Ang Lee's 'Lust Caution' Surprising Winner At Venice Film Fest; Blanchett & Pitt Grab Acting Awards

It might not have been have been buzzed about as some of the other films in competition, but Ang Lee's new WWII-era erotic espionage thriller "Lust Caution," surprised many by running away with the top prize at the Venice Film Festival this weekend.

The Taiwanese director, who won the 2006 Oscar for directing, "Brokeback Mountain," also captured the same Venice top prize with his gay cowboy movie two years ago and dedicated his award to the recently passed Swedish film titan, Ingmar Bergman.

"I have invited you to come along with me and in the end to stay down there with me ... You are the seven samurais, I needed your help," Lee said, addressing the seven-member jury which was resided over by Zhang Yimo (wire-fu director of "House Of Flying Daggers," "Curse of the Golden Flower").

Brian DePalma won best director for his controversial and supposedly brutalizing Iraq film, "Redacted," Cate Blanchett won the top female acting prize for her turn as Jude/Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There," and Brad Pitt won best actor for playing the legendary outlaw in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There'' and Abdellatif Kechiche's "La Graine et le Mulet,'' shared the Special Jury Prize (generally known as the runner-up Prize). Venerable Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci was presented with a special Golden Lion for his overall career achievements [ed. good for him, we love Bertolucci]

"Lust Caution" is due in U.S. theaters on September 28, but it might be rather difficult for the film to receive mainstream love as its explicit depiction of sexuality and violence has been slapped with the dreaded NC-17 rating in the United States (it doesn't help that that's it's also entirely not in English - hello Best Foreign Oscar?)

"Lust Caution" trailer

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood Scores Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Blood'; Trailer Online

The trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" is online and it reveals an unexpected collaborator for PTA's film score: none other than Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.

Wow, we would have never pegged that one, but what an excellent choice. Rumors abounded that Jon Brion wasn't going to be apart of this one (despite being listed on the often unreliable IMDB), and the trailer confirms the Radiohead multi-instrumentalist's participation as "original music" by. The trailer starts out with a simple, but somber classical like score, but then devolves into ominous pounding percussion and creepy, spidery-strings not unlike, say the eerieness evident in Gorecki or Strauss [ed. maybe even a bit of Mahler]

The poster for the film has also been unveiled and it's solemn and gothic aesthetic boasts the tagline, "When Ambition Meets Faith." Due December 26 (the last possible date for Oscar contention) "There Will Be Blood" features Daniel Day-Lewis as a ruthless oil baron and was originally inspired by Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil." The film is PTA's first since 2002's "Punch Drunk Love."

An early review of this clip at the PTA fan site Cigarettes and Red Vine described the trailer:

Cut to dinner at the Sunday Family shack. The shack is dark and dingy, and you can see a housefly buzzing around the dinner table. Plainview offers $3700 for the land. Old man Sunday stutters that God has sent Plainview here, but his son Eli (played by Paul Dano), is suspicous. “There’s oil here,” Eli says. “I know there is.” Eli says he wants $10,000. “For what,” Plainview (Day-Lewis) asks. “For my church,” Eli responds. Shot-reverse shot, extreme close-ups. They have a deal.

Meanwhile, Radiohead's album is apparently done. Maybe Greenwood's extra-curricular scoring is the reason it took so damn long. According to the Radiohead fansite Atease, Anderson had been a fan of Greenwood's instrumental Bodysong album released in 2004. "I remember seeing Bodysong and feeling like I was in a trance; a wonderful collection of the two simple things a film has to work with: pictures and music," PTA apparently said. Radiohead were at a private screening of "Punch Drunk Love" in 2002.

Download: Jonny Greenwood - "Moon Mall"
Download: Jonny Greenwood - "Mily Drops From Heaven"
Download: Jonny Greenwood - "Iron Swallow"

Short Cuts: Nora Jones Does Arcade Fire, Ramones DVD, 'Control' Trailer; More

Refreshing and funny news of the day: Nora Jones announces to her audience that she's about to do an Arcade Fire cover ("Ocean of Noise") which draws blank stares and crickets. It's nice to know hipsters don't exist everywhere. [Music Slut]

Yes, the New York art-house film market is becoming completely overcrowded with more films and not enough screens, but is this guy at Sony taking a shot at Mumblecore? "[IFC's 'First Take' initiative] puts films in the market that are not up to standard." [Village Voice]

A new Ramones DVD anthology, "It's Alive 1974-1996" will hit shelves courtesy of Rhino on Oct 10. The double disc features four hours of rare and unreleased performance and over 100 classic Ramones songs. The collection spans their CBGB infancy all the way through to their 1996 farewell tour.

Bueller? Is a now-40-year-old Ferris gonna make another go at taking the day off? [WBE]

A reader buddy reminds us of the awesome "Cruisin'" trailer.

And finally the minutely different North American version of the "Control," Joy Division biopic is online. Like you haven't seen 400 versions of this trailer so far.

Download: Arcade Fire - "Ocean Of Noise"

Ex-Jesus Lizard Singer Goes To The Movies

A recent Time Out New York profile of ex-Jesus Lizard singer David Yow is meant to note the disappeared howler/schlong displaying enthusiast's return to the skronky noise-rock world with the band Qui.

However, right off the bat it yields this interesting film-related tidbit: Apparently Yow's gone Sundance.

"I met this guy Dennis Hauk a few months ago, and he liked listening to the crap I’ve done in the past and asked if I’d be in his movie. It’s a short film—a spaghetti Western kind of thing—and he’s going to try to get it into Sundance and all those kind of festivals. I play a con man who’s posing as a preacher, and I get to torture a man to death and I die at the end. I think everybody in the movie except for a little boy and the sheriff dies at the end."

There goes the plot, but there you go, David Yow: onstage exhibitionist, now turned indie thespian. [ed. If this was Pitchfork we'd write, "Now we've seen eeeeeeveryything! Hooray for indie music!"]

Watch: Jesus Lizard - "Seasick" (Live in Dallas, 1994)

Homoerotic/Homophobic Al Pacino Movie Finally Coming To DVD/Re-Released In Theaters

Do you remember "Cruisin' "? The notorious ultra-gay, hyper homophobic and mantastic 1980 film where Al Pacino plays an undercover cop who has to infiltrate the late '70s New York Village People-esque S&M gay scene to find a homo-targeting serial-killer? Weeeehheeellll, let me tell you, if you don't you should.

Directed by notable '70s aggrandizer and Academy Award winner William Friedkin (whose career went straight in the shitter post - "The Exorcist bands like Judas Priest and inspired every "), "Cruisin' " was widly reviled and vilified by every non-straight person who saw it at the time for being grossly bigoted, homophobic and intolerant (in Friedkin's world the gay scene is full of mustachioed, hell bent for leather queers that begat uber-gay, ultra-macho gay stereotype ever - see the gay bar scene in "The Police Academy" franchise, "The Blue Oyster" bumpananana!)

As Time Out New York writes, "every bar scene is crawling with extras kissing, fisting, groping, sucking (whether poppers, ethyl chloride or nightsticks)." If anything, if you haven't seen it, it's major gone-wrong historic curiosity. It's shocking, offensive and unintentionally hilarious all at the same time (unfortunately and fortunately). Or as TONY eloquently puts it, "exploitative in a way that [still] remains remarkably repellent."

Basically it's a hot mess of wrong.

The film is finally being made available for DVD on September 18 and is making and limited theatrical re-release run in select cities (the New York run is small, so that means it might even be non-existent most other places). The film was actually protested by the gay community: "[Its] seedy ambience and dubious sexual politics inflamed the gay community, leading to protests throughout its filming in the summer of 1979, and continuing outside movie theaters when it opened in February of 1980," wrote the Village Voice recently.

In 1979, aware of the film's impending homophobia, the same Alternative Weekly implored readers to "give Friedkin and his production crew a terrible time if you spot them in your neighborhoods." And readers obliged by pointing mirrors to fuck with lights and blasting airhorns and whistles around the set while the crew filmed.

Earlier this year, Friedkin self-deprecatingly commented on the film to Time Out New York, insisting that the film wasn't homophobic, but "if you were going to send out a film to illustrate the necessity for gay rights, it wouldn’t be 'Cruising.' "

A very recent San Franciso Bay Guardian interview with Friedkin can be read here. We don't honestly remember the "Cruisin'" soundtrack, it's been years, but a lot of it is produced by the always-excellent Jack Nitzsche and features tracks by the Germs, Willy DeVille and John Hiatt.

This is the 2nd semi-obscure Pacino film to become re-released on DVD this year. In June, Pacino's first major role - Jerry Schaztberg's 1971 classic, "The Panic In Needle Park" - was finally made widely available on DVD after years of having been awol.

Download: Bimbo Jet - "El Bimbo" (a version of the song played in the Blue Oyster Bar in 'Police Academy')
Watch: Pacino Get Bitchslapped By Urban Black Cowboy
Watch: Teaching To Cruise Scene with Al Pacino

Soundtrack Wrap: Pink Floyd DVD, Eddie Vedder Deets, Antony Revelation, Todd Haynes & Dylan Shocka

The 2003 Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett documentary - conveniently titled, "The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story" - is getting a deluxe edition DVD release. Extras on the DVD release will include an extended sixty minute interview of Roger Waters on Syd Barrett, David Gilmour on "Wish You Were Here," a Syd Barrett biography, Graham Coxon performing "Love You," and Robyn Hitchcock performing "Dominoes" and "It Is Obvious." The film is screening again in New York, SF, Houston and Philadelphia. [Tripwire]

Remember how we said Eddie Vedder had made an album of songs for the Sean Penn film, "Into The Wild" and said album contained a cover of the Indio song, "Hard Sun" (the album's first single)? Well that album actually contains two covers. One by the aforementioned Indio (aka obscure Canadian musician Gordon Peterson) song and one cover by San Francisco singer/songwriter Jerry Hannan (the track "Society"). Hannan also played the guitar and did some vocals on the song; that track "Rise" features Vedder on banjo, while "End of the Road" is an instrumental track. According to Pearl Jam online, the CD artwork was designed by Brad Klausen & Eddie Vedder and Vedder himself created the album's concept, under the alias 'Jerome Turner.' A back cover silhouette photo of Eddie Vedder was taken by famous photographer Anton Corbijn. The record is dedicated to 'Jill & Olivia' (Vedder's fiancee & daughter).

Pitchfork has uncovered a startling revelation about Antony & The Johnson's cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" for the Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" soundtrack. Anthony Hegarty, who collaborated with Currituck Co.'s Kevin Barker on the cover said, wait for it: "We did it slow and minor." Feel that? The earth stopped turning there for a minute. [Pitchfork] Maaan, they just took it from his website, lame.

I'm Not There Quote that We Have Nowhere Else To Put:
SHOCKA - ZIMMY APPROVES, SRSLY? "I do think it was because of this open structure, something that we keep expanding through the years. And because of that, Bob thought, 'Okay, this may be the one thing I'll say okay to." - World in shock because Todd Haynes got permission from Bob Dylan HIMSELF to use his entire body of songs, life story and life's work for the upcoming biopic. WOW, IMAGINE HE DIDN'T GET PERMIZZION BUT STILL MADE THE FILM, OMG, LOL! [THE INTERNETZ]

Directed by artisan Julian Schnaebel, "Lou Reed's Berlin" - a concert film of Reed's New York St. Anne's Warehouse 2006 Berlin performances - will debut September 11 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was shot by noted cinematographer Ellen Kuras, a concert veteran who shot "Neil Young: Heart of Gold." Antony (from the aforementioned Johnsons) guests on a version of the Velvet Underground transgendered classic “Candy Says.”[TIFF]

Lou Reed Plays Berlin - 1980

'I'm Not There' Actress Recovering From Brain Hemorrhage Operation

Yikes, Charlotee Gainsbourg had to undergo an operation for a minor brain hemorrhage. The daughter of famous French sleazeball, Serge Gainsbourg, plays alongside Heath Ledger in Todd Hayne's "I'm Not There" (she plays Dylan's wife Sara).

The operation appears to have been successful and she appears to be ok. Apparently she had been suffering from headaches for several weeks following a waterski accident in the United States.

Damn, scary shit.

The Funnybone Domination Continues: What's Up Next For 'Mayor Of Comedy' Judd Apatow

"Superbad" did so friggin well this summer; completely exceeded expectations and over-performed to the extent that the Judd Apatow produced comedy might be looked as the "40 Year Old Virgin" underdog hit of 2007 (yet another Apatow vehicle).

With "Knocked Up" killin' it in the spring, "Superbad" being the summer sleeper hit and the rock biopic spoof "Walk Hard" for Christmas this could easily be looked back on as the Year of Apatow.

The triple threat producer, writer, director recently joked to Entertainment Weekly that it's probably all down hill from here, but that remains to be seen. Let's look at what else he's got cookin' and let's face it, it's a lot of material. Apatow has an extended family and he likes to keep his players close. Watch for all the troupe connections, if nothing else, the guy is at least an excellent mentor and a very nurturing and loyal believer in his crew.

It sounds like he's also instilled a healthy work ethic into his crew too. After all, this could all go away soon and why not strike while the iron is hot? "The best advice Judd gave me is that there are a billion other people who are funny and want to be doing what you’re doing," Jonah Hill told the NY Times. "The second you stop realizing that — and you stop working as hard — opportunity can go away for you."

The goal is he wants you to be able to do it on your own," Hill told the Knoxville Sentinel. "He knows that he [can't] be there with all of us all the time to help us out. I think he wants us to learn ‘this is how you make a movie.’ "

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
In case you haven't already read 10,ooo times, Walk Hard" mocks recent music biopic formulas and films like, "Ray" and "Walk The Line" (which it looks like it's closely throwing digs at). Directed by Jake Kasdan (frequent director of Apatow's fondly remembered and long deceased highschool TV comedy "Freaks and Geeks"), 'Hard' stars John C. Reilly (Co-star of the Apatow produced "Talladega Nights") as a Johnny Cash-esque character who survives the travails of having a rock career for a few decades. Plenty of guest stars appear including Jack Black, Eddie Vedder, Ghostface Killah and actors portraying the Beatles (more here).
"Walk Hard" trailer

Drillbit Taylor
Not due until March 2008, the trailer for "Drillbit' was recently put online. Whether that seems premature to you or not is beside the point. With Owen Wilson as one of the main characters, the film might need all the help it can get (but by then we assume he'll be on the comeback trail if not earlier). 'Taylor' teams writing/acting threat Seth Rogen with 'Undeclared' writer Kristofor Brown based off an original idea by the veritable godfather of teen comedies, John Hughes ("The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," etc.). The gist is this: two loser teenagers, (relative unknowns, Troy Gentile - who doubles as chubby young Jack Black in "Nacho Libre" - and Nate Hartley) hire a bodyguard who unbeknownst to them is an adult loser, Owen Wilson (Drillbit Taylor) to keep them from their high school bullies (Alex Frost and Josh Peck, both of whom strangely enough have no outwardly apparent Apatow connections). The film is directed by Steve Brill who has a small part in "Knocked-Up" and is good friend with Adam Sandler, who in turn is good friends with Apatow (see 'Zohan')
"Drillbit Taylor" trailer

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Due May 2008, 'Sarah Marshall' finally gives a lead part to longstanding troupe member Jason Segel ("Freaks & Geeks," "Undeclared" a small "Knocked-Up" role") who actually wrote the film as well. The film is directed by Nicholas Stoller who helmed a few episodes of "Undeclared" and directed "Fun With Dick and Jane" (which he co-wrote with Apatow). The plot of 'Marshall' revolves around a jilted ex (Segel) who tries to forget his famous celebrity ex and heartbreak by escaping to Hawaii only to find this ex gf, Sarah Marshall (played by "Veronica Mars"' Kristen Bell) there as well with her new boyfriend to boot (British comedian and TV personality Russell Brand). Paul Rudd ("Virgin,' and 'Knocked') and Jonah Hill ("Superbad") apparently make cameos and That '70s Show actress Mila Kunis also has a role in the film. A pimply-faced and very green MTV Intern got a chance to actual briefly be in Zohan. A scene from the movie is included in his mildy charming account of his brush with Hollywood.

The Pineapple Express
A stoner action comedy directed by Terrence Malick-fetishest David Gordon Green is next. It follows the unlikely "Superbad" model of hiring artsy, indie directors to direct Apatow comedies (Bad's Greg Motolla directed indie fave "The Daytrippers" after a decade-long layoff from film; it's success has already opened doors for his new project, "Adventureland"). Express reteams "Freaks & Geeks" stars Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up") and mostly awol-Apatow troupe player James Franco (since 'Freaks', Franco has only made a brief 'Knocked Up' cameo in all of the various Apatow-produced projects). 'Pineapple' is apparently already scheduled for an August 8, 2008 release and has been going through test screenings this summer. We're hoping Green will continue to use David Wingo to score the film if he can (Wingo has been apart of every Green movie including the most recent "Snow Angels"). The script was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the pair behind "Superbad." The film also co-stars Rosie Perez and Ed Begeley Jr. It is said there is more action in this film than any other Apatow film thus far [ed. thus the action comedy genre we said at the beginning, duh]. Green fetishests will note the appearance of Danny McBride ("Bustass from "All The Real Girls")

You Don't Mess With the Zohan
Longtime friends and mutual admirers Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler team up for 'Zohan.' Due June 2008, if any of these various projects looks like an Apatow misstep, it's this film, which looks more like another bad Adam Sandler vehicle than a sweet n' vulgar/cocks n' heart Apatow film. But it's pedigree is semi-respectable. Written by Sandler, Apatow and Robert Smiegel (the man behind Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog), the film co-stars John Turturro (another good look until you consider "Mr. Deeds"), the worst comedian of all time, Rob Schnieder and centers around a Mossad agent (Sandler) who fakes his death so he can move to New York and become a hair stylist (that's got Schnieder's shitbomb stink all over it). The film is directed by actor/diretor Dennis Dugan (a frequent Sandler collaborator and yet another reason this film might suck). The one plus is the female lead: Entourage hottie and Montreal native, Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Step Brothers
Due July 2008, "Step-Brothers" is apparently the last of the four Apatow films scheduled for next year. It reteams the Mayor with the creative cast and crew of "Talledega Nights" (which was the same team that brought you "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"): friend and long-time collaborator Adam McKay directs (he's the father of FunnieorDie star Pearl McKay), plus Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star as spoiled adults who become ultra-competitive step-brothers when their single parents get married. The script, written by Ferrell and McKay, is still apparently in pre-production and has not begun shooting. The film also stars another Veronica Mars cast member, Adam Scott (he had a tiny role in 'Knocked Up," they must have a thing for that show)

Year One
The first offering from the 2009 Apatow menu will likely be the Jack Black and Michael Cera vehicle, "Year One." Cera obviously starred in "Superbad," and it was only time before a mainstay like Black joined the fold (though he did have a brief cameo as the crazed motorcyclist in 'Anchorman'). SCTV alum/Ghostbusters star Harold Ramis, who had a small role as Seth Rogen's dad in "Knocked Up," will direct and co-produce, and co-wrote the project with "The Office" scribes Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, based on his story (Owen Wilson is apparently an executive producer). A quick scan of google will reveal that many publications will go on at length about this movie, but not one of them can reveal an iota of the plot details or synopsis. The only tidbit out there was on Wikipedia and it read, "The plot is being kept under wraps at the moment, but the film revolves around cavemen." Strangely enough, that Wiki entry was taken down, but Google cache never forgets. Does that mean it was wildly incorrect or it revealed too much too soon?

The Middle Child
Apatow's loyalty even extends to his newest stars as he's entrusted Jonah Hill - the star of "Superbad" - with writing "The Middle Child.' Based on a story he pitched to Apatow (Hill began his career with "I Heart Huckabees" and started his Apatow career with a tiny role in "40 Year Old Virgin" - he tried to buy the aquarium platform shoes at the Ebay store but failed), 'Child' is about a young man (Hill) who discovers his older brother was given up for adoption before he born. When the brother (Seth Rogen) reunites to become part of the family, Hill's character sees his world torn assunder as he has suddenly has to face middle child syndrome. Rogen's character is welcomed with open arms as the "child they always wanted" and Hill finds himself ostracized and on the outs. Jonah Hill recently told the New York Times that he's still writing the film , but he hopes its the next film he makes. "Judd and I are looking at directors right now," he said.

Pure Imagination
Another Jonah Hill penned project (Apatow has apparently all but said he believes that Hill is the future of comedy) is the more ambitious and more left-field sounding "Imagination' which centers around a kid who goes through a series of traumatic events and then develops an imaginary friend. "Then what happens is I meet a girl, and we start dating…but the problem is I don’t know whether she [actually] exists [or] whether she’s a figment of my imagination,” Hill told MTV in July. He plans to star in the film as well and it might be too early to tell the rest of the cast or directors, but there are auteurs that Hill would like to model the film after. "It’s trying to do what we do with ‘Knocked Up,’ ‘Superbad’ and ‘Virgin’, and mix it a little bit with stuff that Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry do,” he said. “It’s kind of like a little bit artisier. I’m so psyched about it." The film might even employ elements of CGI, but hopes to keep its Apatow-patented human heart at its core. "It’s basically a relationship movie," Hill said noting that the film has shades of the classic Jimmy Stewart movie, "Harvey." (In it Stewart is a wackjob who thinks he has an imaginary pet rabbit as a friend).


Apatow in 2009
Three other Apatow films are apparently in development for 2009 and the bulk of them give side-players or extended Apatow family members a leading shot. They include an as of-yet untitled Steve Carrell project; "A Whole New Hugh" - a vehicle for "Daily Show" correspondent Ed Helms; the lawyers who give up their careers to become rappers comedy, "Attorneys At Raw" - a vehicle for 'Freaks' and "Undeclared" player David Krumholtz and the marine comedy, "The Recruiter" starring Romany Malco, the black Smart Tech employee of "40 Year Old Virgin."

The Secret Weapon
SNL's Kristen Wiig practically stole every "Knocked Up" scene she was in as the hyper jealous TV producer who keeps dropping passive-aggressive barbs towards Katherine Heigl's character. She's the female lead in the upcoming "Brothers Solomon" (not an Apatow project, but does contain friends) and in "Walk Hard," she plays John C. Reilly's "unsupportive and very fertile first wife," according to Time Out New York. She's one Apatow player to watch for.

Miscellaneous Apatow
According to the always unreliable Hollywood.com there's also a bunch of other projects in development including Boaz The Great, Early Bird, Long Distance Relationship and an untitled motorcycle cop project and a college project. Proceed with caution and take those with a grain of salt.

PS, if you haven't seen the Frat Pack Circle of Trust, you should. It's a circle of Hollywood comedians (centered around Ben Stiller and Luke and Owen Wilson) that contains many, if not all, the members of the Apatow Family Players troupe.

The Music
While his films are not neccesarily known for their music choices, Apatow's a fan of his old school thinking man's musicians (a consistent side actor for his films is folk singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III who wrote all of "Knocked Up"s music with a beautifully wistful and moving score). Who might we expect to hear in Apatows next fims? A good bet is Warren Zevon.

According to a Rolling Stone profile on Apatow in the spring, the producer is a huge fan of the hirsute and wry '70s songwriter/wordsmith, and he got to meet Zevon once in the '90s, trying to get him to score a movie that was never made. The film was apparently supposed to star Owen Wilson and Rip Torn as Alcoholics Anonymous members and in a meeting Apatow casually mentioned that he was waiting for studio feedback. Zevon looked at him and asked, "What do you care? Why would you change anything for the studio?"

And apparently this moment always stuck with him: "It hit me -- 'Oh, he's an artist! He doesn't give a shit what anyone says.'" Since then -- for better or worse -- Apatow's tried to follow that example.

Download: Warren Zevon - "Nightime in the Switching Yard"
Download: Warren Zevon - "Excitable Boy"
Download: Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London" (alternate version)

Missing Tarantino "Death Proof" Reel Surfaces

The original "Grindhouse" idea was this: Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez would make two adjoining films and just like authentic Grindhouse films, reels would go missing and you'd lose pertinent scenes and plot information.

As a tease, QT and Rodriguez built this conceit into their film and purposefully cut out scenes they actually shot leaving audiences with their dick in their hands (or something like that). "Grindhouse" comes to DVD September 18, but invariably these cut-out scenes are making their way online. A lot of these cut scenes were apparently built to tease and titallate in the original film (we never bothered to see it honestly, that's what DVD is for; plus those mediocre reviews...) and then go missing all of a sudden when you were getting all hot and bothered.

Here's a missing lapdance scene set to "Down in Mexico" by The Coasters.

Download: The Coasters - "Down In Mexico"

There's No Mary In The Wachowski Brothers Contrary To Popular Belief

OK, remember a few days ago when it was widely reported that Larry Wachowski - one half of the the film duo The Wachowski Brothers ("The Matrix") - finally had his/her sex change and became Lana Wachowski?

[Backstory: Larry's been into all kinds of kink and fetish for years - see Matrix's II's party sequence. He dates a dominatrix and rumors that he's been transgendered or in the process of being transgendered - look we don't know how it works - have been going on for years now].

Well, apparently it's all a big ruse and not true according to Fox News. The reporter asked someone on set of the currently-filming, "Speed Racer" if they had seen Larry looking like Lana with breasteses and whatnot.

"He looked like a man to me," came a laughing response. “It’s all untrue,” producer Joel Silver said. “They just don’t do interviews, so people make things up.” Apparently Wachowski has encouraged this kind of speculation and this might all just be a fun prank on his part. [ed. I dunno, looks pretty gay to me]

Lou Reed Never Felt More Awkward Than That Time He Took Stage With Pavarotti

I'm Not There Soundtrack Cover

Well, there it is. Pretty exciting post, right? The soundtrack - which still doesn't have a finalized tracklist is due October 30.

As we've already mentioned, it's the season of Dylan this fall. In addtion to the "I'm Not There" soundtrack and movie, the 3-disc cashgrab, Dylan, and a fall tour, there's going to be "The Drawn Blank Series," the first ever exhibition of Dylan's artwork starts a 3 month run on October 28 in Germany and Zimmy himself starts his second season of his "Theme Time Radio Hour" on Sept. 19.

As for "I'm Not There," Reuters called it an "oddball," film that might have trouble connecting with mainstream audiences and non-Dylanites. The review says Ben Whishaw's poet Rimbaud/Dylan talks to the camera and says the Marcus Carl Franklin Woody character is a depression era drifter.

Director Todd Haynes told reporters in Venice that the film was broken up into phases of Dylan's life to "accentuate his contrasts, contradictions and complexity."

Moby Scores Donnie Darko Dudes' Long-Awaited Follow-Up, Booked For SXSW Film Conference 2008; Giving Music Away Free To Indie Films

Remember Richard Kelly? Yeah, no one else knows that name either outside of a handful of cine-dorks. He's the man (boy?) behind the left-field cult hit "Donnie Darko." Where the hell has he been? [the fucker was 25 when he made 'Darko')

Well, he made his 'Darko' follow-up, enigmatic sci-fi film "Southland Tales" a long, long time ago. Surely he's over it (and in fact, he's moved on to other projects). However, 'Tales' is finally getting a belated release this fall and apparently it's a pretty wacked-out film.

No one, but a handful of people even know what's up with it. Mandy Moore who has an appearance in the film (alongside people like The Rock and Justin Timberlake, Sean Williams Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar) didn't even know if she was still in the film until MTV confirmed it to her. "I'm anxious to see it. I think he's a genius. He's such a cool guy. And the script was so beyond me I couldn't even begin to tell you what the movie is about, but I had fun. I played the Rock's wife. I literally shot for four days" (the film premiered at Cannes in 2006 to dreadful reviews, you can pretty much spoil it for yourself anywhere on the Internet or on wikipedia).

The Actual News Part Begins Here [ed. what the fuck, are we Pitchfork?]
Anyhow, this is a long, circuitous route to tell you that gablurous dance superstah Moby composed the score to the film (which he also surely did ages ago; some of what we assume is his compositions are here and here)

The Mobe-ster is also set to speak at The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival which is being held March 7-15 in Austin, TX. along with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson ("Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple," "The Murder of Emmett Till").

Moby's talk - creatively called, "A Conversation with Moby” - is set for March 11 and he'll be discussing his work in films (The 'Bourne' franchises, "Heat"), but more importantly he'll be discussing an interesting new project/concept called, "Moby Gratis" - his new endeavor to offer some of his music, free-of-charge, to independent filmmakers.

Pardon us if we're completely skeptical of "free," but Moby did make a shit-ton of money by licensing every (and we mean every) song off his 1999 album Play to anyone and their grandmother that would give him $10 for it and suffice to say he became a very, very rich man and might not really need the dough.

Plus, do you ever remember any random interviews with Moby over the last five years? The old Playlist remembers the day when he reported writing songs in the hundreds for his then-upcoming album (18). Sounds like dude's got tons of filler just waiting to grease the wheels of your latest indie extravaganza (Mumblecore'ers take note).

But seriously, it's an intriguing, curiosity-piquing idea at the very least.

Watch The Rock, Sean Williams Scott and Sarah Michelle Gellar in a clip from "Southland Tales."

Bono Sings "I Am The Walrus" As Dr. Robert In "Across The Universe"

We like Julie Taymore and everything ("Frida" was actually pretty great), but how awful is this thing going to be? Extra (barf) has the first look at Bono in the Beatles musical film, "Across The Universe" (gotta love the gratuitous and random Salma Hayek as the "sexy nurse" mention in this piece).

Nikki Sixx Says Motley Crue 'Dirt' Film In Holding Pattern; Not Going For An X-Rating

Talking to Blender's audience recently in their "Dear Superstar" (the column readers right in and ask rockers questions which they answer), Nikki Sixx recently answered some questions about the status of their tell-all book, "The Dirt"'s, cinematic adaptation and frankly, he didn't sound very optimistic.

"I don't know [its status] yet," Sixx told curious Blender readers. "We keep having director problems and script rewrites. It's a pain in the ass." Sixx said he wants the film to take some creative risks and not have household names in the parts of the Crue. "I think that we need young, fresh talent - an unknown actor who's willing to push the envelope and not have people look at a known actor and go, "That isn't what Tommy would do; that isn't what Nikki would say."

And hard-core fans will be slightly disappointed that the adaptation won't be as salacious and grossly depraved as the book. "It's definitely an R-rated movie - we're not going to go for the X."

Sixx's newest "hey look at all the crazy shit I did" book, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star also has a soundtrack full of tunes he did with friends in a band called SiXX: A.M. We barely care enough to type this sentence.

Did Beck Want To Leave Scientology?

A strange story that doesn't have a lot to do with film per se. Remember Jeremy Blake the artist whose wife romantic partner Theresa Duncan (also an artist) committed suicide and then he disappeared and turned up drowned from an apparent suicide? (Blake's notable artwork included having made the pixelated visuals for both Beck's Sea Change cover, the album's "Round the Bend" video and created hallucinogenic dream sequence visuals for Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love").

Their tragic and extremely sad story has morbidly fascinated many and been reported all over the place, but a brand new Newsweek piece had this interesting tidbit of information.

In a disjointed 2006 e-mail to an art-world friend, Duncan claimed that Beck, a second-generation Scientologist, had told her about his plans to leave the church. This knowledge, she wrote, would make her “priority No. 1 for their paranoid and dangerous security wing.” (A spokesperson for Beck denied to NEWSWEEK that the exchange ever occurred, and a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology called Duncan’s allegations “absurd.”)

Nothing if at least interesting. There's been a lot of Scientology conspiracy theories in this story and we can't even begin to get into it, but it's a weird one that you should read and follow if you haven't already. Her blog (which is still apparently up) has some strange stuff on it.

Video: Beck - "Round The Bend" (directed by Jeremy Blake)


Yeah, we realize this is a little bit crass, we just wanted to report on this story cause we found it sad and strange; just like everyone else.

Beatles Trick Out 'Help!' On DVD, Method Man Spoofs '300,' Reitzell Scores '30 Days,'

The second Beatles film, 1965's "Help!" will be released via a double DVD edition on October 30. The film has been off the market since 2000 due to rights issues. Audiophiles take note the DVD boasts a digitally restored version of the film plus a new 5.1 audio soundtrack, with songs like "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket To Ride,"and "You're Going To Lose That Girl." A second disc comes with a 30-minute making of the movie documentary and a tricked-out box set version will have the original script and a 60 page book with rare photos and whatnot. Ok, great and everything, but when the hell will "Let It Be" finally be released? [Billboard]

Medical marijuana enthusiast Method Man is going to star in "Hunting and Fishing" a films that parodies the homo-erotic oily manfest, "300." The Wu Tang Clan-er will apparently play a Persian emissary in the project being produced by Jason Friedberg and Alan Seltzer, the hacks behind the dreck spoof chains “Date Movie,” “Epic Movie.” Good luck with that one. [EURweb]

Sofia Coppola's soundtracks right hand man Brian Reitzell ("Lost In Translation," "Marie Antoinette") has composed his first original score for the upcoming Josh Harnett horror film "30 Days of Night" (based off Steve Niles' graphic novel). The film's trailer features Muse' "Apocalypse Please" (from Absolution) and Reitzell also doubled as his usual music supervisor position on the film as well.

Two-time Oscar winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla ("Babel," "Brokeback Mountain") along with Johan Söderqvist have composed the score for the mournful, yet feelgood, "your husband, my best friend, died and now I'm going to take care of your family and have tentative sex with you" film, "Things We Lost In The Fire," starring Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry. The godawful trailer features, the godawful songs, The Fray "Look After You" and Richard Butler's "Good Days, Bad Days."

Christopher Walken does karaoke of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" in the awful looking "Balls of Fury" "comedy" with that shlub from Broadway. [EW]

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Score 'The Assasination of Jesse James'

Despite having a troubled life, "The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward John Ford" looks like the Western to beat this fall. At least from a critical perspective ("3:10 To Yuma" could best it at the box office for sure, but so what?). Directed by Andrew Dominik (the director of the incredibly overlooked "Chopper," starring a pre-Hollywood Eric Bana as an legendary Australian criminal), the film stars Brad Pitt as Jesse James and Casey Affleck as Robert Ford (the film also has appearances by Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell and Mary-Louise Parker).

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Dirty Three, Grinderman) collaborated on the 'Jesse James' score together, one that the Hollywood reporter called, "languid, often mournful score that is almost a dirge." Cave himself also appears briefly in a saloon scene to sing a well-known song from that era about Jesse and Ford. The trailer (featured below), showcases a lot of this doleful and dark score.

This is the 2nd movie soundtrack that Ellis and Cave have collaborated on (they composed the music for the 2005 Australian outlaw film, "The Proposition," which Cave actually wrote and won some notable awards for it too, including an AFI award) and the duo have previously worked together for stage versions of "Metamorphosis" and Werner Herzog's "Woyzeck."

'James' has been in a three year struggle with the studio that wants a Western epic and Dominik, who has made more of an artful meditation. According to EW the film has gone through 34 different cuts and five different test screenings (which really doesn't bode well). A month prior to its recent Venice Film Festival screening the film still wasn't completety locked. ''The picture was supposed to be ready last fall and we weren't ready,'' Dominik said. ''So then basically you're waiting until the next fall. It's been arduous.''

The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward John Ford trailer

"I'm Not There" Clip: "The Storyteller"

A new 1:00 minute clip from Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There" is up on Yahoo. It's called "The Storyteller" (or click on the image) and feature Dylan/Jude (Cate Blanchett) arguing with the same British journalist (Bruce Greenwood) that was seen in the earlier Cate Blanchett clip with Allen Ginsberg (David Cross) that appeared online back in July (in fact it just looks like a continuation of that scene and aslo features Joe Cobden as the Bob Neuwirth/John Lennon composite).

Near the end of the clip, the opening piano strains of "Ballad of a Thin Man" can be heard, but whether this is the Stephen Malkmus cover we don't yet know cause the vocals on the clip never kick in. Not sure who the female in the car is, but it's definitely not Michelle Williams (see the comparison from the Italian trailer).

In the scene Dylan is angered by the questions posed to him by the journalist who asks whether he really cares what he is singing about? "How can I answer that if you have the nerve to ask?" Blanchett/Dylan asks indignantly - a famous line ripped straight from the documentary "Dont Look Back." It's going to be fun for Dylanites to watch this thing and spot the plethora of references.

Download: Bob Dylan - "Ballad Of a Thin Man"
The original clip where Dylan goes off on a Time magazine journalist (compare and contrast for some of the exact lines of dialogue).

After Years In Limbo John Turturro Releases 'Cigarettes' Musical This Month With Help Of Adam Sandler; Songs By Springsteen, James Brown, Bow Wow Wow

Actor John Turturro's woes will finally come to an end when his $11 million musical "Romance and Cigarettes" finally sees the light of day for an open-ended theatrical release at New York art-house Film Forum starting this Friday (Sept. 7).

However, these will be only semi-healed wounds from what will likely be longstanding industry scars. Turturro's 'Cigarettes' has lead a troubled life and been upheld in limbo since 2004 due to studio shake-ups and general executive apathy and indifference.

According to the HollywoodReporter , Turturro tried to take matters into his own hands and self-distribute the film, but according to a lengthy article on the film in the New York Times this past weekend, the New York engagement came about only through the unlikely intervention of Adam Sandler.

Turturro will co-star in the coming Sony Sandler comedy “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan," and during negotiations Sandler apparently "encouraged" the studio to support the run (Turturro also starred in Sandler's 2002 comedy, "Mr. Deeds." Translation: it's nice to have friends in high places and or karma comes back around when you need it).

But before Sandler helped out and despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard, and Amy Sedaris, Sony Pictures wiped out the movie’s supporters, refused to give the feature a test screening or put it in theaters and wouldn't drop the asking price so that a smaller company could buy it.

During this limbo period, Turturro's mother was dying and he agonized as he watched his pet-project floundered. He even wrote obsequious letters to blockbuster directors for assistance (His 17-year-old son Amedio said, "Dad, are you trying to get a job with the guy who made all those stinkers?” the younger Turturro recalled. “He bowed his head and mumbled, ‘Yeah, that guy.’ And I said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to be kidding!’ ” - This could have been his unlikely role in "Transformers" which may have been a bid to collect more dough for his intended self-release).

“At times I’ve felt like jumping out a window,” Turturro, the writer, director and a producer of the movie said. “I don’t like heights, so it would have been a second-floor window. I would have just broken my legs."

The story centers on a schlubby Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble with his wife (Sarandon) when she discovers he has a bawdy mistress (Winslet). That's not the hard sell of the movie. Apparently the songs are: like your average musical characters break into songs to convey their inner emotions and songs that range from from James Brown, Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen, to Bow Wow Wow and Cyndi Lauper. According to the HollywoodReporter the movie was filmed in 2004, premiered in 2005 at the Venice Film Festival, but had been caught in limbo since Sony merged with MGM in 2005. It didn't help that the film received decidedly mixed reviews.

Regardless, the film is going to be screened, if only to New York audiences and this is at least something to Turturro. “It’s a kind of vindication. I’m thankful my film will have a little hearing.”

Partial "Romance and Cigarettes" Song List

• Tom Jones's "Delilah"
• Engelbert Humperdinck's "Lonely Is a Man Without Love"
• Dusty Springfield's "Piece of My Heart"
• Gene Ammons's "Answer Me, My Love"
• Bruce Springsteen's "Red Headed Woman"
• Connie Francis's "Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?"
• Bobby Cannavale's "Hot Pants"
• Anna Identici's "Quando m'innamoro"
• Ute Lemper's "Little Water song"
• Cyndi Lauper's "Prisoner of love"
• Elvis Presley's "Trouble"
• Buena Vista Social Clubs's "El Cuarto De Tula"
• Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart"
• Mandy Moore with Aida Turturro and Mary-Louise Parker "I Want Candy" (Bow Wow Wow cover)
  
• James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World"
• Vicki Carr's "It Must be Him"
• James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon "The Girl That I Marry"
• Harvey and The Moonglows' "Ten Commandments of Love"
• Bill Maxwell's "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"
• Bill Maxwell's "Banks of the Ohio"
• Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart"
• RnC Choir's "When The Saviour Reached Down for Me"

"Romance And Cigarettes" trailer


Watch: Christopher Walken sings "Delilah" (Tom Jones cover)
Watch: Mary-Louise Parker burns James Gandolfini
Watch: Kate Winslet sings "Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?" (Connie Francis cover)
Watch: James Gandolfini sings "Lonely Is a Man Without Love" (Engelbert Humperdinck cover)