Why You Should Be Hyped About Kid Cudi's 'Man On The Moon' [One Giant Afterthought]

First of all I'm just going to get this out of the way: it is true that not everyone shares the same taste in music. Everyone is different and therefore their ears find comfort with different sounds.

So here's the golden question: is Kid Cudi a different sound? Well the ironic thing is that on the album he is simply being himself. Which is what makes him different.

...okay I might have to elaborate a bit more than that.

Kid Cudi Trailer (Footage from Deluxe CD / DVD album)

The storyline of Man On The Moon: The End of Day takes place in a dream-like state where Scott Mescudi (a.k.a. Kid Cudi) escapes to as a sanctuary for his own personal thoughts. This provides the perfect canvas for Scott's imagination to run wild and for the listener to appreciate the art he so vividly renders to life.

The song that brings this concept to fruition is the song that made him so popular in the first place: the hypnotic "Day n Nite" which is why the song works so effectively as the album's climax. In the song Kid Cudi pretty much spells out to the listener that he is the man on the moon because he feels isolated, alone, and different.

The key to understanding why Man On The Moon: The End of Day is such a rousing success is not just the innovative subject matter but the unique way he raps as well. Sure, a lot of people could say he doesn't really rap. And I tend to agree when some people say he doesn't have those spit-shined punchlines characterized by egomaniacs like Kanye West or Lil' Wayne. But what makes Kid Cudi's songs so poignant is not just as simple as the lyrics or as the diction of which he raps each verse with: it is the pure harmonization between both that creates an effective and entirely new method of storytelling for hip hop. To put it simply, you could say he's "soul rapping".

So getting back to what I mentioned before, everyone is different and each person has their own exclusive perspectives on life. The central philosophical idea behind the Cleveland-based rapper's debut album Man On The Moon: The End of Day is that by being true to himself, Kid Cudi is different.

And that's the ingenuity behind the entire album: all you have to do to be unique is to be yourself. It's a powerful message that everyone can relate to and it's exactly why everyone should be excited come next week.

On September 15th, 2009 people will realize the shocking truth that they are different. And they'll like it.

Where Does The New 'Star Trek' Franchise Lead To Next? [One Giant Afterthought]

[Spoilers!]

After once again seeing the new Star Trek film, I realized I had might as well give the movie a second thought. In my original review, I gave the reboot the highest grade I could and it is still a well deserved reward. The movie reinvigorates the fading franchise with a unique concept of time travel and, besides some nitpicking here and there, accomplishes that goal in stunning fashion.

So what is next? With a sequel already in pre-production and slated for a release in 2011, one wonders about the many possibilities the new film brought to the table. Well this isn't the first time J.J. Abrams has dealt with time travel and alternate realities. Both of his current shows Lost and Fringe heavily revolve around these tried and true sci-fi concepts, and by looking at these we may find hints at where Star Trek may head to next.

One of the biggest reasons why Lost was able to break free from its season 2 and 3 slump was the introduction of "flash forwards" in season 4 as well as time traveling in season 5. Fringe was subtly building up to its alternate reality plot until the veil was lifted in the jaw-dropping season finale.

What the new Trek seems to be doing may end up becoming a blend of both the concepts of the future as well as the possibilities of an alternate reality. The film has already touched upon this with Spock and Romulan nemesis Nero traveling back in time by mistake and their tampering resulting in this new alternate reality seen in the film's present.

In Lost, it is suggested that if anything in the past is changed when time traveling, the timeline will basically "auto-correct" itself. In my opinion, I feel that the first movie was the introduction to this idea but the second movie will set and elaborate upon some ground rules.

Now what does this mean for the future of the franchise? Is this a new time paradox where Abrams' creativity may roam free and be free of the established canon? Or will the timeline fix itself and everything return to normal? Will Spock remain more in touch with his human emotions, or return to his logic-based mindset? And what about his relationship with Uhura? Also, how will Old Spock be affected by this new reality?

So many questions, so few answers. And in my experience that's exactly how J.J. Abrams likes it.

Why 'Up' Is The Best Movie Of The Year [One Giant Afterthought]

Well if you have yet to read my review of the latest Disney and Pixar venture, I'll put it simply: Up destroys conventions in a genre Pixar pioneered and succeeds as both a fun, charming adventure movie as well as a touching and powerful film about unfulfilled dreams. I got the chance to see the movie again yesterday and I stand by my opinion: Up is the best movie of the year thus far.

Of course the movie would be nothing without Ed Asner as the bitter-with-a-damn-good-reason Carl Fredricksen. Not only did Carl lose his childhood sweetheart to old age, he also never accomplished their hopes to one day visit Paradise Falls. The movie is filled with imagery and metaphors relating back to his unaccomplished aspirations and promises to Ellie, and these are scenes where emotions run high. Ed Asner gives a witty and touching voice over performance as the man with the flying house as a man too attached to the past and his own feelings of guilt.

Not only does Pixar create the most technically proficient special effects in the industry, they also manage to make quirky and silly premises seem real. And Up is no different.

Honestly, how many people would expect a kids movie starring an old man who makes his house fly by attaching hundreds of balloons to venture off to South America, joined by a rag-tag team consisting of a kid who dreams of becoming a real explorer, a talking dog, and a bird to be called one of the best of the year?

And so, there is proof that Pixar is magical.

Where 'Revenge Of The Fallen' Went Wrong [One Giant Afterthought]

MAJOR SPOILERS!!

Well, if you have read the official OGCF* review of Revenge Of The Fallen, you will now that I enjoyed the film but criticized the sequel's ambition to, "make an already huge film bigger". The day after watching the the film I went to see it again (unwillingly) with a few friends. I thought to myself that since I had already seen the film once before, I might as well not scrutinize it this time and to just make it through the almost 3-hour length of the movie. However by turning off the inner-cynic in me, I stumbled upon the spirit and true nature of the movie that I feel I did not properly explain in my review.

To put it in simple terms: I had a lot more fun when I turned my brain off.

And who wouldn't? The visceral thrill ride of seeing colossal alien robots rip each other apart is nothing short of awesome. But as I was watching the film the second time, I realized that that was the only part of the movie I was enjoying. Everything that had to do with the humans was sorely lacking: the dialogue, the acting, the chemistry between the actors, and more.

I was recently able to watch the original Transformers movie back from 2007 and I must say that I was enjoying the original much more compared to the sequel. Then I was able to understand why: it is a completely different movie.

While Transformers could be classified as more of an epic and family-friendly action/adventure movie, Revenge Of The Fallen tends to drift more towards the straight-forward popcorn action flick. In a nutshell, the first movie was Star Trek and the second movie is Wanted.

The first movie also had a very Spielberg vibe to it, with the relationship between Sam and Bumblebee being one of the more central themes. Also in Revenge Of The Fallen, the action sequences take up about 2/3 of the sequel's substantial length. In Transformers the action only really ramps up once the Autobots and the Decepticons catch up with Sam and discover that he possess his grandfather's glasses--or about 1 hour into the movie's two hour length. And even then, the original gives viewers the opportunity to breathe by filling in some missing plot details.

The main issue with the pace of the second film is not really because of the number of action sequences, but instead revolves around the whirlwind nature of the plot itself. The movie opens with the Autobots hunting a rampaging Decepticon in Shanghai, then moves to Sam leaving home for college, then goes on to Captain Lennox describing his gratitude towards the Autobots only to have some politician butt heads over whether or not the Autobots are actually provoking all of this destruction around the world from Decepticons. Up until this point, the sequel remains in a similar spirit as Transformers, but then plotlines being to fade as Sam's life entangles with the struggle between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

The only scene where Revenge Of The Fallen is able to reach the original film's quality is the thrilling action and powerful emotions shown in the forest fight scene, where Optimus Prime goes head to head with 3 Decepticons--and dies protecting Sam from them. Of course, Optimus is resurrected by the end of the movie but it was truly shocking to see the leader of the Autobots fall to the hands of the Decepticons--and more specifically, the sinister Megatron.

That forest fight scene reaches the same brilliant heights as when Bumblebee was captured by the now-disengaged Sector 7 in Transformers--compelling drama, captivating action, and skillful direction. Of course Transformers was nothing close to an Oscar nominee, but it was a fun Summer blockbuster that had a story smart enough to keep the audience interested.

Especially after rewatching the first movie it can easily be said that Revenge Of The Fallen not only pales in comparison, but is an embarrassment for anyone involved. The sequel begins well but soon devolves into a hard to follow, mindless action romp that does not even deserve to share the first movie's name. The action is still fun, but the significant decrease in the plot's quality is the biggest failure of the movie.

Whether or not my and another 157 other critics' reviews (and thousands more online) made even the slightest difference on the estimated $201 million earnings of the movie since Wednesday, I myself did not enjoy the movie--not the first time, and not the second time--but it is simply my own opinion. Isn't that what all reviews are?

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"One Giant Afterthought" is a feature article I will write everytime I may revisit
something I previously reviewed. Whether it be music, movie, television, books, or
the local sheep sacrifices, if I look at it again it will get an afterthought.
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Was 'Terminator Salvation' Misunderstood? [One Giant Afterthought]

If you have read my review (or have heard from other people) then you would know the consensus is this: an underwritten movie that was most likely sabotaged by bad final editing. I have high hopes that the DVD will present the true, unedited version that McG intended upon releasing, but for now Terminator Salvation is nothing more than a brainless action flick filled to the brim with special effects and action.

But is it as brainless as we may have thought?

I recently read an article claiming that it understood why this new reboot starring Christian Bale was not in its true nature a Terminator movie. He claimed that the increased focus and purpose of the character of Marcus Wright goes against what the previous films in the franchise showed: a plain black and white fight between the protector sent from the future and the terminator. It's not this man's article that has me thinking, but rather one of the comments below.

The poster, CJF, had a fascinating viewpoint of Salvation that really made me rethink my view on the film. CJF wrote in response to the article as follows (along with some bolding to show the more important parts of what he is trying to say):

I think people like you are really missing the deeper message in this movie. The underlying story is all about how the one character with real love and heart was the machine, Marcus Wright.

The characters, including John Connor, were designed to be dull and lifeless throughout the movie. Let me emphasize: THIS WAS BY DESIGN, not a mistake by the director. 15 straight years of war had made all the human beings lose their humanity. Marcus Wright did not grow up in a post-apocalpytic world and even he, a criminal in his time, was more human and had more "heart" than anyone living in the current world.

John Connor had not yet become the great hero portrayed in visions of earlier movies because he had yet to learn to discern what real humanity is. He finally learned this at the end of the movie, and gained Marcus's "heart", both physically and metaphorically. This is the final enabler that will prepare him as the true leader of the resistance, unlike Ironside's character who gave up his humanity and, in the end, his life and position in the resistance.

The drab, gray landscape, the quarrel between the gas station tribe about giving food, the ignorance of Kate Brewster's pregnancy and the lifeless characters (other than Marcus) were all BY DESIGN to contrast how mankind lacked the humanity to succeed.

When I walked out of the theater, I thought the way you do, "oh what an uninspiring, mess of a movie". Now, I've begun to understand the hidden message here. In my revised opinion, I now believe this movie is the best of the entire Terminator series because it has a deeper message than the previous films. To me it is not a popcorn thriller like T1-T3, but an intense examination of the heart of a human being.
So please, think a little deeper at the hidden message of this film. McG has taken "Terminator" a step further than Cameron ever could.“

Basically, what CJF is saying is that Terminator Salvation was intentionally crafted in such a way that it was supposed to be the ultimate metaphor and represent in a subtle way the kind of despair humans were suffering from during this war against the machines. Humans are really on the losing side in this film and by the end of the film, things may be looking more hopeful.

However, none of that would be possible without Marcus Wright. Despite the fact that he was yet another machine from Skynet, his consciousness from when he was human had been preserved and therefore his spirit and belief in humanity had been unaffected by this no-end-in-sight war. And there is the ultimate irony of the film: a supposedly heartless killing machine had more heart and a better understanding of what humanity was than real humans. Marcus even was more of a human than the foretold messiah of the human resistance, John Connor.

It is my belief that many, including myself, walked into this movie expecting to see John Connor as the last man holding the resistance together and that his character was supposed to be likable. It now comes to my understanding that, in fact he was deliberately written in a way that he was unlikable and was more or less confused by his destiny. John was obsessed with trying to discover why he was the leader and why he was meant to save the human race; he did nothing except trying to seek out his fate when it was coming to him in the unlikely form of Marcus.

At the end of the film, John has been fatally injured in his heart by the T-1000 terminator (which many would affectionately name “Arnie”) and that he was dying. Marcus decided to sacrifice himself and his strong, mechanical heart to John as one final act of true humanity and an important lesson for John for the future.

When you look at the film in this perspective, it really is genius. Terminator Salvation would have been the best one out of the entire franchise, possibly even better than the acclaimed T2: Judgment Day. The only problem is this: we don't know if this is true. This could just be one really smart-minded fanboy using a really, really, really good excuse to justify a movie that was considered disappointing.

Whether this was the intention of the writers and director McG or not, there is still one major issue with Salvation: character development was almost completely non-existent. The characters' development could have been the key to the movie succeeding. However it seems the studios tampered with the film to try and get a much more family-friendly PG-13 rating instead of the traditionally R-rated Terminator films. They also may have decided to add more action which would explain where the character development went.

If anything was gained from pondering over the film's messy structure it is this: I really can't wait for the uncut version.