trophy wife is a 2014 filipino romantic drama and thriller film directed by andoy ranay , starring cristine reyes , derek ramsay , heart evangelista , and john estrada .

the film will be distributed by viva films with the co-production of multivision pictures and was released on july 30 , 2014 in theatres nationwide .

this is the 4th adult drama film in 2014 in viva films after the hit movie of no other woman ( 2011 ) , a secret affair ( 2012 ) , and when the love is gone ( 2013 ) .

trophy wife ( film )

trophy wife
star malin akerman gets bold in a naeem khan gown .
conflict . cristine reyes as lani in ' trophy wife . ' photo courtesy of viva films
in truth , it’s the third parties that carry these stories , and trophy wife is no different .
“in truth , it’s the third parties that carry these stories , and trophy wife is no different . ”
conflict . derek ramsay ' s character chino has a big choice to make in ' trophy wife . ' all photos courtesy of viva films
trophy wife admittedly deviates from the ‘mistress’ formula , and for good reason . other films have done it before , have done it well , and have done it with less . trophy wife does provide some interesting twists to an old story , but the results are so undeniably convoluted , and so ridiculously unbelievable , that it’s difficult to take the film seriously .
unfortunately , that kind of momentum isn’t kept consistent with the rest of the story , and when trophy wife hits its second half , things quickly unravel .
it’s worth noting that trophy wife dares to be something different . unfortunately , its means of getting there is marred by twists and detours so alarmingly unconvincing that its final act is by no means satisfying . with no clear resolution in sight , trophy wife ends with a jarring freeze frame and an unsettling fade to black .
a man visits his brother to meet his new bride , who turns out to be a former flame . this trophy wife appears to be playing a deadly game of seduction and revenge .
sundance film forward is a touring program which introduces a new generation of audiences to the power of story through the exhibition of film and conversations with filmmakers to create greater cultural awareness .
the last three movies to win the spirits ' best film trophy —
spotlight ,
birdman
and
12 years a slave
— have gone on to win the oscar .
cinemalaya film festival is set to roll out more than 20 films for its 14th . . .
spoiler alert : though initially a drama , trophy wife suddenly morphs into an unexpected thriller . but what could’ve been a pinoy version of fatal attraction is , instead , an incoherent race to the finish line . instead of opting to focus on the film’s intricate web of relationships , the film tears that all down with a final act that is absurd and unbelievable . long - lost siblings and dirty family secrets end up turning what begins as an understated film into another big screen soap opera .
tags : robin hitchcock , sarah haskins , sitcoms , trophy wife , tv sitcom , uncategorized bookmark the permalink . follow comments with the rss feed for this post . both comments and trackbacks are closed .
behind the candelabra
star matt damon shares the red carpet with his wife , luciana barroso .
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programs for utah audiences to experience independent film , theatre , and music through free screenings and discussions .
trophy wife begins harmlessly enough , taking its time to set up an overcomplicated relationship between its 4 main characters . there is chino’s blossoming relationship with gwen , and sammy’s ongoing life in the philippines , but it is lani’s rise and recovery after getting her heart broken that ends up pulling most of the film’s initial weight .
and the trophy husband , so to speak , is bradley whitford , if you’re into that sort of thing .
deneuve ' s performance and the artistic design make this film work , despite shortcomings in humor and plotting .
when her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees , a trophy wife ( deneuve ) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader . business and . . . see full summary »
but while trophy wife tries its best to put its own spin on the mistress genre , derek ramsay is once again left to with some tough decisions to make . unfortunately , all of them are made for him . – urltoken
the rich man ' s wife is a 1996 american thriller film written and directed by amy holden jones . the title character becomes a suspect when her husband is murdered , and the investigating detectives are suspicious of her alibi .
trophy wife embraces that same persona ramsay has shaped for himself , but the film is also chiseled from the same marble that has made films like a secret affair and no other woman a recent and popular trend . but while ramsay has always been the sexual come - on for films like these , he’s hardly ever been the main character .
phil spector
star helen mirren gets close to her trophy for best actress in a miniseries or tv movie .
a trophy wife proves unexpectedly competent when she takes over her husband ' s umbrella factory while he recuperates from a heart attack . well made , in a film style appropriate to the late 1970s setting , but it ' s so lightweight , fluffy and nostalgic that you wonder if there was any point to it all beyond keeping catherine deneuve busy .
so despite promising elements , there simply isn’t a lot in this premise that demands a second date , much less a longterm commitment . and while the pilot merits a second look , based on first impressions , “trophy wife” won’t win any prizes .
finally , the evening wrapped up with sag ' s biggest awards in film : best actor , actress and cast .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the zookeeper ' s wife near you .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
[ … ] from community‘s yvette nicole brown and from albert tsai , a . k . a . bert from the late lamented trophy wife , one of whose stars , michaela watkins , is co - creator of benched . ) somewhere in the course of its [ … ]
the film is still worth watching , and the one fabulous reason why can be summed up in two celebrated words : catherine deneuve .
notable exclusions in the tv categories included “atlanta , ” “the good wife , ” “orphan black” and “how to get away with murder . ”
dallas buyers club
star matthew mcconaughey raves about the film , which earned him the sag for best lead actor in a movie .
bradley cooper accepts the award for outstanding performance by a film cast as his
american hustle
co - stars gather around behind him .
when her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees , a trophy wife ( deneuve ) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader . business and personal complications arrive in the form of her ex - lover ( depardieu ) , a former union leader .
trophy wife is a movie starring cristine reyes , heart evangelista , and john estrada . chino and lani shared a relationship some time ago . their relationship ended with chino leaving lani feeling betrayed and abandoned . now , chino finds that lani is married to his brother . . . see full summary »
in this movie , derek ramsay’s character leads a troubled life . his characters are often caught between two beautiful , warring women , and he must frequently pick which damsel deserves him the most . in trophy wife , his character now has to pick between the sultry cristine reyes and the ravishing heart evangelista .
la la land was originally announced as winner by actor warren beatty , before producers had to step in to correct him as moonlight actually won the trophy .
“ trophy wife ” also didn’t land an especially desirable timeslot , paired as it is with “ the goldbergs , ” another uneven family comedy ; and following “marvel’s agents of shield , ” offering the slim chance a few fanboys still pining for akerman from her “watchmen” role will keep their hands off the remote .
irish ethiopian star negga , who is nominated for her role in drama loving , described the film as a
once in a lifetime opportunity
.
the actor welcomed his first child bari najma on february 22 and thanked his wife amatus sami - karim saying :
my wife was in her third trimester doing awards seasons , we just had a daughter four days ago . i just want to thank her for being such a soldier through this process .
notable exclusions from the film nominations included “20th century women , ” “loving , ” martin scorsese’s yet - to - be - released “silence” and “sully . ”
mark wahlberg and his wife , rhea durham , attend the afi fest premiere of
patriots day .
( jay l . clendenin / los angeles times )
if one approaches the film and its casting thinking this may be some retread of no other woman or a secret affair , be forewarned that there is something more ambitious in the storytelling and exposition of trophy wife . the production values see no compromise being made — other than the scenes which supposedly are taking place in the united states ; and the polish and verve of the four main stars make the film eminently watchable . the film opens at the sprawling estate of the recently deceased industrialist father of siblings samuel ( john estrada ) and chino ( derek ramsay ) . while sam is a dutiful son who has helped steer the course of the family business , chino is a gallivanting playboy , who feels it’s too early to take life seriously , even on the occasion of his father’s death .
12 years a slave
star celebrates with her award for best supporting actress by showing off the trophy and her toned arms . she ' s wearing gucci .
he embraced the film ' s director barry jenkins on his way up to the stage where he said :
my grandma would want me to button up .
manila , philippines - a viva films / mvp entertainment co - production , trophy wife initially comes to us like a deja vu reminder of the kind of domestic dramas viva was known for , and excelled in , some 15 , 20 years ago . but thanks to the energetic screenplay and muscular directing of andoy ranay , the film surprises and aims to give us something much darker and sinister , filipino noir couched in a story of siblings , love and lust , with revenge thrown in for good measure .
that kind of outsized expectation might be a little much for an uncompromising film about a character , played by three actors , learning to accept his sexual identity . but then ,
moonlight ,
an indie hit and critics favorite , has done nothing but exceed expectations since premiering in september at the telluride and toronto film festivals .
the problem isn’t that the tone changes , but that it does so in a way that is so abrupt and jarring that anything that comes before it makes no sense whatsoever . and as much as trophy wife tries to differentiate itself from the slew of mistress films that have come before it , it ends up with something that is arguably worse .
then there’s ashley benson , who plays a literal trophy wife : after obsessing over the ( fictional ) lady lisa arcade character since childhood , gad “wins” her as a partner after besting the aliens in a shoot ‘em up . lady lisa seems happy enough with the arrangement , although there’s no way to know for sure , because her character doesn’t speak .
trophy wife is just absurd . if there was ever a real point to the story , it ' s lost by the time the movie gets to its ridiculous climax . there , whatever was built in the last ninety or so minutes are all but thrown out the window , the movie taking that one final step off the cliffs of sanity . the film builds to a conclusion that ' s meant to be some sort of triumph for some of the characters . but there is no triumph to be found here . the film simply lacks the conviction to follow its story through , to commit to the zaniness of its plot . what results is utter nonsense , and nothing worth watching .
i probably could have gone an entire season , or , network willing , three or four , without really paying any attention to the existence of upcoming abc sitcom trophy wife . to begin with , it is an abc sitcom not called happy endings ( rip ) . and my cynical side assumes it got an instant greenlight for its passing resemblance to modern family :
but christopher columbus’s film never shows a discernible interest in its own greatest asset : the iconic sprites could just as easily be any other monetisable nostalgia object , and it’s easy to imagine an otherwise identical version of pixels based around pez dispensers or the board game mouse trap . ( incidentally , a film about pez dispensers is currently in development . )
if ever a comedy pilot cried out for a one - hour premiere , it’s “trophy wife , ” a series that races through so much plot in its introductory half - hour as to practically obliterate its central relationship . essentially skipping the whole romantic - comedy and jumping straight into the sitcom part , the series has an appealing lead in malin akerman and [ … ]
u . s . dramatic competition presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films , the dramatic competition offers festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in american independent film .
jenkins , who could become the first black man to win the best director oscar , said other black film - makers had done work worthy of winning at past academy awards .
beautiful , smart , and sexy ; seems like sammy ' s hit the jackpot with his trophy wife lani . but how well does he know the girl of his dreams ? taking the vow
for better or worse
to a whole new level . unravel the secrets beneath this seemingly perfect union . in theaters july 30 . more secrets at our official facebook page : urltoken
trophy wife is a movie that might as well have taken place on mars . there does seem to be an inkling of a human story in there , one about the lengths some people will go to in order to find some measure of justice in an inherently unjust world . but this inkling is all but washed away as the movie indulges its most ridiculous impulses . what results is an utterly bizarre film that doesn ' t even have the temerity to look or feel bizarre . all it is in the end is crass , ugly nonsense that defies all reason or logic .
family drama “manchester by the sea” led with four film nominations for the screen actors guild awards , while “stranger things , ” “the crown , ” “game of thrones , ” “westworld” and “the people v . o . j . simpson : american crime story” each took three tv nods . denzel washington’s “fences” and coming of age drama “moonlight” captured three film nominations each . half a [ … ]
linamon na nga ba ng puot ang galit ang puso ni lani dahil sa mga pinagdaanan niya ? alamin ang kasagutan kapag nanuod kayo ng trophy wife ! now showing ! ! ! directed by andoy g . ranay and produced by viva films inc . , trophy wife is about lina ( cristine reyes ) who wants to take vengeance on chino ( derek ramsay ) for leaving her behind . she married his brother , sammy ( john estrada ) . but chino already has gwen ( heart evangelista ) as her girlfriend . will lina get her sweet revenge of causing a rift between the two brothers and break chino and gwen apart ? or will her love towards him make her forgive and forget ? also starring in the movie are g toengi , jackie lou blanco , alexis navarro , jay roa , cholo barretto , jovic monsod and kian kazemi .
ramsay seems to gravitate towards roles with an uncontrollable libido , and swings from one film to the next , much like how he swishes , swashes and slams into whatever role he fancies at the time .
an indie movie that continues to exceed expectations . a would - be crowd - pleaser that tries to downplay its prospects . and a new film that celebrates law enforcement makes a play for the oscars .
isabelle huppert , who is nominated for best actress for her role in psychological thriller elle , told abc :
i feel so thrilled about this film in particular . the whole road has been amazing .
bryan cranston , left , gets a kiss from
breaking bad
wife anna gunn while co - star aaron paul , right , looks on after cranston is announced as the best actor in a drama series .
have you participated in a program or had a film in one of our festivals ? then you ' re part of our alumni community . learn about the on - going support and benefits we offer you !
josie potenza is the trophy wife of workaholic hollywood producer tony potenza , but their marriage is crumbling due to his increased drinking resulting from stress at work . she convinces him to join her for a romantic getaway at a secluded lakeside cabin , but when it becomes obvious his concerns about the studio are going to take precedence over relaxation , she grudgingly tells him to return home but decides to stay on her own for a few days .
i started watching this on your recommendation , robin , and it’s rapidly become my favorite new fall show ( out of an admittedly weaksauce crop — is anyone else as obsessed with sleepy hollow ‘s irresistible terribleness as i am ? ? ) . trophy wife may not be breaking much new comedic ground , but it’s quite delightful , and a women - created , women - starring sitcom is ( sigh ) still enough of a rarity to be remarkable .
affleck said of his film :
this wasn ' t a movie where i said , ' come on , we ' re gonna win best picture . ' this was a crowd - pleasing , genre movie .
he thanks hbo and his crew and his wife , but then runs out of people . “please play me off , i’ve never had the chance to do this before , ” he says of his first emmy win . the band happily obliges
two down on their luck childhood friends struggle to figure out their lives . ray a drummer in a rock and roll band , and owen an aspiring film maker spend most of their time working menial . . . see full summary »
haskins married an older man who has three ex - wives , which is even one more ex than trophy wife ‘s heroine kate finds herself dealing with . but the important takeaway from this real - life inspiration is that kate is loosely based on sarah . seeing malin akerman in the pilot was like watching sarah haskins wearing a very convincing swedish supermodel mask . akerman clearly sees what makes haskins so charming and has adeptly built her character on those quirks . and the script sings with haskins’s awkwardly funny voice .
the details of this plot get even weirder the more you get into it . the film can ' t keep its timeline straight . at one , it appears that a restaurant is built and opened in the span of a single day . a series of wounds magically heal overnight . the film is constantly revealing that what seem like long spans of time are actually just happening days apart . and despite the movie ' s complete separation from reality , the production remains terminally uninspired . only the music suggests something more otherworldly in the film ' s version of reality . the direction , cinematography and acting all suggest that were supposed to be taking all this at face value , and that just really seems like a poor choice .
of course , the sag awards offer something that the oscars just don ' t have an equivalent for — television nods . just after nyong ' o and leto walked off with their film accolades , tv ' s familiar faces got their due .
however , it wasn ' t long before controversy was stirred as casey affleck received a standing ovation after winning the best actor oscar despite the sexual harassment reports surrounding him , and an epic mistake that saw the wrong film given best picture award .
godfrey cheshire of variety said ,
thrills have seldom seemed as routine as they do in the rich man ' s wife , a lady - and - the - psycho yarn so generic it might have been constructed by computer printout . . . although her script is the source of the film ' s hackneyed feel , jones ' direction is generally top - drawer . beyond her work with the supporting cast , she provides a polished , fluid look and proves especially effective at mounting punchy , visceral action scenes .
9 : 16 p . m . : susanne bier of “the night manager” wins her first emmy for directing a limited series , movie or dramatic special . the trophy is ( coincidentally ? ! ) given to her by presenter tom hiddleston , who starred in the amc series .
bonnie and clyde stars warren beatty and faye dunaway announced la la land had taken the best picture prize until the film’s producer fred berger said : “this is not a joke . moonlight is best picture , ” and showed the camera the card that revealed the winner .
the ex - wives are oscar - winner marcia gay harden and michaela watkins , who , incidentally , was in the same lass of short - tenured and utterly wasted snl featured players as casey wilson . right now their characters are broad stereotypes ( stern doctor first wife and hippy dippy second wife ) , but this is only the pilot , and the actresses have enough talent to develop these characters as the writing finds its footing . and it’s clear from the pilot that they aren’t just going to be antagonists to kate , but co - parents and maybe unlikely friends .
denzel washington’s “fences” and coming of age drama “ moonlight ” captured three film nominations each . half a dozen movies scored two noms each — “captain fantastic , ” “florence foster jenkins , ” “hacksaw ridge , ” “hidden figures , ” “ la la land ” and “lion . ”
more substantively , there is an attempt to pay tribute to the feminist struggles of the 1970s while maintaining a knowing distance from the attitudes of the old days . mme . pujol is a potiche , a french word translated in the subtitles and press materials , somewhat misleadingly , as “trophy wife . ” but rather than being a young sexual prize , as the english term implies , our heroine is a taken - for - granted status symbol , a token of her husband’s respectability and prestige . in taking his place as the boss , though , she becomes much more , and ms . deneuve conveys her empowerment with a light touch , mingling delight and amusement . and as the film proceeds , it divulges some interesting tidbits about her past , including her affair with babin , who now becomes , in no particular order , her adversary , adviser and passionate suitor .
however , there were also some welcome surprises — tatiana maslany picked up the best actress in a drama trophy after years of her impressive clone work on bbc’s “orphan black , ” while newcomer rami malek won actor in a drama for usa’s breakout “mr . robot , ” beating out some longtime favorites .
i first saw the french actress catherine deneuve in a movie in the english - language
repulsion
in 1965 when she as just 22 . playing the ' trophy wife ' of the title in this 2010 french film , deneuve is 67 but still glamorous . when suzanne pujol ' s husband ( fabrice luchini ) - a sexist partner and a harsh boss - has to absent himself from his 300 - employee umbrella factory for health reasons , she takes over and transforms both the industrial relations and the business performance of the plant with a sensitive feminine touch that makes full use of her connections including the local mayor ( gérard depardieu ) . set in 1977 and a comedy , this is an old - fashioned and very light work that lacks any subtlety or nuance with writer and director françois ozon simply satiring both the factory owner and his trade unions ( cfdt and ugt ) .
if ever a comedy pilot cried out for a one - hour premiere , it’s “ trophy wife , ” a series that races through so much plot in its introductory half - hour as to practically obliterate its central relationship . essentially skipping the whole romantic - comedy and jumping straight into the sitcom part , the series has an appealing lead in malin akerman and a promising supporting cast . that said , the show is so intent on jumping to the “hot stepmom” gags that it doesn’t give its characters much room to breathe — much less time for us to get to know them , or each other .
the winner of the sag ensemble trophy has matched the oscar best picture winner 11 times in 21 years . “spotlight” and “birdman” have won the sag cast award and the oscar for best picture in the past two years , while “american hustle” won the sag cast award in 2014 was shut out at the oscars .
family drama “ manchester by the sea ” led with four film nominations for the screen actors guild awards , while “stranger things , ” “the crown , ” “game of thrones , ” “westworld” and “the people v . o . j . simpson : american crime story” each took three tv nods .
it ' s not yet dark / ireland ( director : frankie fenton ) — this is the incredible story of simon fitzmaurice , a young filmmaker who becomes completely paralyzed from motor neurone disease but goes on to direct an award - winning feature film through the use of his eyes . international premiere
lawrence van gelder of the new york times said ,
the film owes no little debt to alfred hitchcock ' s thriller strangers on a train and to all those movies in which homicidal maniacs pop up unexpectedly , lone women hear creaking doors and ominous footsteps , thunderstorms erupt at convenient moments and couples who share disturbing confidences speed along dark , deserted roads while windshield wipers sweep across close - ups of their tense faces . rich man ' s wife also owes a debt to its audience , whose credibility is sorely taxed at turning points where sensible individuals would disagree with josie ' s actions .
catfight is an unusual pitch - black comedy , not least because it features three extended fight sequences between a pair of middle - aged women . anne heche plays ashley , a struggling artist who is unable to make a living from her work . sandra oh plays veronica , a boozy trophy wife who is enjoying a life of privilege . once upon a time ashley and veronica were friends in college , but something happened between them , and they come to blows after a chance encounter at a party . the story then jumps forward two years , at which point the characters ' fortunes are reversed . all of this is strangely enjoyable , and it benefits from note - perfect performances from the two leads , both of whom are impressively committed to the brutal fight sequences . director onur tukel ' s feisty film won ' t be for everyone , but it ' s worth a look if you like your satirical comedies to combine scathing dialogue with contemptible characters .
it was
modern family ' s
ty burrell who accepted the trophy for best tv comedy actor , and he was back on stage just moments later — along with the rest of the show ' s cast — to accept the award for comedy ensemble . sofia vergara did the talking , calling the win
mind blowing .
9 : 31 p . m . : the big night continues for “the people v . o . j . simpson” : courtney b . vance wins lead actor in a limited series or a movie for playing simpson’s attorney johnnie cochran . vance gives a shout out to his wife , angela bassett , and the audience loves it .
trophy / u . s . a . ( director : shaul schwarz , co - director : christina clusiau ) — this in - depth look into the powerhouse industries of big - game hunting , breeding and wildlife conservation in the u . s . and africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities . world premiere . the new climate
moonlight ,
barry jenkins ' intimate drama depicting three periods in the life of a young gay black man , earned six nominations tuesday for the film independent spirit awards — feature , director , screenplay , cinematography , editing and the robert altman award , which honors the director , casting director yesi ramirez and the acting ensemble .
in 2008 , the siegel family was top of the heap with the wealthy and politically influential david siegel running the successful westgate resorts time - share business . to enjoy their good life , he and his engineer turned beauty queen trophy wife , jackie , were building the largest single family private home in america . suddenly , both the us economy and westgate were rocked by the devastating sub - prime mortgage collapse . in the new economic reality with the business teetering on ruin , we follow the siegels as they struggle to scale down their grotesquely ostentatious lifestyle . for this overprivileged family , accepting that situation proved a dispiriting struggle even as their unfinished dream home became a monument of their superficial values .
with a frothy , sophisticated , quick - witted script , mr . ozon’s film follows in the tradition of the american screwball comedies of the 1940s . and the transformation of suzanne …is a joy to behold in one of the most finely tuned , raciest and most gripping performances of ms . deneuve’s career .
- the new york times
from there reyes transforms from nothing to everything , building herself to be the trophy she’s always wanted to be . it’s an admittedly captivating arc for an actress like christine reyes , a woman desperate to win back the heart of her first love , and it’s a role that is initially matched by convincing performances from heart evangelista , john estrada and even derek ramsay .
fx’s critically acclaimed “the people v . o . j . simpson” miniseries dominated the emmy awards , winning five trophies including limited series , along with acting wins for sarah paulson , sterling k . brown and courtney b . vance . hbo’s unstoppable “game of thrones” also had a great night , picking up the best drama trophy for the second year in a row .
multiple stars brought up the election during the three - hour broadcast . kimmel got things started with a donald trump joke during his monologue : “if it wasn’t for television , would donald trump be running for president ? no . he would be at home right now , quietly rubbing up against his wife , malaria , while she pretends to be asleep . ”
10 : 25 p . m . : ben mendelsohn of ( the recently canceled ) “bloodline” wins outstanding supporting actor in a drama series — safe to say no one expected that , maybe including mendelsohn , because he’s not there . unlike kimmel’s threats to absentee maggie smith , presenter taraji p . henson doesn’t tell mendelsohn his trophy will be in the lost and found .
but that’s it for the positives . bee - ee - ee - oop . game over . pixels is effectively ghostbusters with the ghosts replaced by eighties arcade characters , and the longer you chew over the premise , the more scope it seems to offer for a film that says something fresh and bright about video games and the reasons we play them .
the festival celebrates creativity and independence at the summit of the institute’s year - round public programming , which also includes festivals in london , hong kong and los angeles . sundance institute programs support artists year - round , with more than $ 2 . 5 million in grants and 25 global residency labs across theatre , film , new frontier and episodic content .
la la land ' s linus sandgren won the oscar for cinematography , saying :
this film was made with so much love and passion and struggles and it was all thanks to damien ( chazelle , the director ) .
you ' re a poetic genius and i ' m so happy i met you and i really love you . ' ' mfl
the experience of watching françois ozon ’s “potiche ( trophy wife ) ” is , in many ways , more like attending a theatrical matinee than like going out for a night at the movies . this is not only because mr . ozon’s source is a once popular , slightly musty play from the 1970s ( by the writing team of pierre barillet and jean - pierre grédy ) , which he has lovingly refurbished with impeccable attention to period décor and present - day sensitivities . mr . ozon , a prolific filmmaker , has also , perhaps intentionally , approximated the stodgy good cheer that often distinguishes lavish , star - studded stage revivals of beloved old chestnuts . you suspect , before long , that there is no strong reason for this production to exist , but it is reasonably good fun all the same .
john cooper , director of the sundance film festival , said ,
the films in this year’s festival show the human sides of issues , people and places we don’t often see . independent filmmakers , with their fearless , bold perspectives , are challenging us to witness our world ' s whole story . these artists , armed with their films , will lead us into the future .
family life / chile ( directors : alicia scherson , cristián jiménez , screenwriter : alejandro zambra ) — while house - sitting for a distant cousin , a lonely man fabricates the existence of a vindictive ex - wife withholding his daughter , in order to gain the sympathy of the single mother he has just met . cast : jorge becker , gabriela arancibia , blanca lewin , cristián carvajal . world premiere
menashe / u . s . a . ( director : joshua z weinstein , screenwriters : joshua z weinstein , alex lipschultz , musa syeed ) — within brooklyn’s ultra - orthodox jewish community , a widower battles for custody of his son . a tender drama performed entirely in yiddish , the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood . cast : menashe lustig . world premiere
the premise – spun off from an award - winning animated short which mystifyingly manages to cover more ground in two and a half minutes than this film does in one and three quarter hours – has alien invaders challenging humanity to a live - action video - gaming tournament for the fate of the earth . sandler’s character , a tv installer and former arcade shark called sam brenner , is civilisation’s last hope .
the sag awards are widely considered to be the best indicators of what to expect from the heaviest hitter of the awards season , the oscars . in the best supporting actress in a film category alone , the last four out of five sag winners went on to take the academy award . so who nabbed that honor this time ( and might just go on to take the oscar in the near future ) ?
sundance institute founded in 1981 by robert redford , sundance institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film , theatre , and new media to create and thrive . the institute ' s signature labs , granting , and mentorship programs , dedicated to developing new work , take place throughout the year in the u . s . and internationally . the sundance film festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists in igniting new ideas , discovering original voices , and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling . sundance institute has supported such projects as beasts of the southern wild , fruitvale station , sin nombre , the invisible war , the square , dirty wars , spring awakening , a gentleman’s guide to love and murder and fun home . join sundance institute on facebook , instagram , twitter and youtube .
nobody speak : hulk hogan , gawker and trials of a free press / u . s . a . ( director : brian knappenberger ) — the trial between hulk hogan and gawker media pitted privacy rights against freedom of the press , and raised important questions about how big money can silence media . this film is an examination of the perils and duties of the free press in an age of inequality . world premiere
barbara shulgasser of the san francisco examiner felt the only reason to see the film
is to watch a charming actress called clea lewis . . . play a wronged ex - wife and steal the show in two short scenes . the rest of the movie is so cluttered with old plot twists and a lame attempt at what the filmmakers must have thought would be a surprise ending that the dialogue was drowned out half the time by audience members pleading with characters not to do the same dumb things we ' ve all seen movie characters do hundreds of times before in equally bad movies . . . writer - director amy holden jones has written other ridiculous scripts before , including the one for indecent proposal , but she directed the laudable jamie lee curtis vehicle love letters , so there really is no excuse for the sheer ineptitude of this movie .
snl meets the daily show in this constantly changing news - driven sketch romp through a week’s worth of headlines . top story ! weekly brings you a brand new scripted show , which has been called the most ambitious weekly schedule of any la theater . our writers have written for shows such as “jimmy kimmel live , ” “late night with jimmy fallon , ” and “the jeselnik offensive , ” and our cast has been seen on shows such as “it’s always sunny in philadelphia , ” “drunk history , ” “modern family , ” “the middle , ” “how i met your mother , ” “the newsroom , ” “2 broke girls , ” “trophy wife” and “conan . ” with top names from film and television stopping by as guest performers , “top story ! weekly” is the most current , up - to - the - minute sketch show in la , has been named by cbs 2 in its “best of los angeles” and is a three - time winner of the del close award for “best scripted show” . cast list : bennie arthur , alicia bien , jen cain , nate duran , ashleigh hairston , grace harryman , calder holbrook , michael hughes , sam kimbrell , matt manser , eileen mary o’connell , ryan pratton , andrew price , derek reid , juliah rueckert , atul singh , paul straw , james warfield , phillip wilburn , brian zimring
park city , ut — sundance institute convenes a full slate of provocative and agenda - setting independent films at the 2017 sundance film festival , beginning with today’s announcement of the 66 films selected for u . s . competition , world competition and next , as well as a slate of environmentally focused programming under the festival’s the new climate program . the festival hosts screenings in park city , salt lake city and at sundance mountain resort january 19 - 29 .
while jake ' s ex - wife nora tries to convince the police he may have killed tony , josie becomes the target of the increasingly deranged cole . after killing jake , he traps her in her garage and josie kills him in the ensuing skirmish . josie pleads self - defense , and when nora tells them she doesn ' t believe josie is clever enough to have masterminded any of the events that have transpired , the police let her go , unaware the two women are partners in crime .
oswalt gave a shoutout to fellow nominees , saying “the only reason i did anything that was good enough to be nominated is because i had peers… that make me work harder at what i do . thank you , guys . ” oswalt said he shared his first emmy with two people including his daughter , alice , “who is waiting at home . ” “the other is waiting somewhere else , i hope , ” he added in an obvious reference to his late wife , michelle mcnamara , who died suddenly in april .
the hero / u . s . a . ( director : brett haley , screenwriters : brett haley , marc basch ) — lee , a former western film icon , is living a comfortable existence lending his golden voice to advertisements and smoking weed . after receiving a lifetime achievement award and unexpected news , lee reexamines his past , while a chance meeting with a sardonic comic has him looking to the future . cast : sam elliott , laura prepon , krysten ritter , nick offerman , katharine ross . world premiere
the two stars — ms . deneuve playing the hemmed - in wife of an industrialist , mr . depardieu a political tribune of the aggrieved proletariat — set a tone of sly , high - spirited sincerity that is matched by the rest of the cast , which includes fabrice luchini , karin viard , judith godrèche and jérémie renier . these able actors tackle a busy tale of marital discord and class conflict that takes place in the politically anxious year of 1977 and is set in motion by labor unrest at the umbrella factory run by robert pujol ( mr . luchini ) .
involved in her plan : getting speech lessons , charming a consul to invest in a restaurant , attending a charity event , and seducing a man that just months ago didn ' t deem her worthy of talking to . and through all this , her end goal is completely unclear . we watch the character go through all this trouble without knowing exactly how she plans to get revenge , or how she ' s planning to get away with anything . the plan is so murky that by the end , the film twists itself into a strange reversal that suddenly paints this seductress as a victim we ' re supposed to be rooting for .
for the 2017 festival , 113 feature - length films were selected , representing 32 countries and 37 first - time filmmakers , including 20 in competition . these films were selected from 13 , 782 submissions including 4 , 068 feature - length films and 8 , 985 short films . of the feature film submissions , 2 , 005 were from the u . s . and 2 , 063 were international . ninety - eight feature films at the festival will be world premieres . in 2016 , the festival drew 46 , 600 attendees , generated $ 143 . 3 million in economic activity for the state of utah and supported 1 , 400 local jobs .
calling the film
a passable genre piece with weird plot twists and mediocre acting from the gorgeous berry ,
edward guthmann of the san francisco chronicle compared it to
the old lana turner melodramas with the glossy sets , soft - focus photography and operatic emotional range .
he continued ,
jones serves this slice of ham with slick direction and haskell wexler ' s handsome photography , and keeps twisting the plot and our presumptions right up to the final scene . it ' s diverting , good - looking trash , and it might be more defensible if berry were genuinely talented and didn ' t have such a thin , high - school - cheerleader voice .
an imperious boss and a negligent , philandering husband — his long - suffering secretary , nadège ( ms . viard ) , is also his longtime mistress — pujol almost too neatly personifies the shortcomings of his class and sex . his wife , suzanne ( ms . deneuve ) , whose father started the factory and is occasionally invoked as the embodiment of a benevolent , bygone paternalism , seems resigned to her lot in life . first seen in a red track suit and white adidas , with curlers tucked under a matronly kerchief , suzanne scribbles verses in a notebook , endures her husband’s grouchiness and keeps a doting eye on her two grown children , joëlle ( ms . godrèche ) and laurent ( mr . renier ) .
7 : 33 p . m . : on the red carpet , terrence howard’s wife , mira pak , said the actor “quite often” channels his “empire” character , lucious lyon , at home . okay then . howard , whose co - star taraji p . henson is again nominated for her role as cookie lyon , also talked about mariah carey’s upcoming cameo on the show , which returns for its third season this wednesday on fox . “she was amazing , ” howard said , adding that the singer teamed up with his on - screen son jamal ( jussie smollett ) for a duet “that touches the heart and feels like the first time you’ve ever seen mariah carey . ” “it’s that mariah carey , ” he said .
the sundance film festival® the sundance film festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades , including boyhood , beasts of the southern wild , fruitvale station , whiplash , brooklyn , twenty feet from stardom , life itself , the cove , the end of the tour , blackfish , me and earl and the dying girl , super size me , dope , little miss sunshine , sex , lies , and videotape , reservoir dogs , hedwig and the angry inch , an inconvenient truth , precious and napoleon dynamite . the festival is a program of the non - profit sundance institute® . 2017 festival sponsors to date include : presenting sponsors – acura , sundancetv , chase sapphire® , and canada goose ; leadership sponsors – adobe , at & t ; , directv , and youtube ; sustaining sponsors – american airlines , canon u . s . a . , inc . , francis ford coppola winery , geico , google vr , the hollywood reporter , imdb , jaunt , kickstarter , omnicom , stella artois® and the university of utah health . sundance institute recognizes critical support from the utah governor ' s office of economic development , and the state of utah as festival host state . the support of these organizations helps offset the festival’s costs and sustain the institute ' s year - round programs for independent artists . look for the official sponsor seal at their venues at the festival . urltoken
there’s an energy in the storytelling that keeps us glued to the screen , and as i mentioned , the revenge drama and noir elements of cruelty , sadism and ulterior motives give the goings - on a sensuous , even kinky veneer . the trademark one - liners are still evident , though perhaps not as pronounced as in the previous films involving these stars . but i did wonder if the too linear narrative reduced the potential for higher drama and surprise , whether flashbacks could have been used to give the film a stronger noir perspective . i also didn’t know if there was unintentional humor in using the movie’s theme love song in a scene prefaced by evidence of torture and sadistic design on the body of lani .
, it ' s 1977 and women ' s liberation is in the air but suzanne ( catherine deneuve ) is still the self - effacing , elegant housewife of wealthy industrialist robert pujol ( fabrice luchini ) . pujol oversees his umbrella factory with an iron fist and is equally tyrannical with his children and & trophy housewife ; when the workers go on strike and take robert hostage , suzanne steps in to manage the factory . to everyone ' s surprise , she proves herself a competent and assertive woman of action . her new role throws her back in touch with union leader gerard depardieu , a romantic fling from the past that still has sparks . when robert returns from a restful cruise looking to reassert himself , things get complicated . directed with superb style by
for the first time , the festival is focusing its programming efforts to drive attention and action around a specific theme : climate change and environmental preservation . the new climate program builds on the institute’s longstanding commitment to showcasing environmental films and projects , including an inconvenient truth , blackfish , the cove , gasland , chasing ice , racing extinction and collisions . the program includes chasing coral , which follows a team of divers , photographers and scientists documenting the world ' s changing coral reefs ; trophy , an in - depth look at the controversial , multi - billion - dollar big - game hunting industry ; water & power : a california heist , an investigation of california ' s convoluted water system ; and plastic china , an examination of employee life at a chinese recycling plant .


a video mixtape ( vmt ) is a stock footage movie consisting of clips from movies , television or home videos that are generally circulated as bootleg videos .

also called party tapes or video compilations , this phenomenon comes from the days of betamax and vhs , when home editing and duplication became possible for the masses .

video mixtapes are distributed on vhs or dvd , or by one of the many distribution methods the internet has to offer .

the concept and " feel " of a video mixtape is derived from the audio mixtape phenomenon .

video mixtape

update a video without losing your url or stats . how ? replace your video file quickly and easily .
new
hamilton mixtape
video released ! | the breakfast club | 101 . 3 kgot
views : an adp video mixtape [ vol 2 . 2 ] ( 9 / 11 / 17 )
papyrus makes a mixtape ( and . . . check out my mixtape uploaded by arachnos
watch the video for “immigrants ( we get the job done ) ” above .
the video starts with a number of somber train passengers , seemingly immigrants , listening to the radio .
urltoken new video mixtape . people often refer to my work as being trippy , so i decided to explore that theme with this mixtape and tour . so this mix loosely moves in and out of that idea of escaping reality - be it drugs , books , video games , tv , holidays , adventures or whatever . enjoy .
lin - manuel miranda debuted the powerful new video for “immigrants ( we get the job done ) , ” a cut off the hamilton mixtape , wednesday on today .
to build upon the mixtape release , dubb has released a video for
save me .
a song about the perils of poverty and trying to overcome harsh conditions , the indica films - directed video starts with dubb getting into an argument with his girlfriend . from there , the video takes a dramatic twist , culminating in the rapper & apos ; s arrest for robbery .
july will be an unofficial video mixtape ( vmt ) month on the pirate bay . fans are mobilizing in the hope they can upload every single mixtape available , to share this remix art form with the world and get a wider audience . but what are they all about ?
on december 10th , viner the vertigo uploaded a video titled
download my mixtape it ' s fire ,
in which he makes several barking noises as a preview for his music release ( shown below ) .
a music video released on wednesday for “immigrants ( we get the job done ) , ” a song off “hamilton mixtape , ” is replete with stark political imagery and not - so subtle messaging targeting president trump’s rhetoric on immigration .
k ' naan , snow tha product , riz mc and residente offer an ode to immigrants ' sacrifice and resilience in their new music video .
“hamilton” creator lin - manuel miranda on wednesday released a video for the “immigrants” track from the “hamilton mixtape” collection . the six - minute film makes a strong statement about the state of immigration policy in the u . s . and features riz ahmed ( aka riz mc ) , “hamilton” alum daveed diggs and rappers k’naan , residente and snow tha product . the video [ … ]
on november 14th , 2014 , youtuber filthy frank uploaded a video titled
bad internet rappers ,
in which he mocks amateur rappers for shamelessly promoting their mixtapes and soundcloud pages ( shown below ) . in three months , the video gained over 940 , 000 views and 5 , 900 comments .
check out my dank mix tape yo . . . check out my mixtape uploaded by rkzero10
protip : press ' i ' to view the image gallery , ' v ' to view the video gallery , or ' r ' to view a random entry .
everything is terrible , future schlock 1 & 2 , american dream , american nightmare 1 through 3 , debris v . 1 and v . 2 , and video armageddon
the mixing tape - lyle mcdouc . . . check out my mixtape uploaded by pobody ' s nerfect
” into the clarion call for empowerment that is “immigrants ( we get the job done ) . ” miranda introduced a music video for the song , which appears on “
the styles of mixtape culture have not changed as much as the values . mixtapes have traditionally served as a
just in case you didn’t get the message – the rot mixtapes are not for kids or anyone easily offended . absolutely , categorically nsfw – you have been warned . and don’t forget , july is unofficial video mixtape month on the pirate bay – who knows what it will turn up .
a video for the song has been released and it features groups of immigrants at their various jobs before showing ahmed , known as riz mc , on a crowded new york city subway .
on january 18th , the 8jtv youtuber channel uploaded a montage of comedy sketches titled
check out my mixtape ,
in which a man attempts to force his mixtape on people in a variety of bizarre scenarios ( shown below ) .
check out my mixtape
and
my mixtape is fire
are expressions typically used by amateur rappers to promote their self - released records on social media platforms . on twitter and in online hip hop communities , both phrases are often said ironically to poke fun at the general overuse of the word “mixtape” by aspiring hip hop artists on the internet .
mixtapes exist in a legal gray area . since they are not produced by the copyright holders of the footage included , they are technically violations of those copyrights and therefore illegal . furthermore , selling a video mixtape is also illegal given that the seller would be profiting from the distribution of copyrighted material . that said , some footage included on mixtapes exists in the public domain or could be considered fair use and , as always , it is the duty of the copyright holder to enforce said rights to their work . this article does not represent an endorsement by urltoken or the author to purchase , download or otherwise obtain a video mixtape .
in addition to the video , miranda announced a prizeo contest to benefit the immigrants : we get the job done coalition , “an alliance of immigration - focused nonprofits throughout the us assembled by the hispanic federation . ”
miranda unveiled the video during an appearance on nbc’s “today . ” the video , directed by tomas whitmore , arrives on the heels of miranda launching the “ham4all” contest that gathered steam via social media on tuesday . the effort encourages fans to donate $ 10 to an immigrants rights coalition assembled by the hispanic federation , and to post internet videos of themselves singing “hamilton” songs for a chance to win tickets to the musical’s los angeles opening on aug . 11 .
“ hamilton ” creator lin - manuel miranda on wednesday released a video for the “immigrants” track from the “ hamilton mixtape” collection . the six - minute film makes a strong statement about the state of immigration policy in the u . s . and features riz ahmed ( aka riz mc ) , “hamilton” alum daveed diggs and rappers k’naan , residente and snow tha product .
anyone googling “ video mixtape ” will be immediately exposed to links and references to the retard - o - tron ( rot ( nsfw ) ) mixtapes – possibly the most controversial and popular mixtapes around . already banned in the us , canada and ireland , we caught up with zxql3000 , the creator of the rot mixtapes , to find out why the hell he does it .
the freestyle mixtape wasn’t just a service to the fans , it was a representation of hip - hop’s core . now it ' s dead .
inspired by a lyric in the hamilton song “yorktown ( the world turned upside down ) , ” the “immigrants” video focuses on the refugees’ plight – from war - torn situations to ice raids – as well as their indispensable contributions upon immigrating to america .
“hamilton mixtape” is an album of covers sung by mainstream artists including alicia keys and usher , inspired by the broadway musical - turned - cultural phenomenon “hamilton” and released shortly after the presidential election in 2016 . the song “immigrants , ” performed by k’naan , snow tha product , riz mc ( known to film audiences as riz ahmed ) and residente , is the first from the album to spur a music video .
eventually , as the demand for freestyles naturally grew , and the ability for djs , radio hosts and the iconic big tigger to get rappers to spit their hottest lyrics over the most classic of instrumentals , the idea of compiling these scattered moments into one mixtape emerged . instead of the occasional , sporadic freestyle from an artist like fabolous arising from a dj clue - hosted mixtape , why not just have fabolous release an entire mixtape of his own with the same concept ?
on january 7th , 2015 , cheezburger [ 3 ] highlighted a hide the pain harold animated gif titled
check out my mixtape
( shown below ) .
the freestyle mixtape was a saving grace , a show of talent and , more than anything , an outlet to fame . today , it’s dead and buried .
the video features rappers k’naan , residente , riz mc ( a . k . a . the night of actor riz ahmed ) and snow tha product – a somali canadian , puerto rican , british pakistani and mexican - american , mashable notes – delivering their respective verses .
a video mixtape is a collection of bootleg clips from movies , tv shows , home grown videos or just about any other source . these tapes grew in popularity along with the advent of home vhs and betamax videos – the masses now had the equipment to make their own shows and compilations . of course , nowadays while they are still called ‘mixtapes’ , they are more likely to exist in digital form on the internet or on dvd .
ten years ago , the mixtape industry was on the ropes and facing an uncertain future . now , the game , and the business behind it , has changed again .
projects like rot are the natural progression from purely audio based output to video , with the emphasis on fun . “they’re made for lazy saturday nights after ( or before ! ) going out , for having a drink and having a no - brainer laugh with your buddies , ” says zxql .
“it’s really astonishing that in a country founded by immigrants , ‘immigrant’ has somehow become a bad word , ” the commentator adds , setting the tone for the video . it was directed by tomas whitmore and executive produced by robert rodriguez and lin - manuel miranda , the creator of “hamilton . ”
“say you start your mixtape with one single video clip of bill gates getting a pie thrown in his face , but it needs some music in the background . so you start looking for a song that fits the clip . maybe you just type in “pie” in emule or limewire , or google for lyrics that contain the phrase “in your face” . maybe that song makes for an excellent link to the next clip . you’ll be amazed with where your search can take you . ”
this new found ability for individuals to take control of their own distribution coupled with the availability of cheap and even free audio and video editing packages , gave mixtapes a new lease of life . but p2p wasn’t just used for the distribution of completed projects , it was to became a prime source of raw material .
mixtapes , in their original form , were also something much different . the form of mixtape we know and love today was more than likely started as a result of djs , such as new york’s dj clue , breaking from the traditional norms of the mixtape industry , and creating compilation tapes of new artists looking to break into the scene . as the mixtape became bigger , djs became both gatekeepers and authorities for new music , and as the internet’s rise spawned websites like datpiff , rappers now had a new outlet for their music that didn’t necessarily have to involve a record deal .
network for hip - hop , an alternative to mainstream forms of radio and studio recordings . in the mixtape & apos ; s heyday , rappers could move raps and push their brand without having to make
“i think the industry realized the power of the mixtape , and they realized they had to play and be a part of it from a financial standpoint , ” drama says . “now you can barely tell the difference between what someone ' s mixtape is and what someone ' s album is . you still have to technically go to apple music and spend $ 9 . 99 , even if it ' s not their debut album . ”
seems a little flat . it sounds like a classic mixtape , but mixtapes in 2013 don & apos ; t sound like they did in 1990 — they sound like albums . and often , they sound even better .
the internet age , for everything that it did to create the sensation of the freestyle mixtape , is also responsible for its demise . the concept of the freestyle mixtape is one that spawned out of necessity , whether that was a newcomer , a struggling artist stuck in the middle , or a great rapper looking to destroy his peers . however , that necessity all but dissipated with the proliferation of professional and label - sanctioned streaming platforms , the rise of social media , an overabundance of information , and therefore an overabundance of music . the anticipation of a freestyle mixtape from your favorite rapper didn’t seem to matter as much when the competitive stakes weren’t as high .
“these things were called mixtapes , and were a great source for discovering music . getting new and unknown songs from all kinds of obscure sources was only part of the fun — making your own mixtape was even better . ”
this talk relates the creation of frkn wknd , a video game mixtape that ' s made up of a collection of autobiographical vignette games . without an explicit narrative , a variety of games and their relative order are used to convey a story . this approach relies upon the principles of montage . for example , the first chapter features slices of life that go from coding to testing a game to checking social media and getting harassed , to finally meditating to come back down . each of these games / levels on their own is a specific kind of experience , but in this order , you begin to see the perspective of the phone ' s owner as the player performs as them . overall , alejandro thinks using the game mixtape approach and mobile phone interface allows for some really creative possibilities for level design and flow .
the video features contemporary scenes of immigrants working in sweatshops , as farm laborers and other physically challenging jobs , as well as scenes of federal immigration raids and . the song , which features the refrain “immigrants — we get the job done , ” was inspired by a line from the song “yorktown” in the musical that remains a blockbuster two years after its opening on broadway .
for others , such as chamillionaire and his mixtape messiah series , freestyles were an outlet to maintain relevancy that had begun to dwindle after a hot start . in cham’s case , mixtape messiah was an opportunity to stay connected , and without it , his career would have likely died out several years earlier than it finally did in 2009 . with freestyles over everything from “i get money” by 50 cent to “kick , push” by lupe fiasco , chamillionaire’s freestyle mixtapes not only helped him stay relevant by having him try to out - rap the song’s original artists , but by also letting him attach his name to the notoriety of theirs . the freestyle mixtape , for many artists , was communalistic .
the encyclopedia of the video mixtape genre , containing almost every notable clip that exists . complete recaps of individual entries can be found at the 5 minutes to live website and most of the clips come from videos they sell 9 . the series has very few instances of extreme footage and is very well edited though most entries lack a theme . footage includes : crispin glover weirdness , tardspasm clips , steve vai’s biggest fan in near entirety , mr . t’s be somebody or be somebody’s fool , bollywood clips , sex - ed videos , and countless others . there is a heavy focus on uncut , rare musical performances and vol 4 is an all - music edition . lost & found best exemplifies the “party tape” aspect of mixtape culture , as it can be watched in segments , contains little post - editing , and is a narrativeless collection of oddities .
dj caesar , urltoken ' s first resident dj , releases his newest freestyles mixtape on audiomack . com . in between his time on shade45 , dj caesar always finds time to show everyone some love by releasing these free to download hip - hop , reggae , and r & b ; mixtapes . this week dj caesar released his newest weekend work freestyles mixtape that features some of today ' s hottest artists freestyling over some classic beats on the weekendwork shade45 radio show .
two years prior , in 2005 , urltoken officially launched . originally a place for its founders to share underground tapes , the site would eventually grow into the biggest online destination for mixtapes new and old over the following decade , acting as both distributor and digital library . its largest competitor , livemixtapes , debuted the following march , and the internet ' s mixtape marketplace exploded . but crucially , these sites offered mixtapes as free downloads , reverting their function from street retail album back to promotional tool . by the time of drama’s arrest in 2007 , mixtape distribution was in the final stages of a rapid shift from the streets to the web - - and the economics of the mixtape game shifted along with it .
“it hurt us solely on the fact that it ' s caused confusion amongst fans when they see a mixtape is out but it ' s not on datpiff , ” reilly says . “and that ' s been a hard barrier to break .
now , 10 years after the raid of dj drama’s studio , a decade removed from the “mixtape martyr” monikers and the first death of the tape , another era and another business rose up and is dying down , while mixtape culture again re - imagines its own form and function . so are mixtapes finally dead , co - opted by the larger machine and taken away from the streets where they originated ? or has the industry and mechanism driving the art form simply shifted once again ?
on july 7th , 2014 , twitter user @ perfectsceness [ 5 ] posted a stock photo of a woman and a young girl sharing a pair of ear buds with the caption
daquan ' s mixtape is fire
( shown below ) .
in july a group of enthusiasts will start uploading as many video mixtapes as they can to the pirate bay . a couple of the most controversial , shocking , hilarious , absurdly weird and in parts , downright sickening examples come from the retard - o - tron series . torrentfreak caught up with the creator to find out what mixtapes are , where they ' re from and where they ' re going .
the video , which lasts more than six minutes , morphs to immigrants stitching american flags under the main refrain of the song and snow tha product rapping in front of an american flag . there are shots of workers picking fruit in fields , riz mc rapping his verse on a barely - lit new york city subway car and , eventually , immigrants being dragged away in the dead of night by border patrol agents .
it is hard to pin down exactly chance the rapper’s next move will be , an unpredictability that has become part of the rapper’s charm . whether persuing a new tour , activist project or mixtape , the rapper chance has shown a way to triumph outside the system .
the rise of the “freestyle” was running almost parallel to that of the mixtape . with just a few short keystrokes in a youtube search , you can find myriad classic freestyles from the late & apos ; 90s from legends such as big l , tupac , biggie , jay z and more . in one such video , there’s a roundtable of mos def , canibus , big pun and dmx “freestyling” a capella , with clearly pre - written material , as each emcee tries to outmatch the other . despite the lack of true improvisation , the competitive aspect is there , and the end result is just as magical . even if the rappers’ bars weren’t completely new to them in the moment , they were to anyone watching .
between then and thursday night , when the chicago artist’s follow - up – and third mixtape – coloring book , was released , the music industry has mutated again , yet chance has has maintained the same integrity , fuelled both by the hip - hop community and his own artistic vision .
on june 15th , 2014 , twitter user @ urbanenglish [ 4 ] tweeted a mock translation of the expression
check out my mixtape
as
ignore me
( shown below ) . in the first eight months , the tweet received more than 1 , 000 retweets and 660 favorites .
. the album is a major throwback to that 90s mixtape sound : simple drum loops , classic flows , and a raw production style
bringing that real feel - good boom - bap shit back to life ,
as busta rhymes says on the opening track — that
unfuckwithable
sound .
when chance the rapper’s acid rap was released in 2013 , there were no streaming services battling for exclusive rights to the record . first week sales , not streams , still defined whether a record was a hit or a flop , and the line between a mixtape and studio album was clearly defined .
as internet availability became widespread , mixtapes traded by standard mail pretty much died out , taking the mixtape phenomenon with it . “and then p2p came along , ” said zxql , “and like it did for commercial music and movies , it changed the rules — if you wanted it to or not . ”
tv carnage falls somewhere between the crazy dave tapes and lost & found video night . the entries contain almost exclusively tv footage and have a greater sense of narrative and theme than other collections . there is a stronger emphasis on humor than on shock and tv carnage lends itself to viewing as a party tape and to deeper analysis as well , since the entries focus a great deal on social commentary . the brevity and rarity of the clips make a content recap difficult , but the collection is highly recommended .
three - time grammy winner kelly clarkson has been juggling being a busy mom , working on a new album , and taking on broadway . live on today , she sings “it’s quiet uptown , ” a selection from the newly released “the hamilton mixtape” which features songs from the broadway smash “hamilton” performed by various artists .
to my knowledge , retard - o - tron was the first mixtape to be widely marketed and distributed primarily on the internet via free downloads . others may have come before , but retard - o - tron quickly became the most popular and was many viewers’ first introduction into the mixtape genre and culture . a large number of post - 2007 mixtapes cite retard - o - tron in their credits , proof of its influence . retard - o - tron is one of the more extreme mixtapes apart from those that are explicitly compilations of extreme footage , featuring ( un ) healthy doses of feces and vomit alongside music videos and cartoons .
of course , porn aside , many of these mixtapes can hardly be considered legal . who knows how many instances of copyright infringement there are in each one – dozens would seem conservative – but since the mixtape scene is still fairly focused and most of the source material so obscure , the creators seem to be largely left alone .
as the star of the hbo show ,
the night of ,
or maybe from his role in
rogue one : a star wars story .
as it turns out , the actor is also a rapper and he lent his talents to the
hamilton mixtape
for the track ,
immigrants ( we get the job done ) .
our memories of the golden age of freestyles and the freestyle mixtape shouldn’t lie in its originality , but in its value to the struggling rapper as a lifeline to their fans . when clipse decided to release their infamous we got it 4 cheap mixtape series , it was in the midst of an ongoing battle with their label following the release of their hit album lord willin’ . the tapes not only offered fans the chance to hear pusha t rap over songs like ghostface killah’s “daytona 500” or common’s “the corner , ” they provided fans the chance to hear pusha t rap . . . period . if a particular rapper couldn’t push their music through the proper channel , then why not just spend time recording over music that already had ?
aav starts with an intriguing television segment detailing a failed bob crane special in the hawaiian islands . apparently , crane and crew offended the gods by taking pieces of lava and disrespecting idols , and it is posited that crane’s death was the result of a curse . the clips that follow continue this focus on mysticism and incorporate footage from television psychics and haxan . other notable inclusions are a segment from the amazing wally george show , classic horror cartoons from the twenties , and a religious video detailing the sins committed by the eighties’ cartoon she - ra . repeats the same budd dwyer footage found in tv sphincter .
by the time of the raid , mixtapes had grown from homemade mix cassettes sold on street corners and barbershops to an underground , semi - legal marketplace where album - quality releases from high - profile rappers generated between 30 million and 50 million sales each year , according to the riaa , working out to a conservative estimate of $ 150 million to $ 250 million annually by the end of 2006 . the music industry generally looked the other way , exchanging lost royalties for the promotion and buzz that artists could build from the streets up with multiple “unauthorized” releases per year . if the raid that day just over 10 years ago wasn’t quite the day the mixtape died , it was the day the mixtape , and the industry around it , changed forever .
there’s a network of things an artist has to have to be viable , so if you got the right position on worldstar , the right position on the mixtape websites , you can gain a fan base , ” says one manager . but , he adds ,
you gotta pay to play , because the game is now is an artist - consumer type of thing . ”
the feeling that coloring book is a mixtape by a hip - hop fan , for hip - hop fans is even further cemented as chance still personally posted the release on reddit’s popular hiphopheads forum late on release night with the simple message “enjoy” . by working outside the system , chance has managed to stay closely in touch with his city , his community and his musical and lyrical inspirations .
in addition to clipse , chamillionaire and crooked i , whose hip - hop weekly freestyle series spanned a whopping 52 weeks in an attempt to gain notoriety after label troubles at death row kept him out of the spotlight for years , the freestyle mixtape was also an important part of lil wayne & apos ; s rise to superstardom in the mid & apos ; 00s . da drought , dedication and no ceilings were all freestyle mixtape series that allowed weezy to assert his dominance over other rappers . especially on da drought 3 , where wayne utterly eviscerated nearly every popular song at the time—from beyoncé’s “upgrade u” to dj unk’s “walk it out”—making it known that he was , in fact , the greatest rapper in the world , and if anyone disagreed with him he would just rap over their beat and prove it .
eventually , with a premium placed on individual songs , surprise albums , and the idea that anyone and everyone can release music to the internet , the freestyle mixtape became nothing more than white noise ; a drop in a pond that sits under a perpetual rainstorm of new releases . the competition of rap transformed itself into something else entirely , and that new dna shows almost no traces of the freestyle in it .
compare the traditional freestyle with that of lupe fiasco’s “freestyle” over a “dead presidents” instrumental . the lyrics are clearly written , refined and calculated to fit perfectly over the beat . although it isn’t a freestyle in terms of the original definition , this type of remix would become what rap fans obsessed over for years , with every artist attempting to best their fellow artists over their own songs . with that , came the freestyle mixtape .
“a mixtape , at its core , is rapping over other artists ' beats that ' s already out and known , ” says styles p , a member of the lox who came up in the 1990s and has released more than a dozen mixtapes in his career , taking the purist’s point of view . “and it ' s a free project . you don ' t charge for it and it ' s not original music . ”
at the time , mainstream hip - hop was nearing the end of the ringtone rap era , when tracks like mims ’ “this is why i’m hot” and soulja boy ’s “crank that ( soulja boy ) ” spent weeks atop the hot 100 . but as the mixtape world was changing , it was rescued , and ultimately re - shaped , by the next crop of rappers on the rise as the decade wore on and turned over .
los angeles & apos ; dubb has had a long journey to reach this point in his career . from cyphering in nickerson gardens alongside a young kendrick lamar to being featured on nipsey hussle & apos ; s highly buzzed about crenshaw , he has been steadily building up his relevance . yesterday , he released his latest mixtape , never content . included on the 16 - song tape are collaborations with nipsey , rickie jacobs , and iamsu ! , among others .
at the same time , labels’ stance on tapes changed once again ; having come around to their value in building an artist’s independent brand , labels slowly began re - releasing mixtapes to digital distributors and streaming sites once a signing became publicly official , packaging them as retail mixtapes or eps . that had the effect of turning the promotional product back into the retail product - - and permanently blurring the line between a promotional street mixtape and an official retail album .
“it was like , ‘wow , if drama can get locked up for this , nobody ' s safe , ’” drama remembers . “mixunit was the biggest mixtape website ; [ the raid ] shifted their whole way of doing business and they stopped selling mixtapes . various djs went on to find other avenues to structure their career and move on . a philly bootlegger who used to make cds told me , just last night , after the raid happened he left the game and did something else . ”
the new generation’s rise bolstered these mixtape sites and transformed them into gatekeepers themselves . offering projects to registered and non - registered users for free , datpiff and livemixtapes independently developed a new business model for the industry , one based off advertising , exclusive partnerships and behind - the - scenes payments to and from artists in exchange for exclusive hosting rights and prime site placement . a business once based on cash transactions and back - door deals moved into the digital age with only the format truly changing .
for artists who already have a fan base , the pay - to - play model is flipped on its head . one artist , when asked how he decides which mixtape site to upload his projects to , responded ,
depends on who wants to pay more ,
putting the amount on offer in the
thousands .
one indie label owner said an artist on his roster with a couple mixtapes under their belt was paid $ 40 , 000 for a project by my mixtapez ; a tour sponsorship ran an additional $ 15 , 000 . multiple sources estimated the payment to a powerhouse mixtape artist like lil wayne or future to be around $ 50 , 000 for the right to be the tape ' s exclusive host , despite the fact that tapes are almost guaranteed to surface on every major site within a matter of hours ( or minutes ) after a release . reilly said in 2014 that datpiff had exclusive deals with djs like drama , cannon and holiday to host every tape they put out .
over the next several years , artists like j . cole , drake , big sean , meek and kendrick lamar emerged from this digital mixtape circuit to become forces of that new generation and spark major label bidding wars ; wiz khalifa has said that datpiff specifically aided his rise to multi - platinum recording artist . their album - quality tapes , distributed for free online , came with mastered audio quality , allowing them to build fan bases while labels stayed behind the scenes and allowed grassroots followings to build organically .
the freestyle mixtape was its own tour de force . it didn’t ascribe to any regulatory notions of what rap should be , and instead , artists decided for themselves how best to compete in an industry run by labels looking to gain an upper hand on their fame before they could . it was its own entity ; a culmination of both the rise of dj - hosted street albums and the increasing demand for rappers to out - rap their biggest rivals on their own songs , and it was saving careers .
would not have had as brilliant of a reception — and would not have pushed the man & apos ; s career as far — if it had been released for sale . the combination of that core creative freedom — which mixtapes have always afforded — and the new serious artistic effort going into mixtape production ( which is only encouraged by the broad availability of high quality studio software like pro tools ) is pushing hip - hop music as a whole to the next level . it & apos ; s keeping rap fresh .
while the use of mix tapes in hip hop music can be traced back to the mid - 1970s in new york city , when local artists like kool herc and africa bambaataa began recording their live performances on audio cassette tapes , the term “mixtape” in its contemporary sense has been used since as early as the 1990s to describe any full - length hip hop album that is released for free or for promotion of an artist’s upcoming official release , whether it be made of written verses or freestyle set to original composition and remixes of popular tracks .
the raid changed that . before drama and cannon were arrested on rico charges - - shorthand for the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act , more commonly associated with mobsters than djs - - the riaa’s focus had been on piracy , particularly digital file sharing , and shutting down small , local record shops that traded in bootlegs and mixtapes . a high - profile target like drama , whose gangsta grillz mixtape series includes installments from lil wayne , gucci mane , meek mill and jeezy and is widely regarded as the most influential ever , sent shock waves through the system .
“i don ' t think it ' s dead - - it’s definitely evolved - - but it ' s also not my place to decide that , ” drama says . “i ' ve made my mark . looking back on it 10 years later , from the raid , where it was almost like , ‘wow , the mixtape game is over , ’ it was like a phoenix arose from that . mixtapes are the veins of hip - hop culture and they always have been . and who knows if there ' s another young budding superstar on the way ? ”
on the afternoon of jan . 16 , 2007 , just over 10 years ago , dj drama and dj don cannon were arrested on federal racketeering and bootlegging charges related to the alleged sale of mixtapes . authorities , backed by the riaa , confiscated more than 80 , 000 cds and thousands of dollars worth of assets and recording equipment from the duo’s atlanta studio during the raid , as drama and cannon were dubbed “mixtape martyrs , ” taking the fall for a scene that had fostered the early rap careers of 50 cent , t . i . and young jeezy , to name a few .
the freestyle mixtape would eventually die out , and there are ample reasons for its death . today , the industry that was once dominated by major labels has transformed into smaller , independent pockets of artists , who maintain more creative control over their music than ever before . it feels as though the industry has split itself into two parts—the artists who strive for quality and the artists who strive for quantity . each has their own distinct version of creative control , and there are now fewer artists stuck in the middle waiting out some label deal , hoping to record anything even if it’s over another rapper’s beat .
to cope , datpiff has been leveraging its relationships with artists and labels to be included in digital - first releases ; for dc4 , for instance , reilly was able to cut a deal with meek’s label atlantic to stream the project but replace the download option with a “buy” option ; reilly says datpiff sent 100 , 000 people to the purchase link , resulting in 25 , 000 sales . but , he says , it’s been “more of a pain” as labels take these marquee releases out of their original forums and place them in the mainstream eye . it’s caused sites like his to re - assess once again their place in the mixtape ecosystem , as both platform and library .
by january 2014 , three top mixtape sites - - datpiff , livemixtapes and audiomack - - were pulling in a combined 7 million unique visitors per month in the u . s . alone , according to comscore data , with datpiff leading the way at 3 . 1 million uniques . but soundcloud , which that month boasted 250 million monthly users and raised $ 60 million on a $ 700 million valuation , largely based on its appeal in the dance music space , was becoming attractive . rising mcs like chance the rapper and the migos , whose growing local and blog buzz meant they no longer needed a larger stage to host their projects , gravitated to soundcloud’s open platform , devoid of gatekeepers .
if you look hard enough , you can still find plenty of individual freestyles floating around the internet on a daily basis . the same radio shows will invite rappers on to spit a few bars over the latest beats , and at times , you might even come across something special , lyrically speaking . there’s a component missing , though . one that almost feels indescribable . each freestyle now feels like a puzzle piece separated from its contextual box , and we , the listeners , have no way to discern how one freestyle is better than the next . hip - hop’s competitive nature has always been what’s made its dominance over recent pop culture so fascinating , and the small but important iteration that the freestyle mixtape was to that dominance can never be forgotten .
the raw , diy hustle of the mixtape has had such a profound influence on hip - hop culture that the style and the terminology have persisted even though the mixtapes of today sound and feel nothing like those of the past . mixtapes still serve their original purpose — spreading the word and freeing rappers from the constraints of making marketable music — but now it & apos ; s just being done with new layers of effort and polish . free albums now have studio - quality sound , but are governed by none of the traditional studio conventions like poppy hooks or simplistic radio - structures . the result is that many recent mixtapes are miles beyond studio hip - hop in quality , intricacy , and artistic value . the critics have eaten it up — check out any
in 2011 , benjy grinberg of rostrum records , which fostered the careers of khalifa and mac miller , said the only difference between mixtapes and albums was “you don ' t make any direct money off” tapes ; just three years later , even that line had been erased as the practice became widespread . goldlink ’s the god complex became available for sale in the itunes store , for example , months after its initial release . mixtape singles like rich homie quan ’s “type of way” were remastered and began regularly making their way onto the hot 100 chart . drake’s if you’re reading this , it’s too late , was released in february 2015 directly through the itunes store and debuted at no . 1 on the billboard 200 , disregarding a free period of any kind in its entirety . datpiff’s traffic , according to comscore data , would never pass 3 million uniques in a month again .
mixtapes are also known for the strange and unusual material they can contain . from weird b - movies to sporting accidents and dramatic news footage , through to unintelligible tv shows and rare pilots from countries far and wide , they contain all types of mind boggling clips that most people never knew existed . the heavy doses of porn and various stomach - churning activities and curiosities turn some of these tapes into controversial items , even on the underground .
“before the internet was available in every household , many people around the world used to trade music with each other by taping stuff from their collections onto audio cassettes , and sending them to each other by snail mail , ” zxql told torrentfreak .
“p2p offers you a nearly unlimited library of digital media : there’s no song obscure enough for you not to find it , ” says zxql enthusiastically . “even better : there is so much stuff out there that still needs to be discovered , the chase is as much fun as the catch . mixtapes help you show what’s out there . ”
finding the source material can be entertaining in itself , zxql explained . “there’s so much about today’s availability of media that makes this so much fun : hunting for that perfect clip to end your sequence , exploring new music by just typing in keywords and seeing what comes up . ”
having laughed , cried , been bemused , shocked and sickened all within the space of a few minutes at retard - o - tron 2 – i can see what zxql meant by “be amazed” at the kind of footage available . while a lot of the footage is suitable for everyone ( and some of the b - movies and obscure footage is amazing ) , overall it is definitely one for the over 18’s . actually , better make that 25 , with a very broad mind too .
to be honest i would have preferred fewer sex scenes , as i think i would’ve watched more of it . we understand rot1 is more of an easy ride . “rot3 is in the making , and it will feature less porn , ” zxql reassured me . “or at least easier to view with a group of people , so it won’t be as explicit . rot2 kinda went overboard with the porn , i think so myself , ” he added .
for those wanting rot1 or rot2 on dvd , one is available from the site , but there are other ways to watch . rot1 was already ripped and released by a group specializing in releasing cult and b - movies called pimprippaz . rot2 was ripped by a similar group called videocult who zxql says did a much better job and delivered a high quality , scene - standard compliant rip . he’s happy for people to grab these rips of course , adding ;
“in the end , i just want the ultimate thing i can create . not held back by copyright , censorship , good taste , a commercial drive or other barriers . i wanted a dvd for when my buddies and i chill on the couch with a beer and a bong . i love making my mixtapes , and i love watching them . it’s a hobby , it’s underground and it might even be considered art – but it isn’t about money . ”
i kept this on the under for too long . . . . . enjoy !
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the sweepstakes , which fans can enter for a minimum of $ 10 , will offer a grand prize of tickets to the premiere of the los angeles offshoot of hamilton as well as a meet - and - greet with miranda .
miranda also teamed with golden state warriors star stephen curry and his wife ayesha for the # ham4all challenge , a “waterbucket challenge” - esque viral game where , instead of ice water , players are required to rap their favorite song from hamilton . miranda will also bring the challenge to late night with seth meyers on thursday .
riz ahmed faces spoilers as he tackles fan theories for the newest chapter in the star wars saga – ‘rogue one : a star wars story . watch here .
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a sample of the best music videos from the past year . featuring international , indie heavy weights , and local clips .
dirty old men revel on the beach with what they think are beautiful , topless women .
collage art and found footage create a nostalgic yet avant - garde look at americana .
an animated throwback to the 1970s amid the crazy hustle and bustle of the new york city subways .
akin to a 1990s - era screensaver , this mature lo - fi animation pushes the boundaries .
a thai ice factory serves as the backdrop for a hypnotic experience in monochrome .
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this strikingly beautiful avant - garde piece allegorically presents the strong emotions inherent in all close relationships .
the image of a knife penetrating fruit is just part of this exceedingly sensual clip .
a bored 1980s housewife explores her hidden fantasies at a mommies ' night get - together .
when a young woman and her boyfriend get into an argument on her birthday , they turn to other paramours to salvage the evening .
consumer culture and impossible beauty standards are lampooned in mai lan’s subversive , catchy electro - pop tune .
a victorian house and a barren desert set the scene for a dancing couple and a poppy tune from unknown mortal orchestra .
featured in filmmaker magazine’s “25 filmmakers to watch” this year , new media limited’s diptych animated space odyssey is a mini - epic .
american flags . references to border security . immigration and customs enforcement agents dragging away immigrants in the thick of night .
“it gets into this whole issue of border security , ” a commentator says . “who is going to say that the borders are secure ? ”
“hamilton” is no stranger to politics . president obama was an avowed fan of the show and invited the cast to perform at the white house after seeing the musical multiple times , one of them at a fund - raiser for the democratic national committee . after the election , “hamilton” found itself the target of mr . trump’s ire . in late november , mike pence , then the vice president - elect , attended a performance and found himself being directly addressed by the cast during a curtain call after drawing jeers from the crowd .