hitRECord TV

You know him from Don Jon, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper and my personal favorite, Angels in the Outfield, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt will now be gracing our television (or computer) screens as well with an astoundingly innovative and creative new TV show, hitRECord TV.

hitRECord is an open collaborative production company created from the genius minds (and I do not use that term loosely) of both Joseph and his brother, Dan. It began back in 2005 and has since spawned a massive online community following. What is an open collaborative production company you ask? It’s exactly how it sounds. Users upload their own content- music, short and poems, art, photos, videos- then edit and remix them together to create short films, videos, songs, and in this case, produce a variety TV show.

hitRECord TV while be premiering on January 18th on pivot (AN: Apparently this is a new cable channel because I had never heard of it before and had to do a little research to actually find the channel only to find out that my cbale provider does not offer this channel in my area… THANK YOU BRIGHTHOUSE NETWORKS!) but you can catch the first episode before the big day on the hitRECord website (hitRECord.org), their YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/hitrecord), or download it for FREE on iTunes. Yes, you read that right. Free. But after watching the first episode, I’ve already invested in a season pass becuase it’s just that damn good.

Each episode will have a theme and because this is the very first episode of the series, the theme is the number one (see what they did there?). Joseph Gordon-Levitt essentially serves as the host, narrating you from one piece of work to the next and it all flows so seamlessly and the content is so well-made that you don’t even realize any time has passed before the episode concludes. My particular favorite element of the show is that before each collaborative edit is shown a banner appears along the bottom showing you just how many users around the world contributed to create the edit and what type of content it was.

Now, I’ve always been a fan of hitRECord and have browsed the site many times and have even wanted to upload any form of content- short stories, edits, poems, anything. But I am sub-par at best at all these, at least compared to the talent that is showcased throughout those record boards. But watching the show filled me with inspiration. This is it. This type of creation is what I want to do, probably for the rest of my life. I want to be a part of this. I need to be part of this. In any way possible. To work for this incredible company would be a dream but I’d be satisifed to just be apart of the creative community as well.

I’ll leave you with a the first short film of the “RE:The Number One” episode and urge you to check out the rest. I assure you, you will not regret it.

Defending Yeezus….and then some

Photo from vibevixen.com

I’m not a Kanye West fan. Anyone thats knows me, knows this.
As a few older folks like to say, “He really grinds my gears.”

And yet, here I am defending him.

Kanye, or Yeezus as his fans like to call him (or is it that he wants them to call him that), is currently under investigation for an alleged assault of an 18-year-old. Apparently, the young man used racial slurs against paparazzi hounding Kanye’s fiance, Ms. Kim Kardashian herself, and then when Kim thanked him for his help but also told him that he shouldnt use such inappropriate language (you go, Kim!), the classy, chilvalrous young man then turned on her with ““F*** you, b*tch! Just trying to help you. Shut up, n****r lover! Stupid slut!”- according to TMZ. Kanye came to Kim’s aid and a physical altercation between the two men (one 18, the other 36) ensued.

Now I don’t condone violence but… I get it, Kanye. I get it.

This boy, and yes to me he is a boy because no man speaks that way, verbally assaulted a woman that’s he’s never even met before for absolutely no reason.

AND

To use racial slurs too? Really? Really?!

At what point in your life do you think you are better than someone? At what point in your life is it okay to berate someone, to use vulgar and inappropriate towards them?
Spoiler alert: NEVER.

Kim did not deserve the treatment this boy gave her nor does Kanye (and as annoying as the paparazzi is, they don’t deserve racial slurs tossed at them either). And just because someone is a celebrity doesnt make them not human. It doesn’t entitle society to tear them down or treat them like garbage because they are in the public eye.
Second spoiler alert: You are never entitled to anything in your life.

So I stand by both Kanye and Kim- a sentence I never thought I’d ever type, a thought I thought I’d never think (yay for alliteration!).
Kanye came to defend Kim, as any husband, boyfriend, or fiance would and he was also defending himself. He may not have done so in the most mature way possible but rage doesn’t always allow you to see clearly.

Narrow minds tends to cloud the judgement of yourself and those around you- just remember that, 18 year old boy. If your punshment is a swing to the face, you asked for it. Maybe he knocked some sense into you.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kanye-west-investigation-allegedly-punching-teen-racist-remarks-article-1.1578490#ixzz2qOB1iYYA

Has Violence in Movies Become the Norm?

http://www.newsy.com/videos/violence-in-pg-13-films-does-scientists-critique-of-mpaa-get-it-right/#ooid=JzMXM0aDrOcJuKjJXKYErLULxt6Jx_ti

The Motion Picture Association of America has steadily allowed more and more violence under the PG-13 in recent years. Some even argue that a PG-13 film is more likely to have more violence than a R-rated movie.

If we think about some of the biggest movies released in the past year (or for the rest of the year, for that matter), there is a striking similarity.

– Iron Man 3
– Man Of Steel
– The Wolverine
– World War Z
– Thor: The Dark World
– G.I. Joe: Retaliation
– Hunger Games: Catching Fire (release is later this week)

All heavy on violence, all rated PG-13.

I remember reading an article when the first Hunger Games was released. If you’ve been living under a rock, Hunger Games is a essentially a post-apocalyptic world where kids from 12-18 are thrown into an arena and must fight to the death for one victor to emerge. This article mentioned that a few seconds of the scene of the graphic fighting/death scenes was to be cut for the movie to receive an PG-13 equivalent rating in the U.K. however in America, no cuts were made. The sequel Catching Fire also has had to go through similar cuts in the U.K. version to receive an equal rating which poses these questions…

Why is America more receptive of violence in movies, especially those that a child can see without an adult?
Have we really become that numb to violence and death?
And even more so, do our movies influence our actions in everyday society or are the terrorism and gun violence horrors we face every day soften the blow when we seem them on the silver screen?