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CorrienteLatina has teamed up with two of todays best unsigned Latin Hip-Hop artists to bring you this exclusive mixtape. “Los Campeones Mundiales” This exclusive mixtape has features by GBabe, Chavito, Don Dinero, Brugal, Rubi-o and many more.

Click to download

The Song & Video:

Exclusively for Delicious Vinyl’s RMXXOLOGY, the Philippians take The Pharcyde’s 1995 classic “Runnin’” and update it, giving a new twist to lyrics that still ring true today. The song follows the gang as they come of age, learning to deal with the hardships that come with each phase of life. From scraps in the schoolyard, to institutionalized racism, the boys of The Pharcyde learn to stand up and fight and call on us to do the same. Even young celebrities must deal with life’s trials, as Imani sings: “All this calamity is rippin’ my sanity/ Can it be I’m a celebrity / Who’s on the brink of insanity / Now don’t be wishin of / switchin’ any positions with me / Cuz when you in my position, it ain’t never easy.” The serious message of the song is offset by the dreamlike quality the Philippians add to it. A sleepy acoustic guitar riff underscores the beat and synths, creating a hypnotic lyrical and musical combination.

The video mirrors this dream state, depicting The Pharcyde struggling between fantasy, reality, and nightmares. In an edgy turnaround, scenes of the video depict them lounging about a gorgeous plantation manor while being waited on hand-and-foot by white servants. This dreamland keeps being interrupted by hooligans bent on making things difficult for the young members of The Pharcyde. The Philippians make this remix audibly relevant, and when combined with the video make it a trip worth taking.

Check the video

I couldn’t help it. I had to tell y’all…long read alert!

Okay. So last night, I saw the premiere of the most anticipated movie of 2008. Not only that, but I saw it on Imax. First experience with Imax…I was always like “what’s the big deal?, but when you see a movie
made for Imax on an Imax screen…

Put it this way. I now know what the big f’n deal is. Geez.

I took my baby sister (well, not really so baby - she’s 22, fresh out of college) as we have a time-honored tradition of going to see movies together. She tells me what she wants to see, and I make it happen by securing the free passes. We only do this with select movies - probably 10-15 a year.

Before I get to The Dark Knight, let me state this:

1. I will not reveal any details of the movie; it’s one of those where if you reveal any specifics, you ruin things. So, I will speak only in
general terms and/or about things that have been in the common press for months now.

2. If you are a comic book aficianado, then you have heard of The Watchmen, considered the greatest graphic novel of all-time. I only read it recently in the past 2 years and was blown away; this is the only graphic novel on the Top 100 all-time literature list. However, the story is so narrative-driven and complex, I always thought it could never EVER translate into a movie. So when they announced they were making one, I was very pessimistic.

Watch The Watchmen trailer before The Dark Knight. It was worth going to see the movie for that trailer alone if you’ve read that book.

Now, onto The Dark Knight…

Anyone see Iron Man? Great flick, right? Love X-Men? Surprised at how good the new Incredible Hulk was? Fond memories of the first 2 Superman movies, Sin City, 300, Blade and all the rest of the good comic movies?

Combine them all…and The Dark Knight pisses on all of them. Including Batman Begins.

I have NEVER seen a movie with this much hype not only live up to the hype, but surpass any expectation you have due to it. It’s hard when a movie is this hyped…you’re bound to be let down, even if it turns out to be really good.

Not this one. It’s FLAWLESS. All the hype in the world can’t properly prepare you for what they don’t tell or show you.

Let’s get to the only 2 things anyone can realistically say bad about this movie:

1. The Length: at 2.5 hours, some in our ADD society may say it could’ve ended sooner. But I’ve never expected a movie to have a 90 minute limit…if the story is good, I will watch the entire thing happily. As a kid, I always watched the entire movie The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. It’s still my favorite western, though it clocks in at just over 3 hours.

Trust me…every minute of this film is needed. You’ll see.

2. Maggie Gylenhall: okay, this is more my personal complaint…she’s great in her role. But Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent, The Joker and whoever else telling me how beautiful she is just doesn’t cut it. Sorry - I wouldn’t consider Maggie at last call if I was an ex-con just out after a 10 year bid. This must be cultural, cuz she ain’t cutting it…and I see mad magazines and Internet articles espousing her beauty. Ugh. But her acting is much better than Katie Holmes (also not attractive…what is up with these people and the homely brunettes?).

The Dark Knight is so serious and dark, it immerses you in it’s world. It makes other superhero movies seem like comic book movies, while this is a film with comic characters. There is a difference.

All the talk of Heath Ledger’s performance can’t prepare you for what you will see. Really…I haven’t seen or heard from a movie this year that can compete against his performance. How good is he? Last year, I called No Country For Old Men’s Anton Chigurh one of the top 5 villains in movie history (felt vindicated when the reviews came out saying similar).

This isn’t just Top 5. This is THE greatest villain I’ve ever seen in film. I forgot it was Heath completely. A woman sitting next to me
turned to her husband and said “Oh. I don’t think I like this. This isn’t what I expected at all…he’s not funny at all. He’s SICK. He’s actually scary”.

Lady…that’s the point. Oh, and I wouldn’t take squeamish or scaredy kids. How this move avoids the “R” is beyond me. It doesn’t reveal or ruin anything to let you know The Joker kills more people than the 1st Freddy and Jason movies.

COMBINED.

This film isn’t even about Batman or just The Joker. Watching Harvey Dent’s story is just as captivating. It’s soooo layered. You can take a lot from the title of the film. The most enjoyable thing…no matter how much they ramp it up, no one in the film can match Heath’s performance. His Joker is more psychopathic than even the graphic novel The Killing Joke, the all-time greatest Joker story. And if you ever read that book, that’s saying A LOT.

And for all my fellow alumni who loved Hancock…it was interesting to see a movie where all of the people of color, be they good or bad, didn’t play into racial subtexts, stereotypes or negative imagery. One of the Crime Bosses is Asian, and he’s just as calm and smooth as Bruce Wayne. In fact, he’s from Asia, yet he speaks perfect English - no broken English stereotype here. Hell, even Tiny Lister (Deebo from the Friday movies) is dignified in his cameo as a criminal than some of the things in Hancock. And, the smartest, most collected person in the entire film is Morgan Freeman’s Lucien Fox.

They could’ve easily played into any number of stereotypes or questionable portrayals. The decided to play all of the people of color as - get ready for this - regular, dimensional people. The fact that they didn’t shows the difference between responsible film-making and…Hancock.

Lol…okay, no more Hancock jabs…

(Note: while not revealing anything, I’m about to make a comparison of this film to another all-time great film. In doing so, I will describe details from the other film that will give you a sense of exactly what The Dark Knight is. If you want to go in completely shocked, don’t read the lines that follow in italics…but no details of The Dark Knight are revealed at all).

Comparison alert in…

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2

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The Dark Knight is like The Empire Strikes Back of superhero movies. It’s so dark, so layered and has so many unexpected twists that it will engross you. And at the end, you will be shocked…and there’s no way you can possibly guess the ending. No way without someone revealing major chunks of the movie.

The Empire Strikes Back has always been considered the best of all the Star Wars films, and the standard for sequels and cliffhangers. But there have always been some upset with the unhappy ending of the film; cuz some people just like nice, tidy Disney endings. I mean, Luke finds out the most evil man in the universe is his father; Lando Calrissian betrays Han Solo, who is frozen and taken away by Boba Fett the Bounty Hunter; the Rebel Alliance has been defeated; the good guys are in disarray; Luke has lost his hand; Obi-Wan’s is dead and ineffective, and The Emperor and Empire are stronger than ever.

The Dark Knight makes that look like an episode of The Care Bears. Really. The reaction of most people in the theater I was in was stunned silence and shock. In a good way…but they were absolutely floored at what had happened and what nothing could’ve prepared us for.

Comparison spoiler ended…

This is going to make $200 million this weekend. Not only that, when it’s all said and done, it will go down in the Top 10 of ANYONE…yeah, I said ANYONE - who has relatively decent taste in movies. The stuff you’ve seen in the trailers isn’t anywhere near as good as the actual movie…which is always a great sign. I don’t think these people knew what they made.

I haven’t been this floored by a movie since I first saw the opening of the original Matrix or since I saw the opening of Fight Club. I’ve seen plenty of great movies, but this hit me like a 20-year-old Mike Tyson uppercut. My sister announced it was immediately her favorite movie of all-time.

My sister’s very girly. So that’s saying a lot…she’s more likely to love a Tyler Perry movie over Citizen Kane, X or Platoon any day.

I know seeing it this weekend may be damn-near impossible…especially after word of mouth gets out about how much better it is than anyone already thought. But if you can, check it out. I haven’t paid for a movie in ages…I’m gonna try and go see this again, willing to pay full admission.

This is so far of an upgrade over Batman Begins, which I marvelled at how good it was, that they may have set a bar too high for anyone to ever reach. After seeing that trailer for The Watchmen, though…

If they could translate that story to today’s audience, that might do it.

But just barely.