The Ghetto Blaster EP

Artist: Street Sweeper Social Club

Release Date: August 10th, 2010

Genre: Rap / Rock

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Music / Beats:                      

Beautiful and cool guitar riffs without being too overpowering and in your face to hear and appreciate the lyrics.

Lyrics / Message:           

The name of the band is Street Sweeper Social Club so capitalists may not appreciate hearing things like:

"Every broke motherf****er fittin to form a gang / And when we come we takin everythang!"

If you can stomach a revolutionary message then not only are you the kind of progressive thinker the world needs, you will be sure to enjoy the inspirational and refreshing words relayed by Boots Riley on this album.  My personal favorite:

"F****in is the new hey how do you do / And revolution is the new F*** you!"

Originality:                       

You've probably never heard anything like it and you've definitely never heard it on the radio.

Overall:                            

Only seven tracks long, this album pushes quality over quantity and delivers.  There are nifty covers of MIA's "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".  The only negative is after you've listened to it several times, you'll be hungry for more.

The Oxford Murders

Release Date: July 2nd, 2010

Genre: Crime / Thriller/ Mystery

Stars: Elijah Wood, John Hurt, Leonor Watling, Julie Cox

Synopsis: An American student arrives at Oxford University in hopes of being mentored by a professor he admires when a string of murders draw the two together in an attempt to decode the logic behind the series of symbols the killer leaves as clues.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                                           

The overall premise is decent enough but the smaller details are noticably lacking.

Writing:                        

May go over the head of a lot of people in the audience who love a good mystery but didn't realize it was a prerequisite to brush up on their mathematics and philosophy before viewing the film.

Acting:                           

Elijah Wood was not very believable in his role as an intellectual and looked like he should be heading to soccer practice instead of a lecture hall.  The rest of the cast did a good job, especially John Hurt in his role as the professor.

Originality:                

A very classic who done it with little or no deviation from other efforts of that genre.

Overall:                       

This film was looking solid enough for the first 40 minutes or so but endings typically make or break this type of movie and "The Oxford Murders" did not stick the landing.  Even if you can decipher the academic jargon, there are a lot of things in this movie that just don't add up. 

Crazy Heart

Release Date: February 5th, 2010

Genre: Drama / Music / Romance

Stars: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Colin Farrell

Synopsis: An aging country music performer struggles financially while touring unglamorous venues and unexpectedly stumbles upon love from an unlikely source.

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Plot:                                  

Seemed like a snoozer of an idea before viewing but turned into a very pleaseant surprise.

Writing:                             

Very witty dialogue provides some levity and greatly aids this film's character development.  Excellent pace keeps the story from getting stale.

Acting:                              

Brilliant performances from Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal which turned into many nominations and much hardware especially for Bridges.  This is one of those instances where the hype is real.  Colin Farrell was unspectacular which didn't hurt the picture too much because his screen time was very limited.

Originality:                    

Everything I expected to happen at the end of this movie from years of Hollywood conditioning didn't happen and I was surprised by something new and fresh.

Overall:                          

I put off seeing this movie for a long time because I just could not believe it would be very enjoyable to watch.  I was proven very wrong.  It was a little hard to believe Maggie Gyllenhaal's character would actually fall for Jeff Bridge's character which could have been easily rectified with some make up magic to make her look more beat up by her cruel place in the world.  This is a must see.

The Laugh Factor

Belly Laughs: 0

Chuckles: 6-8