Control Soundtrack Tracklist Leaks Via Fansite

Tracklists are springing crazy leaks today. First it was the 'Darjeeling Limited' and now Anton Corbijn's "Control."

The soundtrack tracklist for the Joy Division biopic has been leaked via a fan made Myspace page. Though what's making it to this movie isn't a huge revelation, the songs used in the movie have been floating around for sometime (though it was an impartial list).

As we noted, the list off songs originally posted by the fan Joy Division site was missing David Bowie's "Warsawa", and the tracklist reveals what we knew, but had failed to yet post (stupid, we've seen the movie and were saving it for our review. So yes, this confirms that this tracklist is likely totally legit.), Kraftwerk's "Autobahn," and the Dutch prog-rock band Supersister track "She Was Naked" (Corbjin has to get some heritage in there somewhere, right?). As rumor goes, the soundtrack is due October 1 (but that's a Monday, so if that's correct, that's the British release date and the U.S. date would likely be October 2).

The New Order songs on the CD "Exit," "Get Out" and "Hypnosis," are apparently three brand new songs originally composed for the film. Yet another trailer is up on Yahoo UK, which is not tremendously different than the five other trailers out there (though this one doesn't have French subtitles on it).

The official "Control" site is up now as well.

"Control" Soundtrack
01. New Order - "Exit"
02. The Velvet Underground - "What Goes On"
03. The Killers - "Shadowplay" (Joy Division Cover)
04. The Buzzcocks - "Boredom" (live)
05. Joy Division - "Dead Souls"
06. Supersister - "She Was Naked"
07. Iggy Pop - "Sister Midnight"
08. Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
09. Sex Pistols - "Problems" (live)
10. New Order - "Hypnosis"
11. David Bowie - "Drive In Saturday"
12. John Cooper Clarke - "Evidently Chickentown"
13. Roxy Music - "2H.B."
14. Joy Division - "Transmission" (Cast Version)
15. Kraftwerk - "Autobahn"
16. Joy Division - "Atmosphere"
17. David Bowie - "Warszawa"
18. New Order - "Get Out"

Download: Joy Division - "She's Lost Control"
Download: Joy Division - "Atmosphere"
Download: The Killers - "Shadowplay"
Download: David Bowie - "Warszawa"

"The Darjeeling Limited" Soundtrack Revealed; Lots Of Satyajit Ray Score As Predicted

Our friends over at The Rushmore Academy have got their hands on the tracklist for what purports to be "The Darjeeling Limited" soundtrack and it looks very-much on point. As we reported, longtime Wes Anderson collaborator, Mark Mothersbaugh is not on board for this one and as we correctly predicted and educatedly guessed a few weeks ago, the soundtrack leans heavily on the music composed by filmmaker Satyajit Ray himself, Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Ustad Vilayat Khan (Jyotirindra Moitra and Shankar Jaikishan were the two we hadn't even thought of, though we did even call a lot of the right movies).

The film also uses a track by American expat and '60s/'70s French pop sensation Joe Dassin, the son of filmmaker Jules Dassin, who was blacklisted and went to work in France producing film classics like "Riffi" and "La Legge" with Marcello Mastroianni.

Last week, we had noted that RS had mentioned some of the pop songs used in the film by the Kinks, the Rolling Stones and '60s British folky, Peter Sarsted.

The one partial rub, for nerd completists like ourselves is the actual titles of the songs from each of these film is missing.

Some would consider these major spoilers, but it's out there now and let's face it, many haven't heard this Indian compositions before. What we'll do is post some our favorite songs from these films (We can also safely assume the song from the Ray film, "Charulata" is the song "Charu Theme" as it's already been used in the 'Darjeeling' trailer - some of these "faves" we're also saving from our Wes soundtrack series, which has been completed, but not posted yet).

"The Darjeeling Limited" Tracklist -
Music from the film “Jalsaghar” - Ustad Vilayat Khan
“This Time Tomorrow” - The Kinks
Music from the film “Teen Kanya” - Satyajit Ray
Music from the film “The Householder” -Jyotirindra Moitra
Music from the film “Pather Panchali” - Pendit Ravi Shankar
Music from the film “Aparajito” - Pandit Ravi Shankar
Music from the film “Devi” -Ali Akbar Khan
Music from the film “Apur Sansar” - Pandit Ravi Shankar
Music from the film “Joi Baba Felunath” - Satyajit Ray
Music from the film “Charulata” - Satyajit Ray
Music from the film “Bombay Talkie” - Shankar Jaikishan
Music from the film “Shakespeare Wallah” - Satyajit Ray
Music from the film “Baksa Badal” - Satyajit Ray
Music from the film “Kanchenjungha” -Satyajit Ray
“Debussy: 3. Clair de Lune” - Written by Claude De Bussy (performed by Alexis Weissenberg)
“Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)” - Peter Sarstedt
“Strangers”- The Kinks
“Typewriter Tip Tip Tip” - Shankar Jaikishan
“Symphony No. 7 in A, OP. 92″ Written by Ludwig Van Beethoven (performed by Fritz Reiner)
“Symphony No. & in A OP. 92. Il Allegretto” Written by Ludwig Van Beethoven (performed by Otto Klemperer / Philharmonia Orchestra
“Champs Elysees (aka Waterloo Road)” - Joe Dassin
“Play with Fire”- The Rolling Stones
“Powerman"- The Kinks
Music from the film “Guru” - Ustad Vilayat Khan

Download: The Kinks - "Powerman"
Download: The Rolling Stones - "Play With Fire"
Download: Peter Sarstedt - Where Do You Go to My Lovely"
Download: Claude Debussy - "Claire De Lune"
Download: Satyajit Ray - "Charu Theme"
Download: Joe Dassin - “Champs Elysees"

Download: Ustad Vilayat Khan - "Title Music" (from "The Guru")
Download: Satyajit Ray - "Manjula's Procession" (from "Shakespeare Wallah")
Download: Ustad Ali Akbar Khan - "Prem's Lament" (from "The Householder")

According to the Rushmore Academy, the soundtrack disc will be released on ABKCO records.

Exclusive: Royal Mountain Band Talk "I'm Not There"

[It's our requsite and daily "I'm Not There," post. Hi Harvey!]

Many moons ago, we noted the involvement of the little-known Montreal group, The Royal Mountain Band (pictured here), as The Band, in the Todd Haynes Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There."

The Band being the Robbie Robertson-lead, mostly Canadian good ol’ time rock band that Dylan recruited for his 1965–1966 world tour when he went electric (they were known as the Hawks around this period). They got so much flak and blame for Zimmy’s electrical heresy that drummer/singer Levon Helm actually left the group for two years he was so dispirited. The Band backed Dylan for the informal sessions belatedly called The Basement Tapes that were released in 1975, but actually recorded around 1967 after Dylan’s well-documented and near-fatal motorcycle accident [note Dylanites will soon descend to nit-pick apart this graph].

We asked The Royal Mountain Band a bunch of questions about their involvement in “I’m Not There,” and vocalist/guitarist Tavis Triance was kind enough to answer.

The Playlist: How did you get involved in this project?
In the most narrow sense, we got involved in this project through [Pop Montreal promoter] Dan Seligman, who thought we’d fit for the part, got us an audition and subsequently found us an agent who worked in the local film industry. In a broader sense, we got the part because our band has been really into The Band and people have come to associate us with that sort of sound, feel and to some extent look—which is actually more what the film people were looking for I suppose.

We hear members of Wolf Parade and other Montreal Musicians also auditioned, how did you get the part?
I think that Wolf Parade thing comes from an interview we did with Montreal’s local entertainment weekly The Mirror where I remembered there being some members of Wolf Parade auditioning before us as well as a really wicked guy by the name of Uncle Milchey who plays in a band called Starvin Hungry. I think he was auditioning for the part of Robbie. I think I responded to one of the interview questions saying that it would have been nice if the casting people had chosen us for our love and knowledge of The Band, but that it more likely that we just looked more like them than Wolf Parade did.

Which Bob Dylan actor did you work with?
We worked with Cate Blanchett who was not only an incredible actor—I didn’t entirely believe in acting or actors before seeing her performances—but completely unpretentious and very friendly.

How was the on-set experience?
Really good; Todd Haynes was a particularly wicked human being and really seemed to have this passionate, somewhat twisted interpretation of the whole Dylan myths. It was all very interesting and will, I think, come out in the film of course.

There most have been some strange and surreal moments.
I’m not sure how much to say as I certainly don’t want to be responsible for ruining anyone’s enjoyment of the film, but there was a point in which we found ourselves standing all in a row firing off Uzis. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain just how surreal it is to stand next to a very beautiful movie star, convincingly costumed as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, all the while showering her/him with hot uzi casings.

Have you seen the film or your part in it?
I have yet to see much of the film other than the screen shots I was able to get a look at while I was on set. Those were black and white shots of us dressed as The Band on stage with Dylan, and looked fucking amazing to me.

Were you guys told you were playing the Band/The Hawks? Was it supposed to be an exact period?
We were a blend of several different shows during what they were thinking of as Dylan’s ‘Electric Phase.’

Was it nice to be a Canadian band, portraying a mostly-Canadian band?
Incredible for us. We actually have friends in a band by the name of Bullmoose who know [Band keyboardist] Richard [Manuel]'s brother.

What can you tell us about the soundtrack that we don't already know?
They are using the song “I’m Not There” which was recorded in the Basement Tapes sessions but isn’t in wide release. I love that tune. We also recorded a version of “You Aint Goin Nowhere” and submitted it for the soundtrack, but I guess they decided to go with Roger Mcguinn instead. Fair enough I suppose. You can check out our version on our Myspace page.

Anything else, notable you want to tell us about?
Our keyboard player Jeff isn’t actually in the film as he was off playing gigs in Western Canada. Instead they moved our guitarist to keys, our bassist to guitar, me to bass and hired an actor to play the part of Robbie. I’m thankful that they thought I looked sufficiently like [Band bassist] Rick Danko with my moustache that they didn’t make me shave it—he technically wasn’t wearing one at the time.

The Royal Mountain Band have just finished recording a new album at Breakglass studios with Jace Lasek of the pitchfork-approved Besnard Lakes. Their still tbd-titled album is due in the fall.

Download: Royal Mountain Band - "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Dylan cover)

Walk Hardly Wrong? Who Exactly Is Recording The Title Track To Judd Apatow's New Comedy?

Pull out your notebook. This one might get a little hairy. Pitchfork is reporting that Billboard has reported (got that?), that Lyle Lovett has record the title track to the upcoming John C. Reilly, music spoof biopic, "Walk Hard: The Story of Dewey Cox" (in a throw-away line at the end of their article)

Not only is it Mr. Lovett, he's enlisted the oh-so-wacky trio of Jewel, Jackson Browne and wait for it, Ghostface Killah [PFM says Word? Word!; Lovett, Jewel and Browne all appear in one version of the trailer]

However, you'll rememeber, that we reported what Rolling Stone had reported (in an article not online, follow?) that Marshall Crenshaw had recorded the title track.

So media, which one is it?

Ah, but maybe it's all in the details, Billyboredy say Lovett recorded the title track. Maybe Crenshaw still wrote it. Wait, did we just answer our own question? Was this post all for not?

It's Getting Soundtracky Out There: Justin Timberlake, Morrissey, Ice Cube. Lou Reed, Joy Division

- Justin Timberlake is joining Mike Meyers in the comedy, "The Love Guru." Timberlake will play a hockey player (Canuck Meyers loves his hockey, eh?) who falls in love with Jessica Alba, the wife of a rival player. Meyers, who is now single and who we've seen cavorting with blonde's half his age in Soho, is probably just looking for a wing-man. Timberlake is probably just trying to make the Hollywood notch-on-belt rounds with Alba. [Reuters]

- A bunch of Morrissey obsessives are cobbling a documentary together called, "Passions Just Like Mine." If you want to watch extremely dorky, 16-year-old Latino boys talk about their awkward love for the Mozzer, this documentary is for you. The "trailer" (if one can really have the audacity to call it that) is as riveting as paint drying.

- Once tough, now completely cuddly and harmless Ice Cube is going to star in "Comeback,"a film Fred Durst is negotiating to direct. Sadly, Durst is likely thinking that working with the safe-as-milk Ice Cube is going to curry favor with fans and reclaim his edge. [Variety]

In case you can't get enough Joy Division these days, the imaginatively tilted documentary, "Joy Division," will premiere as part of the "Real to Reel" program at the upcoming Toronto Festival.[Pitchfork]
The Toronto fest's documentary line-up has also added the doc, "Lou Reed's Berlin," by arsty fartsy Julian Schnabel.

File under: going back to the well once too often. Jamie Foxx is going to star in another musical biopic called, "The Soloist," but lolzer jokes aside, it's not another huge icon like Ray Charles. The plot focuses on a "homeless musician with schizophrenia who dreams of playing at Walt Disney Concert Hall." [Hollywood Reporter]

Download: Ice Cube - "Wicked"
Download: Justin Timberlake - "Chop Me Up"
Download: Morrissey - "Hairdresser On Fire"

Sondre Lerche Scores "Dan In Real Life" Soundtrack; Regina Spektor Guests On Track

Fresh-faced Norwegian kid/singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche has writteb the score and contributed songs to the upcoming film, "Dan In Real Life" by director Peter Hedges ("Pieces of April") and starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche (and thespian Dan Cook, how could we forget?).

In June, Lerche wrote on his blog about his involvement in the film.

"Right now I find myself in a studio near Times Square in New York, finishing the recording of a bunch of songs and pieces for an upcoming film called "Dan In Real Life." The past year I've been fortunate enough to find myself increasingly involved in contributing music to this wonderful Peter Hedges film. I may not have mentioned anything about this before, but I promise to elaborate further next time we speak."

As young folks are wont to do he has failed to elaborate so far, but we're sure the young lad will give up the goods soon enough (Virgin/Astralwerks is putting out the disc and details will be available shortly). The poster for the film says, "Music and Songs by Sondre Lerche," so expect instrumental score pieces and new Lerche song compositions. According to the lovingly inaccurate IMDB, Lerche has a brief cameo in the film as "himself - band member." Take that accuracy with a grain of salt, but we're told he's in the film at the end (whether he's actually playing Sondre Lerche seems a bit dubious to us). According to Scandanavian site Stageways, the song, "Modern Nature" is used in the film (from the album Faces Down).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new and original Lerche songs, "To Be Surprised," "I'll Be Okay," "Give in to Love," "My Hands Are Shaking" are included in the film, plus, "Hell No" a track written by Lerche, but performed by him and loveable indie redhead Regina Spektor.

Director Peter Hedges is fond of the use of pop music in his films. His last movie, the underappreciated, "Pieces of April," was scored to the music of Magnetic Fields' frontman Stephin Merritt who contributed old and new Mag Fields songs, solo tracks and pre-existing 6ths tunes.

"Dan In Real Life" comes from the co-writer of the underrated "About a Boy" and the author of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," so it could have that underachieving-potential. The trailer uses, "Let My Love Open The Door" by Pete Townshend.

Remember When?: Sigur Rós Regretted The Use Of Their Music In "Vanilla Sky"

A trip down soundtrack history memory lane today leads us to Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky." Based off a painfully mediocre movie, "Abre Los Ojos" by Alejandro Amenábar ("The Others") Crowe's painfully mediocre remake ('Sky'), was a mess both visually and sonically. The soundtrack was basically a mixtape of whatever Crowe happened to been listening to 6-months prior to making the film and then he shoe-horned them into scenes wherever possible, including tracks by Radiohead, Spiritualized, Sigur Rós, the Monkees and others (we're not questioning his taste, the choices are fine, their awkward and forced placement is not).

The film was ungood to say the least and Sigur Rós for one admitted that allowing their music to be used in the film before they had actually seen it was a blunder on their part.

"I regret it a little bit that I didn't see it before," Sigur Rós eunuch-sounding vocalist Jonsi Birgisson admitted to Jam Showbiz in April 2002. "I think it was a mistake. I really wanted to see it before we did it, but they couldn't show us the film because they were running out of time. We saw it when it was ready. I didn't like it. It's hard if you are connected to something that doesn't work 100%. When you put everything into the things that you do and some people take your songs and put them into something that doesn't work ... Some of it was really good, how they used those songs. The last song was really well used. And of course, a lot of people will discover our music and that's really important, too. You can't forget that."

Translation: Hey Cameron, don't be totally offended, we like your movies and all, but this blew and, sometimes part of turds smell less offensive than others.

However, did the Icelandic dream-rockers learn their lesson? In countless interviews from their first North American release, Rós went on about carefully choosing music for films and not lending their music to just any old project. A quick scan of Wikipedia's list of music for TV and films that Rós contributed to seems like they've really whored themselves out (even if semi-correct, this list is huge).

The 'Vanilla' use of Sigur Rós' creatively titled "Track 4" ("Njósnavélin) was actually a live version of the song before it was released on the imaginatively titled () and ironically, it was probably the finest use of music in the film, (admittedly the use of Spiritualized in the film wasn't terrible either, but you could set that song to a driving instructor film and it would probably still kill), but it's use wasn't allowed on the soundtrack (but the other Rós track, "Svefn-g-englar" made the disc).

Sigur Rós' first notable film contribution was for the 2000 Icelandic movie,"Englar Alheimsins (Angels of the Universe)" which contained two of their tracks. They also contributed an instrumental electronic score to the 2002 Icelandic documentary Hlemmur." In November, the dreamy post-rock band will release "Heima," a concert film shot around Iceland on the band's 2006 summer tour.

Download: Sigur Ros -" Track 4"
Download: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson - "Memory" (from "Englar Alheimsins")
Download: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson - "Journey To The Underworld" (from "Englar Alheimsins")
Download: Sigur Rós - "Death Announcements And Funerals" (from "Englar Alheimsins")
Download: Sigur Rós - Jósef Tekur Fimmuna í Vinnuna" (from ("Hlemmur")
Download: Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentleman We're Floating In Space"

Preview: "Dedication" & Musical Overview

What a nice surprise "Dedication" was. The cynical (us, sometimes), may have seen this as another "Garden State," but there's no emo man-child finding his way through life, nor is there a spoiled brat declaring, "this band will change your life" (and thank Christ for that).

Billy Crudup stars as Henry, an extremely fucked-up, pathologically OCD children's story writer. The always fantastic Tom Wilkinson plays Rudy his long-time friend, father figure and illustrator. And Mandy Moore (Lucy) gets assigned the job of salvaging the multi-million dollar children's book that the duo have created in time for its Christmas deadline, after unforseen circumstances undo their partnership.

The amazing Bob Balaban plays the deliciously cold children's book publisher and threatens a lawsuit on Crudup's character if the book isn't turned around, meanwhile bribing Moore to put up with his cruel and rough comportment. Crudup pulls off yet another incredible and mannered performance, Wilkinson and Balaban are impeccable as usual and Moore is a revelation (though yes, she was great in "Saved" too).

"She has a real grounded side to her that I knew if I could capitalize on it, it would be very valuable to the movie. She came in and just wowed me, she was just so present. You needed that for someone who was playing against someone who was so frenetic," director Justin Theroux ("Muholland Drive") told Coming Soon.

Amazingly, "Dedication" pulls no punches. Crudup's character is cruel and genuinely unlikable, Moore comes from familial insanity herself and their relationship is always tenuous at best. "I’m not sure if their relationship is going to last two years or two days after we leave them,” the director told Time Out New York. “Henry comes around, but he’s still got problems. Personally, I like that you’re not sure what happens to them. To me, that makes it a lot more interesting than just another happily-ever-after movie.”

Musically, Pitchfork kids might have felt indie co-option from the outset (though they're more than happy to report about it), but the musical choices aren't indie for indie's sake. Main musicians, Deerhoof's arrhythmic and disjointed rhythms and vocals are essentially Crudup's character's theme - underscoring his nervous and anxious state of mind.

"Anyone who has a good Ipod playlist can come up with song to put in a movie," director Justin Theroux said knowingly. "My rule was, if you believe a particular song is good and it jives with the emotional life of the character, go for it. The soundtrack to Lucy's [Mandy Moore] life is the Cat Power. Henry's [Crudup] inner life has a Deerhoof soundtrack" (Chan Marshall's "Metal Heart" and "Back Of Your Head" - both Moon Pix songs - follow Moore around).

The Lighting Bolt songs, "Forcefield," and "Ride The Sky" also perfectly add to the unjointed sense of equilbrium and add elements of comedy to Crudup's fix-the-disaster-he's made chaos. Four Deerhoof songs are featured on the soundtrack, but ten Deerhoof songs in total appear in the film, plus they worked with composer Ed Shearmur to write brief snippets of musical cues that are sometimes noisy and un-syncopated and sometimes lovely electronic twinkling compositions (* the 10 tracks and other details will be listed in the comments section for those that care).

"I was very nervous to meet [Theroux]," Mandy Moore told MTV thinking there was no way in hell she was going to actually get the part. I read [the script] and I was like, "Wow, this is very well-written, and Billy [Crudup]'s attached and Tom [Wilkinson]'s attached. They would never consider someone like me to be a part of this movie." I think I met with Justin just kind of thinking, "Congratulations, man. Good luck with this!"

You've certainly seen "Dedication" before, the idea is certainly not new, and the movie does tend to dissolve into typical rom-com near the end, but the sharp, unforgiving writing, and deft performances give it a new spin and make it wholly un-Braff-like (and c'mon, that at least is saying something). "Dedication" opens August 24 and then goes wide September 14.

Read: Deerhoof Score New Mandy Moore Movie; No Really...
Download: Joanna Newsom - "Bridges And Ballons"
Download: Strokes - Ask Me Anything
Listen: Lightning Bolt - "Forcefield"
Listen: Lighting Bolt - Ride The Skies
Download: Cat Power - "Metal Heart"
Download: Au Revoir Simone "Stay Golden"

Trailer Trash: Is The Theme From Brazil The Newer Black?

Musical herdism is alive and well in movie trailers. We recently noted that the Godspeed-like theme to "28 Days Later," had surpassed the Clint Mansell "Requiem For a Dream" theme as the new dark and scary tune to boost your trailer scare and drama quotient.

But has the theme to Brazil - Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil") by Ary Barroso - become the new trailer theme for the goofy, surreal and wacky set? Vulture has a great piece that notes the appropriation of the theme made famous in the Terry Gilliam 1984-like totalitarian comedy,

They note that recent trailers for "Bee Movie," "Sicko" and "Wall-E," all borrow this theme (as does a Visa Check Card ad). As they write, "Once in a while, every advertising firm and trailer house in the country decides to license the exact same song at the exact same time." They said a mouthful. Maybe Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hills" will come back into vogue soon.

One pop cultural moment they forgot though. The Arcade Fire covered "Brazil," in 2004 as the flipside to their "Cold Wind" single. The disgustingly slick version by the Ray Coniff singers is pretty delightful to in that we're very happy and disturbed way, which we suppose is the way the song is meant to be heard.

Download: Arcade Fire - "Brazil"
Download: The Ray Coniff singers - "Brazil"

Cate Blanchett Talks Dylan Trepidation

The reputable British rag, the Daily Mail has published a brief interview with Cate Blanchett on her thoughts and fears of playing Bob Dylan in the upcoming Todd Haynes biopic that we still haven't seen, "I'm Not There." (despite plenty of friends joking that we're practically paid to blog about this thing).

Recently, Harvey Weinstein practically threatened suicide if Blanchett performance doesn't earn her an Oscar nomination and while Blanchett didn't talk about the Academy Awards, she did have her own concerns.

"I have always loved his (Dylan) music, but I'm terrified about this because I am besotted," she told the Mirror. "I watched the press conference he gave in San Francisco in 1965, or whenever it was, and just think, 'I love you'.

However, the Australian actress mades a point of claiming her role is an interpretation. "The worst thing an actor can do is fall in love with someone they're about to portray, but I'm not playing him - my character is called Jude. It's a riff on who Bob Dylan could possibly be. When I saw the script I thought, 'This is so out there I can't run away from this'."

According to the Mirror:

'I'm Not There' will look at Dylan's early days as a struggling folk-singer, his rise to the forefront of the early '60s folk scene, the controversial switch to rock, the motorcycle accident and his subsequent retreat from public view. As well as his latter day de-emphasis of recording and his concentration on the concert series known as the Never Ending Tour.

Steve Coogan Eulogizes Pal Tony Wilson

Having portrayed recently deceased Factory Records magnate Tony Wilson as a pretentious, yet lovable blow-hard in the film "24 Hour Party People," Steve Coogan has written the requisite and affectionate eulogy titled, "Why Tony Wilson Will Never Leave Me," for the UK Guardian.

Is it a mea culpa for this douche-portraying transgression? Apparently the two became rather buddy-buddy when they promoted the film together in 2002.

Coogan wrote: "It's almost impossible to describe Tony in a sentence, you end up with a long list of adjectives - some of them paradoxical. But let me have a go: Lyrical, poetic, unselfconscious, very self-conscious, unsentimental, a bit sentimental, uncynical, enthusiastic, Teflon-coated, vulnerable."

Early on, before the film was made and Wilson was shown the script, he wisely recognized fiction always trumps fact. "If it's a choice between the truth and the legend, print the legend," Wilson said, quoting John Ford.

This might be the best quote: "Put simply, he showed it wasn't poofy to wear nice clothes and use long words." It's a great read.

Things We Thought We'd Never Say: Ice Cube Is A Huge Wuss

There was a period from 1989 until about 1995 when Ice Cube was one of the scariest motherfuckers on the face of the planet. And rightfully so - as best we could gather at the time, the only things he rapped about were gangs, guns, police brutality and racial tensions. In 1990 '91 and '92, Cube released three of the hardest, most unflinching, most controversial rap records at the time. Suburban white boys responded by buying millions of copies of AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Death Certificate (which we got caught shoplifting from Record World back in the day- GANGSTA!) and The Predator - perhaps because they were drawn in by the bad boy image of Cube's violent depictions of inner city life or perhaps because they thought that when Ice Cube finally snapped- he might only kill their families, sparing all the white suburban kids who bought (and hopefully for us, also those who shoplifted) his records.

Then he started making movies.

In 1991 Cube made his acting debut in John Singleton's "Boyz N da Hood," bringing the gritty reality of urban America to the big screen. An undisputed classic. In '95 Cube brought us the comedy classic "Friday" and America thought 'hey, this dude isn't ALWAYS angry, he's actually kinda funny.' Thee years later, Cube asked somewhat rhetorically: 'there's snakes out there this big?' to which Jon Voight responded ' yes'. Then he got back on track with "Three Kings" and we thought ' wow, Cube might have a successful movie career someday if the whole scaring old white people thing doesn't work out'. Then came "Barbershop," "Next Friday," "Barbershop 2," "XXX: State of the Union." Then the dreaded 'I gave up on my career for a paycheck' family comedies started (see also: Murphy, Eddie and Martin, Steve): 2005's "Are We There Yet" and the highly unnecessary sequel 2007's "Are we Done Yet" (Ice Cube? In the SUBURBS?! OMG! LOL!). Last we heard he was going to bring yet another TV show that could barely sustain a 30 minute format to the big screen, in the title role.

On September 4th, Cube will put yet another nail in his gangster coffin when he releases Ice Cube: In the Movies, chronicling his musical contributions to all the cinematic masterpieces he's been lucky enough to grace.

'Ice Cube: In the Movies' tracklisting:
ICE CUBE: IN THE MOVIES

1. You Can Do It (w/ Mack 10 & Ms. Toi) Next Friday (2000)
2. We Be Clubbin' The Player's Club (1998)
3. Natural Born Killaz (w/ Dr. Dre) Murder Was The Case (1995)
4. Anybody Seen The PoPo's?! xXx: State of the Union (2005)
5. Friday Friday (1995)
6. How To Survive In South Central Boyz N The Hood (1991)
7. $100 Dollar Bill Y'all All About The Benjamins (2002)
8. (You Know) I'm A Ho (w/ Master P) The Player's Club (1998)
9. The World Is Mine Dangerous Ground (1997)
10. Ghetto Vet (w/Mack 10 & Mr. Short Khop) I Got The Hook Up (1998)
11. Maniac In the Brainiac (w/ Mack 10)* Bulworth (1998)
12. The Wrong N**** To F**k Wit Scary Movie 2 (2001)
13. Roll All Day Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)
14. Higher Higher Learning (1995)
15. Trespass (w/ Ice-T) Trespass (2005)
16. Right Here, Right Now(w/Paul Oakenfold) Blade II (2002)

Here's a track they left out (we can't imagine why):
Ice Cube - "Street Fighter" (Street Fighter: The Movie Soundtrack)
Sample Lyric: "Y'all punk-ass ninjas can't wait to see the Ice break / Bailin through the hood with my chocolate rice cakes"
A Certified Cube classic: Ice Cube - "Wicked" (The Predator)
[ed. This piece was written by the blogger-challenged contributor Mr. Snrub]

"Be Kind Rewind" Moves To 2008, Mos Def On Soundtrack

As many of you may be well aware, Michel Gondry's absurdist VHS/'80s movie paean, "Be Kind Rewind," has been moved from its original December release to January 25, 2008. For the seventeen nerds on the IMDB boards, this officially squelches the chances of the film's Oscar chances, but if you really thought a film like 'Rewind' - as amusing and fun as it may well be - had serious Oscar hopes you need your head examined.

Meanwhile, as we noted before, Jean-Michel Bernard has composed the music to the film (he also scored Gondry's "The Science of Sleep," and contributed music to, "Human Nature"), but he's also completed songs for the film arranging Fats Waller songs that will feature 'Rewind' lead Mos Def.

Also of note is Marcus Carl Franklin, the young boy who plays an incarnation of Woody in Todd Hayne's upcoming Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There." The young Franklin also has a role in "Rewind' as James.

And finally, remember when Daft Punk gave cameras out to audience members to shoot their recent Brooklyn show? Gondry's older brother Olivier is compiling the material for a live Daft DVD video.

According to an October 2005 New York Times article, more than 300 residents of Passaic, New Jersey - where most of the film was shot - were used as extras in the film and Gondry gave dozens of the townsfolk speaking roles. For those that haven't seen the trailer (that features a great Billy Preston track), it's ubiquitous on the Interweb and also here.

Reuters Trades Brain For Salaciousness With "Hottest State" Preview

Yesterday's Reuter's article on Colombian actress Catalina Sandino Moreno check its brain at the door: or at least where the headline is concerned.

Writing a profile on the actress for the upcoming Ethan Hawke movie ("The Hottest State"; which opens this Friday), Reuters wrote as a headline: "Colombian Actress Swaps Heroin for Nudity," simply because her last notable role was of a drug mule ("Maria Full of Grace") and her recent 'State' role is of a singer trying to make it New York (who happens to take her clothes off to have sex with her boyfriend, as couples are wont to do).

Apparently the Reuters writer forgot about Moreno's role in "Fast Food Nation," but maybe "Colombian Actress Swaps Heroin for Exploited Meat Industry Workers" wasn't quite the sexy headline she was looking for.

Granted, Soreno talks about her nude scenes (which are extremely brief) in the film a lot, or at least the writer decided to focus on all the quotes about her issues with nudity and or asked her lots of questions about being briefly naked in the film, but it still feels pretty sensationalist. "It was kind of like a big thing for me to just go for it, to take my clothes off and be me," Moreno told Reuters. "It was something that I really thought about, to do or not to do. Then I just said ... I'll do it. I'm normal, it's not a big deal."

We're certainly not prudes, but the article sort of rubbed us the wrong way. Anyhow, now it's time for our own righteously classy content segue which is more crass than it is salacious. Awesome, yes?
We've written extensively about the film's indie-friendly soundtrack (wussy but enjoyable Jesse Harris covers by Cat Power, Feist, Bright Eyes), the film and even reviewed the thing (it's not a bad little film and you should see it before you pay to see "Rush Hour 3" for the 4th time).

Moren's next film comes in November (the 16th to be exact) and is an adaptation of the Gabriel GarcÍa Márquez novel, "Love in the Time of Cholera," by director Mike Newell, the guy who helmed, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." At press time it is unknown whether Moreno drops trou in this one.

Is Casting Biggie Smalls Impossible? Pretty Much

Voletta Wallace (Notorious' moms) says to fill the requirements of playing her son Biggie Smalls, all on needs to do is have size 13 shoes, weigh around 230lbs and can act capture B.I.G.'s swagger (not to mention can carry the weight of one multi-million dollar film on their shoulders, as they're likely going to be an unknown). Sure, no problem. We're willing to bet this film will literally take years to cast (like it hasn't already, hence this big campaign to plus-size schmucks the world round). Best of luck with this one. [ed. This video wont embed properly. Feel free to assume that further fucks the chances of ever casting this thing and then watch the semi-desperate plea to find Big Poppa)

Say Whay? Kanye West, 50 Cent, Pitchfork

"We push each other. I look at me and Justin like Prince and Michael Jackson in their day." - Braggadocio-meister Kanye West calls Justin Timberlake his inspiration and his only competition in the new issue of XXL. Noticeably absent is any mention of dunderhead rapper 50 Cent. [AP]

"Of course I'll outsell [Kanye West]." 50 Cent says with absolute certainty that Kanye West will be a non first-week-sales threat then backpeddles with excuses for why he might not outsell him: one of them being his rhymes are just too complex for feeble-minded U.S. record buyers. [Vulture]

"I’m very patient. I haven’t worked in six months." "The Hottest State" star Catalina Sandino Moreno avoids Latin typecasting by just saying no to work. However she will play Che Guevara's wife in the upcoming Steven Soderberg biopic, "Che." [NYMag]

"Believe it or not, Daryl Hall is an indie rocker." Pitchfork writer Chris Dahlen acknowledges the existence of Hall & Oats, because they too love that independent rock music that has changed our lives so much for the better. [Pitchfork]

"Finally the pilot is together with the series. The picture looks clean with good color correction. The sound is really good." Riveting. David Lynch says, go buy my Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition.

"I'm Not There" Trailer Arrives; Harvey Weinstein Says "If Cate Blanchett Doesn’t Get Nominated, I’ll Shoot Myself.”

After months of waiting, the "I'm Not There" trailer has finally arrived (click on the image).

The Gist: "Inspired by true/false/authentic/exaggerated/real imagined stories," pretty much says it all. Avoiding a conventional bio-pic (i.e. "Walk The Line") Todd Haynes has chosen to portray Bob Dylan with several actors in order to mirror the chameleon-like quality of his career and life. It's an abstract and experimental concept that has some Dylan's fans divided, but many movie fans salivating.
In Summary: This is going to be one hell of a polarizing flick. Either people will love it, or they'll hate it. It looks like Bale and Ledger have kind of nailed his demeanor and that Cate Blanchett does a servicable take on him during the "Dont Look Back" days.
Quotables: (title card) "All I can do is be me. Whoever that is." - Bob Dylan.
Release Date: November 21st (limited)

Meanwhile, the New York Times has reported that "I"m Not There" will slowly roll out in just a handful of premieres: one in New York and two in Los Angeles.

“With a movie like this you have to build it,” Weintein Company head Harvey Weinstein said. “I don’t think you can go out on 500 screens. The reason for Film Forum is you go where the best word of mouth is on the movie. I like the movie; I think it’s adventurous. The audience is going to have to work — work in a good way.”

Weinstein also characteristically dropped a brazen Oscar salvo. “I may be jumping the gun, but if Cate Blanchett doesn’t get nominated, I’ll shoot myself," he said.

According to the Times, Blanchett plays Dylan during his Blonde on Blonde phase, Christian Bale corresponds to The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, while Heath Ledger plays him during the John Wesley Harding era.

[ed. This post was contributed by Phil Contrino]

T.I. Still Trying To Grasp This 'Acting Thing'; Flaming Lips Get With Stiller

"It's one of the most prolific black gangster pictures ever to hit the screen." - Films can't actually be prolific, but try telling that to T.I. who stars alongside Common and RZA in Ridley Scott's forthcoming, "American Gangster," which actually stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. "We had a lot of monologue," T.I. said of his role as Common's son and we're pretty sure he means, "dialogue." It's only his second film, give him a break, right? The film's trailer features Jay-Z's "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)." [MTV]

According to an uneventful and unattributed blog post, the soundtrack to the new Farrelly Brothers/Ben Stiller film, "The Heartbreak Kid," will feature two new Flaming Lips tracks and six old David Bowie tracks. Too bad it's a film that stars Ben Stiller. [Rolling Stone]

As you've obviously heard by now, the soon-to-be no-longer-underdog filmmakers of "Superbad," scored a $31 million dollar box-office opening weekend. "I never think in terms of who's famous. I just think in terms of who's funny," producer Judd Apatow told The Associated Press. [AP]

Superbad Tracks Not On the Soundtrack.
Download: The Amboy Dukes - "Journey to the Center of The Mind"
Download: The Notorious B.I.G - "Big Poppa"
Download: Motorhead - "Ace Of Spades"
Download: Van Halen - "Panama"
Listen: KC And The Sunshine Band - "I'm Your Boogeyman"
Listen: Curtis Mayfield - "P.S. I Love You"
Buy: Superbad soundtrack

Muttering Along With The New Mumblecore Movement

Perhaps you've heard all about this nascent film "movement" dubbed "Mumblecore" by the press, characterized by vaguely hipstered characters suffering from "chronic dissatisfaction," excessive talkiness, flat direction, a DIY distribution aesethetic and non-forward progressing narratives.

Some of the press seem enamored with the Mumblecore scene. Pop-culturalist Chuck Klosterman is a big fan of Andrew Bujalski films ("Funny Ha Ha," "Mutual Appreciation") of which he says, "These are the films that make 10 percent of America annoyed and 90 percent of America bored," and then adds, "These are the films that are always my favorites." Bujalski never had any expectations that anyone would ever see "Funny Ha Ha, so when some audiences responsed to it, he was quite taken aback. "Of course there's a terrific boost of energy one can get from such willful naiveté, and it's a terrific shield from external pressures," he told IndieWire in August of 2005.

And some of the press just seem enamored to write about something fresh. Other notable films in this scene are "The Puffy Chair," and "Kissing On the Mouth."

The Playlist are admittedly mostly ignorant of this start-up scene, but the newest offering, "Hannah Takes The Stairs" was near suicide-inducing in its tediousness. We've yet to see any major critcism about this movement, but perhaps film critics need to get excited about something (even if it might not actually be of any discerning quality; that's just a dig, let's face it though, the press gets boners writing about these kinds of underdog tails)

Either way, this is our round-about way to mention the mumblecore film festival at New York's IFC Center this week. Titled, "The New Talkies: Generation DIY," the festival runs Wednesday, August 22 -Tuesday September 4 and features a one-week premiere engagements of "Hannah Takes The Stairs" and "Quiet City."

The Village Voice calls the movment, rather retardedly, about "twentysomethings having a moment - IM someone" (we love Hoberman, but this makes him sound like someone's senile grandfather). The New York Times calls mumblecore an emerging movement of "low-key naturalism, low-fi production values and a stream of low-volume chatter often perceived as ineloquence."

Of mumblecore's current cultural space, the Times writes, "Artists who mine life’s minutiae are by no means new, but mumblecore bespeaks a true 21st-century sensibility, reflective of MySpace-like social networks and the voyeurism and intimacy of YouTube."

We're not totally convinced, but we're also pretty ignorant and talking out our ass. How typical. Obviously we can't judge these lo-fi films, by their measly budgets for too long as the hype is getting hard to ignore.

Watch: "Quiet City" trailer
Watch: "Hannah Takes The Stairs" trailer
Watch: 'Hannah' director Joe Swanberg talk "mumblecore"