The 411 Week In Review 06.26.05: June 19th – June 25th, 2005
Posted by Tim Johnson on 06.26.2005
Hate and Discontent
How cool have the “Sounds of the Underground” interviews been? For those of you not familiar with many of these acts, it’s definitely worth your time to check them out.
Devin Townsend appeared on Steve Vai’s best effort to date; 1993’s “Sex and Religion.” The album was a masterpiece and the tour was fantastic. Townsend was a nut. I have seen very few acts since that have come close to matching his energy level or stage presence.
After the show, I never heard much about him again, despite actively looking for more material.
If you’re looking for other cool news in the world of good music, check out Monday Morning Metal.
On to the week that was.
MOVIES/TV
1) Oprah turned away at Hermes door
Daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey was denied entrance to the Paris luxury boutique Hermes after being told the store was closed for business.
Security staff informed Winfrey that the store was closed for a public relations meeting, but a personal assistant declared she was treated poorly. Oprah has cited racism as the reason she was not permitted in the establishment.
This story is still in the early stages of development, so I am basing my thoughts on the situation from what we know so far.
THE STORE WAS CLOSED.
If what Oprah is alleging is in fact true, Hermes would have let my white ass in right after she was shut out.
Not likely.
It sounds like she’s pissed because her fame and power didn’t get her special privileges average people don’t have.
It’s not uncommon for stores to let celebrities in to shop when the place is closed to the public. Often times, stores will kick everyone else out just so the celebrity can shop alone. That kind of thing happens for Jacko all the time, and has probably happened for Oprah more than once.
I’m guessing she was expecting the same treatment at Hermes, and now she’s bent out of shape because things didn’t go as planned.
The worst part is, we’ll probably never know what really happened since the race card has been dropped.
Hermes will practically be forced to issue a huge public apology and people will be fired.
If the incident was racially motivated, heads should roll. But if she was not allowed in because the store was closed, this whole thing is atrocious.
Now, I’m going to head out to Best Buy tonight around 3am to tell the security guard I’m a writer for 411 Mania and I’m interested in seeing the new CD releases.
I’ll be sure to let you know how far that gets me.
This gets a high score based on the global impact of the story, and that alone.
RATING: 9
2) Holmes turned away from Batman sequel
Katie Holmes will not be reprising her role in the next Batman film, despite all her co-stars being recast. Warner Bros. is allegedly upset that her relationship with Tom Cruise overshadowed the movie’s publicity campaign.
Guess that’ll teach her.
This is no big deal for me. One of the best things about Batman Begins is that they dumped the tired and traditional “romance” angle. I’d be happy if they didn’t replace her with anyone, and just continued to focus on the dark side of the main character.
This is a big deal for Katie Holmes, as she’ll likely have to resort to smaller roles in Joel Schumacher movies. Which will probably end up culminating in a season of “The Surreal Life” before her acting career officially ends.
But at least she’ll have several more months of happiness with a commitment phobic gay guy movie star.
Hope this recent media extravaganza was all worth it.
RATING: 7
MUSIC
1) Death Row named in B.I.G. murder
According to an FBI informant, Suge Knight and Death Row Records masterminded the assassination of The Notorious B.I.G. Biggie’s family alleges the LAPD set up the hit and subsequently covered it up.
There will probably be speculation and accusation on this topic for years to come.
I wish someone would use their investigative powers to solve even greater mysteries.
Like how 2-Pac continues to make movies and CD’s eight years after his death.
That guy has been involved in more projects since 1996 than Jenna Jameson. I hope I have that kind of staying power.
The chances that the true murder mysteries will ever be solved are slim to none. Evidently, the PD officer implicated by Biggie’s crew has a very questionable past and is currently serving time for a bank robbery.
No matter what the outcome is, there will always be doubt. But the end result is the same.
Two pioneers of rap music were senselessly killed, and Puff Daddy got famous.
RATING: 6
2) Stabbing death occurs at Corrosion of Conformity show
One person is dead and three others injured during a mosh pit stabbing incident at a Corrosion of Conformity concert in Florida.
This just goes to show that we don’t learn from our mistakes.
After the on stage murder of Dimebag Darrell, everyone was up in arms. Concert security was immediately beefed up and numerous measures were taken to ensure another incident like that never takes place.
Here we are less than a year later, and someone gets a knife into a C.O.C. show.
How does that happen?
Allow me to answer my own question.
It happens because we pass these incidents off as one time occurrences and then forget about them.
Nobody enjoys waiting in long lines or being run through 15 metal detectors and a spinal tap. But I’d rather endure that than see the guy next to me whip out a pitchfork during the encore.
People aren’t getting any less crazy, and unfortunately, something like this is bound to happen again.
RATING: 7.5
WRESTLING
1) Matt Hardy intro used during Edge and Lita wedding
Further proving that Vince McMahon is indeed the devil himself, Matt Hardy’s promo was played during the wedding angle of his real life ex-girlfriend and the guy who took her from him.
It was there for shock value, and nothing more.
After it hit, I thought Hardy was going to run out, proving this entire thing was a huge work.
When he didn’t show, I was offended. For about two seconds.
Nothing the WWE does really shocks me anymore. After all, this is the same company that swept Owen Hart’s corpse underneath the ring and continued a PPV.
Wrestlers are a dime a dozen, and they all know what they’re in for when they work for Vince.
Matt will be back. Probably sooner than later now that all the fans are privy to this inside joke. When he does come back, he’ll be a top draw for a month or so and then he’ll be right back on the lower mid-card after the excitement wears off.
The same thing happens every time Hogan returns. People pop like mad for the first couple of weeks and then it dies down when it’s evident he’s still old and slow. Afterwards, the Hulkster disappears for a few months and it starts over.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
The only person who’s really ending up on the bad end of this is Lita.
She’s attempted to prove herself as a legitimate wrestler for years, and now she’s just on TV acting like a dirty whore. It might be hard to recover from that.
So, I’ll be looking forward to Matt Hardy’s big Raw push and subsequent relegation to Heat.
Have I mentioned I miss WCW recently?
RATING: 4
SPORTS
1) Spurs top Pistons to win NBA Finals
The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 to take home their third NBA title in seven years.
Yay.
RATING: 3.5
Now, in a rating system more complex than NCAA Football, we’re about to see a higher score to an overall shitty week.
Bad stories get high ratings based on the impact of the news (Oprah, C.O.C. etc…)
Like sands through an hour glass, so are the days of our lives…..
It’s been a busy week for me here at 411, so I’m heading out to enjoy the weekend. Hope you all do the same.
Until next time…..
Don’t know where we’re going; just know where we’ve been.
