There's a pretty hilarious interview with Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) over at the Onion's A/V Club. In the Q&A Beam reveals that he barely watches any of the films he licenses tracks for, can't remember half of them and will basically hand over to any song to most indie films, cause well, they're indie and they need the help.
Highlights include:
["Garden State"] was a total surprise. That was just another in a whole stack of indie movies that wanted to use my music. I still haven't seen it. I hear it was good, though."
Ok now keep in mind Beam teaches film for a living when he's not making music. AVC: What kind of movies do you Netflix? What do you normally watch? SB: Well, whatever I want to see. Blockbusters and such. I have kids, so I don't get to see that much anymore. I also usually get the Criterion movies. They're damn expensive. I usually get them on Netflix to figure out if they're worth shelling out $50 for.
C'mon Sam, you liscense songs out left, right and center. Surely you can buy a few Criterion discs. Even we own a few of them.
AVC: Do you worry about being too overused, about your music appearing in too many places? SB: Not really. I honestly try not to worry about it that much. I put my energy into writing songs. I have to carve out a living somehow doing this, and licensing is one way. It's hard to register what's "too much" for other people. Like I said, I don't watch TV, so it's tough for me to gauge. I just take it as it comes, and don't put a whole lot of thought into it.
The Gist: The Film is Subtitled: "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," which tells you much of what you need to know. A barber's (Johnny Depp) wife is stolen from him and he goes mad from rage and then curiously asks people if they want a shave (with one nefariously raised eyebrow), hacks them up and then uh... sings about it. Oh yeah, big surprise, director Tim Burton also cast his wife Helen Bonham Carter in it to play some scary witch-looking lady. In Summary: It's yet another Tim Burton only they break into song when they're about to kill people (think "Sleepy Hollow" with songs). Oh yeah, and look for Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) who apparently makes an appearance in the film. Quotables: Never Forget. Never Forgive Release Date: December 21
The idiotic Torture Porn genre using aggressive metal or outdated industrial dancemetal is about as predictable as Wes Anderson filching obscure '60s songs, but that's not going to stop either of it from doing it (Guys, wait, no Insane Clown Posse? What's up with that?)
How does this Saw series keep going? Evidently people keep this films in business and they continued to make money which is a sad state of affairs.
Anyhow included on the Saw IV Soundtrack which is due October 23 are tracks by Drowning Pool, Sixx: A.M., the once respectable Nitzer Ebb (points lost), Avenged Sevenfold, From Autumn to Ashes, Submersed, the once respected industrial metal titans Ministry (decades past their prime; get out to pasture already), the still respectable?, but probably not Skinny Puppy, Former NIN associate Charlie Clouser, Every Time I Die, the awesome-sounding Dope Stars Inc. and...
oh who are we trying to kid, we barely care. The rest is here.
Ok, so what music is actually used in the movie "I'm Not There," right?
Well, as we mentioned in our first preview, despite all the noise about the much-talked about covers, the movie leans much more heavily on originalBob Dylan tunes rather than interpolations.
Dylan renditions are generally used for the actors to lipsynch along with for their performance scenes (those examples are in the above link), though you do hear traces of instrumental parts that are clearly covers throughout the film (Yo La Tengo in particular).
We're wary of spoilers, we hate having films spoiled for us and we loathe the idea of spoiling films for others. With that said, we don't think knowing what songs are actually in the film spoils it whatsoever. First and formost this is a cinematic experience and while the music is integral, it's seeing and experiencing the film that can't really be spoiled or denied. After all, you basically know the story, but feel free to turn away if you like.
Aside from a lot more Dylan originals than anyone anticipated, Calexico do a few unexpected instrumental covers from Zimmy's Pat Garett & Billy The Kid Soundtrack (one of which is done by Los Lobos on the soundtrack disc). Tom Verlaine & the Million Dollar Bashers' version of 1997's Time Out of Mind Cold Irons Bounds is basically the thematic throughline throughout the film. A quick moment of Iggy Pop & The Stooges' cover of the "Ballad of Hollis Brown" is also briefly heard in the film.
Ok, so we don't like to do things like this, but... OK, so the Village Voice has it's annual Best of Poll and they have a category that is Best New Local Blog (it's actually called Best Local Internet Site - very futuristic). Since we reside in Brooklyn, we thought we'd humbly ask you to take a moment and vote for us if you thought we were worthy. If not, then please don't and we encourage you to vote for whoever else you think is New York's Best New Local Blog, but we encourage you to vote either way. Bonne chance all!
Even more related Wes Anderson film news today - this time in the form of some trivia even the most hard-core of us didn't seem to know (or at least we'd never read this before and as you might of noticed we've scoured and devoured).
Apparently Jason Schwartzman was originally intended to be in "The RoyalTenenbaums." During the recent press tours for "The Darjeeling Limited," Schwartzman revealed that he was originally supposed to play the now-redacted character Mordecai, but was cut out of the script because it was getting too long with too many characters (amen to that, at least one smart decision was made). His character was supposed to be a child prodigy that lived next door (not unlike Owen Wilson's Eli Cash character), wore white suits and drank chocolate milk.
Astute Anderson fans will realize that the Mordecai name was later transfered over to Richie Tenenbaum's (Luke Wilson) pet hawk.
From MTV: Wes Anderson: We did have a part in "The Royal Tenenbaums" that was written for Jason, but it got cut out. He played a boy who lived across the street from them. MTV: That was cut out in the screenwriting stage? Anderson: Yeah. But there's a bird in the movie that's named after his character. He was going to play Mordecai. He was the son of a diplomat and had escaped from his school.
In another interview, Schwartzman expanded. "There was a moment when I was going to be in 'The Royal Tenenbaums.' I was going to play Morki, I’d of worn a white-suit and drank chocolate milk; I was some kind of child prodigy or something. There were too many parts in the movie though, so mine was taken out – but they named the bird after me in the movie! [Mordecai]." (though the interviewer incorrectly transcribes the name as 'Morki') Watch: The Origins Of Mordecai
As we mentioned, we finally saw Todd Haynes' Dylan film, "I'm Not There," (our first preview here), and there's a ton to say, but first off Haynes was onhand at the New York Film Festival press conference.
Here's the highlights of his conversation. We must say Hayne is a total Dylanologist and massively impressed us with his knowledge, expertise, insight, articulateness and thoughtfulness.
Estimable Village Voice film critic J. Hoberman was onhand to mediate the discussion. Highlights:
- There were originally 7 Dylan characters (there are 6 in the film) in the original script. "There was an additional character named Charlie who got absorbed into the Woody story," Hayne said. "I liked seven; it came up in a lot in Dylan lyrics, it had a Seven Stages of Man logic to it, but I had to stop somewhere."
- As read and reported a million times Dylan gave full approval rights and didn't ask about any details. "What was extraordinary about the deal was that I was afforded the same creative space that it's Jeff Rosen (Dylan's manager) job to secure around Dylan so he can continue to do his creative work which is extremely unusual," he said.
- They gave Bob a DVD of the film, but to their knowledge, "Dylan hasn't seen the movie yet, as far as we know."
- Haynes worked in Cinemascope for the first time for the film. Multiple film stocks were used for each era. Ben Wishaw's scenes were shot in black and white 16mm; Christian Bale's scenes were shot in Super8 16. "It was the first film of mine that really called for a more panoramic format and it lent itself to an epic, American poem about it in feel and breadth," he said. Blown up in Cinemascope the smaller formats grains and textures were accentuated
- The story was inspired by The Music & Many Lives of Bob Dylan and was co-written by Haynes and Oren Moverman who wrote the excellent and under-appreciated "Jesus' Son."
- The original title of the film is "I'm Not There: Suppositions On A Film Concerning Dylan." Originally Dylan gave Haynes rights only if he would do a film and stage rendition, but the latter idea redirected into Twyla Tharp's Broadway show, "The Times They Are A Changin'."
- Haynes knew from the beginning that the Jude Quinn character (played by Cate Blanchett) would be a woman. "It was part of the original concept," he said and while he didn't know who the actress would be initially, "It didn't take long to clear the path and recognize Cate's amazing physical transformations."
- While many critics are referencing "Dont Look Back," Haynes major reference text for Blanchett's character was the other D.A Pennebaker-directed color Dylan doc, "Eat The Document." I insist that the Dylan of one year later in 1966 is distinct [and different from the Don't Look Back 1965 tour]. "In[ 'Document'] you see this strangely dandified hyper anxious creature that exceeds the slightly petulant brat that you see in 'Dont Look Back' challenging journalists. Partly being fueled by a backup band [The Band], the energy and antagonism and really that punk climate that he found himself in and utilized - the animosity fueled his work all the further is so evident in that following year."
- He had no actors in mind when writing except for Charlotte Gainsbourg, her "Frenchness" informed her character.
- The Meticulous Haynes : Haynes gave each actor portraying a 'Dylan' CD mixes, a portfolio books full of Dylans with visual and cinematic references that each of their stories would employ; recording of interviews from specific periods, and films, documentaries, footage AND specific films that had inspired Dylan from each period. "Actors love having that stuff," Haynes said. Talk about thorough.
- Haynes, always one to play and redefine identity and sexuality (themes that have permeated all his work) saw a lot of androgyny in the 1966 Dylan hence one of the reasons of hiring a woman to play that specific part. "For all the ways that Dylan is associated as a guy's artist or a heterosexual kind of icon, his flamboyance and foppery during that time were profound, and it must have been freaky for people at the time," the director said.
Cate Blanchett make an salient point in this weekends upcoming New York Times Magazine cover story that hasn't run, but there's a small preview at Editor&Publisher. “I don’t know that it does make sense,”Blanchett said, adding, “I don’t think the film even strives to make sense, in a way.” Richard Gere, another star, comments: “It's kind of, well, cosmic.” Dylan apparently declined to be interviewed for the story (no shocker there).
We also have to give it up to Vulture who have been putting together some excellentDylan-related features in anticipation of "I'm Not There." We are personally loving them.
- The Ten Most Incomprehensible Bob Dylan Interviews of All Time [Vulture] - We Are All Bob Dylan: Dr. Seuss Is Bob Dylan [Vulture] - Who Is Todd Haynes's Mr. Jones? [Vulture]
Todd Haynes: Casting Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan [at the NYFF]
Right, so everyone's interviewing Wes Anderson, ok? But everyone's asking the same boring-ass questions (shame on you unimaginative press - and one more person asks about the return of Max Fisher gets a slap in the face).
But someone (we say someone because more than one source has the same interview, ugo and ioncinema) asked some decent - 'what's next?' follow-up questions.
Asked about his next film, the animated his stop-motion animated take on Roald Dahl's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," Anderson said the budget and scope of the film would be much bigger than his current effort.
"Well it's bigger than 'Darjeeling,' but just because that's a movie where you have to build everything. And you know, you're building it in miniature. It's stop-motion, he said.
Anderson went on to confirm the rumor that noted stop-motion animator Henry Selick ("The Night Before Christmas") had left the project. "Henry has his own movie that he's directing," Anderson said. "But [Selick] introduced me to Mark Gustafson who's one of his colleagues at this place Vinton [Studios] where he works. So he's going to be in charge of the animation. But it's very low-budget for an animated movie. It's like $40 million or not even that."
'Fox' will feature the voicesof Bill Murray, George Clooney and Jason Schwartzman (though Cate Blanchett and Angelica Houston are rumored to be onboard as well. Update: Blanchett is confirmed for "Fox'). And Anderson's said in a few recent inteviews that he was getting ready to fly off to London to start shooting the film, but as of late last week, it hasn't happened yet. "We're still designing the characters," he said. "We just got the money two months ago. We were at one studio that went out of business. We've been through a lot of different phases of getting this sorted out. But finally we're all rolling."
Asked whether he was worried whether he would have less control then he normally does by depending on animators that loosening his tight grip was something he relished.
"I kind of like to not be- like, the way we shot in India, I feel like what I enjoyed the most about it were the things that we couldn't control," he explained. "Because I'm pretty good at controlling it all. And India is a place you can't control; it was just full of surprises. But the animated stuff, we control everything. The actors will bring a lot to it. The animators are like actors also, so they bring their own thing to it."
Yet Another Baumbach Collaboration? 'Fox' was written with "The Life Aquatic" writing partner Noah Baumbach (who's own feature "Margot At The Wedding" hits theaters in November), but Wes mentioned that before writing 'Aquatic,' the two writers made a completely different story together. Essentially it sounds like they have another script to finish that could easily be another film collaboration.
"Noah [Baumbach] and I started working on a...story for a movie without really realizing we were doing it. It wasn't 'The Life Aquatic.' It was something else that we haven't even finished writing. Whenever we would go to dinner or something, we'd just start making up scenes for this thing and then we just started writing them down because [we realized] that we've got a lot of stuff now."
Of course the interviewers don't follow up and ask what that movie was, but that's pretty typical. MTV has a little video interview feature with Anderson and Schwartzman online and the main subject seemed to be the idea of Anderson not repeating himself. As he similarily told the AP, he can't apologize for who he is. "The only thing that I can do reliably is just say, 'What do I think is the best thing for this scene? What is the story I'm most interested in telling?'" Anderson said. "Whenever I see the dailies, I'm always surprised: 'So that's what it looks like when you make all of these decisions. It adds up to this.'"
- Ok, we love Lily Allen, but the idea of the brit-tart making her screen acting debut in a spoof of Jane Austen's "Pride And Prejudice" sounds like a recipe for disaster. Allen will play Lydia Bennett and Stephen Fry will play her father.[BBC] - Nirvana's Unpluggedin New York, you might of heard of it - it was on MTV once - is finally coming to DVD November 20. The disc will feature the entirely unedited 66-minute concert, including two songs that never aired, but were on the CD ("Polly" and the Meat Puppets' "Oh Me") , plus previously unreleased rehearsal and documentary footage. [UME] - Sigur Rós has moved the release of their DVD movie Heima, from November 6 to November 20. They probably thought, 'D'oh!,' when the Nirvana DVD was announced today. [Tripwire] - Stephen Malkmus,Steve Albini and Jason Molina will appear in the upcoming Silkworm documentary, "Couldn't You Wait?" [Pitchfork/Trailer] - No stranger to acting, Hilary Duff will star alongside screen legend Ellen Burnstyn in the interracial teen romance "Greta." Duff will play a waitress that gasp, falls for a dude that's not caucasian! This scandalous filth will be directed by the auteur that helmed "Agent Cody Banks." [Reuters]
In celebration of Todd Haynes' new film “I'm Not There,” an eclectic lineup of stellar musicians, including special guests from the film's soon-to-be-released soundtrack, will gather to perform classic Bob Dylan songs 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7 at 142 Throckmorton. The evening will feature Ramblin' Jack Elliott, John Doe, Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, Jay Lane, Dan Hicks and Mostly Dylan, as house band, with music director Tom Corwin. Tickets are $65 and can be purchased by calling 1-877-874-6833 or online at www.mvff.com
Special guests, huh? Million Dollars Bashers maybe? or do they mean actual actors from the film. Could be. Marcus Carl Franklin? Man, that kid can sing.
There's literally so many things to say about this Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan abstract bio-epic, we could literally write an obnoxiously long review of the film, so we won't (at least not yet). Instead some highlights and notes from the film which we finally saw at the New York Film Festival.
- Julianne Moore doing a dead-on and amazing interpretation of an older Joan Baez riffing about the young Dylan she knew that's straight from Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home" interviews with Baez.
- Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon in a quick cameo as Carla Hendricks, a former associate of Jack Rollins (Christian Bale) in a documentary within the film looking back on his life.
- Cate Blanchett lip-synchingStephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers faithful versions of "Maggie's Farm" at the New England Folk Festival (seen in this clip) and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" later on during an "Eat The Document" 1966-era concert in London. Malkmus seems to delight in almost imitating Dylan's animus-filled snarl from that era.
- Christian Bale as (Jack Rollins) singing Mason Jennings faithful and very-well replicated versions of "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" and "The Times They Are A Changin'." Later in the film Bale as an older and now Christian Rollins performs X's John Doe's take on the Saved era track, "Pressin' On" (you can also see that scene here).
- My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Calexico's mournful dirgey version of The Basement Tapes era “Goin’ to Acapulco." The track is appropriately sung during a funeral with Jim James in white-faced Rolling Thunder Review makeup and features Calexico'sJoey Burns and John Convertino as the backup brass band players.
- A quick and whimsical Richard Lester homage/parody where the Beatles briefly run in to Cate Blanchett'sJude character.
- Antony and the Johnsons' gorgeous and elegiac cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" that plays in the credits after Sonic Youth's mostly-straight, but slightly spooky cover of the title track, "I'm Not There."
- The brief overheard voice of Kris Kristofferson as a narrator at the film's beginning.
- The "8 1/2" references during a scene where Jude (Cate Blanchett) is intruded upon by grotesque-looking press reporters and fawning sycophants who chase him around a court yard asking multitudes of question (similar to how Marcello Mastroianni's character is hounded by the press in Fellini's surrealist masterpiece). These Fellini references continue to rear their head in the film like when Cate Blanchett's Jude character is floating in the sky like a balloon being grounded only by a rope around his foot which mirrors "8 1/2"''s opening dream sequence.
We will say this: we were surprised to hear many more Dylan originals than covers in the film, but this in no way spoiled or hurt the film.
Brian DePalma is perhaps contemporary cinema's most polarizing director. You either love him or you loathe him and a small, but loyal cult of DePalma-ites insist everything laughable you may see in his films are actually intentionally funny and part of DePalma's higher level of satire that you're not seeing (whatever, but seriously, a whole article should be devoted to these crackpots).
With his latest - an Iraq war harangue built to provoke called "Redacted" - DePalma will soon find the right wing media far, far up his ass and likely calling for his blood. Patriots are already on YouTube calling the film grounds for treason.
But DePalma outwardly said he has made the film to stop the war effort in Iraq and even his producer Jason Kliot says it's probably going to make your blood boil. "Everything you hate about De Palma is being used to great effect for a humanist purpose," Kliot said at the New York Film Festival press conference, "which is to try to do what he can to stop the war." DePalma said the film was born out of his frustration from only seeing one side of the story. "We have all these infomercials created by the Bush administration," De Palma said of mainstream media's war coverage. "But if you go on the Web and read soldiers' blogs or look at the pictures, you go, 'Whoa!' You see a whole different story."
A docudrama based on the real-life Mahmudiyah killings, the real-life rape, murder, and burning of Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in March 2006 by U.S. soldiers, who also killed her parents and younger sister, the film is already polarizing many, creating champions for the film and finding vocal detractors. At the Venice International Film Festival, De Palma won the Best Director prize; at Telluride, audiences reportedly walked out during the rape scene.
"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," he told reporters in Venice. According to the Village Voice, the digital film is a "mishmash of fictionalized fragments, including a soldier's video footage, YouTube clips, and a French documentary."
If the film seems to be grossly explicit with hammering you over the head imagery and metaphors, DePalma concedes the film in meant to be an cinematic barrage on your senses (the film is apparently stunningly violent and contains upsetting brutality). "The audience should be upset," he said at the NYFilm Fest. "I'm upset. I'm upset that the Fourth Estate has collaborated with the administration and sold a bill of goods to the American people about why we're there and what we're doing." Fox News' Bill O'Reily Attacks "Redacted" and Threatens DePalma
Ok, so the poster for Judd Apatow's Christmas biopic spoof comedy "Walk Hard" is out there and you've likely already seen it, and it's cute and all, right? Whatever. But it's all about the details.
We won't bother you with rehashing the story other than you already know it's a rock movie spoof that stars John C. Reily as a Johnny Cash-like character.
The interesting part to us, is the poster credits. If you look closely enough on a larger version, you can actually make out the credits which read "Music by Michael Andrews."
Now we want to know, this is Michael Andrews, the L.A. multi-instrumentalist and composer of the "Donnie Darko" score and the very excellent "Me & You & Everyone We Know" score, yes?
Survey says: Yes. Andrews first entered into the world of film composing via the film, "The Zero Effect" directed by one Jake Kasdan - the director of "Walk Hard."
Turns out Andrews has already mentioned this quietly. "I’ve recently had the honour of working with Van Dyke Parks. I’ve been working on a movie, I wrote a song with him and we, like, totally orchestrated it. I’ve been hanging out with him, fucking he’s so sweet, such an incredible person. Song Cycle is a masterpiece of an album in fact I’ve been wanting to make a documentary about it…it’s just total musical freedom."
It turns out that rumors of a Box of Cox may be necessary as the number of songs recorded for the film has now surpassed 30 tracks. “I’ve produced the songs for it - about forty- then I’ve gotta write the score for it this summer," Andrews told Rant magazine in July. "That’s what I’ll be doing when I get back. It’s a farcical story of this musician’s life. John C. Reilly is playing this guy called Dewey Cox, like a rock icon parody….it’s not an indie movie, it’s for Sony and it’s MASSIVE! It’s crazy but really cool. I had to record music which sounded like it was from the '50s right the way up to the '70s…”"
Incidentally, Andrews has all the promise and skill to be the next John Brion if he keeps at it. At least in our humble opinions; if you asked us to make a top 10 of the best film scores of this decade, Andrews' brilliant score for Miranda July's Me & You & Everyone We Know" would be right up there.
Kasdan and Apatow actually began writing songs for the film more than a year ago. Kasdanactually has songwriting skills that he showed off in his first feature, "Zero Effect," which included star Bill Pullman performing two songs they had co-written. "We both play really mediocre adolescent Jewish-boy-who-loved-Bob-Dylan, campfire-type guitar," Kasdan told the LA Times in early 2006 about his and Apatow's guitar skills. "We both know the same six chords."
However, whether those songs, as basic as they may be, get used in the film remains to be seen. The list of people who have contributed here seems to be growing and growing. Songwriters Dan Bern, Candy ButchersfrontmanMike Viola, Van Dyke Parks and Marshall Crenshaw have all contributed to the songs (not film score) according to Rolling Stone. Lyle Lovettwith the help of Jewel, GhosftaceKillah and Jackson Browne recorded a version of the title track, "Walk Hard." Other musicians that show their face are Jack White and Eddie Vedder. Musicians spoofed by actors in the film include the Beatles, Elvis Presley (White) and Buddy Holly among others. What's up next for Judd Apatow's comedy dominance? Oh about 10 more films at least that already have actors, scripts and directors attached.
Ew, we used drop in that verb way all the indie sites do. Shame on us.
Anywoo, we just told you that Jay-Z's cover and tracklist were revealed for his American Gangster inspired-by-the-movie album. According to a DefJam press release, American Gangster the real soundtrack to the Ridley Scott film of the same title, also comes out on November 6 (just like Hov's album).
The album includes tracks by Bobby Womack ("Across 110th Street" apparently now the de rigeur we've got trouble in black American anthem), the Staple Singers, Anthony Hamilton (his track "Do You Feel Me?" is the album's first single), Sam & Dave, John Lee Hooker and despite director Ridley Scott's insistence that Jay-Z shouldn't be used in the film because the movie is a 1970's period piece, a 1991 Public Enemy song, "Can't Truss It" (from Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black). As reported by MTV back in the day (3 months ago), Public Enemy Bombsquadproducer Hank Schocklee did some of the film's score (he's represented on the disc with four cuts. Marc Streitenfeld provides some more traditional film score, and bluesmanLowell Fulson tackles a cover of the Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"
Shocklee was extensively involved in the project and in addition to the original score cuts he created, he produced both Anthony Hamilton tracks and the aforemention PE classic.
As for the film: Denzel Washington stars as Frank Lucas, a courageous entrepreneur and self-made embodiment of the American Dream who comes from nowhere to rule the inner-city drug trade, and Russell Crowe is Richie Roberts, an outcast cop zeroing in on who is outplaying all the familiar Mafia families as he closes in on this unexpected new streetwise player. American Gangster Soundtrack tracklist 1. Do You Feel Me - Anthony Hamilton 2. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? - Lowell Fulson 3. No Shoes - John Lee Hooker 4. Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack 5. Stone Cold - Anthony Hamilton 6. Hold On I'm Comin' - Sam & Dave 7. I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers 8. Can't Truss It - Public Enemy 9. Checkin' Up On My Baby - Hank Shocklee 10. Club Jam - Hank Shocklee 11. Railroad - Hank Shocklee 12. Nicky Barnes - Hank Shocklee 13. Hundred Percent Pure - Marc Streitenfeld 14. Frank Lucas - Marc Streitenfeld
The roving eye of the kids at Pitchfork doesn't always sleep. Their news section astutely noticed that the tracklist for Jay-Z's American Gangster album (inspired by the Ridley Scott "American Gangster" movie, but not the soundtrack to the film - that's mostly '70s soul & R&B like Bobby Womack, the Staple Singers and Sam & Dave) was up and available at ITunes.
"American Gangster" the film stars Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, and features small cameos by Common, RZA and T.I.
"American Gangster" tracklist 01 Amen 02 Blue Magic 03 Untitled 04 Alright, Alright 05 You Don't Know 06 And the Winner Is 07 American Gangster 08 Welcome 09 Ignorant Shit 10 The Demise 11 I Get Money (Remix)
In 2006, imitable Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai ("In The Mood For Love") did a unusual thing for someone as painstakingly meticulous and assure of what he wants: he cast Norah Jones as one of the leads of his the first English-language film, "My Blueberry Nights," even though the Grammy awarding winning singer had never acted in her life. "I watched ['Mood'] I thought that it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. So I thought, 'Let’s have lunch, maybe he wants my music.' And he says, 'Do you want to be in a movie?' 'OK, you’re amazing.' For some reason I just had a blind trust… I just kind of jumped in and thought we’ll figure it out later," Jones said at the 2007 Cannes Film Fest where the film debuted of being unexpectedly picked to star in the film.
After he cast her in the film (which also stars Jude Law, Natalie Portman,David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz) he immediately barred her from contributing to the movie's soundtrack so she would concentrate on her acting. "At the very beginning, we decided we wanted everybody to look at the film and perceive Norah as an actor. Our understanding was that I wouldn't put any of her songs in the film, because when you look at the film, you go into the characters and I didn't want to remind the audience. I think her performance is strong enough to be seen as an actress," Kar-Wai said.
But this eventually changed. We spoke to "My Blueberry Nights" soundtrack producer Eli Wolf who with Wong Kar-Wai via email put together the soundtrack disc. Wolf told us that Norah Jones had a hand in picking some of the film's music, something she also said earlier this year at Cannes. "Before we started filming, before I even knew a lot about the story, he took a lot of pictures on the road of locations he wanted to use, and he gave [the photos to me], and asked me to pick the music that matched [their] mood," she said.
Due in January on Jones' Bluenote label when the film also finally arrive in theaters, the 'Blueberry' soundtrack disc features a track specifically written for the film by Norah Jones titled, "The Story" (which opens the film) plus several score cuts by Americana moody blues guitarist Ry Cooder("Paris, Texas," "The Buena Vista Social Club") and songs by Otis Redding,Ruth Brown and Mavis Staples. Not surprisingly, the film also features two cuts from Cat Power's The Greatest, an album and singer that already seems intrinsically attached to the film due to all of Kar-Wai's high praise. "If Charles Bukowski and Jane Birkin had a child, it would be Cat Power," says Wong Kar-wai on the set of Blueberry Nights, where he was known to play The Greatest on repeat. "She's unpredictable and mysterious but always intoxicating," he told Paper Magazine in June. This was mostly for the benefit of the cinematographer. “The best way for the camera to pick up the rhythm is music,” he told the Times earlier this year.
As the blog The Cliff Edge mentioned a while back, the film also features composer Gustavo Santaolalla, who won Oscars for "Brokeback Mountain" and "Babel," displaying his expert picking and Cassandra Wilson rendering a cover of Neil Young's plaintive "Harvest Moon."
Wolf said for the soundtrack disc he looked to "The Garden State" soundtrack album as inspiration for a vehicle to stand out on its own. "I was impressed with [Zach Braff's ]work, music is so important to him. "The music is like another character [in his movies]- he made a mixtape that would fit his film," Wolf said trying to achieve a similar feeling.
"I like soundtracks that can live and breathe on [their] own and at the same time can tell a story about the film in the same way." The film's music also makes nods to Kar-Wai's past work: the song "Yumeji's Theme" was originally the thematic and mantra-like motif of "In The Mood For Love." 'Blueberry' uses a more appropriate and dusty, harmonica version of the same track.
Geography also informed the musical choices Wolf said.When Jones' character is a Memphis waitress – Otis Redding is played; Cat Power's soulful Greatest songs also provides the grooves for scenes set in Memphis. "Whether old or new souls, all the music reflects the geographical story where the road trip follows," he said. "My Blueberry Nights" soundtrack tracklist 01. "The Story" – Norah Jones 02. "Living Proof"- Cat Power 03. "Eli Nevada" – Ry Cooder 04. "Try a Little Tenderness" – Otis Redding 05. "Looking Back" – Ruth Brown 06. "Long Ride" – Ry Cooder 07. "Eyes on the Prize" – Mavis Staple (produced by Cooder) 08. "Yumeji's Theme (Harmonica Version)" - UmebayshiShigeru 09. "Skipping Stone" - Amos Lee 10. "Bus Ride" – Ry Cooder 11. "Harvest Moon" - Cassandra Wilson 12. "Devil’s Highway" – Hello Stranger (Ry Cooder produced; his sons’s band) 13. "Parajos" – Gustavo Santaolalla 14. "The Greatest" – Cat Power Download:Ry Cooder - "Paris Texas" Download:Ry Cooder - "Mixteca" Download: UmebayshiShigeru - "Yumeji's Theme" Download: Cat Power - "Willie" "My Blueberry Nights" trailer
Retroactively celebrated in recent years with the advent of his many reissues, lost disco superstar/downtown NY artisteArthur Russell continues to get his belated due.
Mostly unknown during his heyday (he died of AIDS-related complications in 1992), the Russell reevaluation began in 2004 with the release of the The World of Arthur Russell, a compilation of his work (which by then was mostly out of print and difficult to find) that made him a critical darling and brought his music to a much larger audience.
So it's only natural that a documentary celebrating his body of work would follow. In progress for two years now, "Arthur Russell" will be completed in January 2008 and then hopes to make the rounds of the film festival circuit (think Sundance, and or the SXSW film festival in March).
We spoke to director Matt Wolf about the film's progress (you can now make a tax-deductible donation toward finishing funds at the film's website) and he told us a DVD release was being planned for late spring, early summer if all went well. The film features appearances by Allen Ginsberg - or rather a statement from him at Arthur’s memorial in 1992 which is used throughout the film (Russell moved to San Francisco in the early '70s, and during this West Coast period he began an association with Ginsberg by providing musical accompaniment for many of the poet's performances) . Other testimonials in the film come courtesy of estimable composer Philip Glass, Ernie Brooks of the Modern Lovers, and Jens Lekman. David Mancuso (New York dance pioneer) and David Byrne alsomake appearance, "but you won’t hear from them in interviews," Wolf said. As for a distributor, it's too early to tell as the film has to hit the film festival circuit first. "I first heard Arthur’s music when the compilations— Calling Out of Context and The World of Arthur Russell--were released in 2003," Wolf said [ed. note: advances came out in 2003, World didn't get into stores until January] "I got so fixated and interested in the music that I contacted Arthur’s estate, which happens to be Arthur’s former boyfriend Tom Lee, who still lives in the same apartment he shared with Arthur on 12th Street in the East Village. After meeting Tom and beginning to develop the film I really began discovering the full breadth of Arthur’s music."
Wolf said it was meeting Russell's partner, Tom Lee that inspired him to make the film and he noted that Russell's family in Iowa were fully onboard. "[Lee's] connection to Arthur and his music seemed so alive and intense that it inspired me to pursue a film that wasn’t just music, but also biographical. His parents Chuck and Emily are hugely enthusiastic about Arthur’s rediscovery and newfound success."
The films soundtrack is always evolving, but the director said he had a bunch of eclectic cuts and some unreleased material: highlights include a duet with Allen Ginsberg called "Ballad of the Lights," a number of unreleased folk songs with Arthur on guitar, a live performance of the cello ballad “Eli,” and a cover of Arthur’s never before released song “Time to Come Home Now” covered by Mimi Goese formerly of Hugo Largo and now XIX. "There’s also a strong mix of early folk songs made before and under the guise of the band The Flying Hearts (a band that Russell formed in 1974 with Brooks of the Modern Lovers which also included Lari Saltzman, Dave Van Tieghem and later on, Joyce Bowden), as well as Arthur’s 24/24 Music, Go Bang, songs from World of Echo, and other contextual music," he said. As for song rights, well this is part of why the soundtrack is constantly "evolving." "Some records are owned by the Estates others are not. It’s all part of the process of retracing Arthur’s footsteps," the director said.
Why has the film taken more than two years to make? Obstacles were a plenty.
"The biggest challenge and obstacle is making a film about somebody who wasn’t extensively documented and who isn’t alive to speak for themselves," Wolf said. "There are a few moments of Arthur’s voice recorded on tape, but we’re mostly relying on his family and friends to bring Arthur to life. And of course, getting money to make a movie about a gay buddhist cellist and disco producer who died unrecognized is always a challenge."
In August, Jens Lekman, Joel Gibb (Hidden Cameras), Verity Susman (Electrelane), and Victoria Bergsman (Taken by Trees and Concretes) released 4 Songs by Arthur Russell on Rough Trade. They foursome performed Arthur Russell covers on August 20th in Stockholm at Kulturhuset, where they also showed a sneak peek at the film.
Four Songs by Arthur Russell: 01 Vera November - Our Last Night Together 02 Jens Lekman - A Little Lost 03 Taken by Trees - Make 1, 2 04 Joel Gibb - That's Us / Wild Combination
The Gist: Oscar winner Gavin Hood(director of 2005 Oscar Foreign Language Film winner "Tsotsi") celebrates his Hollywood debut with the political thriller “Rendition,” in which he directs Reese Witherspoon as the wife of an Egyptian chemical engineer who’s being secretly held at a detention facility outside the country. Backed by a CIA analyst (Peter Sarsgaard), she heads over to the powers that be in Washington D.C. to learn more about her husband’s mysterious disappearance. In Summary: The list of flicks about the war on terrorism just keeps growing, and while upcoming releases such as Robert Redford’s “Lions for Lambs” look rather dreary, the trailer for “Rendition” emits striking intensity that promises top-notch performances and a thrilling plot. Witherspoon’s apparent hysteria in the movie seems a little over-the-top, but Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin will save the day no matter what [ed. or at least hopefully] Quotables: “What if the press were to get a hold of this dedicated family man just swirled away to God knows where?” Release Date: October 19. PS: Hood is slated to direct the "X-Men" related-spinoff "Wolverine" with Hugh Jackass, err, Jackman.
Apparently she was. In a Random Roles, A/V Club feature actress Leslie Mann (wife of comedy producer Judd Apatow)mentions that she was cut out of Wes Anderson's debut 1996 film, "Bottle Rocket."
Bottle Rocket (1996)—uncredited LM: Because I was cut out. I'd just read for James Brooks on Beautiful Girls. He decided not to direct it, and then I didn't do it, but that's how I met James Brooks, and then he brought me in for Bottle Rocket. I worked with Luke and Owen [Wilson], and Wes [Anderson] directed it. I remember I had a Southern accent, and I was in a bikini. I would love to find that, just to see how good my body looked at the time, pre-kids, but I haven't been able to. [Laughs.] I guess I could ask somebody. But it was fun, because Polly Platt produced it, and James Brooks, and I got to meet Luke and Owen and Wes. It was fun. See? "It was fun."
Well, Leslie since Wes Anderson just confirmed that "Bottle Rocket" is getting the Criterion Treatment for sometime likely in 2008, you could very well see yourself and that pre-kids bod relatively soon. "There’s a lot of ‘Bottle Rocket’ that was on the cutting room floor, so we have a lot to work with on that one.” Anderson told MTV.
Incidentally, for those that haven't seen it you can watch the 13-minute 'Darjeeling' prequel "Hotel Chevalier" in its entirety at the bottom of this post.
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The Playlist is a film site that sometimes places an emphasis on film soundtracks and movie music, when applicable, but we're also just a regular cinema-obsessed website that covers regular film news, writes reviews, tracks dvd releases, etc. Secondarily, The Playlist is the official home to the kind of now-dormant Playlist Soundtrack Series.
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There's a pretty hilarious interview with Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) over at the Onion's A/V Club. In the Q&A Beam reveals that he barely watches any of the films he licenses tracks for, can't remember half of them and will basically hand over to any song to most indie films, cause well, they're indie and they need the help.
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