Throwback Thursday.....Mint Condition - Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)

While waiting for the bd to come home for lunch (yay for living 7 minutes away from his job!), I decided to let my itunes play dj. First song up + I am thrown back to 8th grade.

And to bring it full circle...I totally remember dancing to this song at a party in the 9th grade + watching the bd hang out with his friends in the corner of the room. 9th grade, people! That's a whole lotta years ago...

DRIVE [revew]....by IMTHATDUDE

This movie was more ridiculous than Sam Jackson playing Martin Luther the King on Broadway – oh, it’s true, it’s damned true – http://www.themountaintopplay.com/index.html

Yup. I totally see it…? Nick Fury as Reverend Dr. King. Right. Sam would be a miscast for Malcolm X much less Dr. King.

But back to the flick. Drive. Drive what? Drive me to tears (PAUSE - from boredom, I mean). Drive went from action-thriller with tons of potential to hurry up and wait. On the bright side, anybody who has ever had an awkward pause and enjoyed it would LOVE this movie. And for everyone else who has experienced that awkwardness (read: us normal folk), you will undoubtedly find those pauses… well… pretty freaking awkward. Awkward like hearing the “I Have a Dream Speech” interlaced with a healthy plethora of “n-words” and “mutha f*ckas!”

VITALS

Nicholas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising) - Director

Hossein Amini (Killshot, Shanghai) - Writer
Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid Love) – The Driver
Carey Mulligan (WS2: Money Never Sleeps) - Irene
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) - Shannon
Albert Brooks (The In-Laws) - Bernie
Ron Pearlman (Sons of Anarchy) - Nino
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) – Blanche

IF YOU MUST KNOW:

A stunt driver, The Driver (Gosling) is a getaway driver to make ends meet… I guess. He does precious little talking, even when spoken to, so I guess that helps make him mysterious. Turns out, he’s just crazy, as anybody would think if it took him THAT long to respond to direct conversation. The Driver crosses paths with his fetching neighbor, Irene (Mulligan), and her son. Little does he know the woman he’s semi-secretly crushing on has a baby-daddy coming home from prison. Being the good (and terrible) guy that he is, the Driver helps out his neighbor’s baby daddy and ends up involved in an intermittently violent and lethal turf war. People get shot, stabbed, strangled and stabbed, and kicked to death, and spit on (which would kill me – in which case, I’d come back to life and shoot, stab, strangle and stab and then kick to death the nasty bastard that spat on me).

SPOILER ALERT: There’s ONE car chase. The other scene was so effing lame, you can’t conceivably label it an actual car chase.

Look, the movie wasn’t terrible, but the name of this crap is DRIVE. Gosling had 2 scenes where he was behind the wheel of a car in a tense situation. And, I’ve said it before… so you know how important this is when I say it again… the way a movie ends is just as important as the rest of the film. If you don’t believe me, go watch Kill Bill Part I and then watch the Matrix: Reloaded. Endings kill films; unfortunately for Drive, the middle and the beginning did, too.

My recommendation is that they rename this movie. It’s an easy one. They only have to drop one letter. Drop the “v” from Driver and then we have some truth in the advertising.

ImTHATdude gives Drive: 2 (and a movie violation – get it? Movie, moving… HA! Ehhhh, Whuddyouknowfromfunny.)

RATING SYSTEM:
5 = You should be about halfway to the theatre by now… Well… GET!
4 = Definitely worth the bread. Niiice.
3 = I won’t cuss anybody out and demand my paper back.
2 = Somewhere SOUTH of under-whelmed./I know it has a pulse, but…
1 = Not a good look. They played me AND I played myself.

The Most Exciting Books this Fall (Negropedia!)

Flavorwire recently featured some interesting and cool books that are about to drop and friend to UR Patrice Evan's book Negropedia is included on the list. Woohoo! I will commence my I-told-you-so dance right now. Congrats, Patrice! And make sure to pre-order your copy of Negropedia now.

Sesame Street: G [video]

Two of my favorite things rolled into one: Sesame Street and Glee. Enjoy!

Girl Crush: Corinne Bailey Rae....by pemora

Like everyone else affected by brain worm, I could sing Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On" over + over + over again. However, I always refused to watch the video. Why? Well, the baby daddy admitted to having a huge crush on her + I found myself becoming envious. Her hair, her broad smile, her demeanor. It just all seemed so awesome to me.

CBR laid low following the death of her husband but has recently returned to the spotlight. More specifically, homegirl was all over NYFW. And looking fly at each turn.

all images via Google + Put Your Records On

Girl Crush: Solange Knowles....by missDTM

some people might not notice solange, being that her older sister is beyonce and all. but, to me, she is the much cooler knowles sister. from her quirky style, to her natural 'do, i really think that she's got something special going on. my sorority sisters and i like to say she's the artsy hipster knowles sister who probably would have went to pratt with us. either way, her style is cool.

i had the opportunity to see her yesterday at the sammy b fashion show and it just reinforced my love for her. she's super cute in person - she smiled and laughed with folks. i like to believe that had i worked up the nerve to ask, she would have humored me with a pic with her. but alas, i did not, and instead i watched her responses to the many outfits that graced the runway. she is flawless. 

so, that's my girl crush in 500 words or less. at least, i think that was 500 words...or less...

now i'll just let the pics speak for themselves:

9.11.01

via The Inquisitr

Girl Crush: Tracee Ellis Ross....by pemora

Like many a brown girl, I was/am completely obsessed with UPN/BET's Girlfriends. While I loved SATC, Girlfriends truly did feel more real (even with its looniness) and compelling to me. I could easily identify a Maya, Toni, Lynn, and Joan in my life. Another reason I loved the show was to watch Tracee Ellis Ross. From her hair to her body, I felt like there was someone I could relate to. Tracee's sense of fashion never shies away from showing off her curves and always in an elegant manner. She dresses exactly like I try to but can never seem to manage. She's just awesome.

All images via Google

IFB Conference

If you're like me, you cannot make it to the IFB conference...sadness to us! But here is your chance to watch it livestreamed right here. Yessir, RIGHT HERE!

Watch live streaming video from ifbconference at livestream.com

Have fun and make sure to let us know either here or via twitter (#IFBCon) what you think!

Dear Summer - Jay-Z [music]

Adios, summer....until 2012.

Created by Fortune....by pemora

This morning, in between episodes of Fraggle Rock, I was focused on buying a bracelet from one of my sister's good friends, Melissa Fortune. While on the Created by Fortune site, I quickly became distracted by the bow ties. And necklaces. And earrings. And everything studded. Mokey and Gobo and Red were just going to have to wait, while I envisioned myself wearing anything + everything in her collection....

Check out more of Melissa's accessories, all at awesome price points, at Created by Fortune.