In an effort to drum up some funding for the next phase of WT, I'm
looking to you guys to maybe show some support and get a cool shirt in
exchange. All these designs shown are %100 percent created by ME, and
are exclusive to Ragshirt (other non-exclusive images also available). The color of any shirt can be changed! Since no one buys my shirts - if you did, you'd be be almost guaranteed to have a cool design no one else in your immediate are will have! I'm not looking to get rich of these and I've kept the prices as low as I can - I only make a few dollars from each.
It's a way for you to show your support of what I'm doing on the web and help me recoup some of the costs of the next chapter of Wicked Theory's existence.
What is that you ask? What's next?
A weekly, geekly, toungue in cheekly Podcast.
It's not expensive to do but it ain't free either.
Look for more on that very soon as well as regular articles here... more regularly.
As always I'm much more active on Facebook and Tumblr and those links are in the column on the right! Check 'em out, be sure to Like and Follow!
Okay, so that headline is more painful than witty but it's the best I had. I blame this weak-ass coffee I'm drinking.
Yes, we started a TUMBLR Account! Go check it out and follow us there too!
"How will this be different?" I hear you saying.
I. Have. No. Idea.
Time will tell I suppose.... but there will be gifs!
But long form articles, reviews and rants will always happen right here.
Caption Contests will always be on our Facebook page.
Occasionally, content will cross over but I'm trying to keep that to a minimum for now. Ideally, each of our outlets should have a different flavor. Hopefully you find each as appealing as diamond encrusted ice cream (which sounds bad for your teeth but loved by millions).
If you spend any time at all on the internet—and obviously, you do—the
odds are very, very good that you have been exposed to Doctor Who at
some point. Doctor Who is almost as ubiquitous in the cyberworld as
pictures of kittens with poor grammar. In fact, even if by some miracle
you have avoided every Whovian meme and reference
and facebook post, if you watch any television at all, odds are you’ve
still been exposed. The Doctor and his cohorts have popped up in sly
references on dozens of shows, including the Simpsons and an ongoing
Doctor Who parody on NBC's Community by the name of Inspector Spacetime. Doctor Who is just plain everywhere. And there’s a simple reason for that: it is AWESOME. To prove it, I'm going to take you from the very beginning, all the way to the upcoming season...
Previously on Wicked Theory: Months ago, our Presidential Primary Candidates representing the WTF Party, Notsocrazy and Bill Blogins, disappeared while on their Campaign Bus tour. Their last stop? HAZZARD COUNTY. The smoke has cleared, a media embargo lifted, and now, finally they can reveal the truth. In Part 1 they recalled a whole slew of dark and nonsensical jibber-jabber. It's more than we want to recap here, because this is way too long as it is, so we recommend you read that first.
We, your Wicked Theory Faction candidates, Notsocrazy and BilBlogins, wish to apologize for our distinctly noted absences at the end of the Primary Election season. As it turns out, this campaign tour and life on the road, has had more twists and turns planned for us than we could have ever anticipated, with or without a map... As you know, when we headed out of Pennsylvania, our next planned stop was in Hazzard County at The Boar’s Nest, the local saloon of choice. Our goals were to address the issues of the locality, ensure the public that our platform is stronger than ever, and to see for ourselves, the origination of the Daisy Duke’s. Unfortunately, the scheming local County Commissioner, Jefferson Davis Hogg and local Sheriff, Rosco P. Coltrane, framed us for crimes we did not commit soon after our arrival. Lucky for us, some kindhearted locals, the Duke family, liberated us from the confines of the Hazzard County jail... And more. Sadly. Events transpired, both horrific and heroic, and the ensuing investigations kept us from discussing them publicly until now. We believe the public deserves the truth. Here, compiled from first hand accounts, the ATF's final report, and our own recollection, is what went down...
Now that Christopher Nolan's reign of Gotham is complete, the question that's already been lying on the table is "What's next for Bruce and the Cowl?" because, as The Amazing Sider-Man reboot has shown, starting over is a sticky wicket.
But I have a solution that I'm offering free of charge to those Powers That Be should they choose to take advantage of my idea...
Every year or so the "Death of Hollywood" is announced. Again. But then, in defiance, it keeps on chugging along, as "dead" as it never was. Something comes along and revitalizes it in a way that spurs on the next thing. And what exactly is that next thing? It is always one of the standard options: Prequel, Sequel, Remake, Adaption or sometimes, if we're lucky, it's a crazy thing called an Original Idea.
But why all the retreading? Why do studios seem to shy away from the Original Ideas?
Lot's of reasons. One well-grounded belief is that too many Studio Suits have moved up from marketing departments, or are highly/overly marketing conscious, and for those types, the biggest hold-back for new original concepts is Marketability. "If I can't see the marketing in my head, how can I sell it? If it's too different how do I describe it? I have nothing to compare it to." It's all about risk. To start over the Spider-Man film series (as crazy as that sounds so soon after the last round with Rami/Maguire) is less risky than John Carter. Fact. And we all know how John Carter went this year don't we? And that was a well known book. It's a big money game and you can't blame studios for being nervous, sadly though, it's a mindset that actually slows the influx of "new".
A studio can only produce so much in a year and if half of that is reprocessing preexisting material, with another chunk dedicated to jumping on last years trend, plus the slice lingering in Development Hell, well it's a wonder anything new and different gets through at all. If only there was a way to quantify that risk, a way to show studios what we were most eager to see. What if we the consumer, could tell them what we wanted.
Louis Plamondon had very this idea. In this day and age there should be a website where upcoming movies could be voted on, to reflect it's popularity, interest and the eagerness of the audience to see it. It could be a yardstick for studios in that regard, basically making "Buzz" tangible. But there was no such site.
It is a place designed to inform Hollywood exactly how we would spend our money. Movies in all phases of development are listed, some are not even in development, yet, just ideas or concepts, waiting for attention. The trial run has been going strong and a 2.0 upgrade is looming, but this week Louis is making headlines and even the front page of Variety - but not for the bold website that looks to revolutionize Hollywood, no, no. See, you should know that Louis also makes Mash-ups time to time. Very good ones, too. So it was no surprise to me, when what started as a half-joking idea on his Facebook page turned into a viral sensation.
I guess now's a good time to mention that I've been a "follower" of the Skunk's page for a while and saw firsthand-ish, the gestation that lead to him creating a 25 minute preview mash of all publicly released clips and trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man. The "Super-Preview" as he titled it, is a somewhat condensed version of the film regardless of a remaining 110 minutes still available only in theaters. Well, it went viral as you might imagine and in the process was taken down a few times. It's garnered him a slice of notoriety plus hate email and the fact that such a chunk was even available, has pushed to the front the reoccurring debate of "how much is too much?" So there are a few questions we'd like to ask him… I mean, what kind of madman thinks he can take on Hollywood, anyway?
Oh Tumblr, you are a great time-waster, but also one of the main means I use to keep up with U.S. pop culture. I was scrolling through my dashboard and was met with this gif set. There was a young woman grooving along and singing to what I would soon find out was the bridge. A look at the tags revealed that her name was Leah LaBelle, the song she was singing was “Sexify”, and either the Neptunes or Pharell had a hand in producing the song. Of course, my curiosity was piqued and it lead to a quick visit to our favorite video sharing site to learn more about Miss LaBelle and her debut single “Sexify”, let's listen....
Among the many stylization signatures Quentin Tarantino's movies are known for, the soundtracks to his films have always been a mesrmerizing trove of re-found treasures. None perhaps more poetically schitzophrenic than the track listings for the Kill Bill movies.
But looking over the songs from his films one can quickly start to gather an impression of music that may fit into the inferred QT esthetic - if there really is one. Simply put, it's easy to hear a song and instantly imagine it in a movie but sometimes you hear a song and know exactly who's movie it should be in. So, here are some tunes I think QT may want to check out, and since it's unlikely he'll see this, why don't you? Let's listen...
Here
on Wicked Theory we are expanding our efforts to bring to you exposure
to the entertainment that matters, to fight to keep it alive, and to
enlighten you on the cutting edge you may be missing out on. In this
segment, we will sit down with real industry originals for five
questions summing up the voyage they are on.
For our first run out of the gate, we are talking with Adam Rifkin,
a great director who has paid his dues and continues to give us thought
provoking entertainment tainted with his uniquely dark humor. So Adam, let’s sum it up in five...
For the past week, the small city of Austin has been flooded with
techies, film aficionados, musicians, and hipsters for the ultimate
media festival know as South by Southwest, or SXSW. Usually people pay
the expensive badge price and spend four days bar-hopping in order to
see their favorite bands. Of course, you have the people like me that
decide to take a chance on the free shows and play Russian Roulette with
the music choices. The Buzznet all-ages day party was a surprise for
me.
The schedule listed Every Avenue, States, Go Radio, Forever the
Sickest Kids, Lights, and The Jane Doze to play from 2 to 6 pm. With the
exception of Forever the Sickest Kids during my early high school
years, I had not listened to any of the bands on the line-up, despite
hearing and seeing their names multiple times in the past. Saying that
this particular Friday would be a musical adventure would be an
understatement. Each band falls under the umbrella term of pop rock, but
presented a different take on the term. Let's go check out some videos...
...And nothing will ever be the same. Oh, wait. Yes it will.
"Timelines" for Facebook Pages have spilled into our reality. We had until the end of the month but we figured what the hell, do it now. What does this mean for you? Now we can "Highlight" certain posts and that means the video players go full size when you watch them there.
Also, you can now message us directly to complain, recommend stuff or tell us secrets. So that's kind of cool.
If you didn't already know, our FB page is updated all day, every day and is actually 1000x cooler than this site. Most Pop News sites want you to go to them - we come to you via your feed/stream.
To make it seem like a semi-official, quasi-relaunch, we also churned up a new logo just for the page. So look for the Wicked Theory seal of cautionary coolness!
How's that grab you? Tought's? Opinions? Hit us up in the comments below!
I know at least half of the people that are reading this either A)
legitimately forgot that today is Valentine’s Day or B) are choosing to
forget it is Valentine’s Day. Whatever the case maybe, a stellar
playlist will make the day ten times better. In case your knowledge in
love songs is lacking, never fear Wicked Theorists! I am graciously
coming to your rescue with a swoon-worthy playlist that will make you
laugh, cry, and dance with your loved one or your friend.
According to MTV and
various other music blogs, as a female college student, I am your target
demographic. Especially as a student in a quirky and liberal city, your
adorable, yet sultry retro style in singing and in fashion is suppose to
appeal. Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot take anyone seriously when they
refer to themselves as “the gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Even then, I
decided to finally look up the music video that has repeatedly been
mentioned on MTV’s late night music video blocks and appearing on the
sidebar of any VEVO video for the past few weeks. After watching the
five minute long video for Lana’s latest single “Born To Die”, the most I
could muster for a reaction was “meh”.
The song itself is okay,
certainly nothing to write home about. While it is infectious for a
ballad, the musical composition and arrangement prevents it from being a
great, chart-topping song. “Born To Die” relies a lot on the
instrumentation to shape the song instead of Lana’s voice. All
throughout the song, her voice stays static, aside from the Marilyn
Monroe-esque whispers that make up part of the hook. Even at what
should be the climax of the song, her voice is drowned out by the
instrumentation instead of it being the moment where her vocal ability
should have been showcased. She does have a lovely dream-like quality to
her voice, but the songwriting reduces it and her songs to elevator
music; you are aware you are listening to it, but you really don’t care
to pay attention to what you are listening to.
Again, when I first watched it, I thought it was Katy Perry’s “The
One That Got Away” for indie lovers. The first scene consists of our
retro beauty topless and embracing a similarly undressed man covered in
tattoos while the American flag ripples in the background. I’m not sure
what the flag is supposed to represent, but I am assuming the guy is
there to establish her indie cred. The next few scenes are of the camera
capturing an ornate room while zooming in to settle on Lana. Sitting on
a throne and flanked by CGI tigers, she dresses the part of indie
goddess in a retro inspired white gown and flower head dress that any
hipster chick would drool over. Unfortunately, this constitutes the
performance part of the video and we are forced to watch her fail
miserably. When she begins singing, her movements look half-assed and
her eyes dart back and forth nervously, as though she was unaware that people
were filming her. It then cuts to the main “story” that starts with the
indie scene queen running into the arms of her “I’m too hardcore to
show emotions” lover. In an attempt to progress the story, they smoke
what we are assuming is weed from the lyrics and tumble around the back
seat.
Meek Indie Songbird?
Between all of this, a few more performance shots of unsure
motions are interjected. Then, we are presented with a new
location as a white night gown clad Lana lies down in a bed full of
flowers (pay attention folks, this is important at the end). There are
more shots of her with her lover and posing as the light illuminates
them in the darkness. It switches back to the main story where lover boy
is driving and leans over to kiss Lana. Before we can see what happens
next, it is back to the performance shots and Lana’s awkward hand
gestures that are either too subtle or ridiculous, like when she mimes
smoking a blunt. The camera leads us down a dimly lit hallway where we
see Lana doing that supposedly sexy slo-mo walk, that all popular girls
do in every teen movie, to open a door that exposes a bright light. It
then cuts to her tattooed and indifferent lover boy holding her bloodied
body while flames burn in the background. For those that did not heed
my warning a few sentences back, the white nightgown Lana is her ghost
wandering around and reminiscing about her relationship. This is what
her label is selling as the artsy and deep part of her vision (and at
this, I laugh). Then, for some odd reason, the video ends with the same
image as it started with, despite our indie goddess being dead.
A 24 Karat Warning?
Bottom
line, she can actually sing, but she is not doing her career any favors
by working with horrible song writers and making shallow music videos.
Who knows, maybe she will shock us later in the year.
[Full Disclosure: This review was indeed scheduled and written before Lana Del Rey's recent, "mixed-reaction" SNL performanceon 1/14/12]
