Ninna Ninna - Sopranos Song Mystery Revealed

You might remember on Monday, we -- and many other people as it turns out -- were desperately trying to get our hands on the haunting "Ninna Ninna" song that ended the Sopranos 84th episode, "The Second Coming."

We thought the song was actually called "Ninna Nanna" (which we're pretty sure is just an Italian title for the classic Brahms' song "Wiegenlied," or "Cradle song" that we all know), and we weren't totally offbase, the song is basically a lullaby and it is an old Italian folk song (though apparently Calabrian and not Sicilian). Thanks to some google help and the folks at the HBO message boards who revealed the answer: The song is available on a CD titled, "Italian Folk Songs and Dances," at the Smithsonian Global Sound site. The liner notes for this disc can be found here.

You can download the song at the Smithsonian site for 99 cents.

Backtracks: 'Coffy' Soundtrack

A blaxploitation benchmark, the Roy Ayers' Coffy score sits up their alongside Curtis Mayfield's Superfly and Isaac Hayes' Shaft, as one of the era's finest musical moments. The 1973 hit launched Pam Grier's career establishing her as essentially the female face of the genre.

Nimble, percolating, and indubitably funky, Quentin Tarantino appropriated much of Ayer's score outright (not to mention the film's star Grier) for his blaxploitation homage, "Jackie Brown."

Tarantio also "borrowed" the Bobby Womack title track from the film, "Across 110th Street," a Pam Grier song from, "The Big Doll House," and Randy Crawford's "Street Life" from the 1981 Burt Reynolds film "Sharkey's Machine." There's probably a few other appropriations we haven't had time to research either.

The four tracks below are songs originally written for "Coffy," and then aped in "Jackie Brown" (note none of these Ayers tracks are included on the 'Jackie' soundtrack disc).

Download: Roy Ayers - "Escape"
Download: Roy Ayers - "Aragon"
Download: Roy Ayers - "Exotic Dance"
Download: Roy Ayers - "Vittroni's Theme - King Is Dead"

Ferrara and Herzog Give Good Quote

- "I'm the last king of nowhere!" Cantankerous and decrepit director Abel Ferrara succinctly describes his almost non-existent career. On his new stripper film, "Go Go Tales": "What do you think the appeal is? It's basically tits and ass. It's the opportunity to watch beautiful women take their clothes off," says the mild mannered gentleman. The film stars amateur stripper Asia Argento. [Guardian]
- "The danger is to stupidly believe that depicting facts gives us much insight. If facts were the only thing that counted, the telephone directory would be the book of books." The umpteenth Werner Herzog conversation still proves to be far more interesting than you average interview.[A/V Club]

Watch: "Go Go Tales" clip

Morning Dailies: News To Make Your Weekend Complete

- You can't cancel them cause they quit! In case you were living under a rock, Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" was used on "Lost" Wednesday night. It's finally on the web. [YouTube]
- And yeah, someone got fired over those silly Doc Marten ads. Go figure. [Guardian]
- Matt Damon says he's no longer interested in flipping burgers for the "Bourne" franchise. [Coming Soon]
- The trailer of Michael Moore's "Sicko" hit the interweb plus some online clips too. [MTV]
- In case the terrible reviews aren't scaring you away, apparently "Pirates 3: Squeeze Cheese Edition" has an extra scene buried after the closing credits [Coming Soon]
- DePalma-ites are probably mourning Nicholas Cage's exit from his "Untouchables" prequel. Remember these are the same people that thought "Snake Eyes" was an unassailable classic. [EW]
- Miramax has bought the rights to Julian Schnabel's ("Basquiat," "Before Night Falls") "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." A Cannes favorite based on memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, paraplegic former editor of Elle. [Hollywood Reporter]
- With the 30th anniversary of "Star Wars" onhand, an MTV reporter vies for title of biggest dork on planet. [MTV]
- Once keen on just preserving foreign film, Marty Scorsese now wants to make his own foreign film. The mean streets of missionaries in 17th century Japan looks to be his next project [Yahoo]
- Batshit crazy penis-faking actor Tom Sizemore could go to jail for more than two years. [Yahoo]
- British paper ordered to pay $6,000 dollars for observing actresses alarmingly diminishing weight. [CNN]

Sad Sadistic Dane Drops Comedy Before Declaring Depression

Remember how we mentioned fiendish Dane director Lars Von Trier had a debilitating case of the blues?
Well in reporting that his depression might impede his upcoming film (and his carer; he has expressed doubts about his return to film making), "Antichrist," everyone (including ourselves) failed to mention Von Trier's new film, "The Boss of It All," is comedy of all things. 'Boss' is not only very complete, it opens in theaters (at least in New York), like now. The Voice says the film finds him in a "playful mood," (evidently pre-depression) and he even appears on-screen at the beginning of the film to self-deprecating note that there will be "no preaching" and what follows is, "just a cozy time." The A/V Club comments, the film seems like a minor project in comparison to his U.S. harangues and Von Trier also states off the top that the film is "harmless" and "not worth a moment's reflection." Ok, someone was telegraphing their despair and self-esteem issues a mile away.

The New York Times hilariously says the film is, "a cold, misanthropic work that places no faith in institutions and in humanity itself. But it's also very funny." What's it about? Well, it's basically an office comedy with (of course) greater moral implications.

On the heels of all this comes news that Denmark's Royal Theater has commissioned a new opera based on Von Trier's fascistically joyless, "Dancer in the Dark" -- a film so oppressively bleak that Cannes committee awarded it the top prize just so they'd never have to screen it again. Will this be Dogme opera? How does one impose tyrannically pretentious rules to opera? Natural light and acoustics? No yawning? One things for certain, Björk won't be within a mile of this thing.

It's interesting to note: apart from all the aforementioned Bjork vs. Von Trier "Dance in the Dark" scuffles, after production was over, Björk fought to block the director's "Von Trier's 100 Eyes" – a documentary about the making of 'Dancer' and all its tribulations, including the notorious contentious clashes between the director and actress. The Icelandic singer's litigious threats worked. She barely appears in the doc and mention of their skirmishes is mostly glossed over.

Watch: "Boss Of It All" trailer

Homoerotic Mattel Character Coming To The BIG Screen (Again)

It's official: Once just morally bankrupt and unscrupulous, Hollywood now has Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's.

Desecrating the estimable performance of thespian Aryan Dolph Lundgren (he was the scary ass Russian who ate Apollo Creed with no remorse in "Rocky IV") who already played He-Man in the apparently forgettable, "Masters of the Universe," film in 1987, Warner Bros. and oily producer Joel Silver will team-up for yet another version of the live-action cartoon according to Variety.

A wary Matell (hey man, their quality control is of the highest order. Did any of their toys break for you? We didn' t think so.) had already turned down a John Woo remake of He-Man film in 2000, because their hearts just weren't in it. According to the astute writers at Variety, "the franchise has been reimagined by the producer and the writers and pitched to Mattel as a classic good vs. evil battle."

Really??? As opposed to the classic nail salon vs. gay biker bar war that was the original cartoon, movie and franchise?? Jesus fucking christ, sometimes the universe really does astound us.

"I Am A Believer In Joy Division, Fucking Hallelujah": Control Trailer Online

With amazing french subtitles for all you Cannes'ers. The trailer contains the aforementioned "The Jean Genie" by Bowie and a smattering of JD songs including "She's Lost Control," "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Atmosphere."

Even Homer Simpson Baffled By Producers Choice of Songs for Simpson Movie Soundtrack

Homer: [trying to disguise his voice] Hello, my name is Mr. Burns. I believe you have a letter for me.
Postal Clerk: Okay, Mr. Burns, uh, what's your first name?
Homer: [brief pause] I don't know.

Yeah, that's how we felt too.

Tracklisting to the Simpsons soundtrack according to the ever so popular HHNLive.
U Can't Shine Like Me- Lil' Romeo
If You Let Me Go - Jay-Z featuring Omarion
So Emotional - 1 Chance
High Away from You - Lifehouse
I Don't Wanna Understand - Jennifer Lopez featuring Three 6 Mafia
I Believe You - Lyfe Jennings
The Way You Roll With Me - T.I.
Dancing Machine - Maroon 5 featuring Lil' Flip
Simpson - Beanie Sigel featuring Jazze Pha
Since You Get Off The Computer - Fall Out Boy
Back Again - Kai featuring Akon
I Will Kill You - Panic! at the Disco
You Gave My Heart - Keyshia Cole featuring Ludacris
The World Is Yours - N.W.A.
In the Rain - Young Jeezy featuring Lil' Wayne
Lockdown - Joe Budden featuring The Game and Mike Jones
Roll Tide - Ja Rule featuring Lloyd and Nelly
I'm Your Mama - Chris Brown featuring Nas
Go to Bed - David Banner
I Don't Wanna Your Stupid Of Me - Ben Folds
Get Off The Porch - Obie Trice featuring 50 Cent and Eminem

The Candy Stripey-est Whorehouse in Texas

The Malloy Brothers (who have also done videos for Beck, Wolfmother and the Raconteurs) have directed the new White Stripes video for "Icky Thump." It is naturally all over the Interweb.

The Malloys also did the Stripes video for "My Doorbell" and their first feature for MTV Films, "8 Track" (some surf coming-of-age nonsense) is due this year. Zach Braff co-wrote the film.
The Malloys have also done videos for the likes of Avril Lavigne, Metallica, Black Eyed Peas, Kid Rock and other non-indie, therfore slightly dubious and disreputable musicians.

The look of the video looks like a cross between whorehouse chic and Moulin Rouge.

Ich Bein Paranoid!

Says BoobTube: Here is a 1969/70 video of Cindy & Bert doing "Der Hun Von Baskerville"- a brilliant cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" apparently with lyrics relating Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hounds of Baskerville. Features a bored looking Cindy and Bert, some bored looking German mod dancers and an extremeley bored looking pekingese.

Linkification: Trying To Keep Up With Those That Link To Others

- "Dude. If you want to hear vulgar rock n' roll, try my day job. But personally, I only listen to classical; renaissance music and woodwinds in my spare time." - Interpol bassist Carlos D. doing his best to convince anyone who will listen that he is a world renowned film composer and aesthete. [Guardian]
- New "Stars Wars" movies just not featuring the Skywalker family? Sorry FoxNews asshole reporters, you heard wrong, it's just that damn TV series they've been talking about for over a year now. Way to get the nerds of the worlds hopes up. [MovieWeb]
Remember the Hughes brothers? No one else does either. They did the amazing "Menace II Society" and then their career went to shit (see the poignantly embarrassing, "From Hell"). They try and get their career back on track with "Book Of Eli." [Variety]
- John Favreau encourages his actors to diverge from the shitty dialogue written on the "Iron Man" page according to Jeff Bridges. Did he really think he could contain Robert Downey Jr. [MTV]
- John Turturro to star in the fantasy musical inspired, "The Nutcracker: The Untold Story." For serious? The film also stars, Elle "My sister has become to old, please use me" Fanning. [Variety]
- Fauxteur "Crash" director Paul Haggis will again tackle the revitalized Bond franchise; inventively titled, "Bond 22." [L.A. Times]
- Sacha Baron Cohen is shooting "Bruno." So much for being surreptitious. [Defamer]
-Meanwhile his namesake, Borat has "written" two new travel books. [Yahoo]
- Film composer/Police drummer/nave Stewart Copeland tries to convince himself he can persuade Police singer/asshole Sting to improvise during Bonaroo set [Billboard]
- Hacienda, the shoe! [NME]

File Under: Awful Movie; Soundtrack? Surprisingly Not So Offensive

"Freedom Writers"??? Have we gone mad? Yes, this cliche-ridden, "Stand and Deliver" wannabee starring 2-time Academy Award horseface Hillary Swank looks like cinematic tripe of the finest order, however whoever curated the hip-hop flavored soundtrack for this thing is not completely clueless (yes, we were surprised too). The disc features some choice picks by Gang Starr, Digable Planets and the Pharcyde.

And Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It" might be the funniest unfunny song ever.
(PS. as awful as this thing looks, the director has some very respectable credentials. Richard LaGravenese wrote the "Fisher King" and "The Ref" - completely underrated by the way - , directed a segment in "Paris, Je T'aime" and helped the coke-addled and then deceased Ted Demme finish the very excellent 70's golden-age film doc "A Decade Under the Influence")

The score, some of it done by the vile Will.I.Am (from the group Black Eyed Peas; you know the group that insists on looking like retarded day-glo pre-schoolers in all their photos shoots) and some by Mark Isham is surprisingly above reproach.

The disc also includes classics by Tupac ("Keep Ya Head Up"), Naughty By Nature ("Hip-Hop Hooray") and tracks by Cypress Hill and Talib Kweli. This is about 100x more words than we thought we'd write about this soundtrack.

Michel Gondry, Natalie Portman and Paul McCartney: It's The Ghostly New Macca Video

Check the original (British) "The Office" 's Mackenzie Cook as the intrusive delivery boy at the top of the clip and Natalie Portman as an ephemeral ghost in the surpriginsly nice, madonlin-driven "Dance Tonight," by Sir McCartney. Gondry's ghostly projections are not unlike the clip he did for the White Stripes' "Dead Leaves in the Dirty Ground."

The Way We Were: Aging Swedes Use Stones To Look Back On Their Long Gone Youth

Synopsis: "Swedish filmmakers Stefan Berg and Magnus Gertten employ a rare treat-an 8mm amateur home movie featuring the 1965-era Rolling Stones, fresh-faced and young during their inaugural visit to Sweden-to form a backdrop of lives lived, loves lost and all the years that go in between."

The new documentary "Rolling Like A Stone" basically uses the Stone's 1965 visit for a bunch of now paunchy ex-rockers and groupies to look back on their lives in that indulgent, nostalgic "we coulda been a contenda!" way that people do when they've had a brush with fame (and by brush we mean the Stones probably brushed up next to them at a bar or fucked one of their girlfriends and gave them crabs).

Reminiscent of Michael Apted's "Up" series (where Apted follows the same group of people for 40 years, circling back every decade or so to see where their lives have progressed, or regressed since they last met), the Voice calls it "delightfully pensive," the New York Times says the premise is like a "Christoper Guest movie," and Time Out New York says, "Being old and not famous isn’t necessarily a depressing fate, but the film’s musicians and hangers-on are depicted alternately as buffoons pining for their sex-filled halcyon days (the men) and struggling romantics with wrinkly hands (the women)."

Ouch. Proceed with caution. In response to Swedes using the Stones to reflect back on their lives, I've posted some covers of other Europeans doing Stones covers (it's really as close to context as we're gonna get, let's face it).

Download: Trio Sourire - "Satisfaction"
Download: Ananda Shankar - "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
Download: Marie Laforêt - "Marie Douceur, Marie Colère (Paint It Black)"

And just some regular Stones for fun.
Download: Rolling Stones - "Lady Jane"
Download: Rollings Stones - "The Last Time"

Timbaland + The Hives + Sin City= "Throw It On Me"

Speaking of Rodriguez, Timbaland rips a page out of his Frank Miller noir collaboration for his new video, "Throw It On Me." Is it just us or are the fonts more Spider-Man?

Duran DuWhat? Rodriguez to Helm Barbarella Remake

Proving yet again they are fresh out of ideas, Hollywood has enlisted cheap workhorse Mexican director Robert Rodriguez to helm the re-make of “Barbarella,” the ridiculous 1968 cult sci-fi extravaganza that starred a then, very-fetching Jane Fonda as a futuristic mercenary (in case you didn’t know).

"I love this iconic character and all that she represents, and I'm truly excited by the challenge of inviting a new audience into her universe," Rodriguez said.

Perma-tanned dinosaur (and original producer) Dino DeLaurentis hinted at the remake. "In our vision, the future is female," he said. The script is being written by the two guys the revitalized the Bond franchise with "Casino Royale."
[Variety] Oh, this probably means "Sin City 2" is probably going to have to wait a while isn't it? Pity.

What Would Dieter Do? Herzog Brings 'Ecstatic Truth' To New York

When we first started this blog almost two months ago, one of the first things we excitedly wrote about was the Werner Herzog documentary, er non-fiction, retrospective at New York’s estimable film repertory theater, Film Forum. This past Saturday (May 19) we saw the thematic double feature of "Little Dieter Needs To Fly" and "Wings of Hope," (two films about extraordinary people escaping the jungles; the former a POW camp in Vietnam, the latter a teenage girl surviving the Amazon. Both involved in plane crashes) and Herzog himself was on hand to speak and introduce the films.

If you know Herzog (called the "Celluloid Conquistador" by critic J. Hoberman), you know the German director has a way with words; a masterful embellisher, often hypercritical, hyperbolic, unintentionally funny yet full of poetic insight and profundity (which is not unlike the tone of his films). The self-deprecating filmmaker amusingly started off his appearance by apologizing for the poor quality of some of the films in the collection. While he noted that some new prints had been struck, he noted, “to you some will surely be an embarrassment, but better than nothing at all” (‘Dieter’ and ‘Wings’ were both in perfectly fine condition). He also lamented the “concessions” of his personally curated picks, but noted that all the films were “close to my heart.”
The enthusiastic applause after ‘Dieter’ triggered Herzog’s memory of the original reaction to the film by the German ZDF television exec that had commissioned the film for a series entitled “Journey Into Hell.” The exec asked where the toilet was as he felt the film was “appallingly bad” and wanted to vomit (and stayed in the lavatory for 20 minutes doing so).

When asked about his predilection for films centering on the primal vs. the rational, Herzog dismissed having any such “theoretical aims,” using [“Grizzly Man” subject] psychopathic nature enthusiast Timothy Treadwell as an example of subjects who do all the work for him: “He unravels on camera, almost suicidal; he illustrates all the spectrum of humanity.”

“I do not try and define rationality, it would never occur to me to do so,” he said calling his own approach much more spontaneous.

Herzog’s “non-fiction” films are notoriously slippery with fact and reality and the director makes no bones about his distaste for straight-up documentary film. “Cinéma vérité is accountant’s truth,” he said (and famously says often) and by openly shaping and distorting reality if necessary he, “illuminates a deeper truth.” (what Herzog notoriously calls a higher, “ecstatic truth”). “I’m careful and cautious of the term re-enactments,” he said trying to distance himself from docu-dramas.

Highlights and anecdotes of Herzog's talk:
- Herzog, who had spent time in an African prison, was originally asked to use his own life experiences for the “Journeys Into Hell” series. He dismissed the request. “I will not circle around my own navel.”
- Despite Herzog’s insistence to the contrary, Dieter Dengler (no relation to Carlos D.) was convinced his story would reap him riches and kept asking Herzog how they would “share the loot.”
- Dengler was originally unsure whether he wanted to participate in a film about his capture in Vietnam. The crafty director appealed to him the only way he knew how: by driving up to his door with camera crew in hand. Dengler’s vanity and ego had no choice but to relent.
- Dengler died 5 years ago succumbing to Lou Gehrig's disease. He “died like a warrior.”
- On whether his subjects liked the films made about their extraordinary experiences. “I cannot waste my life cringing with worry about whether they [like the films] or not. I am a storyteller and a filmmaker."
- On borrowing the name “Stroszek” for his titular 1977 film. The original character, named Henry S., didn’t want his surname used, so the director asked another friend if he could use his Stroszek last name. "What’s in it for me?," his friend asked? "I will make your name immortal,” the director answered.
- In difficult situations Herzog tends to ask himself, “What would Dieter do?”

Manufactured Consent: Herzog’s Fabrications
Herzog openly admits to reshaping and arranging behind the camera (hence clinging to the non-fiction nomenclature)
- Herzog said that Dengler’s OCD-like compulsive door proclivities were his “own invention.”
- Similarly, the door paintings in Dengler's house which Herzog makes liberated metaphor of, are nothing but household observation the director made. Dengler said they were just paintings he “got at a bargain price.”
- The scene in which Dengler (spoiler ahead) tells the story about his friend Duane’s decapitation: Herzog shot the scene 6 times trying to get Dengler to tell the story in the shortest, most economical way (the original, unedited version went on for more than 30 minutes).
- Other inventions: the jellyfish as death scene and the gigantic airstrip dream. The former was something Herzog coached his subject onto and the latter was another metaphoric invention.
- Juliane Koepcke’s “nightmare” dreams in “Wings of Hope” (an obvious invention that the audience snickered at).

Unfinished Business Complete: "Rescue Dawn"
After both films screened, Herzog treated the audience to a surprise, 5 minute exclusive sneak peek at his upcoming feature film, “Rescue Dawn,” which is based on his “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” and the experiences of the captured Vietnam vet Dieter Dengler. Emaciated again (though not as skeletal as “The Machinist”), Christian Bale plays Dengler, Steve Zahn is his buddy Duane and Jeremy Davies is another unnamed captured American soldier. The first ‘Dawn’ scene that Herzog previewed was taken almost verbatim from ‘Little Dieter’ where Bale (as Dengler) answers the question, “When did you know you first wanted to fly?” It was fascinating to watch Herzog cannibalize his own work.

The following scene was an evening incident where Davies and Bale argue over whether they should escape. Davies character, clearly out of his mind and having already resided in the POW camp for two-harrowing years threatens to narc on Bale if he even attempts to escape.

When Dengler originally saw the complete, ‘Little Dieter’ he turned to Herzog and said, “This is unfinished business.” Herzog said by this he meant there was much more to his story, but Dengler did not want tell these stories on camera and disgrace the memory of the soldiers he was POW'd with. The director said, “Rescue Dawn,” fills out the rest of the story and focuses significantly on the conflict between the captives themselves (in fact, he calls 'Little Dieter' the sequel to "Rescue Dawn" not interested that the non-fiction version came nearly a decade earlier). Gone nearly batshit from horrible conditions, starvation and brutal torture Dengler told Herzog that many times these conflicts would become extremely acrimonious. “I would have strangled and murdered some of them if I was given half the chance."

Herzog Non-Fiction runs May 18- June 7.
Watch: “Rescue Dawn” Trailer

Go Home Already: Late-Date Shortcuts; Michael Moore, Johnny Depp, More

- Michael Moore is getting treated like a rock star at Cannes. His new health care documentary, "Sicko," is a hot property both with audiences, critics and execs alike. About the U.S. Treasure department investigation into the film, the director said, "They want me to name names." [Yahoo]
- Legendary Mancunian club, the Hacienda -- famously depicted in the history of the Manchester music scene film, "24 Hour Party People" -- will open it's doors for one night for the club's 25 anniversary. The establishment shuttered in 2000. [Manchester Evening News]
- Johnny Depp admits of meeting Aged Stone Keith Richards, "I was almost afraid to meet him for a long time, because there is always a fear that your heroes are going to be shitheads." [Rolling Stone]

Miranda July Stars In The New Mike Mills-Lensed Blonde Redhead Video; 4 More Clips Revealed

As pretentious and fun as you might imagine, the new Blonde Redhead video "Top Ranking" features some nice jazzercise moves. Mills and July are dating, and are pretentiously in love, btw. (Mills directed the feature "Thumbsucker" and his known for his eye-catching videos for Air and Sonic Youth)

Yes, the Interweb is all in a tizzy over this video, however some small detective work on our part has revealed that Mills has actually directed 5 new Blonde Redhead videos in total. All of them with an experimental bent.
The first one, "23" is undoubtebly illegal art and appropriates liberally from James Camerons' "Titanic" [see the full video here]

"Impure Hair" is one shot presumably in Los Angeles East side on a gloomy and rainy day (it looks like the Echo Park neighborhood or Los Feliz) that eventually reveals a slowly growing surprise. [see full video here]

"She has dark hair this time. She's running in a trench coat." The video for "Silently" is just a black screen with white lettered sentences about a black man, a woman, a police officer and their understanding. They are presumably written by July as the stink of her wonderful pretention is redolent. [see full video here] Update: As some astute person in our comments notes: "the text in the video for "Silently" describes Madonna's "Like A Prayer" video shot by shot."

"The Dress" is a collection of images of people's faces in tears, not unlike Mills' documentary, "Does Your Soul Have A Cold?" At first their staring adrift, but as the song grows, their sadness turns to full on tears and despair.[full video here]

The fifth one is the aforementioned "Top Ranking" that is viewed above.

To my knowledge these videos aren't available to the public yet, so watch them before they're taken down. The official (and quite beautiful) video for "23," directed by Melodie McDaniel can be seen here.

Download: Blonde Redhead - "Top Ranking"
Download: Blonde Readhead - "Silently"

Mid-Day Short Cuts: Besson, Coen Brothers, Todd Solondz, Rambo, Joker, More

- Luc Besson (influential action film auteur "La Femme Nikita" and "The Profesional") is revered in North America, but his "Cinéma du Blockbuster" is reviled in his native France. Without him there is no "Alias," nor is there elements of "cleaner" characters and girl spy heroines for Tarantino to appropriate, but the egg-headed French are not budging. [New York Times]
- Coen Brothers "shrouded in mystery" "Burn After Reading" script, not so shrouded in mystery? [Vulture]
- Cannes-ing it up with his Angelina Jolie film, "A Mighty Heart," Micheal Winterbottom has signed up for the film "7 Days." The numerical happy director has already helmed "24 Hour Party People" and "9 Songs." [Hollywood Reporter]
- Werner Herzog praises Borat during New York visit. "I like [Borat] for its political boldness. To wear that style of bikini, I wish I had it in me." He also affectionately calls Michael Moore as having "a wild-boar presence," and labeled Fahrenheit 911 "a fine propaganda film." [Vulture]
- Our Herzog report tomorrow. It was ready, but Blogger fucking didn't save it, the piece of shit. [Blogger Sucks]
-Candian indie-actress turned director Sarah Polley is confoundedly level-headed and well-adjusted which makes for an innocuous and pullquote-unfriendly interview [The Onion AV Club]
- "Pirates 3" actor Bill Nighy earns respect through 'Sleazebag of the Year' award at last year's Teen Choice awards [Yahoo]
- Amiable "Mr. Show" comedian Bob Odenkirk's directorial feature film debut, "The Brothers Solomon" is due later this summer. It stars the devlish Will Arnett of "Arrested Development" fame. [A/V Club]
- Paul Reubens (formerly known as Pee Wee Herman) has been cast alongside Demi Moore and Emma Thompson in Todd Solondz's new Talking Heads' titled film, "Life During Wartime" (which apparently is a sort-of sequel or "riff" of "Happiness" [New York Times]
- C-list celebrity Victoria Beckham uses recently relocated L.A. status to muscle into A-List movie awards ceremony. [Yahoo]
- His lipstick is really smeared: Heath Ledger as the Joker revealed. Also Anthony Michael Hall has joined the cast? [Coming Soon]
- Sylvester Stallone punches some dude's head off in the new "extra-psychotic" Rambo Trailer. [AICN]

Sopranos: The Second Coming

Dr. Vogel: "Did you try to stop the beating? "
Anthony Jr.: "I'm one individual, what could I do? "
*Spoilers* Don't read if you didn't see last nights episode.
The antepenultimate episode began with AJ reluctantly waking up to Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty" and then went all downhill from there. Although no one died, it was an incredibly depressing and dark episode with lots of haunting Bergman-esque silence. AJ's attempted suicide was heartwrenching and the Soprano family's complex reaction were equally painful to watch.

Although the HBO website has the haunting song used at the end of the episode listed as "Ninna Ninna," we're pretty positive, it's "Ninna Nanna," a song taken from an Alan Lomax field recording collection of Italian folk songs.
We could be wrong and would love to know either way. We can't compare and contrast at the moment. The episode is not online yet. It was nice to see Peter Bogdanovich again last night.
Update: We just watched again. We were wrong, though perhaps totally not off base. The song we have posted is not even close. However on closer inspection to the Sopranos ending, we're pretty sure the song is still "Ninna Nanna," not "Ninna Ninna," and this might be a different version of what we believe is a traditional Sicilian folk song and possibly a lullaby (which would make sense given the context of the final shot; it's just not the song we posted). Curiously enough, the "music" section of this 84th Sopranos episode was de-linked today from the main episode page. Done on purpose? A mistake? Hard to say the original page is still here. Update: this was fixed. Why was it down? No clue, HBO has still not made any link available to the song used in the episode. We have found it here.

Download: "Chamillionare - Ridin' Dirty"
Download: Unknown - "Nina Nanna"

NY-Centric: Do Not Miss Theater

There's an amazing wealth of repertory films coming to New York. One would assume and hope that these lauded and often, hard-to-see movies will be coming to your city shortly. A quick round-up.
- Twisted Souls: 4 By John Schlesinger only runs May 25-26, but it features "The Day of the Locust," called “marvelously foolhardy,” by New York Times critic Vincent Canby. “Less a conventional film than a gargantuan panorama.”
- The Coolest Lethal Weapon is currently running at the Film Society of Lincoln Center from May 11 to May 24. The retrospective celebrates, steely-eyed grouch and '60s tough guy Lee Marvin. Ok, granted, most of it is over, but hopefully non-New Yorkers will get to enjoy this too. We recommend "Point Blank,"the ridiculous gold rush musical, "Paint Your Wagon" and "The Killers."
- BAM's Afro-Punk Festival runs June 29- July 5 and features the Sun-Ra film, "Space Is The Place," D.A. Pennebaker's "Jimi Plays Monterey," Cinqué Lee's (Spike Lee's brother) "UR4 Given," the Assata Shakur Black Panther documentary, "Eyes of the Rainbow," Samuel Fuller's controversial and career-killing "White Dog,"the titular "Afro-Punk," "Bad Brain Shorts" and "A Conversation With Basquiat" - Directed by Tamra Davis (Mike-D's wife and the director of "Billy Madison") the film has been unseen for years and features some of the only known video of Basquiat working.
- Also at BAM, during their Sundance Institute program, is the new documentary, "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten" that plays June 2 and 8. The film is directed by Julien Temple, the man behind the Sex Pistols documentary, "The Filth & The Fury."

We hate to be so New York-centric, but at the same time, it's incredibly hard to keep up with all the going-on's in other cities. So if you do see a retrospective playing in your city that you think I should note, please email me. I would love to note repertory work for other cities and cinephiles.

The Greatest Tracking Shots In The History of Cinema?

The fine folks at Daily Film Dose have put us to shame with an amazing feature called, "The Greatest Long Tracking Shots In Cinema." They've curated an incredible collection of uninterrupted and choreographed camera shots from famous scenes that are not disrupted by edits and sometimes last up to 8 minutes. Their list includes some eminent scenes: the opening to Robert Altman's "The Player,"Gaspar Noé's "Irreversible," Marty Scorsese' dynamic Copacabana walk-through in "Goodfellas" (to the swelling sounds of the Crystal's "And Then He Kissed Me") and many, many more. Below are three of our favorites. We're highly impressed with with the work and context Daily Film Dose put into this.

Watch: "Children Of Men" (Dir. Alfonso Cuaron)


Watch: "The Passenger" (Dir. Michaelangelo Antonioni)


Watch "Week End" (Dir. Jean Luc Godard)

Comedian Sheds Remaining Dignity To Peddle Bee Movie

Former comedian turned killer insect, Jerry Seinfeld smiles brief seconds before descending on the Cannes film festival on Friday May 18.
The senseless and brutal attack killed 94 French journalists and wounded 27, including "Green Card" co-stars Gerard Depardieu and Andie Macdowell – a film made over a decade ago and never seriously considered for Cannes competition.