Mexico Day 8 - Santana At Woodstock

What's with this whole Mexican themed week? The Playlist is currently in Mexico on vacation. These posts were all written in advance; basically one Mexican-themed video a day that has something to do with South of the Border music or movies. Friends have taken over the rest of the site (hopefully). Ok, so Santana is batshit crazy these days and cheesy as hell, but Santana at Woodstock performing "Soul Sacrifice" has always been amazing (if you've never seen it, you must).

Mexico Day 7 - Robert Rodriguez Sings The Theme To Desperado With Mexicans Who Wrote It

Not only an accomplished director, Robert Rodriguez is musician and singer (he's scored lots of his films). Here he is on stage with Del Castillo, the guys who wrote the theme to "Desperado" (and they appeared as the vampiric bar band in "From Dusk Til Dawn").

Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek make amour in "Desperado."

Brad Laner of Medicine to Score "Beautiful Noise"

More news on that Eric Green shoegaze documentary "Beautiful Noise" - apparently it's being scored by Brad Laner, formerly of Medicine. If you're scratching your head and saying, "Medicine?" then let's have a short history lesson.

Medicine were, essentially, L.A.'s response to the British shoegaze movement. In fact, because of their city of origin, some people don't even consider them to be a shoegaze band. Naturally, Medicine formed right around the time My Bloody Valentine were releasing Loveless and by 1992 Rick Rubin picked them up for a U.S. release (In that same year producing albums by Danzig and Sir Mix-A-Lot. Yes really.) on his Def American label. Medicine was the brainchild of Laner and really his band with a cast of rotating members.

We're considering Laner a bit of an odd choice to score the movie because, as Green tells Pitchfork, "The bulk of the movie is in the late 80s-early 90s, which is a pretty interesting time period, because a lot of these [British] groups were picked up by major labels in the U.S. Around 1990, people thought that this was going to be the next big thing. And then there was a huge backlash, and [shoegaze] was turned over for, let's say, more press-friendly genres."

Essentially Medicine came out just in time for the backlash.

Here's a completely fictional account of what we suspect happened: Kevin Shields turned the offer to score down first, because Green isn't Sofia Coppola and MBV were busy reuniting. Then Mark Garnder's residual 90s crankiness prohibited him returning Green's call after the initial interview for the film. Green couldn't find Simon Raymonde's number because his file-o-fax got lost in the CA wildfires so he just went to Laner since he was based in L.A. already and had recently started working in film and TV scoring as well as releasing a solo album.

Download: Brad Laner - "Out Cold"

Download: Medicine - "One More"

Mexico Day 5 - Love's "Alone Again Or"

We're off in Mexico. In lieu, we're having friends post our Mexican-themed music and cinema posts.

Love "Alone Again Or"

Calexico "Alone Again Or" (live)

Johnny Depp Skips Formal Vocal Training For 'Sweeney Todd'

As we're certain you'll recall, The Playlist had earlier reported on Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" remake as the big to-do this holiday season. You might also recall the posting of said movie's trailer, in which leading man Johnny Depp actually breaks out into song. Yes folks, as Depp relaid in an interview with EW.com that is him you'll hear singing in the movie.

Depp goes on to reveal that he taught himself to sing the melodies from the musical Sweeney Todd by blasting the soundtrack in his car during his commute to and from the set of "Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", but never ended up actually going to a vocal coach for training. Depp says, " I just didn't see the character developing with me doing scales in front of a piano, with a vocal teacher going, ''No, no — bring it up from the bollocks.' That kind of thing would have been a disaster."

Call us crazy but we can't help thinking this is kind of an American Idol-esque way to go about learning to sing for a grizzly movie musical. To top it off, during the course of the interview Depp alludes to meeting with Stephen Sondheim, the legendary Broadway lyricist and songwriter who penned the music for Sweeney Todd. It rather smacks of Elton John teaching the American Idol kids to sing "Crocodile Rock".

Depp elaborates that he went from car sing-a-longs to recording demos of himself in L.A. with long-time friend and former bandmate (in a group called The Kids) Bruce Witkin. He tells EW that he took these demos home to play for actor/singer/life partner Vanessa Paradis who apparently responded, "Is that you?"

We are certainly very intrigued by the idea of having Christmas dinner and then going to watch a blood bath with singing. It was going to happen with the family anyway, perhaps minus the singing.

We've located the second "Sweeney Todd" trailer for your viewing pleasure, this one minus any song-filled moments but plus one awesomely bloody moment.
[Ed. We personally think this movie looks like ass, but we're still glad and grateful that Astrud wrote about it]

Watch: "Sweeney Todd" second trailer

Mi Gusto Mucho: Nacho Libre Soundtrack - Mind The Controversia

For whatever reason, Beck's inclusion on the "Nacho Libre" soundtrack passed us by when this 2006 soundtrack came out (this was pre-Playlist blog, but we still tended to notice these things). In fact, not a lot of people seemed to make mention of it either from our recollection. Scanning around now, it seems it passed many people by? You won't find a regular review on Amazon (other than user reviews) and you won't find one on AllMusic.com either. Weird.

Maybe the reason was the ugly controversy surrounding the soundtrack. Director Jared Hess originally wanted Beck to compose the entire film. A fan of Hess' "Napoleon Dynamite" Beck accepted, however, Paramount didn't totally dig Beck's plaintive and simple acoustic style (think Dylan's "Pat Garett & Billy The Kid" soundtrack) and instead they asked Danny Elfman to compose the score (behind Hess back, yikes).
According to JoBlo, who did some investigating at the time, "[The Studios] hope was that they could have Elfman surreptitiously record portions of the score then using those samples to convince Hess to use his work," and apparently they did just that.

Credit issues got ugly. Elfman wanted sole credit, Hess wasn't having it, Elfman quit and requested his name pulled off the project. In the end, a deal was struck to keep Elfman, Hess and Beck happy.

But Beck completists should take note. Ever after all this, six Mr. Hansen tracks made their way into the film, but only three of them were ever released for this soundtrack (the additional songs are titled "My Heart Is with the Children," "Holy Man" and "Return of the Luchador"). Add that to your list of Beck tracks you'll need to one day excavate (and maybe there's more Beck material from that film that wasn't even used in the film? It's very likely).

Other notable cuts on the soundtrack were Asdrubal Sierra's (as Asdru Sierra) version of "Bat Macumba" a song usually know as an Os Mutantes hit that was originally written by fellow tropicalians Gilberto Gil & Caetano Veloso. Veloso also had one of his original songs on the album.

Download: Beck - "There is No Place In The World"
Download: Beck - "10,000 Pesos"
Download: Beck - "Tender Beasts of the Spangled Night"
Listen: More tracks from the soundtrack at Myspace (Hombre Religioso by Mr. Loco rules).

Mexico Day 4 - Mexican Triumvirate: Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu On Charlie Rose

An hour on film and friendship with three Mexican filmmakers: Alfonso Cuarón, director of "Children of Men", Guillermo del Toro, director of "Pan's Labyrinth", and Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of "Babel" (we're in Mexico, this is our theme week).

Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Moby for Free?

The musician who changed the paradigm and broke records on commercial placement of his music, that vegan about Manhattan Moby, is out to bust some new barriers. Variety reports the electronic musician is "offering tracks to indie, nonprofit and student filmmakers for their works via his website mobygratis.com" - yes, that is gratis as in free. If you fit one of those categories run, don't walk, to the website and give a listen to the unreleased and recycled tracks he's got up for you.

Moby tells Variety he was inspired to free his intellectual property by the struggles of his friends, who as independent filmmakers couldn't get songs cleared and approved by business affairs departments at record labels and music publishers, who we assume are currently busy clearing songs for iPod commericals. If you've ever been intimately involved in a label or publishing discussion about music synch rights, you know what Moby's on about. If not just poke yourself in the eye a dozen times and it'll have the same effect.

Moby makes clear in the interview below with the Sundance channel that these services are only for indie and noncommercial films, but even if you get funding and apply for a commercial license to use his tracks the cost will not be a budget breaker.

As The Playlist has previously reported, Moby has also recently scored Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales" and, as not reported here, his new album is expected in the spring of 2008 from Mute Records.

Watch: Moby interview from Sundance Spotlights: mobygratis.com

"Walk Hard" Video Sneak

What is there left to say about "Walk Hard" that The Playlist hasn't already covered?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

We'll save our words and simply present you with this video from the movie, which premieres at Spinner.com today. It is culled from moments in the film to make a music video of sorts for the title track, a la the music video that was created for "Walk The Line" from the film performance of "Jackson". Yes, the folks behind "Walk Hard" have taken the spoof so far that they've actually spoofed promotional materials. Meta.

Watch: "Walk Hard"

Pre-Excited DVD Endorsement: 'Two-Lane Blacktop'

OK, it's not major news, as it was announced perhaps a month a go or more, but we'd like to take a moment to say how excited we are for the return of Monte Hellman's cult minimalist, existentialist roadtrip 1971 classic "Two-Lane Blacktop."

The curious little picture is somewhat odd, slow, minimalist and almost meandering, but it's leftfield in a excellent manner. Starring James Taylor, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and the super underappreciated gruff '60s/'70s actor and Peckinpah favorite Warren Oates, "Two-Lane Blacktop" is one of those little-seen gems that's worth rediscovering (and no matter if the leads were music-based or not).

And no, interestingly enough, the musical duo had nothing to do with the film's score and simply just act in their naive, but natural ways (noticable tracks: The Doors' "Moonlight Drive," the traditional folk tune "Stealin'" performed by Arlo Guthrie, and Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee")

The DVD (replete with extras naturally) is due in January from the tastemaking archivists at the Criterion Collection. Their synopsis:

Drag racing east from L.A. in a souped-up '55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer/songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oates's Pontiac GTO-driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race—the prize: their cars' pink slips. Yet no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. Maverick director Monte Hellman’s stripped-down narrative, gorgeous widescreen compositions, and sophisticated look at American male obsession make this one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.

'Blacktop' screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer would also go one to write Sam Peckinpah's "Pat Garett & Billy The Kid" and Alex Cox's little-seen Western classic "Walker" (all three of these films would have musical connections - Dylan acting and scoring in 'Billy,' the aforementioned actors in "Blacktop,' and the Clash's Joe Strummer scoring and making a cameo in Cox' "Walker").

A tribute album for this movie, You Can Never Go Fast Enough, was released in 2003 and it featured appreciative, inspired by songs from folks like Cat Power, Calexico, Sonic Youth and Wilco.
Scene from "Two-Lane Blacktop"

Download: Dennis Wilson - "Farewell My Friend"

Mexico Day 3 - Salma Hayek & Ashley Judd Tango In 'Frida'

Ok Ashley Judd should never play a Mexican, but Salma Hayek is hot and so is this scene (we're on vacation in Mexico, this is our theme week).

Salma Hayek Dances in "From Dusk Til Dawn"

Stranger Than Fiction: Soundtrack Of The Day

By now you probably think we have a man-crush on Brian Reitzell we've written about him so much (he recently just composed the score to the horror flick "30 Days Of Night").

What can we say dude has good taste - Sofia Coppola knows this, she hires him to be her music supervisor on every film (think the excellent soundtracks of "Lost In Translation," The Virgin Suicides," "Marie Antoinette")

In the liner notes for the "Stranger Than Fiction" soundtrack album, Reitzell wrote:

"When I was approached to do the music for 'Stranger Than Fiction,' I thought it might be the perfect occasion for Britt Daniel and I to collaborate...I was basically scoring the film with Spoon songs - it created a kind of sonic thread that had just the right amount of nervy melody and rich, simplistic tone I thought suited Zach's story and Marc's vision of the film. The actual 'job' of scoring that Britt and I were so excited about doing together became a much easier task since the existing and newly remixed music worked so well.For this soundtrack album, it seemed appropriate to include the full vocal versions of the songs so you can hear them in all their glory as the band originally intended."

Download: Britt Daniel & Brian Reitzell - "Writer's Block"
Download: Britt Daniel & Brian Reitzell - "Flours"
Download: Britt Daniel & Brian Reitzell - "Audtior"
Download: Spoon - "The Book I Write"

Speculation on "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men;" Death Cab's Ben Gibbard Has A Role

The Playlist generally trades in factual information, but while the cat's away the mice will play. As a concession to the owner of this blog we'll start with the facts before we move on to our fanciful wonderings. IMDB's cast listing for the John Krasinski adapted and directed labor of love flick "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men", from the David Foster Wallace short story collection, includes beloved indie rocker Ben Gibbard in his feature film debut.

We scoured IMDB in search of some hint as to the film's intended soundtrack but not so much as a music supervisor was listed. This makes us wonder: will Krasinski go the Zach Braff route and put the soundtrack together himself? Krasinski is a noted indie rock lover, more on the Arcade Fire tip than Explosions in the Sky, as highlighted in his Filter magazine interview with The Shins. This intrepid reporter had the chance to speak to him about music during MTV's 24 Hours of Human Giant stunt for the Subterranean blog, during the course of which he hijacked our laptop for 20 minutes while trying to pick the best possible video for our live blog coverage of the event, finally settling on a White Stripes track.

"Brief Interviews" shot in the Northeast last November 2006 and some pick-up work was done this past May - we know because movie cast-members Rashida Jones and Joey Slotnick were spotted backstage at the Gibbard solo show at Town Hall in NYC by us and Gibbard's management confirmed on-site they were in town for purposes relating to the movie. We recall that Gibbard revealed, without naming any project names, his soundtrack involvement with "About A Son" and then played a song he said was rejected from an unnamed film project for being too depressing. Might Gibbard be doing more than just acting in Krasinski's movie, which the writer/director has told other outlets will have comedic moments but is "very intense and dark"?

With no release date yet set, editing still to be completed and Krasinski's free time of late sucked up by the George Clooney/Renee Zellweger love triangle piece "Leatherheads", we're thinking you'll be lucky if this soundtrack encompasses your favorite indie hits from 2008.

Download: Ben Gibbard "All Apologies"
Download: The Shins "Phantom Limb"

Oscar Temperature & Predictions: For Your Consideration

Has it occurred to everyone else doing their Oscar watch that this could be the weirdest awards season in recent years? Studio pictures? Unless "Charlie Wilson's War" or Robert Redford's "Lion For Lambs" somehow dupe convince Oscar voters they're worthy (which is always a possibility) there's very little by way of major studio pictures that seems that it even has half a prayer of Oscar nods. [ed. you're wildly optimistic and naive]

Now of course, this obviously could be seem like a wildly naive position to take; garbage has won major awards in the past ("Crash"), and history shows thes lame track record of overrated studio fare ("Million Dollar Baby," "A Beautiful Mind, "Gladiator, "Shakespeare In Love," "Braveheart," "Forrest Gump," etc.) but it appears to be, so far, the year of the Studio Indie (or Indiewood)- a wildly different beast than the Studio Picture.

But wait, there is at least one Studio Picture that has done mediocre business, has received fairly positive reviews, but has virtually no Oscar buzz whatsoever, yes? Paul Haggis' (oh no. oh yes!) "In the Valley of Elah" has nothing going for it yet, but when Oscar members need to find something of their own to vote for, this could be the film they lean on heavily.

Now let's be aware of the misguided campaigns the Academy herd has fallen sway to. One year later these misbegotten cheerleading seem embarrassing. (see "Little Miss Sunshine"). But the Fall Season is dying on the vine, at least box-office wise, so now we see articles (are the studios paying you people to write these??) practically begging for another "Little Miss Sunshine" to come around and this is already giving unexpected boosts to "Juno," a Fox Indie with feelgood potential (but we think this one's going to be too dark and twisted to really resonate). The other dark horse, that's not hip, but perfect Oscarbait that everyone is forgetting (or not really discussing much yet) is the WWII love-story epic "Atonement." This one has Oscar potential written all over it, and look for it to score multiple nominations when in doubt as it's classicism (boringness), is signature Academy Award fodder that octegenarian voters get all in a lather about.

Here's how we see the temperature standing so far (with a bit of what we've seen/what we haven't seen bias) but lord knows these things will change with the winds, trends, the herdthink and strange curried favor (and yes, some of it might be wishful thinking and actual quality performances at this point, as shocking as that may seem).

Hey, if they get desperate enough maybe even nominations will be thrown out to "The Bucket List" and "The Mist." (Other possible contenders, "Love In The Time Of Cholera" and "The Kite Runner"). Here's our thoughts, images and order picked at random)

Best Actor Nominations Predictions (So Far...)
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Brad Pitt - The Assassination of Jesse James
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Denzel Washington - American Gangster
Tommy Lee Jones In The Valley of Elah

Best Actress Nomination Predictions (So Far...)
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There [ed. which she be eligible for actress?]
Kiera Knightley - Atonement
Nicole Kidman - Margot At The Wedding
Charlize Theron - In The Valley Of Elah
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose

Best Supporting Actor Nominations Predictions (So Far...)
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James
Benicio Del Toro - Things We Lost In The Fire
Ben Foster - 3:10 To Yuma
Hal Holbrook - Into The Wild

Best Supporting Actress Nomination Predictions (So Far...)
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Jennifer Jason-Leigh - Margot At The Wedding
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Susan Surandon - In the Valley of Elah

Best Director Nomination Predictions (So Far...)
Ridley Scott - American Gangster
Sidney Lumet - Before The Devil Knows Your Dead
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Ethan & Joel Coen - No Country For Old Men

Best Picture Nomination (So Far...)
No Country For Old Men
American Gangster
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Atonement

Other Award Possibilities...
Best Original Score & Songs
Nick Cave And Warren Ellis - The Assassination of Jesse James
Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood
Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once

Best Original Screenplay
Margot At The Wedding
There Will Be Blood
I'm Not There

Best Cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James
No Country For Old Men
Into The Wild
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

Now remember this is going to change periodically with trends, shifts and change in the wind, opinion. What no "Control," no 'Darjeeling,' no more "I'm Not There" ? This isn't the independent Spirit Awards people (Don't be silly, 'Darjeeling's not even going to get a screenplay nod, but costumes or set design, maybe...). Meanwhile the goons over at the L.A. Times are rallying behind Tim Burton's 'Sweeney Todd' and we think they're high as a kite (but we haven't seen it).

Margot At The Wedding: Families Behaving Badly

Our belated New York Film Festival review.

We've been rooting for Noah Baumbach for years. Most of his early films were extremely clever and droll, but problematic (though"The Squid & The Whale" is pretty fantastic), yet even when he's fallen flat ("Mr. Jealousy"), he's always showcased a mountain full of promise.

Early reports for his 5th feature "Margot At The Wedding" were mixed and that got us a little worried.

The story of 'Margot' is about two sisters and their incredibly dysfunctional family and relationship. The sisters are estranged, but Margot (Nicole Kidman), an semi-successful and uptight Manhattan author, comes up to visit her bohemian and freespirited sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who's getting married at, and currently living in their old parents Hamptons-era house.

The problem is that Pauline is getting married to a less-than-impressive loser shlub named Malcolm (Jack Black) and not only does Margot disapprove, she basically does everything in her power to try and convince her sister from going through with the wedding. And thus the story begins.

But rather than stock, dysfunctional family comedy, 'Margot' gets deep, raw and straight to the bone with realness. The script and characters are mean-spirited and brutal, the characters pull no punches and the film is painfully funny and painfully emotional.

Baumbach's always had a flair for sharp dialogue, witty repartee and mixing awkward observational humor with smarty pants references and painful moments (think Jeff Daniel's heart attack scene in "Squid & The Whale": "Don't you remember the last line of Godard's "A Bout De Souffle"? Belmondo calls Seberg a bitch. 'Degolas.' We saw it at the Thalia with the Dicksteins. I got you in for the children's price. You were pregnant with Walt."), here his knack for female behavior and sisterly friction is uncanny.

The sisters betray one another, bare family secrets, thrash at their relationship, rivalries and old wounds yet still laugh deeply and warmly together and the refrain from both of them is "she's my best friend," is both very real and very ironic. These contradictions, juxtaposition, these sticky and complicated interactions are what make Baumbach's film feel so alive and so very real. We had that painful gut reaction to the best and worst times of visiting your family on a disastrous, but semi-enjoyable weekend - much like most families are.

There's some near-excruciating scenes, Margot's character is so cruel in moments, but it's as viciously funny as it is emotionally hard to watch sometimes.

John Turturro does a brief cameo as Margot's estranged husband and the film is near note-perfect outside of Jack Black who is a little miscast and falls into the trap of being "Jack Black" at times (interestingly enough, it is Black who sought out Baumbach for a role in this film).

Visually and cinematically the film is assured and has no traces of the flat direction of Baumbach's early, learning-on-the-job films, that were well-written, but bland cinematically (the swimming scene here is one of his best so far). The grayish, blue naturally-lighting look of the film does give off shades Bergman and though he's much more vicious and less goofy then Woody Allen, perhaps Baumbach has become the heir apparent to the affluent, and educated New York screenwriting voice.

Musically there's not much that you're going to notice within the film, but the folky soundtrack itself is rather fantastic (just pretty subtle throughout). There are a few musical moments though; Kidman's son awkwardly singing Blondie's "Sunday's Girl" in a girlish falsetto when he thinks no one is noticing; an exchange about old records they haven't heard in years between Jason-Leigh and Kidman that references King Crimson*, the Pixies, REM and X. Jack Black's character mentions he once played with Ric Ocasek and even drops a stoner memory loss reference ("I can't remember the name of Motley Crue's bassist. Wait, Mick Mars!"), but don't be worried, the film is not cluttered with lame pop culture references. The only songs prominently heard are Fleetwood Mac's "That's All for Everyone" and Karen Dalton's excellent and bittersweet, "Something On Your Mind" that closes out the film.

In a perfect world, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason-Leigh and Baumbach's screenplay are all going to score Oscar nominations, but this isn't a perfect world and many people are already complaining about the film's meanspiritedness; many are just finding this film too dark for some reason.

Bitter, trenchant, biting, funny and melancholy, "Margot At The Wedding" is not only fantastic, it's one of our favorite films of the year. [A]

This excellent Jorma Kaukonen song "Genesis" used in the film really sums our feelings afterwards; it's really bittersweet. PS you can download the 'Margot' screenplay for free and legally within this post. *Of note, King Crimson's Robert Fripp noted on his blog on his blog a few months back that a KC track was requested for licensing by Baumbach. We've noted the Crimson album reference, but honestly can't say whether we heard a track in the film (they're certainly not on the soundtrack disc).

Mexico Day 2 - Esquivel Married To Kubrick

Ok, this one's really odd and Juan Garcia Esquivel's space-age bachelor pad music would suffice, but here's a random clip of his track "Blue Danube" to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Man, the random shit you will find on YouTube.

Mexico Day 1- Gael Garcia Bernal & Cuarón & Devendra Banhart

Ok, we're not really here, but to remind you where we are (and to make you jealous) here's a clip of Mexican hottie-actor Gael Garcia Bernal lauding the merits of Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón ("Children of Men," "Y Tu Mama Tambien") and Mexcian cinema.


A Scene From "Y Tu Mama Tambien"

Bernal onstage with Devendra Banhart

Led Zeppelin Summarize DVD for Mothership, Still Won't Refund Your Money

If the five and a half hours long original “Led Zeppelin DVD (1970)” is far too much for you to digest – and trust us, for the layman it is – we’ve got excellent holiday greetings for you.

The fine folk at Rhino Records and the gents of Led Zeppelin are releasing a 3 disc CD/DVD combo called Mothership that is one part greatest hits package and one part nicely trimmed down excerpts of the highlights from their original 1970 concert DVD. We mean majorly trimmed down – it’s a tiny (by comparison) 90 minutes long. That’s four hours of Led Zeppelin you’ll never have to sit though.

Speaking of the Zeppelin - world domination fever has accompanied their reunion concert, but we warn you that the band has been derailed already with guitar god Jimmy Page’s fractured finger delaying the band’s plans to play a November 26 benefit concert for their legendary proponent and label boss Ahmet Ertegun. Paige issues the following statement regarding the new December 10 date that will not cover the cost of switching your travel reservations:

“As you all know by now I was regrettably put in a situation where I had to postpone my performance at the Ahmet Ertegun Benefit show, on November 26th, due to a fractured finger. We have now rescheduled this show to take place, at the same venue, on December 10th. In doing so I was very conscious of the fact that many people are traveling great distances to attend. I do want to let everyone know that this decision was unavoidable. My apologies to anyone who has been inconvenienced by this change.”

Yeah, we’ll stick with the Mothership package as our parental gift of choice this year.

Download: RhinoCast featuring The Lefsetz Letter on Led Zeppelin + clips of his favorite Zeppelin tracks.
Video: "The Ocean" from Mothership

Film & TV Conference Validates The Playlist’s Existence

Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter got together last week to throw an entire conference about Film & TV Music at the Beverly Hilton. We’re certain our invitation was lost in the mail.

Even if it wasn’t, we were especially intrigued by both mags' coverage of the songwriter’s session panel which featured Sondre Lerche, Jesse Harris and (Alanis Morissette collaborator) Glen Ballard. As we’re certain you remember from The Playlist’s extensive and on-going coverage of "Dan In Real Life" and " The Hottest State", these gentlemen songwriters have had quite a year of exposure via their respective film vehicles.

We were especially charmed by their quote from Sondre Lerche regarding his intensive work and backwards writing style for "Dan in Real Life". Apparently Mr. Lerche found his inspiration writing songs for the film during his multiple visits to the set as it was shot. This was Lerche’s first time creating an original score for a film and, as he relayed to the panel, “I found out only later that this is not how soundtracks are usually made."

This thought, plus recent repeated viewings of "Pump Up the Volume", prompt the question: is it time to throw away the old model of sticking songs into a movie wherever and licensing from indie artists only because they’re not clever enough to have publishing deals and therefore cheaper? Would movie and TV soundtracks actually make money if they were more intimately tied into the vehicle they represent? A look at the SoundScan figures for the movie/soundtrack model that best exemplifies this idea, "Once", suggest the answer is yes: it has quietly sold 172K albums to date and is, so far, the #14 selling “independent” album for 2007.

The songwriter panelists also reportedly agreed that the best work is not recycled crap they have sitting around but original material created specifically for the film. This makes us want to have a sit down with Ballard, who penned some original music for that studio beast "Beowulf" to ask him exactly what he found inspiring there. Really, we’re just curious.

"Beowulf" Trailer - for inspirational purposes:

Breakout Performances Of The Year - Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Ellen Page; More

Yes, it's that time of year to note the breakthrough, buzzworthy and notable performances from some of the lesser knowns or those that just haven't had a chance to shine yet. Not all of these performers will likely see Oscar nominations (but some will), but they're all deserving of accolades. Here's the Playlist's list of Breakout Performances of the year...so far.

Josh Brolin - In The Country For Old Men/American Gangster
The son of James Brolin, little Josh has been acting ever since 1985's "The Goonies," but fuck if he isn't coming into his own right now. This is his year; he's never been better as the cowboy drifter in the Coen Brothers' "No Country For Old Men," and his turn as a righteously slimy dirty cop in "American Gangster" is perfectly douchey. Brolin got his first real acclaim for playing a bisexual ATF agent in "Flirting With Disaster," but in 2007 he's having a banner year. What's more he's everywhere, he's also seemingly everywhere. Earlier this year he earned good reviews for "Grindhouse," and he's also in the walking Oscar-bait "In the Valley of Elah."

Ben Foster - 3:10 To Yuma/30 Days of Night/Alpha Dog
Foster love to plays creeps and weirdos, he outclasses most of his generation that tries it, but he also excels at giving his loose-cannon characters, soul, 3-dimensional edges, quirks and a genuine sense of being disturbed. His cold-blooded, flamboyant, almost-rock star cowboy in "3:10 to Yuma" as Russell Crowe's almost-too-loyal sidekick (with subtle but noticeable latent tendencies turn bursting around the sides of his performance) was note-perfect, chilling and Oscar-worthy - a definitive "break out role." His nutcase proclivities apparently also shined brightly in "30 Days of Night" as well. Earlier this year he starred in the godawful "Alpha Dog," but his portrayal of a psychopathic drug dealer was arresting.

Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
She only had one role this year that North Americans probably saw, but it was the only one that mattered. In "La Vie En Rose" as tragic French chanteuse Édith Piaf, Cotillard is a riveting revelation. She shaved the top of her head to exact Piaf's high forehead, and hired a singing coach so she could properly lipsynch her songs, inflections intact. This role has Oscar nomination written all over it.

Toby Kebbel - Control
We've gone on about how meh "Control" was, but Kebbel deliciously steals every single scene he's in as the gregarious and hilarious Joy Division manager Rob Gretton (RIP). Granted he's got some amazingly funny lines to work with as his character was basically written as the the comic relief, from an otherwise dour and dull film, but Kebbel uses every moment on screen to maximize the funny with his pottymouth take on the shameless manager. And we thought Paddy Considine was the bee knees in "24 Hour Party People," but this role might take the cake.

Ellen Page - Juno
Hollywood is apparently begging for a new "Little Miss Sunshine," begging. Fall Oscar-bait films are apparently failing at the boxoffice (though many of them are great, go figure), so Hollywood and the media hive that follows their honey are quickly anointing "Juno" as the heir apparent without having seen it. Regardless, their hopes might be in the hands of little Ellen Page (who is probably most known for her role as Kitty Pryde in "X-Men 3"), the star of the preggers black comedy. Think a movie like this is too dark for the Oscars? Maybe not, the film just won the top honors at the Rome Film Festival.

Sam Riley - Control
Rock stars can't act, can they? (or is that rappers?) 10,000 Things singer Sam Riley proved otherwise with the overwhelming responsibility of playing deceased Joy Divison singer and icon Ian Curtis (and lord knows this could have been embarrassing). His sensitive, increasingly troubled and quietly distressed depiction of Curtis is near-heartbreaking - it's too bad the movie itself was pretty unremarkable, but Riley can at least hang his head up high. Critics loved him and his Curtis epileptic-fit dance was spot on. There's surely more to good things to come from him.

Emile Hirsch - Into The Wild
Emile Hirsch has been turning heads ever since he started getting decent roles in 2002. He's been disarmingly good in films like "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," "The Girl Next Door" and "Lords of Dogtown," so his incredibly human portrayal of a idealistic, hippie tree hugger who goes off to Alaska and starves to death accidentally is no big surprise, but this is the role that people are taking notice off. It helps he's the star, it's his biggest role to date and a supporter/director in Sean Penn. Don't be surprised if his name is mentioned often around award season.

Alexandra Maria Lara - Control/ Youth Without Youth
It doesn't hurt that this Romanian-born European actress is drop dead gorgeous. Her head-turning roles in the Hitler drama "Downfall," and 2001's "Tunnel," got her noticed by both Anton Corbijn and Francis Ford Coppola. Corbijn cast her as Ian Curtis' lover Annik Honoré in "Control" and Coppola made her the lead in the upcoming metaphysical oddity, "Youth Without Youth." Both performances are graceful and understated. Don't be surprised when people like Stephen Spielberg and other heavyweights start casting her in bigger films.

Marcus Carl Franklin - I'm Not There
A 13-year-old kid playing a Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan incarnation is a risky move and lord knows this could have backfired, but Franklin is a alarmingly good and full of fearless confidence. Perhaps it's all about being too naive to know what's really at stake, but the teenager is natural, assured and totally in his element. More good things are sure to come from him (possibly in Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind"). Plus the kid can sing like an angel.

Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood
Dano is another Hirsch-type character actor. He's been doing fantastic work for a while now ("L.I.E" - a stunning debut, "Taking Lives," "The Ballad of Jack and Rose ") and most noticeably, or at least most critically acclaimed as the angsty mute in "Little Miss Sunshine." Not many people have seen Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Blood' yet, but his fiery moments in the trailer are majestic and the talk of the town is that Dano is ferocious as a fervent preacher trying to rid Daniel Day-Lewis' greed from his small California town. Dano and awards are a good leap of faith bet here.

Amara Karan - The Darjeeling Limited
Karan's role as "Rita/Sweetlime," the 'Darjeeling Train' stewardess who hooks up with Jason Schwartzman is essentially her debut performance. There's little backstory for her to work with and few scenes, but you get the melancholy impression that her character is desperate to leave her life on this train and chase after some other ambitious dream.

Kelly MacDonald - No Country for Old Men
Petite Scottish actress with the thickest of Scottish brogues tackles a sassy, defiant, but supportive West Texas housewife. It's a small role, but she provides pivotal acting chops to her brief, but memorable scenes. Enough said.

Glen Hansard - Once
We never saw it (shame on us?), but Hansard and the film got great reviews. The Frames singer had never acted before and there's talk now that his original "Once" score with partner Markéta Irglová, might receive an Oscar nomination. Certainly if the Academy wants some feel good, they should probably revisit this film.

Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James/Gone Baby Gone
Baby brother has all growed up and surpassed Ben it seems. The younger Affleck brother has been growing ever since Gus Van Sant took him under his wings (small roles in "To Die For," "Good Will Hunting" and then the co-lead in the underappreciated and minimalist "Gerry") and has been getting better ever since. His turns in the "Ocean 11" series have showcased his ability at perfect side-character comedy, but now he's getting a shot at the big table. The lead role in"Gone Baby Gone" as a detective in over his head has some choice scenes, but his role as the sniveling Robert Ford alongside the subtle Brad Pitt in "The Assassination of Jesse James" is disquietingly unnerving and resonant.

Keep in mind there's two months left of movies in 2007, so we reserve the right to add more people to this list if the time comes.

Soundtrack Of The Day: In Good Company

To some, the Weitz brothers (Chris and Paul)make some pretty cheesy movies, and that's not a point, we're about to argue, but they do have a decent sense of placing pop songs and they have decent taste.

This film is likely forgettable to most, but it's not without it's charms and it has its cute moments. The cast is not terrible. Topher Grace has proven himself to be much more than just a simple TV actor, Scarlett Johanssen isn't hard to look at and Dennis Quaid hasn't been this believable as an aging salesman who can't keep up with the younger generation.

The soundtrack features original songs written by Iron & Wine, aka Sam Beam and also features select choices by David Byrne and Rufus Wainwright. Say what you will about the Weitz brothers and their films, but this soundtrack is very respectable. The bros are no strangers to making films set to pop songs, "About A Boy" was scored by an original album of songs by Badly Drawn Boy" (this soundtrack is his only respectable material). Can you believe these guys got their start with "American Pie"? We suppose a film like that will put you on the map no matter what. Their finest moment, however, might be acting in "Chuck & Buck," the wonderfully fucked-up feature written by Mike White ("Year Of the Dog," "School Of Rock") and directed by Miguel Artera.

Download: Iron & Wine - "The Trapeze Singer" (from "In Good Company")
Iron & Wine - "Naked As We Came" (from "In Good Company")