Owen Wilson Myspace Interview Reveals Absolutely Nothing; Feels Painfully Awkward And Uneventful

So as many suspected, Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson's "first Wilson post-suicide" interview was nothing more than a tongue-and-cheeky publicity stunt to promote "The Darjeeling Limited."

Sure why not, did you expect Wes to ask hard-hitting questions of his longtime friend? No, at least you shouldn't have. The film has seen mixed reviews and has done slow box-office business and it needs all the help it can get, but we ask you this: did it really have to be that awkward, odd and total dullsville?

"I want us to become brothers like we used to be.' I really like that line. It means a lot to me." Wilson told Anderson in their stunted and weird exchange (the interviewing being done in two separate places; Anderson in New York and Wilson in Culver City, California added to the disjointed flow). Wes joked that having already been to Texas, New York, Rome and India his next film adventure would take place in outer space, but clearly he was just messing around. C'mon guys, you couldn't have made that even semi-entertaining? Boo (we already wrote many more words that were necessary here).

Of more interest was Anderson's appearance on Charlie Rose Friday night. Rose loves Anderson and this is the 5th time he's been on the show. They always have great little conversations that usually yield a gem or two of information and this interview was equally interesting. Though notable: it's odd that when Wes starts talking about Owen in the clip (around the 11 minute mark) - who seemed apprehensive about going to India - the clip skips past his comments. Weird, but we'll let others cry conspiracy.

Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' Leaks: Jigga Wha!

What rhymes with cease and desist? Ask Mylifemyhiphop.com who have leaked the entire inspired-by American Gangster album by Jay-Z.

Course the files are WMA's and not Oink-approved 190kpbs Mp3s (but what do those guys know, they're in jail), but hey, if you want to hear it you want to hear it, right?

Hard to judge off the top, as we're just listening, but so far they're definitely more Black Album crack music than Kingdom Come Volvo-driving soccer-mom rap (thank god).

These are his links. Get 'em while they're hot [ed. don't you love when we give credit to others to save our ass? heh]
Jay-Z - Pray
American Dream
Hello Brooklyn 2.0 (Feat. Lil Wayne)
No Hook
Roc Boys And The Winner Is
Sweet
I Know
Say Hello
Success (Feat. Nas)
Fallin'
American Gangster
We get to see "American Gangster" the film early on Monday. Can't wait.

Exclusive: Yo La Tengo's "4th Time Around" From 'I'm Not There'; Win Copies Of Soundtrack

Ok, so "I'm Not There" the Todd Haynes directed abstract biopic based on the life of Bob Dylan (you can't imagine how many times we've written that in some shape or another). We discussed it once or twice; you may have noticed.

Below we have the exclusive audio of Yo La Tengo's take on the Zimmy Blonde on Blonde track "Fourth Time Around." Have a listen.

Things we've written about this film include: A soundtrack review, music from the film, one overall preview of the film with the music the actors sing, one that discusses the actual Dylan originals used in the film, Todd Haynes' thoughts on the film at the New York Film Festival screening, the tracklist, the producers involved on the soundtrack, guest stars, Yo La Tengo's all-star crew, and 400 other posts about all the minutia of this thing [ed. you need to get a life; you've also listed this graph out about 300 times].

Ok, so anyhow, you want to hear this thing, right? Well, we have 5 copies to give away. All one needs to do is email us where the master of the obscure Dylan title track ("I'm Not There") was found (strong hint: the info is all over our site, b) use the search function, c) it was on some famous musician's ranch). Short of that and or if we don't get enough responses (lazy! it's right there), tell us what your favorite Bob Dylan song is and why.

Apart from the big names we've already reviewed and mentioned, I'm Not There OST offers an interesting mix of takes on Dylan songs, from Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova's joyous take on "You Ain't Goin Nowhere" (from The Basment Tapes), to Stephen Malkmus and Lee Ranaldo's (with a little help from Nels Cline) melancholy rendition of "Can't Leave Her Behind" (an "Eat The Document"-era song that's never been recorded on an album by Dylan), to Mira Billotte's almost-portentous version (she kind of sounds like Grace Slick) "As I Went Out One Morning," lots of the songs add noteworthy emotional perspectives on Zimmy songs.

One footnote on the soundtrack: Jeff Tweedy's version of "A Simple Twist of Fate" has alternate lyrics that are not from the NY Sessions of Blood On The Tracks, anyone know where they're from? A live version, a bootleg? (thanks to Haskins for pointing this out). Update: Dan from the very excellent FilmBabble blog, points out the answer (collated live versions) in the our comments section. Nice work.

*UPDATE*: Contest officially closed as of 8:27 p.m. on Friday October 26. That was fast!

Yo La Tengo - "Fourth Time Around"
QT Audio/WM Audio /Flash Audio

David Bowie Does SpongeBob Voice For TV Movie

On November 12 David Bowie will make his U.S. cartoon debut on the Spongebob Squarepants TV movie "Atlantis SquarePantis." Bowie will voice Atlantis' Lord Royal Highness.

The plot synopsis (which you are dying to know) is this:

SpongeBob (who lives in a pineapple under the sea) discovers the missing half of an ancient medallion believed to be a relic from the lost city of Atlantis. Bowie's Lord Royal Highness is at first at joy to see the little guy and his treasure—so much so that he takes them for a tour—until chaos ensues when SpongeBob's camera causes a mishap. Roh Roh.[CMJ]

'Juno' Bumped Up; Free Screenings Announced

Fox Searchlight, the folks behind "The Darjeeling Limited," are using a lot of aggressive tactics this year to promote their films.

'Darjeeling' was everywhere (though Wes films sort of market themselves) and now for "Juno," the upcoming black preggers comedy by Jason Reitman ("Thank You For Smoking") which stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera, Fox Searchlight is offering up a shitload of free screenings in hopes that the word of mouth campaign takes off with the younger audiences this film is courting (don't even bother if you're in New York, they're all already full).

The film got an incredibly positive reception at this year's Toronto Film Festival, so with that in mind the film studio has bumped up the movie's release from December 15 to December 5 (it also stars Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner).

The soundtrack CD details aren't quite solidified, but we posted all the music used in 'Juno' earlier this summer which includes lots of songs from Moldy Peaches singer Kimya Dawson and tracks by the Kinks, the Velvet Underground (a self-titled 3rd album B-side), Buddy Holly, Cat Power, Hole, Belle & Sebastian and Sonic Youth.

Update: You wouldn't think this film have Oscar hopes, but there's a contingent of people dying for there to be an indie "Little Miss Sunshine" this year. You wouldn't think that would matter, but "Juno" just won the top prize at the Rome Film Festival. The Oscar plot thickens. Consider this film having early buzz.

'Juno' trailer

'30 Days Of Night': Reitzell's 'Daybreak' and 'Underture'

Ok, we don't really care about most horror, but having just heard Brian Reitzell's brooding and ambient score to "30 Days of Night," we must admit we're kind of interested to see this movie just to see how the ominous and sometimes tribally-violent-sounding tracks are used.

The upcoming horror/vampire film stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, and the always-intense Ben Foster who is quickly becoming (among with Emile Hirsch) one of the most talked about breakout actors of this year (a "3:10 To Yuma" supporting nomination this year, anyone?)

We digress. Regardless, while not on the soundtrack disc (which came out October 23) according to our readers, Mogwai's "Auto-Rock" is one of the last songs used in the film (Reitzell was also the music supervisor) and it's a grand choice.

The always inventive Reitzell (a fave music collaborator for Sofia Coppola) gerry-rigged up a pottery wheel and affixed items like drum mallets and sticks to record weird and frightening sounds.

"I was trying to figure out the different sounds and colors and instruments to use," Reitzell explained. "I thought if someone came at me with an ax or was trying to kill me or eat me, that was going to be such a horrific experience and was going to be totally new and unfamiliar, so I didn't think what I was going to hear was something like an orchestra."

Download: Mogwai - "Auto Rock"
"30 Days of Night" trailer

"I'm Not There" OST: Malkmus, Karen O, Antony & The Johnsons

So it's Friday, "I'm Not There" the 2-disc covers soundtrack to the Todd Haynes directed Bob Dylan quasi-biopic comes out on Tuesday and despite Oink going bye-bye you know it's going to be everywhere regardless so what the hell. So for your previewing pleasure and cause we can't get enough apparently, more I'm Not There OST cuts.

This time we've got Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers' take on "Maggie's Farm," the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O with them same Bashers tackling "Highway '61 Revisited" and Antony & The Johnsons mournful piano version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (our entire soundtrack review is here)

The physical soundtrack disc itself reveals few details that we haven't already reported (the tracklist, the producers involved, guest stars, Yo La Tengo's all-star crew, etc.) however us being obsessive completists, the Jack Johnson cover of "Mama You've Been On My Mind" is also a medley that contains "A Fraction of Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie" (which is a fraction of "Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie").

Yes, we've seen the film and no we haven't properly reviewed it yet (it's dense and layered), but we have give two initial preview thoughts: One overall preview with the music the actors sing, one that discusses the actual Dylan originals used in the film and Todd Haynes' thoughts on the film at the New York Film Festival screening. We'll write a proper review one of these days before the film is widly released.

'Last King Of Scotland' Star To Play Kurt Cobain?

Ah, rumors. Today's juicy tidbit of possibly erroneous information is the report that James McAvoy ("The Last King of Scotland," the upcoming "Atonement") is one of the front runners to play Kurt Cobain in the upcoming Courtney Love-sanctioned Cobain/Nirvana biopic.

Well, according to the always dubious Dotmusic anyhow.

As reported earlier, Universal Pictures secured the rights to the biopic, the film will be based on Charles Cross' book, "Heavier Than Heaven," and screenwriter David Benioff - the guy who wrote "Troy" and is writing "Wolverine" - is penning the script (perfect choice, right?).

As one reader astutely points out, Benioff did write Spike Lee's "The 25 Hour" so there could be hope (yes, it's an excellent film).

Heather Mills Want Reese Witherspoon To Play Her In Biopic? Unknown For McCartney

Oh Heather Mills, perhaps you think a little too highly of yourself? Apparently, at least, according to the gossip-mongers at Page Six, Paul McCartney's soon-to-be ex-wife Heather Mills is shopping a biopic about her life story around Hollywood and she wants petite southern belle Reese Witherspoon to play her.

Mills apparently flew to L.A. for preliminary meetings last week - the script was apparently shelved when she and Macca were in civil negotiations, but when those divorce proceedings fell apart the script was evidently, "dusted off pretty quickly."

According to the Post's gossip, Mills wants McCartney to play her and sees her story as "the tragic and empowering story of a young model who loses her leg, overcomes her difficulties and marries her prince. But the most interesting part of the tale will be the dark goings-on behind closed doors."

Eeesh, so is Mills gonna dish about all the Beatles' personal doings? Poor Paul. He might be stinking rich, but the man still has feelings. He recently said going through divorce was like, "going through hell."

We suppose it's easy to sympathize with a Beatle, but if Mills is actually going through with this kind of exploitative biopic, it's easy to side with someone who counters with, "The only solution is to remain dignified. If I don't keep a silence about it, I lose this idea of being dignified."

Update: Mills is now denying this report. Maybe she realized it sounded pretty crass.

Sidney Lumet's 'Devil' Proves The 80-Year-Old Directors Still Got It

Generally lifetime Academy Achievement Awards are handed out to octogenarian film directors are a sort of condescending pat on the back, a "thanks for all the great work you did way back when," and a dismissive, now please get off the stage you smelly old, musty closet.

But in the case of Sidney Lumet, almost three years after receiving his Lifetime Achievement Oscar, he's releasing what some are calling the finest work of his career with "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" (a film we eagerly anticipated in our fall preview; astute Playlist readers will remember the erm... naked trailer).

Director of such classics as "12 Angry Men," "Dogday Afternoon," "Serpico" and "Network" (not to mention "The Wiz"), perhaps Lumet's belated Oscar maybe reminded him he didn't want to be remembered for things like the Vin Diesel movie "Find Me Guilty,"the heist-gone-wrong 'Devil' is garnering Lumet some of his best reviews ever (Metacritic gives him a 88% positive and rotten tomatoes is currently at a 79% rating).

The gist, is classic and simple: two overextending and losing streak brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) need money badly, so they hatch a desperate and ill-conceived plan to rob their parent's jewelry store (the dad played by thespian Albert Finney) and well, it's probably a testament to the film's execution that it can still be compelling knowing how well that above premise is going to go. Oh and Hoffman's trophy wife, the increasingly sexy Marisa Tomei is having an affair with Ethan Hawke. Let's just say this story has nowhere to go but down for the characters, but the trailer looks fantastic ("full of powerhouse scenes and over-the-top situations in nondescript locales, it's a pulverizing experience," writes Village Voice scribe J. Hoberman)

As a recent New York Times profile on the director and film notes, Lumet has Mr. Lumet’s track record with actors is flawless:. He has guided 17 performers (including Al Pacino, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway and Ingrid Bergman) to Oscars or nominations.

Don't call it a comeback though, Lumet will get pissed. "I’m kind of surprised at that word. Like I’ve been away? In that 'away' period, there’s some pretty goddamned good work," the director told Time Out New York.

And apparently Lumet plans and rehearses so intently with his actors, the film shoot itself can be a cakewalk. "The rehearsal for this film was far more intense than the shoot,” Ethan Hawke said in the Times piece. “Sidney knows how to create an environment where acting can thrive.”

He also evidently shoots with speed, economy and decisiveness. “I’d never seen anything like it,” Mr. Hawke said. “I sometimes felt like there was another crew on the other side of the city doing the same script, and we were racing them. I did two takes on some of the biggest scenes in the movie.”

"Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" opens this Friday in New York and goes into wider markets the following week.

"Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" trailer

Dreadful Beatles Karaoke Movie May Lead To Misguided Record Deal For Teen That Has The Sex With Marilyn Manson

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that insouciant teen actress Evan Rachel Wood is close to signing a record deal with Interscope Records.

Wood, who is best known for banging Marily Manson and playing brassy, irreverent teens ("Thirteen," "The Upside of Anger") evidently impressed execs with her renditions of Beatles songs in the Julie Taymor directed '60s turmoil McCartney/Lennon songs karaoke movie "Across The Universe."

In the film Wood sang "Blackbird," "If I Fell,""It Won't Be Long," and according to an insider who blabbed to EW, "The general buzz is that she does have a very good voice and genuinely wants to make music." Another source close to the situation added, "You should hear her karaoke!" Umm, see above.

Meanwhile, Marilyn Manson, who can't get arrested these days unless he's diddling someone of questionable age difference (like Rachel Wood) is rumored to be upset and going door to door in attempts of shocking listeners who have grown accustomed to his shock-rock techniques.

Download: Rachel Evan Wood - "Blackbird"

Wow, Actors Like Music! Natalie Portman Hearts Indie Rock; Nudity Not So Much Ok Too

In another installment of "Actors, Wow, They Like Music Too!" (shocking, right? who woulda thought...).

Three years after providing every lazy music writer with a "Garden State"-themed lede in their Shins pieces, Natalie Portman decided to get into the mouthing off about music game again with the charity mixtape Big Change: Songs for FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) which she curated and includes 16 tracks from artists like Beirut, Tokyo Police Club, Norah Jones, Rogue Wave, Antony & the Johnsons, and exclusive tracks from M. Ward and Devendra Banhart and a new Shins remix (you can hear the Beirut track at EW - the disc is due October 30 on ITunes).

Proving her taste is as predictable as any semi-hip 25-year-old that's breathing, Portman lauded her edgy tastes which includes freak-folk ("I love this whole movement now with Antony and Devendra and CocoRosie and Sufjan Stevens") and "modern-day classics" (Radiohead, White Stripes).

Portman also mentions Stevie Wonder is likely her no.1 all-time artist, mentions she went through a teen-angst phase (Nirvana, Juliana Hatfield, Jeff Buckley) and wisely doesn't even take a shred of credit for the Shins' growing popularity ("[They] created their own success. No one is gonna think a sound is great just because I say so. They hear the songs, and that's what decides it for them.")

Portman starred next to Norah Jones in the upcoming Wong Kar-Wai film, "My Blueberry Nights" (soundtrack details here; film due Feb 13), so scoring her participation on the charity comp was as easy as a phone call.

Meanwhile, after baring her bum (not a fucking nude scene you chumps) for Wes Anderson's much-blogged about 13-minute short "Hotel Chevalier," Portman now apparently regrets showing-off her bottom.

"I'm really sorry I didn't listen to my intuition," she said (who knows who she said it to directly, it's spread like wildfire now). "From now on, I'm going to trust my gut more. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is say no."

We can hear Wes' hurt feelings from here. [ed. you've outdone yourself]
Update: Oh wait, Portman has asked the U.S. magazine Parade that ran her nudity quotes to run a retraction saying her comments about nudity and 'Chevalier' were taken out of context.

"We say that Portman regrets doing a nude scene in the movie Hotel Chevalier. This is wrong," the magazine said of their gaffe. "When Portman writes about this in Parade, she does not mention a specific movie title. She tells us she was referring to a torture scene with a body double in 'Goya's Ghosts,' which was taken out of context and leaked onto the Internet. Portman is very happy with 'Hotel Chevalier' and proud of her work in the film."

Big Change: Songs for FINCA tracklist according to Pitchfork.
01 Tokyo Police Club: "Be Good"
02 Beirut: "My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille" [exclusive]
03 Tom Brosseau: "Plaid Lined Jacket"
04 Curumin: "Tudo Bem Malandro"
05 The Shins: "Australia (Bjorn Yttling Mix)" [exclusive]
06 Brett Dennen: "Ain't No Reason"
07 Sean Hayes: "Turnaroundturnmeon"
08 Thee More Shallows: "Oh Yes, Another Mother"
09 Angus & Julia Stone: "The Beast"
10 Antony & the Johnsons: "Paddy's Gone"
11 Vetiver: "Idle Ties"
12 Norah Jones: "Broken"
13 Devendra Banhart: "There's Always Something Happening" [exclusive]
14 M. Ward: "What Is a Soul?" [exclusive]
15 Wooden Wand: "Forgiveness Figg (Bethany Hotel Blues)"
16 Rogue Wave: "How We Landed" [exclusive]

Quentin Tarantino Says: Too Early To Discuss 'Inglorious Bastards' Music; Loving Top 40

Remember "Inglorious Bastards?" Quentin Tarantino's long-delayed WWII project he's been talking about for almost 10 years now. Is it ever going to happen? Our guess is as good as yours.

When recently asked about the music in film QT said hold up, it's way too early to be thinking about that (his script is likely not even done). "I'm right at the very beginning of the building blocks and how this gigantic house of cards is gonna work," he told Spinner. "I'm kind of like that right now; I haven't got [to the music] yet."

As annoying as Tarantino can be in person his soundtrack cuts are generally impeccably chosen, so it was curious when he mentioned to the music blog that his music taste has recently shit the bed.

"Oddly enough, I've actually been listening to the Top 40 station more often than not for the last year," QT said of his growing trend of listening to terrible fucking music. "Maroon 5, 'Wake Up Call,' Plain White T's, 'Hey There, Delilah' and definitely My Chemical Romance, 'Teenagers' -- those are my favorite songs right now."

Romantic Gay-Metal Band To Write New Bond Theme?

Ah, the rite of passage of writing the estimable James Bond theme. So many venerable artists have been lucky enough to be called upon to write the indelible theme for 007. Artists like John Barry, Carly Simon, Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Sheryl Crow, errr... Chris Cornell... umm, Garbage...uh.

Yeah, so in keeping with the recent crop of... less-than-admirable bands, Swedish romantic-metal rockers H.I.M. have apparently been asked to lend their homo-erotic brand of metal to the upcoming Bond Mcfranchise film (the 23rd Bond film that again will star Daniel Craig). [ed. they're actually Finnish, but yeah, nobody cares...]

It's just a rumor as of right now, but apparently Bond composers David Arnold and Don Black are very impressed with the band and some of their eros-laden Morrissey-metallic rock. The world awaits with bated breath.

'There Will Be Blood' Soundtrack Art And Photos; More Deets

Ok, we admit, we don't make posts that are generally just photos and art, but the artwork for Jonny Greenwood's "There Will Be Blood" score (the CD details of which we broke) is pretty damn excellent and unique.

That and the fact that the script just leaked, we're kind of dying to see Paul Thomas Anderson's creative left turn (though we haven't read the script yet and we're still contemplating if we'll spoil it for ourselves):

Based on the Upton Sinclair Novel, "Oil!," PTA's long-awaited features Daniel Day-Lewis as a ravenous and misanthropic oil baron who gives not a flying fuck about all humanity, save for his young son. Paul Dano co-stars as a young priest (the only other "name" actor) trying to dispel Day Lewis' greedy scrooge from ruining their California town

Meanwhile tons of production photos from the film have been making their way onto the web which is nice considering that there was a paucity of material out there before. When it rains it pours I guess. As has been noted, two tracks from Greenwood's score ("Henry Plainview" and "Proven lands") are excerpts taken from his Popcorn Superhet Receiver composition and you can recognize some of that specific material in the film's trailer (you can here the 15-minute plus piece in its entirety here).

Many reviews have already praised Greenwood's apparently haunting score (many are calling it integral to the film's supense), and the Amazon write-up has it's own review and details:

Guitarist Jonny Greenwood has composed a hauntingly dramatic instrumental score for Oscar nominated writer-directorPaul Thomas Anderson s ambitious new film, "There Will Be Blood"... It s a certain awards contender. Greenwood s remarkable compositions, written primarily for strings, have already garnered considerable praise in advance reviews.The score resembles his rock compositions only in the level of daring and inventiveness to be found throughout these tracks and in the unsettling atmosphere he is able to conjure at key moments. Greenwood s score is more indicative of his current collaborations with the BBC Orchestra as Composer In Residence..."There Will Be Blood" takes Anderson in a radically different direction than his celebrated earlier films, "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" dazzling, attention-grabbing movies marked by multiple plot lines, ensemble casts and surreal visual elements. Anderson s new work is a stark period piece filmed on arid Texas plains; critics have likened it to the brilliantly austere work of such revered directors as Stanley Kubrick and Terence Malick ("Days Of Heaven"). The soundtrack will appeal to serious movie-music fans, who will appreciate this rare find: an intelligent, beautifuland deeply cinematic orchestrated score performed by the BBC Orchestra and London Sinfonietta that can hold its own next to the classic work of such composers as Bernard Herrman, Elmer Bernstein and Ennio Morricone.

There Will Be Blood Soundtrack tracklist (if you missed it the first time)
01. Open Spaces (4:00)
02. Future Markets (2:44)
03. Prospectors Arrive (4:40)
04. Eat Him By His Own Light (3:36)
05. Henry Plainview (4:14)
06. There Will Be Blood (2:08)
07. Oil (3:04)
08. Proven Lands (4:49)
09. HW / Hope of New Fields (2:29)
10. Smear (9:58)
Trailer

Flaming Lips Now Officially House Band For Terribly Enchanting Movies

Ah, the Flaming Lips. These soundtrack whores madcap musicians stopped recording albums now you know and instead have changed their focus to record songs for compelling, masterwork feature films like "Good Luck Chuck," "The Heartbreak Kid," "50 First Dates," "Freaky Friday" and now the latest masterpiece, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" starring the wonderful Dustin Hoffman and the deliciously impish Natalie Portman (and Jason Bateman).

The Lips did promise Billboard when discussing the hilarity that was "Good Luck Chuck" that they would be writing the theme song to an upcoming Disney film and these wacky Oklahoma fruitcakes weren't lying!

The Lips wrote the track "Love the World You Find," for the delightful 'Mr. Magorium' which we can all assume is more magical and enchanting than their 'Heartbreak Kid'-written opus "The Tale Of The Horny Frog" and their 'Chuck'-penned classic, hilariously-nonsensical " "I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow."

"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" will hit theaters November 16 and it's sure-to-be Grammy award winning soundtrack, which will also include the score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman, will be available November 13.

Oh yeah, and the Lips swear up and down that their long-belated Xmas film, "Christmas On Mars" will be ready for March 2008. Suuuuuuuuure.

Download: The Flaming Lips - "I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow"

Free Scripts For Films Not Released: 'Margot At The Wedding,' 'There Will Be Blood,' 'Kite Runner'

Let's point out something that the folks at SlashFilm have already pointed out (with lots of disclaimers to cover their butt: "we may have pointed out how to download these, but we would never!").

In their piece about "American Gangster" leaking online, there's a curious part at the bottom that almost has nothing to do with the piece other than the concept of things leaking early. But they've noticed that the Paramount Vantage site has uploaded free pdf versions of five screenplays to a public “For Your Consideration” website. Threee of the scripts available for download ("The Kite Runner," "Margot At The Wedding" and "There Will Be Blood") have not yet been released theatrically, but are available for you to read at your leisure (scripts for Sean Penn's "Into The Wild" and Angelina Jolie's "A Mighty Heart" are available too).

Actually, not all of them are linked/downloadable yet ("There Will Be Blood" for one), but as one astute person in the comments section points out. "all of the scripts can be downloaded via that site. Not all are linked, but they all follow the same file structure/naming convention," and the direct link to Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" script is available (Or fuck it, you can just click here for the PTA film the others should be easy and obvious).

Now since these are being offered up by Paramount Vantage on the web, there's seemingly nothing illegal about them. Either way, the information is there, so have at 'em and read 'em if you don't mind the spoiler factor.

'American Gangster' Leaks Early Online; Crowe/RZA Collabo Was Apparently Nixed

Some file sharers out there have Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and "American Gangster" director Ridley Scott seeing red as their tentpole fall film has leaked online already (it's not due in theaters until next week).

The leak comes courtesy of a Oscar DVD screener (stupid Academy members) and apparently is not of the highest quality, but in this post-Oink world it is a worrisome sign for the movie industry.

RZA/Russell Crowe Heartfelt Soul-Grunge-Hop Jam Not Meant To Be
Meanwhile, the StarPulse is reporting that the world was robbed of the chance to hear a Russell Crowe/RZA collaboration because studio executives decided their "jamming demo" track wasn't up to snuff (gee, with Russell Crowe on the hook? who woulda thought?).

RZA has a small part in "American Gangster" as a cop and apparently on set the two bonded and would perform and teach each other musical tips.

"On some songs we had a little bit of a groove going on throughout the movie and we tried to suggest some of those songs to Universal but the ideas never stuck," RZA said. "Me and Russell jammed. He's a better guitar player than me. I actually picked up a few tips from him. He's so sincere with his lyrics."

Apparently some of Crowe's lyrics inspired the RZA to end an disagreement with his ladylove.

"I have a song called 'Weight Of The Man' and it's a huge compliment that [RZA] would be into the song," Russell said. "[RZA] was having an argument with his girlfriend and she was demanding some sort of explanation from him. He listened to the song he told me the next day how he was on the phone saying, 'Baby, it's just the weight of a man,' and it got him off the hook."

There you have it: Russell Crowe inspirational lyrics saving relationships one heartfelt and soulful lyric at a time.

Vanity Fair: 'Purple Rain' Bestest Soundtrack Ever

Vanity Fair is so inspired by what we do [riiiiiight] they are putting out an one-time issue called "Movies Rock" where they will reveal their subjective editorial picks for the Top 50 Soundtracks of All Time.

Number one of their list is The Artist Formerly Known, or still known as Prince's "Purple Rain." The issue comes out in November and is only available to those that subscribe to VF (hey, Kamp, can you loan us a copy? ;)

The Purple one's soundtrack was named number one on VF's list despite the editors calling the film "perhaps the best badly acted film ever."

The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" came in at number deux and the classic reggae score to the Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come" was voted third. Unsurprisingly, baby-boomer friendly soundtracks to "American Graffiti" and "The Big Chill" rounded out the top 10. Blaxploitation was represented by Curtis Mayfield's wah-wah pedal abusing "Superfly" score (and not Issac Hayes' "Shaft") and Simon & Garfunkle's anti-dramatic folk score to "The Graduate" also found its place among the list. Younger audiences with less memory and retention will be happy to know "Trainspotting" and "Pulp Fiction" also made the illustrious 10.

Fans of "Grease," "Rushmore," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Boogie Nights" and "The Biggest Little Whorehouse In Texas" are said to be blogging their "WTF!?" responses as we speak. This is the part of the blog post where we're supposed to encourage you to post your bitchings thoughts in the comments section, but keep in mind there will be 40 more soundtracks on their list and it's only their opinion(s).

Update from Billboard - there's going to be a "Movies That Rock" concert on December 2 at the Kodak Theatre in L.A.:

Beyonce will sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz," while Carrie Underwood will tackle the title number from "The Sound of Music." Other pairings on tap include Jennifer Hudson on "Goldfinger," Fergie on "Live and Let Die," Mary J. Blige and John Legend on "As Time Goes By" and Elton John on music from animated films.

Sounds kind of retarded, actually.

The top 10 list as deemed by Vanity Fair is as follows:
01. "Purple Rain"
02. "A Hard Day's Night"
03. "The Harder They Come"
04. "Pulp Fiction"
05. "The Graduate"
06. "Superfly"
07. "Trainspotting"
08. "Saturday Night Fever"
09. "American Graffiti"
10. "The Big Chill"

Jimmy Cliff - "The Harder They Come"

Prince "When Doves Cry"

David Chase Defends Sopranos Ending, Evinces Contempt For Audience, Calls Carmela "Housewife- Whore"

You'll recall when "The Sopranos" was coming to an end, we were rather consumed with tracking the details obsessively (as we're wont to do with certain topics).

Thankfully, we've moved on, but we can't help but notice this recent interview that creator David Chase gave an interview included in "The Sopranos': The Complete Book," published this week, where he goes off on his audience and their disappointment with the Sopranos finale (dude, your audience is Jersey, what did you expect?).

The always-bilious Chase apparently woke up and someone shit in his cornflakes as he was seemingly extra sour. "The pathetic thing — to me — was how much they wanted [Tony's] blood, after cheering him on for eight years," Chase sneered about his audiences need for closure in the form of dead Tony.

Chase was exasperated and dumbfounded by audience's dissatisfaction and railed hard contemptuously. "[Tony] had been people's alter ego. They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted 'justice'..."

Excerpts from the interview published in Entertainment Weekly, Chase even railed against the characters with scorn and derision.

"People have said that the Soprano family's whole life goes in the toilet in the last episode.But look at it: A.J.'s not going to become a citizen-soldier or join the Peace Corps to try to help the world; he'll probably be a low-level movie producer. But he's not going to be a killer like his father, is he? Meadow may not become a pediatrician or even a lawyer, but she's not going to be a housewife-whore like her mother. She'll learn to operate in the world in a way that Carmela never did."

Youch. As for his controversial choice of Journey to end the series: everyone thought he was crazy, but then eventually came around. "When we were scouting locations, I actually took several songs in the van and played them for the crew. I'd never done that before. When the Journey song came on, everybody went, ''Oh no! Jesus, David, what are you thinking?'' But then they started to say, ''You know what? This is kind of good. This is a great fucking song!''

Is Anthony Hopkins On Crack? Latest Directorial Effort Apparently A Lynchian Surrealist Mess

First off, whodda thunk we would post about Sir Anthony Hopkins twice in one week? Secondly, whodda thunk the congenial and estimable Academy Award winning actor of all people would write, direct, score and act in a seemingly impenetrable, non-linear and absurdist jumble of chaos about a screenwriter who... meets Fate and then "discover that life is random and fortune is sightless as he is thrown into a vortex where time, dreams, and reality collide" (according to IMDB).

Titled, "Slipstream," when searching for analogous films, the Village Voice reference Charlie Kaufman, Oliver Stone's "The Doors" and "Natural Born Killers" and said Hopkins "raised the bar to batshit insanity with this maddening passion project." They also refer to the film as "a non-Euclidean freak-out of repeating sequences, excruciatingly long dissolves, superimposed Hitler footage, ridiculous zooms, epileptic flashes, sepia-tone inserts, horizontal frame flips" and other seemingly preposterous and unfortunate directorial choices.

Of course Hopkins and even star John Turturro claim the movie is supposed to be a comedy or an absurdist take on showbiz, but lord, that sounds atrocious (the cast also features Christian Slater, Michael Clarke Duncan, Arrested Development's Jeffrey Tambor and Lisa Pepper).

Cinema Signals said, "the editing-on-speed renders Hopkin's 'experiment' inaccessible to the degree that the movie will be lucky if it makes two cents" and the Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The veneer of stylistic hyperactivity can't conceal the starkly banal dialogue and a roster of performances that seem, under the circumstances, hardly directed at all."

The slightly positive review is Variety who said, "[It] can either be viewed as one huge home movie or a plaything from an actor who has been observing other filmmakers for decades."

Don't worry if you're confused though, apparently that's the point. "It’s not meant to make any sense. I wrote it as an experiment. I just put a few scenes down on the computer and thought, Well, this is interesting. I knew it was going to annoy people," Hopkins told Time Out New York.

Ummm, ok then. Good luck Anthony Hopkins, your movie is going to need it!
Trailer: "Slipstream" (holy shit, watch this it's kind of hilarious)

Nerd Alert: How Michel Gondry Faked His Rubik's Cube Feet Trick

The guy is an illustionist afterall.

Tracklist For Dylan At Newport Folk Festival DVD Revealed (Sorta)

"The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965" DVD, which was originally scheduled for November 2, will now be available Oct 30 - the same day the I'm Not There Original Soundtrack is in stores - features 80 minutes of performances, 70% available here for the first time, drawn from "three seminal years in the artist's ever-evolving career" and was produced and directed by Academy Award winner Murray Lerner ("From Mao To Mozart: Isaac Stern In China").

The info isn't particularly new (it's been up on Amazon for a week or two now), but a press release was sent out, others reported it and we want to be completists. Its release is all part of the "everything Dylan all the time" campaign Sony has embarked on that also features a boxset to dovetail perfectly with "I'm Not There" the film and the sure-to-be renewed interest in Dylan once indie-rockers discover who he is aside from surface points (thanks Stephen Malkmoose!)

The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965:
01 All I Really Want to Do [7/24/1965]
02 North Country Blues [7/26/1963]
03 With God on Our Side [ft. Joan Baez] [7/26/1963, 7/28/1963]
04 Talkin' World War III Blues [7/26/1963]
05 Who Killed Davey Moore? [7/27/1963]
06 Only a Pawn in Their Game [7/26/1963]
07 Blowin' in the Wind [ft. the Freedom Singers, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul & Mary] [7/26/1963]
08 Mr. Tambourine Man [7/24/1964]
09 It Ain't Me, Babe [ft. Joan Baez] [7/24/1964]
10 With God on Our Side [ft. Joan Baez] [7/26/1964]
11 Chimes of Freedom [7/26/1964]
12 If You Gotta Go, Go Now [7/24/1965]
13 Love Minus Zero/No Limit [7/24/1965]
14 Daytime Rehearsal [ft. electric band] [1965]
15 Maggie's Farm [ft. electric band] [7/25/1965]
16 Like a Rolling Stone [ft. electric band] [7/25/1965]
17 Mr. Tambourine Man [7/25/1965]
18 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue [7/25/1965]
Bob Dylan - "Maggie's Farm" at the Newport Folk Festival

Trailer: "Bob Dylan - Live at the Newport Folk Festival"

Most Overrated Film Of The Year Earns 10 British Film Indie Award Nominations - Control

Anton Corbijn's paean to Joy Division and its deceased singer Ian Curtis, "Control," is set to clean up at the upcoming British Independent Film Awards.

The grainy, black and white drama has gained tons of accolades BIFA has given the film 10 nominations for it's upcoming award ceremony including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and nods for lead actors Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and the real highlight of the film, Toby Kebbell (he steals almost every scene he's in as JD's hilarious manager Rob Gretton).

While, we don't hate this film or have anything against it, all the acclaim makes us scratch our heads as we found it unremarkable, uneventful, pretty tedious and mostly unmoving. To each his own, we suppose.

Maybe it's some sort of British nostalgia thing that makes some folks adore it more than it deserves.

Can't argue with the soundtrack though. Some obvious, but classic cuts.

Creative Differences My Ass. Ryan Gosling Kicked Off 'Lovely Bones' For Being Too Fat & Difficult?

On Monday, Variety reported that Ryan Gosling left Peter Jackson's "Lovely Bones" project because of "creative differences," just one day before shooting was scheduled to begin, right?

Well, Gosling - who was swiftly replaced with Mark Wahlberg - and Gosling apparently had lots of other differences.

According to the Los Angeles Times, sources said Jackson was surprised to see that Gosling has traded his marquee good looks to gain 20 lbs of weight or as the Times specifically says, looking like Gosling has arrrived to set wearing a "fat suit" and missing "movie star allure."

L.A. Times: Gosling had apparently told the director he was going to gain weight to age himself up to play the part of a grieving father, but Jackson was still expecting some movie star allure -- not paunch and a beard.

According to the New York Post's Page Six, matters were much worse than Gosling's newfound pounds and pudginess; apparently Gosling was fussy and difficult and rubbed the once-obsese New Zealand director the wrong way.

"Peter couldn't stand Ryan," said one source. Though Variety reported that Gosling had "stepped down" and was replaced by Mark Wahlberg, our source said, "Ryan cut his own hair, and was fighting with wardrobe. He was so demanding . . . Peter booted him two days before filming started."

So Variety said Gosling had "stepped down," but Page Six says he was shit-canned. Ah, method actors, they can be a squirrely, self-important bunch, no?

Deadline Hollywood says, don't believe the hype about any litigation claims about the fiasco.

"Ryan and Peter both believed that if he put on a little weight, and perhaps added a beard, that it would age him up. In the end, Ryan felt he couldn't make the age leap in a way he felt good about."

And they echoed the "Gosling is difficult" sentiments.

Jackson "had a very hard time" with Gosling and was "irked" by his behavior. "Jackson didn't want to work with him after spending time with him in Pittsburgh," the insider says, "And the thought was that Ryan went overboard with the weight gain."

But we heart Gosling, so we hope some of these claims have been exaggerated. Time will likely tell, either way, he is one of the most remarkable actors of the last five years.

Also interesting to note is Gosling mutli-culti indie-rock group Dead Man's Bones (who were curiously absent in the tenuous 2+2=5 "world beat is the new indie-rock black" NY Times music piece). According to the GQ cover story on Gosling on shelves now, his publicist is more concerned with how his band is portrayed (they're currently negotiating a record deal) than the actors' comments on his former paramour Rachel McAdams.