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Stereolab’s first video from the upcoming LP is out on Pitchfork.tv. Frankly, I prefer the song to the video.

All right. Compare these 30 second samples from Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming Anywhere I Lay My Head album. First track is Scarlett singing the rest are Tom Waits:

Now, it’s hard to belittle Tom Waits but he was not, as Leonard Cohen once sang, born with the gift of the golden voice. I have every respect in the world for Tom Waits but I applaud any efforts to have as many of his songs performed by others as possible. Not that Scarlett Johansson is a world class singer, mind you. She kind of sounds like my sister. But still, a step in the right direction is a step in the right direction.

And one must hand it to Scarlett. If she has aspirations of becoming one of those singing actresses then choosing to record an album of Tom Waits’ songs is both gutsy and classy.

Next step: the Bob Dylan catalogue. She already did the video.

While Flight of the Conchords are great Kristen Schaal is equally great. Ever since viewing this clip on Dead-Frog.com I haven’t been able to get this ditty out of my head. Annoying.

After winning a Grammy for The Distant Future EP Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, aka Flight of the Conchords, have finally a full-length LP out on the Sub Pop label. Sales wise they’re not doing too shabby. So far they’ve outsold at least Ashlee Simpson so maybe there is some justice in the world after all. But let’s talk about the album.

Everyone who watched Flight of the Conchords on TV knows what this record is all about. It is, as it says on the album sleeve, “soundtrack of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.” If you liked the show then you probably liked the songs that came with it. And let’s face it, what’s not to like. Fourteen songs from the series (and one new one) poke fun and pay loving tribute to The Greats of popular music from David Bowie through Marvin Gaye to Barry White and others. In fact, listening to The Conchords is a little like watching one of those BBC documentaries about the history of rock; except you’re doing it with a big smile on your face.

The opening track, Foux du Fafa, represents the whole album perfectly. It is a pastiche of nonsensical French words, names and phrases thrown together to resemble a lyric. That alone is funny but the real punch line comes later when the whole construction comes crumbling down in the most ridiculous fashion by the simple question: “Parlez-Vous Français?” The answer to that question pretty much sums up the whole album. We might as well ask The Conchords do you speak Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Radiohead? In their heads the characters would like to say “Yes” but we laugh because we know better.

It is a fine line that The Conchords are treading. What makes the album so enjoyable is that the songs are actually very good - though not original. What the songs all have in common is that, up to a certain point, we could imagine many of them being performed by the artists they borrow from. But then, they all somehow go horribly off the rails. Ladies of the World starts out as a celebration of women and turns into an ode to “sexy ladyman ladies.” The Marvin Gaye number Think About It turns into a lament about the high cost of sneakers even though they are made by little slave kids. That’s not what Marvin Gaye we know would have sung. Again, that disconnect helps to explain partly why The Conchords are so funny - especially if you happen to be a music nerd.

Verdict: Excellent

Free Download: Ladies of the World and Business Time from Sub Pop [mp3s]

Update: MTV Movies Blog has this quote from Chris Carter:

“It’s really Mulder’s faith in the paranormal that is the faith that he’s wrestling with,” the co-writer/director said. “So while you can see a church in a photograph, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s about religion.” 

So, the movie is more about Mulder’s faith than Scully’s. That’s good news. That is exactly where the focus should be.

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I want to believe The X-Files sequel will be good, and still, I’m starting to have doubts. At first I was very excited about the new X-Files movie, mostly because of this behind the scenes photo from BestWeekEver.com that seemed to suggest it would involve a lycanthrope.

When ShockTillYouDrop.com did a visit to the set of the sequel they tried to confirm that lycanthrope angle but couldn’t. Still, one of the quotes they did get was this:

…we were looking for a case that could expose things about them [Mulder and Scully] 

Now it seems we know what that case is. Read it (Ain’t it Cool News) here or (X-Files News) here. There is no mention of werewolves. There is, however, a mention of a priest. That there would be a priest in the movie was also hinted at as a part of the ShockTillYouDrop.com set visit piece I mentioned earlier. And finally, we have this photo from Cinematical showing Mulder and Scully in what appears to be a church.

All right. Let’s review. There could be a werewolf but it’s unconfirmed. The case exposes things about Mulder and Scully. There is a picture of Mulder and Scully in a church or some other religious institution which, as Cinematical writes, “fits with that new I Want to Believe title…”. With that, let’s discuss my concerns.

In my opinion, the weakest part of the original series was the emphasis placed on Scully’s faith. In the show her function was to be the scientific voice of reason in contrast to Mulder’s outrageous theories and leaps of faith. That was the dynamic that drove the show - the balancing between the explained and unexplained; faith and hard science. But whenever the writers brought out Scully’s faith in God that whole dynamic changed. In fact, there was no dynamic anymore. There was just Scully dealing with her religion and Mulder sympathizing with her. At those moments it was a different X-Files. Some people would argue that it made the show better giving the series and the characters more depth and complexity. I say those people are wrong.

Judging by all that I have read about this movie there seems to be a distinct possibiltiy that this is the direction this project is headed. Nothing is confirmed and all we have is rumors. I am still looking forward to seeing X-Files: I Want To Believe but at this point I’m also slightly concerned.

While we wait. Mulder and Scully by Catatonia:

What do Lake Placid, Black Water, Steve Irwing’s The Crocodile Hunter, Crocodile Dundee, The X Files episode Quagmire have in common? That’s right: crocodiles.

ShockTillYouDrop.com has an exclusive trailer for the movie Rogue, a story about “a killer crocodile in the Australian Outback.” It seems to have all the elements of a great crocodile movie; including this line from the tour guide:

You’ll be alright as long as you don’t go in the water.

I have one bone to pick with the trailer, though. It describes the croc as “something evil”. As someone in the comments rightly asks: how can a croc be evil? Still, it’s a freaking croc movie!

And then the bad news. Cinematical reports that the film is getting a pretty limited release. The upside is that this probably means the thing will be out on dvd pretty soon, even internationally.

If you’re going to make a creature feature then a crocodile is usually a pretty good choice for a creature. In general crocs are great - on the screen that is. Hope to see Rogue soon.

I have not read a single Harry Potter book or ever watched a Harry Potter movie (nor am I about to - couldn’t care less) but this copyright case against The Harry Potter Lexicon is certainly interesting. J.K. Rowling is suing RDR Books to stop them from publishing a Harry Potter reference book compiled by Steve Vander Ark based on his website HP-Lexicon.org. Ironically, The Hollywood Reporter writes, Rowling actually gave the website an award once and actually used it to look up Potter facts. But apparently, what is okay on the internet is not so okay if you want to turn that into a book to make money. Ergo, Rowling is suing.

But it’s not as if Steve Vander Ark and RDR Books didn’t see this coming. This from Yahoo News:

Vander Ark said he initially was against the idea [of publishing the book], partly because he believed it would violate copyright law. Even after Rapoport [RDR Books's publisher] assured him they could publish legally, he remained unsure and insisted on a contract clause in which RDR agreed to take on costs caused by any copyright lawsuit.

As it turns out that was a smart move by Vander Ark. But RDR Books might have been right in their assurances, too. MTV.com has a great post about the legal issues of the case. It seems it all depends on the American concept of Fair Use.

So far the trial has seen both Vander Ark and Rowling giving sob-filled testimonies. Which side will win remains to be seen but I’m pretty much in agreement with Thebadandugly.com when they write:

This is bullshit, because there are countless books out there that take JK Rowling’s fantastic stories and expand upon them. There’s The Book of Harry Potter Trifles, Trivias, and Particularities by Racheline Maltese, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter : A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts by David Colbert, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the World of Harry Potter by Tere Stouffer, The Seeker’s Guide to Harry Potter by Geo Trevarthen, and the Field Guide to Harry Potter by Colin Duriez.

The only question, however, is whether The Harry Potter Lexicon expands enough on Rowling’s stories to make it Fair Use - but I’m still comfortable calling this bullshit; mostly because the existence of all those other books kind of does make me wonder why go after The Harry Potter Lexicon specifically. Again from Yahoo News:

She [Rowling] also said its publication would spoil plans for her own Potter encyclopedia.

There you go. But would it really spoil her own Potter encyclopedia? Does she not realize who she is? She is God to these Harry Potter people. If God would come up with a reference guide to the Bible then would its chances of success be spoiled by all those other fan made reference guides? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say… probably not. Again, Thebadandugly.com writes:

As Potter Fans, we know that anyone rabid enough to buy a fan-made encyclopedia (written by folks who spent years of their life tracking all things Potter) are just crazy enough to buy multiple copies of the official one.

Is anyone going to buy the unofficial lexicon then ditch one that was actually written by THE CREATOR? No.

Indeed.

Update: Apparently the judge is calling bullshit on this suit as well - in a way. He is urging for the parties to settle admitting that the issue here isn’t as cut and dry as Rowling and her people suggest.

Did you know that Jack Bauer was big in Japan? Well, he is. So big, in fact, that the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. hired Kiefer Sutherland and a bunch of production people from the show 24 to make a series of ads for the company’s CalorieMate power bar.

Japanese advertisers have a long history of using Hollywood stars in their commercials. Enough so that it finally became an actual story line in a Hollywood movie. We all remember how in Lost in Translation Bill Murray’s character advertised Suntory whiskey (”For relaxing times, make it Suntory time”) for his Japanese fans. Usually the stars do these ads with the strict understanding that they will never be seen outside of Japan. And still, these ads are probably one of the best non-kept secrets in the world. Just do a search on Youtube for Japanese ad + Brad Pitt/Cameron Diaz/Natalie Portman/Bruce Willis and you are bound to hit gold.

My recent favourites, however, are these Jack Bauer commercials (God, that man is stressed). Here’s the first one (three more after the jump):

(more…)

Last week Uwe Boll foolishly agreed to stop making movies if this petition would manage to get one million signatures. Unfortunately for Boll, the movie websites picked up the challenge and by now the petition already has close to 200 000 signatures. Getting one million people together in the internet age might not be as hard as Boll probably first thought.

Around here I am not prepared to face life without Boll. Therefore, here’s a letter to those who would sign the anti-Boll petition (with apologies to Aaron Sorkin and A Few Good Men):

Son, we live in a world that has bad movies. And those movies have to be made by men with guns unbridled self-confidence. Who’s gonna do it? You? Uwe Boll has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for video game movies and you curse BloodRayne. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what Uwe Boll knows: that In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, while tragic, probably saved the German investors millions of euros in tax write-offs . And Uwe Boll’s existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to The Undersigned of the anti-Boll petition, makes the world more fun.

You don’t want Uwe Boll to stop. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want him making movies. You want him there. He is the “the only genius in the whole fucking business.”

With that in mind go sign a pro-Boll petition (there are several). Right now this one has only 20 signatures. Go sign it. We need Uwe Boll - if only as a character.