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Last night I finally went to see the super hyped movie Slumdog Millionaire. If you know me, then you know that I'm part blogger, part half-assed academic, and part film/concert geek. Be warned, I wrote this with little intention of bringing up any Asian American connections, but make of it what you will.

The first thing that turned me onto this movie was the heaps of praise that Videogum editor Lindsay Robertson showered onto it:

gabe: let your guard down
gabe: for once
lindsay: I did, when I saw Slumdog Millionaire!
lindsay: my guard was down for like, an hour
I couldn't believe it when I read this. Who, in their mid twenties to thirties, in the 21st Century, lets their guard down when watching any movie, especially one done by the guy who made the crazy zombie flick 28 Days Later? New Yorkers are dry and caustic, and like it or not, the qualities are contagious.

But then again, there is definitely something about Danny Boyle knowing how to tap into people's feelings through a number of magical things, including kids. There is this amazing scene, for example, and I won't tell you too much, but it involves a child, an outhouse, and the pile of shit that he has to crawl through in order to meet the most famous celebrity in India. I kid you not, this scene (the outrageousness of which was to be topped in later scenes) made me completely not care that the plotline was outrageous, and that nobody really believes in everlasting love underscoring this movie.

Which in some ways is the strength of its setting in Mumbai, a place that has become all too familiar in the tabloids as of late and doubly unimaginable. Boyle has somehow made us forget the horrors of what's happened there overseas, exposed its underbelly of people who suffer but are in love, and why not? A tragedy doesn't rob a city of its magic or its sentimentality, and neither should the recent headlines for this movie. In truth, a part of me didn't even realize or care that Slumdog took place in Mumbai. When I walked out of it with my boyfriend, one of the first things that he said about it was, "It felt like a completely fantastical sort of film." Indeed. Yours truly, the self-identified Daria Morgendorffer of the Blaaaging team, has been sold.

You all know the deal... this is a post-finals event, everybody. It's called a party with some music, film, cool (scary, overwhelming) people, drink specials, AND a student discount.

SULU SERIES presents...

Brown Rice Family
www.brownricefamily.com

Kilusan1898
www.myspace.com/kilusan1898

Heesun Lee
www.myspace.com/heesunlee

Film Presentations by Corinne Manabat
-Parallel Adele by Adele Pham - www.paralleladele.com
-Hip Hop Mestizaje: Racialization, Resonance, and Filipino American Knowledge of Self by Mark Villegas

... and more!

SUNDAY, December 21, 2008
9 PM - 12 AM
$8 for General Public
$5 for students

Sulu Series Every Third Sunday of the Month!

Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery, New York, NY 10012
212.614.0505
(foot of First Street, between Houston & Bleecker
F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker)
www.BoweryPoetry.com

www.MySpace.com/SuluSeries

Hosted by Regie Cabico, curated by Taiyo Na, with music by DJ Boo, and brought to you by the Sulu Artist Network, Sulu Series is a monthly showcase featuring established and emerging Asian American artists in music, spoken word, video and multidisciplinary performance from the local and national scenes.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10942210157&ref=ts

...so, I admit, I started this off as a "Holiday Gift Guide"-themed post of sorts but scrapped the idea when, suddenly, it dawned to me: why would anyone out there in our readership of tens, when looking for a gift to give, think about listening to the advice of a man and his mostly useless interest in politically progressive hip-hop? Why would you even continue to write this post? Could it have to do with the fact that, after finishing your last final paper, you rejected the most obvious next step (sleep) and instead weighed the idea of writing a blog post?


(And, since it'd likely be asked by somebody eventually--for each artist, I've included their connection to Asian American cultural productions, Kevin Bacon style.)


BAMBU | ...exact change...

Reasons to Listen:
-Bam's lurid storytelling and dozens-playing is all the more focused, and it makes the album feel less meandering and more complete
-"Crooks and Rooks," his retrospective condemnation of gang violence that does its job without being preachy (and the beat is great)
-He can mention "Dirty Sanchez" in his lyrics without me cracking up or recoiling in horror. In other words, he's pretty clever (for those who don't know the term and want to find out: not for the prude)

Highlights: "Crooks and Rooks," "Quit," "Out the Gate," "Party Boy"

The Asian Bacon connection: Bambu is Filipino. One degree!


COMMON MARKET | Tobacco Road

Reasons to Listen:
-RA Scion (emcee) and Sabzi (producer) mesh extremely well, and it never feels forced
-"Back Home (The Return)," in which Sabzi flips the same sample from "Back Home" and makes it sound qualitatively different. Kudos!
-Who else could release a EP and LP with the thematic strain of the early-20th-century labor struggles of white tenant farmers in the rural South? It also merits this RA outfit.

Highlights: "Trouble Is," "Back Home (The Return)," "Weather Vane," "Nothin' At All"

The Asian Bacon connection: Sabzi's other group Blue Scholars features an emcee, Geologic, who is Filipino. Two degrees!


Q-TIP | The Renaissance

Reasons to Listen:
-Q-Tip makes the album sound like 1994 and 2008 at the exact same time, and every song feels like it belongs where it does. And he's still a solid rapper!
-"We Fight/We Love." Gotta love Raphael Saadiq
-Pop it in and you'll start reminiscing about the "good ol' days of hip-hop," a nostalgic reminder of the Midnight Marauders days when we were 6 and singing along to the Power Rangers theme song
-Tip's hat in the "Gettin' Up" music vid. Few people could get away with that

Highlights: "Gettin' Up," "We Fight/We Love," "Move," "Dance on Glass"

The Asian Bacon connection: The music video for "Move" was directed by Rik Cordero, who is Filipino. Also, to give the non-Pin@ys a chance: "Life is Better" features Norah Jones, who is Desi. 2 x 2 degrees!


INVINCIBLE | ShapeShifters

Reasons to Listen:
-Her lyricism is the densest and cleverest of anything I've heard in like 5 years. On "Sledgehammer!" alone, she alludes to the Detroit Pistons, Peter Gabriel, J Dilla, Fred Hampton, Orville Redenbacher, and Frantz Fanon, and has the line "there goes the neighborhood, like Fred Sanford next door to Ned Flanders."
-Strong, critical, genuinely feminist rappers are few and far between in a world of music industries that put butt & bust sizes first
-She walks the walk, and is a community/youth organizer and educator in Detroit and Ann Arbor!

Highlights: "Sledgehammer!," "Spacious Skies," "Recognize," "Locusts," and everything else

The Asian Bacon connection: ShapeShifters both quotes and features an audio sample from Grace Lee Boggs, who is also a badass Detroit community organizer, and is Chinese. Two degrees! This is pretty easy.


KANYE WEST | 808's and Heartbreak

Reasons to Listen:
-.

Highlights: "Spaceship," "Two Words," "Heard 'Em Say," "Flashing Lights"

The Asian Bacon connection: Kanye often works with Jay-Z, whose album American Gangster was based on the movie featuring Denzel Washington, which also featured Josh Brolin, who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon!

(Good night.)



 

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