't make much sense. Lines like "You strum me like a guitar", "You're like a shot of pure gold" and "Take me down like I'm a domino" are a few of the lines from this song that really don't make much sense. Besides that, I think it's an alright song... just really weird. 

Ugh?: Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup

I was gonna put this in the bad song list, but that would mean I have to admit that whatever this is, is actually a song. I guess it's supposed to be funny, but I'm certain that after listening to this "song" I'll never laugh again. 

Uhhh?: Psy -  Gangnam Style

THIS SONG WAS EVERYWHERE and honestly, I didn't hate it. It got old after a while, sure, and it's not the kind of song I'm going to be listening to outside of doing things like this list. It's a catchy song and it knows what it's supposed to be. It takes itself as seriously as you'd expect a song like this to, which is not serious at all. It's fun and dumb and had a very memorable music video with an insane amount of views on YouTube. For that, it will always be remembered but as a song... it's OKAY. 

Meh?: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

This was around the start of the One Direction craze of the 2010s. This song was a massive step into getting One Direction into becoming one of the biggest groups in recent memory. This song is okay, not the worst they made or the best. The chorus is insanely catchy and powerful in that pop earworm sort of way. The lyrics are the one thing that keeps this from being good. They are pretty pandering to their younger fanbase and the lyrics aren't specific enough to be talking about anyone in particular so it's easy to put yourself into the song.

alright now here's the actual best/worst list...

Worst: Flo Rida - Whistle

Very clever Mr. Flo Rida, making a song about blowjobs under the "clever" double meaning of blowing whistles. Everyone knows what this song is about, and it was still played everywhere. Flo Rida is the king of commercial pop jingles, cause all his hit songs are featured in commercials. This one I remember being on vacation and cruise ads for families. The funny part is most of the commercials cut out his vocals, probably cause they aren't TV appropriate and also kinda suck. This song is pretty standard Flo Rida. A catchy chorus that gets played everywhere with meaningless verses you can barely understand. The music isn't terrible I guess, but Flo Rida sucks all the joy out of this song with his anti-talent non-personality. 

Best: Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

This was the number one song of 2012 and it still doesn't really make sense to me. Not because it's a bad song, because I really like this song. The reason it doesn't make sense is the fact that Gotye kind of came out of nowhere and then disappeared along with his massive hit. It didn't fit in with any of the trends of the year, nor is it a genre you usually expect to get hits from. Still, this song was HUGE and it was everywhere in 2012. It's really interesting musically, with a nice buildup to the chorus. The verses are almost whispered until the chorus where they really take off. The second part features Kimbra, an artist who didn't take off as much as I thought she would, considering how talented she is. Both artists are still around making music, though will probably never find the same success as they found with this song. Gotye still plays for his band The Basics, who might be worth checking out if you were a Gotye fan. 

Worst: Train - Drive By

I think I might have liked this song at one point in my life, which is pretty scary to think about. I'll always love Train's "Drops of Jupiter" despite all its weirdness, it still has enough charm to keep it fun. This song though has all the weirdness of "Drops of Jupiter" with none of the charm. The lyrics somehow make even less sense than a lot of their other songs. The chorus includes the lines "Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply, Hefty bag to hold my love". Pat Monahan's vocals are pretty grating too, not making it any easier to listen to this garbage. This song belongs in a Hefty bag.

Best: Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

My feelings on Carly Rae Jepsen have changed a lot since this song came out. Of course, my feelings on music, in general, have changed a lot these last few years. This song was a joke when it first came out. It's one of those songs that I felt like I wasn't supposed to like because of it's super poppy and cheesy sound. Carly Rae has shown a lot of growth as an artist since this song came out and has some really good songs in her catalog. Coming back to "Call Me Maybe" I can appreciate the fact that she's moved on from this and made a lot of improvements. Still, this song is fun despite all its flaws like the weak lyrics and repetitive music.

Worst: Justin Bieber - Boyfriend

Just a really boring Justin Bieber song. I feel like Justin was trying way too hard to be "Sexyback" era Justin Timberlake in this song and it doesn't work at all. This whole song just feels wrong. Like a little kid trying his best to be the "sexy bad boy", but you know he's way too young to pull it off. The music is also pretty much crap with some weak beats and some light acoustic guitar and whistling noises in the background. 

Best: Imagine Dragons - It's Time

Imagine Dragon's first album was a pretty decent one that showed lots of potential for this group. "It's Time" has some good music behind it and a simple message that can resonate with most people. Imagine Dragons always kind of felt like a rock band for people who are trying to get into rock music. It's easy to listen and get into these early Imagine Dragons songs and maybe it's something for people who aren't into rock music to ease their way into other bands. Sadly, this was the peak for Imagine Dragons in my opinion. With every new release, they have gotten worse and worse musically. Even a decent song like "It's Time" is hard to find in their new albums.

Worst: Tyga - Rack City

Probably the most boring song ever made by the most boring human-like creature that goes by the name Tyga. Here he doesn't even pretend to sound remotely human with all his emotionless babble about having sex with your grandma alongside the usual garbage DJ Mustard production. Tyga's career is one of the saddest parts of modern music charts. How a boring repetitive song like this ever got popular is so baffling and confusing to me. Further proof that it doesn't take talent to be famous.

Best: fun. - We Are Young

Much like Gotye, fun was a band that came and went within a year after their big hit. The difference here is that fun had two pretty big hits before going away (Some Nights being the other one). Just like Gotye, this song felt like it was an outsider in the pop charts because it didn't really sound like a lot of the music on it. This song has was definitely used as every high school graduation song in the year 2012 unless you went to an art school. The song has a nice epic feel while somehow being a pretty chill song at the same time. The lyrics (specifically the chorus) are a bit cliche, but the music gives it a unique feel. It has a nice buildup, gradually increasing in intensity with every verse and chorus. Then the song finally explodes after the second chorus until the final slowdown chorus. It's very catchy and really gets me pumped up to go day drinking and do some stupid shit. Well, I guess I wouldn't go that far. The band Fun is around anymore and this was their last album. The lead singer Nate Ruess went on to find his own fame outside of the group, while Jack went on to focus on his project "Bleachers" and make more great music. 

Worst: Nicki Minaj - Starships

Nicki tried her hand at going full pop singer with her song "Starships". It sort of sounds like a mix of Ke$ha and Flo Rida style pop music and it kinda works at first but doesn't hold up throughout its runtime. The chorus isn't terrible, it has a certain charm to it and it's incredibly catchy in a way that's not too annoying. What is annoying though is when Nicki uses her weird voices during the verses and the really loud music after the chorus is pretty bad too. Nicki tries her best to be relatable to "normal" people in the lyrics, but it's not very convincing. This song could have worked if Nicki stayed away from her weird quirks she was doing back then and the music chilled out a bit. 

Best: Ellie Goulding - Lights

I talked about this song recently so here's what I thought about it to not repeat myself again:

 I've always found Ellie Goulding to be a pretty dull artist, but there was always one song that I enjoyed by her, and that song is Lights. The soft background music backed with the heavy bass works really well, in my opinion, and the build to the louder and stronger chorus is pretty great. The song is about a simple subject, the fear of sleeping in the dark. I find it really cool that Ellie was open enough to write a song about this and be open about this fear, which a lot of people could be embarrassed by. The lights give her comfort and make her feel at home, being surrounded by loved ones. As a pop song, it works really well because it's catchy and the music does a good job at supporting the vocals, lyrics and the theme of the song. 

Special thanks for whoever wrote this gem of a song description on the Genius site. Brilliant. (still funny a few months later).

Worst: Selena Gomez - Love You Like A Love Song (barf)

One of the worst choruses of the decade and it still sounds as stupid as it did back then. "I love you like a love song" might be the dumbest/laziest simile in any pop song ever made. well, I guess Train comparing a one night stand to a drive-by shooting is up there too. Besides that though, this is a really boring song with no redeeming qualities : )

Best: Neon Trees - Everybody Talks (except me, I write)

I suppose this song is about how much people love to gossip about other people. Yet another song indie rock that came out of nowhere and hit pretty big. It's pretty easy to see why though, it's extremely catchy. A poppy beat with a simple, but effective bass to back it up. There's a way to make simplicity in music work well and this is a great example of how to do that. 

Worst: Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (UGH!!!!)

Man, this song really sucks and I kind of like it for some strange reason. Maybe it's the random "UGH!" sounds every 30 seconds, maybe it's just so bad it's good? I really don't know. Either way, this song is obviously about Cher wanting to get back with her ex after seeing him with a new girlfriend even though she's the one who broke up with him. Basically, she only wants him back because he's moved on from her. The vocals aren't good and can actually be pretty annoying at times with all the grunts and the weird delivery of some lines. It's like she's trying really hard to give it some personality, but takes it a little too far. I'd still rather listen to this mess 100 times over listening to "Rack City" once though. It has a strange charm to it that's hypnotizing me and I can't seem to move on. Someone come rescue me, my address is-

Best: Owl City/Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time

Yes, I have Carly Rae Jepson twice on this list and you know what, I really like her. It's also nice to have Owl City back from last year's charts proving to everyone that he's not a one-hit-wonder. I actually quite like the album this song is from, it's a solid one by Owl City. This is definitely the most pop song on the album, kind feels designed to be a hit. It's another catchy song in the same vane as "We Are Young" by Fun. This one has a lot more energy though and I love the pairing of Owl City and Carly Rae. It's a pop song where the singers actually sound like they are having fun, strangely hard to find sometimes. It has that great Owl City music, with lots of great synths and bass sounds. This song is indeed... a good time. *puts on sunglasses while explosion goes off*

Worst: Rihanna - Birthday Cake

I wanted to include the really awkward/gross version that had Chris Brown as a feature, which was their first collab after the assault. The only one I could find on Spotify was a heavily edited version that pretty much cuts out all of Chris Brown's parts, which is good. This song is still bad on its own, but having that Chris Brown presence while they sing to each other about dirty sex is just really bad. I don't really want to say anything else about this song.

Best: Adele - Set Fire to the Rain

Look it's Adele, we all know how good she is. This song is no different, she kills it. The end?

Worst: Pitbull - Back in Time

How to make a bad song in two steps:

1. Hire Pitbull

2. Refer to number one

This was the main theme to the third Men in Black movie, the last one with Will Smith. It's already disappointing enough that Will Smith himself didn't make the song, but did his replacement have to be Pitbull?! Men in Black 3 was a decent movie that I forget exists, nowhere near as good as the first but definitely better than the second. Compared to Will Smith's kids; Men in Black one is Willow, Men in Black 2 is Jaden and Men in Black 3 is... the other one. 

ANYWAY, this song sucks is what I'm trying to say. It has a really bad dubstep breakdown in the middle that sounds so out of place. The only good thing about this song is hearing Pitbull screaming "NUMBER TWOOOO!".  Yeah, it's a pretty low bar.

Best: Gavin Degraw - Not Over You

Probably one of the best mainstream breakup songs of the decade. It's so honest and relatable and Gavin Degraw really knows how to sell it perfectly. It's all about trying to save face during a hard breakup and trying to play it cool when in reality you are hurting inside trying and haven't moved on yet. The idea that there's still this sliver of hope that things might work out and you could get back together, even though it's probably not ideal or likely. The kind of hope that ends up leaving you with disappointment usually because the feelings aren't being reciprocated anymore. There's a hopeful tone to the song that really works well with the lyrics. This song is just great and it really captures the feelings that its lyrics are about.

THE WORST SONG OF 2012: Maroon 5 - Payphone

I think this was the song where I realized that Maroon 5 was going full pop and were going to stick to trying to write easy hit songs instead of just making good music. Not that hit songs can't be good, cause that's obviously not true. It's just that ever since this song, Maroon 5 have only made lazy pop songs that feature famous rappers. In this one, they feature the mediocre Wiz Khalifa who immediately goes against the theme of the song and just starts bragging about how rich and awesome he is. Not that it really matters cause the song has a dumb theme anyway. Focusing on payphones in an era where payphones aren't really a thing anymore is pretty dumb. It's also not like this song takes place in the past, cause Wiz mentions having a cell phone in his verse. The beginning of the end. 

THE BEST SONG OF 2012: The Lumineers - Ho Hey

I love The Lumineers and honestly forgot how big this song really was. 2012 really was the year of indie music coming out of nowhere into the charts. This song is fantastic though, it's about unrequited love or possibly a failed relationship. The singer is thinking about the love that could have been and the moments they could have shared but ultimately didn't. The song feels simple but has a lot of nice details in the music. The guitar alongside banjo and Tamborine make a nice sound, that folksy quality the Lumineers are known for. It was a great introduction to the band and I've grown to love their music over the years. An easy choice for my favorite charting song of  2012.

Ready or Not

Ready or Not is the new low-budget thriller from Fox Searchlight, the part of Fox that makes smaller/original movies (now owned by Disney). The movie takes place on the wedding day of Grace (Samara Weaving) and Alex (Mark O'Brien) in his family home. Alex is part of an extremely wealthy family, the Le Domas family who are known for their business in making board games and similar products. They have a tradition for any new members coming into the family, that they play a game with them chosen at random. Grace is alone with the Le Domas family, and she is set to pick the game for the night by drawing a card with the name of the game. That game happens to be Hide and Seek this time, but not an ordinary game of Hide and Seek. What she doesn't know is that one card she drew means that Alex's family will be trying to kill her as part of a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this movie going into it. I thought the concept sounded like a good one for a thriller movie with a lot of violence, and it was that but also... so much more. The movie is very self-aware of its absurd premise and uses it to its advantage. This movie can be really funny at times despite it's pretty twisted and dark setting, probably thanks to some great writing and memorable performances. That humor doesn't take away from the suspense though, and that's because of Samara Weaving's performance as Grace. The character is very likable and you root for her throughout the movie. That helps make scenes where she's in danger a lot more suspenseful. You also have her new husband Alex there to root for throughout the movie. The rest of the characters are mostly played for laughs throughout the movie and it usually works well in a very dark sort of way.

The movie is pretty violent and can get pretty graphic at times, which you'd probably expect from a movie like this. It worked throughout the movie just fine, though there was one scene in particular that made me kinda uncomfortable with how painful it looked. I'm pretty sure the movie was going for that uncomfortable feeling, but it didn't make it any easier to watch. Besides that one scene, I was really entertained by this movie. The mansion is an interesting setting, especially with the old-timey decorations and secret passages kinda like the house in Clue (which was most likely on purpose). It gave the movie a more creepy vibe because old-timey mansions are just inherently creepy apparently? The setting was used well for both creepy and funny scenes.

As the movie progresses the characters just seemed to get more over-the-top (mainly the villains) and it's pretty entertaining to watch. The movie is just so bizarre and strange at points, but it just makes it somehow even more entertaining to watch. It was a great time and I wasn't expecting it to be as entertaining as it was. And the ending is just so insane, it was a perfect way to end this crazy movie. The movie is worth a watch if you're into dark humor and violent thrillers. It was a nice surprise with some great performances and self-awareness that actually works. Also nice to see Adam Brody again, he was a highlight in this movie for me.

The Peanut Butter Falcon

It's been a few months since I put up a movie review on this site/blog/ramblings thing, so I thought it was maybe time to start trying this thing out again. Art is one of the most important parts of my life, it's where I find a lot of inspiration and motivation as I'm sure a lot of people do. There's something so special about when multiple elements just come together to tell a great story, which is the reason why I enjoy film so much. It's got so many factors that it relies upon and it's pretty crazy how it can all come together to tell a great story. Which brings me to  "The Peanut Butter Falcon", an indie movie released a few weeks ago here in the wonderful state of Florida*.

"The Peanut Butter Falcon" follows a peanut butter obsessed bird-creature named Maverick voiced by Tom Cruise. Actually, that's not true, but it could be eventually.

"The Peanut Butter Falcon" is actually about two guys on the run from the terrible situations in their current lives. Zak (Zack Gottsagen) is a young man who is forced to live in a retirement home under care due to his Down syndrome until he finds a way to escape. Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) has his own problems he's dealing with in his job as a fisherman, starting trouble with the other fishermen in his workplace. Zak and Tyler come together after Tyler burns down his rival's fishing supply and runs away on a boat that Zak happens to be hiding in. After a less than ideal first meeting, Tyler eventually decides to let Zak tag-along with him and they quickly develop a friendship. Tyler learns about Zak's dream of becoming a professional wrestler and training with his favorite wrestler The Salt Water Redneck. Tyler promises to get Zak to the wrestling school, and that's where their journey begins. While all this is happening, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson) who was in charge of taking care of Zak at the retirement home is, is searching for him across the state.

It's probably important to note that the character of Zak is played by someone who actually has Down syndrome, which is awesome to see. It actually makes the story work a lot better when someone playing a character who has Down syndrome actually has it, go figure. He's really the highlight of this movie because he plays his character so perfectly and has so much charm and good comedic timing with his lines. His relationship with Shia LaBeouf's character Tyler is what makes this movie really worth watching, it feels very real and it gets quite emotional at times. Dakota Johnson's character Eleanor who joins them a little later in the movie also has great chemistry with both of them. The setting of the movie also helped make a story better since a lot of it took place in the southern lakes, rivers, and swamps which I feel aren't used a lot in movies recently. Those settings were all shot beautifully the way it was shot really added to the sense of adventure they movie was going for.

The movie really has some great emotional moments, a lot of laughs and even some good intense scenes. Like I said before, it's crazy to think of how many factors go into telling a great story through film, and I think this movie nailed most of those aspects. Memorable characters, good writing, good soundtrack/score, good cinematography, and good acting all exist in this movie. Movies like this are one of the main reasons I even wanted to start doing these reviews a few years ago because I think they need more attention. I want more original stories and characters to exist in film and I want to see more movies like this one, ones that don't rely on established properties or franchises. Not that I don't love those too, but I've always had a soft spot for smaller projects like this one and I get really excited when I see a great movie like this. So if you get a chance I recommend checking this one out, it's definitely worth a watch.

* Florida is not wonderful

2010s Music: 2 0 1 1

A few weeks ago I decided to look back at all the popular music from this past decade. Continuing this little journey through this decade of music with the year 2011. So 2010 was a pretty mixed year for pop music, some good, and some bad songs. 2011, is a pretty big step down in quality. I struggled to find enough songs to even make a top 10 for the good and bad songs, so I only made 8 for each. So many forgettable songs this year, lots of music was so mediocre that it's really hard to have any real feelings toward it. A lot of the trends of the late '00s were still dominating the charts and it just felt like it was time for a change. Actually, there really wasn't enough good this year to even really even talk about, so I will just focus on the bad this time around. In no particular order, here are the worst songs of the year 2011, I'll still try to put my least favorite last.

Katy Perry - E.T.

2011 was a huge year for Katy Perry, getting three huge hits that were all near the top of the best selling of the year. This song (E.T.) was actually the fourth best selling of the year. Katy Perry has always been very hit or miss with me, especially around this time. Last year she had the big hit "California Gurls" which I really enjoyed overall. "E.T." is not anywhere near as good as that song. It's a weird song where Katy Perry talks about having sex with an alien who I guess is being played by Kanye West fittingly. The lyrics are really stupid and not as controversial as Katy probably thought they were (or whoever wrote this song). The music and beat are really weak and boring along with Katy's pretty weak vocals to match. Kanye's verse is pretty awful with really stupid lyrics and annoying vocal effects. Also, it's pretty funny to see how literal Kanye is taking the whole alien sex theme of the song, while I'm pretty sure Katy isn't literally talking about sleeping with aliens? This is a really dumb song that's not as clever as I think it's trying to be. 

Pitbull/Ne-Yo - Give Me Everything

You know a song is going to be good when the first line of the song is Pitbull rhyming Kodak with Kodak in a weird product placement inside of a song. It's probably no coincidence that Kodak filed for bankruptcy just a year after this song came out, so Pitbull can add that to his resume I guess. The surprising thing is that Pitbull isn't even the worst part of the song, he's actually the best part of the song... which isn't saying much. The worst part of the song is definitely Ne-Yo and his depressing delivery of the chorus. Pitbull is coming with lots of energy for this club hit and Ne-Yo does his best to ruin that with his sad voice. There's also the really annoying music that makes a really annoying buzzing sound during the chorus and really annoys me. 

Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight, Tonight

Who could forget Hot Chelle Rae? Well... everyone. After this big hit out of nowhere, they pretty much disappeared completely and never released a follow-up album. Probably for the best though, cause if it sounded anything like this song then it's nothing worth hearing more of. Musically this song just repeats the same progression over and over again from start to finish. It's not a great progression either, it's very basic and boring. On top of that, you get some awful lyrics that think they are way more clever than they actually are. A reference to Zach Galifianakis that is totally just as relevant in 2019 as it was in 2011 (not really?). When they aren't making outdated jokes, they are just stretching out the song with oohs and aahs and lalas. This pop-rock style music was at its peak popularity in 2011 and it's probably because of this song that it started to head downhill. A genre that I'm honestly still fond of, but this wasn't a good representation of it.

Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit)

This is one of the most frustratingly annoying songs I've ever heard in my life. It starts off in an interesting way by sampling the song from Dirty Dancing (Time of My Life) and it's an interesting choice for sure. But that interest doesn't last long as they don't waste much time before completely butchering it to pieces. The song goes into the *Dirty Bit* part where the vocals go away song transforms into an annoying electronic dance song that feels completely out of place with the sample used in the beginning. Then you got will.i.am with his awful autotune vocals destroying any chance of this getting good again. It's just an awful use of a sample with terrible electronic music that feels not only out of place, but extremely annoying to listen to. 

Eminem / Dr. Dre - I Need a Doctor

Two rap legends coming together to make a big single sounds like something that would be hard to mess up, but somehow they found a way to mess it up. Both Eminem and Dre have disappointing verses backed up by a pretty weak beat. The chorus also sounds like a rip-off of Evanescence or something you would have heard on the radio 8 years before this song came out. The woman singing the chorus (Skylar Grey?) even says the line "Bring me to back life" which HAD to be on purpose because of how similar it sounds to the Evanescence. So yeah, this is an awful song and possibly the last song featuring Dre. Not a great way to go out, but I'm sure he doesn't care with all the money he has from Beats. 

Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts

I don't know. This one is just pretty boring and lifeless. It's supposed to be a diss song of sorts, or at least a song aimed at someone who hurt her and she's trying to tear him apart through song. This is something that someone like Beyonce or Lizzo or Adele can do great, but Christina Perri just isn't convincing in this song. It justs feels like a song like this needs more energy and power to match the lyrics. A perfect example might be Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know" who sings about a similar topic but has music and vocals to really get her emotion across. The anger and bitterness come out and make the song convincing. In "Jar of Hearts" none of that is really present. 

LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

I think I've talked about this song too many times on this blog thing. But it's just as annoying as it always was. It's strange how these guys always seem to come after a really slow and boring song, last time I reviewed them it was after Creed's "With Arms Wide OOOOOpen". So yeah, this song is 100X more exciting than "Jar of Hearts", but it's also 100X more annoying so I guess it evens out in some messed up way. Would I rather be annoyed or bored? Now that's a good question. 

Bored. Probably bored. 

Enrique Churches / Ludacris - Tonight I'm F*CKING You

Yes. That is the actual title of this song. This is one of the grossest songs ever made and a very strange turn for Enrique Iglesias' career. Anyone familiar with his earlier work knows that he was more known as the sensitive heart-throb who sang cute romantic songs with fluffy acoustic guitar and light pop sounds. Then came this song, in 2011 he decided to take a new direction and try to be the bad-boy pop star and OH BOY did it not work well for him. This song is just awful in every way possible. The gross lyrics, the awful electronic music that's too loud, the shitty Pitbull impression by Ludacris, and just the nasty feeling you are left with after listening to this song. It's one of the worst pop songs I've had to listen to and one I was happy to have forgotten over time. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go cry in the shower. 

So 2011 was a really bad year for pop music. The charts were full of mediocre and awful songs and not really a lot of good was to be found. There were a couple of good songs by Adele, Foster the People and Kanye West to name a few. Thankfully, I took a peek at 2012 and noticed that it was WAY better than 2011 so I'm pretty excited about that.

Here are some good albums from 2011 (that I can remember)
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Adele - 21
The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
Alex Turner - Submarine Soundtrack
Foster the People - Torches
Grouplove - Never Trust a Hippie
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

and I'm sure I'm missing tons and tons more.

Thanks for reading, hope you got some enjoyment out of that and I'm sorry for reminding you of some of this awful music ; )... unless you like the songs, in which case... I'm sorry for making fun of it. (not really) 

Lion King 2 0 1 9

Lion King (2019) is Disney's 6th big release of 2019 and it's third "live-action" remake of the year out of four. Unlike Dumbo and Aladdin though, this one doesn't have any actual live-action scenes and is completely CGI. This one is based on the Disney animated movie released in 1994. The 1994 Lion King was one of the biggest movies of all time and it was the second highest-grossing movie of all time for a while. This movie was HUGE and it became a classic over time, a movie that many people have a special place in their hearts for and passed on to their children. From a business standpoint, it's a no brainer to release a new version of this movie. So far most of Disney's live-action remakes have been pretty successful and have earned lots of big money for the company. How does this one measure up to the original and how does it compare to the other remakes of the past few years?

So this movie plays out exactly like the original from 1994. And when I say that, I mean that it's the exact same story and it's almost an exact copy of the original. The story plays out just like the original, a lot of the scenes and most of the dialog are just copied and pasted in this new movie. Basically, if you've seen the original before, you've already seen like 95% of this movie. The major differences are of course the visuals and the voice acting, which I think are both done really well. The weird thing is that the visual style holds back the vocal performances of the movie, which leads to the main problem I had with this new version. The life-like characters, especially the lions, don't really show much emotion. There are scenes where the voice actors are expressing joy or sadness, but the character's faces are just emotionless and don't really match the emotion they are expressing in the music. The other major problem that comes from that is the songs. The songs are all sung very well by the new voice cast (you got Childish Gambino and Beyonce so it's going to be great), but the problem is that during the songs the characters can't really do much since the visuals are going for realism. In the original, most of the songs took place in colorful music-video style sections that really fit the tone of whatever song was playing. In this new one, they can't really do that so instead, you just have the characters kinda running around a boring location not really matching the tone that the song is going for. It just doesn't feel as fun or exciting as it's trying to be.

Even with all its flaws, I can't say I disliked this movie entirely. It's still the same Lion King story I loved since childhood. The new voice actors did a great job as I mentioned before. The visuals are really stunning and can be really beautiful at times. It really pushed technology to a whole new level when it comes to visuals and it's exciting to see what film will start to do with this level of CGI. Sadly, the most impressive aspect of this movie is what held it back the most. It took away a lot of the emotion from the story and made some of the originals iconic scenes weaker in comparison. That along with not adding anything new to the story or trying something different really left me disappointed at the end. When walking into a remake like this, you want it to be just as good if not better than the original and you want to see some new additions/changes to the story. Maybe people who don't have a strong connection with the original will like this movie a lot more than I did. Maybe others will love the nostalgia this movie brings and love it for that reason. As for me, I was really disappointed by it and will stick to the original version.

-Hakuna Matata-

2010's Music: 2 0 1 0

It's crazy to think that this decade is almost over. Music is often looked at and categorized by decades, so I thought it could be fun to look back at every year of the decade and see what music was really good and what music was awful. So I'm going to attempt to look back at every year from 2010 to 2019 (when it ends) and pick my favorite songs and the songs I hated the most. I will only be using music from the year-end charts, basically, music that was listened to the most and dominated the airwaves. Not gonna be in any order really, but I'll try to put my least favorite and my actual favorite last.

WORST: Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me

Before he was taking pills and making decent songs, Mike Posner was a terrible artist who had zero charm. There's no better example of his lack of charm with this beautiful song "Cooler Than Me". Mike Posner attempts to sing (debatable) a song about a girl who isn't into him because she thinks she's so much cooler than him. He tries all his tricks to get her, but she doesn't go for it because she thinks she's better than him. It's pretty easy to see why she's not into him, cause he seems pretty desperate and as soon as he is rejected he just starts complaining about how you don't like him because you're stuck-up. Mike Posner just comes across as super whiny and butt-hurt about being rejected in this song. His vocals aren't good and the music doesn't really help cover that up in any way. Just bad. 

BEST: Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet

Every department store's favorite artist Michael Buble hit the charts pretty big in 2010 with this song. Maybe the last time that Michael had a huge hit that ended being one of the highest selling of the year. I'm not too familiar with the work of Michael Buble, outside of his Christmas work. This song is dangerously catchy though and unlike Mike Posner, the vocals are on point and the music has a nice cheery element to go along with the romantic lyrics. It's all just very nice and fluffy, like eating a dessert. Including the guilt afterward. 

WORST: Drake - Find Your Love

So it's really been a whole decade of hearing Drake on the radio or seeing him multiple times on the best selling list of a year. This is somehow even more boring than his current work. It's one of those Drake songs where he tries really hard to be romantic but comes across as more insincere and cheesy. The music is okay, a mix of a lot of different sounds that work fairly well together sometimes and other times sounds a bit messy. Drake's vocals and lyrics just leave a lot to be desired and the song just drags and feels way longer than it actually is because of how boring it is. 

BEST: Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

I've always really loved this song. It's one of those songs that perfectly captures a specific feeling. The feeling of missing someone and wanting to see them badly again even though the relationship is over or on the rocks. The music and vocals come together to really show off the desperation and loneliness the lyrics are explaining. Unlike Drake, where you don't really feel much emotion from his vocals to match his lyrical content in the previous song. Using music to express how you feel at a certain time makes for a great song, especially when you can feel the emotion in the instruments and vocals. Whether it's a love song like Michael Buble's song or a song about missing someone like this one.

WORST: Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be

One of the most annoying songs of the decade easily. Besides the obvious constant repetition of "Imma be" throughout the ENTIRE song that definitely doesn't get old before the first verse. None of the other lyrics really make sense, but I'm assuming it's all just generic brag rap lyrics. Fergie tries to be cool, TRIES. But really she shows all of her weaknesses as an artist instead. 

Things do kind of pick up towards the last minute of the song and it becomes a little more tolerable and interesting. But having to sit and listen to the first few minutes isn't worth it to hear a slightly better song at the end. This song is just lazy and not as clever as they probably thought it was. 

BEST: Katy Perry - California Gurls

It's crazy to think that at one point Katy Perry actually made fun pop music that was enjoyable to listen to. This song is catchy as hell and just really fun from the music to the catchy melodies. Lyrically it's nothing memorable, but it gets the job done of being a fun summer jam song you can play in your car or at a party. That's it. Pretty simple. Oh and Snoop Dogg.

WORST: David Guetta/Akon - Sexy B*tch

This song is just...gross. Not just the lyrics either, but the loud annoying music by David Guetta. I seriously couldn't even finish listening to the song because it was so loud and annoying musically. Maybe I'm just getting old? I don't know, but this is the kind of song I wish never existed. This style of music was at its peak popularity in 2010 though, and pop music has changed a bit since then. I don't want to talk about or ever listen to this again.

BEST: Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Actually, this song is kind of loud and messy musically too. Why does this work more than the last song then? Probably because of the lyrics not being gross, but also because of Lady Gaga actually having lots of charisma and talent. Lady Gaga just has the ability to make weird things like this work. Despite its weirdness, it's still catchy and has a pretty powerful chorus that's very memorable. It still has a lot of the same sounds that other pop songs had at the time, but it manages to stand out in the right ways...unlike the next song.

WORST: Far East Movement - Like a G6

I'm gonna put as much effort writing about this song as they did in actually making it. It's not a good song. It's really bad. 

BEST: Eminem - Not Afraid

The late 2000s were not easy for Marshall. Two pretty bad albums killed a lot of the momentum he made for himself in the 90s and early 00s. I think this album was a nice comeback from all that though and this song one of the biggest singles from it. It feels like a more honest and mature Eminem. It's not as good as his earlier work in my opinion and maybe that's because of nostalgia on my part, but that's just how I feel. This was still a step in the right direction to finding a new Eminem I could get behind. Sadly it didn't really end up going nowhere, but I still enjoy this album for what it did at the time. 

WORST: Jason Derulo - Watcha Say

I think I've talked about this song on here before, but basically, I hate this song. I hate the way it uses the sample from a song I love (Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap) and butchers it. I hate the way crappy autotune on Derulo's voice. I hate the stupid lyrics. I hate the crappy beat. I hate the way Derulo annoyingly inflects on certain words.

BEST: Maroon 5 - Misery

Anyone who's read my music posts on here probably knows how much I hate Maroon 5 and their terrible music. It wasn't always that way though. Before they became a seven-person band that makes emptier sounding music than bands with one member, they actually made pretty fun music. This song was from their third album, which was OKAY but compared to their last three albums was AMAZING. This song is fun, funky, energetic and actually sounds like a band is working on it. Adam's vocals sound better when he's singing along to a nice bassline and funky guitar. It's not great, but I still don't mind listening to this, at least it doesn't bore me like their new stuff.

WORST: Justin Biber - Baby

Yeah, it's been a whole decade of Bieber. This was his big breakout hit song that everybody knew but wanted to forget. It's easy to look back and make fun of this super cheesy song with annoying vocals, but it's also nice to know that Bieber did eventually outgrow this and made a few decent songs. The saddest part though it Ludacris being involved in this... I hope the money was worth it?

BEST: Owl City - Fireflies

I'm not sure if I actually like this song or it was just different enough from everything else that it was refreshing to hear. I do really like Adam Young as an artist and this album did have some good tracks and he has gone on to make some enjoyable albums under the Owl City name and under his own name. This song was really different than anything else on the charts at the time, which is really surprising how big it became. There's always a song like this every year though, much like last year's "Feel It Still". The difference here is that Owl City did have another pretty big hit a few years later, which will probably be on the best of for that year if I get that far. 

WORST: Ke$ha - Blah Blah Blah

Take every annoying trend from 2010 and throw into a bucket, mix it with awful vocals and a guest appearance by one of the worst "bands" of the 2000s in 3OH!3 and you got whatever this is. How did a song that seemed to be designed to be annoying become such a huge hit? Thankfully Kesha has improved a lot over the years and has even made some good music. As for 3OH!3, well they still suck but at least they aren't getting attention anymore.

BEST: Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

In the 2010s, alternative rock music just doesn't have the same appeal as it did in the 90s and early 00s. So whenever a band like Kings of Leon can make a name for itself and even get heavy radio play in pop stations it's always a surprise. Though like most bands that get a big push like this, they never did reach the same heights in their follow-up albums. Still, they gained enough of a following around this time to keep being one of the more well-known and successful alternative rock bands of the decade. The song "Use Somebody" was a great rock anthem, the kind of song that probably does great at live shows and livens up the crowd. It's a great sing-along rock song with simple, but memorable lyrics and melodies. 

WORST? Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA

Before Miley broke out of the Disney Channel and created a new image for herself, she was making songs like this one. Which is a song I'm probably supposed to hate, but I just can't for whatever reason? It's just too catchy and dumb to really hate. The lyrics are pretty stupid, but she was barely 18 at the time and didn't even write this song. It was written by a bunch of "professionals" and Jessie J, who's never been good at writing lyrics. It's catchy, but it's still not a good song other than that. The song is about the first time Miley (I guess?) went to Hollywood and how nervous and out of place, she felt being from Nashville. Then a song by Britney Spears and Jay-Z played on the radio and made her feel at home somehow? Also, everyone thought she was weird because she was wearing shoes? I don't know. 

BEST: Gaga & Beyonce - Telephone

In my opinion, probably the best charting pure pop song of 2010. Super catchy, great vocals from two pop titans Gaga and Beyonce and pretty good music by 2010 pop standards. The song builds to a big explosive memorable chorus which Gaga has seemed to master at this point. When you put two big names like that on a track you expect pop greatness and I think they delivered on that promise. 

THE WORST SONG: Young Money - Bedrock

Young Money was Lil' Waynes group and this song was their big hit. Young Money was Lil' Waynes attempt to make big stars out of all the people on his label and I guess it worked in some ways. Looking at the names on this track, a lot of the member did go on to have huge solo careers and become pop stars. You got two big stars starting out in Drake and Nicki Minaj. Also a lesser star, but still a pretty big name in Tyga (who's just terrible). Everyone else in this song never made it past this point though (that I know of?). This song is easily the worst of the year though. With so much star power and name, you'd think this song would be great. The lyrics are full of stupid cliches and sometimes make no sense at all. The chorus is somehow worse and Lloyds awful vocals definitely don't help. Even Lil Wayne, who's supposed to be the big name, feels like he's not really trying and gets outshined by Drake and Nicki in their verses. It's a mess and it shouldn't be. 

THE BEST: Paramore - The Only Exception

It was impossible for this not to be my best charting song of the year. Paramore is one of my favorite bands and it's not often that one of my favorites gets on the charts like this. Even though it was really low on the list (number 93), it still a song that has left an impact on me since it's release. Even almost a decade later this song is one I often return to and still get a lot of enjoyment from. While the lyrics are a bit of a romantic cliche, it still comes across as very genuine and sweet. The acoustic guitar is a nice touch to add to the dreamy romantic vibe of the song. Haylie's vocals have always been some of the best in rock music and she does great here to show some vulnerability and make the song feel real in its message. Just a great song overall and easily my favorite of the year from the list here. 

2010 was a mixed year in pop music, there was a lot of bad but there was enough good around to keep it from being a terrible year in music. It would go on to get worse later on in the decade. We got a little preview of the coming trends and superstars this year though. Artists like Nicki Minaj, Drake, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift were still working their way up at this point. They would eventually become the biggest names in the music world in the coming years. Thankfully the loud electronic music trend would die down in the coming years and eventually be replaced by a lot more depressing music. which is... better?

2010 had great music outside of the charts though. Here are a few albums I remember being great from that year (in my opinion):

Kanye West - Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Civil Twilight - Civil Twilight
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Young the Giant - Young the Giant
Anberlin - Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
MGMT - Congratulations
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Beach House- Teen Dreams
House of Heroes - Suburba
Deas Vail - Birds & Cages