Jonny Greenwood And Paul Thomas Anderson Talk 'Blood' Music

It's not online yet, but EW's Holiday movie preview has some good stuff in it. They got an interview with both Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Paul Thomas Anderson talking about the score to PTA's upcoming film "There Will Be Blood."

Many have noted, including ourselves, that 'Blood' is a uncharacteristic left turn for PTA. There's no gregarious, Robert Altman-like scenes with overlapping dialogue, there's no vignettes style multiple characters intersecting (again like Altman) and there's no pop music or any references to pop culture whatsoever, 'Blood' is about a greedy oil baron in early 20th century California.

PTA first start adapting the novel on which the screenplay is based on - Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" - purely as a writing exercises to get out of a creative rut, but then he found he found he was testing his artistic limits and coming up with a new voice. In keeping with this ideas, PTA purposely put himself outside his comfort zone and instead of going to his regular troupe of players, like longtime composer Jon Brion, the director went to the unknown in Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (plus lots of other new and unfamiliar crew members).

"It's really thrilling just to hear different sounds coming out of a film you've made," PTA told EW. "I worked with a production designer and other people I've never worked with before . It's nerve racking and exciting and...you have to be more polite," he laughed.

Greenwood says he and Anderson talked about the score in advance and planning out the mood. "Sometimes Paul would describe it close to the horror genre," Greenwood said. "We talked about how 'The Shining' had lots of Penderecki in it. We figured the instruments should be contemporary to the turn of the last century, but not period music. Even though you know the sounds you're hearing are coming from very old technology, you can do things with the classical orchestra that unsettle you, that are slightly wrong."

PTA had a dream to make a Kubrickian film with no dialogue and just music and sound and with 'Blood's first silent 20 minutes (alternating between "silence and screeching strings"), he almost succeeded. "I got close with the first 20 minutes here," he said.

Spoutblog noticed that Bathysphere noted that PTA's had been thinking about Pendercki way back.

The Bathysphere point to this episode of Henry Rollins’ IFC show, in which the [PTA] says he listened to “a lot of crazy Polish pirate music” like Krzysztof Penderecki while writing ['Blood'] (Rollins does a wide-eyed double-take at this tidbit that’s pretty priceless). The Bathysphere points to this MP3 of Penderecki’s Threnody To The Victims Of Hiroshima, which was also used in Children of Men, and
which sounds *a lot* like the music that backed the twenty-minute reel of Blood shown at Telluride.

Radiohead fans will note that Greenwood is an avid fan of Penderecki, so it sounds like this A/V marriage was perfect from the get-go.

Adios We're Off To Mexico

We're off to Mexico for a long-overdue vacation. We've handed over The Playlist keys to some friends, so if you see any odd posts and or strange topics blame it on them; we'll be too busy drinking margaritas, scarfing down fish tacos and tanning poolside to care too much [ed. We're sure they'll do a fine job. Look for their "I'm Not There" live concert review on Thursday].

We have pre-planned out some posts for next week, so you'll see some of our/my specific handywork, but we'll note that they're kinda of random and won't be tied into a lot of current events. But friends will hopefully be keeping tabs on major events.

Anyhow, yeah, enjoy your week. Hasta luego. Thanks To Ed Fladung for his awesome photo. He has many good ones.

Beck's mariachi "Burro" Meets Spanish director Luis Bunuel

Soundtrack Wrap: The Honeydrippers, The Great Debaters, Black Lips, RZA; More

- Indie workhorse John Sayles' upcoming and 16th film "Honeydripper" will focus on '50s rural blues music from the deep south. Due in theaters December 28 the film stars Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Mary Steenburgen and Sean Patrick Thomas. Featured musicians include Keb' Mo', Dr. Mable John, Eddie Shaw and Jerry Portnoy among others. A soundtrack disc is coming, but no details have been finalized as of yet.

- The soundtrack to Denzel Washington's sophomore directorial effort, "The Great Debaters" is due from Atlantic records on December 11. As previously reported Sharon Jones of the Dap Kings (who also has a small part in the film) will be an integral part of the film's music. Performing pre-1935 blues, folk, jazz, and gospel, the soundtrack also features Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops tackling these classic-era songs that were handpicked by Washington himself. Plus David Berger's York-based big band the Sultan of Swing tackles Duke Ellington's "Delta Serenade."The film is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

- The Altanta-based psychedelic comedy outfit Black Lips have singed on to star in the film "Let It Be" (a Replacements reference and album title). The film takes place during the late eighties in the post-punk American underground rock scene and will feature music from the Lips (who will play a ficitonal band), plus notable music from that period.

- If only we had time to be 10 places at once. XXL has done a great job of trainspotting the samples on Jay-Z's American Gangster album. Sources that Hova and his crew used include, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, The Dramatics and the Larry Ellis & The Black Hammer's hot-fire, "Funky Thing (Pt. 1)." The Gangster leak (maybe still up?) is here and then you can a) and b) them. [XXL]

- "Growing up in New York and being chased by the [cops]. Getting the chance to play a detective — you know, all these cops [were on set] trying to give us the right dialogue, the police lingo," RZA told MTV. "I was like, 'Yo! Some years ago I wouldn't want to be around y'all.' " Meanwhile, the Wu-Tang rapper producer (who sports an anachornistic Wu tattoo in the 1970's set "American Gangster" (continuity!), will appear next in the drug vignettes film, "Life is Hot in Cracktown." As you mighta figured it's about lots of people on crack cocaine. "I play a guy named Sammy who’s a drug dealer that hires somebody to kill somebody for me,” the RZA said. [MTV]

We adore Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' amazing, contemplative and mournful score to "The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward John Ford" (the soundtrack came out digitally on Oct 28, and it's a pretty great movie too). We thought we'd include our fave track from the soundtrack - a song that acts as a repetative motif throughout the film.
Download: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - "Song For Jesse"

"The Great Debaters - Music From The Motion Picture"
(Atlantic)
Release Date: December 11, 2007
1. "My Soul Is A Witness" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart & Sharon Jones
2. "That's What My Baby Likes" - Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges
3. "I've Got Blood In My Eyes For You" - The Carolina Chocolate Drops & Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart
4. "Step It Up and Go" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart & Teenie Hodges
5. "It's Tight Like That" - Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges
6. "Busy Bootin'" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops
7. "City Of Refuge" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops
8. "Two Wings" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart, Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith
9. "Delta Serenade" - David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
10. "Rock n' Rye" - David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
11. "Wild About That Thing" - Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart, & Teenie Hodges
12. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops
13. "How Long Before I Change My Clothes" - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart
14. "We Shall Not Be Moved" - Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith
15. "Up Above My Head" - Sharon Jones w/Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith
16. "The Shout" - Art Tatum
17. "Scoodle Um Skoo" - Papa Charlie Jackson
18. "I Ain't Got Nowhere To Travel" - The Delmore Brothers
19. "Begrussung" - Marian Anderson

'Savages' Poster Is Just One More Hint That This Movie Will Be Great

Hello Daniel Clowes, hello Optic Nerve indie-comic crowd? Ok, so no, this film isn't animated in the least, but it's just further aesthetic taste proof that the upcoming fall film "The Savages" is going to rule (we've been excited for awhile now, see our fall preview).

Here's 5 good reasons other than this excellent poster.
1. It's the first film in nine years from Tamara Jenkins, the director of the very under-appreciated "The Slums of Beverly Hills."

2. It stars Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the leads playing brother and sister taking care of their ailing dad. These two playing off each other looks like dramedy gold.

3. Randall Poster, the music supervisor of all Wes Anderson's films and Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" and "Velvet Goldmine" is handling the music here (his "IMT" partner Jim Dubar is the music coordinator).

4. See above, the trailer feature Pinback's Rob Crowe and Spoon. Also, Stephen Trask is composing the score. He's done some nice scores for "Camp," "In Good Company," and "American Dreamz." His work on "The Station Agent," was particularly excellent (an severely underrated aughts film if there ever was one).

5. Umm, it's got a really cool and unique-looking poster. The trailer is funny as shit (and looks like it mixes the bittersweet melancholy in there too).
The film opens in limited release November 28 and then goes wide shortly after that.

Yet Another 'There Will Be Blood' Trailer; Call Off The Oscars?

Should we just all sound the Oscar award for Best Actor siren now? Damn if Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't look bone-chillingly scary in this film. This is the third version of the "There Will Be Blood" trailer so far, but man if people's appetite for this film is being barely served. And the critics that have seen it are going ape shit.

Variety: “an obsessive, almost microscopically observed study of an extreme sociopath who determinedly destroys his ties to other human beings.”
Icontention.com: “One of the most fascinating films ever crafted. It is operatic and sinister, all at once beautiful and magnetic in its depiction of a deplorable human being through and through.”
Anne Thompson: “Cinephiles will revel in this. As a writer-director, PTA will earn the respect of critics and peers. But a wide-audience spectacle this is not.”

We wouldn't have thought a film about a 19th century oil man would be exciting for the online audience, but it's a testament to Paul Thomas Anderson (it's nice to see his audience will follow him, well at least so far...).
Fans of Jonny Greenwood, the Radiohead guitarist who has composed the score will get to hear more of the music therein and it's decidely creepy yet understated.

Gilliam, Jarmusch, Fincher: Modern Auteurs Just Wanna Have Fun

A strike that is going to cripple Hollywood is upon us (or them actually), but that means better pickings and luck for independent guys and or modern auteurs if you want ascribe them those titles. [ed. does it mean better pickings, does it have anything to do with this lot at all?]

Directors we sometimes love Terry Gilliam (heart Brazil,"The Brothers Grimm" not so much) Jim Jarmusch ("Mystery Train," "Broken Flowers"), David Fincher ("Seven" good, "Zodiac" dullsville), have all recently found projects that someone will actually finance.

Sometimes we're skeptical. Especially for Gilliam, whose last two films were utter flops that came and went, not to mention pretty terrible (see "The Brothers Grimm," the other was "Tideland," Tidewho? Exactly). The documentary made before these two is "Lost In La Mancha," a film that basically watched Gilliam slowly lose control and funding for his attempt at making Don Quioxte. The fact that anyone will still give him two pennies to rub together is a bit of a surprise, but maybe he can finally pull out a good one out of his hat. But it's been nine years since he put out a decent film ("Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas"). Which finally brings us to his new project, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." We reported this one back in June, but apparently it's fully green-lit and ready to go. The principal cast of Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger and Tom Waits is the same and additions include Andrew Garfield and umm...Verne Troyer.

According to Variety the story is a "modern-day fantasy adventure" starring the wacky Dr. Parnassus (Plummer), who has the power to guide the imagination. Parnassus offers audience members the chance to "transcend reality by passing through a magical mirror." Yikes, kind of sounds like the same old recycled thing from Gilliam. We're not very optimistic about this one getting his career back on track.

Fright-night haired indie auteur Jim Jarmusch hasn't really made a bad move yet (aside from "Coffee & Cigarettes" which wasn't terrible and was more a pet-project fun series of vignettes than a whole-hearted movie). According to the Hollywood Reporter, up next for him is "The Limits of Control" which focuses on a mysterious outlaw finishing a job in Spain played by Jarmusch's frequent star, Isaach De Bankole (the French guy opposite Forrest Whitaker in the very excellent "Ghost Dog"). More international stars are said to sign on soon as Jarmusch tends to get a lot of overseas financing. No American bankable stars, but who cares, he doesn't need them (see the multi-culti "A Night On Earth")

David Fincher, he of the dark and twisted cinematic mien, is also looking towards similar subjects. He's working on an adaptation of the graphic novel "The Killer," about a "top assassin suddenly plagued by his conscience and a highly competent cop hot on his tail, also according to Variety. If it's as laborious and as over-meticulous as "Zodiac" we're all in trouble (that film was like an unpleasant term paper that you actually had to study for and it hurt your brain a little bit). Speaking of "Zodiac," Fincher is putting out his extended director's cut, because, you know, two hours and forty five minutes just wasn't enough time to tell the original (Fucking STUDIO!). We're on the fence about "The Killer," but we'll see something before that. Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" starring Brad Pitt as an old man who physically ages backwards is due in the fall of 2008. Pitt's character fall in love with a 30-year-old woman (Cate Blanchett) and then must come to terms with the relationship as they literally grow in opposite directions. The film has been wrapped for some time now and the special effects for Pitt to convincingly age backwards are being worked on as we speak.

Three directors, three upcoming films. Try and contain your excitement.

'I'm Not There': 3 Extra Bonus Tracks On Itunes Edition; 2 More on Rhapsody

Lo and behold, more Dylan. Shocking, right? Looks like the ITunes version of I'm Not There: Original Soundtrack has three extra songs on it. You have to purchase the entire album to buy them, so we're not spending the dough (sorry, ad free at the moment), but you obviously can hear snippets on Itunes.

The additional tracks are Calexico's version of the instrumental "Main Title Theme (Billy)" from Dylan's soundtrack to "Pat Garett & Billy The Kid," the version of which can be heard in the movie, and which is actually a different song from the track Los Lobos covered (simply titled "Billy," their's is a mexi-melt version of the song with lyrics). One of the principal soundtrack producers Joe Henry does a beautiful version of "One Too Many Mornings" (from The Times They Are A-Changin' )and it's nice to see him represented with his own Dylan cover. Lastly we have yet another Stephen Malkmus and Lee Ranaldo rendition of one more "Eat The Document" outtake, "What Kind Of Friend Is This?" Thanks to the reader for the tip. Feel free to send us the tracks (burn them to CD to lose the DRM and then rip).

Update: an eagle-eyed reader hipped us to the fact there were extra tracks on the Rhapsody edition as well. They include another Calexico track, "Bunkhouse Theme" that is featured in the film, but not on the 2-disc set and is yet another 'Billy The Kid' cover. The other bonus track is a Dylan track (pretty sure this is an old blues cover); the Slow Train Comin' era (1979) B-Side "Trouble In Mind" which is also featured in the film.

"What Kind Of Friend Is This?" From "Eat The Document"

Dewey Cox Covers Bowie: Walk Hard Soundtrack Final Writing & Production Details

We've already revealed the date, the 15 song tracklist and plenty of the songwriting details for "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" (soundtrack comes out December 4 if you missed it the first time), but we figured we'd lay it all out in full in case you're wondering.

As we previously reported the principal songwriters includes, Dan Bern and Candy Butchers frontman Mike Viola, renowned Beach Boys Smile-era lyricist, producer/musician Van Dyke Parks, Marshall Crenshaw, Antonio Ortiz, and L.A. folk-rocker Charlie Wadhams. Producer Judd Apatow and director Jake Kasdan get songwriting credits for their ideas as well (like we said, most details at the aforementioned story).

Make note: the crew of John C.Reilly, Mike Andrews and company cover David Bowie's "Starman" and L.A. indie folkpop singer Angela Correa fills in the voice for "The Office" star Jenna Fischer on the track "Let's Duet" (that's featured in the trailer: in my dreams you're blowing me... some kisses")

The Box of Cox Comes (Sorta) Via Itunes
According to Billboard, an expanded edition of the album with 15 additional tracks will be available on ITunes, but they didn't say when those tracks would be up for sale. At a Film and TV conference they were at Apatow said he wrote some lyrics with Ghostface Killah, who as mentioned, appears on an all-star tribute to Dewey Cox in the film. Writing the raps together was apparently, "as uncomfortable a moment as you could imagine for me. But he was very cool and was not at all offended when I asked if we could get the word 'shiv' in there."

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
All tracks performed by John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox
(except “Let’s Duet” performed by John C. Reilly and Angela Correa)
All Tracks Produced by Michael Andrews

01. “Walk Hard" - Written by Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan
02. “Take My Hand” - Written by Antonio Ortiz, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan
03. “(Mama) You Got To Love Your Negro Man”- Written by Michael Andrews, John C. Reilly, Robert Walter, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan
04. “A Life Without You (Is No Life At All)” - Written by Mike Viola
05. “Let's Duet” - Written by Charlie Wadhams and Benji Hughes
06. “Darling” - Written by Mike Viola and John C. Reilly
07. “(I Hate You) Big Daddy” - Written by Mike Viola
08. “Guilty As Charged” - Written by Charlie Wadhams and Gus Seyffert
09. “Dear Mr. President”- Written by Dan Bern and Mike Viola
10. “Let Me Hold You (Little Man)” - Written by Dan Bern, Mike Viola and Manish Raval
11. “Royal Jelly” - Written by Dan Bern
12. “Black Sheep” - Written by Michael Andrews and Van Dyke Parks
13. “Starman” - Written by David Bowie
14. “Beautiful Ride” - Written by Dan Bern and Mike Viola
15. “(Have You Heard The News) Dewey Cox Died” - Written by Dan Bern

Update: Entertainment Weekly has a audio sneak peek of the title track "Walk Hard.

Say What?: Backstreet Boy Nick Carter Skates Around Being Molested By Lou Pearlman?

Did Lou Pearlman molest Backstreet Boy Nick Carter (remember the Vanity Fair article?)? Creepy. Talking to MTV Nick Carter seemed to skate around the subject (curiously enough there's no byline on this piece):

According to a onetime singer and co-manager, Phoenix Stone, that guy was Nick Carter in the Backstreet Boys. Stone claims in the Vanity Fair story that Pearlman was "inappropriate" with Carter, leading to a "big blowup." Nick's mother, Jane Carter, is even quoted in the article, saying, "Certain things happened" and calling the financial scandal "the least of [Pearlman's] injustices.

"There's a lot of people who maybe were involved in our stuff in the past who want to take an opportunity maybe because they are a little bitter, you know, maybe because of where they are right now. And they tend to, like, throw us under the bus, you know what I mean? Because of where we are right now. I mean, I'm not naming anybody but ... any attack on any one of us in this group is an attack on the whole entire group." - Nick Carter twist and turns with a perfect non-answer.

Heard 'Em Say: Christian Bale, Joaquin Phoenix, The Who's Roger Daltrey and Dean of Ween

"I saw that it was completely chaotic and confusing, I didn't bother reading it, I read little bits and said, 'yeah sure'." Play an icon like Bob Dylan? Suuure, why not. Christian Bale says he didn't bother reading Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" script in full when he signed on for the role. Now the press loves to make a mountain of this, but don't forget he's worked with the director before and likely has implicit faith in his work. The characteristically thorough Bale had someone teach him how to play guitar and sing for the role as well. [UK Press Association]

"Had I known I was supposed to be a puppy dog, I would have been much more cute and more consistently attentive. My apologies, Eva, but I had a few other scenes that you weren't in. This puppy dog had a lot of work to do." Joaquin Phoenix hits back at "We Own The Night" co-star Eva Mendes who said working with the notoriously difficult actor was like "working with a puppy dog or a 2-year-old."[PR Inside]

"Oh, [you mean], Wacko Phoenix!” - Mendes wasn't the only one to have problems with Phoenix. 'Night' co-star Robert Duvall also had sarcastic words for the fastidious actor. [Inquirer.Net]

"Wacko? It takes one to know one (laughter). This is the guy who talks to me about steak, lobster and tango before we do a serious scene. Then, he just hits it! There’s nothing of that serious actor-getting-into-it bullsh-t!" - Phoenix ends up giving a compliment to Duvall on his ability to fuck around on set and then turn around and nail a scene in a heartbeat. The sad part of all these controversies? None of it is compelling enough to make us want to go out and see "We Own The Night."

"Once, he got into a vicious fight with his wife and was so filled with remorse that he throws himself down this huge flight of stairs…breaking his collarbone the day before we were supposed to play on Top of the Pops." - The Who's Roger Daltrey has all these great Keith Moon stories, but still no word on the Keith Moon biopic. Maybe not a bad thing though, the choice of Mike Meyers to play the wildman drummer was dreadful. [TONY]

"Whenever I see someone with an iPod - with those little fucking ear buds stuck in their head — I want to take it and smash it or steal it. I hate everything about it, especially since it says 'Designed In California' on the back. It's fucking gay. It sounds like shit."- Suffice to say Mickey Melchiondo, aka "Dean Ween" of Ween won't be applying for a job at Apple anytime soon. Ween's new album is called La Cucaracha and if you've downloaded it illegally they fucking hate you. Oh and if you're retarded enough to try and go to New Hope, New Jersey on a Ween pilgrimage, you might just get a shotgun stuck in your face. [AV/Club]

Sigur Rós Makes Long-Ass-Form Video Disguised As Icelandic Tourist Promo

Come visit our land, our terrain is beautiful like the moon, we have magical fairy elves and angelic music. It's yooooooooooooooooooooooo! Here's a clip of Sigur Rós' concert film "Heima" which features the transcendental mediation yoga song, "Gitardjamm."

Happy Trick Or Treating - The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown we can hang with.

Halloween Is For Goths, Metal Heads, Nerds, Trannys & The Gays (J/K!)

As you can probably tell, we're not huge fans of Halloween or horror movies (classic ones sure, but we mostly just have disdain for the majority of the insipid dreck, sorry). Nor do we have the time or inclination to make Halloween flavored features. But it is the ghoul's holiday (happy birthday Rob Zombie!) so we figured we'd point to other (the AV/Club mostly) who have some fun Halloween-seasoned features.

23 Ridiculous Horror-Movie Adversaries. Then nerdlingers at the Onion's entertainment site go through the various and plentiful awful and preposterous adversaries that have been pitted against retarded, naked teenagers in shitty C-grade horror films since the beginning of shitty C-grade horror films came into existence. [AV/ Club]

14 Songs About Vampires. The aforementioned lovable dorks take a look at 14 songs about bastardly bloodsuckers. No, they're not about record labels. [AV/Club]

24 Hours Of Horror With...The Onion's reporters ask one of the biggest tools in Hollywood, let alone the horror industry, backward baseball cap-wearing date-rate olympian Eli Roth to pick the films that would make up his 24 hour horror film marathon. He does pick the original "The Vanishing," "Suspiria" and "Eraserhead," so maybe he's not completely worthless. [AV/Club]

Year-By-Year With Friday The 13th. This is becoming near-frightening. One of their writers either re-watched all the Friday The 13th movies and breaks them down or already knew everything about them by heart. We're not sure which one is more terrifying. [AV/Club]

My Year Of Flops Case File #80 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For no other reason other than it is tied to Halloween (cause it's certainly not good in any sense of the word), the Onion kids look back on the flop that was "Mary Shelley's Frankenstien" basically for the same reason a dog licks its balls. [AV/Club]

How Do You Survive A Zombie Attack? MTV asks Sam Raimi, Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantio, Roger Avary, Bruce Campbell and other adults that make scary movies for a living how to fend off creatures that don't actually exist. [MTV]

Roman Polanski's amazing absurdist psycho-drama "The Tenant" set to Sisters of Mercy

Score Goes Up, Score Goes Down: Jonny Greenwood's "Blood' Score Gets Yanked

Yesterday, for a few hours in the late evening, Jonny Greenwood's orchestral score for Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," was up on the aforementioned "For Your Consideration
Paramount Vantage site that gives previews of film elements for Oscar voters (in this case, 'Blood's score; previously you remember this same site was giving away the 'TWWB' script for free).

Well PV is starting to wise up, not only did they yank the 'Blood' script, only after hours after posting Greenwood's score the music samples were quickly taken down (but not after more than a few bloggers were enthusiastically pointing to its availability). We guess we'll all just have to wait until December 18. However, wo tracks from Greenwood's score ("Henry Plainview" and "Proven lands") are excerpts taken from his Popcorn Superhet Receiver composition and you can here the 15-minute plus piece in its entirety here (or at least you could last time we checked).

Buck 65 Gets On The Americana Highway For "Big Rig" Score

Canadian MC and turntablist, Buck 65 has written the score to the upcoming American truck driver documentary "Big Rig" (maybe it's a NAFTA agreement thing).

Outside of a few classic '70s truck driver classics (the Grateful Dead's "Truckin'"? Gotta have some Bob Seger too, right?) the music for the entire film was written and performed by Buck 65.

According to a press release about the film, Buck's "country-roots music, spoken lyrics, and solid beats... drive the editorial narrative."

Two characteristically bluesy, pedal-steel laden hip-hop tracks from the soundtrack, "Steel Truck," and "Rough House Blues" can be heard on the "Big Rig" website.

Filmaker Doug Pray directed the turntable documentary "Scratch" in 2001, of which Buck was a big fan of.

Pray serendipitously called Buck out of the blue and he instantly was enthused about the project. "I told him, 'you’re making the right choice.' This was a job I really wanted. Classic truck drivin’ music of the ’70’s has always been an influence on my music. In fact, when I set down to work on Wicked & Weird years ago, I remember saying to the fellas in the studio, 'I want to make a truck drivin’ song….' When I was young, I couldn’t distinguish between songs like ‘Convoy’ and a song like ‘Rapper’s Delight’."

The Canuck indie rapper told Chart attack, "It's very different work. It's very hard work, very different from making a record. Not just making a couple songs for the soundtrack, I'm talking about the score. Hopefully we'll see this thing on the festival circuit next year." The film just scored a distribution deal so there is no release date for the film as yet. Presumably when that's set, the soundtrack will also have it's day.

Watch: Grateful Dead - "Truckin'"

'American Gangster': Another Perfectly Soulless Ridley Scott Movie

Where does one start with Ridley Scott? The guy is a master technician, his films are immaculately executed and shot, but what was the last film of his that you really cared about? "Blade Runner"? "Alien"? Sure "Blackhawk Down" and "Gladiator" are arguably strong movies, but do either really resonate with you deeply?

Perhaps this is a subjective argument, the problem with "American Gangster" more than anything is that it's less a story than it is a "movie" (and make sure the quotations are in place). In expertly acted, directed, shot, edited, executed, scored; it's airtight - but it's also overcooked, often tediously long (it's a 2 half hour movie that felt like 3 hours +) and a little soulless. It would be nice to see Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe try on meeker characters for once that aren't just lions barking at the top of their kingdoms. Sure their performances simmer before the storm too - this is what these guys do, And yes, this is what you pay to see them do, but it can't help but feel like serious, furrow-browed, steely performances that you've seen all too often from these guys.

Based on a true story (do people really care either way?) Denzel plays Frank Lucas, one of the most notorious gangster drug dealers in Harlem in the 1970s who went straight to the source to score his heroin during the Vietnam war. Crowe plays detective Richie Roberts a righteous man with little wiggle room. But ah, the contradictions! Denzel is the family man with the heart of gold who's actually a ruthless badass drug dealer and Crowe is the morally high-road cop who won't take money; but when it comes to the ladies, well, he give his principles some leeway (wow, both people come in two opposing flavors! Imagine that.) Pardon our skepticism, but two-notes are supposed to feel that much more fleshed out than one?

'Gangster' is grave, epic and at times brutal (the harrowing drug depiction is especially wretched, but not necessarily unlike other junky scenes you've witnessed), but you don't ever feel any real emotional investment in any part of the story. You're entertained sure, you're told a big story and you get greed, ruthlessness, love, betrayal, redemption, etc., the stock traits of any good gangster movie, but there's little to really sink your teeth into. Ridley Scott might be a master, but he's also the master of anonymity. Any other classic 3-4 top dogs (Ron Howard comes to mind) could have directed this film and it likely wouldn't have been much different. "American Gangster" isn't a bad movie in the least, it's extremely well crafted, but there's also nothing especially memorable and resonating in it either aside from a few scenes (keep in mind Washington and Crowe have very little screen time together).

The rappers are fine. Every time you see T.I. or Common next to Denzel it's kind of like watching a cat play with his mouse that's in an inquisitive mood rather than being hungry. RZA fares a bit better and seems a bit more assured, but all of their roles are small and almost negligible. Will Crowe, Denzel and maybe Scott guys grab nominations? Probably, but again, we've seen it all before in varying degrees.

Washington really told EW that signing on for the role of "American Gangster" was a "smart business" move and he's right, but where's the art? Or at the end of the day is at all about the Benjamin's and the slam dunk award nominations? Ridley Scott makes great movies, we're just not sure he makes great films. [-B]

Kurt Cobain: About A Son - Very Ape And Very Nice

Ok, that's not much of a headline, but we didn't want to write "Review: Kurt Cobain talking documentary." We saw this thing on opening night a few weeks back, but so many movies, so little time (boo hoo, we know).

As you've probably read (and can glean from above) about AJ Schnack's "Kurt Cobain: About A Son," Cobain isn't actually in the film, or rather he is, but only his spectral voice. The documentary was based on some 25 hours of interviews that rock writer Michael Azzerad ("Our Band Could Be Your Life") conducted with Cobain for the Nirvana book "Come As You Are."

As has been noted multiple times, the filmmakers don't call it a "documentary," rather, the film's website calls it a "profound and almost dream-like account of Cobain's own successes and failure," which isn't that far off the mark superlatives not withstanding.

We honestly thought this thing was going to be laborious, but once you got settled in and accustomed to what what's being presented - an interview laid overtop scenic and idyllic Pacific Northwest footage and the dreamy rhythm and pace - it turned out to be pretty engaging and thoughtful piece on this unlikely superstar's psyche at the time (there's a nice, slightly-melancholy rainy Sunday afternoon quality to it too).

Fans familiar with Nirvana and Kurt will have heard these touchstone, formative stories many times before (people thought he was gay in highschool and he became proud of that outsider status, he sleept under a bridge, meeting his mentor/friend Melvins leader Buzz Osbourne was a pivotal moment, etc. etc.), but we were struck afterwards how some people really had no clue who he was ("I thought he would be some mumbling junkie," some clueless asshole said afterwards). The culture of complaint was alive and well back in the early '90s and without calling him a whiner, there was a definitely a strong thread of nagging cultural dissatisfaction (the buzzword for it back then was disenfranchisement) throughout.

The stories and material are rehashed, but the way it's heard and presented is what makes the film surprisingly compelling. What you learn afterwards is throughout the film whenever some locale, building or setting is being shown, it actually directly has context to the things Cobain is talking about. Essentially, you get a visual tour of Kurt's childhood through to his adult life and all the relevant homes, places, schools and haunts he spent time in (throughout places like Tacoma, Aberdeen, Portland, Olympia, Seattle, etc.).

Gorgeously shot to contemplative, almost Malick-like photography, Steve Fisk and Ben Gibbard's plaintive, electronic-y score - almost low-key Postal Service sounding at times - was pretty well suited to the slow-moving material. There's no Nirvana music in it and at the post-screening Q&A the director said this was a conscious decision (though one he came to not without trying to fit a song in there somewhere).

The songs in the film outside of the score are essentially "Kurt's mixtape," - music that he grew up with and would mention various times in his interviews with Azzerad including tracks by Scratch Acid, the Vaselines, Bad Brains, Half Japanese and more well-known tracks by Bowie, R.E.M. and Iggy Pop. The soundtrack disc features many of these tracks, but the film also showcases songs by Boston, Queen ("It's Late"), Young Marble Giants ("Credit in the Straight World") , Big Black ("Kerosene"), The Breeders ("Iris"), Teenage Fanclub ("Star Sign").

Illutstrating life moving on and other bands arriving on the scene, there's also footage of Band of Horses playing "The Funeral."

Those looking for Courtney Love is this experience (that sums it up more than a 'film' per se) will be disappointed. You hear her referenced maybe once or twice maximum and very briefly you hear her urging Kurt to bring baby formula upstairs as he talks to Azzerad in what turns out to be his kitchen (Azzerad called these interviews an "intimate and intense" experience and said Kurt's death really knocked him out emotionally for years; he had filed the interviews away long ago and only pulled them out years later at Schnack's behest).

"We had a lot in common," Michael said afterwards with a wistful expression, clearly each time he'd seen the film taking an emotional toll. "Looking at the film, I think about how I was able to overcome those problems with this equipment," pointing to his body, "while he just wasn't."

Part of the motivation to make the film Azzerad said was the desire to "clear the air," separate the myth from fact and set the record straight. "The funny, lucid, thoughtful Kurt you hear in this movie -- that was the real Kurt for 26 of his years. People need to know that."

Trailer: "Kurt Cobain: About A Son"
AJ Schnack and Michael Azzerad At the IFC New York Premiere

Quote Of the Day: David Cronenberg - Hollywood Still Hates Paul Haggis

"I've told [him] that he was an asshole basically for doing that. And so have many other people. It's very disrespectful, not only to me, but to J.G. Ballard, who wrote the book . . . I made my movie . . . in a very respectful way. Haggis just co- opted the title, and he knew what he was doing." —David Cronenberg was more than a little unhappy that hack Paul Haggis nicked the title "Crash" for his hamfisted film about race and the "intersections of life." [New York Press/Vulture]

Clip: Richie Havens' "Tombstone Blues" Dylan Cover From 'I'm Not There'

This is the scene in "I'm Not There" we told you about that Marcus Carl Franklin - the dustbowl Woody Guthrie "fake" - sings along with (so he actually sings twice in the film). Richie Havens' rendition of "Tombstone Blues" is pretty rollicking. This clip is taken straight from the film as is.

"I'm Not There" - The Rediscovered Gem
The Variety webblog has a pretty cool piece on finding Bob Dylan's original master to "I'm Not There," that's slightly deeper than "found at Neil Young's ranch." Apparently the version they found is kinda different to the popular bootleg floating around and features The Band backing him up (though the versions we have, the differences are very subtle). As many have noted, the song is more of a freeform sketch in progress than a fully-realized song, but that gives it its own unique qualities. "The lyric is open ended. It's hard to tell if (the words) make any sense," Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo said. Randall Poster said his partner on the soundtrack, Jim Dunbar, "had to be [detective-like], trying to make all these connections. What helped us get it quick was having the support of the Dylan camp."

'Walk Hard' Soundtrack Hits December 4; No Box of Cox?

Yee haw! It's not Cox if he says it doesn't taste like Cox. The soundtrack to "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story " is coming out December 4.

According to music supervisor and composer Mike Andrews ("Donnie Darko," "Me & You & Everyone We Know,") - who we spoke to a few weeks back - John C.Reilly sings on all the songs on the album and the full list of songwriters who contributed songs include Dan Bern and Candy Butchers frontman Mike Viola, renowned Beach Boys Smile-era lyricist, producer/musician Van Dyke Parks, Marshall Crenshaw, Antonio Ortiz, and L.A. folk-rocker Charlie Wadhams

"The funniest thing to me is that the music in the movie is really good," said Judd Apatow. "Sure, all the songs are slightly off, slightly wrong, but it’s all great-sounding music. I think that’s part of what makes the movie fun – you can get into it, even though it’s ridiculous."

Having already worked with Apatow and 'Walk Hard' director Jake Kasdan on "Freaks & Geeks" and "Undeclared" (not to mention Kasdan's "The TV Set" and "Orange County") Mike Andrews was the first person the filmmakers and writers enlisted."We knew he would be composing the score and supervising all of the songwriting with us as well as writing songs himself. We cast a wide net and a lot of cool people sent in versions right away," Apatow said.

Viola and Bern wrote the brunt of the film's songs. Viola contributed "Big Daddy," "A Life Without You is Like No Life At All," and "Darling" (the last co-written with John C. Reilly), while Bern wrote "There’s A Change A’ Happenin’," "Hole in My Pants," "Farmer Glickstein," "Hey Mr. Old Guy," and "Royal Jelly." The duo shared songwriting duties on "Dear Mr. President" and the movie’s finale, "Beautiful Ride."

Marshall Crenshaw wrote the title track "Walk Hard" ( performed in the film during a lifetime achievement award for Dewey Cox that is sung by Lyle Lovett, Ghostface, Jewel, Ghostface Killah and Jackson Browne). The track "Black Sheep" was written by Andrews and Parks, Wadhams contributed "Let’s Duet" (co-written with Benji Hughes) and "Guilty As Charged" (with Gus Seyffert), and Antonio Ortiz penned Dewey’s first performance song, "Take My Hand." And lastly, Reilly, co-wrote the affectionately titled, "Mama, You Gots to Love Your Negro Man" with Michael Andrews.

But wait, over 40 songs were written according to Andrews and a double disc Box Of Cox was originally planned, what's up with that? No word on that one yet, but we're assuming the simple version hits stores first and then the extravaganza disc comes out a little later for the die-hards (and probably depending on how well the movie and original disc does we bet). As Apatow noted not even all the songs they wrote will make the movie.

"By the end, it was like a little mini Brill Building," Jake Kasdan said. "We were all in the studio together for several months, recording about 40 songs.

John C. Reilly worked and recorded with the songwriters and Andrews on the songs 6-months prior to shooting which made him all the more prepared for the role. He said there were, "so many great tunes coming out of this friendly, creative competition. Michael Andrews was a great leader in the studio. And whenever we recorded a new song, Jake was there to guide it. When it came time to actually film the movie, we were off to the races."

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story tracklist
1. Walk Hard
2. Take My Hand
3. (Mama) You Got To Love Your Negro Man
4. Life Without You, A (Is No Life At All)
5. Let's Duet
6. Darling
7. (I Hate You) Big Daddy
8. Guilty As Charged
9. Dear Mr. President
10. Let Me Hold You (Little Man)
11. Royal Jelly
12. Black Sheep
13. Starman
14. Beautiful Ride
15. (Have You Heard The News) Dewey Cox Died

Those Who Can No Longer Rock, Act: Alanis Morrissette, Lenny Kravitz; Plus U2 Film; More

Alanis Morissette has joined the cast of the semi autobiographical Phillip K. Dick adaptation "Radio Free Albemuth."

The Canadian new-agey rocker will play Sylvia, a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive (Jonathan Scarfe) as a, wait for it... glamorous singer.

Directed by first-timer John Alan Simon, the film will also star Shea Whigham ("Wristcutters: A Love Story"), Katheryn Winnick ("Failure to Launch") and Hanna Hall (2007's "Halloween"). [Hollywood Reporter]

Meanwhile, having not released a relevant album in over a decade, Lenny Kravitz will make his bigscreen debut alongside Mo'nique, Paula Patton and newcomer Gabourey "Gabbie" Sidibe in the indie film, "Push."

The story follows an overweight, illiterate African-American teen in Harlem about to give birth to her second child as she receives the news that she's been accepted into an alternative school. Kravitz will play a male nurse who shows kindness to the young girl. Hopefully it will be as as good as the Absolut Vodka-inspired track that "reflected his personal vision" of the product, "Breathe." [Variety]

- The long-awaited "U2 3D" has been picked up by, of all people, National Geographic Cinema Ventures. However your hopes of seeing Bono's megalomanical ego in largescreen 3D have been dashed; the film is only coming on on DVD here in late January. [Variety]

Want to fly like an eagle in December? You can. The Steve Miller Band (woo! woo!) will be releasing the live DVD, "Steve Miller Band: Live in Chicago," on December 4. UK fans will have to wait until February. [AntiMusic]

50 Cent, Pacino & Deniro: One Of These Things Doesn't Belong; 50 & DeNiro Shoot Guns Together; More

So 50 Cent is appearing in the new DeNiro / Pacino film "Righteous Kill," right?

Apparently 50 and DeNiro are such good buddies they go and blast glocks together.

"It was definitely cool just being around them, away from actually performing on camera," 50 gushed to MTV. "De Niro, I've been to his house, met his wife. We've been to the firing range a couple times together."

Fiddy even learned a thing or two about vanity, image awareness and not constantly preening in front of a mirror from Al Pacino.

"For me, I just wanted to make sure that I was 100 percent comfortable with the actual scene — I'd look at myself," 50 said of his acting process. "[But] he won't look at himself after he does the scenes, Al Pacino won't. He's like, 'I know how I look.' "

"We met on one of those big-ass stages at Paramount. We had to do a scene where there's a piece of cyclone wire fencing between us. I had to be really rabid and weird, and on the first take, I'm working myself up and a bit of spit comes out of my mouth and it weaves itself neatly through the fencing and lands right on Denzel's lip. A glob of white fucking spit just sitting right there. And I'm going, Oh man, that's fucked." - Russell Crowe recalls the first time he met "American Gangster" c0-star Denzel Washington. [Entertainment Weekly]

"People are coming in, LeBron James was dancing. I had to look at Jermaine and say, ''Man, are you comfortable? Can you create like this?'' But he was like, ''Nah, nah! I'm cool, I'm cool!'' - Jay-Z kept the American Gangster studio experience civilized and mannered with pop, chips and moderate disco lighting. [EW]

DVD firm Lovefilm has named "Walk The Line" the Johnny Cash biopic, the best of its music film kind, in a very unscientific poll of "2000 Moviefans." [IrelandOnline]

"D. Boon is probably the artist who inspired me the most to get into doing music for movies. We met with him when I did my first movie, "A Matter Of Degrees.' " - Wes Anderson right-hand music supervisor Randall Poster hearts the Minutemen, the Pretenders and Mark Lanegan. [A/V Club]

"It's one of the greatest songs ever written. The chorus is my ringtone." - Jason Schwartzman has Barry Manilow's "Mandy" as his phone's ringtone. He also loves Randy Newman, Chet Baker and Ram-era Paul McCartney. [A/V Club]

The soundtrack to Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie" comes out tomorrow (Oct 30) and it features Sheryl Crow descreating George Harrison's Beatles classic, "Here Comes The Sun."

Rumor Alert: Heroes Star To Play Plasmatics Singer Wendy O. Williams?

File this with great skepticism under dubious, "we'll believe it when we see it" rumors.

Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere is set to star in an upcoming 2009 biopic of punk rock singer Wendy O. Williams, the infamous frontwoman for the band Plasmatics. The film will follow the shock-rocker's life through her troubled upbringing and early New York punk rock scene, ending with her tragic death. Producers chose the 18 year-old Heroes star as the lead role to "shock" moviegoers - to live up to Williams name. Film producer Jason Weinberg says, "[Williams] was all about rebellion and shocking people. Why not the Williams legacy shock the world again with Hayden?" Filming is set to begin in early March 2008 with a late 2009 release date. Williams, dubbed the "Queen of Shock Rock", was considered the most controversial and radical woman singer of her time. She committed suicide in 1998 at the age of 49.

God, what biopic won't they do these days? Stop the bleeding, please. Can you imagine Panettiere doing shit like this?