Just in time for NBA All-Star weekend 2K11, the battle between the forces of good and evil duke it out on the unlikeliest of stages: the basketball court. If the inhabitants of Middle Earth thought they went to hell and back over just one ring, then they’ve never experienced the power of the NBA championship ring. Its current holder, The Black Mamba, has a price on his feet and “The Boss” will stop at nothing until he obtains the sacred pair of Nike Zoom Kobe VI’s for his collection. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the weekend, I spent time in Los Angeles for Nike Basketball’s All-Star Pre-Heat bash, which consisted of seeing the trailer for Kobe’s The Black Mamba movie and taking in the Lakers-Celtics matchup at Staples Center. And of course, we were allowed to view upcoming Nike releases centered around the 2011 NBA All-Star game, dubbed The Neighborhood Collection, Read the rest of this entry »

The Kobe VI’s receive a 3D enhancement to an almost staggering effect previously unseen. MarqueeSole has the first photos and the sneakers are awesome. Using a base gray, a print layer covers the shoes’ signature scale print, one that creates a blurred effect similar to watching a 3D film sans the special glasses. Each shoe has alternating red and teal blue accents mismatched on each shoe, translucent soles, Kobe’s logo across the tongue and a pair of 3D shades on the back of the tongue. Read the rest of this entry »

We recently posted the Phoenix Sun’s stance on Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration bill, but I think the ironic tale of a pissed off day laborer with some skills handling sharp things might be a little more vivid in spreading awareness. In honor of Cinco De Mayo, director Robert Rodriguez and actor Danny Trejo send a little message to the state of Arizona followed with their updated trailer to their film Machete.

After watching the trailer you just have to laugh at the irony. Let’s break down the plot:

Title character Machete (Trejo) gets an offer to assassinate the Senator (surprisingly casted as Robert Deniro) who wants to get rid of all illegal immigrants. After Machete gets double crossed, he bands with his Mexican comrades to massacre all the bad guys with tree trunk sized swords and a cartoon huge gatling gun fixed onto his Harley. Add on the casting of Jessica Alba actually playing a Mexican for once (strangely, it’s a stretch).

The movie is a farce of course, poking fun at Mexican stereotypes while empowering Latin actors in lead roles, similarly to Blaxploitation films. Although they can laugh at themselves in the film, its just a strange coincidence that SB 1070 actually got passed into state law – the bad guys do exist!

So you can tell that Rodriguez, in artistic fashion, went subtle with flipping the bird to Governor Brewer and the lawmakers of John Mcain’s home state. They didn’t have to get super political on it. The tagline of the film just reveals it all: “They soon realize that they just f#@ked with the wrong Mexican.”