Max Ataraxis

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10 years ago, Marvel Entertainment released the movie "Iron Man". Little did they know, they were starting what would eventually become the biggest movie franchise in Hollywood history. The MCU is the first of its kind, bringing the idea of a comic book universe to life mixing and combining characters in a same universe across different movies. "Avengers: Infinity War", Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo,

is the culmination of every Marvel movie the studio has done in the past ten years.

The most recent accolade it's acquired is the fastest movie to surpass 1 Billion dollars in the market. The most amazing part about that achievement is that the movie has made that much money and it hasn't even opened up in China yet; China has the second biggest movie market in the world! For the studio to have made so much money, having not opened there yet, is incredible.

Growing up, I was really into The Lord Of The Rings. I was into a lot but for some reason I LOVED that franchise. You have the crazy dedicated fandom that goes into Harry Potter and Star Wars, for example. What Marvel and Disney have done is my personal favorite franchise of all time. I LOVE the MCU and this movie was FOR THE FANS! 

Now, for the actual movie review.

I think the strong point for the film and the reason that it is making so much money is because you don't need to be a dedicated Marvel Cinematic Universe fan to enjoy the movie. They keep the plot simple and if you know everyone's back story from previous movies, then all the feels hit you even harder. This movie makes you feel. Whether it's excited, sad, happy, or indifferent. The movie makes you feel. 

Thanos is an alien who lost his family due to his planet dying because there were not enough resources to sustain life. After the loss of his family, Thanos goes on a intergalactic quest to obliterate life in half the universe, in order to "restore balance". His thought process is that if half of life in the universe is destroyed, then the remaining half can live like kings and queens because there will be an abundance of resources to live off of.  For a long while, Thanos went around physically killing half of life on many different planets thoughout the galaxy.

The plot of the movie surrounds Thanos' quest to acquire all 6 Infinity stones, the most powerful entities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each stone possesses great power. They were created during the big bang that created the universe: Time, Soul, Mind, Reality, Power, and Space. If Thanos aquires all 6 stones, then he can literally obliterate half of life in the universe with the snap of his fingers.

The set up for the movie is great and he definitely reigns superior as the greatest foe that the Avengers has ever faced. I would talk about all the other characters but to be honest, this was a THANOS movie. The villain probably had the most screen time out of anyone, as the story follows him on his quest to get the stones. There are different team ups in this movie hosting the household and iconic names that make any comic book fan squeal. Spider-man, Iron Man, and Dr. Strange team up with The Guardians of The Galaxy. Captain America and Black Panther are the heroes leading the battle on Earth. Literally, every important person in the galaxy was doing all they could to stop Thanos.

I honestly don't even want to talk any more about the movie because spoilers. It's one of those movies you just have to see before it's discussed.

The only weakness in the movie, from my personal opinion, was that I found it to be a little too long-winded. I think Some of the scenes could have been shortened or cut completely. Besides that, the film has lived up to the hype that surrounded it. 

Avengers 4 will be dropping next year in May and the story they have been building for the past ten years will be completed in this film. Like many people, I can't wait to see what is next in store for the earths mightiest heroes!

 

LINKS:

Ticket Purchase Information and Locations near you can be seen here: FANDANGO

-Max Ataraxis

The past year and a half has been a quiet one for the normally, visible and outspoken Kanye West. After releasing his 2016 album, "The Life of Pablo", Ye embarked on a nationwide tour to acompany the album release. On one of the tour dates in November, Kanye apparently had a major meltdown, which lead him to spend his thanksgiving 2K16 in a mental hospital. Ever since then, Kanye has been lowkey and private, deactivating all his social media accounts. Well, last week, Ye Began tweeting kanye-esque philosophical type tweets that sent the world into a frenzy. 

Along with those philosophical tweets, Kanye has been tweeting what some would deem controversial. For one, his support for right wing analyst Candace Owens was not taken well by many. On top of that, his co-sign for our current president Donald J. Trump, was taken even worse. It's safe to say that many have believed Kanye to be in "The Sunken Place" for quite some time, now. 

Well, lets get to the meat of this post; the reason your even reading this. King Yeezus is blessing us with not ONE but TWO new albums this summer! And on top of that, he's also producing new albums for a slab of musicians! 

Last week, he made the major announement that he would be releasing his 7 track solo album on June 1st, followed by a Collaboration album with Kid Cudi entitled "Kids See Ghost", the following week on June 8th. For anyone who knows me, they know that Kanye West and Kid Cudi are tied for my number one favorite musicians to walk the planet! So, obviousy, I'm beyond hype about this release.

But on top of his personal releases, Kanye also announced a list of musicians he's producing albums for via this tweet.

"I'm hand producing all the albums I tweeted about. Been chopping samples from the sunken place ?Pusha May 25th My album June 1st me and Cudi June 8th and Teyana June 22nd and oh yeah... Nas June 15th"

The fact that Kanye is aware that people think he's in "The Sunken Place" lets me know that he's also aware that people think he's fallen off ever since he's become Kanye Kardshian.  Knowing the type of person and EGO that Kanye has, I'm sure he's out to prove to people that he hasnt fallen off of anything. Kanye recently tweeted that producing beats for Nas makes him feel 18 again. Teyanna Taylor has even went on record to say that the "Polo Ye" has returned.

 All this being said, I must say that I am HYPED for June. Yeezy season is upon us and I cannot wait to see what the legend has cooked up for us. Stay tuned for more updates !

 

LINKS BELOW:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChpJbg7zMbi5jx9Gdjaxa9g

 

https://twitter.com/kanyewest

https://www.kanyewest.com/

 

J Cole returns after a 2 year long hiatus, with KOD. Announcing the release in the same week that it dropped, it was yet another surprise album from Cole. Cole has proven his star power to be big enough to where he can announce a album with little to no promo and still do numbers. The album has already broken spotify and Apple music records.

This certainly has established his legend status, making him one of the biggest rappers to come from the Millenial generation. Even superstar rappers like LOGIC have given Cole his props

 

Now, let's get into the actual music. Much like Jay-Z's "4:44" of last year, this "KOD" album feels like it will be at the forefront of "Grown Folks" Hip-hop for 2018. The album makes a statement on the current state of Hip-hop and the effects of drug use and it's promotion on society. KOD stands for three different titles:

1) Kidz On Drugs

2) King OverDose

3) Kill Our Demons

The albums ultimate themes tackle topics ranging from depression and anxiety to addiction and consumerism. The album begins with a jazzy intro infused with a poem about pain and how to deal with it. The opening musical track, "KOD", sets the tone for what the majority of the album will sound like: modern trap beats and flows fused with lyrical raps. For me personally, its the best thing ever! I love mumble rap just as much as conscious rap. That being said, its dope to hear the trap sound with CRAZY Lyrical bars. The "KOD" song establishes his "King" status with braggodocio raps about not needing features, talking about stacking "Ms", and going "Hard as Sh!t". 

 

The following song, "Photograph", is an interesting love ballad about falling for a instagram model. I never thought that someone could make a song about that and it be deep and introspective, yet thats what Cole does. In the song he raps, "Love today's gone digital and Its Fu%#k!ing with my health". The song is a analyzation on the culture surrounding social media and dating in 2018. 

 

The songs "The Cut Off", "Kevin's Heart", "Once an Addict", and "FRIENDS" all tackle the subjects of addiction and drug culture and its effects on people and society. While, songs such as "BRACKETS" and "ATM" talk about consumerism and the negative effect that money and the need to "Stunt" is having on the youth.

 

Cole ends the album with "1985", which is arguably the most popular song from the album, given the way it has shaken up the industry for its offense to many in the younger generation of rappers. Cole doesn't name drop directly, but many think that he was specifically speaking to teen rap sensation, Lil Pump. Throughout the song, Cole directly addresses the current youth of rappers who are more concerned with getting money ,tattoos, and slaying broads, rather than being a postive influence for their peers. He speaks to them from the place of not only a grown man, but a grown man who has been in the industry for 10+ years, now. He litterally said nothing disrespectful, in my opinion. And as a matter of fact, he genuinely was just trying to help them! 

 

All in all, I have to say that this is probably my favorite Cole album. Its between "KOD" and "Forest Hills Drive . That being said, theres no denying that this is Cole's most IMPORTANT project to date. It comes out in a time where I feel like even though its not a message that WANTS to be heard by the youth, its a message that NEEDS to be heard. And though, there are many who are offended, hopefully they can listen to this project 5 years from now and see that Cole was coming from a place of worry and not disrespect.

 

Thanks again for your time as always, thanks!

 

Listen to KOD now: http://smarturl.it/KODJCole

Connect with J. Cole:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/realcoleworld/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jcolenc
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JColeMusic/

 

 

- Max Ataraxsis 

Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:01

Rampage [Movie Review]

"Rampage" is a monster film based upon the 1986 arcade game of the same title.  RAMPAGE was succesful through the 90s, having a whole video game franchise based on the property. Growing up, I LOVED playing this game. I  had a feeling it was only a matter of time before it was turned into a movie, given the success of other 80s and 90s noastalgic properties such as TRANSFORMERS, POWER RANGERS, and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. 

 

There are similarities and differences between the film and the arcade game. One of the major differences is how the monsters are created.

**SPOILERS START**

In the game, the monsters are humans who have been intoxicated with a pathogen. In the movie, the monsters are animals who have been intoxicated with the pathogen.

**SPOILERS END**

Another difference between the two is that the Ape, George, is an Albino Ape. In the arcade game, George is a big brown ape. This works in the audiences favor because it distinguishes him from the most famous oversized Ape, King Kong.

 

A similarity between the two is the style in which the city is destroyed. It was impressive to see how the film makers emulated shots from the game into the film.  Another similarity between the two is the plot. The film's plot, much like the game, is about a group of monsters who are out to destroy a city and they have to fight against the police and military to do it.  I won't go into too much detail as to how it all comes together due to spoilers, but it does come together well to make sense. 

 

Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, he once again proves why he is the biggest action star of the current generation. His charisma and charm shines in this movie as Davis Okoye, a Primatologist who is a bit of a loner and would prefer to hang around animals, rather than people.  The supporting cast includes: Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

 

The relationship between George and Davis is a highlight of the movie. The ape ,George, never speaks in the scooby doo sense of animal talk, but he was communicative the entrie movie. He spoke in sign language and body language. We as the audience always knew what he was saying. Another highlight of the movie is the awesome monster fighting! As a fan of monster movies, I have to say this was some of the best monster fighting I have seen on the big screen, in my opinion! It was like watching a wwe match go down between giant monsters in a city (lol). 

 

I wasn't expecting a deep, thought provoking movie. I was expecting a fun, enjoyable movie, about monsters destroying a city and fighting each other and that's exactly what I got. That being said, there were moments that got emotional and I would like to say the movie had some heart to it as well. 

 

On a ending note, I just want to say that I laughed in the theatre at the fact that one of the previews for the Rampage movie was another movie starring The Rock! I was thinking to myself like this man is really on his grind lol 

 

Thanks for your time as always!

Popular New York rapper, Cardi B, is having one of the best weekends in Hip-hop in recent memory. The star, who broke into the industry last year with her Hit Single "Bodak Yellow" ,is proving to all of the naysayers that she's here for the long haul. Even after dropping hit after hit (Billboard source), there were people who doubted she could deliver a solid album. Cardi, throughout her come up, has been highly aware of the pressure to make a strong debut. If you peruse on through her social media, you can see that creating the album and making a good product was really stressing her out. Luckily, she had friends in the industry, such as J cole, to help encourage her (VladTV Source).

Well, I know that a weight has been lifted off the raptresses chest after all of the long hours and hard work, because this past friday, she dropped her album, and thus broke the internet! 

There were a lot of factors that lead up to Cardi breaking the internet, factors such as : The fake beef with Nicki Minaji, The infidelity of her fiance, or the pregnancy rumors that turned out to be true having the big reveal on Saturday Night Live. It's been always something that consistently kept Cardi in the headlines. That being said, the ultimate reason that Cardi has been so popular is because of her charismatic, down to earth, personality. That and most importantly, the fact that her music is actually good!

You couldn't log into any social media with out seeing her face, this weekend! The whole industry is in support of and talking about her album (You can check out her instagram to see the full list of cosigns). People you would expect, such as her collaborators, Chance the Rapper & YG. But also, people you would not expect such as Oprah! I was suprised about the Oprah cosign because Oprah has a history of not being in support of rap and Hip-Hop artist.

The album starts out with the track "Get Up 10" which really sets the tone for the album. No catchy hooks or bubble gum lyrics. Cardi starts the album with straight up bars! The track is reminiscent to the popular early 2000s New York Hip-Hop Era where rappers like 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks would just hit us with the bars about living the street life and grinding to get what's yours. Following the opener, you get three Club bangers back to back. Drip featuring the MIGOS, BODAK YELLOW, and BickenHead. These type of tracks are stylistically more what she's known for and are strong assets to the energy of the LP. Following these tracks is when it gets interesting. Cardi's latest single "Be Careful" is a huge switch in tone as Cardi delivers a mellow R&B infused track about dealing with the infidelity of a lover. Following that, the Chance The Rapper assisted, "Best Life", sonically gives us a new sound from Cardi that we had not heard prior to the album.  Chance The Rapper's signature Soul Hop sound is all over this track, as Cardi raps about overcoming all of the adversity she faced to now be living her best life. In another switch in tone and Energy, track number 7, "I Like It" Ft Bad Bunny & J Balvin, is a reggaeton jam that will most likely have us dancing all summer long! Check out this hilarious video of DIDDY dancing to the song: Diddy Bop. This song, in my opinion, is so dope because the majority of it is in spanish, with some english thrown in the mix. Normally, its the other way around with songs being in mostly English, with some spanish words thrown in. I didn't know what they were saying but I felt it,though!

Track 8, Ring featuring Kehlani, is a relatable song about lovers who are growing apart. This being a song for the ladies, lyrics such as, "You dont hit my line no more, oh, you don't make it ring" are sure to be written in many tumblr post and tweets from women across the world. It's dope to see two popular woman artist coming together to make a anthem for their millions of fans world-wide. With all the beefs going on in Hip-Hop these days, its great to see the unity.

The following three tracks get back to the hype, turnt up Cardi that the world has come to know and love. Money Bag, She Bad, and Bartier Cardi are all bangers that are sure to be getting lots of radio play and club spins in the coming summer months. Cardi closes her album with two more songs for the ladies in "Through your phone" and "I Do" Ft SZA. The SZA feature was unexpected for me personally, but it ended up being one of my favorite songs on the record!

All in All, Cardi's debut is a strong record with dope features, a concrete concept, and greatly executed vision. I throughly enjoy this album and have many of the songs in my everyday playlist , now. I know the record hits even harder for the women out there.

I'm going to end on this note. Whenever I make a song and I say something kind of "sexist", I always hope that my female audience will translate it to relate to them, personally. For example, I have a line that goes: "Not trusting a B!t$h if She's Bad, But she's acting so basic" . I would hope that my women audience can relate to in the manner of, "Not trusting a N!gg@ if he's bad, but he's acting so basic".  Another example would be, "And If you act like a Douche, might take your girl up in the booth". I would hope that my female audience can translate that to something along the lines of : " and if she acts like a douche, might take her N!gg@ up in the booth" . I hope I'm making sense here, lol. 

Basically, the point of me saying all that is because Cardi B has given women the opportunity to first hand have this same rapper mentality, but from a actual woman viewpoint. Lyrics such as, " I left that N!gga on read cause I felt like it!" and "Pu$$y so good, I say my own name during sex" give ladies acrcoss the world the confidence and boss chick mentality that Cardi has, thus having her audience live vicariously through her music. 

I imagine this album is going to carry Cardi through the remainder of the year but I am definitely looking forward to when she starts making new music! All in all Id give this album a 5/5. From a statistical standpoint, Every song mattered and was entertaining and worth it on this record. There were no filler songs, or songs that you might want to skip, so that is my reasoning for rating it so high. However, thats just my opinion, though! Let me know what you guys think in the comments!

 

 Links Below:

 Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy 

Stream/Download:
Exclusive Bardi Gang merchandise available here: http://smarturl.it/BardiGangMerchYT
 
Follow Cardi B

 

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