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Posted in MP3 | movies | music on January 21, 2007

Party all the Time -- Pan's Labryinth, Dreamgirls, Beyonce, gangsta penguins, The Doors, Old 97's & The Tone Rangers

DOWNLOAD: Paul Wing - Pan the Piper (completely unrelated MP3)

I just thought I'd talk about some movies movies I've seen recently...

PAN'S LABYRINTH
Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is the one movie that I'd say you should definitely go see...unless you're easily traumatized by violence, or you can't read (the movie has English subtitles). See it on the big screen (if you can find it and before it's too late)

The beautiful soundtrack was composed by Javier Navarrete, and performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. I think it's basically streaming at the movie's official website.

DREAMGIRLS
Dreamgirls was also great (not as GREAT as Pan's, but great), but don't see it if you don't like musicals. In addition to telling a musical story (Motown & The Supremes), featuring famous musician actors (Beyonce, Jenifer Hudson from American Idol, and Eddie Murphy), and recreating concerts (by The Supremes, Jackson 5, etc), it's also REALLY a musical - Broadway musical style - scenes where they'd just be talking are instead done singing. I like that, but you might not.

And YES, Eddie Murphy IS SO a famous musician...

GOLDEN GLOBES
Believe the hype - Dreamgirls just won THREE Golden Globes --> BEST PICTURE (musical or comedy), Best supporting actress = Jenifer Hudson, and best supporting actor = Eddie Murphy, but no Beyonce who lost to Prince (best song in Happy Feet) and Meryl Streep (whose son used to be in Bravo Silva)

---- Beyonce's father cries racism. New York Sun says thanks for nothing.

East side walk it out...

I also just saw The Doors (15th Anniversary edition) and The Breakup (starring Vince Vaughn & Jennifer Aniston) on DVD.

DOWNLOAD: Snoop Dogg ft The Doors - Riders on the Storm (fredwreck remix) (MP3)

THE DOORS
I thought Jim Morrison was the coolest when I was younger, and I have fond memories of the Doors movie, but it wasn't as good as I remembered this time around. I was looking to get some music history out of the movie, but often I didn't even know who a character was supposed to be in real life. I don't even think Oliver Stone ever had anyone mention Edie Sedgwick or Nico by name, though they were both characters in the movie. Andy Warhol was at least a little more obvious.

The 15th anniversary DVD makes up for it by adding some documentaries on the second disk (though I haven't watched them yet).

[Edie Sedgwick, as you know, now has her own movie too]

[Not to be confused with "Edie Sedgwick" the "transgendered chanteuse from the Isle of Manhattan" - aka Justin Moyer from El Guapo.]

DOWNLOAD: Edie Sedgwick - Martin Sheen (MP3)

My favorite part of the The Doors was the huge concert scene towards the end that happens after Jim (Val Kilmer) gets maced by police backstage. Tripping on acid (as usual in the movie), he goes on stage to greet a huge crowd of rowdy fans (some authentic hippy, some mainstream-the-doors-have-sold-out-by-now) who he tells to get naked before going on a rant about how the police suck. He in turn causes a riot which has the police battling everyone as speakers are falling over and people are getting carted away.

The officers go after Jim as he dives into the crowd and keeps singing (impossible, but dream-like and cool) - the whole crowd is running in a circle with him, and dancing, and chanting, and naked, and so on...I can't exactly describe it - but it was how I wished all shows would be (and not just Gogol Bordello ones).

DOWNLOAD: Gogol Bordello - Bordello Kind of Guy (MP3)

THE BREAKUP
The Breakup wasn't rock 'n roll at all (or as funny as I thought it would be). There was a scene where Jennifer Aniston goes to an Old 97's concert though. It's at Chicago's Riviera Theater, and the band is really playing - Rhett Miller and all....

"yes, that IS me in the pink shirt making Jennifer Aniston cry with my heartfelt declarations of love's non-existence." [Rhett Miller]

HEY, IT'S SUNDANCE!
* Bestiality doc premieres at Sundance
* Redford calls US leaders to account over Iraq
* ‘Trade’ and ‘Ghosts of Abu Ghraib’ are early standouts
* Documentaries flourish at Sundance, then struggle
* Sundance hosts Joe Strummer film premiere
* Sundance, iTunes Ink Deal

What else out is good?

Posted on January 21, 2007 11:39 PM

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