2010 MTV VMA Predictions

Video of the Year
30 Seconds to Mars — "Kings and Queens"
B.o.B (featuring Hayley Williams) — "Airplanes"
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
Florence + the Machine — "Dog Days Are Over"
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"
***Lady Gaga (featuring Beyoncé) — "Telephone"***

Male Video
B.o.B (featuring Hayley Williams) — "Airplanes"
Jason Derülo — "In My Head"
Drake — "Find Your Love"
***Eminem — "Not Afraid"***
Usher (featuring will.i.am) — "OMG"

Female Video
Beyoncé (featuring Lady Gaga) — "Video Phone (extended remix)"
Ke$ha — "Tik Tok"
***Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"***
Katy Perry (featuring Snoop Dogg) — "California Gurls"
Taylor Swift — "Fifteen"

New Artist
***Justin Bieber (featuring Ludacris) — "Baby"***
Broken Bells — "The Ghost Inside"
Jason Derülo — "In My Head"
Ke$ha — "Tik Tok"
Nicki Minaj (featuring Sean Garrett) — "Massive Attack"

Pop Video
Beyoncé (featuring Lady Gaga) — "Video Phone (extended remix)"
B.o.B (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Nothin' on You"
Ke$ha — "Tik Tok"
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"
***Katy Perry (featuring Snoop Dogg) — "California Gurls"***

Rock Video
***30 Seconds to Mars — "Kings and Queens"***
Florence + the Machine — "Dog Days Are Over"
MGMT — "Flash Delirium"
Muse — "Uprising"
Paramore — "Ignorance"

Hip-Hop Video
B.o.B (featuring Hayley Williams) — "Airplanes"
Drake (featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem) — "Forever"
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
Jay-Z (featuring Swizz Beatz) — "On to the Next One"
***Kid Cudi (featuring MGMT and Ratatat) — "Pursuit of Happiness"***

Dance Video
Cascada — "Evacuate the Dancefloor"
David Guetta (featuring Akon) — "Sexy Chick"
Enrique Iglesias (featuring Pitbull) — "I Like It"
***Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"***
Usher (featuring will.i.am) — "OMG"

Collaboration
3OH!3 (featuring Ke$ha) — "My First Kiss"
Beyoncé (featuring Lady Gaga) — "Video Phone (extended remix)"
B.o.B (featuring Hayley Williams) — "Airplanes"
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys — "Empire State of Mind"
***Lady Gaga (featuring Beyoncé) — "Telephone"***

Breakthrough Video
Dan Black — "Symphonies"
***The Black Keys — "Tighten Up"***
Coldplay — "Strawberry Swing"
Gorillaz (featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def) — "Stylo"

Best Direction
***30 Seconds to Mars — "Kings and Queens" — Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins***
Eminem — "Not Afraid" — Directed by Rich Lee
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys — "Empire State of Mind" — Directed by Hype Williams
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance" — Directed by Francis Lawrence
Pink - "Funhouse" — Directed by Dave Meyers

Choreography
Beyoncé (featuring Lady Gaga) — "Video Phone (extended remix)"
Janelle Monáe f/ Big Boi — "Tightrope"
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"
***Lady Gaga (featuring Beyoncé) — "Telephone"***
Usher (featuring will.i.am) — "OMG"

Special Effects
Dan Black — "Symphonies"
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
Green Day — "21st Century Breakdown"
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"
***Muse — "Uprising"***

Art Direction
30 Seconds to Mars — "Kings and Queens"
Beyoncé (featuring Lady Gaga) — "Video Phone (extended remix)"
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
Florence + the Machine — "Dog Days Are Over"
***Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"***

Editing
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
***Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"***
Miike Snow — "Animal"
P!nk — "Funhouse"
Rihanna — "Rude Boy"

Cinematography
Eminem — "Not Afraid"
Florence + the Machine — "Dog Days Are Over"
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys — "Empire State of Mind"
Lady Gaga — "Bad Romance"
Mumford and Sons — "Little Lion Man"

Random

Check out the following albusm, I'll be back later for some discussion. Possibly.

OK Go - "Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky"
Broken Bells - "Broken Bells"
Aziz Ansari - "Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening"
The Alumni Club - "Up Early & Out Late"

Entry #4 - Is Porn Really An Addiction

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What the Hell Is Blaxploitation?

            Blaxploitation was a hot topic in our class where the focus was the 1971 (and original) version of Shaft.  It had a lot of meaning, depending on which film was being discussed and who was discussing it.  Different definitions include it being filmmakers in general figuring out how to exploit the black crowd but putting out films with all black people.  Others saw it as a way to exploit the black actors AND black audiences.  I almost found this to be a bit racist.  Only having black actors in the main roles?  Why was it so difficult to have racially-mixed casts?

            It was definitely an interesting film but I find myself more and more preferring newer films, which would mean I preferred the Samuel L Jackson version more.  I know I'll never hear the end of it if I ever bring that up in conversation so I'll delegate those feelings to this entry.  The feeling I get is that older people like older movies more.  It's more of a memory jogger of the "good 'ole days" rather than actually being better quality films.  The viewers were younger, livelier, and still had a full life ahead of them so that was when they were enjoying these films.  Not only that, but also these films were brand new back then, where everything else comparable couldn't actually surpass it in quality.

            Not to sound too contradictory, but a perfect example of why I could be wrong about older films is ANY TYLER PERRY movie.  I don't understand who gives this guy money to make movies.  I understand that they make money because every black person in the United States goes and sees every movie that he releases, which seems to practically averages about a dozen a year!  He writes and directs all of them but they're all about the same stupid characters whether it's about him, Madea or a "mad black woman" that will drive you nuts.

            Tyler Perry is definitely not stupid.  He'd have to be dumb to listen to every person that tells him how much his movies suck.  If he listened, he'd stop wasting everyone's time by making these movies.  But instead, he listened to some film professor or history teacher somewhere when they were covering the 70s and Blaxploitation.  He watched Shaft and thought to himself "Hmm… Black people like this movie and it's all black people in it… I should do the same thing when I'm older!" and that's how he started to make these idiotic movies such as Madea's Family Reunion, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and Daddy's Little Girl.

            I really do understand why these movies keep getting made.  They make money.  They're following the same business model of films like Shaft and Superfly: Blaxploitation.  It's a relatively untapped resource at this point and is no different than the biggest trend of this past decade: super hero movies.  It's also no different than Disney movies, 3D movies, and horror movies that follow the same stupid guidelines for how to scare people.  It's almost as if Tyler Perry read "Blaxploitation Films for Dummies" when he was in film school.

Women in Society: Then and Now

The article I read from the Seventies was from Rolling Stone and was about a woman who was basically trying to make something for herself rather than being the typical woman.  In searching for a comparable article, I came across one of the most ridiculous magazines currently around: Cosmopolitan.  So, instead of comparing the Rolling Stone article with an article from present day, I'm comparing it with an entire magazine from present day.

I looked through the magazine both in paper and online.  It's ridiculous what these women spend their time doing, acting as if it's really a life-or-death situation as to whether they use the right hair products or makeup.  It seems as if a lot of women have failed to advance in how society looks at them from the seventies and even before that.  As I guy, I can certainly appreciate women trying to spruce up their looks, however, it's not doing much more for themselves other than maybe getting a better guy (although a "better guy" wouldn't be judging a woman on her style).

One of the articles I read from Cosmo was about how this woman, Jessica, talked about having a live-in boyfriend and how she gave up on working out because her boyfriend ran everyday and she got lazy and couldn't keep up.  Yet, she did feel guilty about it, so I guess that's a good way to look at why she should do something like becoming healthier.  She based her decisions on a guy rather than herself and her own health benefits.

Looking at the Rolling Stone article, there's some strong evidence of a woman actually trying to get past stereotypes and trying to advance herself in society.  She wants a job but not the type women were expected to have like her mother, who was a nurse.  The difference between her mother and most of those women of her day was that, even though she became the typical nurse, her real dreams had been to become a doctor and that she "didn't fit into the suburban world" and was "not a socializer."  She wanted to be a doctor.  She even had the encouragement of her father.

Even as this woman's mother moved toward independence, going back to school to get a degree, "she was still expected to come home to make supper" every night.  The limits she saw hardly held her back.  To go back to today's media and look at Cosmo, it's frustrating to see women essentially shooting themselves in the foot.  They're placing limits on themselves with these stupid articles about how to look better.  People actually spend that much time researching beauty and writing about it?!?

The steps taken from this woman's mother being a nurse and attending school for a degree to this woman exploring her own independence through joining groups like the ERA and NOW and then to finally women now who spend their time figuring out how to look best for guys.  What would really work best for guys when they look at women is to see some initiative as far as education and developing their careers goes.  I know Cosmopolitan is a magazine specifically targeted at women who are uncomfortable with themselves, but that's a lot of people.  This magazine is extremely popular and seems to have a much bigger impact on people than it should.  Instead there should be a magazine that guys would read as well: one that talks about how to succeed in the work force, or how to be your own person and stand out as an individual, more specifically targeted toward women who are trying to advance the standing of women in society today, at least pushing it past the point that it was at when the Rolling Stone article was written.

Bulls Memories

Back in the 90s, the Bulls were on top of the world, being lead by the best in the world: Michael Jordan. My grandpa used to take me to Bulls games quite often, when I was only eight, maybe nine years old at the time. We had seats right near the court and my favorite thing to do was get autographs from the players.
I remember asking my grandpa about Johnny Red Kerr, this titan of a man with slicked back white hair and large glasses. He explained Red the way everyone explains him: the guy on tv, the guy who basically started this team, the very first coach. He told me I'd want Red's autograph. Now, I was even scared to ask Mugsy Bogues, a former Charlotte Hornet, for an autograph (Bogues is 5'3", I was even shorter, being 9 years old). Imagine how frightening someone the size of Johnny Red Kerr could be.
My grandpa lead me over to Red, who I asked, most definitely on multiple occasions, for an autograph, whether it was on a poster I had made with all the players' names or the ticket for that night's game. Not once did he fail to have a huge smile on his face when I asked for an autograph. He asked me my name, signed the poster or ticket, and just had the biggest smile stretched across his face you could possibly expect. He was more than happy to interact with fans and make a young fan's day that much brighter.
Johnny Red Kerr was simply a happy man from my first days of going to a Bulls game and getting his autograph while watching the Bulls dominate, to the days longer after Jordan had retired and the team was sporting the likes of Eddie Robinson and Jalen Rose. Johnny would always provide the perfect combination of commentary and fun chiding remarks between himself and Tom Dore during a usually dreadful game. When things weren't going the Bulls' way, they weren't going Johnny's way either and you could hear it in his voice. If there's one personality in all of sports that is unforgettable, it's Johnny Red Kerr.

Another Bulls legend who showed a fiery passion for the team I grew up watching was Norm Van Lier, or Stormin' Norman as they would refer to him when cutting to his halftime and post-game commentary. He was the perfect follow-up to Johnny Red Kerr. When the Bulls let the fans down, they let Norm down too. He was well-known for hitting the issues square on the nose. He didn't beat around the bush and he wasn't afraid to share his thoughts on a player's performance. I wish there was more to say about him but I don't have those same memories that I have about Red.

Both these Bulls legends will be sorely missed. Red had already stepped away from game commentary, but it already hadn't been the same without him. Hopefully they're both in a more peaceful state now and I feel confident I can count on the Bulls and Chicago to honor these two greats the way they deserve to be honored. Maybe win a few for Red and Norm???

Countdown to Connors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voaA5MrnJqE

Matt Silver
c: 847-707-7052
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