Toronto Film Fest Gets Cronenbergs 'Promises' And More

Earlier this week, the Toronto International Film Festival announced some of the movies that have been added to their roster in September.

David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" which re-teams him with "History of Violence" star Viggo Mortensen will get the gala treatment. The holocaust drama, "Emotional Arithmetic" starring Susan Surandon will have the privilege of closing the festival.

Another gala premiere will be Denis Arcand's new film L'Âge des Ténèbres (Days of Darkness), a film that involves the fantasy life of a clock-punching civil servant (Arcand did the acclaimed, "The Barbarian Invasions").

One of our favorite producers, Canadian musician Daniel Lanois has his own documentary "Here Is What Is," where he, along with filmmakers Adam Vollick and Adam Samuels, document recording sessions with artists including U2, Sinead O'Connor and Aaron Neville (someone please say he scored some Time Out of Mind Dylan sessions on tape too).

Another Canuck fave, Guy Maddin will premiere his "docu-fantasia" film "My Winnipeg" which stars his mother and was partly filmed in the house where he grew up (Maddin has some very strange oedipal complex, see his recently released and very excellent, "Brand Upon The Brain!"). Maddin plans to provide a live narration during screening of the film (which he also did for 'Brain,' but with celebrities like Crispin Glover and Lou Reed).

Bruce McDonald will also show his name film, "The Tracey Fragments," which contains music created by his buddies and former musical score collaborators, Broken Social Scene. Other notable films include Allan Moyle's slacker-drug comedy "Weirdsville."

This years talent Lab is being hosted by indie favorites John Sayles and Tilda Swinton as well as nebbish Canadian film staple Don McKellar.

Iggy Pop Rescinds Endorsement Of Iggy Pop Biopic

Iggy Pop is a strange fellow. First he endorses and approves the casting of Elijah Wood in the intended biopic of his life and the Stooges, then, as we mentioned a few weeks ago, he seemed to start having cold feet and now he's probably come to his senses and realized that Frodo as Iggy Pop is just not a good look.

The tune Pop is singing now is totally different; he told Gigwise: “At the moment neither of them have my permission to be made. Frankly I wish they’d both fuck off and leave their biopics.”

Oh, Iggy, you're so mercurial. Oh yeah, in the same Gigwise piece he also apologizes for using racial epithets against Pakistanis. Way to go Iggy!

Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited Gets Postered; No Mothersbaugh?

The poster for Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited" has hit the Internets and this time it's for real. Definitely much more real than that fake poster that was circulating as the legit thing back in May. You'll notice this real one has a very similar color scheme and font as Anderson's much-maligned "The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou."

Closer inspection of the poster confirms thing we already know: the film is written by Wes and Roman Coppola (Sofia's big brother) and Jason Schwartzman.

The cast in the poster has no mention of Natalie Portman or the alleged cameo for Bill Murray and just mentions the three principals (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Schwartzman) and Anjelica Huston.

Does that mean Portman isn't in it? (a cameo isn't going to be listed, period). Hard to say, her role could also be very small.

The big omission that catches our eye is the exclusion of longtime musical collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh. The former Devo-ite who has scored all of Wes' films up until now is apparently not on board for this one. Instead the poster reads "featuring music from the films of" Satyajit Ray ("The Apu Trilogy") and Merchant Ivory (British/Indian production duo of uptight early 20th Century British mien) which means the music of Ravi Shankar definitely and possibly Ustad Vilayat Khan (another Sitar maestro) and classical sarod player Ali Akbar Khan. After 1961's "Teen Kanya," Ray began composing much of his own music for his films, so there's a strong possibility his own compositions will make the 'Darjeeling' cut.

Merchant Ivory actually makes sense for those scratching their heads - many of their early films are set in India (where the 'Darjeeling' takes places) and written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, a Polish/German novelist who married an Indian architect and based many of her early books on her experiences in said country. The 1969 Merchant Ivory film, "The Guru," was based loosely based off George Harrison's first visit to India in September 1966 to study with Ravi Shankar, for example (the aforementioned Khan wrote the music).

Wes, like Tarantino, is not afraid of recycling original film music and reused Bob Dylan's ""Billy (Main Theme") in "The Royal Tenebaums" (Dylan composed the original song and score for the Sam Peckinpah 1973 film, "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid"; Dylan also took a role as "Alias," a minor member of Billy's gang. Wes also used Zimmy's "Wigwam" from Self Portrait in the film.). Anderson also recycled himself: the Mothersbaugh reconciliation piece, "Snowflake Music" was used in both "Bottle Rocket" and "Rushmore" in the exact same manner.

This doesn't necessarily mean that there will be no pop or trademark '60s Anderson-esque British Invasion rock in the film as music not originally made for the film is never listed on film posters, but we're thinking without Mothersbaugh, we might be in store for something entirely different.

According to Anderson the film is about three brothers on a spiritual trip after their father has died "but it really just turns into a bender." Fox says the film is "an emotional comedy about three brothers re-forging family bonds. The eldest, played by Wilson, hopes to reconnect with his two younger siblings by taking them on a train trip across the vibrant and sensual landscape of India." "As happened his previous film, The Darjeeling Limited" is already set to appear as a Criterion DVD release.

Download: Mark Mothersbaugh "Let Me Tell You About My Boat"
Download: Bob Dylan - "Main Title Theme (Billy)"
Download: Bob Dylan - "Wigwam"
Download: Mark Mothersbaugh - "Snowflake Music"

Wolverine Gets Ready To Sharpen Claws...Man, That Was Lame

Gavin Hood is set to direct Hugh Jackman in the upcoming "Wolverine" movie that is shooting this November and scheduled to hit theaters sometime in 2008. Hood directed the 2005 Oscar winning foreign language film, "Tsotsi." Another franchise just waiting in the wings, we're not sure why Jackman would want to put up with that stupid haircut for so long. [Variety]

Speaking of nerd heroes, an X-men 4 movie? The Silver Surfer spin-off that people would actually take seriously? The "logical" Transformers sequel? There's always a buck to be flipped. [AP]

"I like bits. I practiced that line for three days. When Ryan says, 'You know I have to ask you' - which is one of the dumbest prefaces of all time - I think, 'Maybe I'll just answer you in Japanese. And then you'll have to figure it out. So now I'm on top." - John Mayer proves he's not instantly witty and in fact is lame enough to rehearse comebacks in advance (Mayer left Ryan Seacrest with his dick in the wind on TV earlier this year when he knew the Idol host was about to ask him about his relationship with Jessica Simpson; and we thought he might actually be fast on his feet...). [Page Six]

- Alien Ant Farm's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" at number 6 on the Top 100 Covers of all Time completely invalidates the rest of this New York Post curated "list." [NYPost]

The "Superbad" cast thinks the Harry Potter finale just abruptly cuts to black. [MTV]

Seth Rogen is a Hornet: Conan Gets Dissed By Simpsons

Apparently "Knocked Up" star Seth Rogen has sealed the deal to write and star in the long-delayed Green Hornet movie (Michel Gondry was attached to it years and years ago). [L.A. Times]

Speaking of, Michel Gondry's teenage son has directed his first music video for The Willowz, a band that Gondry seems to heart; he has used their music in both 'Eternal Sunshine' and "The Science of Sleep." He also directed their video, "I Wonder." [The Daily Swarm]

''I cleared my talk show schedule for a year at great financial cost to myself, got an apartment right outside the Fox lot, and told them I was ready to report to work. All I heard back was that they were having trouble finding me a parking space, and then they stopped returning my calls altogether." - Conan O'Brien was ready to work on the Simpsons movie as a writer and then got seriously dissed. PS, this is a joke.[EW]

Corey's Haim and Feldman cry at the news that studios are moving ahead with a belated "Lost Boys 2" sequel and their services will not be required. Could this be a high-concept prank? Any thing's possible. [Myspace]

Catalina Sandino Moreno ("Maria Full of Grace") has joined the cast of Steve Soderbergh's two-film Che Guevarra films. Titled, "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla," they star Benicio del Toro as "Che," plus actresses Julia Ormond and Germany's Franka Potente ("Run Lola Run"). [Variety]

Tom Cruise is going to make for the sexiest Nazi in Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie." [Defamer]

From the mailroom to the top files: Ben Dey, an assistant working in the friggin' mailroom at CAA, jumped up several rungs on the Hollywood ladder by successfully pitching an idea to producer Brian Grazer (who does all the Ron Howard films). The sales pitch came at Grazer's annual patronizing lunchtime meeting where he entertains interns and other low hanging fruit with their worthless ideas. However, this year Dey's comedy pitch actually made the cut. [AP]

And lastly to my idjit friend Monty. Stop emailing me every little complaint you have with our blog. Contribute, hate in the comments section, or shut the fuck up already.

The Ghost of Nirvana Lingers, As Does The Evil Stench of Courtney Love

Ahh, Courtney Love. Thanks to your past drug habits, Nirvana fans have to sit and sadly watch their once-favorite band subjected to shameless use in all kinds of schilling ads. According to the kids at Pitchforkmedia, who read it at Idolator, who obviously read it on the Daily Swarm who saw it on the L.A. Times an entire episode of "Cold Case" is going to be set to the famous grunge band's music.

What is "Cold Case" about? Is it good? We'll leave that to the TV version of the Playlist, sorry. Ok, fine. Their site says:

COLD CASE is a drama about Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a dedicated female detective in the Philadelphia homicide squad, who finds her niche when she's assigned to "cold cases"--crimes that have never been solved.

Super awesome. Can't wait to hear "Very Ape" set to some, "hand in your badge!" fucking cop nonsense. You'll remember Nirvana was already whored out on "Lost" (the use of that song made no fucking sense). Pretty soon you're going to see Pepsi ads soundtracked to "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter." It's only a matter of time. Poor Kurdt.

While we're at it, who told the assclowns in the Foo Fighters that their 1999 disc The Color and The Shape was remotely "classic" enough to get the deluxe treatment? Apparently the disc will feature 14 original tracks? Isn't that 13 more tracks than are neccessary? What songs are still worth listening from the original aside from "Monkey Wrench," which is only acceptably enjoyed when playing Guitar Hero.

The Swarm reminds of us this clip from the upcoming Michael Azzerad Kurt Cobain documentary, "About A Son" (with music by Ben Gibbard and Steve Fisk).

Watch: Foo Fighter's - "Monkey Wrench" played on Guitar Hero
Download: Foo Fighters - "Hey, Johnny Park!"
Download: Nirvana - "Lake Of Fire"

Kevin Smith Prepare To Be Flabbergasted

Special olympics comedy "filmmmaker" Kevin Smith is doing his "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," movie that's going to have tons of insightful fart, boob and dick jokes, right? Smith told MTV, “I wrote [the role of Miri] for Rosario Dawson. I’d be kind of flabbergasted if she didn’t do it.” he said of the “Clerks II” star.

Dawson almost ruined her career with the atrocious Clerks sequel (the first one is overrated tripe too, btw), but one of our insiders bears good news: supposedly Dawson's already said, "sorry, pass."

In your face Kevin Smith. Now if he would just stop making movies.

How To Prevent Those Damn Harry Potter Spoilers

Half the people who are genuinely worried about the Harry Potter leak aren't even reading this because they've unplugged their computers and called in sick until Friday when the book is released. For those people not quite as zealous and pathetic, who still have to work their office cubicle day jobs, a helpful Internets user has come up with a fix that will help you avoid the dreaded Harry Potter book leak. All one needs to do is download the Harry Potter Protector.

The bare bones site reads, "The script looks for keywords in a page, and blocks the page if the words are found. Next versions will include the option to view the page with the keywords and surrounding text redacted. Won't that just be neat."

Neato indeed. Thanks to Vulture for hipping us to this nerd tool.

Meanwhile, even the New York Times has got into the spoiler business and their lead book review today apparently spoils the plot for suckers the world round. And apparently retailers are being sued for sending the book out early.

Mind-bogglingly wealthy British author J.K Rowling has turned to her website, begging fans to not log online or open their eyes for the next 48 hours or so:

"As launch night looms, let's all, please, ignore the misinformation popping up on the web and in the press on the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'd like to ask everyone who calls themselves a Potter fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot for all those who are looking forward to reading the book at the same time on publication day. In a very short time you will know EVERYTHING!"

Or perhaps a little earlier if you look under practically any Internets trashcan. We hope our downloads from the Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix Thingy soundtrack don't suggest anything portentous for you guys.

Download: Alastair King and the Chamber Orchestra of London - "Loved Ones & Leaving"
Download: Alastair King - "Umbridge Spoils A Beautiful Morning"
Download: Alastair King - "Dumbledore's Army"
Download: Alastair King - "Flight of the Order of the Phoenix"

Say What?: Brittany Snow, MIA, Daft Punk

"[His] crazy process is that he wants you to do whatever you want - really do whatever you want. I could start singing my ABCs backwards in a swan costume and it’s cool if I want to do that. It’s really a collaborative process. It’s anything goes, and that’s what’s fun about it."- Despite being known as one of the most batshit loony directors in Hollywood who was veritably blacklisted for years for his bizarre and eccentric behavior*, relentlessly chipper actress Brittany Snow thinks "American History X" director and notorious fruitcake, Tony Kaye is a collaborative sweetheart on the set of "Black Water Transit.” [MTV]

(*Kaye infamously tried to take his name off "American History X" and replace it with "Humpty Dumpty," but was denied by the Director's Guild, his falling out with lead actor Ed Norton -who essentially fired him and took over the film and cobbled together the final edit - he also spent, $100,o00 of his own money to place ads in Variety denouncing the existence of Norton and the film. He then befriended and completely betrayed Marlon Brando a few years before his death.)

"I had access to lots of amazing American producers that I would have died to work with. And at the same time, I was able to dig out thieves with mullets and moustaches that live in a little village in India and never leave town." - Instead of going with the usual suspects like Timbaland, Diplo and DJ Premiere, Sri-Lankin rapper MIA decided to piss off Interscope's Jimmy Iovine by utilizing slightly less known producers for her upcoming album, Kala. And by slightly lesser we mean totally untested and unknown. [Fader] Snippets of her new album were here.

"The music has never been the most important thing. Rather there's a general creative approach with many satellites around the music as the main vector." - One of the robots in Daft Punk insist that their music is merely a side dish in the overall, constantly evolving conceptual art project that is known as Daft Punk. Their new experimental movie "Electroma" hits theaters via limited release in August. [Fader]

Download: MIA - "Boyz"
Download: MIA - "Bird Flu"

David Matthews Pens Song For Creepy Sixth Sense Ripoff

The creepy kid sees ghosts and has that sixth sense vibe genre gets another installment with the film, "Joshua" (starring a very uncharacteristically staid Sam Rockwell and a very unattractive-looking, normally hot, Vera Farmiga). Bonaroo jamband favorite Dave Matthews composed the song, "Fly" for the movie and a video/trailer is below (and hilariously melodramatic). I guess Haley Joel Osment is too awkward-teen stage to take these roles anymore.

Bats For Lashes Aren't Questioning Their Commitment To Sparklemotion

Bat For Lashes are taking a page out of the Donnie Darko playbook for their new video, "Whats a Girl To Do." She's like Bjork and Lily Allen only surrounded by creepy furball animals on bikes. What would Richard Kelly think?

Duly Noted: Chris Evans Studies The Dictionary.

"When [Danny Boyle] makes a zombie movie, it's not just a zombie movie, there are moral undertones, there are [sic] social commentary, there is, like, art to be dissected. ['Sunshine'] isn't just a sci-fi film, it's a study in human psychology, moral behavior and moral judgement." - Fratboy actor Chris Evans was so gung-ho on not being the weakest link in the "Sunshine" cast, months before working on the Danny Boyle film he actually began to read books. [MTV]

Sadly, Evans is spot-on about two things. One, he's fully aware that this is his meatiest role to date and he was "lucky" to get it. Secondly, he points out that "Sunshine" is being thrown in the dumping ground of mid-summer films not being promoted as blockbusters. Evans' is afraid the film might get overlooked and he has a point, the film has been delayed and ready for almost a year now, never a good sign, but as our over-enthused review jizzed said, we thought it was fantastic and an overwhelming visceral experience.

"People often ask what connects all the films. It’s embarrassing when they start talking about the work in the sense of an 'oeuvre,' it makes me self-conscious.” - Danny Boyle doesn't like film critics trying to pigeonhole or analyze his work too deeply. He discsuses the aforementioned "Sunshine" in this excellent piece on the film. [New York Times]

"In television, even more than feature films, the awards academy does not seem to vote for the work that is the most creative or ambitious." —Even though he clearly has the best show on television now that the Sopranos are gone, "The Wire" creator David Simon isn't looking forward to his chances at the Emmys. [Vulture]

"She'd kill me man. I'm a fuckin' poof these days." — Erstwhile drunkard Happy Mondays' , umm, "singer" Shaun Ryder admits that rehab olympian Amy Winehouse can outdrink him any night of the week. [Guardian]

Download: Sparklehorse - "Sunshine"
Download: Can - "Sunshine Day And Night"
Download: Armado Pereza - "Ain't No Sunshine"
Download: Belle & Sebastian - "Song For Sunshine"
Download: Happy Mondays - "24 Hour Party People"

Heard 'Em Say: Jessica Biel, Britt Daniel, Some Feminist...

"I want to do everything. I would definitely love to take on something that is physically totally different from what I look like and what I'm used to doing, do something like a 'Monster.' I have to push myself and try something I've never tried before, put myself out there, be vulnerable and really take a huge risk." - The Jessica Biel campaign to be taken seriously kicks into high gear as she admits she would even, *gasp*, ugly herself up for a role if it would earn her an ounce of respect. [MTV]

"I think we're one of the best bands making records today, and do I think we should be selling more records than Maroon 5? Yeah, because I think we're better. That's if it were a just world. It's not a just world. Actually, why don't we put The Bravery in there instead? No, let's not use The Bravery." - With success finally within grasp Spoon's Britt Daniels long-dormant ego finally arises. Their new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was originally going to be called both Trouble Minx and Fish Face. [A/V Club]

"You used to have to die before assorted hacks started munching your remains and modelling a new version of you out of their own excreta." - '60s counter culture feminist author Germaine Greer is naturally angry about the film adaptation of the"The Hippie Hippe Shake." Based on Richard Neville's memoir as his stint as the editor of the Australian hippie magazine Oz, Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy had signed on for lead roles and playing Greer in the film is model-turned-actress Emily Booth [Guardian]

"Everyone’s lost in a sea of special effects. I’m not against anything as a tool—it just shouldn’t be a way of life. I think a digital enema would do the most good for everyone right now." Legendary cinematographer and Woody Allen favorite Gordon Willis thinks your CGI-infested movies are worthless and could use a rectal cleansing. [TONY]

"I had no interest in Edie Sedgwick. I barely knew who she was.” - After failing right out of the gate due to multiple extenuating circumstances [Harvey Weinstein, crooked producers, rushed delusions of Oscar grandeur] "Factory Girl" attempts to get a second life on the expanded, directors-cut DVD, however director George Hickenlooper inadvertently admits that maybe he wasn't the best person on planet earth to make a biopic of Edie Sedgwick? [New York Times]

Download: Spoon - "The Book I Write"

One Of These Things Doesn't Belong: Noah Baumbach &... Ron Howard?

Noah Baumbach and Ron Howard?? Together? Isn't that like nuts and gum, together at last? How do these two things go together? Well Ron Howard is signed on to direct the film, "The Emperor's Children" and and the script is going to be adapted by the unlikely collaborator, Noah Baumbach according to Variety.

Weird, right? Maybe not, the novel is about Ivy League grads approaching their 30s with apprehension and Baumbach has essentially made a living making films about nervous, affluent, privileged, erudite East Coast eliters, so it actually might make a pretty perfect fit.

But milquetoaster Opie directing? Why didn't they just give the director's chair to Baumbach? Probably because it's a big studio picture and Baumbach is untested in those waters - though the upcoming, "Margot At The Wedding" starring his biggest named cast, Nicole Kidman and Jack Black is surely going to change his cache come the fall when it get released. That's it if it's not a total bomb. His films don't generally rake in boatloads of money, but Baumbach's "comedy of manners" are critically revered and pretty damn excellent if we do say so (we did a If I Were Noah Baumbach playlist series in honor of his erudite and comedic films).

It's also probably not a bad payday for him either, who up until recently, probably wasn't bringing home megabucks. Variety also notes that the writer/director also delivered his adaptation of "Prep" to Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn for Paramount's adaptation of that novel. Will he direct this one? They don't say, but it is another East Coast college tale where, "money was everywhere on campus, but it was usually invisible."

We Forgot Cat Power: More Musical Interpretations In The Zimmy Film

We've done some digging and a reliable source has given us a musical update on the tunes recorded for the Todd Haynes directed Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There."

Of course we just wrote about the bands who have recorded Dylan songs for the film; some of them include Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Stephen Malkmus (he's a Portland buddy and neighbor of Haynes), My Morning Jacket and Calexico.

Now we've learned that Yo La Tengo has recorded two songs for the film, "Fourth Time Around" (from Blonde on Blonde) and "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (from the boxset retrospective Biograph).

Amusingly enough, in our aforementioned "I'm Not There" musical re-cap, we forgot to mention something we had already reported: Cat Power covering "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" with the Memphis Rhythm Band (the fantastic backing band she toured with in the spring of '06). Here's what we wrote back in April:

The [Paper magazine] article was full of other very interesting tid-bits as well. Turns out the song [Marshall] recorded for Todd Haynes' upcoming Bob Dylan artsy-biopic, "I'm Not There," will be the song, "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," from Blonde on Blonde. She's "unabashedly fanatic," about Dylan and has a shrine dedicated to Zimmy on her living room bookcase ("It's tacky, let's face it," she told the magazine).

And lastly, keep in mind: Just because a song has been recorded for a film doesn't neccesarily guarantee its inclusion in the film. While we've reported and collated a ton of potential songs that could be in the film, it doesn't neccesarily mean they'll actually be in the film. But here's to hoping...

The Leaked Clip
Some people are suggesting the guy in the car next to Dylan/Jude/Cate Blanchett is John Lennon. It's all speculation of course, but we're not really sure we buy that. If that's John Lennon, whoever that actor is played by (Adam Goldberg? It's extremely hard to tell) is doing a pretty strange interpretation (and a terrible Lennon accent). A comment posted in the Rolling Stone blog story section assumed it was the Animals' Alan Price which to us doesn't sound as dubious as Lennon, but again, it's all conjecture. Having just watched the clip again, we're going to bet it's not Lennon.

Download: Bob Dylan - "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"
Download: Bob Dylan - "Fourth Time Around"
Download: Bob Dylan - "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
Download: Cat Power - "Deep Inside (live)"

'Superbad' Gets A Funky Beat

Comedy heavyweight Judd Apatow's upcoming summer R-rated teen comedy, "Superbad," starring the incredibly affable king of teen awkwardness Michael Cera (of "Arrested Development") has a soundtrack peppered with '60s and '70s funk and RN'B in that badass blaxploitation vein.

The film is due August 17th and the soundtrack will hit shelves 10 days earlier on August 7th and includes tracks by Curtis Mayfield, the Bar-Kays anda score composed by Lyle Workman featuring Parliament Funkadelic funk legend Bootsy Collins and the Superbad band (which also includes funky drummers, Clyde Stubblefield and John "Jab'o" Starks of the James Brown band, guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins amd George Clinton keyboardist Bernie Worrell).

The tracklist is as follows:
01. Super What? - Lyle Workman
02. Too Hot To Stop - The Bar-Kays
03. Seth Pulls Into Lot - Lyle Workman
04. Cops See Fogel's ID/ Seth Saves Evan - Lyle Workman
05. Do Me - Jean Knight
06. Flashback Party Weekend - Lyle Workman
07. P.S. I Love You - Curtis Mayfield
08. Evan Runs - Lyle Workman
09. Sleeping Bags - Lyle Workman
10. Like A Pimp - Lyle Workman
11. Here I Come - The Roots f/ Malik B. & Dice Raw
12. Seth Runs On Track - Lyle Workman
13. Bustin' Out (On Funk) - Rick James
14. Evan's Basement Jam - Lyle Workman
15. Roda - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
16. Goldslick/Seth Fantasy - Lyle Workman
17. Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays
18. Funk McLovin - Lyle Workman

We've been greatly anticipating "Superbad." It was in our summer preview post and we were psyched about the trailer as far back as May. We've mentioned it a lot of times, but "Superbad" is written by "Freaks & Geeks" Aptow family players members Seth Rogen (of "Knocked-Up"), Evan Goldberg and directed by "Daytrippers" director Greg Mottola (who directed many episodes of "Undeclared")

Watch: "Superbad" trailer (unedited)
Download: Lyle Workman - "Super What?"
Download: The Bar-Kays - "Knucklehead"
Download: Lyle Workman - "Evan's Basement Jam"
Download: Lyle Workman - "Cops See Fogel's ID"
Download: Curtis Mayfield - "Move On Up" (famously sampled by Kanye West in "Touch The Sky")

Superbad Gets A Funky Beat

Comedy heavyweight Judd Apatow's upcoming summer R-rated teen comedy, "Superbad," starring the incredibly affable king of teen awkwardness Michael Cera (of "Arrested Development") has a soundtrack peppered with '60s and '70s funk and RN'B in that badass blaxploitation vein.

The film is due August 17th and the soundtrack will hit shelves 10 days earlier on August 7th and includes tracks by Curtis Mayfield, the Bar-Kays anda score composed by Lyle Workman featuring Parliament Funkadelic funk legend Bootsy Collins and the Superbad band (which also includes funky drummers, Clyde Stubblefield and John "Jab'o" Starks of the James Brown band, guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins amd George Clinton keyboardist Bernie Worrell).

The tracklist is as follows:
01. Super What? - Lyle Workman
02. Too Hot To Stop - The Bar-Kays
03. Seth Pulls Into Lot - Lyle Workman
04. Cops See Fogel's ID/ Seth Saves Evan - Lyle Workman
05. Do Me - Jean Knight
06. Flashback Party Weekend - Lyle Workman
07. P.S. I Love You - Curtis Mayfield
08. Evan Runs - Lyle Workman
09. Sleeping Bags - Lyle Workman
10. Like A Pimp - Lyle Workman
11. Here I Come - The Roots f/ Malik B. & Dice Raw
12. Seth Runs On Track - Lyle Workman
13. Bustin' Out (On Funk) - Rick James
14. Evan's Basement Jam - Lyle Workman
15. Roda - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
16. Goldslick/Seth Fantasy - Lyle Workman
17. Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays
18. Funk McLovin - Lyle Workman

We've been greatly anticipating "Superbad." It was in our summer preview post and we were psyched about the trailer as far back as May. We've mentioned it a lot of times, but "Superbad" is written by "Freaks & Geeks" Aptow family players members Seth Rogen (of "Knocked-Up"), Evan Goldberg and directed by "Daytrippers" director Greg Mottola (who directed many episodes of "Undeclared")

Watch: "Superbad" trailer (unedited)
Download: Lyle Workman - "Super What?"
Download: The Bar-Kays - "Knucklehead"
Download: Lyle Workman - "Evan's Basement Jam"
Download: Lyle Workman - "Cops See Fogel's ID"
Download: Curtis Mayfield - "Move On Up" (famously sampled by Kanye West in "Touch The Sky")

Ryan Gosling Goes Indie-Rock?

Everyone's favorite teacher/crack addict (at least in "Half Nelson"), Oscar nominated actor Ryan Gosling has formed a band called Dead Man's Bones with Zach Shields (the boyfriend of Rachel McAdams' younger sister, Kayleen McAdams; the elder McAdams was/is? Gosling's paramour).

Unlike his earlier material (see below), Bones has a whirling dervish indie-rock-ish vibe almost like Beirut or Gogol Bordello if the band had a stripped down sound without horns and the orchestral accoutrements (though their are some accordian-like flourishes).

The band has been making the album in Tel Aviv (where Gosling is staying with video director and "Remember The Titans" director Boaz Yakin's wife and a few other friends according to a Gosling fan site) and said they'll be just posting this one song until they've completed the whole album. His next movie, "Lars and the Real Girl," will apparently feature Dead Man's Bone songs in the film (which will have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall; it apparently has a limited October 12 release date).

The group count the Everly brothers, the Talking Heads, Hideous Raging Inferno, the Magnetic Fields, the Dead Kennedy's, the Beach Boys, and Balkan Beatbox among their many eclectic influences.

A video for the song was posted on their myspace page via YouTube, but the clip has been taken down. Longtime devotees of the hottie Canadian actor have already heard Gosling's Jack Johnson-esque acoustic musical output with the song, "Put Me In The Car," which he released via the interweb under his own name months ago.

Download: Dead Man's Bones - "Dead Man's Bones"
Download: Ryan Gosling - "Put Me In The Car"

Sunshine: Cinematic Supernova

This is hopefully our last post about "Sunshine." With a silly promo ad on our site, (alas we can't even whore ourselves out for pay if we wanted), I'm sure it's going to feel like we're schilling for Pepsi, or jizzing fanboys of the worst kind, but the film was honestly phenomenal.

Director Danny Boyle’s work bares the stamp of the auteur – a unique style that displays a filmmakers individualism– yet his inimitable characteristic is that he has no one signature -- he is an eclectic, free-wheeling force of nature that has tackled horror ("28 Days Later"), thrillers ("Shallow Grave"), children's films ("Millions"), junkie dramedies ("Trainspotting"), romantic comedies ("A Life Less Ordinary”) and essentially made short work of any genre he ever met.

If there’s one unifying style to his work, it’s his sense of purpose and urgency. All of Boyle’s films have an intense, kinetic energy and sense of immediacy; and his metaphysical sci-fi drama “Sunshine” is absolutely no different and is near ruthless in effortless execution.

Written by Boyle’s longtime writing partner Alex Garland, “Sunshine’s” premise is simple: It’s some 50 years into the future and the sun is dying. A group of physicists, astronauts, mathematicians and experts of every kind are sent on the second mission (portentously titled the Icarus) to deliver and detonate a monstrous mega-ton bomb into the heart in the sun in hopes of re-creating another big bang effect and restarting the star.

This dim premise may be reminiscent of “Armageddon,” but there are no Bruce Willis’ to be found in Boyle’s heady version of sci-fi and references here are grander, interior landscapes like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Solaris” and to a lesser extent, "Alien."* (The Hal-like Icarus 2 computer voice is eerily reminiscent of ‘2001’ and an obvious nod by the filmmakers).

Instead of a simple, sci-fi technological Star Trek fixer upper, what follows is head-trip that is, haunting, near psychedelic and grand on an existential scale. While Garland consulted with physicists to imagine the unthinkable idea of and logistics of even nearing the sun, the film never becomes bogged down in techspeak and in fact, what soon emerges are deeper questions of the Sun and it’s greater symbolism as the ultimate force of life. Throughout the sun looms like a hypnotic drug an idol that the crew periodically come to worship on a rapturous level.

As harrowing conflicts arise (both tangential and abstract) the international crew quickly becomes fractured by its insistent humanity, moral dilemmas and their non-negotiable mission to save Planet Earth. Well aware that the preceding mission failed in a shroud of mystery, the crew becomes unhinges and falls psychologically falls apart with the looming awareness that they are on a suicide mission of certain doom.

This is where things become extremely tense, gut-wrenchingly taut and without revealing too much, too much to bear and grasp for everyone involved.

The music - a collaboration between Boyle favorite John Murphy and electronic duo Underworld - is a sublime Brian Eno-esque score of heavenly, radiant beauty and then conversely a terrifying rush of thrilling, dread and impending fate.

Much of “Sunshine’s” profundity is conveyed by its absolutely breathtaking visual effects. Both the cast and audience are constantly reminded of the Sun’s awe-inducing magnitude and the fact that you are a rare witness to the creator of all life – the closest physical manifestation to God that there is.

As the film reaches its logical climax, it becomes a profound and viscerally overwhelming experience of transcendent radiance. I was literally shellshocked . [A+]

*Film “critics” are a unique specimen. After the film’s conclusion when obvious shades of Kubrick and Tarkovsky pervaded the air two sanctioned movie geeks said to one another, “So, kinda like “Event Horizon” meets the “Core,” huh?” The other bespectacled writer responded, “Oh yeah, exactly,” and I proceeded to weep for all humanity; a mere nuclear payload would never save this doomed generation.

Watch: Underworld - "Peggy Sussed" (in the film's credits)
Watch: I Am Kloot - "Avenue Of Hope" (in the "Sunshine" trailer ).

Harry Potter Spoilers Spread Like Viral VD Outbreak

In the final days before the book hits shelves, nerds of all stripes, children destined to failure and adults that need to get a life are currently unplugging their computers in the hopes of avoiding the proliferating Harry Potter And All The Loser Kids Die leak that is blowing up round the interweb like so much wildfire.

The AP says that both the page Zendurl and Spoiler Boy sites were posting major spoilers (both pages have been taken down by the J.K Rowling thought police).

Certain Potter fan sites have vowed not to post spoilers of which Boognish monster eats Voldemort or whathisface. How special.

My friend Mr.Snrub accurately says:

"If you're going to stand outside a fucking Barnes an noble on a Friday night to wait for a kids book to get released while everyone else is out trying to get drunk enough to get laid or just drunk enough to get to that point where they actually want to fuck their husband/ wife/ boyf/ girlf or ex --- then you've got to have some REAL issues. Or just no prior sexual experiences to speak of."

A quick google search and finding Potter spoilers is as easy as finding Britney's shaved ham. A bunch of them are allegedly collected here (be forefuckingwarned). Every little element of the leak is here as well. All one needs to do is fall down the worm hole of these links and you can practically read the unreleased book backwards if you like.

John Lovitz Regulates Arch Nemesis Andy Dick In L.A. Bar Fight

We don't normally post items like this, but this one is too good to pass up. Apparently Comedian John Lovitz brought a serious smackdown on Andy Dick last week. From the New York Post's Page Six gossip section (there's no point in rewriting, it's all gold):

July 17, 2007 -- IT was fight night at an L.A. comedy club last week when Jon Lovitz roughed up Andy Dick over the murder of their "Saturday Night Live" colleague, Phil Hartman.

Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, who witnessed the assault, said, "Jon picked Andy up by the head and smashed him into the bar four or five times, and blood started pouring out of his nose." Lovitz told Page Six, "All the comedians are glad I did it because this guy is a [bleep]hole."

Lovitz and Dick have been at loggerheads since a 1997 Christmas party at Hartman's house, five months before his troubled wife Brynn flipped out, fatally shooting Hartman, then killing herself. "Andy was doing cocaine, and he gave Brynn some after she had been sober for 10 years. Phil was furious about it - and then five months later he's dead," said Lovitz, adding that when he filled in on Hartman's "Newsradio" sitcom, "I told Andy, 'I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't given Brynn that cocaine.' "

Last year, Lovitz related, a drunken Dick strolled up to his table at Ago in West Hollywood, rudely downed his guests' peach liqueur drinks, and "looked at me and said, 'I put the "Phil Hartman hex" on you - you're the next one to die.' I said, 'What did you say?' and he repeated it. I wanted to punch his face in, but I don't hit women."

When the two ran into each other at the Laugh Factory last Wednesday, "I wanted him to say he was sorry for the 'Phil Hartman hex,' " Lovitz told us. "First he says, 'I don't remember saying that.' Then he leans in and says, 'You know why I said it? Because you said I killed Phil Hartman.' Which I never said. Then he asked me to be in his new movie.

"I grabbed him by the shirt and leaned him over and said, 'I don't want to be in your movie! I don't want to be in your life!' I pushed him against the rail. Then I pushed him again really hard. A security guard broke it up. I'm not proud of it . . . but he's a disgusting human being." Dick's rep said he had no comment.

Dick's weirdness has been well documented. Last year, he licked the faces of Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher and Patton Oswalt, then groped and bit the hand of Post reporter Mandy Stadtmiller at a comedy-festival taping.

The moral of this story is: John Lovitz's may seem avuncular and harmless, but beforewarned, push his buttons and he will lay down the law and straighten out your shit in full. Who knew Dick was allegedly semi-responsible for the unhinging of Phil Hartman's wife? Someone hire Lovitz, this rules.

Duly Noted: Sienna Miller, Nicke Lowe, Sly Stone

"I'd rather not see a sex scene where a woman leaves her T-shirt on." - In spite of battling producers over the "gratuitous and bizarre" sex scene that she shot with Hayden Christensen in "Factory Girl," (which were rumored to be real) British sexpot Sienna Miller still likes to see some realistic T&A at the movies. [TONY]

"It's like being at a café. [The waiter says], 'This is today's special. It happens to be liver in lager. It's not to everyone's taste, but I'm afraid it's what we're serving today.'" — Wry punk legend Nick Lowe still isn't really interested in writing songs that please anyone but himself. [CNN]

"He sits floppily at the keyboard like a broken marionette, barely moving the top half of his body, and begins singing the familiar line, 'If you want me to stay...'" - British critic Sean O'Hagan isn't entirely awed by Sly Stone's uninspired comeback kick-off show in Italy. [Observer]

Watch: Sly Stone - "If You Want Me to Stay" / "Sing a Simple Song" [live in Rotterdam]
Download: Sly & The Family Stone - "Underdog"
Download: Nick Lowe - "Lately I've Let Things Slide"

The Unofficial "I'm Not There" Preview?

We recently posted about the "I'm Not There" clip that surfaced online with Cate Blanchett and David Cross in the roles of Dylan and Allen Ginsberg, respectively. We also mentioned in the music section of that post that a recent attendee of a color correction screening of the film revealed a few musical tidbits (like confirming the use of Sonic Youth's title track in the film).

Well, the alleged same person who wrote the aforementioned screening synopsis has posted in our comments section (or at least they purport to be that person and we don't see why someone would pose as them).

Here's what they had to say:

"Hi, I'm the person who posted the note about seeing "I'm Not There" with Todd [Haynes] and it true that no one in the film is named Bob Dylan. Christian Bale does play him in the early sixties - playing him hunched over his acoustic guitar on an early sixties TV program, getting the Tom Paine award [for his contribution to the civil rights movement] and making the comments about Lee Harvey Oswald, playing in a field in the south on a low flat stage and then near the end as a minister. Heath Ledger is seen a couple of times in the sixties but mostly as a New Morning/Blood on the Tracks period-Bob, fooling around on his wife [Sara] (played by Charlotte Gainsbourgh) and then fighting in court over child custody. Ledger's version of Dylan is actually more like he left music to become a James Dean like movie star. Cate Blanchett plays him in the 'Dont Look Back' Newport/England period (with Michelle Williams as a Edie [Sedgwick]-type starlett named Coco - they have all the "She's Your Lover Now" dialogue). Richard Gere plays him as a fusion of Billy the Kid/Dylan who survived being shot and killed by Pat Garrett (or a motorcycle accident) and went on to live a quiet like in a town where everyone is named after a Basement Tapes character. and so on and so on......"I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name" [from Highway '61 Revisited's "Desolation Row"]

Hey Kelly, write us more about the music, please.
Download: Bob Dylan "She's Your Lover Now"
Download: Bob Dylan - "Maggie's Farm"
Download: Bob Dylan - "Desolation Row"

We Go To The Movies Sometimes: Sicko, Rescue Dawn, Diggers, More...

A friend suggested since we go to the movies often we should write reviews. We generally find reviews dull and doubt we can contribute anything of substance to the noise that's already out there, but here's goes nothing with some capsule reviews.

"Rescue Dawn"
We followed "Rescue Dawn" almost religiously as we're devout Herzog-ites and the film didn't disappoint besides a very anti-climactic and quickly-wrapped up conclusion. Based on a documentary Werner Herzog made in 1997, 'Dawn' is the belated dramatic version of the film. Christian Bale plays a captured POW who has to eat maggots, snakes and survive the perilous jungles of Laos to survive. He's fantastic in this ostensibly patriotic film, as is Steve Zahn, who does a fantastically frightened turn as he imprisoned friend. Jeremy Davies is positively spooky as their skeletal prisonmate and Klaus Badelt's orchestral score is fittingly grand. Best of all, Herzog doesn't resist putting elements of his twisted sense of humor in the film. [B+]

"Sicko"
Love him or hate him, Michael Moore's health care harangue is powerful stuff. It's his most assured film and his games and tricks are kept to a minimum. The scenes in Cuba with the rescue 9/11 workers that can't get proper care in the U.S. are simply heart wrenching. A guy having to choose between sewing his index or ring finger back on because he has no health coverage? Terrifying. The film utilizes Cat Stevens "Don't Be Shy" at the end (which is also used in "Harold and Maude"), plus the Rolling Stones "Street Fighting Man," (which you've probably seen in the trailer), Mogwai's very beautiful "Secret Pint," plus songs by the Serge Gainsbourg, Tom Morello, the Grateful Dead and many others. Spend your money on this film before you waste it on mega-nonsense like "Transformers." [A]

"Diggers"
This Staten Island small town drama set in the '70s is simple, unpretentious, humble and it's difficult not to have affection for the understated performances and modest story. Paul Rudd plays the 30-something clam-digging/aspiring photographer drifter who has to make sense of life after his father suddenly passes away. Maura Tierney plays his equally adrift sister who bangs his best friend (Ron Eldard) when life falls apart. A bunch of '70s era tracks (Delaney & Bonnie, Lee Michaels, Blue Magic, The Quick) are featured in the film, including quite a few by Big Star ("O My Soul," "Thirteen"). [B+]

"Let's Get Lost"
If you're hip to the game, you won't trust Chet Baker. This is essentially the gist of the documentary about the conning heroin-abuser and jazzman, who goes through wives and lovers like underwear and basically zeroes in on anyone who's sympathetic to the Chet Baker cause. Shot in gorgeous black and white, the film almost feels like a dramatic narrative more than documentary in certain moments thanks to the dreamy cinematography and editing. Lots of hangers-on surround the decrepit Baker, including Chili Pepper Flea and continuously mugging-for-the-camera vamp Lisa Marie (a.k.a Tim Burton's ex fiance). The dubious story about Baker's teeth being kicked out becomes near legend as it's disputed and falsified at every turn. It's 30 minutes too long however. [B-]

"La Vie En Rose"
Don't be surprised if you hear Marion Cotillard's name announced during the Oscar noms season in early 2008. She does a stellar job of portraying the prickly and boozy French chanteuse Edith Piaf, especially in her more harrowing and devastating moments. The movie itself is affecting, but without her powerful performance to carry it, 'Rose' might be otherwise dull. [B]

Once we're less tired, we'll write up some reviews of "The Hottest State" and "Sunshine" which we recently had a chance to screen before they've opened.

Download: Edith Piaf - "C'est Lui Que Mon Coeur A Choisi"
Download: Chet Baker - "It's Always You"
Download: Cat Stevens - "Don't Be Shy"
Download: Big Star - "Daisy Glaze"
Download: Big Star - "Don't Lie To Me"
Download: Rolling Stones - "Street Fighting Man"
Download: Mogwai - "Secret Pint"