I don’t know who Barber is; their distributor is Prairie Farms Dairy in Illinois; but they make some good eggnog. If there’s a complaint, it’s that it could (should) be a little thicker, but even that isn’t a problem if you’re drinking it with a mouthful of graham crackers like I do. Consider it an early Christmas gift. “Season’s greetings” indeed.
my rating : 4 of 5
If this is music to Reminisce to, as the title suggests, it’s music you’ll probably fall asleep to while doing it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The soothing vocals of Nick Laird-Clowes inspire moods of solemnity and serenity.
These songs might be better without all the glossy production, but you’ll have a hard time finding a weed among them. The end of Here; a lullaby about home; is quite nice, along with Everybody’s Gotta Learn and Power To Believe.
my rating : 3 of 5
1987
A pretty female whose main goal is to “find a man” to have sex with seems like a dream come true, but she’s more of a nightmare; a killer space alien looking to breed so that her Species can take over the planet. The plot is a game of cat and rat as she saunters LA, looking for a sperm donor.
On her high heels are a team of two scientists, a government hitman and a psychic “empath”. It’s that last tracker, a convenient plot device named Dan Smithson, who inspires the most eyerolls. The characterization is also cliché. It’s Sil and her violent antics that keep things interesting.
my rating : 3 of 5
1995
This is KRS-One’s first album since leaving Jive; the major record label he’d been with since By All Means Necessary, which the “contradictory” Teacha also held a gun on the cover of. What this Koch debut brings is what sounds like a much lower school budget compared to his previous set, I Got Next, which included as a bonus song a remix with Puff Daddy.
There are no guest rappers here, but The MC is lyrically as “fresh” as ever. What’s stale are some of these beats and hooks. What Kinda World, Get Your Self Up and Krush Them are particularly banal. The Lessin is a good one though and the Sneak Attack title song is a banger. The album also ends with two standouts; False Pride and The Raptizm.
my rating : 3 of 5
2001
This is an ode to big “bumpa” women like Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. That specific celebrities are mentioned by name during the hook serves as the song’s one notable blunder.
The vocals, specifically their Rastafarian delivery, and the beat; the sole purpose of which is for sweaty subservient females to dance like they’re fucking to; make for a sultry club banger.
my rating : 4 of 5
2020
I mentioned how the end of Anderson Silva’s MMA career is headed the way of BJ Penn in my review of his previous bout. This one makes the comparison even closer. Silva’s fall from grace, which began years ago at the hands of Chris Weidman, isn’t as bad; Penn has seven losses in a row; but it’s bad. This was promoted as his farewell, but he says in the post interview that he doesn’t know if it will be. As much as I look forward to his fights; he’s my favorite fighter, so this relatively unpopular main event was my most anticipated of the year; I hope it is.
That’s not to say that Anderson Silva; the oldest fighter in The UFC; is no longer a worthy contender. He may not have access to The Matrix anymore, but he can still win rounds. Uriah Hall knocks him down at the end of the third, but Silva is winning the fight, rather a tentative Hall is losing, until then. It’s the first time Silva goes down from a face punch since he fought Michael Bisping. Then it happens again in the forth. It’s a sad ending indeed, though it’s Hall who seems affected by it the most. The bout ends with him embracing and weeping with his hero.
my rating : 3 of 5
2020
![audio review : Extinction Level Event 2 [ The Wrath of God ] ( album ) ... Busta Rhymes](https://marcellee.com/posts/101071.jpg)
It seems absurd for an Extinction Level Event to have a sequel after just 22 years; The Final World Front wasn’t so final; but here we have it, which isn’t to say it doesn’t sometimes come close to justifying its existence. Busta Rhymes, now a Leader of the old school, still brings the boom-bap; vintage hip-hop producers featured here include 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, DJ Premier and DJ Scratch; and his flamboyant rap style still sounds fresh after all these years.
With that, ELE2 sounds damn good when it’s just Busta Rhyming to a beat. He says Czar is “music for riots” and, though his groupthink ideology in regard to race and religion suggest he’s more of a boneheaded caveman, it gets you amped enough to be just that. Boomp sounds even better. What the album would be better without is the bombastic Intro, ill-fitting song interpolations; he resurrects ODB and BBD; silly skits and irky Chris Rock monologues.
my rating : 3 of 5
2020
There are some Positions I’d like to put Ariana Grande in. Her body is perfectly petite and her face is cute enough under all the fakeup. Sex and romance is what almost every song on this album is about. That’s no surprise. Grande is an exemplification of pop girl clichés.
The music, produced mostly by Tommy Brown, is the best part. It’s the singer’s cutesy vocals that let it down. My Hair, which is also let down so that her guy can run his “hands” (fingers) thru it, is a sheeny (funky) exception. 34-35, about having sex “all night”, is another.
my rating : 3 of 5
2020
Demian Maia is simply outclassed here. His one technical advantage would be his jiu-jitsu on the ground, but, as much as he tries, he can’t manage to get Anderson Silva down. That should mean another quick KO for the champion and the fight looks like it’s going that way for the first couple of rounds as Silva entertains the crowd with his “confidence-crushing clowning”, but he stops mid-bout.
With that, the fourth round becomes a dance-off as the two fighters move around The Octagon basically doing a lot of nothing. Round 5 isn’t much better, though a one-eyed Maia does commit to an early flurry of strikes near the beginning. The crowd, the commentators, the ref and even Silva himself seem to blame Silva for the weird and lackluster bout, but I’d also put some of that blame on his opponent.
my rating : 2 of 5
2010
This is not only “one of the most embarrassing knockouts I think we’ve ever seen,” it’s also one of the funniest. Forrest Griffin looks like he’s goofing around when he falls down for the third time from a paw punch that looks like it’s “not even a very hard one”.
I don’t know if what happens in this short bout; it ends in the first round; has more to do with Forrest Griffin having a bad day or Anderson Silva being arguably the best (pound-for-pound) fighter in The UFC, but both factors seem to be at play.
my rating : 4 of 5
2009
“Number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world”? My reply to such a bombastic claim is probably not; there are a lot of unknown fighters in the world; but it seems Khabib Nurmagomedov is currently the best pound-for-pound fighter in The UFC. He’s also one of the best ever, which makes news of his retirement; he announces it in his post-fight interview after an emotional salute to his father; that much more impactful.
I thought Justin Gaethje’s chances of winning this bout were being overhyped by MMA fans, but he does even worse than I guessed. That’s not so much a criticism of his skills; he does manage to land a few of his “patented” leg kicks, which Nurmagomedov doesn’t have much of an answer for; but how long he lasts. At not even two full rounds, it’s the champion’s quickest victory since pummeling Thiago Tavares back in 2013.
my rating : 4 of 5
2020
Herman Umgar, an old clubfooted man who lives a life of seclusion but for his collection of pet worms, is a “strange one”. He’s also the most endearing character in this movie; a horror comedy you’ll have to embrace the low-budget campiness of in order to enjoy. It’s not a good movie in the traditional sense, quite the contrary, but its flaws; the outrageous acting being the most obvious one; are greatly exceeded by its charm.
The plot has the villainous mayor launching a campaign to rezone Umgar’s land (lake) in order to build estates for profit, which provides just enough suspense to keep things crawling along. The title scenes, featuring close-ups of people eating what looks like real worms, are gross. The ones of Umgar bonding with his beloved pets are engaging, along with the (diegetic/non-diegetic) music, which include his own home ditties.
my rating : 4 of 5
1977