“Words are weapons in the world’s most brutal lyrical sport.” That’s from the promo description of Bodied, the first ever fiction feature film about battle rap. The surely common question, “What the hell is battle rap?” gets a bracing answer within minutes of the film’s opening. The “lyrical sport” consists of two (or sometimes teams of two) rappers, with no music to back them, competing against each other to see who can be more virtuosic with their threats and/or insults.Helmed by music video director Joseph Kahn, Bodied is a wild, jacked-up trip—disjunctive but somehow graceful. Kahn and his team jump across space, use slow- and fast-motion, push in on characters and switch perspectives with a mixture of finesse and aggression that’s entirely fitting for the story material. So much rap—and especially this kind of it—is about refined style applied to unrefined material,...
- 11/30/2018
- MUBI
There’s a moment near the beginning of Bodied, Joseph Kahn’s brittle battering ram of a battle-rap comedy, where a character explains the difference between using lines and bars. You get off a handful of good lines when you’re facing an opponent in a freestyle battle, just two people in a ring armed with nothing but envious vocabularies and beaucoup insults … you can impress folks. They know you have some skills. But you come up with some kick-ass bars — what’s loosely categorized here as an interlocking, layered series of bap-bap-bap verbal jabs,...
- 11/1/2018
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
I’m going to be trying something a little bit new today, as an experiment. For those of you who don’t know, I’m now a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, so I want to attempt to give more of what I see a write up, in order for it to show up there. So, for a busy week like this, I decided to lump three films into one long post. It’s essentially a trio of slightly shorter articles in one shot. Perhaps it’ll be a recurring thing. We’ll see. For this inaugural attempt, the three movies that open this week are the satire Bodied, the family flick The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and the long lost Orson Welles curiosity The Other Side of the Wind. Here goes nothing… — *Bodied* It’s incredibly satisfying to see a satire really go for broke. Too often, the razor is on the dull side.
- 11/1/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Stars: Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Rory Uphold, Jonathan Park, Walter Perez, Shoniqua Shandai, Charlamagne Tha God, Dizaste, Debra Wilson, Anthony Michael Hall, Lisa Maley, Eddie Perino, Eric Allen Smith, Candice Renee, Daniel Rashid | Written by Joseph Kahn, Alex Larsen | Directed by Joseph Kahn
There have been plenty of movies featured at Frightfest that aren’t exactly ‘horror’ movies. They are featured for several reasons. Be it the director is more well known for genre movies or the movie is so good that it’s too good an opportunity to miss by not having it at the festival. With Joseph Khan’s Bodied, both of those reasons can apply. His previous film Detention was a comedy horror and ,as for the second part of my sentence, I’ll go into more details below but Bodied is a fantastic film!
A story about battle rap as a thesis for a student isn...
There have been plenty of movies featured at Frightfest that aren’t exactly ‘horror’ movies. They are featured for several reasons. Be it the director is more well known for genre movies or the movie is so good that it’s too good an opportunity to miss by not having it at the festival. With Joseph Khan’s Bodied, both of those reasons can apply. His previous film Detention was a comedy horror and ,as for the second part of my sentence, I’ll go into more details below but Bodied is a fantastic film!
A story about battle rap as a thesis for a student isn...
- 9/10/2018
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
Platform lines up theatrical release for 2018.
YouTube Red has set a sneak preview in Sundance for Bodied after acquiring the battle rap satire that won the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award in Toronto and is produced by Eminem.
The ambitious platform plans a 2018 theatrical release on the film by music video director Joseph Kahn about a progressive grad student whose accidental battle rap success sparks outrage. Battle rapper turned screenwriter Alex Larsen wrote the script.
Eminem and his manager and Def Jam Records CEO Paul Rosenberg produced with Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin.
Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Shoniqua Shondai, Walter Perez, and Rory Uphold star. Bodied also features battle rappers Dizaster, Dumbfoundead, Hollow Da Don, and media personality Charlamagne Tha God.
The satire also won audience awards at AFI Fest and Fantastic Fest. YouTube Red negotiated the dal with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers.
The sneak preview in Park City builds on YouTube...
YouTube Red has set a sneak preview in Sundance for Bodied after acquiring the battle rap satire that won the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award in Toronto and is produced by Eminem.
The ambitious platform plans a 2018 theatrical release on the film by music video director Joseph Kahn about a progressive grad student whose accidental battle rap success sparks outrage. Battle rapper turned screenwriter Alex Larsen wrote the script.
Eminem and his manager and Def Jam Records CEO Paul Rosenberg produced with Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin.
Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Shoniqua Shondai, Walter Perez, and Rory Uphold star. Bodied also features battle rappers Dizaster, Dumbfoundead, Hollow Da Don, and media personality Charlamagne Tha God.
The satire also won audience awards at AFI Fest and Fantastic Fest. YouTube Red negotiated the dal with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers.
The sneak preview in Park City builds on YouTube...
- 1/17/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
YouTube Red has picked up global rights to the satirical hip-hop movie Bodied, directed and written by music video helmer Joseph Kahn and produced by Eminem, his manager and Def Jam Records CEO Paul Rosenberg. Bodied follows Adam Merkin, a grad student who suddenly becomes a battle rapper, and whose success breeds outrage in Oakland’s underground hip-hop scene. The film stars Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Shoniqua Shondai, Walter Perez, and Rory Uphold in addition to a…...
- 1/17/2018
- Deadline
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the films that will be featured in their New Auteurs and American Independents sections at the upcoming AFI Fest 2017 presented by Audi. Selections include a number of lauded features from around the festival circuit, including Cannes offerings like “I Am Not a Witch,” SXSW favorites like “Gemini” and “Mr. Roosevelt,” the Sundance breakout “Thoroughbreds,” and Joseph Kahn’s Toronto Midnight Madness favorite “Bodied,” among others.
Highlighting first- and second-time feature film directors, New Auteurs is designed as the festival’s platform for upcoming filmmakers from all over the world to showcase their new films. This year, the section includes 11 films, nine of which come from female directors. Similarly, AFI Fest’s American Independents section aims to represent the best of this year’s independent filmmaking. Pushing boundaries of form and content across narrative and documentary cinema, this section includes 11 films from both fresh...
Highlighting first- and second-time feature film directors, New Auteurs is designed as the festival’s platform for upcoming filmmakers from all over the world to showcase their new films. This year, the section includes 11 films, nine of which come from female directors. Similarly, AFI Fest’s American Independents section aims to represent the best of this year’s independent filmmaking. Pushing boundaries of form and content across narrative and documentary cinema, this section includes 11 films from both fresh...
- 10/16/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
From the moment Bodied opens with a promotional advert for the Killafornia Battle League (in which we’re *immediately* told to “suck a dick!”) to the very last insert-rap-lyric-here outro line, director Joseph Kahn and co-writer Alex Larsen assassinate political correctness with pop-culture lyricisms and heat-seeking regard. Ninjas of the rapped word in their ranks, racial appropriation and misrepresented social justice tenacity in their crosshairs. We no longer can share a single thought without offending someone, somewhere, who wants to score uncashable “woke points” – and Kahn wants to make their fragile little minds explode. This is two straight hours of offensive battle rap bars, non-stop hilarity, layered introspection and the most stylized, take-no-prisoners commentary on what a black-and-white minefield our behavioral ethics have become.
That, and it’s the most motherflippin’ fun you’ll have in a theater of any kind this year, the next, and probably many to come.
That, and it’s the most motherflippin’ fun you’ll have in a theater of any kind this year, the next, and probably many to come.
- 9/29/2017
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
The internet may be a useful everyday tool that we take for granted, but at its core, it has the power to be devastating and deadly. In the darkest reaches of the web are the most horrifying of possibilities, and even if you’ve never been a victim yourself, chances are you’ve at least heard some terrifying stories involving the deep web.
The upcoming Lrm-exclusive digital series, Dark/Web, will be tackling some of those possibilities. The single story will be told over the course of the eight-part series, but embedded into each of the episodes are bite-sized “segments” that act as mini-anthologies within the show.
It’s been a good while since we’ve had an update from Dark/Web, but when it rains it pours!
Last week, Variety announced a whole laundry-list of great talent that boarded the series, including Robert Davi, Hayley Marie Norman (Chris Rock...
The upcoming Lrm-exclusive digital series, Dark/Web, will be tackling some of those possibilities. The single story will be told over the course of the eight-part series, but embedded into each of the episodes are bite-sized “segments” that act as mini-anthologies within the show.
It’s been a good while since we’ve had an update from Dark/Web, but when it rains it pours!
Last week, Variety announced a whole laundry-list of great talent that boarded the series, including Robert Davi, Hayley Marie Norman (Chris Rock...
- 4/18/2017
- by Joseph Medina
- LRMonline.com
Things just got more real with Dark/Web. The Lrm Exclusive digital series just locked down Ghost Rider himself, Gabriel Luna, to partake in “Zero." Luna definitely made his presence felt on the most reason season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was also the star of El Rey's Matador. His Dark/Web episode, "Zero," is one of the anthology portions of the show.
For those confused by what we mean by “anthology portion,” it’s probably best to recap the unique format that Dark/Web utilizes.
Dark/Web's structure combines the classic, standalone stories traditionally found in an anthology series with an overarching, season-long mystery. Each episode consists of two parts:
A portion of the serialized tale that continues week after week. A stand-alone horror/sci-fi short, presented in the form of stories that Molly left behind; each written and directed by a different filmmaker.
As mentioned above, Luna will star in “Zero,...
For those confused by what we mean by “anthology portion,” it’s probably best to recap the unique format that Dark/Web utilizes.
Dark/Web's structure combines the classic, standalone stories traditionally found in an anthology series with an overarching, season-long mystery. Each episode consists of two parts:
A portion of the serialized tale that continues week after week. A stand-alone horror/sci-fi short, presented in the form of stories that Molly left behind; each written and directed by a different filmmaker.
As mentioned above, Luna will star in “Zero,...
- 1/9/2017
- by Mario-Francisco Robles
- LRMonline.com
Coming off one of the best films of last year, Tangerine, director Sean Baker is going from iPhone to 35mm for his next feature, The Florida Project. We spoke with him about the drama and now it’s recently gone into production, with Willem Dafoe spotted on set. Currently shooting in Orlando, it follows a six-year-old and her group of friends during summer break as they adventure and soar on youth while their parents handle real-life problems. Although there are no details on his role, one could assume Dafoe will play one of these parents. [Page Six]
In other news, Woody Harrelson may already re-team with director Rob Reiner after their recently-shot Lbj with a “politically charged” Iraq war drama titled Shock and Awe, Deadline reports. James Marsden has also been added to the growing cast list. The drama will be penned by Joey Hartstone, who also wrote their last collaboration. The...
In other news, Woody Harrelson may already re-team with director Rob Reiner after their recently-shot Lbj with a “politically charged” Iraq war drama titled Shock and Awe, Deadline reports. James Marsden has also been added to the growing cast list. The drama will be penned by Joey Hartstone, who also wrote their last collaboration. The...
- 7/13/2016
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
Last year, producer Adi Shankar and director Joseph Kahn took nostalgia to a whole new level with the Power/Rangers short film. The short was a whole new (bootlegged) take on the property. It was unnecessarily dark and gritty in the best way possible, and it took the characters we knew and loved and twisted them in new ways that would never fly in a legit Power Rangers film.
TheWrap is now reporting that Shankar and Kahn are re-teaming for a feature-length film entitled Bodied. Bodied is being called a racial relations satire, and the story was developed by Kahn and champion battle rapper Alex "Kid Twist" Larsen.
Principal photography is already underway on the project, but details regarding the plot are rather scarce. All the outlet was able to report is that the film "tackles race relations using the world of hip-hop rap battles as an entry point."
Set...
TheWrap is now reporting that Shankar and Kahn are re-teaming for a feature-length film entitled Bodied. Bodied is being called a racial relations satire, and the story was developed by Kahn and champion battle rapper Alex "Kid Twist" Larsen.
Principal photography is already underway on the project, but details regarding the plot are rather scarce. All the outlet was able to report is that the film "tackles race relations using the world of hip-hop rap battles as an entry point."
Set...
- 7/12/2016
- by Joseph Medina
- LRMonline.com
Adi Shankar and Joseph Kahn, the filmmakers behind the popular “Power/Rangers” bootleg short film, are re-teaming for a feature-length satire about race relations, TheWrap has learned exclusively. Kahn, who is directing “Bodied,” developed the story with screenwriter and champion battle rapper Alex “Kid Twist” Larsen. Shankar is producing alongside Jil Hardin. Although principle photography is already underway in Los Angeles, the log line is being kept under wraps. But “Bodied” tackles race relations using the world of hip-hop rap battles as an entry point. Also Read: Bryan Cranston Compares 'Power Rangers' Movie to 'Dark Knight' Callum Worthy,...
- 7/12/2016
- by Greg Gilman
- The Wrap
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