WB Weighs In On 'Wild Things': Denies Jonze Off Project, Clears Up The Rumors, But Film Disappears From 2009 Release Schedule

One month after reports of "Where The Wild Things Are" reshoots and almost two month since WB issued a statement and producer John Carls told EW that "Alvin & The Chipmunks" screenwriter Jon Vitti was requested to make "significant changes" to the script, Warner Bros. have weighed in on the allegedly troubled Spike Jonze directed adaptation on the L.A. Times blog.

The Big Pictures Patrick Goldstein spoke to Warners chief Alan Horn, but his claim this is the first time the studio has offered their side of the story is kind of incorrect, given that they released a statement. Quibbling I guess. Horn denied Jonze was taken off the project (duh, only the hysterical actually believed this), seemed supportive of the fanciful filmmaker, but also made it clear he wants the film to have a wide mainstream appeal.

"We've given [Jonze] more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. We obviously still have a challenge on our hands. But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material and we're just trying to get it right."

Obviously the film has been suffused with drama mostly because of panic-prone bloggers getting all shrill about the rumors, which begat more rumors like a snowball (though to be balanced, the EW report has one anonymous insider call the project "deeply troubled"; but the screenwriter Vitti, actually has a strong and respectable CV).

That's about all we get. The rest of the piece, Goldstein basically gives Warners a blow job and lauds their marriage of auteurs with big-name projects (ala Chris Nolan with the Batman franchise). "I congratulate Warners for being willing to let daring artists tackle its more conventional material," he espoused, brandy sniffer in hand, while surrounded by leather bound books in his mahogany-colored study.

Horn agrees with his fawning assessement and can't agree more (though all joking aside, the 'jury still out' comment is a not an cowardly thing to say).

"We try to take a few shots, Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The jury is still out on this one. But we remain confident that Spike is going to figure things out and at the end of the day we'll have an artistically compelling movie."

Either way, it sounds like working on it, like we figured they were. We're sure someone can spin some freak out about this though. We've put in the work here though (a bit like Corey Haim has), and many a blog has noticed including one of the other L.A. Times blogs out there. So we're gonna put it out there: someone should hook us up with the 'Wild Things' script (co-penned by Dave Eggers, though maybe even the re-write?) and someone should dare to give us some quotage here too (including one insider who was incredibly annoyed we broke the Karen O soundtrack news although all we really did was open up and read a magazine that failed to put the blurb online; it was out there dude, you know who you are).

One thing we failed to note on Friday when we wrote this (we write too fast and juggle too many things). The film was moved to an October 2009 release date back in February of this year, but Goldstein notes that the film disappeared from the Warner Bros. release schedule just last week, which does point to continuing signs of trouble and or at least suggests that there's a long way to go before this thing is ready for a proper release.

Talking Head TV Talks To The Playlist About 'Inglorious Bastards'

You could call it blantant self-promotion we suppose, we're ok with that. TalkingHeadTV asked us if we wanted to talk about Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards," and the brouhaha surrounding the leaked script (which we just got) so we said, "Sure, why not." The worst is we make a jackass out of ourselves and we do that on a daily basis anyhow, so whatever, right? We're all just glad my stupid face wasn't really up there. Hopefully we don't come across too blowhardy. Pt2. and Pt3. can be seen here too if you want more.

Breaking! Diddy Says Bitchassness Up 200%, Alert Level Raised To Orange

"Them haters they out there, they broke, they ain't go no Wii, they lips is ashy, they ain't go no money, they talking about niggas, they hatin' on the Internet. We have reached a level ORANGE! Ladies and Gentleman, I know that I am a pillar of confidence when it comes to bitchassness... [long pause] Let us pray..."

Sean Penn Prays For The Fully Intact 4-Hour Release Of Steven Soderbergh's 'Che'

What's happening with Steven Soderbergh's sprawling 4-hour epic about the Argentina guerrilla cum Cuban revolutionary 'Che' Guevara? Is it being picked up for distribution on cable via HBO? Will it premiere at the New York Film Festival in September like one keenly educated posits seem to suggest just yesterday? (It really looks like it's going to happen, fyi).

We await the answer (and probable announcement) with baited breath and in the meantime Cannes 2008 head juror has weighed in on 'Che' and all the problems that have plagued the unbearably long and polarizing two-part chronicle.

British film magazine Sight & Sound has an interview with the presiding Cannes festival Juror and InContention.org has transcribed it for us all (via Jeffrey Wells). Penn defends the film, says he didn't really listen to much of the buzz, hype and brouhaha surrounding the film (up until a point) and says he prays someone will distribute the film in its massive four-hour entirety.

On the buzz and surrounding hoopla; Penn thinks you're dumb.

"Right through the festival I had no awareness of what the ‘buzz’ was, and I shut people down if they tried to talk about movies in front of me. But when I did a little bit of catch-up browsing afterward I read some of the stupidest, ugliest, most cynical responses to what had gone on, and I had the front-seat to be aware of their inconsistencies."

On its chances of distribution and releasing the film in its fully intact form

" 'Che' is a great example. I pray it finds distribution in the four-hour-plus form I saw, because otherwise people will be missing out. The film-making is stellar: there are so many details in the execution of that huge story. Every sentiment about Guevara I’ve heard passionately expressed when I’ve travelled in Cuba and South America was not only dramatised, but without exposition, seamlessly, fulfilling the narrative. Then you have one of the first tour de force performances in film history that doesn’t rely on the close-up."

(This last point is a really great observation by Penn; that sounds astounding really)
The Jury may have not awarded 'Che' the Palme D'or, but they were certainly inspired afterwards.

"This is a film, I later find, that had some negative responses…I was in a jury room of nine people with more expertise in their big toenails than any of the people writing in these papers: nine out of nine wanted to go out and change the world afterwards."

Penn also goes to bat for "The Two Lovers" (Lisa Schwarzbaum be damned) and "Synecdoche, New York."

"I know some jurors had disappointments (in the voting); it’s inevitable. I loved Joaquin Phoenix in 'Two Lovers.' Even though there was controversy about 'Synecdoche, New York' I think everyone agreed that Philip Seymour Hoffman continues to be one of the great actors around. There’s no such thing as ‘Better than true,’ and you get a lot of true performances. But context matters, you can’t help it. There was something about the timing of Benicio del Toro playing Che that was undeniable."

Like many of us Jeffrey Wells laments what happened to 'Che' after Cannes (basically nothing) and says, the production company Wild Bunch is lowering their asking price since the film is such a difficult slog and then rails derisively into the rest of you yobbing "WALL*E tele-tubbies," that will likely flip the channel if and when 'Che' is relegated to cable. We can't agree more.

Paramount Not Down With Fincher's Too "Risque" Take On The Animated 'Metal'

Back in March it was reported that nu-auteur of the dark and twisted mien, David Fincher, would be one of the directors involved in remaking the animated hesher classic, "Heavy Metal." In fact, he was spearheading the project.

The original animated "Heavy Metal" in 1981 became quite the cult-film boasting a lot of the similarly garish airbrushed art hosted on the side of many a van in the late '70s. It also brandished much of the near soft-core porn, erotica and violence that made the magazine so popular with adolescent boys of the '70s and '80s fond of science-fiction and masturbation (the hesher-heavy rock soundtrack that featured Dio-era Sabbath, Sammy Hagar, Nazareth, Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad and many other).

However! According to Entertainment Weekly, Paramount, who were funding the project, have pulled out because their execs felt the movie was "too risque for mainstream audience." Fincher does love his edge-pushing trangressiveness (see some of the weirdo shit in "Seven," hello Lust! "That disease spreading whore!"), but maybe he was gonna make this one extra fucked up and Paramount balked?

Either way the project is now stalled and in limbo until Fincher and his producers find a new studio to back it. However, one producer is pretty certain it will happen one day once they can find some unscrupulous studio that peddles in that sort of immoral smut (dudes, hello, have you not called Lion's Gate??)

Deep Thoughts: Young Nerdlinger, Sexman Reviews 'Hancock'

Sexman is getting way old and he's kind of losing his touch, but it's slow day. PS, he spoils the movie if you don't already know, but it should hopefully just steer you clear of it. He actually asks for a sequel as he liked this piece of shit. Kid is slippin' hard.

"You can't be funny all the time. It's sorta like real life. Yeah you can be funny sometimes, but sometimes… sometimes humor isn't the most important thing."

DC Comics Rethinks Their Comic Book Film Franchises; Likely Chews Out Warner Bros' Ass

We noted it earlier this year...With the success of "Iron Man," and the relative (sort of, not really) success of "The Hulk," not to mention the shitton of other projects that Marvel Studios have in the can, D.C. Comics is behind the eight ball with their movie properties and a strategy rethink it about to happen according to the Hollywood Reporter. Yes, yes, Nikki Finke, you called this, we get it. ;)

Warner Bros. has generally been working D.C.'s properties, Batman and Superman and... well, that's about it. Film projects based on their other heroes like Wonder Woman and most notably and recently, The Justice League Of America have floundered in going-nowheresville.

WB and DC have just met and the meeting prolly went a little like this:

DC execs: Dudes, what the fuck!? Marvel is kicking our ass, what gives!?
WB suits: Guys, c'mon Batman has done really well, Superman was loved by many old people. These spreadsheet show that in Korea, audiences can't wait for a Martian Manhunter film, this looks promising!
DC mob: [burning stares across the marble corporate table]
Clueless WB: According to our calculations and research, audiences are going to grow tired of Marvel properties in the year 2013! [nervous smiles]

Warner declined to comment on what was actually said at the meetings, but that pretty much nails it we bet. Either way, whatever comes from their corporate pow wow and group think, a large announcement will be made to please the shareholders soon enough. Much like Marvel's overambitious announcement earlier this year, where they announced flicks based on the Avengers, Thor and Captain America, D.C. will likely announce a slew of projects based on Wonder Woman, The Flash, The Green Lantern and other similarly lesser characters not worthy of an entire feature film expected to be delivered in a comparably unreasonable and rushed time frame.

WB says:
"While we are not going to go into the specifics of the meetings, we're constantly looking at how best to exploit the DC Comics characters and properties. DC is an incredibly valuable asset to Warner Bros. and plays an important role across the entire studio by providing development and franchise opportunities for all media, including films, television, home entertainment, animation, consumer products, video games and digital platforms."

Send in the toys!

Struggling NY Times Selling Stories To Studios To Stay Afloat?

The newspaper and magazine industries have recently run into struggles to stay afloat and relevant in an age where they are forced to compete for readership and advertising with young people on the Internet providing news that has an angle foreign to the oldtimers, its entertaining (fucking kids). But the clever, moldy old bastards over at the New York Times might have just found a way to end major layoffs plaguing the industry as of late, as deftly illustrated in the fictionalized version of the Baltimore Sun in season five of David Simon's multi-dimensioned social commentary, "The Wire," and continue funding that blog-like thing they bother to edit and print off everyday.

The print-journalism industry isn't the only industry that foresees major "economic challenges" in their future, major Hollywood studios can see the writing on the wall and realize that there are only so many times they can recycle old comic books, graphic novels and classic movies before the viewers catch on and abandon their market. What did the execs do when they realized this? Well naturally they woke up, poured themselves a nice glass of cognac and went out to their front door to grab the paper and bam, like that all their prayers were answered.

Somewhere along the way studios realized that the original stories with the real-life grittiness were sitting in front of them all along, in the newspapers. So far the NY Times has had fifteen stories optioned for movie deals, including the ultra ridiculous move by J.J. Abrams to acquire the rights to an article about an apartment with mysteriousness built right in! ( as created by a wackjob architect)

The most recent option for the Times is the June 22nd article written by Brooke Hauser which follows the prom nights of immigrant Brooklyn seniors who despite all odds finally got the opportunity to experience the quintessential American right to an evening of public intoxication and/or loose their virginity in a cheaper version of Motel 6.

So newspapers, it looks like you have finally joined the ranks of goal-oriented idealist who at one time or another were presented with the opportunity to sellout, and you took it! Congratulations!

'First Listen': American Teen Soundtrack

As previously noted, the "American Teen" soundtrack comes out next week on July 15.

As noted by many, the soundtrack is kind of curated by Columbia/Almost Gold including their bands MGMT, Black Kids, Does It Offend You, Yeah? and The Ting Tings. Some say this is sort of corporately monopolistic and or odd that one whole label can takeover a soundtrack cause they have the muscle - and this is probably why the soundtrack changed (it was different when is screened at Sundance) - but let's face it people, this is the way our co-branding/synergistic dwindling economy world is going for better or worse. Pretty soon we'll have soundtracks sponsored by Brawndo.

The celebrated teen documentary's accompanying CD features the New Pornographers, Cat Stevens (the classic "Trouble" from "Harold & Maude"), now-defunct electronic duo Frou Frou (which featured Imogen Heap on vox) Montreal singer/songerwriter Patrick Watson and three exclusive tracks have been made for the soundtrack/film and they also include ones by Oklahoma songwriter Ryan Lindsey and San Franciscan folk rocker Nyles Lannon (and we have a first listen to those tracks below).

We're really digging the Patrick Watson song, "The Great Escape." It's a little meaningful-core and care-a-lot rock, but whattayagonna do, it's a pretty song. If you haven't already seen it, the full tracklist is here. We didn't love "American Teen," like the rash of early bloggers that adored it (because they saw it first). It's a little superficial and a bit MTV Real World, doc-of-the-week, but like is the case for many an indie film, you'd be better off spending your money on that crowd pleaser than you would with garbage like "Hancock," "The Happening" or the "Indiana Jones 4."

Roddy Bottum Talks 'Kabluey'; Scoring 'Gigantic' Film That Stars, Zooey D, Zach Galafianakis

We mentioned yesterday that Imperial Teen's singer/guitarist Roddy Bottum scored the bittersweet indie comedy, "Kabluey," starring Lisa Kudrow and Scott Pendergrast, which is getting great reviews (especially one strong NYTimes look). The former Faith No More keyboardist was kind enough to give us three exclusive music cues from the film (which you can hear below) and we briefly chatted with him as well.

Bottum also noted that he's also been tapped to compose the score to the upcoming comedy romance "Gigantic," by first time director Matt Asleton with a stellar cast that includes Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman and Zach Galafianakis that will probably hit later in the year or early 2009.

Lastly, he's also working with former That Dog and noted L.A. singer/musician Anna Waronker on the score to an ABC pilot called, "Bad Mothers Handbook."

How'd you get hooked up with scoring "Kabluey"?
Roddy Bottum: Scott Prendergast, the director, heard my reel and asked me if I'd score the movie. I was scoring a big ol' TV show at the time and was scared to take it on but I'm glad I did. His decision was based solely on the sound of my music, which is flattering [since] he had a pile of CD's of score stuff. It's easy to stand out when everybody's doing that 'movie sound' thing.

What was the musical approach?
There's a lot of big open spaces in the film and I aimed for that geographic landscape in the score. The musical lines are open ended and sparse. There's a big blue mascot in the film, that's KABLUEY, and I used a bassoon for his theme. there's a lot of physical comedy involving the suit and it was really fun to score that. It plays
a little bit like a silent film. There's some ukulele in the score that works in that same way.

You have friends help you out?
Patty Schemel, the drummer from Hole, played drums on the score, Jonny Polonsky played ukulele and my 9 year old niece, Charlotte played the tambourine.

"Kabluey" is in limited release starting in New York as we speak, it hits Los Angeles this weekend, Austin on July 25 and San Francisco on August 1. You can see the trailer here.

Exclusive: 'Henry Poole Is Here' Soundtrack Features Badly Drawn Boy, Eels, The Bravery & Golden State

Alright, we've got a first look exclusive at the tracklist for the "Henry Poole Is Here" soundtrack. We know the jury is out for a lot of people on this film (for a small few anyhow), but what can we say, it looks good and looks up our alley. Plus we have a soft spot for Luke Wilson and the weirdly hot soccer mom that is Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiam" wife Cheryl Hines (Radha Mitchell and Adriana Barraza, also star)

The soundtrack, which comes out August 12 via Lakeshore Records, features the trailer song, "Believe" by ersatz rockers The Bravery, Badly Drawn Boy's "Promises" from Born In The UK, and "Love Of The Loveless" by L.A. sad sack The Eels, plus lesser known, but quite as good tracks by L.A. shoegazers Helen Stellar, North Carolina Ambient pop duo Alt-Ctrl-Sleep and Cali alt-rockers Golden State, who also have the song "All Roads Lead Home," featured in the film.

According to one of the early trailers, the movie itself also features additional tracks by Bob Dylan, Ben Harper and Blur. The film hits theaters August 15. What's the movie directed by former video director Mark Pellington ("U2 3D") about? We've written a ton about it and there's synopsis and plot points here.

"Henry Poole Is Here" soundtrack tracklist.
01. Love Of The Loveless – Eels
02. Believe - The Bravery
03. Promises - Badly Drawn Boy
04. Only You - Joshua Radin
05. All Roads Lead Home - Golden State
06. IO (This Time Around) - Hellen Stellar
07. Silhouette - Alt-Ctrl-Sleep
08. I'm Not Who I Was - Brandon Heath
09. Morning Yearning – John Linton
10. Lucky Man – Jack The Bear
11. Devil’s Arcade – Michael Dickes
12. Why Can't You - Zach Broocke
13. Hold On – Alon

The Eels - "Love Of The Loveless"

'Polanski Wanted & Desired' Is Actually An Expose Of Corrupt Justice More Than A Depiction Of A Filmmaker's Immoralities

The documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired" comes out this weekend in limited release. We thought we'd give our review a little play again.

Director: Marina Zenovich
As the title overtly suggests, there's a schism in the perception of Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski. In Europe he's desired and considered one of cinema's giants. In America, he's viewed as gifted filmmaker turned monster and rapist. In Zenovich's unflinching portrayal of the director and his scandalous crime and notorious trial both of these viewpoints are evenly investigated (though monster might be a little much). It's even-keeled and mostly non-partisan, but the filmmaker can't hide her slightly sympathetic view - at least where his trial is concerned, but you can't blame her. No quarter is given to Polanski's crimes, but the trial and the unscrupulous judge who presided over it is shown in his full dodgy light (both attorneys have little positive to say about his underhanded tactics and his blatant bending of the law; even those who thought they knew everything about this story will be surprised). Somewhat less of a depiction of a filmmaker gone astray, 'Wanted & Desired,' ends up being ultimately becomes more bogged down in being an expose of askewed justice rather than a deep examination of a man's actions and its this little disconnect that prevents the film from truly fulfilling its promising ideas. But it's still worth watching and an intriguing film to be sure. [B+]

"Hellboy III"? Or Is Ron Perlman's Imminent Death Going To Get In The Way?

Guillermo del Toro's meticulously designed comic-book adaptation, "Hellboy II The Golden Army," staring Ron Pearlman and Selma Blair, about a cigar loving, loose canon son of the devil, Hellboy, is being released wide this weekend.

The character was evidently conquered by the Nazis who planned to use him was a weapon, his group of not-so-average friends help him lay waste to the intruders from the fantasy world who are threatening to destroy the earth. Neato, right?

And the critics are saying the movie might not be half bad. With a 74 out of 100 on Metacritic.com going into the weekend and with the same direction and crew from last year's visually stunning "Pans Labyrinth," the weekend numbers are expected to be quite large, maybe even surpassing those set by the original "Hellboy," which only brought in around $60 million domestically and struggled to break even.

The numbers may be large in part of the quality of film del Toro is known to make but also due tothe utter lack of competition. "Hancock" was the talk of the movie world just last week, but it's a critical shitfest and should die off soon enough. Will audiences be rushing out to "Hellboy II" in droves to erase the memory of "Hancock" or to get their comic-book movie fix to hold them over until "The Dark Knight"? One also has to consider the films "Hellboy II" is in competition with this weekend. Viewers will have to choose between the new Eddie Murphy abortion, "Meet Dave," and "Journey to the Center of the Earth," the movie that stars that guy who used to be a mildly popular B-list actor, Brendan Fraser (the mid-west will love it). Note, Variety says 'II' might still have to contend with high Hancock second week numbers, but we kinda think that's off.

All of this plays well for the "Hellboy" franchise, but there is that nagging problem with having a 58 year old actor play your lead and in a recent interview with NY magazines blog, Vulture, the actor who portrays Hellboy onscreen, Ron Perlman, discussed his own personal smoking habits. The week before del Toro wondered if he'd even be around on this mortal coil long enough for a threequel. "If Ron takes his medicine and vitamins and can stay healthy enough, we can have a Hellboy III," he cautioned before putting on "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," wiping away a tear and crossing himself.

When asked how he manages to smoke the amount of cigars necessary to portray Hellboy, Perlman said, "Dude, I smoke so many cigars in the course of a day that it's not dramatically different."

It appears as though "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" will be successful in pulling in a few bucks this weekend, and if it does well enough their could be a sequel, right? That is if Ron Perlman lives...

More TIFF '08: Guy Ritchie's 'Rock N' Rolla' And Bill Maher's 'Religulous' And More Added To Line-Up

We're two for three on our Toronto International Film Fest scoops (congratufuckinlations?). We'd from heard from good sources that Spike Lee's "Miracle At St. Anna," and Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla" would be at TIFF '08 and today, and now both have been confirmed (Lee's flick was announced last week). Ritchie's latest crime caper (as that is seemingly all he is wont to do) comes on the heels of his Sherlock Holmes casting news. Now if our Michel Gondry's "Tokyo!" (with Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho) scoop pans out, we're golden!)

A bunch of new additions were announced today, including Bill Maher and Larry Charles' documentary about dumbasses stupid enough to belive in Santa Claus Jesus, "Religulous," Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes of Time Redux," Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Waltz with Bashir," which was actually already announced, Ricky Gervais' "Ghost Town," one of Paramount Vantage's last films, "The Duchess" starring Keira Knightley, the tea cup drama "Secret Life of Bees" with Queen Latifah and that little gimp Dakota Fanning (girl, you're like a year or two away from teen ugly face, better get used to it).

Previously announced films at TIFF include, the indie-rock romance comedy adventure, "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist," with Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or-winning "The Class," Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles' "Linha de Passe," Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir," Kim Jee-woon's Sergio Leone-like Western "The Good the Bad the Weird" and Canadian actor Paul Gross' sure-t0-be budget WWI film "Passchendaele" (the trailer is so bad). [via Spout]

Contest Closed: Get Some ' Wack' Shit, Yo

The stoner, kinda-emo, coming-of-age dramedy, "The Wackness" has been doing pretty well at the box-office, even though some bloggers don't really want to admit that for various reason,(number one essentially being : trying to save face). Anywhoo, in it's opening weekend, it beat out "Hancock," to score the highest per-screen average. Pretty good, right?

While it's mixed reviews don't quite illustrate the schism between early-bird bloggers' enthusiasm and more staid critics, there is something to be noted that about that disconnect. But enough with the thinking!

We've got five 'Wackness' t-shirts to give away and one copy of the hip-hop heavy soundtrack (the others we sold at Academy, we needed to get high, yo). To win our contest (you get one item, first come first serve basis) you have to email us the answer to this question. Which TV creator called 'Wackness' rapper Method Man, the best working rapper actor alive?

The answer is on our blog, use the search function. Bonne chance. Thanks to Collider for the stolen images. Also, someone send us the "Inglorious Bastards" script and the "Where The Wild Things Are" script while you're at it. We always give you punks free shit.

The 'Metropolis' Discovery Makes Us Take A Look At Other "Lost Cinema Classics"

The landmark discovery of previously-assumed lost reels from the German Expressionist masterpiece "Metropolis" by monocled noir maestro Fritz Lang has had us reminiscing over other classic films that at one point in time suffered the loss of reels, the humiliation of being shelved and or endured the indignity of being cut for being too esoteric and longwinded for everyone except of course, the "misunderstood" auteurs precious about every living frame of film (ah, the blessing and curse of "director's cut"). The "Metropolis" holy-grail discovery prompted us to look back at a few classic touchstones that were and are famously considered as "Lost Classics," at one time or another (as some have been restored over the years).

The Magnificent Ambersons

Orson Welles' second feature about a family aristocracy's fall from grace – the first being the mildly popular "Citizen Kane" – carried on in true Welles tradition by being over-budget, behind schedule and self-indulgent. Having acquired final cut from RKO on the condition he direct a free picture for the studio, Welles forfeit that right when he failed to deliver, so RKO didn't hesitate to take Ambersons – which already wasn't testing well – to the chopping block and even deigned to re-shoot a more upbeat ending without his participation (cinematic heresy of course). The re-shot scenes were worked into the film in the theatrical release and the original negatives were destroyed to make room in the studio's vaults for their gold bullion. The original scenes are lost to the cinematic world forever but even the film's editor, Robert Wise essentially said Welles' overlong cut was too slow and artsy fartsy, arguments of which are friendship dealbreakers among film snobs, but is probably very true.

Brazil

Just vaguely reminiscent of Orwell's novel "1984," Terry Gilliam's satirical look at the dysfunctional postindustrial world was also abetted by English playwright legend Tom Stoppard. A member of the Monty Python Comedy troupe most notable for his animation in between sketches, Gilliam's "Brazil," had a notoriously difficult birth. The film tested poorly and Universal, afraid that Americans fragile little minds couldn't handle the Orwellian-greyness, black British humor and fey dream sequences, decided to water the film down and re-shoot the ending, giving it a warmer, safe as milk, feel. Through Gilliam's infamously apoplectic public outcries (to which his difficult reputation was firmly established upon) and private screenings, a comprised version was finally released in theaters, and now (thanks to our friends at Criterion, both the official directors cut and the emasculated version are available on DVD.

Once Upon a Time in America

Sergio Leone's sprawling New York set gangster epic was originally supposed to be released as two separate movies, each running close to three hours but instead was reduced to one lowly, sorry-ass massive masterpiece (how dare they). The extolled cut shown at Cannes to Europeans already predisposed to enduring such overwrought marathons had already been "trimmed" down to a easygoing running time of just under four hours. The studio then neutered the film down to 2 hours and twenty minutes for American audiences, which eliminated the flashback structure of the film and destroyed the narrative flow, but at least left them less confused (Though critic doyenne Pauline Kael said of the hackjob, “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a worse case of mutilation.”) Thankfully today the exhausting 229 minute version is available on DVD, so the next time you have 3 hours and 49 minutes laying around along with some crystal meth, red bull and Ritalin, have at it. As if that wasn't enough Leone for one film, a 2007 interview with Leone's daughter suggested plans to release a 289 minute directors cut sometime in the near future as an anthropological experiment to test the limits of patience and masochism for so-called film snobs everywhere.

Ace In The Hole

The superb look at the darker side of humanities thirst for publicity was auteur Billy Wilder's follow up to the popular "Sunset Boulevard." Thankfully jettisoning the bland working title of "The Human Interest Story," the film chronicled a sleazy, self-serving down on his luck newspaper man who bribed a local lawman to slow the rescue procedure of a two-time loser trapped in a collapsed cave. The studio then changed Wilder's title to "The Big Carnival" after the release of the film and presumptuously nixed the subplot of the corrupt sheriff, fearing Americans couldn't fathom such marshal ignominy. The film was a box-office flop, opened to mixed reviews and then slunk away into the shadows to be forgotten. But after years in film school obscurity, "Ace in the Hole" reemerged as a retroactive classic (with the addition of the crooked sheriff subplot) and it's hard-to-find availability was finally rectified by the Criterion Collection just last year.

The Wild Bunch

Directed by bibulous and surly loose cannon Sam Peckinpah, this seminal late '60s anti-western's overt and romanticized approach to violence in this story of outlaw gangs prowling the ever-modernizing West scandalized the genre and ruined it for idealists who preferred the Old West as a more innocent time where high noon showdowns were more of a gentlemanly affair (why did that close range gunshot to the cranium have to be so messy?). The violence in the film was panned by the critics and the MPAA refused to give it anything less than a NC-17 rating without the removal of certain hemorrhaging scenes. The result was the film being cut from 148 minutes to 134 (14 whole minutes!). But thanks lowering of standards in violence and morals in the modern day, the original cut has been restored on DVD much to the delight of slow-motion bloodletting fetishists the world round.

Fear and Desire

Having viewed Stanley Kubrick's debut commands immediate respect from even the most superciliously pretentious film snob, as it had an extremely limited release, only opening at the Guild theater in New York and a few theaters in Los Angeles in 1955. Chronicling a team of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in a fictional war, the film was never released on video or DVD as Kubrick disavowed the picture almost immediately and then grew almost pathologically unfond of the film, essentially wishing it erased from memory and existence. In his raging monomania, he attempted to buy up every print available, intent on destroying the film forever as he considered it to be a "bumbling, amateur exercise." Evidently the allure of a lost classic was too powerful for unloved-puppy fawning cinema curators as the director's attempts to destroy the film and to legally block an ultra-rare New York Film Forum screening in 1994 failed despite his best efforts. There are surviving prints, which reside at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York (and by dint of modern technology the movie also resides at the much less obscure location of YouTube).

Spartacus

Kubrick also directed this epic story about a slave revolt in ancient Rome, yet he would later deny its authorship, claiming it was more screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and star Kurt Douglas' vision than his, since it sports a uncharacteristically grotesque amount of sentimentalism (seriously, would the "I am Spartacus!" scene have gotten by Kubrick in any other manner?) and the claim doesn't seem too far fetched. The original film was deemed unfit for virtuous audiences at the time and the studio was forced to reedit the film to downplay the violent battle scenes. But what really rubbed the censors the wrong way was a scene in which Lawrence Olivier's closeted Crassus character attempts to seduce a male slave via hilariously delicious and unsubtle sexual metaphors involving slimy mollusks ("My taste includes both snails and oysters"). The scenes were cut from the release, but in 1991 the lost 37 minutes were made available on the revised DVD edition.

There's lot of "lost classics" out there. More to come...

Imperial Teen's Roddy Bottom Scores 'Kabluey'

You may or may not have yet heard of the sweet sounding comedy, "Kabluey," the debut feature of triple threat writer/director/ actor Scott Prendergast.

It's basically about a going-nowhere guy who takes a humiliating job as a giant blue corporate mascot in order to help his struggling stay family together (it also stars Lisa Kudrow, Teri Garr, Christine Taylor, and Angela Sarafyan).

The New York Times recently gave it a very positive review and the film currently has a very promising 89% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It's in very limited release at the moment (opened last week in New York, it opens this weekend in Los Angeles), but it sounds like an extremely winning film.

We're a bit behind on this one (as are most people frankly), but we were pleased to learn that Imperial Teen frontman/guitarist, ex-Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum, composed the score for this one. Bottum's quietly dabbled in film scores all this time (we never knew) and he's got quite the list of credits to his name (the TV show "Help Me Help You," the 2003 documentary, "The Cucumber Incident," and the 2005 comedy, "Adam & Steve").

Bottum was kind enough to float us three pieces of music he wrote for the film, which is grand since there's currently no plans for a soundtrack release. If and when you become a big fan of the film (which you already mayt be), this might be your only chance to hear some of his bittersweet compositions outside of the film. The full synopsis:

A slacker tries to do the right thing for his family with unexpectedly chaotic results in this independent comedy. Salman (Scott Prendergast) is an out-of-work twenty-something who has few skills and fewer prospects. However, things are significantly worse for his older brother -- his National Guard unit has been called back to Iraq, and his wife Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) needs to go back to work in order to support their children. However, Leslie doesn't have anyone to look after her two sons, so when Salman learns of her sad situation, he volunteers to move in and help mind the kids. Salman quickly discovers the boys are nearly psychotic and will stop at nothing to get him out of the house, including putting sharp objects in his breakfast. With the household still short on money, Leslie helps Salman get a job, and soon he's become the corporate mascot for a failing internet company, who pounds the pavement wearing a strange blue costume hoping to drum up interest in renting space in the corporate offices.

The trailer also features some of Bottum's winsome score and the Honey Brothers' track "Some Of Them Are Nice Days"

Wes Anderson, Judd Apatow & More Weigh In On The Great Hal Ashby; Plus The Case For 'The Landlord'

Hot damn! We saw finally saw Hal Ashby's less revered, not-as-well- seen 1970 film "The Landlord," last night at BAM's AfroPunk film festival (no thanks to the useless publicists, mind you). It's not readily available on DVD, we've been trying to see it for years, and we've unfortunately missed all the New York repertory screenings over the least few years (the last time being Sept 2007 at the Film Forum).

Goddamn it was good! Hal Ashby's unassailable run of remarkable 1970s films is generally accepted as running from 1971's "Harold And Maude" through 1979's "Being There"(including everything in between). This overview of his work says the film is not a "major Hal Ashby film," and man, we couldn't disagree more! The case must be made for "The Landlord," his debut feature as a director, to be included here (and surely we're not the first to say this, but the consensus appears to be otherwise).

A funny, sharp and incisive look at racism, white guilt and miscegenation, the film stars Beau Bridges in perhaps his finest performance ever as a privileged and affluent New Yorker, who tries to strike out on his own far away from his WASPY-wealthy family by buying a brownstone in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, which he plans to soup up luxury style once he's kicked out all the inner-city planning tenants (the film also stars the great Lee Grant in a delicious performance as Bridge's overbearing mother, and Lou Gosset Jr. as an unhinged and deservedly jealous tenant).

Insensitive, racially clueless, but compassionate, the landlord soon finds this task much more difficult than he initially perceived as he becomes deeply involved in his tenants lives seeing them as real people with real struggles. He even becomes romantically involved and soon he finds himself as an out-of-place white guy juggling two relationships with African-American women.

The very humanistic film veers from comedy, to social commentary, to near farce, to painful ugly and dramatic truths and has the Ashby-bent for not delivering easy answers, not to mention and incredibly inventive intercutting editing style and some super creative photography. The pedigree around this film is fantastic too. Norman Jewison produced it, Academy Award-nominated "Prince of Darkness" cinematographer Gordon Willis lensed it ("The Godfather," many a classic Woody Allen film), Bob Dylan's old keyboardist Al Kooper wrote the score and the movie also features some amazing, amazing soul cuts by Lorraine Ellison and the Staple Sisters. This thing has to come to DVD (hello, Criterion?)

This all dovetails nicely with this excellent Goodmagazine feature on Hal Ashby where a bunch of influential filmmakers, Wes Anderson, Judd Apatow, Alexander Payne, Jason Schwartzman and David O. Rusell comment on the fuzz-face genial director's grand '70s oeuvre. We thought we'd show some highlights since we adore all these films too.

Wes Anderson on "The Last Detail"
Anderson says a lot of the wandering "The Darjeeling Limited" 'plot' was inspired by Ashby's wandering, cuss-filled sailor's-at-port chronicle starring Jack Nicholson. "We were getting ready to make a movie about three sort of confused boys on a train, and 'Detail' follows more or less the same lines. Not to say that we stole our whole idea from it, but it crossed our minds. Also, this movie is always captivating, but it does not have a terrific plot, and maybe it might not have one at all—and that was encouraging to us because we didn’t have one either.

Judd Apatow on "Being There"
Apatow said the movie about an idiot savante turned political insider and adviser to a millionaire is "Hilarious, insightful, mysterious. I wish it inspired me to want to write that well, but it just inspires me to consider another career. It’s as if you were a member of Soft Cell and someone played you U2 for the first time. You would have to give up. Like a great Bob Dylan song, the meaning of this film is hard to discern. It definitely sends up the rich and powerful who rule this country. But the film can be read in any number of ways, all of which might be correct."

Jason Schwartzman on "Harold And Maude"
Schwartzman says when he was cast in "Rushmore," his mother suggested watching this December-May romance story between a free-spirited grandmother and an obsessed with death teenager (Bud Cort). "For the first time, a film made me feel the way music always had. When two strings on a guitar are out of tune, they vibrate very quickly. And as the strings become more in tune, the vibration changes, it slows, and you can actually feel them become in tune. "

David O. Russell on "Shampoo."
O. Russell says the sexual politics flick about a Lothario hairdresser (Warren Beatty) becoming ironically undone on the eve of a 1968 presidential election reflected what life was like at the time. "The film opens in the dark, as soft strains of the Beach Boys’ 'Wouldn’t It Be Nice,' which will also end the film, trickle in with the sounds of Lee Grant and Warren Beatty getting it on. But we can’t see them; we can only hear them. Set in 1968, Shampoo is the quintessence of what the world felt like to me in 1975: loose, a little lost, a bit sweet, naïve, sincere. It’s America, brimming with candy and possibilities, though we might still fuck it up.”

Alexander Payne on "The Landlord"
As Payne notes, Norman Jewison had originally developed the film for himself, but then became busy and gave it to Ashby, a former film editor, for his debut. "It contains all the gentleness, eccentric rhythms, oddball humor, brilliant editing, and deep humanism that mark his other films, and like his other films, it’s utterly unique. Its look influenced 'Sideways' more than any other film."

Payne nails its loopy charms far better than we could. He's spot-on. "The Landlord" rules, I think I like it even better than "Shampoo," it's that good. Criterion Collection or someone, we beseech you.

Lorraine Ellison - "Stay With Me" from "The Landlord"