Recent Stories with tag mtv

$5 Cover: Seattle Trailer from MTV New Media on Vimeo.

On Monday, the Seattle version of $5 Cover premiered all twelve episodes to a SIFF Cinema packed with cast, crew, volunteers, MTV producers, and Seattle music fans. The installments, along with short documentaries about each of the bands and B-side films about Seattle, won't start appearing online until June. Since everyone else will have to wait, I won't say too much beyond reporting that the finished product is so much better than the long-circulating trailer (above) suggests. 

When Audrey and I last discussed this matter, a map of band relationships had sparked delight and the preview footage had raised modest skepticism. Seeing the preview, I worried about how uncomfortable it might be to see musicians reading scripted lines to portray slightly more dramatic versions of themselves in service of thinly contrived plot devices. Happily, most of the moments of forced narrative are shown in the trailer itself, and the rest of the project quickly begins to feel more like a gently observed documentary than forced reality programming. ...

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The Seattle edition of MTV's $5 Cover, directed by Lynn Shelton and filmed around town this summer, is about ready to hit the web. Audrey and Josh chat about it for your enjoyment.

$5 Cover Seattle, the organizational chart

Audrey: Do you have anything to say about the $5 Cover trailer?
Josh: Not yet. I've had that Vimeo tab sitting open, sadly neglected, forever. It seems that just like my intentions to crash one of the filmings this summer, my interest did not overcome my laziness and attention deficit. For instance, I am not entirely clear on whether this is an on-television series or an internet-only series (like Josh Schwartz's mildly watchable buzz band showcase Rockville, CA).
Audrey: It's a web series, I believe. I don't even know that much about it!

Josh: Unlike my time machine, which is out for repairs and prevents me from seeing one of these episodes being filmed at a character-filled local rock venue, my internet machine still works, so I can remedy my ignorance. Hang on and I'll take a look at the trailer.
Audrey: ...
Josh: While I'm dialing that up, a procedural question: This trailer has been up for months, why is everyone suddenly talking about it?
Audrey: The vid has been on Vimeo for a bit, but the Mayor's Office of Film and Music recently wrote about it, which is why it's been everywhere lately.
Josh: Now that I've watched it, a few observations:...

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Sixteen years ago today, Pearl Jam's follow-up to their 1991 hit Ten was released. The sophomore album, untitled in its initial run but unofficially named Vs., was an instant megahit. This "supremely odd" MTV-unearthed promo video probably had nothing to do with it.

Last night's episode of America's Best Dance Crew was (sniff sniff) the last for local crew Massive Monkees. They made it all the way to the final three, but last night's episode marked the end of the road for the Seattle b-boys. The challenge was the Decades of Dance, with each crew dancing to a montage of hit songs from the past fifty years. In their performance, Massive Monkees gave it their all, but apparently--even with windmills, jackhammers, and some James Brown moves---it wasn't enough. Frowny face.

On the bright side: Making the final three ain't bad at all, and the Monkees have more than proved their dance crew skills. Check out the above video for Massive Monkees' tender goodbye to their fans, and watch the ABDC live finale next Sunday if you care who is the ultimate victor this season, We are Heroes or AfroBorike. Goodnight sweet Monkees, and flight of breakdancing angels pop and lock thee to thy rest.

Last night's episode of America's Best Dance Crew started off with a shocker: out of the final four teams, and for the first time this season, local crew Massive Monkees were in the bottom two!  MTV continued to promote the shit out of the Video Music Awards by having a tie-in, with each team assigned a classic VMA performance for their dance routine. We Are Heroes did Madonna's "Vogue" (classic), Afroborike did Britney's "I'm a Slave 4 U" (classic-ish), Massive Monkees were assigned N'Sync's "Tearing Up My Heart" (in no way a memorable VMA performance, but JC Chasez is one of the judges, so that explains that), while the other team in the bottom two, Rhythm City, performed Chris Brown's "Wall to Wall."  Um, NO.  That is not a classic VMA performance in any way, nor should MTV be memorialing/iconographizing a girlfriend beater/biter.  Shut it down, MTV, shut it down. 

Anyways, in their performance (starting at 1:47 in the video above), Massive Monkees gave a really witty take on the N'Sync song,...

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Sunday's fifth episode of this season of America's Best Dance Crew kinda combined two challenges in one.  Not only did the teams need to showcase a "dance craze" in their routine, but they also had to incorporate a trampoline into their performance. Local b-boys Massive Monkees were assigned the Ricky Bobby, which is stretching the definition of "dance craze" just a bit, as only Texas rapper B-Hamp and some kids on YouTube have ever performed said Talladega Nights-inspired move. All you need to know is that it involves arm motions and striking poses. In their performance (starting at 1:10 in the video above), Massive Monkees had plenty of jumps, flips off the trampoline, some head-spinning, the occasional use of a fire extinguisher, and ended with a Polaroid picture modeling session.

To the judges' table: Lil Mama thought it was a fun and entertaining performance with great use of props and acrobatics. She called out JD's "forward brownie flip into the trampoline going into a head slide to the front of...

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Episode 4 of this season of America's Best Dance Crew was on last night, and this week's episode was Bollywood-themed, with each troupe incorporating a form of Indian dance into their routine. Local crew Massive Monkees ended up with bhangra and knew that they would have to "put the b-boy into Bollywood." Since they got ragged on by the judges last week for only one member doing their most difficult move, the Monkees were eager to bring it on, step it up 2 the streets,  get served, etc.  In their performance (starting at 2:05 in the video above), they hit the ground running, with footwork of fury, tons of spins and crabwalks, and even the occasional crotchgrab.

So sez the judges: JC Chasez liked that in this routine the dancers were "constantly moving and working the floor." Shane Sparks said it was one of the "best performances they had done in a while," and that they took it to another level, with so much of the choreography being "so sick." Lil Mama agreed, saying they had "an...

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