by Ian aka GayAsXmas

Thanks to Alyssa for giving me the opportunity to blog here. I am coming to you (sort of) live and direct from London.

Not to get things off to a negative start or anything, but I am going to be complaining about something in my first post.

I grew up reading Empire movie magazine – from about the ages of 15 to 21 I read it pretty religiously every month. I always liked the magazine’s vibe, which seemed smart, irreverent and entertaining without being crass. I fell out of the habit of reading it, but Empire has maintained and consolidated its position as the leading film magazine in the UK. The magazine is celebrating it 20th Anniversary and has put together a portfolio of movie stars ‘recreating’ some of their most famous roles. I would urge you to have a quick peek and then come back.

Leaving aside how flat and uninspiring the portfolio is as a whole, you’ll also probably notice that Empire seems to believe that in 20 years, no solo woman or group of women deserve a place in the porfolio. Keira Knightley and Jodie Foster are the only two women included, and they are paired with a male co-star. While understandable in Foster’s case, the Knightley one is more puzzling. However good she and James McAvoy were together in Atonement, she is a much more of a decade defining star then McAvoy with Bend it Like Beckham, Pride and Prejudice and the Pirate movies to her credit. She doesn’t need a man in the photo with her.

A quick list of actresses that Empire could have included who have created truly iconic characters in the last 20 years include Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Michelle Yeoh, Frances McDormand, Julia Roberts, Ziyi Zhang, Angela Bassett, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank. And that is without even thinking it through that much.

This is important. Empire is creating a narrative about the last twenty years that almost completely precludes the inclusion of female stars and the characters they play. Women’s place in modern, mainstream film is already horribly misrepresented by the overwhelming male dominance at the top of the various media food chains. It doesn’t help redress matters when the leading film magazine in the UK decides that they simply aren’t as important as their male counterparts. The entire idea, which should have been a celebration of iconoclastic mainstream figures is an epic fail.

Update: As Leee pointed out in comments, I did actually completely skip over Emma Watson in that list. Luckily she was included in a group shot with her Harry Potter co-stars so my point isn’t completely shot to hell!

Image from The Hood Internet

by Shani

Hey all, I’m happy to be part of the cadre of bloggers taking caring of you all while Alyssa is in Cambodia. Now let’s get down to business.

The Big News: I’ve found something to interrupt my Neko Case obsession*.

It’s a nearly perfect mixtape by The Hood Internet, a Chicago-based DJ duo that specializes in hip-hop/indie pop mashups. Volume Four (yes, there are three others, and they are all available for free) starts with David Banner’s “Get Like Me,” and his swaggering flow contrasts perfectly with the electro dance-y rock of Fujiya & Miyagi’s “Pterodactyl.”

Some mashups work better than others. For example, Ludacris vs. She & Him is a little flat (not enough Zooey Deschanel, I think), but Michael Jackson vs. Ratatat really, really meshes.

Like Alyssa, I don’t listen to the radio, (and unlike Alyssa, I don’t have TV — well, I have a television, but no cable, so I only turn it on to watch DVDs) so all of the big pop songs I see mentioned on my friends’ Facebook and Twitter statuses are known to me in lyric only.

Soulja Boy’s “hop up out the bed and turn my swag on” isn’t really very lyrical. However, when it’s laid over the estimable Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out,” you get something really special — and it’s a good introduction to an otherwise not-great song.

In trying to figure out why I like this mix, I concluded that it’s because it takes really mediocre pop and hip-hop songs, cuts them down from four minutes to a far more appropriate length of about a minute and a half, and gives them much better beats.

Hmm, I think that’s an idea that could save the recording industry.

*I only discovered Neko Case this year, and listened to her solo albums nonstop, every. single. day. for months on end.

by Dylan Matthews

First off, thanks to Alyssa for having me. I’m nowhere near the culture maven she is, but I’ll do my best.

So, can we can talk about this?

Yes, kids, that is Ezra Koenig headbanging. And to, yes, a Vampire Weekend song. He also has a “to-do list” from 2006 that includes such items as “Take Ray Bowling” and “Steal Gold.” And he looks unusually smug all the way through.

Let’s be clear. This is a pretty good song, and by and large Vampire Weekend is a good band, albeit one that is all too easy to mock for its over-the-top self-presentation. But the correct response to the perception that your band is too preppy and enamored of its own cuteness does not involve filming a self-consciously whimsical video wherein the lead singer downs a martini while wearing a bow tie.

I’ll give the band a pass for okaying this idea, but director Garth Jennings? On notice.