"Die The Prim & Proper Way!" -Video Invite To Our Very 1st Masquerade Dinner Party

Yeah the list is CLOSED (sorry NO more RSVPs) for our third installment of "Prim & Proper" (aka #FlashMobDinnerParty) however I see NO reason not to release the invite trailer for the event as a stand alone body of work! Now being that this was to be for our 1st ever masquerade party, I wanted it to be something SPECIAL! Something that would set the bar higher for promoters looking to bring out the high quality clientele that would appreciate a dressed up dinner event. So I conceived a kidnap plot trailer, that would require my "actors" (the Block Boys & Journ3y Men) to wear a masks. Then enlisted Ms. Tina Wong (fashion guru) as our stylish lead antagonist, Chinese mob boss "Lady Chin" and we improv'ed the rest on the spot. So at long last, here's the highly buzzed about trailer you've been seeing the behind the scenes stills for! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did shooting it.

"Speech! First Of All I Wanna Thank My Connect..." -Come Join Us & Give A Toast To The A**Holes (the Block Boys)

Ok, so ya boy (that would be me, the Minority Report
/Danny Ocean) & my team (the Block Association) are FINALLY getting recognized by our peers for the "grind" that we put in on a daily basis within the small, yet creative, community that we socialize in. Sooo been that it's NOT every day that we get honored, we decided to turn it into a BIG celebration! Oh and I'm inviting YOU to join in the celebration right along with us...
OBVIOUSLY! Get dressed cause, we're going out then we're going IN!

Monday July 18th,
the Influence Series 3.0
Tribeca Grand Hotel -2 Avenue of Americas
6pm-11pm
Our arrival time 8pm
& Departure 10:30

Hosted by the Block Association
Sounds by DJ CEO, the Ahficionados, & DJ Trauma
Atmosphere Directed by Team Mancini Lifestyle & DJ CEO
Custom Cocktails by Jackson
GUYS: We're doing the Reservoir Dogs look (hence the pic) if you wanna keep in step with us! Blk pants, white shirt, blk tie, simple.

After party/late dinner/photo shoot at BEAUTY & ESSEX -146 Essex betwn Rivington and Orchard St.

"Chain, Chain, Chain! Chain Of Cool!" -Tarantino Unleases Unchained

GREAT news for Tarantino fans! Word around the campfire in Hollywood is that Q.T. has FINALLY turned in the last draft of his highly anticipated take on the spaghetti westerns of old. Me being a true fan of his work, I'm personally excited about hearing this feeling his style of direction is MORE than well suited for this genre of film. Even greater news is that Academy Award winning actor Christoph Waltz (the "Jew Hunter" in Inglourious Basterds) has been already cast as an "Jedi like" former bounty hunter character that trains a freed slave in the art of bounty hunting. It's best if I let someone who actually READ the script to better explain it: "The title character Django is a freed slave, who under the tutelage of a German bounty hunter (Waltz's role) becomes a badass bounty hunter himself and after assisting Waltz on taking down some bad guys for profit, is in turn assisted by Waltz in tracking down his slave wife and liberating her from an evil plantation owner." And that doesn't even half begin to cover it!

Wild right? Well we already know who the German bounty hunter is, but my vote for the "freed slave role" would be out of these two guys (left-right; Djimon Hounsou & Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and you GOTTA throw in seasoned actor Delroy Lindo SOMEWHERE in there on the cast man! Hold up,wait... I just had a brilliant idea! You GOTTA have a Lavar Burton cameo in there too! That would be EPIC! Word to Kunte Kinte! But please Quentin, NO slavery in 3D!

"Hanna Barbarian" -Hanna Movie Review

Okay I'm gonna switch it up a bit for this review and break it up into two groups "Rant & Rave" so I can give you the full movie going experience I had to deal with upon viewing this. So first here goes the "rant" part:

Ladies/Gents, or just parents in general PLEASE explain to me why in the Hell would you bring a cranky ass 1-2 yr. old to a PG-13 movie?!? It's a dark room and it NOT bed time so I can understand their confusion. It's NOT a cartoon/computer animation film so what's holding their interest. AND you constantly telling them to "Shhh" is JUST as annoying (if not MORE) as the actual whining itself! How many "evil eye" look must everyone turn around and give you before you shut that baby's pacifier hole up? Sheesh Louise! THEN in my mutherf**kin' left ear I had some broad shout out "Oh no that bitch just didn't do that!" EVERY action sequence! I'm like WTBC (what the blood clot) mannnn! SOMEBODIES giving me some money back after this s**t! Wusa moment. I had to get off my chest. And now the "rave" part:

Yo this flick was an adrenaline rush from start to finish!
Extremely well paced for a "coming of age" action flick with a young female lead...unheard of! From the first scenes to establishing the "father daughter" relationship between leads Bana & Ronan, you understand the reasons why he's being so sadistic in his raising/training of Hanna. They live in the deep forest tundra, but it's an even colder world out there. What was different about this flick (besides an original plot) is that the protagonist is "captured" in the beginning of the film as opposed to the middle or end like most films. Hanna quickly understands exactly why "Poppa" nurtured her to "adapt or die" based on the fact that her surroundings would change drastically once she was out of his watchful eye. Cate Blanchett plays a pitch perfect villain looking to just cover up a past mistake, that proves to be a MUCH bigger task than had expected. Once Hanna breaks loose so does all Hell. The movie does a great job at keeping you in the fog about Hanna's origin. And the audience doesn't find out the truth about just who she is until she does. Dopeness! From the way it ends I smell a Pt.2 some where to come. Has a very indie style Tarantino/Guy Ritche feel to it, 4 out of 5 M's for this one!
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"New Jack Gritty" -True Grit Review

If you did like half of America did over the holidays, decided to take in a movie, and it wasn't Little Fockers, then the only other sane adult option was this Coen Bros. remake True Grit (I'm assuming that you've seen Black Swan already of course). Let me be quite honest with you up front, I've NEVER seen a western style movie in the theaters...EVER. But as a matured movie goer, I've grown to appreciate a GREAT story w/ substance and even better acting, than paying to see explosions, insane amounts of violence, and over paid actors. But after hearing the acting line- up, the Coen's directorial involvement, and the hype about this break-out new young actress plucked from obscurity, my ticket was SOLD! Between you and me , the last western I've watched and was hooked into was Young Guns I & II, HONESTLY! No lie folks. Bad huh? Anyways this film's highlight isn't the shoot 'em up, gun fights westerns are known for. It's the rapid fire word play and wit that's exchanged back and forth between the starring actors. Especially the wiser than her age "Mattie Ross" (played by young actress Hailee Steinfeld) who out for retribution for her decreased father murdered in cold blood by "Tom Chaney" (Josh Brolin's character). This is were surly one-eyed U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) gets reluctantly dragged into the mix along with Texas ranger La Boeuf (played by Matt Damon) when Mattie "out sources" his services to help hunt the killer down. What I was most impressed by when watching was the quick pace story telling and the comedic timing all the actors shared together, as if the had acted together for ages. Me personally, would find it intimating as a first timer to the big screen, to be not only paired with such big names actors all at once. But to have SO MUCH screen time, and have to carry a major released film! Kudos to Hailee on that one! Anyways long story short this joint was a great distraction from the cold weather and piling garbage that New York is currently having. Also it made me think "I CAN'T wait till Tarantino does his version of a Western!" Imagine how dope THAT would be? Okay so True Grit gets 4 out of 5 M's and that's ONLY cause I wished it had ended differently. Oh BTW, here's some poster variations I found that didn't make the cut State side.

"Just Throw It In The Bag!" -My Most Wanted X-Mas List

Both friends and family claim EVERY YEAR round Christmas time that "It's SO hard to shop for you! You're so picky OR you have EVERYTHING!" Ummm...not quite. I just don't like cheap bulls#@* gifts that look like NO thought what so ever was put into getting it for the intended person (that person being me)! True I don't really NEED anything, but what I WANT is a whole 'nother story all together folks. So I've taken my time to make things a bit easier for my loved ones to ensure that they don't get the screw face turned up lips when I shred the gift wrapping paper early X-mas morn. Get a pen & pad.

Now WHO doesn't need a new bottle of "smell good"? Especially a top rated one? Hey if it from good ol' Canal St. it's fine by me as long as the bottle LOOKS official out the box, I'm OK with that. This one pictured is Bvlgari BLV Cologne for Men by Bvlgari. Wear this and asking for the digits and buying drinks in clubs become a thing of the pass! TRUST!

My ol' ass iBook G4 is slower than MTA weekend trains at night! But I being patiently saving up to cope a new lappy. Well I've waited LONG ENOUGH! And I would pay good money for this new Mac Book Air for a lap dance with me! No more getting outbid at the last min on Ebay anymore! I can be the first to comment on all the geek sites I frequent now, AND I can finally watch all the on-line porn at the speed rate it was meant to be watched at! No more sound delay like an old karate flick!

Speaking of Apple, I'm really warming up to these iPad thingys that's all the rage. Now that I got the inside scoop that I CAN blog on the damn thing too, I'm even more interested in getting my Apple loving hands on one. Besides I can't be lugging my NEW Mac Air all over the place right?

I've been meaning to pick up one of these things for the longest and just never got around to doing it. Exactly "what" this is is the JBL sound iPod docking speaker system. It's the latest model sporting surround sound that they just released in time for the holidays. I love listening to music around the crib. And my only option to play my iPod loud was to connect it to my TV audio inputs (crazy MacGuyver s#@* huh?)

Now WHO couldn't use another pair of kicks in their closet? Especially a pairs of Y-3's? I had my eye on these hi top studded Honja bad boys for a minute, but now that Christmas is here, they would be more stylish if Santa came down the chimney with these joints. Both rock'em and gift wrapped w/ my name on 'em!

I gotta HUGE (Mr. Blonde) poster that looks EXACTLY like this nice & neatly rolled up in a corner of my "inspiration room" just DYING to be framed! It's the last missing piece to be placed on the wall, and I've just been "beating around the bush" getting it done. If you would be so kind to help me out with that, then BONG! One gift off my list is down, and a few more to go.

Just RECENTLY got a Playstation 3 console, and I'm hearing that NO game collection would be complete without the game Call Of Duty: Black Ops. I'm seeing the commercials on every other minute and I must admit "The s#@t looks damn good!" But to get my hands on it would be the ultimate test. Sooooo....Thank you for not making me beg.

And while we're on the subject of Play
station3, ummm, I need another Dual
shock 2 controller if I'm ever to have the homies over (homies being my nephews) to play any two player games. So kill two birds with one stone while you're in Gamestop and pick this up too. LOL!

YES! I know you're saying "Don't you have a NEW camera already?" That would be a "yes" (a G11 Canon by the way), but ever good budding photographer ALWAYS has two for good measure. And the one I got my eye on is the Canon Rebel EOS T2i 550D! Not only does it take better picture than the one I currently own, it also has 1080 HD quality video to boot! So now all those "trailers" the Block Association shoots to promote our events can be shot crystal clear! I can get my Hype Williams on with this muther. Go check Craig's list, I KNOW somebodies gotta be selling theirs on there for cheap! Lens and all!

So my G11 Canon doesn't feel "abandon
-ed" I could use a nice carrying case (like this leather one here) that has that old school retro look to it. Swanky right?

Lastly, I could use another watch yo. Ever well dressed man SHOULD own a dress watch and a casual watch so I choose this Marc Jacobs "Rivera" to be the casual choice. Simple yet stylish right? I comes in all white too, so no, I won't be mad if you couldn't track this one down for me.

THE WRAP UP:
Soooo, that's my list folks. Looks EXPENSIVE huh? Well there's nothing on here that's over a thousand dollars folks. WHAT?!!? I'm a grown ass man now! You can't get away with some cheap ass stocking stuffer thinking I'm OK with that. Oh HELL nah! I'd rather help you figure out something I wanted than embarrass both of us by asking for the receipt OR re-gifting stuff! Thank you and good night!

"On To The Ex One!" -Scott Pilgrim v.s. the World Review

Part musical, part comedy, part live action video game, all LOVE (story). Scott Pilgrim packs a PUNCH (pun intended). I'll be the first to admit being a former comic book collector/reader, I've NEVER read or even HEARD of Scott Pilgrim before this movie hit theaters. But once I saw the trailer, heard Edgar Wright was attached to direct (of "Shaun of the Dead", one of my favorite films) and "Super Bad" Michael Cera (reigning king of awkwardness) my ticket was brought! Here's the gist of the movie. Scott who's currently dating a "Asian fetish" school girl, Catholic outfit and all, gets distracted in a dream by a mysterious woman who he finds out REALLY exists and becomes obsessed w/ meeting her. After being warned by EVERYONE to stay clear of her, they start a quick courtship unannounced to his current fling "Knives Chu." By the way he's in a rocking indie band that's destined to STAY indie called "the Sex Bob Omb" (which is really rock artist Beck FYI) After a snowed in night of "spooning" with his new love interest "Ramona Flowers", Scott receives an e-mail from one of her 7 ex's (yes ladies 7 former suitors) challenging him to a duel to defend his honor...which he ignores till her first ex shows up at his band's gig. The rest you MAY have to be high to begin to accept as the story line gets more bizarre as the movie get under way. Not that I'm condoning drug use or anything (lol). But it gets surreal from that point on to say the least. All in all this was one of the most original romance comedies I've EVER seen with all it's movie genre bending and quick witty story telling. Better yet take Tarantino and mix it with the on screen computer graphic film style of "ZombieLand", with a dash of any Kung Fu/Matrix movie and BOOM! You have on Scott Pilgrim film folks. I promise you you won't leave the theater without say to yourself or thinking out loud "WTF!?!" I'm giving it 4 out 5 M's

"The Inglourious Handle B.I." -A Bastardly Movie Review

I'm kinda shocked at myself for waiting as long as I did to see this movie. I'm an avid admirer of Tarantino's work, but was hesitant to catch this one. I'm figuring I was hoping not to be disappointed so I can still have hope in his directorial skills after the questionable "Death Proof" business. Well if you harbored the same fears then I can comfortably say, you can sleep easy tonight...He's BACK! Before I attended a show I call myself reading the person to person reviews (to gain insight) on a favorite web site of mine (Ain't It Cool), and review after review folks either LOVED it or thought the worst of it. There were no in between opinions about it. So THAT wasn't any help. I NEED to see this one for myself! Caught the 5:45 down at BAM, and braced myself for whatever happened. And I gotta say folks, I was extremely pleased! Quentin always had a flair for dialogue (which btw there is ALOT of), but the cinematography, and character development within the movie are award worthy too. I was original thrown off by Brad Pitt's chessy accent from the trailers, but somehow he makes it work for him. He'll somehow get another Oscar nod I'm sure. But the REAL star was the villian in the picture (NO not Hitler) the Nazi detective "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa (played by Christopher Waltz ) that will WIN the Oscar! He owns this movie every time he appears on screen. Not to take anything away from the other fine actors cast, but he outshines each one he shares a scene with. He's THAT good! His performance alone makes the movie worth seeing (to me). Now don't walk into the theater thinking this is a rag-tag band of (Jewish) military misfits looking to have some fun killing Nazis...You'd be HALF right. The film plays host to a secondary story line (which QT is also famous for) that ties into the first, which is not as interesting, but equally important to the overall plot. I trying not to say too too uch so that it's not spoiled for you, but this one is a good one that will end questioning weather Tarantino is a film maker or not. There's ALREADY prequel talk! 4 out of 4 M's for this one.

"the VW (Vagina Wagon)"- the Kill Bill Mobile

Yeah...I know, not as iconic sounding as "the Pu**y Wagon" right? I don't blame Quentin Tarantino for ditching this prototype and replacing it with what you now see in the Kill Bill films. It doesn't scream chick magnet like a bright yellow Chevrolet Silverado SS. Besides, Uma in her "Game of Death" jumpsuit getting out a matching VW WOULD look a bit corny don't you think? Umm, "Vagina Wagon" doesn't quite roll off the tongue as well either. Ah hem, no pun intended. Well maybe.