Film: The Hangover Part II Trailer

Okay, here we go.

Peep the trailer for the highly anticipated comedy sequel The Hangover Part II, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Jamie Chung (I had to mention her, she’s flippin’ fine), and Zach Galifianakis. Once again, Todd Phillips is in the director’s chair.

News: Fleeting Pages Pop-Up Bookstore To Open in Shuttered Pittsburgh Borders

Okay, now this is cool.

Beginning April 30th, a shuttered Pittsburgh area Borders bookstore will become a Fleeting Pages pop-up book emporium. According to the official Fleeting Pages blog:

Fleeting Pages consists of taking over (taking back??) one of the spaces, left empty by a failed big box bookstore in Pittsburgh, for one month, starting April 30th, and filling it with independent & self-published work of all kinds, book arts, workshops, events […] All revolving around various forms of written self-expression.

New Music: The Weeknd – House of Balloons

So far, 2011 has given me plenty of reasons to be excited about music again. First, The Vagabonds dropped a monster album, then OFWGKTA took over my iTunes (especially Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis and Frank Ocean), and earlier this week Big K.R.I.T. just shut shit down.

Now we’ve got The Weeknd, the nom de croon of singer Abel Tesfaye. Along with producers Doc McKinney and Illangelo, and The Weeknd has dropped the stellar House of Balloons.

As with K.R.I.T., I was completely in the dark about this cat. (I must assume that The Weeknd is just Abel as he’s proclaimed that this is not the work of a group, band or “R&B duo.”) And as with Frank Ocean and his awesome Nostalgia, Ultra, I was also thrown by the underground’s seemingly fanatical love for this project as this is straight up R&B music. Yet after listening to House of Balloons, I sorta kinda get it. This is a haunting project, reminiscent in mood of Swing Mob-era Timbaland or early Rodney Jerkins.

Quite simply, House of Balloons is nine tracks of some of the best R&B you’ll hear this year. Tracklist and download link below.

Theater: August Wilson’s Jitney at The Gallery Players Until April 3

Just an FYI, there’s precious little time remaining if you want to catch August Wilson‘s Jitney at Brooklyn’s The Gallery Players theater. The Gregory Simmons-directed production stars Lawrence James, Terrence Charles Rodgers, Lawrence Winslow, Gil Charleston, Kwaku Driskell, Franck Juste, Iman Richardson, Barry L. Johnson, and Ivan Moore.

Set in 1977 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh that is served by a makeshift taxi company, August Wilson’s Jitney is a beautiful addition to the author’s decade-by-decade cycle of plays about the black American experience in the twentieth century. The men who drive gypsy cabs, or “jitneys,” strive to find honor and accomplishment in a harsh world. When the station owner’s estranged son returns from prison, their reunion unleashes two decades of brutal, raw emotion.

Film: Que Films’ The Bluest Note Seeks Funding

Que Films presents The Bluest Note, a short film directed by Marques Green from a screenplay by Oliver Webb, Jr. The film’s story focuses on Tony Mann (played by my homeboy, actor/singer/musician Len Xiang), a famous singer in the twilight of his career who’s met by a Siren and faced with a fateful decision: his art or his life.

Inspired by the lives and careers of legendary artists like Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding, and Marvin Gaye, The Bluest Note seeks to present a contemporary spin on the common yet often untold tale of tortured musical geniuses forced to deal with the harsh realities of success.

The filmmakers have taken to Kickstarter in order to secure the resources and talent to complete the project. Half of the film has already been shot, and several more shoot dates are needed in order to finish principle photography. After completion, the film will be submitted to festivals around the world and the filmmakers have plans to develop a feature length film based on the short as well.

Event: Jessica Rosenblum Presents DJ Sinatra and DJ SynCity at Greenhouse (March 31)

It’s party time … ohhhhh, it’s party time!

Tomorrow night, Thursday, March 31, Jessica Rosenblum and The JRose Agency present The New New Thursdays at “environmentally conscious” NYC nightspot Greenhouse.

You should already know what to expect: beautiful people, great drinks and awesome music.

Video: Beejus – “iParty”

Bay Area rapstar Beejus and his buddies hit the Vegas strip for a raucous good time in this clip for “iParty,” off his stellar album BeeSmoove.

It’s time to get down, down, down … but let’s just hope they didn’t find Mike Tyson‘s tiger in their bathroom the following morning.