Classic Album Review: T.I., "King"

Back in October 2007, just four hours before the BET Hip-Hop Awards in his home town of Atlanta, T.I. was charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. It was a big blow for the superstar rapper, but either way, T.I. did his time and was released this past March.

We all know that everyone makes mistakes. Even rappers. But in order to appreciate how far T.I.'s fall from grace was, we have to first establish just how high he once was and how he elevated himself to the top of the hip-hop world.

The self-proclaimed “king of the south”, T.I. truly established his royal lineage on his 2006 album, aptly titled, “King”. Released in March 2006, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and was nominated for a Grammy.

T.I. showcases how truly skilled he is on this album, taking full command on every track and rapping with a combination of attitude and confidence that few can match. From top to bottom the album is packed with hits. “What You Know” is easily the most popular of the bunch, but “Why You Wanna”, “Live in the Sky”, “Front Back” and “I’m Talkin’ to You” are all excellent as well.

T.I. also brings out some great collaborators on this album, including Pharrell, Common, Young Jeezy, and Jamie Foxx. All contribute some great verses to the album, but it’s still T.I. who shines above the rest.

“Live in the Sky”, which features Foxx singing some heavy gospel, is easily the most personal track on the album. The somber ballad has T.I. rapping about the pain of losing friends and family to violence.



You can hear the heartbreak in his voice as he raps: “My cousin died over some yay and I miss 'em/Plus he had his family out let's say she the eye witness/But her boyfriend did the shooting judge gave her life sentence.”

It only took one month for the single “What You Know” to go platinum and it was for good reason. The track is the masterpiece of “King” and the chorus is truly an epic creation. The simple verse still echoes on today in the hip-hop world: “What you know about that?/What you know about that?/What you know about that?/Hey I know all about that.”



Aside from “What You Know”, “Why You Wanna” is my personal favorite track on the album. The beat is infectious, the sound of it is like a lost cousin to a Jay-Z track, and I mean that as a compliment.



T.I. raps in his patented laid back, yet cocky style about women and relationships and you can hear the playful humor as he raps: “Can he touch you like that, and make you make you feel like this?/How I left and came back and it's still like this/Do he hit it from the back and make you feel it yo chest/Take advantage of what your concealing in yo dress/What, he think he too fresh to show that you the best.”

Throughout his career, T.I. has had some amazing highs, and some unfortunate lows. But no matter how you view T.I. as a person, one thing is clear: he is wonderfully skilled as a rapper. Who knows what the future holds for the artist, but one thing he will always have is “King”.

Although T.I. crowned it himself, "King" is definitely worthy of the royal treatment.

Michael Bay Talks "Transformers 3" Story

USA Today recently visited the set of the third "Transformers" movie and Michael Bay revealed several new tidbits on the film, including some aspects of the plot.

Bay plans to debut the movie next summer. He admitted some missteps with the last film and aims to upgrade the shape-shifting robot franchise with a more coherent story, less goofball humor and a pledge that characters who die will stay dead.

Bay partly blames the rush to churn out the first sequel so soon after the writer's strike to blame for "Revenge of the Fallen" not being quite up to par with the original.

Also, despite Bay not being a fan of 3D, the film will be released in 3D--though it's unsure as of yet if it will be shot that way or converted in post-production.

“Revenge of the Fallen” was the No. 2 movie of 2009 (behind only "Avatar"), earning $836 million worldwide — very popular, though complaints from moviegoers and a negative barrage from critics made the filmmakers take notice.

Plot details are under wraps, but the new film will delve into the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. At the same time, Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) is taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime.

Bay also spoke about the film’s new villain, who will be Shockwave, a character from the original '80s cartoon. The robot cyclops-turned-laser-cannon, became dictator of the Transformers home world of Cybertron after the other Autobots and Decepticons journeyed to Earth.

Megan Fox, who played Mikaela, was dropped just before shooting, so LaBeouf's character also has a new love interest, played by Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

I really loved the first “Transformers.” I was excited for “Revenge of the Fallen,” but after I saw it, I felt as if I had just sat through two hours of crap blowing up. Which is pretty much exactly what it was. While the original wasn't a cinematic masterpiece, it at least had a story you could follow.

But clearly Bay and the other filmmakers heard what fans and critics were saying, and it looks as if the third “Transformers” film might just be the best of the bunch.

"Red Dawn" On Indefinite Hold?

MGM's financial woes may have claimed another victim - the "Red Dawn" remake.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Dan Bradley-directed $75 million remake of the '80s John Milius cult classic had been scheduled for a November 24 release this year, but with MGM's spiraling debts, the company has withdrawn the project from release as it simply doesn't have the funds to market and distribute films of this size.

Bradley’s film focuses on a group of teenagers looking to save their town from an invasion of Chinese and Russian soldiers.

When Disney dropped the Miramax label a few months ago, several completed (or nearly completed) projects became essentially stuck in limbo and still may not see the light of day. Now, it seems through quite different circumstances, the same thing will happen with MGM's upcoming slate.

Two high-profile projects in development – the new Bond film, and "The Hobbit" - are currently both going nowhere until the financial issues are resolved.

Sony picked up the Kevin James comedy "The Zookeeper" from the studio and will release that, and a similar arrangement could be worked out for "Dawn," but right now, there's apparently nothing in the works on that front.

I’m hoping that changes, because I was really looking forward to this film. The original was great, and I thought that Bradley’s film could have been made as a straight remake, but I also thought it would be good having Russia and China as the villain as well. There’s been some backlash on that front, and I wonder if the filmmakers would have been better served keeping the original Russian and Cuban villains instead.

Hopefully, something will happen, because with a cast of talent like Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the film has a shot to be pretty good.

“Taken” to Get A Sequel?

Liam Neeson says a sequel to his surprise hit revenge thriller "Taken" could be in the works.

The actor tells MTV News that he and writer/producer Luc Besson have discussed ideas for a possible follow-up, but nothing is set in stone quite yet.

Said Neeson: "It is hard to get a plot that's going to be believable.” Later this month, he added that he and Besson are "going to sit down and see if we can hash it out."

The low-budget film was released in mid-2008 internationally and in January last year in the U.S. Not only did it get decent reviews, it ended up taking $226 million globally.

I loved “Taken.” I thought Neeson was fantastic, but even more than that, I left the theater feeling satisfied. Sure, it wasn’t the best ‘film’ I've ever seen, it didn’t win any awards, but it did come through with allowing me to be entertained. Hopefully, if they do come out with a sequel, it will be just as good as the first.

"Clash of the Titans" Sequel Prepping For January

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are not only moving forward with plans for a sequel to this year's "Clash of the Titans" remake--the studio is making it a major priority.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the pair are planning to begin shooting the sequel as early as January with Jonathan Liebesman ("Battle: Los Angeles," "Darkness Falls") the top contender to direct. He would replace Louis Leterrier.

Despite weak reviews, 'Titans' is one of the year's biggest earners with a $486.8 million worldwide haul thus far from a relatively modest $125 million budget.

The plan for the sequel is to properly shoot it in 3D, and part of the reason for the hurry is to lock in star Sam Worthington. The Aussie actor gets to work on the "Avatar" sequel, which likely will shoot sometime in the second half of 2011.

Thankfully, this time around, the "Titans" sequel will shoot in 3D instead of going through a conversion, which will be a plus, and after making so much money the first time around, its no surprise that the studio wants to move fast.

Although Liebesman doesn’t have much experience under his belt, “Battle: Los Angeles” looks as if it will be pretty great and he could spin that into a quality sequel here.

Look for the film to start shooting in January.

Classic Album Review: 50 Cent, "Get Rich or Die Trying"

Massive expectations usually are the precursor of two things: that a star is about to be born, or it’s about to explode and flame out forever, never to regain its brightness.

In the case of Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, massive expectations led to one thing and one thing only, a domination of the rap world, all thanks to an album called "Get Rich or Die Trying".

In retrospect, this domination was not so predictable. Jackson was born in Queens and started dealing drugs as early as the age of twelve. As he got older he decided to put aside the drugs and strictly pursue a career in rap music.

He suffered a set back in 2000 after being shot nine times with a 9mm handgun at close range. While Jackson sustained some heavy injuries, including a small slur in his voice, he survived the incident and used as motivation for his music.

Jackson later stated that: "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone".

After the shooting Jackson focused hard on his music, releasing the mixtape, “Guess Who’s Back?” in 2002. Eminem got his hands on a copy of the album, which he shared with Dr. Dre, both of whom were impressed. Soon after that Jackson signed a one million dollar record deal Dr. Dre, and began walking on the path to superstardom.

Released in February 2003, “Get Rich or Die Trying” debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts and eventually went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide. That doesn’t happen by accident. Sure, 50 had the street cred from being shot, but it was also his charismatic, laid-back drawl that brought the fans to frenzy.

The album is filled to the brim with twenty quality tracks without a skit in sight. “Get Rich or Die Trying” plays out like every rapper wishes their debut would: opening with a personality defining track (“What Up Gangsta”), a team up with one of rap’s biggest stars, Eminem (“Patiently Waiting”) and of course, the radio ready single that blows up (“In da Club”).

Along with those tracks, “21 Questions”, “Don’t Push Me”, “If I Can’t”, “High All the Time”, and “P.I.M.P” are the highlights on this impressive debut. “Get Rich or Die Trying” is an incredibly calculated album, with Eminem and Dr. Dre handling some production in the background, but it’s also an amazing one.

“In Da Club” might not be considered one of the greatest tracks ever, but its effect can’t be understated. I think it has one of the catchiest beats of all time, and when 50 starts off by casually slurring, “Go shorty, it’s your birthday/We gonna party like it’s your birthday,” you know all bets are off. I think the track is easily one of the most memorable of all time, just due to the sheer amount of popularity it attained.



“Many Men (Wish Death)” is one of the most serious and personal tracks on the album. It begins with a dramatization of 50’s shooting incident, and as the song goes on he raps with anger and ferocity, his mood changing with each verse.



You can hear the pain in his voice as he raps: “In the Bible it says what goes around comes around/Homie shot me, three weeks later he got shot down/Now it’s clear that I’m here for a real reason/’Cause he got hit like I got hit, but he ain’t fuckin’ breathin’.”

“High All the Time” is my personal favorite track, and it’s not just because of the subject matter. Jackson raps with a deliberate yet casual style that fits extremely well with the beat. He drops some of his most clever lines of the album on this track as he raps: “Daddy need Perelli's to look mean on 22s/Stash box, Xbox, laptop, fax machine, phone/Bulletproof this bitch and I'm gone.”



The track also has one of the best and simplest choruses of all-time. 50 channels fellow West coast rapper Nate Dogg and crafts the motto for the modern day smoker: “I'm high all the time, I smoke that good shit/I stay high all the time, man I'm on some hood shit.”

“Get Rich or Die Trying” is hands down one of the best party albums of all time. No matter where you are and not matter who you are hosting, you can play the album from beginning to end and keep the party going the entire time.

On top of that, with this explosive debut, 50 solidified himself a place all his own in the hip-hop industry. “Get Rich or Die Trying” is one of the best debuts of all-time and is definitely a classic.

Michael Fassbender Up for "X-Men" & "Spider-Man 4"

German-born, Irish-raised Michael Fassbender ("Inglourious Basterds," "Hunger") is currently being linked to not one but two Marvel comic book film adaptations currently heading towards production.

According to Showbiz 411: "X-Men: First Class" director Matthew Vaughn is pursuing Fassbender to play the younger version of Ian McKellen’s Magneto in Fox's prequel project which already stars James McAvoy as the younger Professor Charles X. Xavier. That film is slated to kick off filming soon in the UK for release next summer.

At the same time, Fassbender is being pursued to play the villain in “Spider-Man 4" at Sony Pictures. As that film isn't scheduled to hit until mid-2012, its production won't kick off until sometime next year.

Fassbender is expected to choose one over the other--the question is which one and how it will fit into his schedule. On top of that, the new “Spider-Man” villain has yet to be revealed, and director Marc Webb has still yet to choose his new Peter Parker. Fassbender was great in “Inglourious Basterds” last summer, and whichever role he chooses, he is likely to be excellent in it.

The actor is currently shooting David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and will next star in David Jacobson's "A Single Shot."

David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse In "Fright Night" Remake

Former "Doctor Who" star David Tennant and rising young actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse ("Superbad," "Kick-Ass") have joined the cast of the "Fright Night" remake for Dreamworks Pictures.

According to Reuters: David Tennant, best known for starring in the BBC series "Doctor Who," and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are joining the cast of "Fright Night," a remake of the cult 1985 film.

The original film followed Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale), a young man who is convinced his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire and seeks the help of his girlfriend (Amanda Bearse), his nerdy and condescending friend Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) and aging horror actor turned late night TV host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) to help him.

The new film, scripted by Marti Noxon and directed by Craig Gillespie, moves the action to Las Vegas. Tennant will take on the Peter Vincent role, which has been reimagined as a Las Vegas magician and self-proclaimed vampire expert whose show revolves around horror-movie imagery.

Anton Yelchin stars as Charlie, a teen convinced that his new neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Toni Collette is the teen's disbelieving mom, who falls under the vampire's spell.

Mintz-Plasse will play the Evil Ed role, the nerdy friend who ends up joining Dandrige (Colin Farrell).

Tennant was fantastic on “Dr. Who,” and I’m glad to see him moving on to other roles. Mintz-Plasse should fit in well with Yelchin, who is no stranger to remakes, having taken part in the “Star Trek” reboot.

Filming kicks off in July.

Steven Quale To Helm Fifth "Final Destination"

Steven Quale, the visual effects guru who also worked as second unit director on "Titanic" and "Avatar," has been hired to helm the 3D fifth entry in the "Final Destination" franchise for New Line.

According to Variety: New Line has tapped visual effects vet Steven Quale -- a longtime associate of James Cameron -- as director for "Final Destination 5." Quale also worked on special effects on "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and directed "Aliens of the Deep" for Disney.

Story details on the sequel are being kept under wraps, but it will kick off with an opening scene on a suspension bridge and involve laser eye surgery in another scene.

Eric Heisserer ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") is penning the script while Craig Perry and Warren Zide will produce.

Although the “Final Destination” films have declined in quality as each sequel has come out, they are sure money makers. With Quale directing, the franchise is moving in the right direction. Even if the story is poorly written, you know the action will be top notch given all of his experience with James Cameron. If the story is up to snuff, this could end up as a much better film than the past few installments.

Shooting kicks off September 13th for release next August.

Max Minghella in "The Darkest Hour"

Max Minghella ("Agora," "Bee Season") is set to join the $40 million sci-fi thriller "The Darkest Hour" for New Regency and Summit Entertainment.

According to Variety: The story follows a group of kids struggling to survive in Moscow after an alien invasion. Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor and Joel Kinnaman also star.

Chris Gorak ("Right at Your Door") directs from a script by Les Bohem and Jon Spaihts he re-wrote. Timur Bekmambetov and Tom Jacobson will produce.

Minghella, son of the late director Anthony, will be seen in Sony's "The Social Network" in October. He’s a great young talent, and along with Emile Hirsch, the cast of this flick is solid.

I also think the sci-fi aspect and the interesting story all point in a positive direction for this film. If done correctly this could end up being a surprise quality hit much like “District 9” was last summer.

Filming kicks off in Russia this summer.