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Dec. 24 2009 - 12:40 am | 32 views | 0 recommendations | 3 comments

The Best Music Criticism of 2009

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

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The finest piece of music criticism in 2009 did not come from a paper of record. It did not come from a music-dedicated blog. It came from the disastrously-produced superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

I had the (dis)pleasure of viewing Wolverine the other night, but was tickled pink by one well-put bit of subliminal music criticism. I doubt screenwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods ever intended for this one particular scene to mean anything but what pertained to that moment, but the hidden meaning was impossible to ignore.

In a battle between Victor Creed (played by Liev Schreiber) and John Wraith (Will.i.am), Schreiber uttered the following:

You’re predictable.

Considering the bland rapper and face of Black Eye Peas received the blunt end of this particular sharp insult couldn’t have been more perfect. Well, sure Schreiber’s Creed could have said something along the lines of, say, “your utter lack of creativity is mind numbing,” but that wouldn’t have worked for the scene. And with the Peas’ 2009 singles – “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” – following the same Lowest Common Denominator pop-rap formula that preceding songs such as “My Humps” solidified, Schreiber/Creed got it dead right.


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  1. collapse expand

    Oh boo hoo. “I gotta feeling” made my summer, and anyone who is too much of a music snob to appreciate the simple joy of the song is lamesauce.

    • collapse expand

      Sorry Leah, gotta disagree with you there… I’m pretty sure disliking “I Gotta Feeling” doesn’t have anything to do with music snobbery. It’s got a big, dumb hook just like the past few BEP songs. I mean, my goodness, they rhyme “tonight’s gonna be a good night” with itself for half the song… It’s unnerving!

      In response to another comment. See in context »
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    About Me

    I write about music here at True/Slant. I'm also a freelance writer for the A.V. Club Chicago. I've previously written for The Boston Phoenix, Bostonist, Rock Sound and some school publications.

    I used to book shows. I helped put on concerts featuring: Girl Talk, Man Man, Mission of Burma, The Twilight Sad, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Dirty Projectors, Parts & Labor, Maritime, White Rabbits, Ian MacKaye and countless others.

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    I’m currently a graduate journalism student at Medill. Aside from my True/Slant work, I freelance for The A.V. Club, the Washington City Paper, The Boston Phoenix and blog at Perfect Lines. I’m also working on a book, America Is Just A Word: Post-Hardcore, Emo and American Culture.

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