Pick Of The Week: 9 Songs

This week's pick is of a film from 2004 that I had the pleasure of seeing over the weekend. Upon its release, the film gained attention from its use of non-simulated sex involving the two lead actors more than the fact that it is, in my opinion, a solid film about passion, music and the memories that remain when everything ends. This week's pick is 9 Songs.

Racism And The Brazilian Princess...The Forbidden Dance

Yes...I am writing about a film that features a dance craze and one not starring S Club or Mariah Carey. In all fairness, there is very little of The Forbidden Dance that falls under the category of a film. I like to think of it as falling under the failed early attempts at an early 90's Latin Explosion alongside its rival lambada film, the impressively named Lambada, and "Rico Suave." Better yet, I prefer to look at it the least sexy sequel in the Emmanuelle series and an exploitative take on how very little Americans knew about Brazilians in 1990. I mean, they are all tribal, from the jungle, have a "witch doctor" and a princess, right? Right?

Check The Rhimes And Conflicts Of A Tribe Called Quest

In the early to mid 90's, A Tribe Called Quest were one of the top hip hop acts around. Appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show, a spot on Lollapalooza 1994 and three solid, critically acclaimed albums brought the group into the mainstream consciousness while issues with leadership and record labels would cause the group to disband before the end of the decade. Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest is a documentary on the influential group and explores these subjects as well as shows why even today, the idea of a reunion blurs the line between being the best and worst thing that could happen to their legacy.

Ain't No Party Like An S Clone Party

Cloning? S Club? A movie featuring both? Not since Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park has there been a compelling movie about global domination, doppelgangers and advances in technology using pop stars. Well, technically, there still had not been until Simon Fuller decided that the world needed an S Club movie in which the pop group is cloned into popbots. Yeah, I said that.

Music Geeks, Free Scion A/V Download, Erykah Badu's Probation & Contests

Spinner made a list of the top 20 music geeks in cinema. The list ranges from the likes of the Gwar-obsessed, record clerk stoner Mark from Empire Records to cult duo of Video Aces' Josh Tager and Ivan Alexeev from one of my favorite films, Tapeheads. Bonus points go to writer Jason Persse for including American Psycho's Patrick Bateman's obsession with Huey Lewis and the News as well as Christian Slater's performance as Happy Harry Hard-on in Pump Up the Volume. The 20 cinematic geeks and their love for music can be found here.

Vous Etes Très Belle, Mama, Girls And Whatever This Film Is

Oh, Prince! Without a doubt, you are one of the most charismatic enigmas of the 80's ranking somewhere between the DeLorean and the Lionel Richie bust from the "Hello" video. So when it came time to make a follow-up to the highly successful, Academy Award winning Purple Rain, Prince did what any other filmmaker would do. He made a film filled with drama, romance, comedy and musical numbers that was as bizarre as a boxing kangaroo on rollerblades. Yeah, it is really that confusing and that comical.

Not All Glitter Sparkles And Shines, Look At Mariah Carey

Yeah, I went there because I had to go there and by there, I mean the 110-plus minutes it took to watch Glitter. Am I bitter for watching Glitter? Damn right, I am and through my frustration, I made a rhyme. I guess watching Mariah Carey act her way through this disaster is bound to give you some set of skills.

My Friends Call Me Kelly For Short

Every once in a while, a film comes along that is so brilliant that its genius is never fully appreciated by the general public. From Justin To Kelly is far from that film. Instead, you get a film in the tradition of the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach films but with a little more sexual undertones, two American Idol contestants and all the humor of a Carrot Top movie. In fact, I'd like to call this movie Bleach Blanket Oh No.

Britney Spears: Travelling Companion, Navigator & Friend

Britney Spears. While Kevin Federline and attacking cars with umbrellas may have been your undoing, that seems normal compared to the insanity you unveiled onto the public with your 2003 classic, Crossroads. In short, Crossroads is a clichéd road trip movie but as a whole, the film teaches us about self discovery, trust, learning to laugh and love and, most importantly, finding comfort in friendship after not sleeping with the Mac guy and being raised by Dan Ackroyd. More important than that, the film was written by the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Alright, maybe that's not as important, it just makes it funnier.

5 Awesome Musical Moments In Film

Lloyd Dobler holding a boombox over his head while blasting "In Your Eyes" outside of Diane Court's window is an iconic musical movie scene. It is, probably, one of the most iconic music scenes in film history slightly rivaled by Mr. Blonde cutting off the cop's ear while Stealers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle" played on the radio or Linda Barrett slowly rising out of the pool and opening her top to The Cars' "Moving In Stereo" These are a small amount of great music moments. With so many great moments, there are probably half as many that are overlooked. Here are five of those awesome and sadly overlooked moments.

Mario Van Peebles...Rapping In A Movie...Really? Why?

In the last 25 years, the portrayal of Hip Hop and Rap in film has been one of a tougher image. With the exceptions of CB4, Disorderlies and Fear Of A Black Hat, all of which were comedies, rappers have either beat up people, come from the mean streets or hustled to get ahead all while taking a break to rhyme for a scene or two. Rappin' contains none of this. Instead, it's an unintentional comedy about an ex-con gettting out of jail and becoming a rhyming Robin Hood. That says it all and should be the end of this but much like the movie being mentioned, it goes on and on.

The Iceman Melteth

Cool As Ice...if by "cool", you mean "laughably" and by "as ice" as in "bad", then yes the title of this 1991 classic is accurate.

Tougher Than Wha?

Long before 8 Mile and Get Rich Or Die Tryin' and long before rappers took roles away from actors, there was a film that blurred the line between rapper and actor in such a way that it could have only spawned from the 80's (and the late 80's at that). It was a film where revenge was not just a dish best served cold but one of two reasons to live. The other reason being to hang out with the Beastie Boys and rock mics and stages while on tour. The masterminds behind these reasons were Rick Rubin and Run DMC. Their offering to western civilization was the long-forgotten masterpiece, Tougher Than Leather.