Reels, Notes and Takes: Week 2

There’s no better place to keep a finger on the pulse of arts and entertainment happenings than Los Angeles. The A&E world is alive – it’s always buzzing, sometimes ready to implode with a hint of a surprise album or a celebrity’s controversial statement. Each week, the Daily Bruin A&E editors will discuss their views on recent topics and trends in pop culture.

So into Donald Glover

Donald Glover is a modern day Renaissance man.

He wrote for and acted in “30 Rock.” As Childish Gambino, his music has been nominated for Grammys. “The Martian,” his most recent acting gig in which he plays a NASA astronomer, has been praised by critics and audiences.

But when his cover of Tamia’s 1998 song “So Into You” was released Oct. 1, he proved that he can really – and I mean really – sing, too.

The cover’s most striking aspect is its incredibly intimate nature. Glover normally raps, but in this song, he serenades you.

As he snaps his fingers, he sings with falsetto and hits high notes à la Frank Ocean singing “Thinkin Bout You.” His voice is backed only with a simple keyboard arrangement. The song remains strikingly simple, even when the guitar and percussion are added at its climax.

The cover’s simplicity greatly contrasts Tamia’s elaborately produced original. Both versions are equally sexy – only Glover modernized it for listeners of 2015.

In one week, the cover video, which was released on YouTube by Australian radio station triple j, has received more than 660,000 views. Even Tamia tweeted her approval for the swoon-inducing cover.

As the song continues to play on repeat on my iPod, I pray for a Childish Gambino R&B album.

– Gail Acosta

Certain death for “Death Note”

Watching anime and reading manga series are two of my recently acquired hobbies, so when my roommate recommended the classic anime “Death Note,” I willingly obliged.

Last week, however, I found out about a live-action Hollywood adaptation of the anime in the works. Guess who is slated to play the main character, Light Yagami?

It’s Nat Wolff, star of “Paper Towns” and “The Fault in Our Stars.”

Here’s why I’m upset about this casting choice. First, I can’t imagine an actor who starred in two John Green novel adaptations playing the menacing anti-hero role of Light, a character who works his way through the plot of “Death Note” literally writing people’s lives away in his notebook.

Second, casting a white actor in a mainstream Hollywood role that should have gone to an actor from the Asian continent misrepresents and is unfair to the original demographic that created and watched the anime.

Even though Japanese live-action adaptations exist, those films were created by Japanese studios for Japanese-speaking audiences.

But when we’re dealing with Hollywood, American studios have an obligation to cast actors reflecting the diversity of cultures and backgrounds of audiences and holding true the original intent of the storyline.

All I can hope for is better casting choices for the other characters.

– Shreya Aiyar

“Twilight” gender bender

One of my biggest complaints of the “Twilight” series is that Bella is a weak leading lady, always acting unstable and dependent on her male counterparts in the novels.

Evidently, author Stephenie Meyer heard this criticism a lot. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of “Twilight,” Meyer unveiled a new book with a twist – the same plotline as “Twilight” but with gender-swapped characters. In “Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined,” Bella is now Beau, Edward is Edythe and Jacob is Julie.

She said she wanted to write something fun to clear up the notion that Bella was a damsel in distress explaining that any human character would appear weak compared to a vampire, the spirit of which I laud. In this very poignant period that revolves around gender roles, it’s wonderful that Meyer put out food for thought by switching her characters.

However, as a reader, I scoff. Do we really need another 442-page vampire romance novel just retold? Frankly, knock-offs of bestsellers are lazy and lame.

Though I am no fan of her writing style, I would have respected Meyer more if she would’ve released an entirely new series rather than capitalize on her old characters out of greed or boredom.

Please, let’s not start chanting about Team Edythe or Team Julie.

– Lindsay Weinberg

Lots of sex, copious drugs and plenty of rock ‘n’ roll

It’s fair to say Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” was a controversial movie.

The countless scenes involving gratuitous drug-taking was too much for some, while others complained the film almost glorified Jordan Belfort’s pill-popping and coke-snorting.

By the looks of it however, Scorsese hasn’t finished with the drug-filled projects yet.

The upcoming drama series “Vinyl,” premiering on HBO in January 2016, has all the ingredients for smash hit.

Created by Terence Winter, the mind behind the criminally successful “Boardwalk Empire,” the show counts Scorsese and Mick Jagger among its producers, with the former set to direct the pilot.

HBO released the first full trailer for the show this week, in which record executive Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale, tries to keep his record label afloat by any means possible.

The clip also shows Mick’s son James Jagger as the lead singer of the fictional punk band Naughty Bits, rocking out as hard as his father once did.

I have to say I am unhealthily excited for the show. Even if Scorsese oversteps the mark sometimes, his visceral visuals and direct storytelling make “Vinyl” one of the must-see shows of 2016.

– William Thorne