if you ever wondered about your friends preference, here's a 'surefire' way to find out!

wow, now i'll always know when i shake a man's hand! taken from the random site strange cosmos (beware of pop ups on that site!).

as you can see, it's a quiet news day...

don't laugh, but beauty shop is kinda good!

call me a cheeseball hoochy mama, but i was secretly looking forward to watching this carbon copy spinoff of the barbershop series. with an interesting, all encompassing cast and the fact that i revel in movies that are meant for group participation, beautyshop is just one of those films that i knew i couldn't get my weave on fast enough to catch (luckily previews are ample in my life).

queen latifah brings this type of genre film to another level with her easy mix of street sass and mainstream appeal. add to the fact that there are some serious laughs and a generally all around good feeling (even the ample cheese didn't get to me), beautyshop makes for a great guilty pleasure afternoon. just remember to bring your posse of vocal and reactionary friends along with you.

my grade: b+

missed south by southwest 2005? listen to over 2GB of featured performers here!

another year has passed and if you weren't lucky enough to attend the ever growing south by southwest festival, then here is your chance to at least check out some of the bands that performed during the music section of the event.

with over 1500 bands in just 5 days, the sxsw music wing is quickly becoming THE place for music tastemakers to choose who will be the next big thing in indie/alternative for the next 12 months.

in the past few years, alumnis that left sxsw as high level buzz acts included franz ferdinand, the killers and the white stripes. so it's no surprise that many of the 'next big things' (the futureheads, m.i.a., kaiser chiefs, bloc party, the dears, lcd soundsystem.. all wongie's world favorites!) of the indie press swarmed down to austin to hopefully cement their success in the following months.

of course, part of the magic of sxsw is the fact that with every buzz band, comes even more 1st time discoveries that leave the festival with hot press or even a record deal.

if you're curious about the list of artists check out the site and then listen to some of the featured artists by downloading the bittorent 2GB file and play it in your itunes/ipod now.

the nytimes magazine calls degrassi the best teen show on tv

what's up with manny's (far right) hair?

fans of my blog probably know that i've only recently fallen for the canadian teen series degassi high: the next generation (one of the most unflinching DRAMA programs on television with recent plot twists like craigs bi-polar syndrome, emma's dive into slutdom and a teacher student relationship that doesn't come across as creepy)... but you know i'm onto something when the NY TIMES Magazine claims degrassi as the best teen show around.

read the interesting article, (a friend of mine gets quoted) and then go seek out the show either on the N or via the net. i promise it'll be worth your while!

guilty pleasure tv: PoweR girls

hi, i'm lizzie grubman (center) and i have no eyebrows... as paris would say, 'that's hot'

while it may seem like i won't have any more time to add any more programmes to my tv plate, i recently managed to squeeze in mtv's PoweRgirls as my must-see current guilty pleasure.

focusing on the lives of superstar publicist lizzie grubman and her pr girls, these girls fly from party to opening to record launch to red carpets, all the while juggling personal and interpersonal drama.

since these long island girls all get on my last nerves, the shows winning formula is the fact that it offers a pretty accurate look at how competitive and utterly silly the whole media pr world can be... plus, watching tough cookie, jailbird lizzie, whip her barbies into shape is pure evil joy.

like i said, guilty pleasure tv of the month.
to watch episode clips, go here

tv show to watch: project greenlight 3

oh my god, can we just fire this guy?

after releasing two very huge flops (but two compelling tv series), the project greenlight posse of ben affleck, matt damon, chris moore and new partner wes craven, have decided to put their stamp on the very profitable horror movie genre.

working with dimension films, the team decided on the cult ready script feast by marcus dunstan & patrick melton, and took a huge risk by asking 46 year old wedding videographer john gulager to helm the whole process.

by episode 2 (and wonderful editing, mind you), john is coming across as a complete idiot lame ass dictator with little to no communication skills. add to that his inane tunnel vision to ONLY cast his family and friends as leads in this film, i was seriously ready to throw the tv out the window out of frustration (which leads me back to the wonderful editing of this show).

hopefully john's inner vision will somehow seep out to make a truly scary/funny horror flick, but until then, i couldn't resist and gave myself a personal spoiler to find who DID get cast for the film (don't click here if you'd rather find out via the tv show).

i must admit, i'm hooked!
btw, if you wanna read weekly blogs from chris moore and the writers, go here it's nice to see that even the producer of the film agrees with me!

quick review: sin city rocks!

devon aoki is my new idol (though mickey rourke comes in a nice 2nd place)

i have to admit that everything i've seen at the movies this year has been crud... until now. when i first heard that the cult comic book, 'sin city', was going to be brought to life via robert rodruiguez and an all star cast, i literally had to control my instant giddy reaction. comic book adaptations sometimes just don't work out and to watch a frank miller (the creator) piece go to stank would be very unfortunate... so i waited...

in this case, my skepticism was uncalled for because sin city the movie, kicks mother friggin ass.

packing three violent stories into one, sin city really draws you into its' pulp world of corruption, sex and honor in the most surprising places. loads of people get whacked, but weirdly enough, a good few find their salvation through it all. with a cast that not always gets the rhythm of noir (jessica alba... you're hot, but damn, you can't act!), the film protects itself through its warp speed kinetic visuals and anarchic storylines.

when the two hours are over, taking on smoking sounds like a great idea.

my grade: A-
to watch trailers and a short non-spoiler epk, click here

film buzz: night watch

last year while the rest of the world was hailing spider man 2 as one of the best movies of the summer, the folks back in russia decided to go watch a homegrown action cross genre epic by the name of 'night watch' (nochnoj dozor).

with a serious geek friendly plot in which a mideaval truce between good and evil is somehow called off in modern day moscow. (stay with me here) soon everything from witches to vampires to supernatural powers run rampant in the city, but only a handful of humans are capable of stopping it all.

and to top it off, it's a trilogy!

sounds hokey, i know, but the buzz is pretty exciting. fox searchlight have so much faith in this film, they are not only releasing the movie this summer, but have also invested in the other two films being made.

director timov bekmambetov has definitely been studying the likes of michael bay as the 5 minute trailer looks pretty impressive. check it out and just remember where you read about this film first!

Best of 2004: old boy (finally getting a showing in the US)

this movie has been around for a good year and is finally making it's US debut this month.
easily one of the best films of 2004, old boy continues to prove that korean cinema is up there with the best film industries of the world.

twisted, evil & funny, old boy also has an energy that i haven't experienced while watching a film in ages. director park chan wook is at the top of his game with this one.

if you don't already own this dvd (released pretty much around the world by now), go get it! if you haven't seen this in the states... watch the trailer and then rush out to see the film now!

9 albums you should be listening to over the next month

as some of you know, i've been a music reviewer for the hot new LGBT Canadian publication Back magazine. the following albums are some of my tips for march/april 2005.

brazilian girls "brazilian girls"
in a nutshell: every track will end up on a lounge compilation in the coming months. but before that happens, go out and grab this debut album by this group who are neither brazilian nor all female (there's only one).

lush, dreamy and completely cross genre (bossa nova meets house meets ambient), this is the cool, easy-on-the-ears album, of the season.

your middle aged friends will be jealous you discovered this act before they did.

antony and the johnsons "i am a bird now"
in a nutshell: initial feelings when you first listen to this album is what if kermit the frog, via nina simone, decided to become a torch singer. but then once you get over the strange vocals of antony, you realize that what you have here is one of the most heartbreaking, genderbender, cabaret meets hints of gospel, albums of the season. hedwig would be proud.

natalie imbruglia "counting down the days"
in a nutshell: one of the most accessible pop albums of the season. natalie's sweet vocals is the perfect fit for these heavily beatles inspired tracks.

fischerspooner "odyssey"
in a nutshell: electroclash is sooo 2002. so the boys of fischerspooner decided to rework their electro sound for a more kindler gentler 2005.

moby "hotel"
in a nutshell: one of the best albums of the season. i've been listening to this album non-stop for the past few weeks and for a fickle person like me, that's saying ALOT! i gravitate to the more mid-tempo moody tracks, but there's enough diverse sounds on this album for everyone to choose from. brilliant!

mariah carey "the emancipation of mimi"
in a nutshell: i can definitely separate the difference between good music and my feelings towards the artist. in this case, MC has come up with the strongest album of her career, with enough booty anthems and soaring ballads to make this album a long runner for 2005. but the persona herself... no comment.

basement jaxx "singles" in a nutshell: gathering all the hits from their previous 3 albums, the jaxx are still one of the most innovative dance acts around. every song here is a gem!

kaiser chief "employment"
in a nutshell: this seasons big rock-meets-80's-punk-wave band. compared to other hot acts like bloc party and the bravery, these boys have the vocal chops to make their debut stand out above the rest. love them!!!!

m.i.a. "arular"
in a nutshell: one of the illest, supersonic, london underground meets psychotic r&b, albums around. m.i.a.'s debut exudes street tough antics while incorporating all forms of music scenes in one go. brilliant!

amerie's '1 thing' is this seasons 'crazy in love'

damn! have you heard the raw groove for amerie's new single '1 thing' yet? thanks to hot HOT producer rich harrison (the man who came up with the hookline for beyonce's crazy in love and jlo's get right) the track is so killer that you almost forget that amerie can barely sing along to what's being asked of her.

word from the internet chat rooms is that sonybmg hated the track so much that they refused to release it. but somehow someone from the UK got ahold of it, leaked it on the net and the next thing you know... BOOM! the song is being played everywhere.

amerie is all of a sudden a hot commodity, the video looks amazing and the album release of 'touch' (featuring artists like nas and lil jon) could turn out to be the album that finally puts amerie on the map.

to listen or watch what the fuss is all about, check them out:
launch windows version
mtv.com real player version
aol netscape listen here watch here

go out and get the awesome UNICEF compilation now at an urban outfitters near you

Filter Magazine and Urban Outfitters just released a special compilation with all proceeds going to Unicef's Tsunami Fund. Only sold at Urban Outfitters, they managed to get an amazing array of artists to donate tracks for this collection. Go and get it now!

CD 1:
1. Death Cab For Cutie "Love Song"
2. Interpol "Slow Hands" (Britt Daniel mix)
3. Bright Eyes "We Are Nowhere And It's Now"
4. Desert Sessions 7/8 "Hanging Tree" featuring Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan
5. WILCO "Jesus, etc." (Live)
6. Hot Hot Heat "Apt 101" (previously unreleased)
7. The French Kicks "The Trial Of The Century" (Live)
8. The Futureheads "Piece of Crap" (Live)
9. My Morning Jacket "The Bear (Live)
10. Magnet "Heaviest Heart" (previously unreleased)
11. Rilo Kiley "American Wife" (previously unreleased)
12. Elbow "Fugitive Motel" (RJD2 remix)
13. Clinic "Fingers" (previously unreleased)
14. Mercury Rev "In A Funny Way"

CD 2:
1. Franz Ferdinand "Dark Of The Matinée" (Headman Remix)
2. The Go Team "Huddle Formation" (Glasgow Beat 106 FM Session)
3. Grandaddy "Nacher Anthem"
4. Kaiser Chiefs "Take My Temperature"
5. Earlimart "Lullaby" (previously unreleased)
6. The Faint "I Disappear"
7. Caribou "Barnowl" (previously unreleased)
8. Eisley "Lost at Sea" (remix)
9. Dios "Everyday" (previously unreleased)
10. Juana Molina "Isabel"
11. Adam Arcuragi "The Song the Sinner Sings"
12. M83 "A Guitar and a Heart " (final track)