Aubrey Plaza hinted to EW a while back that she’d be appearing in the first video for Father John Misty AKA J. Tillman, formerly of Fleet Foxes. The lead single for Tillman’s debut album, Fear Fun, is “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings.” The video focuses on a less humorous, more psychotic version of the Aubrey Plaza we know and love crashing a “trippy funeral scene in Laurel Canyon.”

It’s kind of season one April Ludgate meets Young Adult meets Mulholland Drive meets student art film set to less folksy/more depressing Fleet Foxes. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing. I will say that seeing Aubrey Plaza in something that not only doesn’t include deadpan one-liners, but also doesn’t feature her now patented inflectionless voice at all is fairly fascinating. Video after the jump. If only it ended with Warrior Ludgate decapitating the Black Eyed Peas. The van scene with Tillman doesn’t suck though.

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Ear Muffs > Earings

Little white buds were the craze for the past few years, but big designer headphones are this summer’s hottest accessory. Every cool kid is sporting either some Beats By Dre or Skull Candy ear muffs. In addition to looking great, these headphones make your favorite ipod selections sound way better. That’s my kind of accessory. We had a chance to sit down with Clarke Miyasaki, VP of Business Development for Skull Candy and ask him about their recent headphone collaboration with Jay-Z for the Aviator series. Here is what he had to say.

1. Were there any elements in the design that draw their inspiration from other objects/things from left-field? Not from left field, but more like dead-center field. High-end, premium aviator sunglasses were the core inspiration, and we think they hold true.

2. What specifications make the Aviators head and shoulders above other headphones on the market? The Italian made polycarbonate, the chrome detailing, the ridiculously comfortable fit, and the top-of-the-line mylar 40mil speakers. One thing we will never do, is compromise sound for any other element of a headphone, we start with the audio components then build outward from there.

3. When I think Skull Candy, I think kick ass earbuds and there’s been obvious success for the company there. In the days of minimalism and “less is more” philosophy, why ear muffs instead of earbuds? In two words, real estate. Not a lot of room for design to be done, or seen, on an earbud. Over-ear headphones will never go away. They are as much an expression of the individual, as they are a music delivery mechanism. Either way we’ve got you covered.

4. Were any of the artists or other endorsers directly involved w/the design? We got great feedback and interaction throughout the process. The entire Roc family has been FANTASTIC to work with…and you will continue to see us launch dope products.

5. Why Jay & RocNation or how did that endorsement come about? A mutual friend knew Ronnie at Rocawear who introduced my to Jay Brown, the president of Roc Nation. Jay & I had a quick phone call and I think both of us knew right away that working together made a lot of sense. It took us a while to work out the details but I couldn’t be happier about our partnership. I couldn’t believe how much buzz was generated when we announced our deal in June, it made me feel great that we definitely picked the right partner.

6. How tough and durable are the headphones? We’re backing them with a lifetime defect warranty, just like all our gear. So yeah, we’re confident in the build quality.

7. Any particular reason why wire/metal was used over an all plastic design? Back to the authenticity of this piece, and its reflection of the design inspiration. Plastic never looks high-end no matter how much you polish it.

8. Name one artist/album that you hear when you think about when you see The Aviators. What song do you hear when you look @ your work? Jigga’s Hard Knock Life…”From standin’ on the corners boppin’, to drivin’ some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen, for droppin’ some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard…” Skullcandy and Roc Nation are droppin’ the hottest headphones anyone’s ever seen OR heard.

Shop for you Aviators Here

They love the Power Glove. It’s so bad.

It’s summer, which means if you’re an agoraphobic, horrifically-pale blogger you’re retreating to the reassuring, fun things of your youth while you wait for the evil Sun to go away. Or maybe you just like cool stuff.  Either way, check out these retro possessions.  They’re the bees knees.

Oh sweet Jesus, it’s the Slush Mug. These things are the reason I had five cavities at my first ever dentist appointment.  Still worth it. $10 at PerpetualKid.

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Well, it must be summer again, folks. Not only does it smell like someone just f–ked up a really cheap steak outside my window, but also moments ago a hatchback, with the most disproportional spoiler ever, drove by and honked its horn to start playing La Cucaracha. Oh beach season, you tasty bitch. But before you sentence the next three months of your life to the Yahoo! search engine, allow me to suck up just a few hours of your time (I promise I’ll be gentle, gurl). Be sure and jump start your July 4th weekend with this gem:

Week of June 28th: Hot Tub Time Machine Unrated on DVD

This movie rules, I’m on my period. The nostalgia of a comedy unfolding atop the slopes of a 1980′s ski resort, cira Hot Dog…The Movie, is wickedly enjoyable if not also self-aware. I have to admit, I kind of feel like a bonch sitting here having to justify why you should go out and buy an unrated comedy DVD starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover, Chevy F–KING Chase and Lizzy Caplan. You’ll definitely want to catch this DVD before all those planned STDs, this season.

Hot Tub Time Machine on DVD includes both the Theatrical and Unrated Versions of the film. Never mind the obligatory half-naked woman photoshopped on the DVD sleeve, great laughs to be had and special features include Deleted Scenes. Ask yourself this, what else are you going to watch with your grandmother? Porn?

Red band trailer (NSFW due to language such as “f-ck”, “sh-t” and “mom”):

First, know that I am firmly in the tank for “Homicide;” I firmly believe it is the GOAT, though the show suffered a drop-off in quality in the last two seasons. I will accept that for most people, “The Wire” is the superior show. However, I give maximum points for “Homicide” being a) based upon David Simon’s incredible book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, and b) being the first detective show that followed cases over multiple episodes, even seasons, as the Edena Watson case opened the show, the case remained a part of Detective Bayliss’ story throughout the show, and her spirit was seen in the closing of the finale. The show rarely used such cop show clichés as car chases or shootouts, and instead focused on dialogue. Visually, “Homicide” broke the rules of television, using cinematic techniques from the French New Wave among other movements. Further, the centerpieces of the show, The Board and Lt. Al “Gee” Giardello, were innovations for storytelling and racial politics on television.

The Board in both Simon’s book and the television series is the center of the squad’s activities. The names of all murder victims are entered on the Board, open cases in red ink, closed cases in black. The detectives’ careers are therefore on display for all to see and judge, but the Board is also a way for the victims to be spoken for, a key element in Simon’s book and the series for showing the motivation of the men and women who are drawn to working Homicide.

Giardello’s character, adapted from the real Baltimore Homicide Department’s Gary D’Addario, remained Italian and was played by Jewish-Cameroonian-American actor Yaphet Kotto. Giardello’s pride in being both black and Sicilian was a recurring element of the show, as the character speaks fluent Italian but often senses that systemic racism keeps him from being promoted to Captain. Gee’s internal and external conflicts of race and identity paralleled the struggles over racial and personal issues throughout “Homicide’s” run and is a theme that Simon would expand upon greatly in “The Wire.”

In the series finale, “Gee” runs for Mayor of Baltimore but is assassinated, bringing all the former detectives back to the squad to put the case down, to move the name Giardello from red ink to black on the Board. “Homicide” was powerful television that never found a large audience, partially because it had to pull punches with language and depictions of the results of violence and because NBC kept moving its time slot.

On the other hand, HBO gave Simon the creative freedom to expose the underside of Baltimore’s streets in “The Wire.” If you don’t like—nay love—“The Wire,” you need to close this window now. Go away, nobody likes you.

Bringing on such creative talents as “Homicide’s” Clark Johnson to direct the pilot (“Homicide’s” Det. Meldrick Lewis) and Peter Gerety (Det. Stua Gharty) in a recurring role as “Judge Phelan” as well as cast and crew members from Simon’s HBO Miniseries “The Corner.” The cast of characters expanded with each season but the depth of characterization in such characters as Stringer Bell, Omar Little , Jimmy McNulty, among many others is rarely seen outside of literary novels.

David Simon’s series took the best parts of “Homicide”: great characters drawn from the real world of Baltimore, but expanded its vision from the Board to focus whole seasons on the war between the police and the drug dealers, then to the world of the dockworkers, then the political system at large, the school system, and finally the newspapers. “The Wire’s” startling ability to show the deeply entwined structures of power in each of these institutions is unmatched in American television historya. Louis Althusser would have loved this show.

Simon also used continued “Homicide’s” system of developing plot structures over multiple seasons and from multiple points of view but took it to a new level in “The Wire”—not simply focusing on the police, but on how a city’s fractured institutions are symptoms of the depths of the modern city’s overall disease.

“The Wire” is the best dramatic series HBO has ever produced. Better than “The Sopranos.” Yeah, I said it. Now go—the whole series is on sale.

Amazon is now offering a tremendous deal: The complete DVD collections of: “Homicide: Life on the Streets” (35 DVDs) for $114.49 and “The Wire” (23 DVDs) for $155.49. To buy these series at these prices is to steal. To not own these is simply foolish. You can also package these two series with the nearly as good “The Shield” (another 29 DVDs) for a total of $378.47. This does not suck.

Kick-Ass on DVD and Blu-Ray , August 3rd.

Well here’s an easy recommendation.  Kick-Ass is one of those movies I assume everyone I know has already seen, but judging by its famously underwhelming $48 million domestic take at the box office, that must not be the case.  I’ve already reviewed this movie once, but suffice to say, it deserves to be seen.  It’s a lot of fun, I don’t mean that in the hurrr-CGI-and-boobz sense of the word that usually gets thrown around in reviews of movies you’d have to be an idiot to enjoy. What I mean is that it’s fun in the sense that it’s a smart take on the superhero movie genre, but not so intellectual that it doesn’t still appeal to that same need of ridiculousness and the fantastic that makes other, straighter superhero movies like Iron Man or The Dark Knight so popular.

It’s hard to do pulpy well, but Kick-Ass manages it.  I think part of the reason it’s so polarizing is that people go along with all the self-aware comic book hero elements and then feel betrayed when it takes them someplace un-PC, like a tarted-up little girl who kills people ultra-violently.  But that’s been inherent to the genre from the beginning — the thrill of the violence, the goofy spandex costumes and the confused sexuality.  Why try to deny it?  Kick-Ass takes it a step further, but that’s the point: you delight in the wrongness, like a deliberately tasteless joke.  I get the feeling some people wanted it to end on some high-minded critique instead of semi-camp violence, but the appeal of Kick-Ass is like that of a really good B-movie: sometimes you laugh at it, sometimes you laugh with it, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which.  In the end, I guess you’re either the kind of person who gets hung up on why Nic Cage is acting like a weirdo and shooting a little girl, or you just enjoy Nic Cage acting like a weirdo and shooting a little girl.  Hey, switch on the director’s commentary from Matthew Vaughn and get the best of both worlds.

Anyway, if you missed it in the theaters, now, thanks to the magic of DVD, you can still see it, but this time without being in a room full of other peoples’ stupid kids.  You can see it in room full of your own stupid kids.  Or your cats.  Or with your best friends, scotch and ennui.  Point is, the world is your oyster, man, slurp it down.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve always been fascinated by skateboarding, but don’t have nearly enough coordination and patience to perform the most basic of tricks. Lucky for guys like us, skateboarding video games exist. I’ve been known to get gnarly on the sticks since Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and have to say that the genre has reached its pinnacle with Skate 3, EA’s newest addition to the Skate franchise. When the Tony Hawk franchise got WAY too over the top with its physics engine, I thought skateboarding video games were dead. Have a gander at some gameplay from Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, one of the later titles in the series.

Wow, is that horrible. I understand how video games work, that you need to suspend your disbelief to get the most out of it, but I can only do that to a certain extent. They made the game so easy that it wasn’t fun anymore. A backflip became expected, and as such, mundane. Tricks were just button mashing into a manuel into more button mashing. Skill and technique were thrown out the window, and the guys who had grown up on the game would take it no longer. And finally, after years of waiting for a realistic skateboarding game, EA brought out Skate to the market to wrest the genre away from Activision’s Tony Hawk series. The move worked, and now the guys at Tony Hawk are headed back to the drawing board, expected to come out with the series’ next game later this year.

Enter Skate 3. The most recent installment of the series stays true to the values that inspired the game in the first place. Real skateboarding, realistic physics, and beautiful environments. Read the rest of this entry »

Every summer, we’re inundated with a new swarm of gadgets intended to make relaxing that much easier, at least until they break and you can’t find the receipt. And this summer is no different: here are six gadgets that’ll make summer that much easier. Just…bring batteries.

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