What if, every Monday morning, whether you were spending the weekend living it up or partying down, you could have all of your pop culture news in one place? What if there was more to your weekend than bright nights and hazy mornings? What if you could be caught up on your television, film, and music news all at once, with a little Northwestern thrown in for good measure? This is the Monday Morning Hangover.
Normally, you will not find me walking down Sheridan with songs like Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” or Tyga’s “Dope” stuck in my head, but this weekend was different. After all, this weekend, I went to Fusion Dance Company’s spring show, “Hot Off the Press.” I will elaborate more on this spectacle of human mobility in a second, but I will happily tell you that if this is what it takes for me to enjoy hip hop, then you can sign me up for another ride. I am still thinking about it, but here are some things you might all be feeling from the weekend yourselves.
Northwestern
The ‘Cats dominated the weekend. Headlined by Fusion Dance Co., this week brought out the best in student performance. I walked out of Tech Auditorium on Saturday night humming along to Jason DeRulo and Danny Brown, and images of headspins, strobes, and all-too-tight clothing were leaping their way around my brain well into the morning. It was a killer show, and with ReFresH, BLAST, TONIK Tap and Boomshaka still doing their things as well, the state of dance at Northwestern could not be stronger.
Movies
After an admittedly subpar Trailer of the Week last time around, the Monday Morning Hangover comes on strong this week with the final ad for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The scope is massive, the blend of old and new could not be more exciting, and the entire gang is back, from the heroes of the Bryan Singer films to the younger mutants in First Class. The last X-Men movie was sneaky-good, and this flick might be the “I’m back” moment for the franchise.
Huge news out of the Tarantino camp this week: his newest Western, The Hateful Eight, is back on track to be released. After the script was leaked earlier this year, the director announced that he would no longer be making the film, but it seems like after some revisions and adjustments, the project is back on track. I just want to warn you guys now: if this eventually sees the green light and the MMH is still around, count on me to absolutely run coverage of this movie into the ground. I love Westerns. I love Tarantino. I am giddy over this. It will be like my shameless Godzilla plugs, times ten (By the way, you guys catch this new spot? You see the monster. I choked on my own spit when I saw it).
Music
We need to go back to the 80s for a second here, because Prince has a new single. He calls it “The Breakdown”, and you can listen to it here. He released it as a ‘surprise single’ late Friday night. I will leave critiques of the song up to the Prince purists, but let me just say that all these unannounced releases are starting to wear on me. Beyoncé did it for her latest album, and that worked because it was a new thing to do (and she has fans crazy enough to start religions based on her music, but whatever). However, when Kid Cudi does it too, it carries less weight, and now we have Prince joining in on the parade of these “Wait—notice me!” kind of announcements. Half the fun in listening/experiencing something new is the build-up to its release. As a kid, I waited over a year for the final Spiderman movie to come out, because I was certain back then that the movie industry was not a cash cow and actually cared about what the fans wanted, and when it was finally released, I went into that theater as happy and excited as I had ever been as a child. Of course, I walked out a miserable wreck, but that is irrelevant to the point I want to make: hype is good. Buildup is good. Let fans be excited about things—this era has enough instantaneous information already.
Television
Never thought she would find her way into this column, but First Lady Michelle Obama is making some noise in entertainment these days, with two big television cameos coming up. The first is on the April 24 episode of Parks and Recreation, and the latter is on the May 7 episode of Nashville (alongside country music star Kellie Pickler—interesting). I have always thought that one of these big-time political cameos would be hilarious if a) no one knew ahead of time, and b) the show played it off like it did not even happen. Imagine Kevin Costner and Jessica Chastain throwing around accusations in the next espionage/political intrigue flick, and we have some line like “Johnson! Find us those coordinates!” before we cut to Joe Biden sitting at a computer, headset on, yelling “Yes sir!”—camera cuts away, and there is never a follow up. Not even in the credits. I love this idea. I want to see Michelle Obama on an episode of Orphan Black, or her husband as some routine clerical worker on the new season of 24.
It was another great week in entertainment, both on campus and off. It looks like we might have some sun this week, so I hope to see you ‘Cats rocking, rolling, and twerking well into next weekend. Stay sweet.