"I'm Not There" Soundtrack Revealed? Vedder, Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan and Karen O

Wow, just a day after we predicted the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There" would likely be a double-disc endeavor, word comes through, that is essentially the case.

Well, at least according to a post on a Pearl Jam forum, that claims the soundtrack is slated for an October 30 release and the 34-track disc will feature Dylan covers performed by Eddie Vedder, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan Stevens, The Yeah, Yeah Yeah's Karen O, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Willie Nelson, Iron & Wine, Stephen Malkmus, The Hold Steady and Jack Johnson.

Proof? None other than the aforementioned post, but a publicist for Wilco did confirm to us that Tweedy did in fact record a song for the soundtrack, so this is further likelyhood that this news is true and our favorite inside source confirmed to us that the disc is coming out October 30 on Sony, but also notes that the tracklist is not finalized. A spokesperson for Sub Pop also confirmed that Iron & Wine is on the disc. Plus the cast of characters is not off the mark from what's already been reported (Cat Power, The Hold Steady, Yo La Tengo, Willie Nelson, Stephen Malkmus). Presumably the other 24 tracks (if the aforementioned artists record one cover each) will include previously mentioned "I'm Not There" musical contributors, My Morning Jacket, Sonic Youth, The Frames and many more (though you'll remember we reported that YLT recorded two Dylan songs).

Vedder for one has been busy this summer, he's also recorded a slew of original songs for the Sean Penn film, "Into The Wild," which is due in September. Vedder also has a cameo in Judd Apatow's new fake music biopic, "Walk Hard - The Story of Dewey Cox." More details here.

Actor Ben Wishaw (who played Keith Richards in the lame Brian Jones biopic "Stoned") recently spoke about his lesser-known role as one of the Dylan's to the London Paper. "I play him in about 1965-66 and I’m dressed up like the poet Arthur Rimbaud, who Dylan was reading a lot at that time," Winshaw said. "Every person that plays Bob is another little fragment of his personality or persona – that’s the idea anyway. I was done and dusted in a week so I didn’t really get to meet all of the other Bobs. I’m intrigued as to what the film will be like."

Director Todd Hayne's "I'm Not There" hits theaters in limited release on November 21.

Download: Bob Dylan - "I'm Not There"
Download: Wilco - "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard"

Eddie Vedder To Appear In Apatow's "Walk Hard"

It's practically Eddie Vedder week at the Playlist. This is non-intentional though, it just happens that Pearl Jam singer is involved in a number of related movie projects.

According to this week's Rolling Stone (not online yet, but a scan of the article is out here) Vedder will appear in an upcoming Judd Apatow-produced fake biopic, "Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story." He'll appear as himself, presenting a lifetime achievement award to the main character, Dewey Cox (a Johnny Cash-like figure) played by John C. Reilly, who's apparently been perfecting his performing chops for a potential tour. Another rocker, White Stripesman Jack White also has a cameo as Elvis.

Paul Rudd has already confirmed that he will play John Lennon and Jewel and Ghostface Killah will also play themselves. Jack Black apparently plays an "unlikely" Paul McCartney-esque figure. The film is directed by Jake Kasdan, a former Apatow player who helmed many episodes of "Freaks & Geeks."

Ed's quote from the award presentation: "I don't know what God sounds like, but I know when I get to the Pearly Gates, He might just sound a little bit like Dewey Cox."

The movie's co-writer Judd Apatow is also quoted in the article: "We wrote this really bombastic, over-the-top speech, and Eddie Vedder was hysterical reading it. He nailed it on the first take."

Songwriters Dan Bern and Candy Butchers frontman Mike Viola apparently wrote much of the film's songs and even the renowned producer/musician/lyricist Van Dyke Parks was enlisted to help with some of the fake protest songs. Apparently "Superbad"'s Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman and Justin Long also have cameos in the film.

Apatow told MTV in May about some of the film's fake songs, "The main song in the movie is called ‘Walk Hard,’ because he does walk hard,” Apatow said. “But [Cox] also wrote a lot of protest songs. One is about the problems of the mulatto; he stood up for mulatto rights in the '60s. He has another song called ‘Ladies First,’ about ladies’ rights, that I enjoyed. And then during the 70’s he had a hit disco song called ‘Hey, Hey, Who Wants to Party?,’ so there’s a lot of good music in the movie.” RS notes other song titles as the aformentioned "Mulatto," "There's a Change A Happenin' " and "There's a Hole In My Pants." Marshall Crenshaw wrote the title track.

The movie is due in theaters December 14th according to Box Office Mojo. The 'Walk Hard' trailer is expected to debut before "Superbad" when it opens on August 17.

New Michel Gondry: Be Kind Rewind Trailer

The trailer for the new Michel Gondry film, "Be Kind Rewind" starring Jack Black and Mos Def was shown at Comicon a week ago and some nerd surreptitiously filmed it off the screen with his digital camera. It looks like crap, but hey it's something, right? According to his website, Jean-Michel Bernard, who did the score to "The Science of Sleep" and contributed music to "Human Nature," will again work with Gondry composing the the score to 'Rewind.'

Eddie Murphy Admits To Scary Spice: I Am Your Baby's Daddy

Man, Sucks for Eddie. [E! Online]

Bourne Again; Matt Damon Gives 'Ultimatum' Deets

EW has a great piece with Matt Damon on 'The Bourne' franchise that's really got an insightful recap on the series, plus the tumultuous making of the 'Ultimatum.' [EW]

Highlights:
- Doug Liman, the improbable director of the "The Bourne Identity" (he directed "Swingers" for crying out loud; a far cry from action) clashed with the studio so much, he wasn't invited back for 'Supremacy.' "I think what happened ultimately is Doug's process, which yielded them such great results in the end, was so frustrating for [the studio heads] because it was so chaotic," Damon said. "If Doug has a drop-dead release date, he'll ignore it just because he won't compromise his creative process. I admire that. But he's a suit's nightmare,"
- 'Ultimatum' was shot without a complete script and its tortuously prolonged shoot went on for 140 days; longer than Damon had ever been on one film set. ''There was an aimlessness to the process,'' Damon said. ''It was miserable.'' The film didn't completely wrap until just a few weeks before 'Ultimatum' was due in theaters.
- There were constant rewrites during the shoot and often times the crew, led by director Paul Greengrass, would find themselves shooting scenes that weren't in any version of the script. "I did so many awful scenes that never made it into the film," Damon said and noted, no, they won't be on the DVD either.
- The whole movie was vague and Damon never knew at one time where his character's headspace was at. "Paul's only direction was ''Butch-er and more intense!'' Finally I was like, 'If you give me the f---ing 'butch-er and more intense' note one more time, I'm gonna kick your ass!' "
- They realized Bourne scenes worked best when the character didn't talk and cut many scenes of excessive dialogue.
- The actor that has really blown away Damon recently is Christian Bale.
- He almost starred in "Brokeback Mountain" with Gus Van Sant as director and Joaquin Phoenix as the other cowboy.

See you Monday when this thing is at the top of the box-office.

Lohan To Film Critics: Please Don't Kill Me; An Indie-Rock Soundtrack?

A robotic hand: Architecture in Helsinki. An aspiring high school writer gone missing: Brooklyn's VietNam. A stripper who inexplicably keeps her clothes on: Austin metallists The Sword. One really awkward sex scene.

No, it's not a Pitchfork intern's jerk-off checklist, it's "I Know Who Killed Me," starring America's favorite soon-to-be future porn star, Lindsay Lohan. And it might be the worst movie we've ever seen. Call it schadenfreude, call it whatever you want, but this movie was thoroughly enjoyable as it charted new territory on the unintentional comedy scale.

Here's the basics: "IKWKM" is a psychological-thriller/ torture porn flick about high-schooler/ aspiring writer Aubrey Fleming who is kidnapped by a serial killer only to reappear missing her right arm and leg and awakens thinking she is someone else - Dakota Moss, a stripper who for some reason, NEVER takes her clothes off and somehow manages to be nasty and unsexy at the same time (strange, we know). Dakota becomes convinced that she is really Aubrey's twin sister, separated at birth - and sets out to solve the mystery and save her sister. You can imagine where it goes from there.

Oh, and did we mention that Dakota is fitted a set of robotic prosthetics that beep when the battery is low? Oh yeah. This movie also has more unnecessary thunder and lightening and owl hoots than Transylvania 6-5000. Remember these names: Chris Sivertson (director) and Chris Hammond (writer) because both are legitimate hacks and should be forever banned from not just Hollywood, but the entire state of California.

Don’t pay see this movie, buy a bootleg at your local subway station - you will laugh your ass off for all the wrong reasons - and somehow, you will really enjoy it.

Indie-Rock Firecrotch?
The real head scratcher though, is the soundtrack - the only things about this movie that didn’t make us hysterically laugh, it's just really confusing. (the music supervisor is not listed on IMDB or the IKWKM website; any info out there?). Songs included in this masterpiece are surprisingly decent, VietNam's “Step On Inside", the Sword's “Freya," Dead Meadow's "Dusty Nothing," Architecture In Helinski's “Maybe You Can Owe Me," Awesome Color's "Hat Energy" and The Melvins' “A History Of Bad Men.” What the hell?

Lohan's Career Finally Shits The Bed?
'Her troubles are what made her famous,'' says anonymous studio exec told EW in an article published today. ''Her films don't open. She's a pain to work with. I think she's done.'' Others go so far as to worry that career death may be the least of Lohan's concerns. Says another exec: ''I think she has to stay alive.'' ['Killed Me' has a wretched 6% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, fyi]

Can someone tell us what Julia Ormond is doing in this monstrosity? [ed. this post was written by our correspondent Mr.Snrub, still learning how to use blogger]

Download: The Sword - "Freya"
Download: Architecture In Helsinki - Maybe You Can Owe Me"
Download: VietNam - "Step On Inside"
Watch: "I Know Who Killed Me" trailer

As The World Turns: Woody On Bergman, Bergman Pirates Give It Up Free, Blueberry Nights, Godfather VI,

Woody Allen was the g0-to source for all quotable things Ingmar Bergman this week and for good reason: Allen was both a Bergman fanatic who gave the Swedish director many tributes and homages (both comically and deadly serious; Film Babble has done an excellent job at pointing out the Bergman/Allen connections) and a friend. Allen said: "His films have eternal relevance, because they deal with the difficulty of personal relationships and lack of communication between people and religious aspirations and mortality, existential themes that will be relevant a thousand years from now." Allen also noted that Bergman was apparently a huge ladies man and bedded half his female cast.

About Michelangelo Antonioni, who he briefly met, Allen said, "He was a wonderful ping-pong player. I played with him; he always won because he had a great reach. That was his game."

In a tender tribute to Bergman, Swedish film pirates have created BergmanBits, a place where you can download all his films for free. [Vulture/Torrent Freak]

Are "My Bluberry Nights'" (the upcoming Wong Kar Wai film starring Nora Jones and Jude Law) chances at Academy Awards gold over? Yes, says one Oscar insider who claims Harvey "Scissorhands" Weinstein is re-editing the film in hopes of repositioning its chances after its mediocre showing at Cannes. [The Envelope]

According to a story on IMDB that we can't find, that's been saved at the Reel Fanatic, when Mario Puzzo was sick and dying, Francis Ford Coppola, desperate to help his ailing friend, approached Paramount studios with the idea of a Godfather VI. "Mario was very concerned to leave his kids some money and they just never made the deal... Mario died and it was heartbreaking," Coppola allegedly said. [Reel Fanatic]

John Singleton may try filming the comic "Black Panther," before he attempts "Luke Cage" (from the Powerman & Iron Fist comic series), but he claims making a black superhero movie is always a struggle. Hollywood has a very limiting view on what makes a pop culture picture. If you put a black face on it, they think it's black thing...That's the thing that's holding 'Luke Cage' up. They think it's a small superhero movie." [Black Film]

Frames Added To "I'm Not There" List of Soundtrackers

Glen Hansard's folky score for the indie-sleeper hit "Once," looks to have paid off. According to the Frames' website, Hansard and his "Once" soundtrack parter and co-star, Czech singer Marketa Irglova (also in the spin-off band The Swell Season with Hansard) have recorded a cover of Bob Dylan's "I'm Not There" for the upcoming Todd Haynes biopic of the same name.

But wait, didn't Sonic Youth already record a cover of "I'm Not There" and didn't someone who saw the film already confirm its inclusion in the film? Yes and yes, but that doesn't mean there can't be more than one version of the song in the movie and or that the version of the film this person saw was final. Haynes' has asked many, many artists to contribute songs, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus, the aforementioned Sonic Youth and the list goes on. That doesn't necessarily mean all the songs requested will be ultimately used in the film. It's hard to say.

According to the band's post the song will "appear on the Dylan soundtrack for the movie 'I'm Not There' ." Could that mean it's just on the soundtrack and not in the actual movie?

We could likely just be getting overly semantical about it, but considering all the covers that have been recorded for the film and all the songs that are likely going to hit the cutting room floor, our hunch is we're going to see a 2-disc soundtrack set (or a long-ass 1 disc) with songs both utilized in the movie and songs recorded for the film (either that or bands are just going to dump the unwanted songs on their myspace).

Considering the film is due in November and the Frames just recently recorded this cover, you can bet that Haynes is still doing lots of last-minute musical tweaks.

Download: Bob Dylan - "I'm Not There"
Download: The Frames - "Falling Slowly"
Download: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "When Your Mind's Made Up"
Download: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "Once"

Ving Rhames' Dogs Will Fucking Kill You

A 40-year-old man was mauled to death by as many as four dogs at the home of Ving Rhames on Friday, authorities said.
Damn, did Marsellus Wallace have one of his fucking dogs eat one of his men? Maybe it was a foot massage? Cold. [AP]

The worst part of this story? Rhames bragged to Time in 2001 that he had "eight Fila Brasileiro mastiffs — the national dog of Brazil, also used by U.S. Marines in jungle warfare." Nice work Ving. Hope those beasts were worth every penny.
Update: The man killed was the 40-year-old car taker of the dogs.

Bourne Into Trouble: The Ultimatum Blockbuster Gets Unleashed

Are you going to see the Bourne threequel, the "The Bourne Ultimatum" this weekend? It really doesn't matter if you are, the rest of North America certainly will be attending in throngs. If the reviews are any indication, eggheaded critics and dunderheaded blow-em' up fans will love it in equal measure.

If there ever was a box-office lock, this is it. Do not bet against this horse. The review are unanimously glowing. Meta-critic's collating powers have given the film a universal acclaimed 84% score and the more accurate Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a whopping 93% unanimous praise.

It warms our cockles that a real director like Paul Greengrass is not only going to the reap the benefits of this for his future endeavors, but the entire genre of smart-action has been completely turned on its head (see the last Bond movie, "Casino Royale" that copped everything it could from the Bourne series).

Salon said the film was, "A great action movie, exhilarating and neatly crafted, the kind of picture that will still look good 20 or 30 years from now." Slate wrote, "Fresher, leaner, and faster than any action movie in years."

The Village Voice all but called it the greatest movie of the year, "Bravura doesn't begin to describe Greengrass's skill in mounting these complex sequences...This is, simply put, some of the most accomplished filmmaking being done anywhere for any purpose."

So whether you see this thing or not, it's not going to break the box-office bonanza that this is surely going to be. More than 70$ million? Totally possible.

One things for sure, if you saw the harrowing "United 93" and "The Bourne Identity," you know Paul Greengrass is a master technician and super-accomplished when it comes to creating tension, nauseatingly dizzy sequences and action that knocks your equilibrium right out of sync.

Not only is Bourne amazing action, it even offers, for the willing (and perhaps overly-educated), tidy connections to the work of controversial theoretician Manuel Castells (think globalization, identity issues, and definitions of "citizenship") in Matt Damon's everyman character.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" trailer

Bob Hoskins Loathed Super-Mario Brothers

"It was a fuckin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! Fuckin' nightmare. Fuckin' idiots." - Choosing his words carefully, Bob Hoskins diplomatically says that working on the film, "Super Mario Brothers," was the worst acting experience of his life. [Guardian]

Victor Willis, the troubled ex-frontman for the Village People, is writing a tell-all book detailing his "frustration with his flamboyantly gay" bandmates. [Jam Showbiz]

Katherine Heigl is adding producer to her resume. Perhaps she needs a really handsome and intelligent blog assistant? [Hollywood Reporter]

Michelle Williams' dad just lost a tax evasion appeal. Perhaps with Heath off in L.A. filming, "The Dark Knight," she needs a Brooklyn-based shoulder to cry on? We're available. [AP]

'El Cantante' Director; The Scorsese of Salseros? Maybe Not So Much..

Is Leon Ichaso - the director of the salsa biopic, "El Cantante"; about the tragic life of salsa legend Héctor Lavoe (starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez) - the Scorsese of Salseros?

A recent NYTimes article about Ichaso's checkered career has this gem by anti-Castro Cuban filmmaker Jorge Ulla. “Just as Scorsese and Sidney Lumet have given us a New York of corrupt cops and colorful mafiosi, Leon has given us, with his stories of popular singers, a New York of heartbreaks and shattered dreams,” he said.

However, the New York Times review of the film isn't so kind and essentially says, " 'El Cantante' is less as a movie than as a two-hour promotional video for a must-have soundtrack album."

Lavoe became a gigantic Latin salsa star in the '70s, but like so many others grappling with superstardom, he succumbed to the trappings of drugs, became penniless, lived on the streets and eventually died in 1993 of AIDS-related complications.

Of Marc Anthony, the Times said, "[He's] not much of a screen actor. When the character is not in front of an audience, he seems to recede behind his high, delicate cheekbones and tinted glasses." Lopez fares better. She apparently "does enough acting for the two of them" and brings a lot of "fight" to her performance.

The rest of the world isnt much kinder to the film, "El Cantante disintegrates into a stylized jumble -- even a straightforward jumble would have been preferable," Salon wrote. And the Village Voice positively slams the film calling it, "A garish, dispiriting bit of work."

Ouch.
Watch: Hector Lavoe - "El Cantante"
Download: Hector Lavoe "Mi Gente"
Download: Marc Anthony - "Che Che Colé"
"El Cantante" trailer

Rogen Loves Penis, Woody Hearts Boobies, Sumner Hates Hooky, Timbaland Gives Up

"Now it's a lot of penis jokes with heart. You get penis and heart." - Had Seth Rogen's "Superbad" been shot with the original script he wrote in high school, the movie would be all flatulence and vulgarity. Having learned the ways of sensei Judd Apatow, the movie now contains dick jokes with a heart of gold . [AP]

"Rarely have I slept overnight on the curb to be the first on line for a movie, but when ‘Summer With Monika’ opened at the Jewel in Flatbush, a young boy with red hair and black-rimmed glasses could be seen clubbing senior citizens to the floor in an effort to insure the choicest, unobstructed seat.” - Woody Allen came to the works of Ingmar Bergman circuitously; the way any young boy in the 1950s would: the promise of comely, young nakedness onscreen. [Paper Cuts]

“I think that Hooky just needs to chill out a little bit and relax.” - Bernard Sumner thinks his embattled, threateningly litigious former New Order buddy Peter Hook need to pop a few xanax, DJ another Ibiza party and mellow the fuck out. [Rolling Stone]

"I'm done being cool; I want to work with Celine Dion." Sri Lankan MIA speaks on behalf of Timbaland who is so distraught over the complete failure of his recent solo album he will say anything outrageous to play it off like he just doesn't care. [Village Voice]

Download: MIA - "Hussle (feat. Afrikan Boy)"
Download: MIA - "Come Around (feat. Timbaland)"
Download: New Order - "Regret"

Elton John Says 'Shut Down The Internets'

“The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff....We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet." - Elton John says, the hell with it, tear down Al Gore's internets. [The Sun]

"Journalists are inherently the laziest people on earth. Even in the age of Google, they don't do any work to check what they're writing about." - Jack White does his best to mollify his already tenuous relationship with the press. [NME]

“My mom saved my life. She gave me mouth-to-mouth more than once.” - Troubled actor and former drug addict Corey Haim, shares a bit more than anyone wanted. [New York Times]

"I didn't want to disrespect what had come before, for those who care about that. But we're making this movie for people who don't care about Star Trek too. This isn't about pleasing the fans, this is about making a great film... look, there's no way you can please everyone." - Look for this JJ Abrams quote to quickly disseminate across the Internet as frightened hardcore Star Trek dorks worry themselves silly that the "Alias" creator's Trek-"reboot" film, *gasp!* might not exactly be for them. [EW]

"I think it's unfortunate that he's had to exploit our divorce for the sake of record sales. I think most people at this point understand what happened and what they're dealing with when he's doing interviews drunk and offering journalists cocaine. It kind of tells you what I might have been up against." - Burlesque stripper Dita Von Tese says living with former boyfriend Marilyn Manson was all love, puppies and roses. [A/V Club]

"Even when we were living off canned chili in L.A., it was always getting the camera and being like "Let's get coverage on this shot," We were familiar with the process and the way we worked with each other." - Dudetastic comedian Andy Samberg was incredibly comfortable making his exceptionally unfunny "Hot Rod" movie, because he shot it with his marginally funny, "Lonely Island," digital-short friends. When he was asked, "Did this feel like a bigger, more expensive Lonely Island short? (i.e., was this movie like another arduously drawn-out SNL-skit that goes on for way too long?) he answered, "definitely." [A/V Club]

Goodbye Michelangelo Antonioni

While lauding the DVD editions of "L'Avventura" and "L'Eclisse" (both on Criterion), the New York Times makes a sly encouraging bid to the rest of the DVD world to reissue the AWOL works of Michelangelo Antonioni, stat. Hear, hear. [NY Times]

The film world is mourning the death of Michelangelo Antonioni? Unfortunately not as vociferously and bold-faced name like compared to the death of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (though filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos did give a tribute). We think this is a crying shame. But pretentious, scarf-wearing German director, film historian and friend Wim Wenders (Europe's answer to Peter Bogdanovich, who interviewed Antonioni in his Cannes/what-does-Cinema-mean? documentary, "Chambre 666," and helped him complete "Al di là delle Nuvole" ["Beyond the Clouds" - a film redolent with Wenders pretentious stink]; ) attended the filmmakers funeral in his hometown of Ferrara. [BBC]

Wenders said of his friend, "It is difficult to sum up what the 'Maestro' has left. He certainly created a new image of man in the 20th century." [Reuters]

The Washington Post tribute to the Italian director is a wonderful read and called him an "auteur [that] depicted bourgeois despair." It also reminds us that Brian DePalma already gave his fitting tribute to the director in 1981 with the homage, "Blow Out" (with John Travolta as a David Hemmings surrogate). When critic Rex Reed asked why the director's films lacked conventionally happy endings, Mr. Antonioni replied: "All of them have happy endings. The people never come together, but they like it that way." [Washington Post]

Another Times appraisal of Antonioni mentioned the critical essay by Pauline Kael scathingly titled, "Come-Dressed-as-the-Sick-Soul-of-Europe Parties." The Times called his vision of the bourgeois ennui, "urbane and cosmopolitan," and defended the sometimes soulless fashionableness of his characters. Though their shallowness was a means to an end: they called Monica Vitti's character (Claudia) in, "L'Avventura" the "first celebutante." [New York Times]

Yet another cinephillic tribute to both Antonioni, and Bergman; their similarities and differences was lovingly penned by A.O. Scott. "The two of them — along with the other masters whose work had defined, from the mid-’50s through the late ’60s, a golden age of high-brow movie love — were pillars in the pantheon, canonical figures toward whom the only acceptable posture was one of veneration," he wrote admiringly. [NY Times]

Update
And finally one of North America's premiere film historians, the exhaustively knowledgeable Marty Scorsese has weighed in on both the revered and recently passed directors. "Bergman was one giant; Antonioni was another. Both of them cast very long shadows," he told EW*. "He was like an explorer who took us into new emotional and visual territory with every new movie" (*guys, your website sucks; can't link to the proper place).

Meanwhile, this Philstine at the New York Post (god, naturally) needs to be crucified for his ignoramus censure of Bergman. If I had his address for to encourage the outraged to murder him, I would surely post it.

Scarlett Johansson Gets Yeah'd?, Denzel Hearts Sharon Jones, Michael Caine: Chill-Out Aficionado?

Scarlett Johansson is doing everything to up her indie-cred. From covering Tom Waits, to singing with the Jesus & Mary Chain (her people apparently approached theirs), the ingenue is definitely making a play for it.

So what better way to get her feet wet in the music industry other than hooking up with hipsters like the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and TV On The Radio guitarist/producer Dave Sitek. The actress has apparently joined with this crew and members of Celebration to work on her debut album (though to be honest, their report isn't very convincing). [Pitchfork]

Sharon Jones of the Dap Kings has been handpicked by Denzel Washington for a role in his new film, "The Great Debaters." Directed by Washington, the film also stars Forrest Whitaker. Jones has also recorded additional songs which will be included in the official soundtrack to the film due out on Christmas Day. [Pitchfork]

Stodgy British actor, Michael Caine is releasing a chill-out compilation? The actor decided to release a disc after having thoroughly impressing Elton John at dinner with his musical knowledge. "About ten years ago I started making my own compilations. I've always been interested in music, and over the years have made literally thousands of tapes. And with chill-out I suppose I finally found my forte," Caine said. Maybe he can get the KLF to reunite. [London Times/The Daily Swarm]

Shameless Promotional Post: Superbad Becca

Though admittedly, pretty amusing. And let's face it, we can't wait for the next Apatow film.

Hedwig Gets Hot Beef Indie Injection, Hilton Gets Repo'd, DMX Meets Kris Kristofferson

Gay rock musical, "Hedwig In the Angry Inch" is getting a hot beef injection of indie-rock according to the sexually inexperienced college writers of Pitchforkmedia. Erotic, gay parade-friendly rockers like Sleater-Kinney, Spoon, Frank Black, Yo La Tengo, and the Breeders (hee, hee) will put their own homosapien bent on the tunes featured in the 'Hedwig' film for the charity album Wig In A Box. There's also a fabulous making-of-the-album documentary called, "Follow My Voice With the Music of Hedwig Hits" (trailer). [Pitchfork]

Recently incarcerated celebutante Paris Hilton, who may be losing her inheritance, might be finding another way to pay the bills. The exceptionally untalented US Weekly regular will star aside Alexa Vega and Paul Sorvino in the futuristic musical thriller (is a genre born?) "Repo! The Genetic Opera," to be directed by zero-times Oscar nominated, "Saw" director Darren Lynn Bousman. [Variety]

Melodramatic, multiple-felon/FBI-impersonating rapper DMX will star next to gruff, yet amiable country star and actor Kris Kristofferson ("Heaven's Gate," "Pat Garett & Billy The Kid," "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") in the escaped convict film "Jump Out Boys." All kinds of explosions are expected; a duet though? Not so much. Odd of DMX being arrested on set are high. [All Hip-Hop]

Looking for new Janet Jackson music in the Rush Hour 3 Soundtrack? Don't hold your breath. According to a caps-locked, almost-indecipherable, 3rd-grade level post on Jermaine Dupri's myspace page, he's not involved anymore. "I ENDED UP NOT DOIN IT CAUSE THE MOVIE TAKES PLACE IN PARIS AND ALOTTA THE MUSIC DID'NT FIT," he yelled over the interweb.[Myspace]

Mandy Moore Doesn't Want To Get Over 'Toxic' Zach Braff?

"[The] poor guy's probably heard about it in every interview." - Mandy Moore feels bad for former paramour and current wildcattin' cad, Zach Braff. Despite her insistence that her new, self-confessional album Wild Hope, which features done-wrong lines like, "You said you could be good, but somehow you're guilty. And you're not even sorry," is not about the Braffster, the plucky singer/actress can't help mention him in every breath.

Moore says of their affair, "We weren't like a big 'going out' couple. But when the relationship ended, it was "a bummer." While adding that the split was the icing on a "the really bad cake. The burned cake."

In a recent Elle magazine cover story, an anonymous Moore friend described Braff as "toxic." "He’s a really bad combination of narcissistic and insecure," the unidentified friend said.

If you assumed that this entry was an excuse to post a picture of Mandy Moore you are only 75% correct.
[People]

Download: Mandy Moore - "Wild Hope"
Download: Magnetic Fields - "I Don't Want To Get Over You"

"I'm Not Selling Cars, Ok?": How To Anger Robert Deniro In One Easy Step

As IFilm writes: Robert De Niro gets annoyed with a commercial director who requests that the actor become more "energetic" during a take.

Uwe Boll Doesn't Want Terrorists To Win; Andre 3000 Might Be Sammy Davis Jr.; Wesley Snipes Could Be Thelonious Monk

"The terrorists [in the plane] are having a big fight over who gets more virgins in eternity. So in that context it is funny. If comedy cannot be in a way insulting for some, but other people have a blast out of it, where are we?" - If critically roasted hack video-game adapting director Uwe Boll doesn't get to keep his 9/11 joke in his new movie, "Postal," the terrorists will have won (Boll has been so upset with some of the vicious reviews his laughable movies have received in recent years that he has challenged and fought some of his critics in boxing matches). [EW]

"Well, actually, I just got the script. "I am checking it out now, and we will see where it goes from there." - Andre 3000 cannot contain his enthusiam for his prospective turn as Sammy Davis Jr. in an upcoming, I-suppose-it-might-happen biopic. Don't hold your breath. [MTV]

“I know who I would like. I would love it if Wesley Snipes would do it.” - "El Cante" director Leon Ichaso, apparently never having seen any of Wesley Snipes movies, wants the, *cough,* actor to play Thelonious Monk. [MTV]

"Thankfully most people don't know who John Lennon is, so the pressure wasn't on. It is a ridiculous portrayal and a silly scene. Jack Black plays Paul McCartney. So you look at both of us and say, "Oh, I get it." - Star of the upcoming Ten commandements spoof, "The Ten," Paul Rudd confirms his cameo as some Beatles dude in the Judd Apatow film, "Walk Hard." [MTV]

The Toronto Film Festival has added Werner Herzog's antarctica doc "Encounters at the End of the World," Gus Van Sant's Cannes offering "Paranoid Park," Gael Garcia Bernal's directorial debut "Deficit," "My Enemy's Enemy" by "Last King of Scotland" director Kevin McDonald and... an Iraqi war documentary from former talk show host Donahue? [Variety]

David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" will open up the London Film Festival. [London Times]

Film World Makes Convincing Argument Towards Your First Bergman Film Rental

Swedish film icon Ingmar Bergman died on Monday and 90% of you were like, "the 'Casablanca' star? She was still alive? Poor thing."

If we can't convince you why Bergman's chilly, glacially-paced despairing meditations on death aren't more fun than eating glass and totally worth watching, perhaps other filmmakers you barely recognize can change your mind.

Woody Allen. the nebish, neurotic jewish director called Bergman, "the greatest film artist of my lifetime." Allen's long career had many nods to the Swede, but none were as homageistically bleak as "Interiors" (- the favorite Woody Allen film of sad bastard Ben Gibbard for those of you who have accidentally stumbled onto us on your way from Brooklyn Vegan, hello!).

Richard Attenborough, knighted Sir of stately historical cinema mien (Gandhi, Chaplin, C.S Lewis); he who himself likely has not much time left on this earth said, "The world has lost one of its very greatest filmmakers."

Super-repressed egghead Calvinist and writer of "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" and other self-tormented internal worlds, the encyclopedic Paul Schrader said, "It is impossible for anyone of my generation not to have been influenced by Bergman. He made film-making a serious and introspective enterprise."

Gilles Jacob, the current director of the Cannes Film Festival was apparently extremely inebriated when he nonsensically called Bergman, "a pioneer of genius." Next month Jacob will also bestow the coveted Montgomery Burns award for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence.

The lanky and innocuous Michale Apted, head of the Directors Guild and director of the celebrated "Up" documentary series was equally vague with his praise calling Bergman, "a director's director." Which is sort of like a used car salesman calling a fallen comrade admirably slick.

Actor Max von Sydow - the only living human being with the distinction of having acted in both "The Seventh Seal" and "Strange Brew" - who starred in 11 Bergman films said, "No-one counted for me as much as Ingmar Bergman," and said he had "immense gratitude," for having worked and befriended the filmmaker.

Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and other American directors with little-to-no knowledge of Bergman's films were coincidentally not available for comment (this is analogous to rock musicians admitting to never having really heard a Bob Dylan record). [ed. Where was noted film historian Marty Scorsese?]

If that didn't make you put down the newest Dane Cook film, we're not sure what will. Update: More thoughts on Bergman can be found at Deadline Hollywood and Roger Ebert (who collated a list of thoughts emailed to him by people like David Mamet, Richard Linklater, Guy Maddin and David Gordon Green, who gave at least one solid reason to watch a Bergman film, "All those good-lookin' Swedish babes."

Trapped In The Closet: The Saga Continues

12.5 the teaser for 'Closet' chapters 13-22 has arrived, hallelujah. I mean, it's basically just a movie anyhow, right?

Download: R-Kelly - "Real Talk"

3 Deaths Are Even Funnier! Who's Next? Wooooo!

Film icons Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni died on the same day this week (Monday July 30, 2007) and then the ridiculous blog world started invoking the rules of three (a loathsome and dubious editorial stretch). Who will die next? Yes, Herzog? Godard? Woody Allen? Eric Rohmer? Someone is going to DIE! Sweet, isn’t that so exciting? Another human being is going to lose their life! Not only that we’re hopefully going to lose another giant in the world of cinema. The sick gleeful anticipation palpably emitting from their fingertips was pretty gross. Some people are even taking odds and making sure you’ve heard their picks for next-director death loud and clear (though admit to "lamely" invoking this rule). I'm all for funny, but this is just retarded. Well, at least you know what they'll all be renting for the first time ever this week.

PS, clueless interviewer Tom Snyder does NOT count (c'mon, this is a pathetic reach). If anyone's going to die, let it be a useless blogger.

RIP Michelangelo Antonioni; Film Legend Dead At 94

Just one day after the death of celebrated Swedish film great Ingmar Bergman, news arrived that another legend of cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni has died at the age of 94 (they actually both died on Monday, 7/31).

The modernist Italian director – best known for his abstract swinging London masterpiece, "Blow Up," its equally obtuse counter-culture follow-up and commercial disaster, "Zabriskie Point," and his venerable '60s modern world alienation and disaffection trilogy ("L'Avventura," La Notte" and "L'Eclisse") – died peacefully at his home in Rome his wife Enrica Fico, told La Repubblica newspaper.

“With Antonioni, not only has one of the greatest living directors been lost, but also a master of the modern screen,” said the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni.

Renowned for his lyrical, oblique and deliberately slow-moving films, Antonioni's snail-paced anti-narratives were both poetic and often languorously arty. Regarded as one of the founders of European avante-garde cinema, he excelled at thoughtful, beautiful films with long, wandering shots telling virtually no story whatsoever. The hack crit term, meditation on, may have been first coined for his unhurried examinations of young, well-dressed hipsters struggling with paralyzing existential crises.

In the twice Oscar-nominated "Blow Up," the filmmaker bookended the film with frolicking mimes as a hail-mary attempt at profundity. As the Film Snob dictionary notes, the Antonioni-helmed, "The Passenger," was the artiest film Jack Nicholson ever appeared in. The film's completely silent, 10-minute final scene had some audiences ripping out the seats in protest while others stroked their chin with perplexed knowningness.
"He invented his own language of cinema - that's what made him very, very inventive. He didn't owe anything to anybody else. He was a total original, " Richard Mowe, a film writer and co-director of the Italian Film Festival UK, said.

Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, the author of a book on Antonioni's film "L'Avventura" (The Adventure) and obviously a big fan of his sometimes plodding and pretentious work, said the filmmaker was, "The last link with the great days of European art cinema."

The wilful disintegration of Monica Vitti's character in the remarkably slow and directionless, "L'Avventura" provoked a near riot at the Cannes Film Festival in 1960. Both the director and Vitti thought their careers were over. Naturally, the film won the festival's Grand Jury Prize. The film went became an international phenomenon and launched his career on the global stage. Vitti would go on to be the most dedicated member of this acting troupe (which sometimes included the suave and classy Marcello Mastroianni).

1964's "Il Deserto Rosso" was also loosely considered the 4th film in what would be a modern alienation quadrology. In 1966 the director made a deal to create another loose trilogy of films with legendary Italian film producer Carlo Ponti that began with "Blow Up."

After the international success of "Blow-Up," Antonioni bit off more than he could chew with the '60s American counter-culture film, "Zabriskie Point" (1970). His lone American production, starring non-actors, a typically non-narrative and a languid Pink Floyd score, the film concluded with the grand pretentiousness of a building blowing-up in slow-motion repeatedly for an arduous scene, that seemingly went on for an entire afternoon (this scene and film permanently wounded the reputation of art-film for years to come). 'Zabriskie' was a wonderfully absurd bomb and one of the most notorious commercial flops of its day (the Grateful Dead, John Fahey and Kaleidoscope also contributed to the soundtrack).

Not everyone was a fan of Antonioni's work obviously; the feared doyen of film criticism Pauline Kael said filmmakers like Ben Hect made satirical comedies "that said most of what Antonioni and more, and were entertaining besides."

In 1985, the director suffered a stroke that left him partially paralysed, but he continued to work behind the camera. "Filming for me is living," he said.

In '82 Antonioni won the Grand Prix at the Cannes festival for "Identificazione di una donna” (Identification of a Woman). He was awarded Venice's Golden Lion in 1983 and given a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1995 presented by his old pal, Jack Nicholson.

As the excellent Times obit remarks, Antonioni was enigmatic through and through.

Asked to reflect back on his life, he was asked once, “In a world without film, what would you have made?”
Antonioni replied: “Film.”

Download: Caetano Veloso - "Michelangelo Antonioni" (from the film, "Eros")
Download: Pink Floyd - "Heart Beat, Pig Meat" (from "Zabriskie Point")
Download: The Grateful Dead - "Dark Star" (from "Zabriskie Point")
Download: Jerry Garcia - "Love Scene" (from "Zabriskie Point")
Watch: "The Passenger" (last scene)
Watch: "Zabriskie Point" (final scene)