Did I Like This? (Niggaz4Life)

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Did I Like This? (Niggaz4Life)

Because N.W.A. is as popular again as ever before thanks to Straight Outta Compton, I thought it’s a good time to go back to my own feelings about their music. I was somewhat surprised to see I had written about their first album already (which I had forgotten, which happens after 250+ posts), so today I look at the far more problematic 2nd (or 3rd, depending on what you consider 100 Miles and Runnin’ to be) album Niggaz4Life (or technically Efil4zaggin), released in 1991. It is also their last album and, as more or less shown in the movie, was not as much of a team effort as their debut.

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Our Life Is a Movie: Se7en (1995)

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Our Life Is a Movie: Se7en (1995)

(spoilers)

When I saw Se7en for the first time in a theatre in the fall of 1995, it was a revelation for me. The opening credits, the atmosphere, the structure, the acting, David Fincher’s brilliant direction and above all the twist ending took me by surprise and somehow showed me what movies can do. I watched it again in the theatre just a week later, because I had to experience it again as soon as possible. It was also responsible for me going regularly to the theatre after that, starting a long stretch of cinema visits that cemented my initial childhood love for movies far into adulthood. In that aspect, Se7en is of great importance to me personally, a huge influence for my movie-watching capabilities. I have seen it so many times over the years (I once watched each of its seven days on separate days) and when I watched it with a class for the first time this January, I loved it just as much and saw also clearly what it means for my world view and why I still consider it an important movie when talking about our culture. I won’t explain any plot details, I’ll just assume that you know the movie and if you don’t, go and watch it.

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The Story of "Here's Your Future" (I)

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The Story of "Here's Your Future" (I)

I mentioned Here’s Your Future, the play I wrote for the school drama group, several times but never detailed how it came to be and what happened afterwards. I always wanted to tell that story (in fact, whenever I tell that story I say I could write a book about it), but for one thing it’s very long and for another, there are many details I probably can’t tell. I got into a lot of trouble at my school and I’m still working, so I have to be careful what I tell about things that were talked about behind closed doors. I would like to talk about them and some day in the future I will, but I’ll be cautious for now. But it is a good story, a cautionary tale if you want and definitely a life-changing event for me. So, here goes part 1, which will mainly focus on the writing process.

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It's 1988 Out There! [1988 Week]

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It's 1988 Out There! [1988 Week]

It’s 1988 week! Another theme week has arrived and the random number generator brought us back to the 80s. Yes, third theme week and second time in the same decade. Well, we know something about the 80s already then, about their darkness, violence, detachment and so on. Is 1988 different than 1980 because it moves towards the 90s? I’m not sure yet, but we will see. Like last time, I’m trying to do an overview of the year to get us grounded and to put everything else into context. As in every theme week, I’m excited!

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