Thought Pizza: entertainment

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Music Review: Into It. Over It.

Artist name: Into It. Over It.

Album name: Proper (2011, No Sleep Records)

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Proper is cleverly titled, as it is the first proper full-length album from Into It. Over It., the brainchild of Evan Weiss. Weiss, who previously spent his time releasing the ambitious 52 Weeks, one song a week for a year, and the Twelve Towns series of 7”'s, is a bit of a departure from the typical boy with his acoustic guitar type songs you’d expect from a solo project. With Proper, Evan has created an album that would fit well next to Piebald in a record collection. Proper stands out from Piebald records though. Complete with distorted vocals, Proper starts out with the song “Embracing Facts”, which is rather gritty and dark, and stands out in a great way on this record. “Discretion and Depressing People”, a nod to Evan’s side project Stay Ahead of the Weather, would make sense playing on your iPod (or iPhone or iSomething) right before “American Hearts” or “Long Nights," but with lyrics more along the lines of Taking Back Sunday circa 2002 (you know, the good stuff). “No Good Before Noon” is the first of two acoustic tracks on the record, and it finds Evan lamenting that he’s “not built for nine-to-fives." It’s a rather amazing honesty that he shows that also helps to explain why he’s been such a prolific songwriter and touring musician since busting onto the scene. “Midnight: Carroll Street” is a bit more of a somber track, finding Evan working out his anxiety and dealing with lies and deception from those he chose to surround himself with. It fits more along the lines of “Embracing Facts," feeling a little darker and grittier than most of the album. “P R O P E R," the title track, is easily one of the more musically upbeat tracks on the record, ending with a repeating “whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh”. The last track on the record is the other acoustic one, “The Frames that Used to Greet Me”, a rather touching lament about seeing a former lover out and about and realizing that they still think about you. It’s a touching end to an incredible proper debut. Most of the record seems to fit in with bands like Piebald, Death Cab for Cutie and Taking Back Sunday, with some slight differences. The record has a similar risk-taking feel to it as most of the records from those three bands did. While some of the songs fail to stick out, the ones that do (particularly “Discretion and Depressing People”, “Midnight: Carroll Street”, and “P R O P E R”) are easily some of the best tracks Evan has ever written.

Sounds Like: Piebald, Death Cab for Cutie, Taking Back Sunday

Stand-outs: “Discretion and Depressing People”, “Midnight: Carroll Street”, “P R O P E R”, “The Frames that Used to Greet Me”

p.s. Check out his side project Stay Ahead of the Weather, especially “Impressions and Impressing People”. Love that Jawbreaker reference.

Photo via.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of midnight releases. So last night where else would I be except seeing The Amazing Spider-Man (unfortunately not in costume)?

Now, I do not dislike the older Spider-man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. They always did a good job of keeping me entertained, but as the movies went on the plots got progressively...less good. So the new reboot had me pretty excited, I love Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield is a babe, and after seeing the trailers I simply couldn't wait. And let me tell you, it went above and beyond my expectations.

I'm no film buff so I am unsure of the fancy way to say this, but the camera angles over New York City were absolutely great; and the plot progressed well, I was never bored for even a second.

As for the actors, Andrew Garfield plays troubled and quirky extremely well. Not to mention he can be quite funny. Perhaps it's just because he is ridiculously attractive but I personally felt that he was perfect as Spider-Man. Emma Stone likewise did a fantastic job as Gwen Stacy. It was really a different type of role for her. The comedic actress usually has awkward rambling monologues that have me shaking with laughter. They sort of threw one of these in, in the form of a semi-uncomfortable father-daughter moment, that was in fact pretty funny. Overall I have to give many kudos to Emma and look forward to seeing her in more roles like this.

The supporting cast, including Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary and Rhys Ifans, add to the awesomeness of the new Spider-Man movie.

It seemed that in the weeks leading up the the July 3rd release, The Amazing Spider-Man took a backseat to all the hype surrounding The Dark Knight Rises (to be released July 20th, 2012). And what a mistake that was. I have no complaints about this movie; to The Amazing Spider-Man, I give you five stars.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The True Queen of the 90s Screen

I will always argue that Can’t Hardly Wait is the greatest teen movie of the 90s and that Empire Records is the perfect workplace. But today, I’d like to take the opportunity to give props to a majorly unappreciated actress of the 90s: Gabrielle Union.

photo via

When 90s movies are the topic of discussion (which happens pretty frequently in my life), the actresses that usually come to mind are those with three names: Rachael Leigh Cook, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Jennifer Love Hewitt. But I’d like to remind everyone of Gabrielle Union’s sassy supporting roles in a trifecta of stellar 90s films. In She’s All That she played Katie, a friend of uber-bitch Taylor Vaughan who was always friendly to Laney. Gabrielle also played best friend Chastity Church to Larisa Oleynik’s Bianca Stratford in 10 things I Hate About You. And finally, she played Isis, head cheerleader of the East Compton Clovers in the honorary 90s flick Bring It On.

And let’s not forget Gabrielle Union’s myriad television appearances in the 90s. She had roles on Moesha, Smart Guy, Sister, Sister, Clueless, and so many more. Although she played supporting roles, I say we give credit where it’s deserved. So here’s to you, Gabrielle Union, true queen of the 90s screen.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Flashback Friday: Summer Girls by LFO

Last weekend, as I was headed out to dinner with my family, a familiar tune came on the radio. My parents in the front seat had no idea what it was, and continued their conversation without acknowledgement. But then, I felt an overwhelming urge to sing/rap along: "New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits. Chinese food makes me sick. And I think it's fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer." The conversation halted as eyes shifted my way. That familiar "what the heck?" look taking over the faces of my family members as they wondered what had gotten into me. I'm sure, by this point, they started to recognize the song, as it played pretty much every second of the summer of 1999.

Yes, the song was "Summer Girls" by the male trio LFO (Lyte Funky Ones, if you want to get all fancy), also known for such hits as "Girl on TV" and... well... nothing else. But for me, and I'm sure many other 20-somethings, this song will always hold a special place in my heart. Its nonsensical lyrics (seriously, who likes Kevin Bacon but hates Footloose?), uptempo beats, and tried and true story of summer love will force me to sing along even 10+ years later. Yes, I did sing along for the entire song. Yes, I knew most of the words still. And yes, it's still as great as it was in 1999. Happy Flashback Friday! What was your favorite boy band of the 90's?

Friday, June 8, 2012

Flashback Friday: Hey Arnold!

We all get nostalgic sometimes, that’s a fact. And some of us probably get nostalgic more than others. We miss the carefree lifestyle we enjoyed as children: drawing with chalk, riding bikes until 8:30 p.m., eating glue. But I’ve found myself wondering in recent years…were things really that great when we were kids? Or does the grass just seem greener in the past? I mean, there’s no way that all of the TV shows and movies and zebra stripe gum from my childhood were really as amazing as I remember them to be. So what does stand up to the test of time? That’s the question we’ll be trying to answer here at Thought Pizza. Whenever one of us has the urge to revisit their childhood, we’ll post about it in a feature we call “Flashback Friday.” You can expect these posts to appear on, yes, Fridays and to cover topics ranging from Koosh balls to Goosebumps books to Stick Stickly. For the very first Flashback Friday, I’ll be reviewing the first two episodes of the classic Nickelodeon hit, Hey Arnold! Luckily, all 100 episodes of Hey Arnold! are available on Netflix instant stream for easy viewing.

Screen Cap via Netflix

Episode 1: The gist of “Downtown as Fruits” is that Helga is directing a school play about the food pyramid or something else involving all the characters dressed as fruits/vegetables/bacon. Arnold and Gerald, dressed as a banana and a strawberry respectively, are taking the bus to their school for opening night when they decide not to put themselves through the torture of Helga’s play. They ride the bus to the end of the line and are left stranded…downtown as fruits. The rest of the episode revolves around Arnold and Gerald’s hijinks downtown: a few shady characters, a case of mistaken identity, and a bag of cash ($500 bills anyone?). Eventually, feeling guilty for ducking out on Helga, Arnold and Gerald retrieve their fruit costumes from a dumpster and return just in time for their musical fruit number.

LOL moments:

Helga calls her fist “Old Betsy” as she threatens violence if the group doesn’t show up early for rehearsal.
Arnold’s stoner face during the first five minutes of the episode.
Everyone at the pool hall gets super pumped (and actually cheer) when Arnold buys “sodas for everyone.”

Screen Cap via Netflix

Episode 2: After Arnold and Gerald encounter their daily “dork parade” at school (a Texas-shaped scab and linty nougats are shared), Eugene surprises everyone by rolling up to school on a fly new red bicycle. Everyone crowds around “Eugene’s Bike” in the schoolyard, soaking up its glory. But then, in a freak accident, Arnold causes the bike to be tossed into the street and chewed up by a street sweeper. Gerald tries to console Arnold by telling him that “stuff like this always happens to the geeky kids. And of all the kids in the school, Eugene’s GOTTA be the geekiest.” Surprisingly, this doesn't make Arnold feel better. Although he resolves to make it up to Eugene, bad luck always seems to get in the way of Arnold’s attempts. In the end, Eugene has a great day with Arnold, even though he choked on a hot dog, got hit with a baseball, and fell into the river.

LOL moments:

Eugene’s family exchanges gifts on Flag Day. Yes, that’s Flag Day.
It took me a minute to figure out why the bike’s tiny license plate read “YOOJ.” Then I realized that it’s a phonetic abbreviation of Eugene. Gold.
The hot dog vendor’s bored look as he hands over the “Heimlich Maneuver” guide that’s conveniently chained to his stand.

Other moments:

I died a little when I saw Sheena’s crusty Texas-shaped scab. Blech.
We get our first look at Arnold’s super cool bedroom in this episode. I still want that room, dang it!

The verdict? Almost sixteen years later, Hey Arnold! is still pretty hilarious. Although I mostly laughed at subtleties in the show’s humor, things I wasn’t likely to pick up on as a kid. I guess I was just laughing about banana suits and scabs as a kid, which is cool too.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

An Ode to Bromances

The bromance: a romance between bros. This is no ordinary friendship between dudes. A bromance requires that male friends are so close that their relationship takes on some of the qualities of a romantic relationship. Here are some of my favorite bromances from TV and movies.

Troy and Abed (Community)