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24 Sep 2009 09:55

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Culture: Columnist: Why are Tyler Perry’s stereotyped movies so popular?

  • Maybe it’s easy for whole church buses to go see a Perry flick after Sunday service. Maybe we’re just happy to see black folks on-screen no matter what they do. Or maybe we don’t have the sense of a billy goat when it comes to choosing meaningful entertainment—I just don’t know.
  • The Root columnist Thembi Ford • Lamenting the level of success that Tyler Perry‘s movies, which have been critically lambasted across the board, have had in a short period of time. Ford notes that Perry’s movies have grossed nearly as much in seven years ($319 million) as Spike Lee’s entire canon has in over two decades ($372 million). Perry will be tackling the film version of an iconic feminist play in the future – Ntozake Shange‘s “For Colored Girls who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” – and Ford argues that he’s simply not a good enough director for the honor. • source

21 Aug 2009 11:53

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Culture: “Inglourious Basterds” has good, not glourious reviews. Basterds.

  • 70 its current rating on Metacritic; some adore it, some hate it source

04 Aug 2009 21:48

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Music: Transgendered musician Antony worked hard for his fame

  • I know that sounds ridiculous, but I have to keep that garden alive. I see myself as a microcosm – that’s the word – as one example of humanity and of the brokenness of humanity. I’m interested in exploring that on a very personal level in that it might be useful for my own attempt to evolve.
  • Antony Hegarty, the transgendered mastermind of Antony and the Johnsons • Discussing what he feels he does with his music. As you might imagine from a large-framed transgendered man with a voice akin to Nina Simone, he has an interesting life story, most of it taking place in New York. But a few lucky shakes, particularly from Lou Reed and Devendra Banhart, gave Antony eventual breakout success. Recently, his subject matter has turned from gender identity to pure optimism, optimism which peppers his most recent album, “The Crying Light.” This Pitchfork feature on the singer is a pretty killer read. • source

01 Jul 2009 20:48

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Culture: Hitting the Michael Jackson media saturation barrier yet?

  • 64% of folks think we should shut about the King of Pop source

30 Jun 2009 23:04

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Tech: A lot of people have downloaded Firefox 3.5 already

  • 2+ million people downloaded Firefox 3.5 already today source

18 Jun 2009 19:55

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U.S., World: Jews in Israel think Obama hates them for some reason

  • 6% think that Obama is pro-them, that he wouldn’t have them on his kickball team source

18 Jun 2009 11:01

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Tech: Microsoft’s Bing is gaining in popularity week by week, guys

  • 16.7% Bing’s overall share of the search engine market last week source
 

17 Jun 2009 21:50

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Politics, Tech: You’re lying to yourself if you think you’ll make money blogging

  • Google ads pay almost nothing. Banner ads are worth almost nothing, and the market for advertising has cratered with the Great Recession.
  • Blogger Jake Seliger • Who combined the main points of two articles we recently posted about to make the argument that we’ll never make money blogging. But it doesn’t mean we won’t keep trying. Because we’re crazy and apparently aren’t sure how to stop. • source

16 Jun 2009 01:33

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Tech: Jesus Christ, a lot of people use Facebook Chat

  • 1 billion messages sent per day, mostly between us and our S.O. source

13 Jun 2009 21:36

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Culture: “Hangover” director Todd Phillips, on the movie’s surprise success

  • They gave us a standing ovation after the screening, which I’ve never seen before. I think everyone was drunk.
  • Todd Phillips • On the film’s Dublin premiere. Philips, who has the hits “Road Trip” and “Old School” to his name, is responsible for the third-largest opening for an R-rated comedy ever, which is even more impressive if you keep in mind three things: One, that the top two openings were major franchises (“Sex in the City” and “American Pie 2”); two, that the movie had no marquee stars (we’re so happy Zach Galifianakis has been unleashed on the world); and three, that Phillips started his career as a documentarian for shock-rocker GG Allin. • source