Entertainment
Charli xcx: Music, Fashion, Film review – slippery search into selfhood that hits just as hard as Brat
Charli’s A-list fame seemed to be the only thing holding her back after a decade of pioneering a new kind of freedom in pop music. Brat, her 2024 club rat opus, spawned memes and embarrassing political bandwagoning. Collins named it the word of the Year. It could also be the end for the bra industry. The ludicrous impact of the book was threatening to turn Charli into an obscene caricature. Your creation was made to look cringe-worthy by executives who wanted to get every acid-green drop out of their prized cow.
It is a risky move, even for the most innovative pop stars. Pivot, and you risk losing fans or looking like a wilfully contrary person. Charli’s sub-two minute single Rock Music was interpreted by many as an insult. She screams, “I believe the dancefloor has died,” over buzzing guitars, like the speakers of a Nokia 5110. There are boring articles about how the dancefloor was very alive (as though Charli had ever used culture to gain clout, then thrown it away), or whether she is trying to expel fair-weather fans. The key to the cheeky tune is surprising earnest. “Jump Off the Stage / I Hope They Catch You Today / But If They Don’t It’s Ok,” she sings in a naive way, urging listeners to jump off stage and take risky creative leaps.
The title Music, Fashion, Film is a reference to Charli’s recent move towards fashion and acting collaborations. The first singles were a bit murky in comparison to Brat’s exploration of female relationship anxieties. She immediately protested she was not really making rock music. Wink Wink, a mash-up of the Teenagers and SS26’s sleazy 00s French Indie sleaze from the 00s, was a homage to Charli’s pinky promise that she is now respectable. These releases are likely to be deliberately diffuse, preventing Music, Fashion, Film, from slipping away before its release.
This slipperiness is the core of a brilliantly astute, disarmingly profound album that explores the instability of our identity. It’s not only about a vanguard singer striving to evolve, but also how little we know each other, and ourselves. Rock Music explores self-definition, from the defiant culture reset to the celebrity scoundrel that avoids criticism through exploiting sympathy (“my heritage might give me a USP”) Card Declined’s blunt, fuzzy-out chug shows her shopping for “a whole backstory” through luxury goods. Charli is not merely a moralising observer: she understands how self-commodification can be a way to escape difficult times or even help beckon hellfires quicker. Charli, who is a keen cultural observer, understands that self-commodification can be a way to escape from dire times or even help beckon the hellfires faster. Charli, along with co-producers AG Cook, and Easyfun remakes guitar songs at a pocket-sized, intimate scale, but still has a huge hookiness.
Two songs tell the story of two different friendships. Magic Metal Montana is an emo-half-time smear of Strokes guitars, and it’s a song dedicated to AG Cook, the long-time producer. She sings, tenderly: “We make music and talk in that manner.” Persona, the bolshie and muscular Persona, teases Charli about a friend, who speaks endlessly but says nothing real. Charli is able to understand this performance. “We are both under influence by life imitating artwork, and we know it,” Charli chants. What do you think of the person who has your best interests at heart?
Charli is never afraid to look unflattering. It’s just her audience. Her self-actualisation is addressed by two dazzlingly brilliant standouts. Camera, the melancholy and jittery film, confronts her fears about being stupid to want to “throw away my life” in order to pursue acting. But when it becomes a beautiful, firefly-dappled, heavenly rhapsody, you realize how liberating this is. Dilettantes are often used to describe pop star-actors. Charli reframing the idea that a bolt of lightning can change your perceptions about yourself at any time, making you feel reborn.
I’m afraid features her actual birth, and how she may be insecure because her father was not present. She screams over sparse, bassy, dissonant music that echos the John Cale collaboration House. Her fears are of not being a good wife, when in fact she is a drunken, numb and desperate child. She yells, “Take the Ring! Take the Ring!” Then she seems exhausted when she says she must say all these “complicated”, “unsayable” things to “keep my insides from turning black”. It’s not as bad as it may seem. “All of this pain has made me feel like a better artist / A lie I tell myself to act selfishly.” She contradicts herself, doesn’t she? Absolutely. Charli is our best-known pop singer because of her unrelenting desire to tell us everything – from the self-hatred and the ego, through the defensiveness and the anger. God, yes.
Laura has listened this week to
Heavensouls – Straight Rawhhhhhhhhh
The 20-year old Houston musician Westside Trapped’s album is an ethereal, overblown love letter to Nigerian culture. I have been listening to it every week for the past year. This fantastically bitter and gnarled Blues is among the frisky Fela moments.
Entertainment
“The Odyssey” screenings at Regal King of Prussia impacted after 70mm IMAX projector goes down
Currently, one of only 41 cinemas around the globe screening Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” 70mm IMAX is experiencing technical problems.
Regal King of Prussia in Philadelphia informed customers on Friday that its 70mm IMAX projection system was having problems and only digital IMAX screenings were available.
The theater posted on Facebook that it “understands your frustration and apologizes for any impact this has had on your experience.”
The IMAX team has been working non-stop since Thursday and continues to do so to solve the projection problems. “We are trying to return normal 70mm operations as quickly as we can, but at this time there is no timeline.”
The King of Prussia Theater is one of only 25 theaters in America to show “The Odyssey” 70mm IMAX. New York City, Rochester, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island are the next nearest theaters.
Nolan told CBS Mornings co-host Gayle king last week that the new format is sharper and more like the image our eyes perceive.
Fans from Virginia drove as far away as King of Prussia to watch the 70mm IMAX film.
David Dekok: “I drove 80 miles to Harrisburg from Harrisburg in order to reach the theatre.”
Kate Elfatah said that when she arrived at the theatre, the buzz quickly spread throughout the lobby.
Elfatah replied, “I could not believe what I heard.” You have people who are out of order.
Elfatah said that customers received refunds as well as the opportunity to view the film in digital format for free. Not everyone was satisfied with that, she said.
Elfatah: “I met people from South Carolina who said that they had driven 8-10 hours.”
Kate Elfatah said that when she arrived at the theatre, the buzz quickly spread throughout the lobby.
Our crews informed several people CBS News Philadelphia interviewed that the projector had broken. This lack of notice was frustrating for many.
They could have sent out an email to all their clients. Dekok stated that they had our entire email.
Elfatah stated that no one from the theatre came to talk with anyone.
Regal has said that IMAX technicians are working round the clock to fix the projector. However, there is still no timetable for the return of 70mm screenings.
Entertainment
‘Neuromancer’ Trailer Introduced By Callum Turner At SDCC
Callum Turner stunned the audience at San Diego Comic-Con as he presented the teaser of Neuromancer on Saturday.
The BAFTA-winning actress appeared on Apple TV’s Hall H panel via video, greeting fans and sharing the first glimpse of the sci-fi cyberpunk series, based on the 1984 William Gibson novel, which premieres on January 22, 2019.
This 10-episode show from Graham Roland and JDDillard is about Case (Turner), who’s a super-hacker with a broken past. He and his razor-girl partner Molly, a assassin with a dark secret, are thrown into an intricate web of high-stakes digital crime and espionage.
Max Irons is also in the cast, along with Joseph Lee, Peter Sarsgaard, Clemence Poesy and Junia Rees. Max Irons has made appearances alongside Dane DeHaan and Emma Laird.
Entertainment
Larry the Cable Guy Recovering After Scary Hospitalization
Larry the Cable Guy has recovered from a recent illness that landed him at the hospital.
Larry’s rep tells TMZ that he was admitted to the hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska late on Thursday night and diagnosed with appendicitis.
We were told that he had been released Saturday from hospital after a few days of lying in bed. He is already at home, and feels much better.
Although his stay in the hospital did not affect his live shows, it was necessary to delay taping of episodes of “American Mayhem”, a comedy clip show similar to “American’s Funniest Home Videos”.
Entertainment
Boosie Badazz Sued By Security Guard for Assault
Boosie is being sued for allegedly smashing a hookah glass over the head of a security guard. This lawsuit comes after Boosie was jailed following the incident.
Edward Iglehart, II has filed a lawsuit against the Louisiana rapper for an incident that allegedly occurred at Dome Nightclub on the 24th of May this year in Houston.
Iglehart claims he was hired as a security guard in the VIP section at an event in which Boosie, real name Torrence Hitch, Jr., performed. Near the end of closing night, the woman who was in VIP was allegedly up to him asking if she was allowed to re-enter the restricted part of the club to use the restroom.
Iglehart says that after he politely directed the woman towards a security guard, who could make a determination about the situation, the woman began to berate him and eventually struck him.
Iglehart claims he grabbed her and started to guide her when she fell. He claims he bent down to pick up the woman when he got hit with a heavy item.
Boosie, he claims, was over him holding a hookah that had broken. Iglehart, says Iglehart… was bleeding profusely and was taken to hospital.
He is suing Boosie, claiming assault and battery as well as defamation because he allegedly made false statements about him in social media. Iglehart also sued 1720 Main Street Entities, the company which owns the bar for overserving Boosie’s guests and creating an unsafe work environment.
Boosie’s arrest for the alleged attack took place in May. Houston PD was told by the club owners and promoters that Iglehart’s escorting woman is Boosie’s niece.
Carl A. Moore, Boosie’s lawyer, told us in a written statement that “we plan to investigate vigorously and defend Mr. Hatch from these allegations. We wish everyone to reserve judgement and let this case play out before a court.” Boosie’s attorney Carl A. Moore said in a statement to us, “We plan to vigorously investigate and defend Mr. Hatch against these allegations — we wish everyone would reserve any judgement and allow this case play out in court.”
Entertainment
The First ‘Matchbox’ Movie Trailer Sure Is Something
Matchbox is the brand that continues to be a pipeline for movies. Die cast toys are best represented by slot race cars. Apple revealed what will be on AppleTV in the fall during their panel at San Diego Comic-Con. We knew this was coming for some time.
The film is directed by Sam Hargrave, of Extraction fame. John Cena stars as Sean, an ex-soldier who returns home to his family after a successful mission. The night Jessica Biel and her old friends Sam Richardson and Arturo Castro were supposed to spend reconnecting turned into a nightmare when the four of them are kidnapped, framed, and accused of stealing a nuke warhead. The group is now wanted by law and must clear their name one mistake at a time.
You know what it means: performing stunts with their cars, choppers and bikes that remind them of Matchbox toys as children. The mix of carnage, comedy and violence is so well blended that you’ll think the scene came right out of Fast & Furious.
Matchbox: The Movie, starring Corey Stoll and Golshifteh Faahani, will be available on Apple TV in October.
Would you like to know more about io9? Find out what the next DC Universe film or TV release will be, as well as when the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases are due.
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