1.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY #940
Sure, their film reviews are hated by geeks. Yes, they
follow trends incessantly. And yes, music coverage is generally an
afterthought. But it’s surely the most fun weekly read out there, and
they have television on lock. Plus, they’ll surprise with every now and
then with a great piece on overlooked entertainment industry plebs like
personal assistants and bodyguards. When it’s on, it’s an incredible
value. When it’s not…wait a week.
This issue’s strong points:
- Instead of creating a controversial list laden with crap that gets InterWeb people steamed, they took the more admirable path of going with inarguable stalwarts (e.g. Hard Boiled, Die Hard, The Sisterhood od the Traveling Pants) and standing by them against revisionism. Pretty much every choice is an ace save for Goldfinger, which is hardly an action masterpiece even when taking into account when it was made.
- You can’t call yourself a pop culture weekly if you ignored the Sopranos finale and all of the claptrap about what it really meant. They do a nice breakdown with different writers weighing in (with one tearing it apart), followed by a look at all of the theories out there. Good stuff.
- I was pleasantly surprised by the roundtable article on the 40-year anniversary of The Summer of Love given that some other pop culture phenom that you may have seen is celebrating its 30th anniversary as well.
This issue’s weak points:
- I’ve never given two poops about the Emmy Awards, and the preview here did nothing to change that, though I have to give props to leading in with a nice Jenna Fischer photo. Still, ’twas quite dull.
A good, if inessential effort this time around.
Overall: 7.0 out of 10
2.
COMPLEX MAGAZINE – JUNE/JULY 2007
Ah, the magazine for conspicuous consumption. Complex
makes no bones about being a glorified buyer’s guide. But if you’re
young, male, and a fetishist of sneakers, watches, tech, clothes, or
what have you, many points of interest can be found within, and that’s
only half the mag. The other half is typical "young men’s interest"
material that’s hipper and more street-oriented than the soft
cheesecake stuff on stands these days.
This issue’s strong points:
- Fantastic Seth Rogen/RZA interview. RZA deserves a trial slot in the Judd Apatow comedy mafia based off his reactions here alone, and the comparison between the Wu-Tang torture riffing skits and the "You Know How I Know You’re Gay?" improv is spot on. I would watch any movie starring these two opposite each other.
- Kanye West’s fashion breakdown continues to entertain, but ‘Ye….for God’s sake…stop making up words, dog. Uncomprehendible? What’s next…apologin? Oh, wait…
- Joss Stone’s rhetorical tapdancing, especially about the "fuckin’ for tracks" accusations, is wonderful.
This issue’s weak points:
- Rihanna is so boring, they have a grand total of two pictures for her article, and one’s repeated for the article and the cover. The interview’s even less exciting.
- Using their chaotic, kitchen sink style to profile comics currently worth buying just doesn’t work.
You can adjust the score up or down based on how much you care about your shoe/apparel game, but it’s one of their better issues, actually.
Overall: 7.5 out of 10
3.
KING MAGAZINE – JULY/AUGUST 2007
Maxim and Stuff
keep it coming month after month in terms of over-Photoshopped
genera-hotties in yawnworthy layouts. But what about those of us who
want women of color, backshots, and, most importantly, to keep it
gully? King magazine is our only monthly destination for the real.
This issue’s strong points:
- Kelly Rowland is looking NICE with the extra weight and weave. What does she do for a living again?
- Irv Gotti is a funny dude, both intentionally and unintentionally. He’s not worth much as a music mogul, but as a personality, he gets the job done. Is there any possible way that him signing Vanessa Carlton to "Tha Inc." is not going to be a complete debacle, tho?
- Pretty much all of the Eye Candy is on point this ish.
This issue’s weak points:
- Anything not involving Irv Gotti or the women. Which is a good bit, unfortunately.
A mixed issue, and with the value of pics/layouts at nil given the Internet, probably not an essential purchase.
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
4. WIZARD #189
The
comic book industry has their glossy, all encompassing magazine and it
is this one. They tend to have their formula and stick to it, but
sometimes they’ll surprise you.
This issue’s strong points:
- The "day in the life of Marvel Comics" piece is fantastic. It’s also kinda bittersweet because the immense amount of effort on even the smallest titles these days means that the erratic shipping schedules and musical creative teams swapping is only going to get worse. But it’s fascinating to get this sort of behind-the-scenes glimpse at the level of the publisher.
- Excellent Zack Snyder interview that gives us a guy who’s still got his head screwed on straight despite his recent massive success. If anyone is going to get Watchmen made in any sort of decent shape, it’s him.
- Loved the breakdown on the zombie covers and the classics they paid homage to.
- The Brett Booth story is a bizarre, but engrossing read.
This issue’s weak points:
- The World War Hulk cover is a rip-off. It’s a page of writers and artists briefly blurbed on who would win – Hulk or Iron Man. Here’s who doesn’t win: Someone buying this issue looking for a great World War Hulk story.
Aside from the cover mess (and there are two others that are much more accurate and deserving), it’s a pretty damn good issue.
Overall: 8.0 out of 10
5.
OZONE MAGAZINE – JUNE 2007
Right now, the South is
running hip-hop and "realness" is in full swing. No magazine gives you
both in greater quantities than this essential read. Every interview is
raw Q&A with no questions off limits and no PC/diplomatic answers
allowed. Plus, there’s great stuff on how the independent music
industry works from touring to merch, and the "Confessions" section,
which covers everything from infinitely entertaining groupie stories to
street survivors.
This issue’s strong points:
- The strength in this issue lies with the smaller profiles on up-and coming dudes. Though short, each piece gives you a real good idea on where the South is right now, both in terms of overtly commercial and underground acts. The lack of diversity in terms of styles is sad, but that’s not Ozone‘s fault.
- For up-and-coming MCs, Wendy Day’s blunt and brutal column is a must read. She’s witnessed every jack move in the industry and knows all of the tricks, which makes her a major label’s nightmare.
This issue’s weak points:
- I’m very disappointed in the major features this issue. From DJ Khaled to Paul Wall, it’s a potpurri of some of the dullest, one-note personalities in the game today, and these dudes aren’t really selling that many records either. Khaled, especially, is such a non-story because he’s no more an "artist" than Clive Davis is for helping put together classic Whitney Houston records. He’s an executive producer at best, and his biggest asset is the phone book on his Blackberry. Delete "classic" or "We the Best" from his interviews, and they will look more redacted than the White House emails in the Alberto Gonzales investigation.
It’s
almost impossible for this mag to have a truly bad issue….but they come close here. And it is beyond time to fix their rat-ass website into something with actual content. Their MySpace page is more informative, which is absurd.
Overall: 6.5 out of 10
5.
SCRATCH MAGAZINE – JULY/AUGUST 2007
Scratch bills itself as the
"blueprint of hip-hop," and for once, there’s some truth to the
advertising. It started as a straight-up hip-hop beats/production mag,
but has since become a broader look at how the records are made from
conception to completion. I wish they could do more on indie hip-hop
artists and their grind, but the lack of sales that would cause would
be straight-up suicide.
This issue’s strong points:
- Love, love, love the article on Koch. This label and their model is perhaps the only hope the hip-hop game has left, and this is a very good look into how that works. As much as 50 Cent mocks the label, at least they get records released, which is more than 95 percent of the major label industry can do these days. 50 took multi-million dollar losses on each of the last 4 G-Unit records, and one of them wasn’t even released (Olivia’s). Meanwhile, Koch starts caking after 20,000 records sold on every album they distribute. Now, which one looks like the fool?
- Good selection on the up-and-coming producers this issue, including the no-name who made that "Party Like a Rockstar" smash. Oddly enough, I hate the original, but like the remix, which ups the power chords and guitar shredding greatly. Horrible Lil’ Wayne verse on it, tho. Speaking of Weezy…..
This issue’s weak points:
- Why is he on the cover when his article is barely a page? I love this dude, really. When he actually applies himself, he’s among the top 3 MCs in the game right now. But between his ego, trying to launch new artists, and giving some crappy remix performances lately, he needs to slow his roll. How can we miss him when he never goes away?
- FUCK. DJ. KHALED. He’s not the best. He’s not the man sitting next to the man sitting next to the man whose cousin knows somebody who mows the lawn of the brother of the best. He’s not even close to that. I’m glad this self-promoting clown has connections up the wazoo, and he’s hot shit in Dade County radio, but his albums are trash. Wow, you can get the best producers and MCs to come vacation in Miami and throw off uninspired efforts all on one track? What talent.
Despite my disdain at the cover choices, I understand why they were made, and it’s actually a good issue otherwise.
Overall: 8.0 out of 10