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Watch: Earl Sweatshirt’s “Off Top” Video Disturbingly Animates the American Police State
An animated video of Earl Sweatshirt’s “Off Top” may have just illustrated the reason he titled his last album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside.The clip is a pithy statement against police aggression towards black men. In his eerie cartoon world, Sweatshirt falls into a pit of fire, runs from the darkness, and is ambushed by gang of white civilians; it’s all anchored by his closing lyric, “I hope the sheriff keep away from me” and bracketed by imagery of a police car set against the American flag and a horrific porcine cartoon of a sheriff.
Obama Listens to Justin Timberlake and Reads Ta-Nehisi Coates: Links You Need to See
Obama’s summer reading list has been posted. Join him in his readings ranging from All That Is by James Salter to George Washington’s biography, Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Or you could simply start semiotically parsing the list. If you’d like to soundtrack your presidential reading, then check out the President’s own personal mixtape, #POTUSPlaylist, on Spotify; it includes the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Brandi Carlile and Justin Timberlake, among others. For a slightly different playlist, check out Rolling Stone’s roundup of the 20 greatest pre-Straight Outta Compton West Coast Rap Songs.
If you’re a Tolstoy fan, you’d be out of luck with the reading President’s list, as he chose all American authors. However, you’d be happy (or perhaps dubious, depending on how you feel about adaptations) to learn more about the War and Peace miniseries with Paul Dano and Gillian Anderson, which debuts in January 2016.
Got credit? Discover the trends behind payments and interest rates better known as the bane of every American adult’s existence in NPR’s article analyzing the Federal Reserve Survey. Credit card payments may always seem worrisome, but New Yorkers can at least calm themselves (a statement rarely uttered) with the knowledge that tickets to FringeNYC are thankfully affordable, at just $18 per show. The festival hosts a vast selection of dance and theater performances, many of which are biographical works depicting the lives of iconic figures like Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackson Pollock, and Sylvia Plath. Starting today, the festival runs until August 30 — that’s enough time to plan your own schedule, with options of up to 200 shows to attend (though this write-up of 10 to see in the New York Times may help narrow it down).
Watch: Marvel Releases a Violent, Hilarious and NSFW Trailer for ‘Deadpool’
In the new red-band trailer for Deadpool, Marvel goes the extra mile to prove that superhero movies aren’t just for kids — in fact, this one seems to be aimed more strictly toward adults. Ryan Reynolds plays the crass and humorous antihero, a suitable role for the actor whose Green Lantern film (which is slyly mocked in the trailer) wasn’t exactly well-received. This time, Reynolds’ aggressive character is more violently taking down his offenders with guns, cunning tricks, and a sharp tongue.
The film is rife with R-rated content, including nudity, graphic battle scenes, and lascivious jokes aplenty (Deadpool refers to himself as looking “like a testicle with teeth”), and seems to do away with the conventional martyrdom of most superhero plotlines. Reynolds’ character, Wade Wilson, clearly enjoys slaying in a manner largely different from past Marvel heroes: “Daddy needs to express some rage,” Reynolds mutters mid-fight. The movie’s alternative edge is perfectly conveyed with the trailer’s soundtrack, which includes Salt-N-Peppa’s hip-hop hit “Shoop.” You’ll want to watch with the volume fully turned up.
The film is directed by Tim Miller and the script is penned by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Deadpool is set for release on February 12, 2016.