Dewey Cox Travels To Meet The Beatles In India

Man, at this point, every scene from this movie is going to be online. We'd recommend not watching all of them or you're going to spoil the film for yourself, but if you don't care, here's the scene in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," where Dewey (John C. Reilly) travels to India to meet the Beatles, who aren't really getting along at this time in their career ("Wow, seems like there's a rift happenin' between the Beatles," Cox says incredulously).

As we've previously mentioned, Jack Black does the worst Paul McCartney impression in the history of Paul McCartney impressions, Justin Long on the other hand does a fantastic George Harrison and Paul Rudd's John Lennon and Jason Schwartzman's Ringo Starr are pretty decent (though the latter is a little too hammy for our taste).

Watching an Apatow comedy these days is a lot like playing 'Where's Waldo.' No joke, 'Walk Hard' producer/writer Judd Apatow basically casts everyone he's ever worked for in this thing. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? He's played by "40-Year-Old Virgin" vulgar Smartech employee Mooj (Gerry Bednob).

Who is Lil' Nutsack? Watch & Listen To The Filthy 'Walk Hard' Rapper

Who is Lil' Nutsack? Chances are you don't know him quite yet unless you've seen "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," already (which we have - our review next week).

Without giving too much away, Nutsack - as we've already mentioned - is a rapper who much later in Dewey Cox's (John C. Reilly) career (basically when he's retired, near the end of the film), samples "Walk Hard," for his filthy hip-hop single, "(You Make Me So) Hard," making Dewey relevant again and introducing his music to a whole new generation of kids (which leads to Dewey's introduction in the Rock Hall of Fame - again, if you've been reading us, we're not giving away anything that us and 10,000 other sites haven't already said as well).

Nutsack is actually really Cali-based rapper KU a.k.a. Kustoo (pronounced koo-sto), whose influences range from Ice Cube and Tha Alcoholiks, to Run DMC and Grand Daddy I.U. Apart from appearing in 'Walk Hard' as the rapper Nutsack, KU's other movie work has seen him place three songs and become hired as the hip-hop consultant/coach and in the upcoming March 2008 Judd Apatow comedy "Drill Bit Taylor" starring Owen Wilson. He's also placed music in television shows ("What About Brian", Lifetime's "State of Mind") and video games for Sony Playstation. Ku's debut album Before The Hype came out in April 2007 and you can hear lots of cuts from it on his myspace page.

We have the full video for the song briefly seen in the 'Walk Hard,' film plus an audio clip of the entire song from the expanded Deluxe version of the 'Walk Hard' soundtrack.

Lil' Nutsack - "(You Make Me So) Hard"

Will Smith's 'I Am Legend': Preposterous Big-Budget Nonsense

According to nerdlinger film fan site /Film, "I Am Legend" is gunning for a $60 million dollar box office intake this weekend and who knows, sure, Will Smith has a great track record and America sure loves its stunted IQ, blow-em up extravaganzas (Incidentally, we randomly saw "The Pursuit Of Happyness" last night and understand why Will Smith got nominated for a Best Actor Oscar last year, he was excellent).

With that said, I'm sure Mr. Smith or Warner won't mind if we try and swipe $4 bucks from the sure-to-be massive or large box office haul cause "I Am Legend" was ungood to say the least.

And yes, we understand this sort of film isn't really aimed at us, but we suppose in the comfort of our own home we'll watch things like "I Am Robot," "Bad Boys II," etc. and enjoy them for what they are: popcorn entertainment.

Fine, but 'Legend' can't even provide that, or at least not much of it. Based on the Charlton Heston movie "The Omega Man," the gist of the story is like a poor man's (with an expensive budget) version of "28 Days Later," even though, yes, it came way first (and yes, like every zombie film).

A cure for cancer has been made by an over-eager British doctor (Emma Thompson), but shit goes wrong and it turns into a virus that is infecting people. Rather than turn them into zombies or plausibly fucked human beings, it turns them into blatantly-CGI'd monsters called dark seekers that burn in sunlight and feast on the blood of anyone around them (got that?) Sure, the concept of something like "28 Days Later" isn't much more sophisticated or elegant, but it's all in the execution which is pretty clumsy and silly here.

Will Smith plays a military scientist (or something like that) that appears to on the cover of Time magazine heralded as the one man who can possibly fix this cure and lo and behold that exact same dude is the last man standing! How about that?

Since, there's only one man on Earth (seemingly) except for Will and his trusty German Sheppard Sam, Smith is free to roam and plunder all of Manhattan (his "zone") for all its leftover food, fast cars, resources and other paraphernalia (weapons and whatnot). His apparently huge government salary has left him a huge house near Washington Square Park which is filled to the tits with state of the art technology and a basement laboratory that would make Batman blush (speaking of nerds will get loser-boners over the cheeky reference to a Batman Vs. Superman movie poster in Times Square).

When not ridiculously racing around in a suped-up hot-rod trying to hunt deer for food with an high-powered machine gun, Smith spends his days trying to capture infected rats and complete his quest for the ultimate cure. Are you bored yet? We are just typing this.

Then he tries to capture infected zombies and bring them back to life, yadda, yadda, god, it's just so trite and hackneyed. Nothing feels remotely believable or credible. It's a fantasy with no escapism to it.

The most impressive thing about 'Legend' itself is Manhattan, whose abandoned shell almost plays a central character in the film. It's empty streets grown over with grass, moss and wildlife is a pretty amazing spectacle to look at and provides the only 'how the hell did they do that?' questions and interesting moments.

No doubt this movie is expensive as shit, but they must have spent it on the CGI-clearing of streets, cause it's surely not spent on the aggro dark seeker zombies that look stupid and fake. The movie is somewhat scary, but it's that annoying drawing-out-the-tension in the most manipulative and stock ways that eventually leave you exhausted and frustrated (the unclever ways of creating tension essentially). Movies of this genre have been made before with greater success, but this one just feels absurd and preposterous. Fuck, it's not even fun.

The music connection here (not that we need one) btw, is the fact that former Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton was hired to create the sounds of the dark seeker creatures. Even his freaky shrieking and ghoulish growls can't save this hunk of dung. Oh yeah, the movie uses a lot of Bob Marley as a motif from the album Legend, get it? Get it?? Barf (but yeah, most of it is typical score music).

Whatever, we've already spent way more many words on this movie than it's worth. Do yourself a favor, go see something else. [C] [ed. Francis Ford Coppola's "Youth Without Youth" comes out this weekend in limited release, you should have spent your breath on that instead.]

In case you care: next week, reviews of "Walk Hard," There Will Be Blood," and hopefully, "The Kite Runner" and "Atonement" should we have time to watch them this weekend.

Exclusive: 'The Diving Bell & The Butterfly' Soundtrack & Contest

Ok, here's a good one. As you might of noticed, "The Diving Bell & The Buttefly," directed by the insufferable, but highly likeable artisan Julian Schnabel, is one of our favorite films of the year and we've blogged about this excellent French film and its exquisite soundtrack many times. (it's also a dark horse Oscar hopeful which we're rooting for).

So now we've got 5 copies of the soundtrack to giveaway - a soundtrack album that just came out this past Tuesday (December 11) via Hollywood record that won't actually have a physical release (you can only get it digitally in stores). However, we do have 5 physical copies to give away.

To win you have to answer our trivia question and email us. The question is a bit more difficult than usual, but the answer is on our site (use the search function in the top right corner). So here it is: Which actress in 'Diving Bell' sings on the soundtrack, which song is it (listed below) and what famous director is she married to? So it's kind of a 3 part question, but it's kind of easy if you search. *Update*: thanks for playing, all copies are gone.

The 'Diving Bell' digital disc features 8 tracks used in the film including u2's Ultra Violtet (Light My Way)," The Velvet Underground classic "Pale Blue Eyes," and a very excellent and underappreciated track by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros called, "Ramshackle Day Parade." The movie itself utlizies many more songs and if you're curious, we've listed them all out in a previous 'Diving Bell' music post.

What's the film about? As we wrote before:

Schnabel directed ("Basquiat" and "Before Night Falls") the film which is adapted from the memoir by ex-French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who at 42 suffered a debilitating stroke that left him entirely paralyzed save for his left eye. He learned how to communicate via a blinking method with his eye and painstakingly wrote an entire book about his "trapped-in syndrome" experience dying from pneumonia about a week after the novel was published. The film is imaginatively told, extremely moving, powerful and gorgeous to look at.

The music certainly helps too. For additional details on the film, our initial review back in September is here. The 'Diving Bell' site has started a grassroots promo SHARE campaign where people who loved the film are leaving video and writen testimonials. Get the word out if you feel passionately enough.

'The Diving Bell & The Butterfly' Soundtrack tracklist
1. Charles Trenet - La Mer
2. The Dirtbombs - Chains of Love
3. Tom Waits - All the World Is Green
4. U2 - Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
5. Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle - Don't Kiss Me Goodbye
6. The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
7. Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Ramshackle Day Parade
8. Paul Cantelon - Theme For the Diving Bell and the Butterfly

London Critics Loving 'Blood,' 'Atonement,' 'Control'

"Atonement" continues its critical domination this week by picking up eight nominations from the just released London Critics Circle awards. Tied for eight nominations also includes the grainy, kitchen-sink rock drama "Control" about the live of departed Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

However, despite their critical hegemony, neither film was nominated for Best Picture. Instead Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" picked up four important nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

Other films competeting for the top Best Picture prize include, "No Country For Old Men," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "The Bourne Ultimatum" and David Fincher's almost-as-fun-as-studying-for-an-examine film, the grossly laborious "Zodiac."

"Control" and "Atonement" were relegated to the Best British Picture ghetto which also includes the indie musical, "Once," "Eastern Promises" and the aptly titled, "This Is England."

The entire list of nominees is over at Variety. Keep in mind, there's lot of British categories, which seems to weigh things in their favor, but few British actors of filmmakers broke out of their UK consignments. Some other categories below.

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck -- "The Lives of Others"
Paul Thomas Anderson -- "There Will Be Blood"
Joel and Ethan Coen -- "No Country for Old Men"
David Fincher -- "Zodiac"
Cristian Mungui -- "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days"

BRITISH DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Anton Corbijn -- "Control"
Paul Greengrass -- "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Shane Meadows -- "This Is England"
Joe Wright -- "Atonement"
Danny Boyle -- "Sunshine"

Trailers: Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now' Stalker Doc And Old Zany Elephant 6 Movie Coming Soon

"The difference between me and a stalker, is that they don't really love the individual."

Jesus christ, welcome to the creepiest documentary about a pop star ever. "I Think We're Alone Now," the documentary ostensibly about '80s pop teen star Tiffany from the outside, is more like a doc about her scary stalkers - two of them in particular who have been hit with various restraining order over the years and who are both off the fucking reservation. Jesus, this trailer is truely terrifying. These two fruitcake obsessives - one an loser-ish dad in his '50s, the other a freakish intersexed manwoman - are fucking scary. The film
synopsis:

Every celebrity deals with his or her share of obsessed fans. "I Think We're Alone Now" is a documentary that focuses on two individuals, Jeff and Kelly, who claim to be in love with the 80's pop singer Tiffany.

"I Think We're Alone Now" will screen this winter at the 2008 Sundance Slamdance Film Festival.

Remember the Elephant 6 Collective? The consortium of Athens, Georgia based musicians banded together in the mid '90s to form an unofficial strength-in-numbers co-operative with a proclivity for psychedelic imagery, ramshackle performances, shitty lo-fi recordings, nonsensical song titles, surrealistic concepts and a kitchen-sink approach to recording every quirky instrument within grasp. While the communal had no official ties, members of the group would tour together, record on each others albums and for a time, release their records with an Elephant 6 emblem in solidarity of their common artistic goals (though that latter visual imprint was soon dropped; members included Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power and Beulah among others).

Anyhow, back in the day members of the E6 apparently made a film which is now belatedly being released on DVD called "Major Organ and the Adding Machine" - named after the semi-mysterious band that apparently was founded by now-famous recluse, Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum and Julian Koster (with some contribution from Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) and Will Cullen Hart (The Circulatory System,Olivia Tremor Control) among many others E6 satellite members included in the film like Koster, Elf Power's Andrew Rieger, and all the members of the ridiculously titled Dixie Blood Mustache.

What the film is actually about is anyone's guess as the trailer is as characteristically absurd and preposterous as you might imagine featuring surrealistic fake bears, a dancing lobster, fake bears and other related nonsense. The zany music is typically annoying too.

The DVD and an expanded CD will be out on the Orange Twin label sometime in 2008. Best of luck watching that one (and or actually sitting through the trailer in one sitting).

Trailer: "I Think We're Alone now"

Trailer: "Major Organ and the Adding Machine"

Eddie Vedder, Sondre Lerche, 'Once,' 'Walk Hard,' Fountains' Adam Schlesinger Among Artists Up For Oscar Contention; 59 Songs Eligible For Award Gold

Remember the unlikely turn of phrase, "Academy Award winners Three 6 Mafia"?

Well, this year you might be able to add names like Eddie Vedder, Sondre Lerche, John C. Reilly, Glen Hansard and a bunch of other seemingly strange contemporary musicians to this odd sentence.

59 songs have been made eligible for Academy Award contention (this is originally composed songs specifically for films, not existing songs used in films or score) this year and they include a bunch of the films and soundtracks we've been discussing this year.

The film music looking the best so far, is soccer-mom fave "August Rush," which has four songs eligible for an Oscar (the most of any film this year). Three of Eddie Vedder's "Into The Wild" original songs were made eligible as were three Sondre Lerche tunes from "Dan in Real Life," three "Enchanted" songs (Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) and three tracks from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" qualified as well.

If you can believe it, three cuts from “Good Luck Chuck” also made the grade (songs by the Flaming Lips - “I Was Zapped by the Super Lucky Rainbow,” which you can hear below - Dandy Warhols and Aidan Hawken; maybe the Lips' whorishness is paying off their song "The Tale of the Horny Frog” from "The Heartbreak Kid" is also on the list short-list of almost 60 songs).

Two songs from Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's "Once" score made the cut (“Falling Slowly” and “If You Want Me”) as did (as you probably expected) a song from "Hairspray" plus the blues song that director John Sayles and and Mason Darling wrote for the formers film, "Honeydripper." Fountains of Wayne shill Adam Schlesinger scored two songs from the cornball Hugh Grant "Music And Lyrics" film into Oscar competition (apparently Grant is near tone deaf).

Other rockers and pop singers who have song up for consideration include, Common (“A Dream” from “Freedom Writers”), Aimee Mann (“At the Edge of the World” from “Arctic Tale”), Rufus Wainwright ("Another Believer” from "Meet the Robinsons"), the Eels “Royal Pain” from “Shrek the Third”), Kate Bush ("Lyra” from “The Golden Compass”), John Legend ("Someday from "August Rush"), John Mayer (“Say” from “The Bucket List”), Sheryl Crow, Roger Waters (“Hello [I Love You]” from "The Last Mimzy"), Rob Thomas, Sinead O'Connor (“Back Where You Belong” from “The Water Horse”) and Nora Jones pal Jesse Harris (“It Will Stay With Us” from “The Hottest State”).

The entire list of eligible songs (all 59) is here.

The Fucking Grammys
We've basically ignored the Grammys, cause hey, they're the out-of-touch octogenarians music award show, but since we're sort of being comprehensive here, why the hell not. Remember that the Grammy olds have their own "unique" and weird schedule which is why out-of-date movies like "Dreamgirls," "The Departed," and "Babel" are just now being recognized.

COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE
"Across The Universe" - Various Artists (Songs by the Beatles)
"Dreamgirls" - Various Artists
"Hairspray" - Various Artists
"Love" - (The Beatles)
"Once" - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

SCORE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE
"Babel" - Gustavo Santaolalla
"Blood Diamond" - James Newton Howard
"The Departed" - Howard Shore
"Happy Feet" - John Powell
"Pan's Labyrinth" - Javier Navarrete
"Ratatouille" - Michael Giacchino

If last year's Oscars are any indication, the above will go to Gustavo Santaolalla's very-excellent "Babel" score. Who knows with the Grammys though and to be truthful, who really cares.

SONG WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURE
"Falling Slowly" (from "Once") - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
"Guaranteed" (from "Into The Wild") - Eddie Vedder
"Love You I Do" (from "Dreamgirls") - Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)
"The Song Of The Heart" ("from Happy Feet") - Prince Rogers Nelson, songwriter (Prince)
"You Know My Name" (from "Casino Royale") - David Arnold & Chris Cornell, songwriters (Chris Cornell)

Looks like their is a lot of kudos going to Vedder's "Guaranteed" and Hansard and Irglova's "Falling Slowly," if these Grammys noms, today's Golden Globe song nominations and the aforementioned Oscar song eligibility lists are any barometer. Don't be surprised if "August Rush" takes a bunch of Oscar noms too, the Academy eat up shit like it's a sundae.

Download: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "Falling Slowly" (from "Once")
Download: Eddie Vedder - "Rise" (from "Into The Wild")
Download: Dewey Cox - "Walk Hard" (from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story")
Download: John Legend - "Someday" (from "August Rush")
Download: Sondre Lerche - "To Be Surprised" (from "Dan In Real Life")
Download: Hugh Grant & Haley Bennett - "Way Back Into Love" (from "Music & Lyrics")
Download: Sinead O'Connor - Back Where You Belong Theme" (from "Water Horse")

Flight Of The Conchords Full-Length Album Due April 22.

Despite having already released The Distant Future six-song EP last summer, kiwi duo Flight of the Conchords will release their full-length album April 22 on Sub Pop records.

Is there that much more material to go around? Apparently so. Yes, they're on HBO, not the big screen we realize. We're as selective as we wanna be.

The hirsute and awkward duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie just scored a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album last week, and in August their show got picked up for a second season. The album was produced by Mickey Petralia who worked on Beck's absurdo white-guy soul album Midnight Vultures.

Download: - Flight of the Conchords - I'm Not Crying"

'Atonement' Leads Golden Globes With Seven Nominations; Vedder, 'Walk Hard' Grab Musical Nods

Golden Globe nominations are in this morning as of 8:45 a.m. and as some might of figured, the sweeping grandeur of Joe Wright's adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel, "Atonement" swept up taking seven nominations.

The Best Picture category didn't look all that surprising either, as recent critical favorites like "There Will Be Blood," "No Country For Old Men" found their spots as well as early fall favorites, "Michael Clayton" and "American Gangster," but "Easter Promises," really?

We liked it and have a soft spot for Cronenberg and all, but really? "The Great Debaters" was a shocker as well.

In the director category, Paul Thomas Anderson got snubbed despite 'Blood' getting a Picture nod and instead his dark horse spot was taken by Julian Schnabel, who directed the very excellent "The Diving Bell & The Butterfly," which is up for Best Foreign Film. The rest of the director nods went to their nominated picture counterparts, including Ridley Scott (you've got to be shitting us), Ethan and Joel Coen, Joe Wright and Tim Burton's whose R-Rated musical, 'Sweeney Todd' was nominated four times including Best Picture in the Comedy or Musical category (at this point look for this film to transcend that ghetto and possibly grab an Oscar Best Picture nomination).

Rockers got their due as well, Eddie Vedder scored twice. One for his "Into The Wild" score with Michael Brook and Kaki King (technically, Vedder did the songs, Brook did the score with King) and one for the original song written for the film, "Guaranteed." However, just two days after sweeping the Broadcast Film Critics Association nominees, 'Wild' was otherwise totally shut out (a surprise for at least Emile Hirsch). The Beatles musical "Across The Universe" also showed its face by winning a Best Musical or Comedy nomination.

The 'Walk Hard' crew made a musical appearance as well with the title track nabbing a nomination for Best Original Song. John C. Reilly also grabbed a Best Actor in the Musical or Comedy category (the movie being seemingly built for that slot). The biggest musical snub was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's "Once" score, but we're still convinced it'll get something come Academy Awards time.

As many had predicted, Cate Blanchett grabbed two nominations, one as a Best Actress in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," and one as Best Supporting Actress in Todd Haynes' otherwise overlooked, "I'm Not There."

Overall, no major surprises. As we figured, the more conservative Globes tended to favor commercial fare like "American Gangster" and Charlie Wilson's War" which scored itself 5 nominations. A slight surprise was "Gone Baby Gone," which aside from Amy Adams' Best Actress nod was totally absent. Oscar nominations themselves are announced nine days after the Globes telecast which is set for January 13. It's still somewhat hard to tell how it's all gonna play though, the Globes obviously nominate many more films and have lots more categories to choose from.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
AMERICAN GANGSTER
ATONEMENT
EASTERN PROMISES
THE GREAT DEBATERS
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
CATE BLANCHETT — ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
JULIE CHRISTIE — AWAY FROM HER
JODIE FOSTER — THE BRAVE ONE
ANGELINA JOLIE — A MIGHTY HEART
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY — ATONEMENT

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GEORGE CLOONEY — MICHAEL CLAYTON
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS — THERE WILL BE BLOOD
JAMES MCAVOY — ATONEMENT
VIGGO MORTENSEN — EASTERN PROMISES
DENZEL WASHINGTON — AMERICAN GANGSTER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
HAIRSPRAY
JUNO
SWEENEY TODD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
AMY ADAMS – ENCHANTED
NIKKI BLONSKY – HAIRSPRAY
HELENA BONHAM CARTER – SWEENEY TODD
MARION COTILLARD – LA VIE EN ROSE
ELLEN PAGE – JUNO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JOHNNY DEPP — SWEENEY TODD
RYAN GOSLING — LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
TOM HANKS — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN — THE SAVAGES
JOHN C. REILLY — WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BEE MOVIE
RATATOUILLE
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (ROMANIA)
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (FRANCE AND USA)
THE KITE RUNNER (USA)
LUST, CAUTION (TAIWAN)
PERSEPOLIS (FRANCE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
CATE BLANCHETT — I’M NOT THERE
JULIA ROBERTS — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
SAOIRSE RONAN —ATONEMENT
AMY RYAN — GONE BABY GONE
TILDA SWINTON — MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
CASEY AFFLECK — THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
JAVIER BARDEM —NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
JOHN TRAVOLTA — HAIRSPRAY
TOM WILKINSON — MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
TIM BURTON — SWEENEY TODD
ETHAN COEN & JOEL COEN — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
JULIAN SCHNABEL — THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
RIDLEY SCOTT — AMERICAN GANGSTER
JOE WRIGHT — ATONEMENT

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
DIABLO CODY — JUNO
ETHAN COEN & JOEL COEN — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON — ATONEMENT
RONALD HARWOOD — THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
AARON SORKIN — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
MICHAEL BROOK, KAKI KING, EDDIE VEDDER — INTO THE WILD
CLINT EASTWOOD — GRACE IS GONE
ALBERTO IGLESIAS — THE KITE RUNNER
DARIO MARIANELLI — ATONEMENT
HOWARD SHORE — EASTERN PROMISES

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
"DESPEDIDA" — LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
Music by: Shakira, Antonio Pinto
"GRACE IS GONE" — GRACE IS GONE
Music by: Clint Eastwood
"GUARANTEED" — INTO THE WILD
Music & Lyrics by: Eddie Vedder
"THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW" — ENCHANTED
Music & Lyrics by: Alan Menken
"WALK HARD" — WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
Music & Lyrics by: Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow, Kasdan

Download: Bono - "I Am The Walrus" (from "Across The Universe")
Download: Rachel Evan Wood - "Blackbird" (from "Across The Universe")
Download: Eddie Vedder - "Guaranteed" (from "Into The Wild")

Eddie Vedder Soundtracking Howard Zinn; Val Kilmer Shopping Around New Rock Record

What, no collaboration? Eddie Vedder, the throaty grunge singer who's banjo yodelling fueled Sean Penn's teen-angst-in-the-woods film, "Into The Wild," is getting back on the music soundtracks train (he also contributed music to Phil Donahue's Iraq War doc too).

According to Billboard, Veddy, along with R&B smoothster John Legend (that's a pair) are contributing music to the documentary miniseries based on historian-author Howard Zinn's 1980 book "A People's History of the United States" (a book that Matt Damon's character says will" blow your hair back" in "Good Will Hunting").

Titled "The People Speak," the project will feature music and readings based on America's struggles with war, class, race and the rights of women. No network is attached yet.

Actors lending their various talents include Matt Damon (see? you knew there was a connection), Marisa Tomei, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Josh Brolin, David Strathairn and Kerry Washington.

Meanwhile, in other hot movie music news, now-bloated Hollywood method actor Val Kilmer (he of bloated Jim Morrison mien) is shopping around his own record of original music according to the New York Observer.

Mr. Kilmer, 47, who starred as Jim Morrison in the 1991 Oliver Stone biopic The Doors, and his partner Mick Rossi, a New York-based keyboardist and percussionist, have been passing around a modestly designed CD whose black cover reads Val Kilmer: Sessions With Mick.

A highly personal recording, it features seven songs co-written by the duo that run the gamut from foot-stompin’ rock to moody, guttural ballads

Aren't you fucking excited? Someone call up Steven Segal, we smell a tour.

Taking The Revised Oscar Temperature: Who's Hot, Who's Not

We're not the first people to note this is a weird year for movies. Or at least it could potentially be a very weird year for the Oscars - who have a strong, but strangely uncommercial crop of movies to choose from (or at least it's weird from the outset, watch this thesis fall apart shortly). Ostensibly anyhow.

Basically, so far at least, it's looking like they only have actually good movies to choose from. Or at least films that people us like ("There Will Be Blood," "No Country For Old Men," "Persepolis," etc.) have generated very strong buzz and critical kudos and awards being shot at them.

Oscar can ignore the buzz, it's not that they haven't in the past, but seriously are things like "Charlie Wilson's War," "In The Valley of Elah?" and other more mainstream studio fare going to get nominated? We're sort of repeating ourselves here from our original Oscar Temperature preview, but not a lot has drastically changed. But let's not forget, no matter the buzz, Oscar voters are a super conservative and mainstream bunch.

Some films have become hotter while others have cooled off. However, today the Broadcast Film Critics Association gave out their nominations and the game has changed. As Reuters has noted the conservative BFCA is a strong bellwether for the Oscars.

What rounded out the Best Picture nominations? "American Gangster," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" "The Kite Runner," "Atonement," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "Sweeney Todd" "Juno" and "There Will Be Blood" (apparently they nominate everything for Best Picture) Surprising, but not. Don't forget Golden Globe nominations come out on Thursday and the game will change once more.

Here's a look at some past contenders of this year and how things have shifted for them.

"I'm Not There" - While the Dylan quasi-opic did do well with critics, it didn't seem to penetrate further than the indie movie ghetto of the Independent Spirit Awards (which it will probably clean up or do well at). It doesn't help that the film hasn't had a strong box office showing. Might get screenplay and nom for Cate Blanchett, but don't look for more than that (maybe cinematography).

"American Gangster" - Was met with positive, but semi-lukewarm reviews. However, this Critics Choice Best Picture nod gives it legs again. So commercial though it'll probably gain major nods (but it shouldn't, it was kind of eh).

"Micheal Clayton" - After very positive reception, this film had totally cooled off, but today's BFCA noms give it a boost. Clooney and Wilkinson will both likely grab acting nods. It also might just be close-enough-to a studio picture (it's a indie studio film) that it might stick in Oscar voters minds (plus everyone knows Clooney).

"Atonement" - You don't need to be an expert prognosticator to figure that its sweeping classicism is straight-up Oscar's alley. Best Picture nod is almost a lock even if the reviews are mediocre (which they're not). The little girl will probably get a Supporting nod too.

"There Will Be Blood" - It's about as red hot as it can get. It just scored major awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, including Best Picture and Best Director. This is where the coming out late in the season strategy works.

"No Country For Old Men" - Also red hot. It scored most of the major awards from the New York Critics Circle. It's BFCA Best Picture nods only help. Right now the Oscars are a two-man race between 'Country' and 'Blood,' but they're both dark pictures and Oscar is not a fan of downers. Noms yes, wins? Could be doubtful.

"Juno" - Despite doing well at the Toronto Film Festival and Rome Film Festival, reviews are/were looking like B-grades, not A's and it wasn't grabbing a ton of noticeable awards. This week it's big chorus seemed to be cooling. however, again, six BFCA nominations. With strong box office take, it's firing on all cylinders once again. It took about a 6-minute dip.

"Persepolis" and "The Butterfly & The Diving Bell" don't have roaring commercial appeal, but both of them have solid buzz and solid critical praise. 'Diving Bell' is apparently disqualified for Best Foreign Film, but "Persepolis" will probably grab a Foreign nomination ('Diving Bell' fully deserves a Best Picture nomination, whether Academy members vote this off the mainstream path remains to be seen).

"Into The Wild" - Once thought forgotten, the film just picked up a big bump today as it scored the highest number of nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, seven nods in total. It has lots of mainstream appeal; consider it officially back in the race (we thought it was kind of overrated).

"Margot At The Wedding" - We loved it, but no one else really did, not even the ISA's really. At best it has hopes for screenplay and Jennifer Jason Leigh. At this point, unless a miracle happens, that's it.

"Sweeney Todd" - See our piece from yesterday, everyone seems to love this thing, despite it being based on the wretched, obtuse music of Stephen Sondheim. It seems to be favored for lots of Oscar nominations. We still haven't seen it yet, but we're skeptical.

"The Assassination of Jesse James" - Having scored excellent reviews for Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck's performances, not to mention a stunning score and cinematography, plus big wins at the Venice Film Festival, this film has been all but forgotten at this point.

"Lust Caution" - Won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, but it's NC17 rating has doomed it's chances in the U.S., there's been some talk of a nomination for its stars, Tang Wei and Tony Leung, but their Oscar hopes are dying. Let's not forget that Venice lost all its cred this year after it gave Best Director to Brian DePalma for his worthless shitbomb "Redacted."

Julie Christie - The accolades can't be any hotter for her this year while earlier it was just solid praise that many assumed would be dead by now. Her performance in "Away From Her" has scored her tons of awards and nominations. At this point she should be a lock for an Oscar nom.

All of these gauges will either rise or fall once Thursday's Golden Globes noms are announced. Last year the winner of the BFCA Best Picture And Best Director award was "The Departed" and Martin Scorsese - the same film/director that won the same Oscar categories.

Broadcast Film Critics Association 2007 Nominees
Best Picture
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

Best Actress
Amy Adams - Enchanted
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page - Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Catherine Keener - Into the Wild
Vanessa Redgrave - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

Best Acting Ensemble
Hairspray
Juno
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
Gone Baby Gone
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Best Director
Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright - Atonement

Best Writer
Diablo Cody - Juno
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Aaron Sorkin - Charlie Wilson's War

Do film critics know anything at all? Of course they do. Or at least lots of them do (disregard most movie blogs, Aint It Cool, and any site that uses amateur and over-enthusiastic exclamation marks all the time - AICN).

However, Time magazine crybaby Richard Corlis tends to think film critics only like, dark and difficult films and has the gall to whine that the Best Actress award (Julie Christie) from the NYFilm Critics award from "Away From Her" from her only earned an meager "$5 million dollars."

Christ, since when did making box office dollars become synonymous with quality? This scumbag is the exact type critical scourge that needs to be wiped off the face of the planet. Feel free to send him hatemail (dogshit) to his office.

"I didn't even tell (my co-workers) that the very popular, and very good, Pixar cartoon "Ratatouille" lost out to a French movie about the troubles in Iran," he wrote perplexed. Wow, how could a movie about the troubles in Iran (of all fucking places) beat out the fun-filled Pixar magic, huh?

What a loathsome character. The worst part about it all? So he scolds critics for being too elitist and snooty and then his own Top 10 of 2007 is basically the fucking same with "No Country For Old Men" at number 1 and obscure (but excellent) fare like "Killer of Sheep" and "The Lives Of Others" also on his list. What a hypocritical dipshit.

Photo: New Spike Jonze 'Where The Wild Things Are' Shot

Damn this thing looks good. Can't wait to see the rabbit that Spike Jonze and David Eggers pulled out of their hat, considering that Maurice Sendak's original children's novel is only 338 words total.

They probably learned the art of the stretch, though to us it would be kind of cool if there wasn't that much dialogue overall.

As previously reported Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is contributing music to the 'Wild Things' soundtrack though the extent and depth of her involvement is unknown. The 'Wild Things' adaptation isn't expected until November 2008.

Sneak Peek: Sweeney Todd Music; Depp Channels Iggy Pop For Vocal Inspiration; Reviews Mad Positive

Yes, we already pointed out, 'Sweeney Todd' obsessives on YouTube are posting songs from the film ("My Friends" and "Johanna"), but we figured some of you might want more (we're really not sure why though).

As previously reported, the soundtrack is due December 18 and the gothy, macabre musical hit theaters December 21. In our not so humble opinions, Tim Burton hasn't put out a decent movie since the very excellent "Ed Wood," and the recent collaborations with Johnny Depp haven't been very worthy either, but critics are loving this thing without a doubt.

On the collated critics site, Rotten Tomatoes, "Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street" currently rests at a whopping 100%; that's nothing but unanimous praise. As more reviews trickle in - the film is still almost 2 weeks off - the ratings will inevitably change, but this is still a great score so far.

Some critics if the film is too bloody to earn Oscar nods, but the L.A. critics especially have been considering it a big Oscar contender (despite the fact, it's been met with very few awards so far; though anything is possible at the Oscars, and while they're not original songs, one would assume it has musical shots at Oscar gold).

Aside from the aforementioned YouTube clips/songs, you can hear a higher quality "My Friends" at Nonesuch records.

New York magazine recently spoke to Burton and Depp. Some excerpts below:
What’s going to piss off die-hard fans the most?
Burton: Cutting “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.” Before I first talked to Sondheim, somebody told me that was the whole reason he wrote the show.

You’ve also called this your punk Sweeney.
Depp: If there was anybody in terms of inspiration for my sound, it was Anthony Newley [the Broadway vet]. And Iggy Pop, you know? Iggy’s kind of this very aggressive crooner. Especially in the early stuff, there’s something about his attack that’s haunting.

As for the tracks from the 'Sweeney Todd' soundtrack below, Sasha Baron Cohen sings, "The Contest" and Depp and some others from the film sing "Epiphany." Their kind of involved melodies and not really our thing, but whateves, someone has to care. Be forewarned, there's a lot of dreaded dialogue in this soundtrack disc.

Is Beck Lying About His Relationship With Theresa Duncan's "Alice Underground" Film?

The Beck, Theresa Duncan/Jeremy Blake story continues to evolve and somehow get even more bizarre and even a little scary (if Scientologists creep you out).

In short, Duncan and Blake were two artists that died this past summer (both alleged suicides) and shortly before their deaths, they claimed that the Church of Scientology were harassing and following them. In a very recent Vanity Fair article, Duncan claimed she had information that L.A. songwriter Beck wanted to leave Scientology and this info put her life at risk.

She also claimed that Beck was to star in her film project "Alice Underground" which allegedly has something to do with the "Alice In Wonderland" story.

"Beck and I met repeatedly to discuss the film," Duncan wrote to a friend in early 2003 according to the VF piece. Beck countered and denied it all (more on that on our original story).

“We never met to discuss doing her film,” Beck e-mailed Vanity Fair. “I did read her script eventually.” But he said he never agreed to be in her movie.

Duncan also alleged that Beck wanted to desperately leave Scientology and he of course totally denied this."That's ridiculous. Totally false…Had we been closer and discussed anything as personal as religion, I would have only had positive things to say about Scientology." The film project then fell apart and Duncan was distraught (she believed the Church of Scientology had intimidated Beck to renounce participating in the movie).

However, and this is the most recent twist, blogger Emmanuel Richards has a good memory and he is pointing out a 2003 Italian interview that states quite the opposite. The piece, roughly translated, talks about Beck set to embark on his first film project and the fact that John Waters had wanted him to act in an earlier project, but the timing wasn't right.

Emmanuel writes: "my 2003 blog archive, which has a mention of a Beck interview for the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, in which he says that he's about to shoot a movie inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It sounds a lot like the Theresa Duncan movie that he doesn't remember today as an advanced project. Is Beck's memory a tad scrambled?"

From the 2003 interview:

What about [your debut] movie? “It will be full of energy and full of characters: some kind of Alice in Wonderland set in the 70s. It still doesn’t have a title. The director is a friend of mine and it will be her directorial debut. But I trust her. We will begin shooting in the Fall.”

Sounds like Duncan's idea, no?

According to the Vulture blog the controversy is ongoing.

Blog SoMA reports that the Vanity Fair article's original author, John Connolly, was pulled off the story, and it was given to Sales, who's the ex-wife of Father Frank Morales, a friend to Duncan and Blake who was there when Duncan's body was discovered in her East Village apartment.

Man, this is a weird-ass and surreal story.