Monthly archives:April 2016
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8 years ago
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Winner of Best Narrative Feature at the Queens World Film Festival last month, H.O.M.E. is a poignant, beautifully shot film about the importance of human connection. Its director and co-writer, Daniel Maldonado, a lifelong New Yorker, shows us aspects of the city we don’t always see via two interconnected stories: One features Jeremy Ray Valdez as Danny, a young runaway with Asperger’s Syndrome who is living in the subways. The other thread concerns a struggling Ecuadorian cab driver, Gabriel (acclaimed Mexican actor Jesús Ochoa), who helps a distraught Chinese mother (Angela Lin) get home to Chinatown.
Maldonado’s first feature, H.O.M.E. has both a dreamlike, impressionistic quality and realistic characters and scenes, a testament to his unique artistic vision and desire to create something human and relatable. The New York subway system is also a major character in the film; through Danny’s eyes, it is a repository of complex beauty and sometimes overwhelming stimuli.
The film will be screened at 10:45 pm on Friday, April 15, at Cinema Village, as part of the Manhattan Film Festival. Last week I spoke with Maldonado about the making and the meaning of H.O.M.E.:
You studied film at the School of Visual Arts?
I kind of went about it in a roundabout way; instead of trying to get into a 4-year program, I went to night school, because I was pretty much supporting myself. After two years of night classes, I completely fell in love, so I switched into the degree pro[...]
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It’s seventy days until The Vans Warped Tour! The annual outdoor tour has been making its lap of the continental US every summer since 1995. Although it started as an alt rock sponsored by every skateboarder’s favorite brand of shoe, Warped has expanded into an all-inclusive fun-for-all. Attendees can now see rappers, rockers, pop punkers and every genre in between at their local show. From The Aquabats and Antiflag to Goldfinger and Green Day, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, The Misfits and Pepper, Saves the Day, Say Anything, The Starting Line, Tonight Alive and countless others have cut their teeth during the hot days of Warped. In a way, the tour is a great equalizer. Sure, there are different stages with bigger speakers that allow for larger crowds, but out amidst the muddy fields and catering tents bands as big as Blink 182 share space and probably sunscreen with up-and-coming acts. Everyone is there for the same purpose: music.
Here are some bands from this year’s line-up that you should be sure to catch when Warped comes through this July:
3OH!3
Genre: Rap?
Hometown: Boulder, CO
For Fans of: LMFAO, Travie McCoy/Gym Class Heroes, early Ke$ha, white guy rap, Coloradians
Listen to: "BASMF" off of Night Sports
Against the Current
Genre: Pop Rock
Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
For Fans of: Set It Off, Tonight Alive, We Are The In Crowd
Listen to: "Running With The Wild Things" off of In Our Bones
Bullet For My Valentine
Genre: Heavy Metal
Hometown: Bridge[...]
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8 years ago
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No April Fools joking in this report. Beyoncé's 200-piece activewear line will hit specific stores U.S. Topshop, Net-a-Porter, and Nordstrom on April 14. She announced the release date to her 65 million Instagram followers on March 31.
Ivy Park will offer comfortable workout gear, ranging from leggings, to crop-tops, to jackets.
According to a statement by the Pop icon herself: Ivy Park "purposefully goes against the celeb collaboration phenomenon. "
She also says that her line is intended to "push the boundaries of athletic wear, and to support and inspire women who understand that beauty is more than your physical appearance."
The inspiration behind the athletic line came to the superstar after realizing how much she tends to wear athleisure. "When I'm working and rehearsing, I live in my workout clothes," she says, adding "but I didn't feel there was an athletic brand that spoke to me."
As we've said before, athleisure is not disappearing anytime soon. And Beyoncé's line has even sparked a Twitter war with activewear giant Lululemon.
Tweet from Lululemon, courtesy of Jezebel:
The tweet was since removed, however the brand will have a tough time living that gaffe down. In the meantime, here's is a clip introducing the line to the world.
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