haters

I Ain’t Afraid Of No Ghosts (Ghostbusters 2016 review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

If there’s some strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? When there’s something weird, and it don’t look good, who you gonna call? Not Ray Parker Jr., according to this new movie. But maybe it’s progressive enough that it doesn’t matter.

I guess we are about to find out dear readers.

 

 

 

Ghostbusters (2016)

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Neil Casey
Director: Paul Feig
released on blu-ray October 11, 2016
******* 7/10

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IMDB: 5.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%, Audience Score 55%
The Guardian: ****/*****

 

Paul Feig is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Known for his involvement in television, Feig created Freaks and Geeks, and directed a number of episodes in other series like The Office, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and Parks & Recreation. In 2011 he had a breakout directorial role with Bridesmaids. He has since directed The Heat, Spy, and now the Ghostbusters reboot.

Clearly pairing up with Melissa McCarthy has yielded good results for Feig.

Now that I’ve shared that bit of information, I should make it clear that the original Ghostbusters is one of my favourite movies of all time. And I struggled really hard with the idea of it being rebooted. I mean, on the surface I wanted it to succeed because of the incredible number of people who were complaining about it being a female-led reboot, but inside I didn’t because I thought the original should’ve been left alone.

Which was odd for me, because I usually don’t mind when movies get remade. Despite my inner struggle, I finally sat down and watched this movie last week. And it was pretty good.

I don’t want to give away the entire plot of this one, because I think it is a distinct enough story to warrant that protective consideration, but I will mention that the cameos are well placed, in particular the tribute to Harold Ramis at Colombia University. In fact, the gender reversal is decisive and tackles the issues throughout and without overselling the point – Which is that gender shouldn’t matter in a story, in case you’re wondering.

Pros: Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones provide standout performances as the supporting characters of the quartet, and in many ways are far more interesting to watch and take in. The callbacks with the logo, ecto-1 and firehouse are all well placed too.

Cons: Firstly, Feig isn’t as confident with CGI as one hoped, as it comes on a little heavy-handed taking you out of the story quite often. Secondly, Bill Murray’s death seems forced and unnecessary especially given that we know he wanted to “die” if another sequel came about.

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Points of Interest: The movie is dedicated to Harold Ramis. The ghost Slimer got his name from the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, but is not named in any of the movies.

Once everything is said and done, Ghostbusters is a good comedy and worthy of the time spent on it. I think it was incredibly premature of the internet to shit all over it, and despite all of the hate spewed against it in initial trailers, these Ghostbusters answer the call.

Ray Parker Jr. wishes he would have gotten the call to return and update on his theme music, but it makes sense that the new Ghostbusters deviate from what came before, without tarnishing it. Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott do a decent job of riffing off of the classic grammy winning theme song, and I’m not gonna argue with it’s retained catchiness. After all, Ghostbusters is one of my favourite movies of all time and I think it’s a cultural phenomenon. But that’s just a theory.

Tim!

Balancing Act (Neak Undefined Paura/Amore review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Have you ever loved something so much that you were scared to lose it? Usually that comes down to people and, hopefully very rarely, unique accomplishments and possessions.

That fear is part and parcel of the human experience of love. You can’t escape it, sure you can try, but life is so much more simple then we want to believe. We enjoy life because it’s transient and it’s in our nature to appreciate what we don’t already have or what we have lost.

That balance between love lost and love gained is where fear lives, and where this week’s poet takes us.

 

 

 

Neak Undefined – Paura/Amore
released January 11, 2016
********* 9/10

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Dominic Kelly, better known by his stage name Neak Undefined, is a Chicago-based hip-hop artist with something to say. I wasn’t entirely sure who was more excited for me to put together a review of this album, me or Neak! That should tell you something about this midwest artist right out of the gate.

The passion, commitment, and energy on this record is limitless. Every listen gives you something slightly different. Or to put it another way, it’s undefined. His music has plenty of helpings of jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and touches of new wave all fused together to create the buffet that is Paura/Amore. Also harp on Champagne Dreamin’!

I have to admit that I didn’t know what the “paura” part of Paura/Amore meant immediately and why that was the title. Then I looked the word up and every detail just clicked right into place.

It’s almost like Neak Undefined knows this material inside and out, has been living with it for a couple of years and has put up his concepts for us unfiltered. This entire album deals with those themes in great detail and Neak says it best about the thrust of the record in the intro speech to his lead track, King Deferred.

We never know what life can bring us until it comes
Pain, sorrow, joy, happiness
You seem to always live in a place of unknowing
That’s the fear, that’s the part of life we wish we knew
That’s the part we wish we could control
That fear
Paura/amore

The songs manage to cover a myriad of topics without ever making it stretch thin. For example the simple repetitive song structures of Sacrifice and Money for the Honey hit specific points about the real struggles Neak has gone through to get success and that sacrifices aren’t always glorious and dramatic, making you think while you enjoy the beats. The way he sets up tracks to provide atmosphere makes hooks about “changing friends, as much as she change clothes” hilarious and fun.

There are other tracks which do well to address his hometown with Back in Chicago – covering topics of trading luxury for sin, lacking father figures, the danger apparent in the streets, and the challenges of police making searches based on ethnicity. Which makes the earlier song Stay Alive all the more sweet, because it’s dovetailed with a voicemail from Neak Undefined’s father, encouraging him and reminding him to stay in contact as he pursues his passions.

Have I mentioned how much energy and how danceable this record is yet, dear readers? Thank The Lord is fantastic too, it has gospel roots, has Neak talking about haters (which you all know I love) and undertones of spirituality throughout – he thanks God for light and recognizes his role of being a light for others.

Other stand out songs for me were MMM (about the drug molly/esctasy, personified), Ego (a self-reflection anthem filled with conflicts), and Heaven and Hell. With Heaven and Hell in particular being full of relevant questions and material about losing family and the challenges that come with guilt from the concept of sin.

As I already mentioned, the title of the album makes a hell of a lot more sense after you listen to it, and the content is hard to reach right away that I’ll be playing this one for a while before I’ve fully wrapped my brain around it.

I highly recommend you get a copy of this, so you can do your ears and your mind a favour.

 

 

 

If you don’t believe me that love is precious, go out and destroy your most prized possessions, ALL OF THEM. After that point you’ll have a fraction of the feeling one gets when you lose something that you weren’t expecting to. That sensation over control, as Neak Undefined puts it, is Paura/Amore.

Come back tomorrow where I’ll head as far out to the western seaboard as I can go, for a movie review that is outta my hands and into yours.

Tim!

Haters Gonna Hate (Address Negativity with Board Games)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

I am a big fan of memes. I always try to inject them into my conversations whenever I can.

Cultural idioms like memes are awesome because they provide us with quick references in our conversations or whatever media we are consuming at the time. In Western culture we are so fortunate to be able to receive both visual and written information in a multitude of ways, though I do recognize there are diverging viewpoints on the inherent value of this variety of options. Probably one of my favourite examples is sending a meme to a friend when texting. With a couple of quick key strokes you can share a picture (with text) that gets your point across infinitely quicker than the written word.

And we will need to keep that in mind for today’s topic, because I want to talk about board games. Yes, board games.

Did you know that board games have been around throughout history? Reaching as far back as 3500 BC in Egypt. For real.

Maybe this is simply my personal experience and opinion, but I have always thought that board games are really entertaining because they are both fun and challenging – a great way to connect with others, have some laughs, and potentially learn something about yourself at the same time. Many board games involve both luck and strategy. What I find most interesting about them though is that there are varying amounts of randomness involved.

The polarizing effect of this randomness in gaming has resulted in many variations on existing board game formats and the invention of new ones as well, and especially with the significant growth witnessed in the gaming community since the beginning of the 21st century, there are now copious options when choosing a game to play.

But what does this have to do with memes, dear readers?

I’ve played my share of games (at one time in my life, I was participating in weekly game nights on both Tuesdays AND Thursdays), and I’ve noticed a few things both inside the gaming community and outside of it – haters gonna hate.

Some people like board games, and some really really DON’T. And within the community, when it comes to the luck/randomness factor of board games, some people love randomness and some people really really DON’T.

In case you don’t already know, the phrase “haters gonna hate”, is a vehicle for the idea that no matter what you do, and where you are, you will always run into people who disagree with you and will try to knock you back. Not necessarily because they are envious, but because they simply disagree with your lifestyle choice. So why bother fighting the haters? Accept that they exist, and learn to ignore their taunts.

And here is an interesting fact: the phrase “haters gonna hate” first showed up in popular culture in the lyrics of a song called “Playas Gon’ Play” by 3LW in early 2000.

You should check it out.

It’s catchy and relevant for good life habits. Also, I think there is a neat little correlation between the rise in popularity of board games and the invention of the phrase.

So what should you do about haters if you like to play board games? Or if you have any interest that you are pursuing and are running into opposition? This list below covers it off nicely. See this for Tim Ferriss interview for reference.

1. Focus on your fans

2. Don’t apologize and don’t respond

3. Don’t try to please everybody

4. If you’re doing it right, people WILL be negative

5. Learn to enjoy criticism and be thought foolish

6. Don’t retaliate

7. Take it in stride and keep moving

What it comes down to is really simple, if you like randomness in your board games, then that is perfectly acceptable for you, as there are tons of boardgames out fulfill those needs. Card decks which are pulled form, spinners and timers, and the most common, the six-sided die, are all great examples of that luck attribute.

But if you don’t like those elements, there are a great number of strategic games and social games that employ different methods.

If you want to learn more, boardgamegeek.com is a fantastic resource for this.

I am tapped out on the theories for now, but remember, haters gonna hate. Do not let that stop you from pursuing your interests. What kinds of struggles have you run into recently in the creative arenas? I want to know, so send me an email or leave a comment!

Tim!