GMU's Comm 399 students on pop, art, fashion, and more
French fashion line Lanvin is teaming up with Swedish clothing company H&M. As guest designer, Lanvin is contributing a very stylish and colorful Winter collection for 2010. The clothes are very fashion forward, and I must add that it’s pretty pricey, but it’s reasonable for designer clothing. What do you think? Check out the collection here.
Tags: clothing line, Fashion, H&M, Lanvin, Winter
As you’re getting your scarves and winter hats together for this chilly time, don’t forget to buy the perfect jacket. Besides peacoats and leather jackets, try out bomber and shearling jackets. Check out the collection that TeenVogue put together for you ladies.
Check out stars like Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhsal, and Rachel McAdams hit the red carpet for their movie premieres on E!’s red carpet. Some new movies to look out for: “Love and other Drugs,” “Morning Glory,” and “Megamind.”
Tags: Anne Hathaway, E!online, Jake Gyll, Love and other drugs, Megamind, Morning Glory, Movie Premiere, Rachel McAdams
The Vancouver Sun recently ran a feature on former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, who is currently on tour promoting her second solo album/short film/graphic novel, “Out of Our Minds.” At the core of the feature is an interview with Auf der Maur, but writer Mike Devlin also covers the struggles she went through in trying to get her multimedia project off the ground.
Auf der Maur is the only person interviewed for the article. It is not specified whether the conversation took place in person or over the phone, but she was at her New York home for it. There does not appear to be much, if any, outside research; the text either paraphrases portions of the interview or supplies basic information one could easily glean from Auf der Maur’s official website.
I would like to have seen Devlin dive into less familiar territory–there have been a number of Auf der Maur features this year in conjunction with “Out of Our Minds” but few of them offer anything unique. I appreciate that the Hole and Smashing Pumpkins material is kept to a minimum since it’s been done to death elsewhere, but there is still some ground that hasn’t been adequately covered. What exactly inspired this project? What were the years of uncertainty like, unattached to a label while trying to bring an admittedly difficult concept to fruition? I want to know more about the project itself rather than the world around it.
The introduction reminds readers what Auf der Maur’s claim to fame is before giving a basic tease to invoke curiosity. It’s followed by two quote paragraphs where the singer openly comments on herself and her artistry. The next paragraph mentions the album’s recent release, showing why this feature is relevant. That leads to a paragraph about the challenging aspect of the project, transitioning to two more quotes, the latter about her past musical experiences. The next paragraph takes that quote to show how those adventures led to “Out of Our Minds” and further explains what the project is about.
After that, Devlin rapidly covers the many changes in Auf der Maur’s life since the project’s conception, from moving multiple times to leaving her record label. Much like the intro, this takes an unexpected twist to show how all of this was “best thing that could have happened” to Auf der Maur, explaining how via a quote. Finally, Devlin inserts the obligatory Hole and Smashing Pumpkins references but rather than the typical “This is why she did not take part in either band’s recent reunion” commentary, he allows her to discuss her future plans regarding this part of her history, not the history itself.
Listen to “The Key,” a standout track from “Out of Our Minds”:
Tags: feature, hole, melissa auf der maur, Music, rock, smashing pumpkins
After receiving criticism from Kid Rock and Slash for joining the American Idol crew, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is getting backed up by Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna for his decision. Tyler’s move has been criticized because he decided to temporarily leave the band. Erna has a few simple words for Kid Rock: “Shut Up!”
Check out this link and see how Erna responds to Tyler’s critics!
The AP Tour with August Burns Red and Bring Me The Horizon is currently going on, and Altpress.com decided to put up a slideshow. I know no one cares, but look at the pictures anyway.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if everything was made out of cardboard? Well, now you can. Pitchfork just released Allo Darlin’s new music video for the song “My Heart Is A Drummer,” and it involves cardboard houses and dancing heart-shaped people. Yes, it’s unusual but it’s also very entertaining. So, check it out here!
Tags: Hearts, Indie, Music, Music Video, Pop
After last week’s New York Gubernatorial Debate, Jimmy McMillan became a living meme. The question wasn’t whether or not he would be spoofed, but how good the spoofs would be.
SNL made the first move on Saturday Night. Kenan Thompson’s impression was spot-on, but the fact of the matter is, Thompson could’ve just repeated exactly what McMillan said and it still would’ve been hilarious.
Horror fans probably already know about bloody-disgusting.com and go there for all the horror minutia that one could possibly handle. What the site does well is present things that horror fans love. From obscure indy flicks to much anticipated horror friendly shows (I’m looking at you AMC’s “Walking Dead”) to big budget studio horror releases, bloody-disgusting.com has something for every fan.
In fact, near the top of the site, there have all their “breaking news” divided up into four sections: movies, games, music and comics. So, if you are just into horror games and comics, you don’t have to mess around with all the dreck about movies or music. Handy, right?
The site not only has “the info” about upcoming projects, but it also has tons of reviews of both old and new horror flicks. A sidebar boasts 1,428 reviews of movies, games and shows as well as 527 interviews with those involved with the horror industry.
And what horror website would be complete with out a forums section. Here fans race out to go see a new movie and then race home to write very thoughtful reviews such as “fail”, “FTW” and “I liked the original better. Why does Hollywood insist on raping my youth?”
My favorite section is called “The Movie Pit” which nothing more than the posters of the latest horror films/shows with a rating system (The system? Skulls – the best a movie can get is 5 skulls). Then you can click on the posters for more in depth reviews.
The first thing I think that Bloody Disgusting needs to work on is the site itself. Like a scene from an Eli Roth movie, it is a bit of a mess. Ads are popping up left and right and there is too much going on. In fact, it always takes forever (at least for me) for the site itself to load.
The second thing I would like the site to do is scale some of its articles back, a bit. Nobody needs “70 Hi-Res photos from the set of ‘Walking Dead’.” Nobody. Do some editing and cut it down to the best photos and tell me a little bit about it or why one might gather from the pictures. Don’t just post them as a grab bag.
The third thing I think they should do is have more writers for the site that don’t get excited about everything. I know Bloody Disgusting is written by fan boys for fan boys, but I would like to find a place that talked more about what some horror films mean in a bigger context. That seems to be lacking from the site.
Otherwise, Bloody Disgusting is a great place to go if you want to see the Red Band trailer for “Lake Placid 3.”
For the first time since 1968, Buffalo Springfield, the band that began careers for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young frontmen Stephen Stills and Neil Young, reunited to play the Bridge School Benefit. The festival, organized by Young, supports the Bridge School, which helps kids with physical impairments.
Modest Mouse, Jackson Browne, Billy Idol, Elvis Costello, Elton John and Pearl Jam also played the festival.
See Buffalo Springfield’s glorious reunion here.
Check out the full story here, misspelling of Stephen Stills’ name and all.