The Stories about Music Films: 37. 8 Mile (2002)

Basic Info

Title: 8 Mile

Genre: Drama, Music

Country: United States

Language: English

Running time: 110 minutes

Release date: November 8, 2002

Staff

Director: Curtis Hanson

Producer: Curtis Hanson, Brian Grazer, Jimmy Iovine

Written by: Scott Silver

Music: Eminem

Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto

Edited by: Jay Rabinowitz

Cast

Eminem as Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr.

Mekhi Phifer as Future

Brittany Murphy as Alex Latourno

Kim Basinger as Stephanie

Summary

"8 Mile" is a 2002 American drama film written by Scott Silver and directed by Curtis Hanson. It starred Eminem, who made his film debut, with Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy and Kim Basinger. 

The film, which contains the autobiographical elements from Eminem's life, follows white rapper B-Rabbit and his attempt to start a career in hip-hop, a genre dominated by African-Americans. 

The film's title was derived from 8 Mile Road, the highway between Detroit, a city where blacks are dominated, and the largely white-dwelling area to the north.

The film was well-received and commercially successful, and the soundtrack album recorded quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 

The film had numerous nominations and wins, including an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself” at the 75th Academy Award, and was named one of the best films of 2002 in several publications.

Movie Review

“Powerful silences“

“Dark but interesting”

“A Hip-Hop Movie Masterpiece”

“Excellent Drama”

“Great Film”

“Amazing movie”

“Best hip hop movie of all time”

Interesting stories about the film

1. “Lose Yourself”, recorded especially for this film, became the first Academy Award-winning rap song.

2. The sheet of paper that Jimmy wrote on the bus is the real sheet on which Eminem wrote "Lose Yourself." The sheet of paper was sold for $10,000 on an eBay auction.

3. Future was based almost entirely on Proof, Eminem's best friend, from hosting the battles to the story of how he got his name.

4. Eminem did not receive his Academy Award in person. Because he was so convinced that another nominee would win, he did not attend the awards ceremony. Instead he was sleeping at that time and his daughter watched cartoons on the night he won.

5. In the movie, Jimmy's mother says that he got his nickname Rabbit because he had big teeth like a rabbit when he was a child. In real life, Eminem's relatives called him "Mickey" in reference to "Mickey Mouse" for the same reason.

Thank you.

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61. History of Pop Music: 6. 2000s, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 61st lecture.

The lecture topic for this week is “Pop Music in 2000s”. It is a summary of the contents of “61st ACJ Music Academy, History of Pop Music: 6. 2000s”, which was introduced on September 10, 2016.

Unlike the previous period, the 2000s was a period when many musical styles were not created or didn’t appear except for some genres such as Emo. Teen Pop continued its popularity in this period as singers such as Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera dominated the music charts at the beginning of this period. The music genre that was absolutely popular for most of this period was Hip hop, but Rock music was still popular, especially alternative rock, post grunge, nu metal, pop punk and emo. Country music was still a popular music genre at this period.

Hip hop was most popular pop music genre in the early 2000s. Eminem, the most famous of the few successful white rappers of this period, enjoyed tremendous popularity and commercial success. According to the Billboard charts, the two albums released by Eminem were included in the five best-selling albums in the 2000s. After the release of the album “Relapse,” Eminem was recorded as the best-selling rapper of all time and became a leader in album sales at this period across all musical genres.

Eminem

In case of Rock, in 2002, Avril Lavigne became the most famous artist, who entered a new musical genre called Pop punk to the mainstream in the pop music field, with her hits such as "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi".

Avril Lavigne

In the early 2000s, people started to focus their interest in Rap Metal and Rap Rock, a style similar to the genre called Nu Metal, which appeared as a new wave in the Metal field. Nu Metal's popularity began in the late 1990s, and the genre began to be introduced by early music of the bands such as Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and Coal Chamber.

With the success of Korn's third studio album, “Follow The Leader,” Nu Metal entered the mainstream. Rap Rock gained popularity with artists such as System of a Down, Evanescence, Stained, Papa Roach and Disturbed.

Korn

Evanescence

Emo entered the mainstream in the early 2000s when Jimmy Eat World's album “Bleed American” recorded platinum sales. The new Emo gained more popularity among adolescents than before, while the use of the term “Emo” expanded beyond the field of music, being linked to other cultures such as fashion and hairstyles. Artists who were popular in the Emo genre at this period were Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Panic! At The Disco.

Jimmy Eat World

Paramore

During this period, the girl groups continued popularity along with The Pussycat Dolls and Destiny's Child. Pop rock artist Pink released her debut album "Can't Take Me Home" in 2000, and at this period, she sold over 70 million single albums including "Get the Party Started", "Stupid Girls”, and "So What". 

The Pussycat Dolls

Pink

Lady Gaga appeared at this period and revived the popularity of Electronic music that had not been a popular genre since 2000. Her debut album, “The Fame (2008),” ranked no.1 in Canada, Austria, Germany, the UK and Ireland, and no.1 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. The songs "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" included in this album became worldwide hits and ranked no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Lady Gaga

Country music continued its popularity during this period as well, and one of the most successful new artists during this period was Carrie Underwood. In 2005, Underwood became the first American idol Winner among singers whose main genre is country rather than Pop, Rap, or Rhythm and Blues.

Carrie Underwood

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Next week, I will start another topic entitled “The History of Rock”, which will last 12 weeks.

Thank you.