'Where The Wild Things Are' Fake Footage Appears Than Vanishes; Dupes Some, Plus We Found It For Posterity

So late Friday night a clip reportedly from Spike Jonze's upcoming and much-anticipated "Where The Wild Things Are" hit the web via Buzznet, a social-networking pop-culture website and the interweb went all abuzz.

Quicker than you could say Maurice Sendak think this looks terrible, the clip was taken down, but not before people like Cinematical, EW's Pop Watch blog and Slashfilm could post stories about them and then quickly take them down after they realized they had been had (SF didn't take their story down, but aren't completely convinced its fake).

Somewhere, it was revealed the clip was apparently fake (buzznet said it was "user generated")which was (sort 0f) easy to tell based on how a) how crude it looked, b) how the Max character looked nothing like the Max character that MTV first revealed (see image to the left).

As usual though, Google cache never forgets so the posted and then retracted stories are above.

However there were a few things that might've fooled anyone. Cinematical for one knew something was wrong, but they just couldn't place what that was. "I mean, to some extent, it looks pretty cool; then again, it just seems weird in a "I need to sit on it for awhile" kind of way. I will say that the Wild Things are spot on! They look just like they did in the book," they wrote.

EW however had apparently already seen footage of the film, but were still fooled, though they too had their doubts. "I can't tell if it's quite finished yet, as the audio track sounds slightly unpolished -- the film, long in the works (filming started in August '06), recently got pushed to 2009 -- but the emotional impact of this scene is still readily apparent."

And you can kind of see why. The monster while cheap-looking, still wasn't something that just any kid could pull off and the opening strains of Beck's "Jackass" (or Them's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue") are heard fading out in the beginning of the clip - which would make sense to people that know Jonze had directed Beck videos before (and therefore make it seem reasonable that he would use some of his music). One could also be slightly duped by the fact that the footage looked slightly like the second 'Wild Things' image ever leaked (seen to the left), but just remember the fake images don't have Max wearing a crown on his head (and it is pretty obvious by the kid's cheap suit that this is fake regardless).

But you can't see the original clip fake or not cause it's been taken down, right? Wrong. People, Google cache never forgets. The original clip can be seen right here (it's also been found here) Watch it all in it's cruddy, but inventive glory, judge it, laugh and let's hope something real (and good) leaks soon.

'Wild Things' has been pushed to 2009, was co-written by Spike Jonze and celebrated hipster author Dave Eggers and has a soundtrack written by Carter Burwell and songs by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs' Karen O (who apparently received help from the bulimia enthusiast marfan-syndrome stricken Bradford Cox from Deerhunter. Rumors claim that the film has plagued with problems and reportedly is going through re-shoots as we speak.

Update: Users in various comment sections have noted that L.A.'s Griffith Observatory is noticeable in the background. Since 'Wild Things' was shot in Australia, this is leaving many to speculate that the clip is early FX test footage, which it very well could be (and sort of explains the good and bad of the footage if it's a test by the makers themselves), but we won't know for sure until we get a full explanation of Warner Bros. (that is if it comes). Meanwhile it turns out that Eggers will write a a solo novel to accompany the film tentatively called, "The Wild Things," that apparently is inspired by Sendak's original book. Jonze and Eggers consulted with Sendak throughout the screenwriting process.

Update II: The "hottie" obsessed movie site JoBlo (who are somewhat credible believe it or not) are reporting that they have been "informed" that the clip is "in fact test footage that was distributed to studio heads circa holiday 2005 to get studio backing for the film." In the same breath they say they're "still not absolutely certain that's true," but we're all in agreeance that it would at least make sense.

Update III: Holy shit, yes, we realize it was officially called test footage by Spike Jonze himself. And yes, it wasn't "fake" per se, but it's not footage from the film either as we assumed.

Watch: Buzznet's fake "Where The Wild Things Are" clip

Eddie Vedder Hitting The Road For Short 'Into The Wild' Tour

Eddie Vedder scored Sean Penn's Oscar-snubbed film, "Into The Wild." The gravely-voiced grunge crooner then released an album of said 'Wild' songs (with bonus tracks on ITunes-only edition). While he was snubbed by the Oscars, Vedder did win a Golden Globe for his songwriting efforts.

Now, the flannel-enthusiast will head out on the road for a brief jaunt in support of his "Into The Wild" album that has sold 243,000 copies according to SoundScan. Liam Finn of Crowded House will open the shows.

A live version of Vedder's "No More" will be the first single from the upcoming soundtrack Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran due March 18 via Sire for the documentary, "Body of War."

Vedder tour dates:
April 2: Vancouver (the Centre)
April 5: Santa Cruz, Calif. (Civic Auditorium)
April 7: Berkeley, Calif. (Zellerbach Auditorium)
April 10: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Arlington Theatre)
April 12-13: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)
April 15: San Diego (Spreckels Theatre)

Watch: Eddie Vedder - "No More" (at the 2007 Toront Film Festival)

Watch: Eddie Vedder - "Guaranteed" (from "Into The Wild")

Michel Gondry's 'Tokyo' Short Changes Title, Plus Watch 'Rewind' Sundance Performance

We last asked, would Mos Def show up for the "Be Kind Rewind" concert that happened during the Sundance Film Festival? Nobody really reported it (that we saw), but it happened and Mos was there. 'Rewind' opens this weekend and the soundtrack which features Mos Def and score composer Jean-Michel Bernard and also includes songs by JackBlack, Billy Preston (the same song was used in the trailer), Booker T, and musical contributions from Michel Gondry on drums is already in stores.

Next up for Gondry, or at least the next film we'll see is his "Tôkyô!" vignette "Interior Design" about a woman who turns into a chair. But wait, has the title of the short changed? Details and photos of "Tôkyô!" have emerged and it appears that the short's name has been changed to, "Hiroko & Akira in Tokyo." According to FirstShowing.net, the film does not have distribution yet, but its expectedto premiere at film festivals like the Toronto Film Fest later this year.

Watch: Mos Def, Jean-Michel Bernard and Michel Gondry perform at Sundance

Watch: Michel Gondry interview Jack Black

Albert Maysles To Niece: Your Documentary About My Brother (Your Dad) Is "Terrible"; Calls Her Out On Exploiting Beef

We all know who Albert Maysles is, right? The godfather of cinéma vérité, Maysles, along with his now-deceased brother David created such documentary greats like, the Rolling Stones at Altamont film, "Gimmie Shelter" and chronicled Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' batshit crazy relatives in "Grey Gardens."

And we know that the surviving Maysles bro is probably going a little senile now that he's agreed to direct a documentary about fucking Fall Out Boy. Albert isn't taking it easy on family members either. You can never charge him with nepotism, that's for sure.

His niece Celia Maysles (David's daughter) made a documentary about her filmmaking father called "Wild Blue Yonder" (which has its U.S. premieres at SXSW in March). Cool, right? Tribute to dad?

Guess again. Albert was making his own autobiographical doc and is seen in 'Yonder' denying Celia access to his vast archives. "People who worked with him are appalled that he won't share the material," Celia told Vogue in 2006. "I feel my father's story should be told — and I'm the person to tell it."

Apparently Albert was banned from seeing the movie for some time, but he finally got a peek at it recently (thanks to Spoutblog for the good lookin' out). What did he think?

"Terrible…Unnecessarily, I come off badly. I wanted to cooperate with her, but I was — and am — making my own autobiographical film at the same time. I couldn’t just let her pick whatever she wanted. I wanted the two of us to cooperate in that process. She took that as an offense. And as you see in the film, I come off as the bad guy," Maysles told the Reeler at a screening.

Later on in the interview, the filmmaker concedes that the film was "fairly well-made," but calls her out for exploiting their beef and says the film "benefits so much from the ruckus between her and myself... it's unnecessary." Then he says certain things about the film are "totally wrong" and she wouldn't have put them in the film if she knew her father better. Ouch.

One things for sure, Thanksgiving dinner next year is gonna be hella awkward.

Watch: "Wild Blue Yonder" trailer

'In Bruges' Not As Confused As Some Critics Would Like You To Think

(Our belated review) Does the world need another gangster film about hitman with feelings that riff on of pop culture topics and smoke targets while dropping clever witticisms? Hell no, and despite all appearances Martin McDonagh's debut feature-length film "In Bruges" thankfully avoids most of these now-tired and eye-rolling cliches.

If you feared this film would fall prey to the quick, rock n' roll stylish cuts and camera tricks of Guy Ritchie you can rest easy. If you were worried 'Bruges' would drop pop-culture references like Tarantino and Kevin Smith in an inept game of catch, again, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Well, these were our biggest worries anyhow, but having seen McDonagh's "The Pillowman" years earlier on Broadway, we should have known better.

The black as pitch dark comedy with , (rhymes with Rouge) features Colin Farell and Brendan Gleeson as contract killers sent to the medieval Beligian city of Bruges after a botched hit at the behest of their loose cannon boss Ralph Fiennes. The opposites attract duo are told to lay low until contacted by their boss as he figures out their next move and the movie settles in on what seems to be their forced exile in city that is historical and enchanting to one (Gleeson) and torturously boring and dull to the other (Farrell).

One sightsees and takes in the culture and the other whines and bitches eventually finding some cohorts to ease his massive sense of anxiety and boredom. Eventually it's revealed - without spoiling too much - that Farrell's character is holding down a heavy burden that's making him despondent and full of despair.

They run into a dwarf, a sexy Belgian drug dealer and an irate Canadian traveller who gets his clocked severely cleaned. All the while Gleeson is trying to keep their profile low while Farrell does everything to subvert that plan. But for all the talk of snappy talking hitman with guns (at least from some of the press), there's isn't that much violence in the film really.

One of the main beefs we constantly keep reading about this film is that the film is tonally confused. Perhaps the reviewers are just concerned because McDonagh's bread and butter is mixing comedy and tragedy, so these critiques seem rather off (and since when did comedy and tragedy not go hand in hand?)

McDonagh doesn't pretend that he's not a playwright first and foremost. The film's strength is its fiercely sharp, biting and witty dialogue and it makes up for his staid and simple (yet effective) direction. One of our favorite elements of the film is all the extremely un-PC, off-color juvenile humor in the film that made us giggle uncontrollably (usually from the mouth of the uncouth Farrell)- even more so because people like Entertainment Weekly's ostrich-like Lisa Schwarzbaum and geriatric patient/movie critic Rex Reed were visibily uncomfortable.

Not unlike his past work, 'Bruges' is like a dark, modern fairytale that mixes subtle shades of vulnerability and melancholy with trenchant quips and tenebrous disasters with a dash of absurdism thrown in for good measure (there's also traces of Nicolas Roeg's eerie 1973 film "Don't Look Now" set in the simillarly historic venue of Venice). 'Bruges' was the hit of Sundance if that means anything to regular moviegoers and while it's not genius per se and McDonagh still has room to improve his filmmaking skills, it's probably the best film of this dismal winter film season you're going to witness all year. [B+]

A Strong Indication Of What's Wrong With The World: They Want To Make An Ant Man Movie

Ok, so the idea and or talk of a movie based on the worthless, ineffectual comic book character "Ant-Man" isn't exactly new and it's been floating around for some time now. But what baffles us - apart from the fact that someone would even fucking consider making this film - is that the talk persists.

Ant-Man of course is a "super-hero" with the amazing ability to shrink himself and communicate with ants. He's just one notch about Cow Girl and Dustmite on the scale of completely useless heroes. Ok, the film will be a comedy, but really? We think we'd rather see the "Ass" from "Idiocracy" before we'd pay to be bored out of our skulls with this one.

So it'll be like an absurdist super hero movie and Ant Man will help colonize ant farms and assist with the socialist-like commune? Keep this in mind young, fledgling filmmakers. When Hollywood considers you even remotely hot, you may have the ability to push-through any half-ass idea you have into a multi-million dollar movie.

Geek-beloved filmmaker Edgar Wright recently spoke about "Ant-Man," and whether it could be his next project. "It could be that. I finished the script and I'm having a meeting about it next week," he said. "But it depends which comes first in the queue basically. I've been working on two at once, and I'm also about to start developing two more scripts, one of which is with Simon [Pegg]. It could be 'Scott Pilgrim' (another comic book adaptation about a Canadian slacker who must defeat a girl's evil ex-boyfriends in order to date her) is next or it could be Ant Man, we shall see."

What's next a fucking Howard The Duck movie? (uhh, nevermind...)

Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farrell All Set To Play Tribute To Heath Ledger In 'Imaginarium'

Ok, remember there were rumors that Johnny Depp was going to replace Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parssanus" (Ledger's untimely death throwing the production of the film into a tailspin with talk of completely shelving the project)?

Ain't It Cool News is reporting that not only will Depp replace and finish Ledger's unfilmed scenes, but so too will Jude Law and Colin Farrell (we must admit, this sounds like actors lending their talents au gratis, or at least for scale because they felt so affected and moved by Ledger's death). An interesting tribute this will make and will jack up the interest in the wacky-sounding 'Parssanus' tenfold (let's face it, before Ledger died this project just sounded like another hodgepodge of strange, and bad, Terry Gilliam films).

In the script, Ledger’s character evidently falls through a “magical mirror” into an alternate reality and many are speculating this loophole will lend the story its excuse to have four characters playing the same role. Either way, prepare to suspend your disbelief something fierce (photo ideas stolen from Slashfilm). PS don't say it's like "I'm Not There," its relationship to that idea is superficial (and thin) at best.

Ellen Page To Star In Everything For The Rest Of The Decade

Sick of sarcastic little doll-face Ellen Page? You might want to avoid the movie theaters for the next couple years as the breakout success of "Juno" has made it so that 20-year-old is being cast in every film until the end of eternity.

Later this year you'll see her in a smaller co-starring role alongside Ellen Burnstyn in "The Stone Angel," then you'll see her in the Sundance-friendly indie, "Smart People," with Dennis Quaid and Thomas Hayden Church (that will be much more the sarcastic indie-speed of "Juno" fans).

From there she'll star as a teenage lesbian werewolf in ,"Jack And Diane," a roller derby girl in Drew Barrymore's upcoming directorial debut, "Whip It!" and most recently, taking the lead in his Sam Raimi's first non-"Spider-Man," new horror film "Drag Me to Hell."

Today it was announced she'll star in the indie psychological thriller, "Peacock," with Cillian Murphy. The story focuses on a nutty man with a split personality (Murphy) that tricks a town into believing that his two alter-egos are man and wife. Page will play a struggling young mother who sparks a battle between the warring IDs.

The upside to all this even if you can't stand her converse-wearing, indie-earnest personality, is that she'll at least likely be too busy to end up in the pages of US Magazine with a methadone or scandalous dangling vag photo op. Here's to hoping anyhow.

Apparently Self-Aware Michael Bay Spoofs His "Extreme!" Tendencies In Verizon Ad

Who knew that smarmy, arrogant asshole Michael Bay was so self-aware? In this ad for Verizon FiOS TV and FiOS Internet services, Bay sends up his extreme and "awesome" high-octane tendencies to supersize everything, yell at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason and blow up random inanimate objects just cause he can. It's rather amusing. And while funny, it still doesn't negate the fact that Bay makes some of the most ridiculously bad (and sometimes enjoyably bad) films out there and still has the personality of cocky, mullet-sporting cockmunch.

You might have heard that there's a "Transformers 2" script already written, by Bay himself no less (his first). This send-up of what the script might read like by Vulture is hilarious spot-on.

Geriatric Indiana Jones Battles Aliens And Nazis For Last Sexagenarian 'Crystal Skulls' Hurrah?

We have to admit when the swelling John Williams "Indiana Jones" score began we got kind of excited and then the trailer progressed and we became more and more disinterested to the point of just shrugging and thinking there's no real point to it all other than make some more money.

The inclusion of Shia Labeouf is pretty much akin to that moment every television sitcom has trying to pump new life into their sagging show and introducing a new, younger, cuter, funnier kid (see "Growing Pains," "Diff'rent Strokes" et al). What we think won't make the slightest dent on how gangbusters this is going to do at the box-office, but to those planning on spending their hard-earned money and time on this film, we wish you the best of luck.

So Much For That Moon Film - Doug Liman's Next Project Is Valerie Plame

Ok, so maybe the specter and influence of Doug Liman's a legendary do-gooding attorney father is actually compelling the filmmaker to create serious films.

You'll remember a recent New York magazine profile fascinatingly illustrated Liman's (the director of "Swingers," "The Bourne Ultimatum," and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith") conflicting desires to make popcorn thrillers (see the upcoming "Jumper" for a full-on example of escapist fluff) and important films about significant and weighty topics.

The piece basically concluded that the dark side of entertainment had won and his next project would be a stargazing untitled fanciful story about a private expedition to the moon. “All this talking about [worthy stuff],” he says, “it goes out the window when I have a story I want to tell.” Ok, whatever, at least he's self-aware, yes?

However, stop the presses. It seems like the ever-shifting Liman has gone and changed his fickle mind once again.

The MTV Movies blog has reported that Liman's next project will actually be a biopic of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, starring Nicole Kidman (thanks to Vulture for the stolen image). Liman has a fondness for casting those who lost for other films (Brad Pitt was originally supposed to star in 'Bourne,' Liman later recast him in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith") and this film is no exception to that predilection. “[Nicole's] perfect if you’ve ever met Valerie. She was supposed to play Jane Smith in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ We owe a movie together! That’s an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it.”

Despite the fact that much of Plame's “Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House,” was heavily censored by the C.I.A., Liman thinks he has a ingenious way to make the film (though he doesn't say what that ingenious technique will be).

I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It’s so outrageous,” Liman said. “Ultimately, I’d be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it’s automatically appealing to me. I’m just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do.”

We're assuming lots of black bars and scenes left on the cutting room floor?

Madonna's Name Dropping Knowledge Of Cinema Greats, Godard, Visconti, Fellini, Pasolini Can't Help Her Directorial Debut At All

Perhaps you've heard of Madonna's directorial debut "Filth & Wisdom" starring her gypsy-punk bff, Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz that recently premiered at the recent Berlin Film Festival (a fest that is apparently bereft of any major hits and plenty of duds, speaking of...)

Reuters recently asked, "Madonna can sing, her acting has been hit and miss, and now the question is, can she direct?" They also noticed that her production notes revealed no lack of confidence.

In the notes for the film Madge said, “I have always been inspired by the films of [Jean-Luc] Godard, [Luchino] Visconti, [Pier] Pasolini and [Federico] Fellini and hope that I may one day make something that comes close to their genius” (one assumes her husband filmmaker Guy Ritchie read this after this already went to print and screamed in horror).

Hilariously, she spelled two of the directors' names incorrectly (she spelled "Goddard" with two ds and "Passolini" with two s'). To get to the point, critics have been savaging the film and what's being perceived as Madonna comparing herself to some of cinemas giants, is certainly not sitting well with anyone (to be fair she lists them as an influence, but people will project what they want).

Regardless of the poor reviews Madonna insists this is just the beginning. "It's definitely not a one-off," Madonna told Reuters Television in an interview. Adding that she has “other ideas swirling in my head." Madge also apparently had the gall to use one of her own songs in the film ("Erotica") plus Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" and various tracks by Gogol Bordello apparently pepper the film.

An odd, different Reuters' review said the film's message was "that all of us can find peace of mind and happiness if we just get in touch with our inner slut." And said the film was "Ragged, uneven and potholed with some dire dialogue and performances." The UK Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the 81-minute film one star and said, "Madonna has been a terrible actor in many, many films and now -- fiercely aspirational as ever -- she has graduated to being a terrible director," he wrote. "She has made a movie so incredibly bad that Berlin festivalgoers were staggering around yesterday in a state of clinical shock."

Ouch. However, Madonna might be shielded from it all claiming she won't read the review. "I'll just let my managers tell me what they say. I don't want to read it myself." We're thinking the three mildly positive reviews written (Rex Reed or Gene Shalit anyone?) are floated her way.

"This is the terrain I've been exploring throughout the years," Madonna told indieWIRE. "Non-judgment and duality... People have misunderstood my [attention to] this theme yet it has made me what I am today." Whatever...

This 3-minute clip from the film looks dreadful.

Logic Thankfully Prevails: Ludicrous 'Juno' Sequel Idea Quashed Moments After Leaving The Brain Of Dolt That Suggested It

Sometimes you read something and think to yourself, "All is not lost for humanity." This is one of those times. Someone, somewhere - once dropped on their head from a great height at an early age no doubt - recently suggested or asked "Juno" director Jason Reitman if he would consider a sequel to the pregnant-teen comedy.

Now anyone who's seen that film knows this is a ludicrous idea, but the film having performed so well at the box-office this year (over $100 million and counting) - you never know what's going to enter the head's of studio people when these kinds of figures are being accumulated.

Either way when asked about this by PageSix.com Reitman promptly dismissed and quashed the idea (and one assume he was just being polite too).

"I can't see it. She got pregnant once; I just can't see her getting pregnant again," he told the rag that could've brought up the suggestions themselves (definitely within the realm of possibility).

While it's near impossible finding the original Pagesix.com link (their site is ass), we're relieved either way. Say whatever you want about the film, its writers, directors and whatnot, but we're pretty sure even if you drove a dumptruck of money up to Diablo Cody's house she wouldn't write another one of these (she'll make enough bank off other projects anyhow).

'Once' Team Performing At The Independent Spirit Awards

The songwriters of the indie-hit "Once," Glen Hansard (of musical group The Frames) and Marketa Irglova, will be performing live during the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards. The event which takes place on Saturday, February 23 is unfortunatley hosted by insufferable one-trick-pony comedian Rainn Wilson, but the good news is that the Spirited Awards was granted a waiver by the Writer’s Guild of America back in December (the WGA likes them indies) so the show was written well in advance and won't be rushed out the doors like the Oscars.

What does that mean? It will be slightly less annoying then most awards shows this year. No other performers have been announced and its doubtful there will be any others as their is no musical category for the Spirit Awards, and this performance is more a courtesy being that the film is made in the, ahem... spirit of the indie award show.

If all goes well with the last-minute Oscar show that's being produced, we should see Marketa and Hansard perform "Falling Slowly" from the "Once" film as it is nominated for Best Original Song. You can safely bet the same song will be performed at the ISAs.

Deerhunter's Bradford Cox Reveals He's Working With Karen O On 'Wild Things' Soundtrack

Did Bradford Cox, the hideously emaciated marfan syndrome-stricken singer of Deerhunter and side project Atlas Sound inadvertently out himself as being part of the Karen O-penned songs for the soundtrack to Spike Jonze's adaptation of "Where The Wild Things Are"?

The two are mutual admirers (O once famously called Deerhunter's live show a near "religious experience") and friends and in an interview today with online Atlanta mag Creative Loafing, Cox apparently let the cat out of the bag.

"When I was working in the studio [with Karen O on the 'Where the Wild Things Are' soundtrack], we had a lot of bizarre instruments there," Cox said. "I made a lot of reference recordings, like, here's a middle C [note] on a vibraphone. I made a recording of just that middle C, and then I plugged it into this program [Ableton Live], and it uses that middle C to make an entire keyboard out of that vibraphone."

Hello, what?? Of course there's zero context in the rest of the story other than it appears that Atlas Sound (Cox) is assisting O in some capacity with the songs she's written for the Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers-penned 'Wild Things' film, which is now scheduled for release sometime in 2009.

Jonze's younger brother, Squeak E. Clean, told The Playlist that he, "helped out a little with ideas, but [Karen] is pretty much doing the whole thing [herself]," which still suggests that O wrote all the songs and people like Cox are helping her record and playing instruments on her self-penned tunes.

And yes, writers and editors will note the 'Wild Things' reference is in the Creative Loafing piece is an editorial parenthetical (Cox didn't say it per say in that quote, but at some point he did tell them the information and they clarified this for the reader), but we're going to have some faith in humanity (for once) and assume they know how to do their job [ed. even though they failed to notice they were sitting on a scoop].

Spike Jonze Directed New Video For Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" Is Fairly Creepy

Kanye West and Spike Jonze are buddies, going far back (at least) as when the whimsical director interviewed West for VBSTV, and the rapper called Graduation his Thriller album. The fairly violent video features Kanye getting beaten down with a shovel by a half-naked woman. There is a "graphic nature" warning at the beginning of the clip.

The premise is basically: a scantily clad woman has kidnapped and trapped West in the back of her trunk for reasons unknown. She kissed his tapped-up mouth and then proceeds to pull a "Goodfellas" and beat his body senseless with a shovel. Not for kids and most likely not for MTV or most commercial airplay, but you've got to love Jonze's wacky and disturbing ideas.

Oh yeah, it's all done in one, slow-motion shot to boot. When West told Jonze in the aforementioned video that he strives to give his audience something extra , "I give people better art. My life depends on how good this does" and "I want my music, my pieces of art, to be that," we guess he wasn't kidding.

Bill Murray, Gael Garcia Bernal & Tilda Swinton Cast In Jim Jarmusch's 'The Limits Of Control'

When it was first announced that Jim Jarmusch's next film, "The Limits Of Control" was going into production. We were excited, but not too excited.

The film was said to focus on a mysterious outlaw finishing a job in Spain played by Jarmusch's frequent star, Isaach De Bankolé (the French guy opposite Forrest Whitaker in the very excellent "Ghost Dog"). And while De Bankolé is great (he's also fantastic in "A Night On Earth"), it did sound like a smaller project that sounded like it could be easily overlooked (which we never want for Jarmuch films).

Word comes today that we should never fear: Just cast in the film are Bill Murray, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton which makes this film A-list (or at least in our minds) all of a sudden. As Reuters/ the Hollywood Reporter points out, this is the third time Murray has worked with Jarmusch having previously starred in "Coffee & Cigarettes" (a side members of the Wu-Tang Clan*) and "Broken Flowers" (*perhaps one of the greatest moments of modern cinema ever).

The "thriller" is shooting this month on location in the Spain and will bee distributed in the U.S. by Focus Features. Consider us officially excited [ed. congratufuckinlations].

Download: The Tennors - "Ride Your Donkey" (from "Broken Flowers")
Download: Mulatu Astatke - "Yegelle Tezeta" (from "Broken Flowers")
Watch: The Wu-Tang's RZA, GZA & Bill Murray in "Coffee & Cigarettes"

David Bowie Guests On Scarlett Johannson's Tom Waits Cover Record

David Bowie has contributed guest vocals to Scarlett Johansson's Tom Waits covers album, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

The album, which as previously reported is due May 20 via Atco Rhino, contains 10 covers by the gruff, booze-soaked singer and one original called, "Song for Jo" penned by Johansson and producer Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio.

What Waits songs is she covering and from what era? After all his career spans over 30 years. Evidently A mix of songs that tends to draw from Waits more recent albums. Bowie lends his vocals to the tracks "Fannin Street" (from the album Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards) and "Fallin' Down" (Big Time). Johansson apparently wanted to originally make a standards cover album but then became drawn to the idea of all Waits-c0vers. "His melodies are so beautiful and his voice is so distinct," she told reporters at a press conference.

As previously reported, Anywhere was produced by TVOTR's Dave Sitek and features members of the band Celebration and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner throughout. Sitek told reporters that he was going for a "cough medicine/Tinker Bell" vibe. According to a source close to the Playlist, the album sounds as if it were "produced like a Cocteau Twins record [with] big synth washes, crazy swampy blurs of sound," and hushed vocals by Scarjo. Rolling Stone said, "the ambient music Sitek created features a church organ, a brass section, drum machines, a musical box," and he compared Johansson’s deep voice to Debbie Harry.

Sounds like Sitek has really made his mark on this thing and we should be expecting something very Pitchfork-friendly.

Anywhere I Lay My Head tracklist
"Fawn" (from Alice)
"Town With No Cheer" (from Swordfish Trombone)
"Falling Down" (from Big Time)
"Anywhere I Lay My Head" (from Rain Dogs)
"Fannin' Street" (from Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)
"Song for Jo"
"Green Grass" (from Real Gone)
"I Wish I Was in New Orleans" (Small Change)
"I Don't Want To Grow Up" (from Bone Machine)
"No One Knows I'm Gone" (Alice)
"Who Are You?" (from Bone Machine)


Download: Tom Waits - "Fannin' Street"
Download: Tom Waits - "No One Knows I'm Gone"
Watch: Tom Waits - "I Don't Want To Grow Up"

Writers' Strike Officially Over; Television Yobs Breathe Deep Sigh Of Relief

In news you very well may consider the most boring, yeah-no-shit, we knew this was coming, update. The long-standing Hollywood writers' strike is no officially over, so it back to your regularly scheduled program. Members of the Writers Guild of America voted to end their strike on its 100th day, thus allowing Hollywood to rush-write kick-start halted production of numerous useless TV sitcoms and dramas (we thought we might die without "Battlestar Galactica.")

Everyone goes back to work today. Oscar producer Gil Cates admitted, "Our writers are going to be writing very fast." Yeah, no shit. The show airs February 24; a mere eleven days from now. Don't be surprised if the jokes and pap writing is shittier than usual this year.

Just count your lucky stars that Bruce Villanch is still alive.

"The strike is over," WGA West President Patric Verrone declared. "Our members have voted, and writers can go back to work." The impact of the strike is an estimated $2 billion in lost wages and earnings in the Los Angeles area alone.

The Best Supporting Actress Category: Oscar's Only Wild Card

Let's face it. The major categories for Oscar are not that hard to figure out, major bumps notwithstanding.

Most likely, Daniel Day-Lewis is going to take Best Actor, "No Country For Old Men," is going to take Best Picture, Julie Christie will likely take Best Actress and Javier Bardem is basically a lock for Best Supporting Actor (we'll leave director open for now, but we think the Coen Brothers are taking it).

We could easily be eating our words in a short two weeks when the Oscars happen and our plan goes awry, but we don't think so (we're known to be wrong and there's always one major left-field monkey wrench each year; look we might look foolish later, but we'll say it now "Juno" is only taking home Best Screenplay).

But the Best Supporting Actress category is a bit of a puzzler. The way we - and many others - see it, this field is a three-way race between Cate Blanchett ("I'm Not There"), Ruby Dee ("American Gangster") and Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") ["Michael Clayton" ice queen Tilda Swinton can't win for playing herself; and "Atonement" co-star Saoirse Ronan is presumably too young and too annoying too win].

It used to be Amy Ryan's award to lose in the fall. Then Cate Blanchett won the Golden Globe in December and plans changed. Then Ruby Dee's quick performance in "American Gangster" won her the more-important SAG (Screen Actors Guild) award and then the whole race became all topsy turvy.

Every other aforementioned category has basically gone down the way we've listed above in all the major, Oscar-influencing awards, but Best Supporting has been a real crap shoot.

Ruby Dee has the sympathy, we've never awarded you before vote and we all know this is a powerful one (see Alan Arkin taking what everyone thought was Eddie Murphy's Best Supporting award in 2005 for the last significant example). Cate Blanchett has the she was actually excellent, most of us were bored in that film, but she was great vote and Amy Ryan has the suprise, holy cow, isn't she a TV actress, startled and take notice vote.

Who's it gonna be? The Weinstein's are making a strong last minute bid for Cate Blanchett and their last minute noisy campaign during the Miramax days for "Shakespeare In Love," somehow outdid the assumed-lock of "Saving Private Ryan," but one can't really compare the two bids ('Shakespeare' was a full-on assault). We honestly think it's more of a race between her and Ruby Dee's sympathy vote.

It's too close to call. Hell, we probably won't even decide up until Oscar night when we fill out our ballot.

Watch: Red Band 'Pineapple Express' Trailer

You can be sure this one won't be up for long.

Ok, so wunderkind producer / filmmaker Judd Apatow has four films coming out this year, but if any of his comedies can recreate 2007's banner year, "Pineapple Express" looks like its the one (the other three are "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "Drillbit Taylor," and "You Don't Mess With Zohan").

Let's not forget that "Walk Hard," was kind of an Apatow dud too, box-office-wise.

"It's like God's vagina." You can't sell a film based-around weed in trailers that easily, so look for a lot of R-Rated viral clips like this one to hit the internets.

Anywoo, 'Pineapple Express' (it's the brand name of the pot); it's a stoner comedy for summer 2008, directed by normally-moody artisan David Gordon Green and stars Seth Rogen and James Franco (both of "Freaks & Geeks alumni) as stoner buddies who inadvertently witness a drug-related murder involving a cop (Rosie Perez), and try and use the threat of mob fugitives out for blood as motivation to get their shit together and lives in order. You'll remember a four minute clip from the film leaked late last year (and it's still up if you want to see it). The trailer features multi-culti mash-up artist M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." The film is written by the trio of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg (these two wrote "Superbad") and Judd Apatow and hits theaters August 8.

Download: M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Watch: "Pineapple Express" Red Band trailer

Weinstein Company Really Wants Cate Blanchett To Win An Oscar For Dylan Portrayal In 'I'm Not There'; DVD Due May 6

The Weinstein Company is seemingly pulling out all the stops in trying to get Cate Blanchett an Oscar for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There."

For one, the Weinstein's don't have much of a shot with anything this year aside from this film which is part of the reason they're campaigning so hard. Secondly, "I'm Not There" didn't do great business at the box-office ($3 million in the U.S. only so far, $7 million world-wide with a reported $20 million dollar budget) so to grab some extra Oscar attention wouldn't hurt the impending DVD release (more on that later).

As we've mentioned, they've released every Cate Blanchett scene in the film on YouTube as a way to highlight her performance for Oscar members too A.D.D. (or bored) to sit through the entire unwieldy and heady film (she doesn't even enter until about an hour into the 2-hour, 15- minute movie). Now they've put a 20 minute featurette front and center on Apple Trailers.com as another way of giving Cate's performance more shine. It's doubtful they can do much more to give her attention, but never underestimate the Weinsteins when they get an bug idea up their butt.

The Apple featurette is ok. It's basically a bunch of talking head interviews you've already seen and heard (if you're a fan of the film) with lots of lengthy unbroken clips from the film much like the YouTube clips (only not as long, but the quality is obviously much, much better).

"Films like 'I'm Not There' don't get made, really," Blanchett says. "The script was not written for studio executives. It wasn't a digestible document, it was an auteurs document and you don't really read that very often. I understood the film through the process of doing it. Todd [would explain], 'It's like a dream.' "

Blanchett does have a good shot, but the Best Supporting Actress category is Oscar's biggest major-category wild card this year (which is yet just another reason the studio is working so hard).

Meanwhile, the film's DVD release is set for a May 6 street date, however no details have been announced yet. We'd love to see a double-disc tricked out version, but we're not holding out breath, frankly. Suffice to say there probably won't be any Heath Ledger featurettes involved. They really ought to release a Todd Haynes' Dylan "mix-tape" CD of all the various Dylan songs used in the film, cause it's a great grab bag of Zimmy songs, some of which are semi-obscure and pretty great.

Watch: "Ballad Of A Thin Man" - from "I'm Not There"

Photos: Heidi Klum Helps Will Ferrell Shill 'Semi-Pro' With Sports Illustrated Spread

It's a movie about inept basketball players ("Semi-Pro," starring Will Ferrell), it's a model with some hot T&A (Heidi Klum), it's a magazine about sports and an issue about hot models and T&A.

You cannot have a greater marriage of advertorial synergy that benefits men who enjoy stupid fun comedies and sporting raging hard-ons during their morning subway rides.

More photos are over at Sports Illustrated.
There's also an interview with wacky Ferrell. Here's a sample of the big man doing his shtick.

When you and Heidi got together for the Swimsuit shoot, the atmosphere seemed ...
"Hot! Yeah, she's a wildcat. Pretty much every shot came down to one of us trying to get the other's pants off. The one where I'm biting her -- can I say A-S-S? -- that was one of the craziest moments. She told me, 'You need to just bite my ass.' I was kind of mimicking, half-doing it, so she stopped and said, 'No! Really bite it!' It was one of the most surreal moments in my entertainment life."

'G.I.Joe' Movie: Your Official Guide To Not Giving A Shit

Get your kung-fu action grip ready [ed. oof, painful shit].

One of the last vestiges of the lame, pre-strike rushed-into-production bad ideas is the "G.I. Joe" movie so it's ironic and fitting that with the strike coming to a close, the final pieces of casting for the military movie based on a cartoon made to sell action figures would fall into place.

The last piece of news just days before shooting is to commence? David Murray (who?), who was to play the (apparently Scottish) arms dealer Destro, has been replaced by British actor Christopher Eccleston (we must have missed that accent when we were kids; mostly cause it wasn't there; Eccleston is "Doctor Who" in the U.K.).

The film and its very C-list cast looks like this: (with visual aids above and below) Dennis Quaid plays General Hawk; Channing Tatum will portray Duke; 'Star Wars' ninja guy Ray Parks will play the silent Snake Eyes (thank god, he can't actually act); some hottie Rachel Nichols will dye her hair red to play crossbow enthusiast Scarlett; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will be Heavy Duty (a controversial move, see below*); Morrocan actor Said Taghmaoui will play the part of communications expert Breaker (who was white originally); Marlon Wayans' career is apparently nowhere so he'll be taking on the role of parachuting specialist Ripcord (also originally white); Sienna Miller - perhaps the only barely B-list name here - will depict the evil Baroness and some guy named Byung-hun Lee will represent the badguy ninja Storm Shadow. In a sad move set to derail his promising career, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will stoop so low to apparently play Duke's best friend who may or may not be Cobra Commander (we hope to god he made some serious bank; update: apparently confirmed now). The film is already scheduled to hit theatres August 7, 2009.

How are they going to make this absurd premise work in reality? The premise being: a highly capable branch of the U.S. military's - the Joe's - main purpose is to defend the world against enemy attack from COBRA, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world (and who are independently wealthy and evidently possess an endless number of foot soliders pawns to waste).

Who knows and who cares? Maybe the plot is besides the point?

As our pal Mr. Snruff points out, no matter how wildly bad and retarded this concept is, people (or at least adultlescents) will still care no matter what, seeing as "G.I. Joe" - and specifically the Hasbro series - is a cultural touchstone of American male childhood for an entire generation of (mostly white) men. In other words never underestimate people's desperate need to indulge and participate in nostalgia against their willful and knowing better judgement.

Knowing is apparently not half the battle anymore.

Regardless, die-hard Joe fans (nerds of the highest order) might be upset that the *African-American heavy-metal gunner Roadblock has been replaced with the character Heavy Duty - an EXTREME '90s update of the character (who is apparently Roadblock's son). To most comic book store employees, this is surely a outrageous move, not in the spirit of the original concept, worth logging on to message boards and firing up a storm of indignant vitriol.

Dennis Quaid is apparently signed on for THREE sequels in case this thing catches on in the blockbuster summer season of 2009. Good god, help us.

Politically Incorrect Casting Choices:
We honestly really despise when movie bloggers give their inspidly earnest ideas of who should be cast in a film when the topic relates to their nerdy every day life (suggestions only come via comic/adventure books only). Our instant reaction is we could give a flying fuck, but we can't resist here. Especially since there are so many damn characters not represented above that were important parts of the cartoon, comic book and action figures (don't forget to buy those action figures).

Gung Ho: as played by John Waters
In keeping with the modern military’s stance of "don't ask, don't tell," casting John Waters as Gung Ho - a thinly veiled homoerotic character to begin with - will not only place the squarely '80s cartoon in a modern setting, it will open up the audience to a larger, more fabulous demographic.

Bazooka: as played by Randy Quaid
A dim-witted hick missile specialist known for chewing gum on the job and not being the sharpest pencil in the shed? Does this role have Randy Quaid's dullard personality written all over it or what? Plus Quaid's a loose-cannon in real life too. Sounds like it's a match made in heaven.

Spirit: as played by Lou Diamond Phillips
He's G.I. Joe's expert Native American tracker, what else would he be? Lou Diamond Phillips is America's go-to Native American actor. What other choice do we have, really?

Buzzer: as played by Dee Snider
Buzzer is a member of the infamous Dreadnoks - a villainous biker gang employed by Cobra. Buzzer enjoys punching people's teeth out and playing with chainsaws. Dee Snider is the former lead singer of drag-queen biker metal act Twisted Sister. Much like the biker character, Snider is uncouth and violent in many Sister videos where slobbering ex-Green Beret fathers are thrown from 2nd-story houses onto the ground. Game, set, match.

Maybe we'll hear an updated version of the theme song as sung by Cobra Starship? Here's to hoping.
Watch: "G.I. Joe" Cartoon Theme

Rob Zombie Not Directing 'Conan The Barbarian' Remake Despite Lunch Meetings With Salads, Gladhanding & Diet Cokes

Bloody Disgusting.com is quickly becoming our favorite comedy horror site. The fansite dedicated to all things horrific, terrifying and bloody enthusiastically reported last week that they had "confirmed 100%" that Rob Zombie has been taking meetings with Lionsgate to direct a remake of "Conan the Barbarian." Ok, amazing right?

We can also confirm 100% that Judd Apatow will make a bowel movement today. So?

You'll recall that BloodyDisgusting, was recently pwned hard when they"100%" confirmed that Paul Thomas Anderson's next film would be a horror movie and PTA then quickly quashed that erroneous rumor. Then the horror Pollyanna's found major umbrage with Democratic candidate Barack Obama over his mild objections of some R-Rated films and they officially declared that he had lost the Horror/Torture Porn vote (like any of those cheesewhiz couch surfers ever voted). Of course then they realized this was silly and quickly took down the post (but watchful sites caught them red-handed).

Well, if their track record is any indication you know where this story is going. While Zombie apparently did take meetings (congratulations?), he turned down the 'Conan' script and his next film will apparently be "Tyrannosaurus Rex" which apparently has "nothing do to with dinosaurs."

Ok, it's not necessarily the hugest flub in the whole world, a meeting was taken, but we can't help but smile over these guys can-do, special Olympic-like attitude in the face of ineptitude. We can't wait to see what they cook up next.