Since The Dark Knight slapped up on the Silver Screen, there has been one thing the people have wanted.
The next Batman movie.
That's right; let's forget that it should feasibly take another 2 years--maybe 3--before anyone could respectfully write, film, produce and release another ridiculously high-caliber Batman movie to follow up. Forget how mind-explodingly good The Dark Knight was, let's get to the next movie already! Who will the villains be!? OMG!
This is all any self-respecting entertainment journalist with a microphone, keyboard, and/or mouth has asked of anyone within a 100 mile radius of anyone involved with the monstrously revamped Batman movie franchise. (What would YOU ask Christopher Nolan if you had him for 26 seconds and tape recorder??? Ed. Note: please no lewd comments) And all those people told all those entertainment journalists: (to paraphrase) There is no new Batman movie currently in the works. Please just let us digest having finished The Dark Knight before we even start thinking about what's next for the caped crusader.
Looks like the joke (hope you pun fans are keeping score; I just chalked up a fat one there) is on us. This newly released trailer from Warner Brothers reveals that Christopher Nolan's third installment in the Batman series is not only underway, but well on it's way to hit theaters this summer. And let me tell you; if you thought Ledger's Joker was phenomenal--then hold on to your butts. Who's the villain you say? Well riddle me this, riddle me that, Harvey Dent's back with a big black cat.
Working on a dream (caution! a rare serious post!)
We don't do this much here at the Scene & Heard factory, but given the circumstance(s) of this week, we're taking a turn for the serious (gasp!) with today's YouTube Monday. Seriously, take a look around. See that? There is way too much going on in the serious world to focus on something sensational in the music, film, or pop culture realms. So serious we are; escapism can wait. (Can't take serious? I understand. Tune back in tomorrow when I'll surely be acting ridiculous as per usual again!)
Most obviously, today is Martin Luther King Day. Always an important day to remember and observe, certainly; but it takes remarkable precedence this year.
The Doc's dream that he spoke of and fought so valiantly for long ago marches across a new milestone this week with the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama.
But not because he will be our first black president.
Though you can argue some cast their vote for Obama solely because he is black (and not from Texas), I believe Obama was voted into office not because of his skin color, but because of the hope he represents, the fact that people don't think "ugh, another politician" when they watch him or listen to him. I'd like to think Obama won the vote on Nov. 4 because the majority of us believe in him--regardless of his experience or what he looks like. And that was the dream the Doc spoke of in front of the Lincoln Memorial all those years ago. Not about blacks winning equal opportunities from whites, but that no dream is out of reach for any man or woman. Heck, that's not even the Doc's dream. That is THE AMERICAN DREAM--although it was disgustingly unbalanced for a loooooong time, and Obama is an appropriate distinction to show how far that dream has come.
I've been in an argument or two (or thirty-seven) over the past few months where I've been told that all this hope and dream talk is ridiculously hokey and has noooooo credence or place in politics, especially given the current economic climate. Well, I continue to differ. Look around. 2009 looks bleak. People are losing jobs. Wars 'round the globe continue to rage. The economy continues in it's coma. Plus we got all that global warming business. And the Eagles lose, again.
And the flying cars! Where are the flying cars we were promised in the 21st century?
It seems we're losing everything, including belief in ourselves and the people that we love. Even my parents are in a disheartening tangle of not talking to one another. Everything is falling apart. Hokey hope and dreams right now are EXACTLY what we need; a beacon that continues to glow while the rest of the world's lights shut off around it. And if you listen to Obama talk about hope...he isn't asking us to believe in him, but to believe in ourselves and the change that we can make ourselves. That's inspiring, and that's what we need.
Obviously, I expect Obama to eventually walk the walk and will call him on it if he doesn't. But right now, his journey to the White House is enough to keep me going, hoping, and working to change myself for the better in this awfully depressing climate of affairs. 2009 is at once, the most exciting time to be a 24-year old homeboy in America, and the most depressing. It is a dark, cold hour.
Frankly, all that someone like me has right now is a dream.
Barack Obama's speech before last year's Martin Luther King Day at Doc's old church
That's what I'm thinking about this Martin Luther King day.
But let's not forget today is also the last day of George W. Bush's presidency. The most unpopular president since Nixon, totally, but I think some people will ease up on his legacy in the coming decades. He was a often a bumbling goon, often stubborn, and often went about certain things the wrong way (not to mention, in an un-American way). Buuuuut, was it really that bad of a thing that he knocked Sadam from power in the Middle East? He played dirty no doubt, but Sadam was no angel either. Bush always meant well for us, that I am sure.
And I'm sorry, but his megaphone address to September 11 rescue workers in the middle of the clean up carnage, is one of the most uplifting moments I've seen from a politician--no cue cards, no footing around what he's trying to say--just "I hear you. The world hears you. We are America." That was a message of hope--our president in the dirt with us, talking in a megaphone.
Remember, we consoled in Bush when we came under attack that year. Bush was the light of hope we needed then. Barack is the light of hope we need now.
"Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone. In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone. In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone. So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God bless the United States of America." - Barack Obama
You may or may not have noticed our esteemed editor talked some major trash earlier this week.
I never thought I'd see the day when the trash takes US out. If you live or have driven through Pottstown these past few weeks, you've no doubt noticed these monstrous, fierce looking blue beasts--errrr, municipal trashcans that make recycling sooooo easy, all you gotta do is toss it all into one can without any of that pesky sorting and separating. Captain Planet would be proud. Of course, as you can see in our editorial cartoonist's color toon in the paper earlier this week, it's not that easy. The cans have taken over! And we all have the most heinous blues this town has ever, ever seen (nevermind the current economic meltdown, we're being eaten alive by mouth-watering trashcans!).
So here at the Scene & Heard laboratory, we're willing to help the only way we know how. We know it isn't much. But here's some music to help you cope with these awful, nasty blues.
Our hometown home boys in InnerPartySystem are back with yet ANOTHER video for their first single "Don't Stop." If you saw the first version, this new version prods the same veins (see: melting lipstick, zombified couple foaming of the mouth while watching TV, human Barbie & Ken dolls), but with a lot more band and a lot more performance, and thus a lot better. Cool video; check it out!
And since it's Monday, why not a bonus?! I stumbled across this short of them remaking a scene from The Big Lebowski, ala Spin Magazine. The System abides.
Michael Jackson wills Beatles songbook back to McCartney; can't buy him love (and some fun digging at Heather Mills)
So the swirling rumor of the moment is that our ol' pal Michael Jackson is finally ready to patch things up with his once-pal Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney (remember that "Girl Is Mine" duet? Those were the days! Jacko had a jheri curl and Macca had that sick Uncle Joey Mullet of his).
But how does Jacko plan to make nice with the Beatle he outbid rights to for his own Beatle songs? Jacko has apparently altered his will to give back the rights to the 200 or so hits from the Fab Four's rich catalog when he dies.
Think about that for a moment. That's like saying: "Hey Paul, don't you worry. We can be pals again... after I die. But until that day when I inevitably croke and don't need to ape money off the music you wrote--Allah knows I need all I can scrounge these days--you're STILL going to have to pay Sony and I royalty $$$ to play 'Hey, Jude' or 'Elenor Rigby.' And I'm still going to get money when someone plays "Let It Be" on the jukebox or radio. But don't you worry, Pauly ol' pal! When I'm gone, you can have what's yours. Hee heeeeeeeeee! Doesn't matter to me after that!
But that's not even the worst of it. If there is truth to this claim, it's just an ignorant--if not arrogant--charade. Few people seem to realize that per copyright law, control of publishing rights over all songs written before 1978 (in which, all Beatles tunes were) revert back to the original author after 50 years of first publish. Thus, come 2012, "Love Me Do" will be Paul and Yoko's again ANYWAY. Meaning, if Jacko is still ticking come that time, this whole "will" thing is absolutely pointless. And those close to him say Jacko is healthy again and looking to jumpstart his music career, so it's not crazy to say he'll outlive the copyright law...unless you're reading the National Enquirer who says his 'days are numbered')
But I'd say the damage is done to Paul already anyway. Sorry, Mike. You can sit with Heather Mills in the sandbox for greedy punks who stole and then cheated Big Macca's heart. Speaking of which; have you SEEN who she's been dating?! Naturally, he's a rich, old codger. Although, turns out he actually SANG in the "LA LA" chorus of "Hey Jude"...so now, let's bring this whole discussion full circle and connect ALL these dots. When Marc Sinden hears the part he sang on "Hey Jude"--a song written predominantly by his gold-diggin' girlfriend's ex-husband (McCartney), Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop (and weird)", gets a cut of royalty money from the publishing rights to that song. Is it just me, or is "Hey, Jude" the central thread that binds this entire world together? No offense to Kevin Bacon.
More of the backstory on this whole fiasco. An explanation of what owning the publishing rights of The Beatles catalog means.
Alright, pop culture, I have a bone to pick with you. Or rather, a hair to pluck with you. The mustache.
Why do you keep saying "it's back" year after year after year after year? Sure, it's a bold (if not regrettable) retro fashion trend rarely seen around the Hollywood symposium that's absolutely worthy of exploiting, I get that--especially when we're talking about the shorn-shaven porno 'stache. But c'mon! Something can only come "back" so many times before it's just plain old HERE. Did it really ever go away to begin with? In recent pop-memory, there has been the always popular 'got milk' stache, Ron Burgundy, Borat, The Killers, Super Mario, dozens of Cohen Brothers movies, anyone who wants to ape Tom Selleck, etc.
Seriously, not a year goes by--not a YEAR!--where I don't read somewhere on the internet about how [insert your favorite year in the 21st century here] is the year that the ol' stache made it's triumphant return to mal-fashion, for better or worse. How can it be the return of a fashion trend in 2008 if it already returned in 2007... and 2006... and 2005???!!!!
I think this started when John Oates and Alex Trebek shaved off their monumentally hip staches. Is there no one keeping a better record of where and when these mustaches are growing! Something needs to be done about this. The mustache is way out of control, and I think analysts writing about fashion trends at the end of the year don't have anything to really write about besides our most beloved and sensational staches. It must stop now.
And quite frankly, I've seen more beards this year in music and Hollywood than staches. Prince William anyone? Makes a better story than "Robert Downey Jr. grew a stache for his new role in Sherlock Holmes, and now it's everywhere."
When homeboys start growing Salvador Dali staches again, THAT will be something to write about. Until then, stop lathering up something that's already been growing for years.
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Since The Dark Knight slapped up on the Silver Screen, there has been one thing the people have wanted.
