January 2010
33 posts
1 tag
Artifice and artfulness displace 'authenticity' in... →
In this terrific article Ann Powers at the Seattle Times breaks down everything Lil Wayne said to me during the filming of The Carter about his idea of what a new millennium artist has to be. (Some of which is in the actual film, though most is on the cutting room floor). I’m paraphrasing but Wayne believes that to succeed in this new decade musicians must be able to do it all: sing, rap,...
Jan 30th
Aziz Ansari - iTunes Celebrity Playlist →
I cant believe East Flatbush Project’s “Tried by 12” is on this list. That’s gangster. I must have played that song 100 times in a row when it first dropped. It was the year I moved to NYC, I was 18 and Purple Haze was the thing. Best “celebrity playlist” ever. azizisbored: I made one of those playlists for Apple. I hope you like it.
Jan 29th
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The Carter - Film Discussion, Rutgers
I will be giving a film discussion on The Carter at Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey on Thursday the 28th of January at 6PM.
Jan 27th
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WatchWatch
Part Two is dedicated to Northern Cali and the Bay Area. As this MegaMix demonstrates, DJ Screw was a big supporter of Bay Area rappers and though he was from Texas he went out of his way to give Northern Cali rappers their shine. Part Two includes an early example of ‘horror-core’ rap from C-Bo, a Sacramento MC. Spice 1 makes two appearances including my all time favorite beat...
Jan 26th
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The Carter Interview Seattle Times (full...
Full transcript of the Seattle Times interview, unedited and uncensored, for archival purposes. On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 8:49 AM, ABL wrote: I’m not surprised at the reaction. It’s something I’ve dealt with for so long that I don’t even flinch anymore when someone chastises me for even attempting to make a film about Wayne, let alone claim in public that he’s a genius. You should see the shock...
Jan 26th
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The Carter Interview Seattle Times →
Andrew Matson over at the Seattle Times posted The Carter/Lil B interview today. I’m going to re-post it in unedited form just for archival purposes.
Jan 26th
Jan 25th
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“During happy times, pride and extravagance are dangerous. If one is not prudent...”
– Yamamoto Tsunetomo from the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Jan 24th
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Fred Wiseman's Homepage →
Probably the first “real” documentary I can remember watching as a kid was Fred Wiseman’s “Titicut Follies.” The movie was made in 1967, almost 30 years before I first discovered it on VHS. It’s a stark, bare bones document of life in an insane asylum. Certain images and moments from that film have burned their way into my psyche. Anyone wishing to become a...
Jan 23rd
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Kat Dennings in the NY Times →
Some damn good publicity for Kat.
Jan 23rd
LA - January 21st
Day Four of a Four Day Trip  Six meetings in one day in the pouring rain in Los Angeles. I really got it in. 1. Lionsgate 2. Relevant Ent 3. Billygoat/Circle of Confusion 4. Imagine 5. Lakeshore 6. Adhir Kalya
Jan 22nd
LA - January 20th
Day Three of Four Five back-to-back meetings today. 1. David Gordon Green 2. Sidney Kimmel Entertainment 3. SONY Screen Gems 4. Paramount’s new micro-budget division 5. Daniel Freed I’ll provide details when I get the chance. Right now I have to read this script about Lowriders.
Jan 21st
3 tags
The Carter - Review - Seattle Times →
Andrew Matson over at the Seattle Times posts an interesting review of The Carter today. Extremely insightful but yet totally focused on the “Sizzurp subplot” of the film. An interview between myself and Mr Matson is forthcoming. For 77 minutes, “The Carter” shows Lil’ Wayne traveling the world, recording songs in hotel rooms and studios, playing concerts to rabid...
Jan 21st
LA - January 19th
Day Two of a Four Day Trip Woke up around 4:30 AM due to jet lag. Had to force myself to go back to sleep until around 6. Just got up and wrote for an hour and a half. Went over to Ben Rekhi’s spot in Santa Monica. He showed me his new short film Fallout. The short was quite decent. It looked and sounded great and he utilized a form of green screen animation similar to Sin City. The most...
Jan 20th
LA - January 18th
Day One of a Four Day Trip to Los Angeles I wake up 5 AM east coast time and leave my house in Philly at 6 AM for the airport. My cab driver, a friendly and talkative dude from the Ivory Coast tells me he’s enlisting in the army soon. Which Army? I ask - oh the US Army. Hope you dont get sent to Afghanistan I say. He proceeds to tell me Philly is more dangerous than Afghanistan and tells me...
Jan 19th
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The Carter - Review - Portland Mercury  →
Andrew Tonry over at the Portland Mercury’s music blog writes some good words about The Carter. “It’s not new, but hot damn, I just saw it and The Carter, a documentary following Lil’ Wayne at the height of his creativity and stardom. It’s awesome. The film-makers get great access, traveling with Wayne from country to country, from hotel suites to the tour bus and...
Jan 19th
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WatchWatch
Original opening scene to WEAPONS. The story goes that Jay Rabinowitz the editor of WEAPONS and I were cutting the film in the Brill Building a few blocks below David Letterman and listening to tons of DJ Screw’s music when Jay found the UGK song One Day, as remixed by DJ Screw on an old Screw tape I had called The Final Chapter. While writing the screenplay for WEAPONS I discovered or I...
Jan 15th
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“Lord Naoshige said, “The Way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men...”
– Yamamoto Tsunetomo from the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Jan 15th
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Jan 14th
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The Carter - Interview Transcript #1
This week I did an interview about The Carter with a French music magazine. Below you’ll find the entire transcript of the email exchange. I’ll be posting this and all other interviews I do henceforth, both for archival purposes and to provide some insight into the making of The Carter. On 1/6/10 4:57 PM, “Jean-Baptiste Vieille”  wrote: Hi, My name is Jean-Baptiste...
Jan 14th
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ChatRoulette →
It’s amazingly pathetic that a powerful tool has been created randomly connecting the entire world together by video camera and all people want to do is jerk-off.
Jan 13th
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“Calculating people are contemptible. The reason for this is that calculation...”
– Yamamoto Tsunetomo from the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Jan 12th
NYC - January 7th & 8th
Drove up to New York last week for a round of meetings. Parked in Brooklyn, walked over to Hanco’s Vietnamese sandwiches my favorite lunch spot in the area and on my way out I ran into Paul Dano on the street totally randomly. He told me he spent 3 months this summer wrangling Oxen and then went to Europe to work on a Tom Cruise film. Had a couple beers with the filmmaker JT Petty at a bar...
Jan 11th
3 tags
WatchWatch
DJ Screw MegaMix Part One The first in a series of DJ Screw mixes that I’m creating from the thousands of Screw songs I have in my iTunes (and on cassette and CD). Volume 1 is heavy on Above the Law, one of my all time favorite rap groups. Their album Uncle Sam’s Curse is a bonafied West Coast hip hop classic on par with Dr Dre’s Chronic (if not better). Also in the mix little...
Jan 9th
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Lil B Article →
Andrew Matson of the Seattle Times writes a terrific article about Lil B, including a link to “Im God” a music video for B that I shot and directed late 2009. Working with Lil B was one of the highlights of last year for me and an experience I will never forget. B, aka Brandon is a young artist of infinite potential and his passion is electric, inspiring anyone and everyone around...
Jan 9th
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“Furthermore, during the last thirty years customs have changed; now when young...”
–  Yamamoto Tsunetomo from the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Jan 7th
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Jan 7th
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Jan 7th
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Jan 7th
The Carter is such a weird film.
I was just watching it again for the first time in a couple months after being woken up at 445 in the morning by my 2 year old daughter. The screwed and chopped DVD menu sets an eerie tone. The Rebirth section with Wayne recording I Don’t Know How Fake Feels over that cheap drum beat he made, watching Joe Torre on a surfboard. Talking about his death with a lollipop in his mouth to a German...
Jan 6th
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THE UPSETTER screening in Melbourne, Australia
I’m extremely proud to announce that The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is hosting a public screening of The Upsetter within a Jamaican film program called “Yard! Dub and Reggae on Film” which includes the classic Jamaican film Rockers, a film that has had a deep impact on myself as a filmmaker since I first saw it on VHS as a teenager. Rockers was shot on beautiful...
Jan 6th
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THE UPSETTER screening in Portland, Oregon
The Portland Art Museum is hosting a public screening of The Upsetter on Thursday, January 28th at 8:30 PM. THE UPSETTER: THE LIFE & MUSIC OF LEE SCRATCH PERRY DIRECTOR: ETHAN HIGBEE, ADAM BHALA LOUGH US, 2008 Some people call Lee “Scratch” Perry a prophet; others claim he’s a madman. Seeing him in the opening scenes—spinning in circles in his plaid shorts and oversized...
Jan 6th
One.
Inspired by my homies Aziz Ansari and Mark Webber I have started a tumblr blog for my shit. It wont be as funny as Aziz’, nor as sexy as Webber’s but it will update the world on new happenings with my various projects. And I will drop some science about the late great DJ Screw. Happy new year to all.
Jan 5th