This week "Notorious", the story of Biggie Smalls, is hitting theaters, but we're asking ourselves what the hell happened to the "Vapors" film – the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin’ story - that was due out in 2008?
If you remember Mr Magic's Rap Attack show circa mid-80s then you know his New York radio show on WBLS broke many rap artists and his DJ, Marley Marl, went on to produce some phenomenal rap acts. The most notable collaboration came in the establishment The Juice Crew, released on Cold Chillin' Records. The crew was made up of an amazing troupe of rappers including Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Biz Markie who all featured on the anthem posse cut, "The Symphony", released in 1988.
So imagine our excitement when we heard that a film project is going to capture the foundations of the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin' story 20 years after it captured our attention.
Earlier Marley Marl explained that "right now, it's in the casting stage. We're not reaching out — a lot of stars are reaching out to us because that's an important movie in hip-hop history. It's basically me, Big Daddy Kane and Biz's life story leading up to 1988. How we got there. How we made the golden era pop. ... A lot of ups and downs, a lot of personal shit. It is what it is."
A few names have been associated with the project. Will Talib Kweli make his character acting debut as Scott La Rock (one half of Boogie Down Productions)? The plum roles are going quickly: Idris Elba (The Wire) will play manager Fly Ty, Cuba Gooding Jr. confirmed to play DJ Marley Marl, Clifton Powell will be Mr. Magic, Jackie Long (from ATL) is Big Daddy Kane, Evan Ross is MC Shan and Keke Palmer is the foul-mouthed Roxanne Shante. But the cherry rumor is Nas playing Kool G. Rap. Lyrical legend playing legend.
Let's leave the last word to the diabolical: "There will never be another Juice Crew. Ever. But I'd say that the closest thing to Juice Crew would have to be Wu-Tang. I mean, like us, they had different rhyme styles, personalities and they all rhymed about different things."
Vapors, named after the classic Biz Markie track, is produced by Big Daddy Kane, directed by Furqaan Clover and we hope it sees the light of day soon.
The wait is over. This weekend sees the Los Angeles premiere of graffiti documentary, Bomb It. Anyone who considers themselves a hip-hop head or a street culture aficionado will need to see this. Running from June 6th-12th (click full interview link for all screening details), Bomb It is a study on graffiti and urban artwork, taking us from early cave paintings to its explosion in the late 70s and early 80s on the streets and subway cars of New York, eventually landing in galleries and influencing all aspects of pop culture.
Using interviews with artists around the world and footage of the artists in action, director Jon Reiss uses the film to take on the question of "what is public space and how should it be used to benefit the public?" Reiss shot Bomb It on five continents and immortalized some graffiti legends including Taki 183 (who's credited with being one of the first taggers in NYC), Stay High 149, T-Kid and Cope (NY), Cornbread (Philly), Revok (Seventh Letter crew), Mear One, and the prolific Shepard Fairey.
As shows like Lockup and Prison Break find their way into the evening time slots, our thirst for inmate violence, guard behavior, and prison culture is at a fever pitch. For Ben Harbert, director of the documentary film "In A Day's Time: Songs Of The California Men's Colony", he lays on us good tunes and honest characters for a more rewarding experience.
Shot in one day at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, Harbert captures an image of prison that reveals a thriving world of musical study. Whether playing for commercial success on the outside, or personal fulfillment behind bars, there is a captivating sincerity to each inmate filmed. Having the opportunity to speak with the director, Harbert explained to SEEN that for the CMC's residents, "music can create a separate space in prison, a necessity when there is a lack of privacy and personal ownership. Also, music can suspend the regular environment that a inmate might be wrapped up in." These inmates won't tell you that doing time is easy, but many of them in the CMC will agree that prison violence would get heavier if they had to sit in complete silence. Letting it go through music is what it is all about. Just ask MJ.
Irresistible characters, powerful performances, and a film that lets the music and inmates speak for themselves. Check out our exclusive clip featuring collaboration between a country guitarist and an RnB singer, and go see this film this summer.
The Tribeca Film Festival just wrapped in New York. It being NYC and the birth of hip hop, its kinda poetic that The Wackness made its premiere at Tribeca. Instead of a Hollywood cliche coming-of-age film with music as a backdrop, The Wackness really captures the role that music plays in a teen's life. And, as The Wackness is set in 1994, it's all about 90s hip-hop! Shapiro, the main character, makes mixtapes for his sweetheart. That's real. We’ve all done it before. Tribe Called Quest, R. Kelly, Biggie, Raekwon...long before the iTunes gift playlist we were diligently making mixtapes for our crushes and our friends.
Shapiro is our kind of guy - he's never without his headphones, he loves the ladies, but he might love hip-hop more. Method Man also plays a Jamaican in the film. Trailer to the film is above.
Also at Tribeca, Adam Yauch screened his previously reported film “Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot”. Mark your calendars for that local release, kids, this one is going to be hot.
The Arclight Theaters in Los Angeles are smack dab in the middle of the 7th annual AFI Music Documentary Series (running April 2 – May 7). If you’re from LA, you know that the Arclight Theaters are something of a mecca for movie lovers; comfy reserved seating, shorter previews, and a full bar all make it a top-notch place to catch a flick. In it’s 7th year running, the AFI Music Doc Series is screening an eclectic crop of new and old music documentaries to satiate your hunger for musical knowledge. The series kicked off with Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts, an in depth look at a year in the life of the minimalist composer. So far, the series has screened the Beatles Help!, the Red Hot Chili Peppers Untitled Documentary, and our personal favorite so far, Young@Heart (see our review here or better yet, just go see the movie).
Stephen Walker’s moving documentary “Young@Heart” opens today, and if you’re lucky enough to be in one of the cities that it’s screening in, go see it. The doc follows the Young@Heart chorus, comprised entirely of retirees aged 70 and up, for seven weeks as they rehearse for a one night only engagement in their hometown of North Hampton, Massachusetts.
If this sounds like it might be a snooze-fest, consider the fact that their repertoire includes jams from the Clash, Sonic Youth, Coldplay, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, and Outkast. In the past they have put on performances with Cambodian folk artists and punk rockers (1988’s “Oh No a Condo”) and have told the story of the French Revolution through the songs of Frank Sinatra (1991 Louis Lou I – A Revolting Musical). They have toured Europe, Australia, and Canada, and are about to embark on a brief US tour in support of the release of the documentary.
This month marks a bit of a Rolling Stones revival. As previously mentioned on SEEN, "Shine A Light", the music documentary directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Martin Scorsese, launched across the US this past weekend, but if you're going to see this unique concert, don't front - go to one of the 93 IMAX theaters and experience the full-on digital video and sound quality.
Scorsese captures the disarray behind the scenes as everyone prepares in New York City's Beacon Theater. But, all of that simply leads us towards the build up and the electric performance from Jagger and crew. And at that moment, we totally forget that Jagger and the Stones are all in their 60s! They rock hard and easily keep up with Christina Aguilera and Jack White.
Scorsese, who's also Jagger's age, says that the Rolling Stones' music acted as a soundtrack to his life. Marty has said that the band’s music helped him through some difficult times, and even had an influence on his film making career. "At different times in my life, the Rolling Stones’ music dealt with different aspects of my life that I was trying to make sense of. Their music has stayed with me and been a very important part of my life over the years." Case in point: using “Gimme Shelter” in three of his movies alone: Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed.
Redefining lean and mean, Adam Yauch's Oscilliscope Labs was created as a "music and film production company", according to their website. Recently they have announced the creation of "Oscilloscope Pictures", their new distribution arm. The whole mantra behind this endeavor is to have everything done in-house; in their NY lair are post-production facilities, a recording studio (where the Beasties' "To The 5 Boroughs" was recorded & mixed) and graphic designers who can create films, soundtracks, and all marketing materials (trailers, DVD artwork, film posters, etc.) on location. Yauch tapped David Fenkel, formerly of THINKFilm, to head up the experiment. The Scope, as it's fondly referred to, will be acquiring films as well and offering finishing funds to promising directors and their projects.
The next film in the hopper was just announced: "Gunnin' For That #1 Spot", a documentary which follows 8 high school basketball players from all over the country as they arrive at Harlem's Rucker Park for the first annual "Elite 24" competition, which aims to fast track kids to the NBA. As a telling sign that Oscilloscope is taking filmmaking seriously, the director is credited as "Adam Yauch" instead of his usual alter-ego "Nathaniel Hornblower". According to the site the film will feature "raw hip hop music" but it remains unclear how much of it will come from the scope's recording studio and how much of it will be licensed. We suppose we can take solace in the fact that music for this film - and for all future scope films - won't be an afterthought. Check back here often for soundtrack details as they develop. The film is slated for a theatrical release June 27, 2008.
To whet your appetite, here's the trailer for "Awesome, I Fuckin' Shot That", directed by Hornblower, and the first film to come out out of Oscilloscope:
Robert Mugge is a name you have probably never heard. It’s likely though, that if you like Jazz, Blues, Reggae. Zydeco, or Bluegrass (work with us here), you have seen one or more of his incredible music documentaries. Beginning in 1976 with George Crumb: Voice of the Whale, which featured a performance of Crumb’s Pulitzer prize winning piece, "Vox Balaenae for Three Masked Players”, Mugge has made close to 30 films that have examined music through people, place, and time. His subjects have included Sonny Rollins, Al Green, Gil Scott-Heron, Robert Johnson, and Irma Thomas, to name a few. Although it’s difficult to pin down an exact style, Mugge’s films are characterized by his willingness to allow the music and musicians to speak for themselves. Always well researched and informed, Mugge has an uncanny ability to make genuine connections with his subjects, ultimately leading to more candid interviews and deeper meaning in his work.
For Mugge, “music is a leaping off place for discussion of social issues, cultural issues, political issues, (and) even religious issues.” This ethos might explain why Mugge was so drawn to post-Katrina New Orleans. Having worked with many of the musicians of New Orleans in some of his earlier films, Mugge sought to side-step the emotionally charged issues of government response and racism in the wake of Katrina, and focus on the storm’s devastating impact within the New Orleans music community. Where did the musicians go? Were they planning on coming back?
UPDATE: Ok sorry. It was public yesterday and this morning but for some reason it's now a private video. Sorry.
As a follow up to our post on the Sigur Ros movie 'Heima' we are happy to say that the whole movie is now available for viewing for free on the wonderful world of intertubes here.
Since we were lucky enough to have seen it in an actual movie theatre, this doesn't quite live up to the experience, but if you didn't get a chance to catch it on the big screen it is well worth checking out during your "down time" at work. Not only is the music some of the most beautiful sounds to come our way in a long time, it's shot in a way lives up to the beauty of the music and the Icelandic countryside.
This week "Notorious", the story of Biggie Smalls, is hitting theaters, but we're asking ourselves what the hell happened to the "Vapors" film – the Juice Crew/Cold Chillin’ story - that was due out in 2008? 
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