Michael Jackson. You know the story, you’ve pretty much known since Michael was six and started dancing and jigging and doing a mean robot with his brothers in the Jackson 5. Before he had a Cirque du Soleil show made for him, had everyone dress like him for Halloween, had most musicians count him as the reason they got into music, and went through a massive amount of physical changes, he was just a young star trying to make a name for himself as a solo artist. He had the looks, the charisma, and he damn sure had the talent. We know that he would reach a massive amount of success both in the states and internationally, and that that same gargantuan amount of notoriety constantly made him a target for many rumors and negativity, but before all that, he was just our crush, and we would, in our minds, try and replace Ola Ray with ourselves in the “Thriller” video. Let’s take a look back at Mike’s golden years, around the time of the success of Off The Wall and Thriller. Shall we?

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I’m probably one of the few people in my office right now who wants to see Omarion win. Probably because I used to be a B2K stan (though I had more of an affinity for Lil Fizz), and more or less because I’ve seen him at his best (“Touch” anyone?) and knows he can drop some chart topping stuff. And after watching him dance for his life in almost a comical fashion at the BET Hip Hop Awards a few months ago, I can tell he’s hungry–thirsty even. But at the age of 28, post his boy band heartthrob status and dropping four solo albums, the latter two which were received with lack of enthusiasm, can Omarion really blow up big again? Or better yet, as he says, can he ever be on the level of Michael during Thriller? Beyoncé during Crazy In Love? Justin Timberlake during his FutureSex/LoveSounds reign?

He seems to think so. When talking about his upcoming EP, Care Package, with Billboard, Omarion discussed why he believes that it’s his time now to drop a classic. He’s a new and improved and eclectic O, and he’s excited for the fans, and the haters, to hear what he’s got, especially since he personally feels like most people still look at him as teeny bopping “Bump Bump Bump” Omarion from B2K:

A lot of my fans are adults and have children and lives. It’s really interesting because they still come out and support, the fans that used to chase my car. I think they ready. This is the real grown-up me. This is that age when Beyoncé had ‘Crazy in Love’ and Michael Jackson had ‘Thriller,’ when Justin Timberlake had ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds.’ I feel like I’m at that age. I can’t wait to display this new me.

If he’s trying to show that he’s grown up and out of his dance friendly pop stuff from back in the day, it helps that he’s rolling with Rick Ross and MMG, as he got signed with Ross’ crew after they met up at a strip club of all places. Magic City is the perfect place to do business, right? And since then, he’s been so hype and full of enthusiasm that he’s not letting anybody bring him down. Don’t want to see an Omarion comeback? Well, homeboy says too bad, because it’s coming: “I hope that they hear the emotion and take away one thing, and that’s that I’m coming. I’m going to continue to create music. I’m here, and that’s what it is.”

While I do like Omarion, I can’t say that I really see him making an impact or the type of music that really blew people like Bey, Justin and MJ into the stratosphere of stardom. I feel like that opportunity came and went. But hey, you can’t knock a brotha for trying. Never hurts to be ambitious, or it least it doesn’t hurt much? Care Package drops for free on file sharing sites on November 29, will you check it out?

Ryan: “Man, the look you gave me afterwards…”

Denzel: “Yeah, it was a REAL look. Like what the f***!? [laughs]”

Ryan: “Well, if it was your first on-set black eye, I’m glad it was by an apologetic Canadian.”

If you’ve seen any of the advertisements and TV spots for the new film Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, and read the above correspondence, you probably noticed two things: for one, there is clearly a lot of eye candy for women of all ages in this film, okay? But secondly, there is a whole lot of action, including black-eye inducing car accidents like the one mentioned above, that will keep you fully engaged and sucked in. People are running on the tops of houses in the film, getting caught up in the craziest and most visually insane car chases (Ryan actually drove in a few of those scenes), there are knife fights, actual waterboarding (which Washington says he did with NO stunt double), knock down, drag out, swinging brawls…and Denzel. Sounds like a great Friday night flick right?

The two charming and charismatic actors went in depth about their characters during a press junket about the new film recently. Reynolds plays Matt Weston, the sitter of a South African safe house in which criminals are held for interrogation and protection. When his safe house is attacked by rebels hoping to capture ex-CIA agent Tobin Frost, Weston goes from simple house sitter to a pseudo-agent trying to track down, battle, and often protect Frost. Washington plays the rogue agent, who is both calculated, and at times, pretty sociopathic while trying to escape capture from the agency he turned his back on. In preparing for the role, Washington says he worked with CIA operatives and studied the behavior of sociopaths.

“There are different kinds of sociopaths, and they don’t have to all be violent. Many can just like to create chaos because it’s simply a power thing. A sociopath will do anything to win.”

And he sure does. Frost lies, imitates others, kills and goes through a lot more to be victorious in his complex situation. He’s the ultimate bad guy, but he’s bad for good reasons (I can’t go in depth as to why, you’ll have to find out on your own). If you’ve been pining to see Denzel go from good to bad again (because we loved it in Training Day and so did the Academy), but also want to see him get his Street Fighter on like in The Book of Eli, here’s your opportunity. There are so many twists and turns and acts of betrayal in this film, I found myself with the bug eyes many a time (until a swift knee in the back of my chair knocked me back into my senses). Plus, the small side story surrounding Weston’s relationship issues is intriguing–and so is that body Reynolds has may I add!

All in all, Safe House is a pretty good piece of work. I’m not a die-hard action fan so I didn’t go in with the highest expectations–however, I was pleasantly surprised. Aside from a few slower moments of talking every now and again, it’s very entertaining and will keep your attention throughout its 117 minutes. And even if you were to go in that joint sleepy, there’s no way you would you find yourself knocked out. There’s too much intense action and noise for all that. Oh yeah, and hotness…

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A year ago today, the world was in total shock and disbelief of the untimely passing of Michael Jackson. The King of Pop had become a household name, being in the limelight for 43 years — not many could fathom his nonexistence. As people’s jaws dropped in the beaming hot streets of New York that summer, all I could do was observe. Like a proverbial anthropologist watching how a foreign society works, I felt absolutely no connection to the sadness people felt.

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