Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
The campaign is kicking into high now. I’m seeing 8 MILE billboards and ads and commercials everywhere I look right now. They’re selling the shit out of the title, and it’s a surprisingly muted campaign. No Eminem on the billboard. It’s just the title. I guess they’re showing it to college kids, too, and several of them wrote me over the weekend...
Hey Moriarty,
First/Long...you know the drill. Anyway, this is the first chance I have had to write since seeing a free promotional showing of 8 mile yesterday at Michigan State University. First things first, there had been a lot of rumors that Eminem might make an appearance at the showing. So much that our newspaper even ran a story on the front page about it (check it out). Well anyway, when we got there we had our tickets waiting for us, because our fraternity had signed up for it, and we got VIP seats. There were actually people who camped out to get these tickets. It was the most hyped up event I have seen on campus.
I, on the other hand, wasn't so excited to see it due to the usual quality of campus equipment. I say an advance showing of K-Pax last year, with terrible video and audio quality. Well, I was surprised that the projector and audio equipment was actually of very high quality (not counting the shitty acoustics of our auditorium, though). Anyway a Universal representative came out to welcome us to the first-ever showing of 8-mile, and assured us that Eminem was not there, and was rather at the studio cutting the soundtrack.
Now to the movie. Marshall, played Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr. perfectly. Not that it was such a stretch for him, as he basically played himself, but changed all the names to save him from lawsuits, and to make it more dramatic I'm sure. But, if there is one role Eminem can play, its Marshall Mathers, and he plays himself to a "t". The movie basically gives you a snapshot of "Jimmy's" life. He is a loser, white freestyler, part of a freestyling group called 313. The baddies know as Freeworld, are constantly conflicting with Jimmy and his boys, Future, cheddar Bob, and some big dude.
This sets the stage for action, comedy, and drama. Jimmy conflicts with Freeworld in Freestyle battles, as well as street fights. I just have to say one thing. You will root for Jimmy, pity for Jimmy, and laugh with Jimmy the whole film. It may not seem like much, but that is an accomplishment. Well done, Em. This is a great movie, that you need to check out at least to see what the hypes about. This is no "Glitter" folks.
I think we will see some breakout actors in this film as well. This movie isn't just the Marshal Mathers story, its actually one step away from being an ensemble film. Great performances turned in by all the newcomers, as well as Kim Basinger, and Brittany Murphy. You will not walk out of this with any profound new perspective, but you will have been entertained for the last 2 hours, and seen some fucking awesome Freestyle battles (Hilarious). Go see this movie.
Now I will proceed to tell you the rest of the story I started earlier. At the end of the movie, just before the credits are about to roll, we hear Em's new song "Lose Yourself" assuming it was the credit music. Instead of the credits rolling, the screen rises up for us to see, who else but Eminem.
Mass pandemonium ensued, I hopped over 4 rows of seats to be crushed like a sardine in a crowd of 800 MSU students. Eminem played for ALMOST AN HOUR. He played stuff off of the 8-mile soundtrack and the Eminem show, plus my favorite, "The Way I Am." Best night ever. Later on Eminem even showed up at the Landshark, a local bar, surrounded by bodyguards. We even got our hopes up at the house that he might srop by. I know it seems improbable, but everything else seemed improbable yesterday, as well. And plus we were drunk, so we started setting up the house for Em to come. A couple radio station interns and a body guard showed up to check out the house to see if it was safe for him. They seemed fine with it, but they said it was up to him. So they went back to the Marriott to see what he wanted to do. We got a call about a half hour late that he was on 96 on his way home. We were disappointed, but we knew it was a long shot, and I had one of the best days of my life. Just wanted to share my thoughts (in this mini novel).
Thanks for your time.
L&R
Same screening, different guy...
Hey, I'm John Rogos. Hope to see this up on your site soon. Good job by the way.
Well, I just got back from the sneak preview of 8 Mile here at Michigan State University. What an unforgettable night, despite the fact that it was probably one of the most disorganized events I have ever been to. They had the worst crowd control ever. The university had us waiting in a field across the street, and when they opened the doors to the auditorium, a mad rush of roughly 2000 college students bolted for the door as there was limited seating. While it was pure madness, this did calm down relatively quickly once the movie began.
The announcer before the movie started informed us that we were the first audience in the world to see the final version of the film, which of course made us all feel pretty special. The movie takes place around the infamous dividing line, seperating the city of Detroit from the suburbs: 8 Mile Road. Apparently loosely based on Eminem's life, the story of a young rapper trying to make it out of the trailer park. His mom is trash, he went to school with his stepfather, he continually finds the wrong girls, and he has absolutely no respect from the other rappers in the Detroit scene. Luckily he has a pretty supportive group of friends to back him up in his run-ins with rival rap groups and to help get his career off the ground.
Acting wise, Eminem did a decent job; although, it was nothing spectacular. He had very few lines in the movie, which makes me wonder if the filmmakers were still a little nervous about putting a first time actor in the lead. The most recognition he'll get is maybe an MTV Movie Award, thats probably it. Kim Basinger definitely could've done a better job. It seems like she tried to glamourize her character somewhat, despite the fact that she's supposed to be just about anything but that. Now I'm a huge fan of Britney Murphy, so I was pretty dissappointed by her limited screentime. She was maybe there for a total of 10, maybe 15 minutes, although she still played a pivotal role in the film and took part in probably one of the funniest sex scenes since Enemy at the Gates. Mekhi Pfifer probably did the best job acting, although like the other actors in the film, it was nothing spectacular. I think that they were all pretty limited by the material that they had, as they're all usually very talented actors, and in 8 Mile they were rather dissappointing.
8 Mile was pretty slow in parts, and if you're not from Detroit, you're not going to get a lot of what goes on in the movie: Cranbrook, 313, 810, 16 Mile and of course 8 Mile. But otherwise its a good movie. If you're a fan of Eminem, definitely go see it. If you're from Detroit, even though you're probably not going to like the bad portrait that they paint of the city, definitely go see it. If you don't fall into either of these two categories, its up to how bored you are. While overall its a good movie, its largely forgettable.
Now there is a chance that they didn't show the entire ending at this test screening. There were no credits, the movie simply stopped. In place of it though, Eminem came out and gave a surprise performance for MTV's Jammed. He performed maybe about 10 songs or so, until he blew out the speakers. Other than the movie, this will be a night that I'll never forget. Go State!
And this last guy... well, you get the picture by now...
Hi All,
When it comes to Ain’t It Cool style advanced screenings and behind the scenes movie gossip there ain’t much cool in to speak of in Michigan. Sure we have Anchor Bay, the Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell/Evil Dead crew, and Elmore Leonard adaptations, which keeps Detroit on the screen in name if not as an actual location-most movies supposedly taking place in Detroit are actually shot in nearby Toronto. Bucking that trend is the new Curtis Hanson flick 8 MILE which stars love ‘em or hate ‘em rap mega star Eminem.
Appropriately enough Michigan State University in East Lansing, a couple hours outside of Detroit, hosted the Midwest premiere of the movie on Friday night, which was followed by a live mini-concert by the angry blond one himself. While standing in line for several hours it was heavily rumored that Marshall Mathers would attend, but no one knew in exactly what capacity. The crowd erupted when he performed the closing credit theme song live and then launched into several cuts from his latest album with the help of his D12 crew. MTV covered the event so make sure to check your local listings.
The movie itself was less enthusiastically received, although not for the reason most would think. 8 MILE follows the successful formula mined by pop acts from Elvis to the Beatles to Prince. Essentially Eminem plays himself, although everyone close to the film denies it, and he does it with a natural and effortless charm. The real casting (or miscasting) problem this film faces is Kim Basinger as the trailer trash mother of Eminem’s of Bunny Rabbit. Her acting is fine but her performance didn’t win me over simply because I couldn’t buy Basinger in the role. The film’s other main flaw is its pacing. Like Hanson’s recent films (LA Confidential and Wonder Boys), 8 Mile isn’t concerned with plotting as much with character. The difference here is that the cast, because while good it doesn’t have the powerhouse line-up of the previous two Hanson film, therefore I was less willing to go along for the leisurely ride. My last gripe about the film is the whole 8 mile concept the film really seems to miss. In the film 8 mile is a border seen as an impenetrable barrier between the haves and have nots. Everyone south of 8 mile is trapped in ghetto hell and that’s all we ever see of Detroit and the surrounding area. To me this seems extremely one dimensional. I actually lived on 8 mile as a small child. It was such a drag to visit family and friends in the nice suburban neighborhoods and then have to come back to my mother’s shit hole apartment with our downstairs neighbors attack Doberman’s barking all night long. Seems to me that not only would this dichotomy heighten the drama but provide motivation for Bunny Rabbit—something to aspire to, much like the Mt. Clemens mansion only minutes away from 8 mile that Eminem bought when he first made it big.
So what’s good about the movie? Besides Eminem’s performance, which naturally includes some terrific rapping, the movie does pretty accurately depict the urban blight that covers most of 8 mile. And the story, while familiar, is told honestly and basically shows how Bunny Rabbit transforms from a working class stiff, who freezes the first time on stage during a rap competiton, to an artist finding his voice against all odds. We all know Eminem became a huge music industry sensation, so there’s no doubt that Bunny Rabbit returns triumphantly to the same competition the movie started. The point of the movie, however, isn’t it’s ground breaking narrative, but in shining a light on the poor white and the rap music that has inspired. With that in mind Curtis Hanson has achieved his goal with the able assistance of an inspired performace.
Later,
The Roach Coach
Thanks, everybody, and glad it sounds like no matter what you thought of the film, it was a fun night out for all involved. Can’t wait to get a peek at this m’self.
"Moriarty" out.
