Music Video Monday: Fun., Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa

The week's installment of Music Video Monday features a song that's very high on the charts and another that's just very high:

Fun. - We Are Young

While it's unclear exactly what sent the nightclub into a frenzy in this video (my money is on the lead singer's poor choice in shoes), one thing is very apparent: slow motion is cool. Slow motion can make even the most boring video (see: Fun. - We Are Young) bearable. I guess when dealing with such a ubiquitous (SAT word alert!) song, a bearable video is all you need. We Are Young is one of those tunes you feel like you've heard before, even during the first listen. It's like the chorus was ingrained into your brain way back when and Fun. just happened to be able to market it. Sidebar: the name of the band is Fun.. That's F-U-N-Period. The period is part of the name. This is extremely annoying when trying to deal with grammar and punctuation. Not very Fun. at all. Anyway, what we have here is an okay video for a pretty decent song. That makes two respectable songs in a row to reach #1 on the charts. Enjoy them while you can before Top 40 radio runs them so far into the ground you'll need a shovel to dig them up hit the radio DJs with.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - Young, Wild, and Free

Suck it Fun.... Snoop and Wiz see your young and raise you wild and free! But please, somebody get these two a sandwich or something. For guys who love weed, they sure don't look like they ever get the munchies. I guess they're too busy to eat. I mean, coming up with genius ideas like naming the high school in the video "N. Hale High" doesn't leave much time for lunch. These two don't care about lunch though, they're living young, wild, and free... well, sorta. Snoop Dogg is 40 years old, so he mostly lives just wild and free and Wiz Khalifa just got busted for drug possession, so he's just living young and wild these days. Still, it's a pretty good video if you really, really, really, really, really like watching other people smoke pot.

FoW MTR: April 27

By David Hammock and Thomas Hokum


Cosmopolis

 

Hammock: Press pause at the one second mark. Could it be? Are those tiny leaves? R-Patz is in a movie that boasts the vaunted Cannes logo! Sure, Cosmopolis is merely a selection (think participation ribbon at a science fair), but this is a big step forward for Mr. Cullen, who has yet to appear in a well-received film in which he was not portraying a Hufflepuff. Sadly, I'm not sure this is the movie that will break that trend... I can't imagine the Cannes jury being très impressed with Jay Baruchel. And what's with the bragging about being the "first film about our new millenium"? What about Wall-E? Nevertheless, I'm rooting for Robert Pattinson to finally earn some long-awaited acting cred. After all, I did name my favorite office appliance after him.

Hokum: When that kid from Twilight is the first thing I see, I want to turn it off. But then I see the mercenary dude from Lost (Oh Keamy, you loved to shoot people) and figure things might be okay. So if I had to guess at the plot I would assume Mr. Vampire (who I’m assuming is still a vampire in this movie because he is never in the sunlight or eating garlic, but still seducing annoying women) rides around in his limo from the future, tricking women to get in with the shiny blue lights and display screens that make me think of the Starship Enterprise. Meanwhile, he avoids attacks from the rat-worshipping citizens of the future “cosmopolis,” which has to be the dumbest word I’ve ever heard. Almost as dumb as worshiping rats. Did I mention the rats? They seem to be important, but mostly I think everyone is Cosmopolis is on drugs. Or they are possessed by the dark rodent god Cheez Wiz? At the 50 second mark, a screen appears informing me that the movie is based on a book, which I guess is supposed to reassure me that somebody actually liked it enough to put words to it, but then I notice it’s by Don DeLillo and therefore probably didn’t make the NYT Bestseller List. All seems lost until 1:46 when we see Robert Pattinson appear to take a gun and blow a hole in his hand, which yeah, maybe I’d pay to see... so long as they’re silver bullets.

Lawless

 

Hammock: I've been familiar with this movie for a while now because a good chunk of it was filmed in Newnan, GA, where I lived at the time. I believe it was called The Wettest County in the World back then and it was hard to ignore because everyone was always running into Shia LaBeouf around town. I didn't care too much, as Shia obviously peaked on Even Stevens, but had I known that running into Jessica Chastain was a possibility, I may have ventured out more... as if there's actually anything to do in Newnan. Lawless boasts an impressive cast, but I'm not all that intrigued by its premise. Prohibition is so 90 years ago. Get with the program like Cosmopolis and make a movie about our new millenium... you know, without the giant rats.

Hokum: Being a huge fan of gangster movies, there’s only so much mud I can sling on this one. I will say that for the first 30 seconds I was waiting for Shia’s circa-1940’s Ford to turn into a giant robot and start squashing policemen. Actually, thinking about how much I enjoyed Cowboys Vs. Aliens, it might not have been a bad idea. As Hammock said, the cast is impressive and any time a Tommy Gun is fired on screen you can pretty much count on my $7 $10 $12.

Hotel Transylvania

 

Hammock: Animated films always cast a plethora of stars to do the voices, but one name stood out to me when looking at the lineup for Hotel Transylvania: Genndy Tartakovsky. "Who's that?" you might ask. Why, Genndy Tartakovsky is the creator/director/writer of childhood favorites Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack, and is directing this movie. Now I don't know how well his talents will transfer to the big screen, but with a cartoon resume like that, I'm willing to give Hotel Transylvania a chance... even if it does have Adam Sandler in it.

Hokum: Well, Hammock threatens to throw us off topic as I now have to gush le emotional about the awesomeness of Dexter's Laboratory while pondering why Tartakovsky (whose name I wasn't aware of, but must be awesome) has not made more cartoons for me to eye-devour. As far as the trailer, I really like the art direction - it almost looks cell shaded - especially at the beginning where they play with light sources. I'm not going to lie, I was a a big fan of Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (the old cartoon movie about Scooby and Shaggy racing in Dracula's "Monster Road Rally") growing up and seeing all the old Hollywood monsters brings back some nostalgia. However, as soon as Dracula opens his mouth and the Waterboy's voice comes out, the whole thing is ruined. I look forward to falling asleep while I watch it on DVD Netflix.

Ruby Sparks

 

Hammock: I can't decide whether Ruby Sparks sounds more like the name of a porn star or an energy drink. Either way, I like the premise. It has a little bit of the Stranger Than Fiction thing going on where author meets character in real life, but this one takes the idea a step further as the author, Paul Dano, invents and encounters the girl of his dreams. I like Paul Dano. I think it's because he's a certifiably unattractive fellow who's managed to do well in a certifiably shallow town like Hollywood. Speaking of shallow, Ruby begs the question: if you could pen your dream girl/guy into existence, what sorts of things would you be jotting down? I know I speak for Stephan (who's MIA this week) when I say two of the first words that come to my mind are mental and math. Also, Bar and Refaeli.

Hokum: I second Hammock on both liking the premise and getting Stranger Than Fiction deja vu. However, where Fiction was a self-propelled Will Ferrell comedy, I get the feeling that Ruby Sparks might try to get its feet wet in the deep end of the drama pool. Honestly, the premise seems so obvious - writer falls in love with his creation - that I'm surprised I haven't seen some iteration of it before. I had no idea this movie was even in the works, but now I'm definitely planning on seeing it. Plus, it's got the geeky kid from The Girl Next Door. Oh, and Hammock, I assume the title refers to what happens when these lovely two gingers get down. ~Hokum out.

Strengths and Weaknesses: Madonna

It's been 33 years since Madonna first arrived on the scene, but she's still making headlines. She's got a new album (MDNA), a new perfume, a world tour, a public divorce, and even a controversial photo up for sale. Let's take a look at what makes the Material Girl so fixating in this installment of Strengths and Weaknesses.

Madonna

STRENGTHS

• Her music makes the people come together... yeah
• Seamlessly switches between American and British accents
• Won a Golden Globe for Evita, which is almost a cool as winning a real award
• Looks pretty good to be 400 years old
• Member of every religion
• Good at divorce
• Actually looked classy at Super Bowl halftime show surrounded by Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and LMFAO
• Voted "Greatest Woman in Rock History" by, oh by VH1. Nevermind

WEAKNESSES

• Not at all like a virgin
• Materialistic
• Uses dance floor as a confessional, which is not approved by the Catholic church
• Couldn't even beat out the Beatles on Billboard's "Greatest Artists of All-Time" list
• Omitted like half the letters on her newest album
• Cone boobs are by far the most dangerous kind of boobs
• Always telling Argentinians not to cry for her, but doesn't have $#!% to say to the fine people of Uruguay
• Has kissed Britney Spears and thus, by proxy, has kissed Kevin Federline