MUSIC: BEN FOLDS "YOU DON'T KNOW ME"

"You Don't Know Me" is a single off of Way to Normal, the new studio album from Ben Folds. Although Folds originally said in an interview with Paste magazine that the album would be released on September 16, 2008, it is now set for release on September 30, 2008 in the United States and on September 29, 2008 in the United Kingdom.



I always enjoy Ben Folds but sometimes he can become a little too much with his comedy, which he has plenty of on "Way To Normal" but seems to have tone it down a little when compared with his other albums. "Way To Normal" has a better sound and the comedic lyrics are not as cheesy which is evident on "You Don't Know Me", a good song with Regina Spektor featured in the background.

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MUSIC: ELBOW "THE BONES OF YOU"

"The Bones of You" is a single off of The Seldom Seen Kid, the Mercury Award winning fourth studio album by the indie rock band Elbow.

The album was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester, and is the first Elbow album to be entirely self-produced, mixed and recorded without any outside help. The bulk of the record was written and performed by the band, besides a guest appearance from singer-songwriter Richard Hawley who contributes to guest vocals, lead guitar and co-songwriting on "The Fix".

"THE BONES OF YOU" MP3

I just recently discovered Elbow and I like how they mix things up. Every song doesn't sound like any of the other songs that come before it. Shortly after I first discovered them, I heard their song "Grounds For Divorce" in the trailer for the Coen Brothers movie "Burn After Reading". At first I thought it was them, but then I said no, it doesn't really sound like them. I knew I heard the song before and when I looked it up online and realized that it was Elbow I couldn't believe I thought it wasn't them. 

"The Bones of You" is also a very different song that sounds familiar in a way, but is definitely worthy of your ears.

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MUSIC: COLIN MUNROE "SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY"

"SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY" MP3

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is one of my favortie U2 songs and any cover of it is a song I like,
even if the cover isn't that good. Thankfully, Colin Munroe does a fine job with it, even adding
a few of his own touches to spruce it up a bit and make it his own. The music video is also
very cool, with one long shot of things built out of legos and army men doing their thing.

MUSIC: TYGA "AIM"

"AIM" is a single off of No Introduction, the debut studio album by American rapper Tyga.

I should be hating this kid and his song with a passion but it is very catchy despite the fact
that it's about him meeting a girl on MySpace and then chatting with her on AOL Instant
Messenger. Many young rappers his age make songs about things they can't even do legally
yet so I give Tyga a passing grade.

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MOVIE: THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM

The Forbidden Kingdom (Chinese: 功夫之王) is a 2008 Hollywood martial arts-adventure film from Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company directed by Rob Minkoff. It is the first film to star together two of the best-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.

This time-traveling take on the Monkey King fable finds an American teen transported back to ancient China after wandering into a pawn shop and discovering the king's fighting stick. Once there, the adventurous teen joins an army of fierce warriors who have sworn to free their imprisoned king at all costs. In addition to appearing as the mythical Monkey King, Li assumes the role of a silent monk, and Chan appears in the role of kung fu master Lu Yan.



I am always down for a movie that stars Chan that isn't called The Tuxedo, but for a movie that stars Chan and Li both fighting together, is not something that can be missed. Although, The Forbidden Kingdom is no Hero, House of Flying Daggers or Crouching Tiger, it is still a nice piece of work that stars two of the biggest kung fu guys in the game.

I have always enjoyed Chan, when he was at his best with Rumble In The Bronx to even Rush Hour 3. With The Forbidden Kingdom he kind of returns to his roots starring in a good cheesy kung fu movie with the only difference being that he gets a little help from special effects. Everyone has to come to grips now with the fact that Chan is just too old to do his own stunts anymore and computer effects have to help him out a bit. Even Buster Keaton had to stop doing all those crazy types of stunts at some point. I also enjoyed Li as the Monkey King, who I think is not as good as Chan kung fu wise, but is better at delivering English language lines. You would think Chan would be a little bit better at his English after all these years but he is still about the same.

Neither Chan or Li are the stars of The Forbidden Kingdom however. That role goes to Michael Angarano who does a good job at basically playing the same role that the kid in The Neverending Story had, as the two movies are mostly identical, right down to the bullies and the old man in the shop. Forbidden Kingdom has some nice kung fu thanks to Woo-ping, even though some fight scenes start to look the same and some computer effects are noticeable. David Buckley supplies some great music to go with the fight scenes and director Rob Minkoff does a fine job.

The Forbidden Kingdom is not a must see film for it's kung fu scenes. If it was ranked on a list with other movies as far as that goes it would be on the bottom. But it is a must see for fans of Chan or Li or both. The Forbidden Kingdom is a throwback to those cheesy kung fu movies of the past, updated with a few computer effects and our favorite kung fu guys not as quick as they once were, wrinkles and all.

THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM: 6 OUT OF 10

The DVD features deleted scenes; audio commentary; a behind-the-scenes featurette; a making-of featurette; cast and crew interviews and bloopers.

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