Monday, August 31, 2009

New on DVD and Blu-Ray (September 1, 2009)

Check out a selection of the new DVD and Blu-Ray releases available tomorrow. With the new fall television season right around the corner, there continues to be a ton of excellent DVD sets including season 4 of Supernatural, season 3 of Heroes and the ninth season of CSI.  Also, check out the excellent new classic movie box sets from TMC!

Movies:



Television:





Blu-Ray:


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Music Notes: Jay-Z shows support for Grizzly Bear, download new Bad LIeutenant track

- Jay-Z showed some love for Grizzly Bear by attending their free Brooklyn show yesterday, along with Beyonce and Solange Knowles. Here's some of what Jay had to say: "[Grizzly Bear is] an incredible band. The thing I want to say to everyone-- I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further-- what the indie rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they're not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there's 12,000 people in attendance." [Pitchfork]

- Download Bad Lieutenant's "Sink Or Swim" now. In case you need a refresher, the band is basically New Order minus Peter Hook. [SPIN]



- Julian Casablancas made his solo live debut in Tokyo over the weekend. Check out some video footage here. [Pitchfork]

- Radiohead actually opened a show with "Creep," a song that is usually just used at the end of performances and actually doesn't have much of a reputation for being on their set lists much anymore. [NME]
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This Week's Music (September 1, 2009)

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Admin Note from Callie

So sorry for the lack of daytime posts during the past week.  The "real" job that pays me for things like writing has been positively insane lately, but that will ease up soon and we'll get back to a more regular posting schedule here at Pop Wenches. We've got good stuff coming down the pipeline though -- I've got a whole slew of new video clips from Saturday's Outside Lands uploading as you read this!
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Friday, August 28, 2009

Music Notes: More on DJ AM, Noel Gallagher quits Oasis

Quick Note: Retrovideo Friday posts will return in September. Let's pretend I'm on "vacation" right now, and by vacation, I mean adjusting to grad school.

- More on the DJ AM death/his life here. Sad news all around. [SPIN]

- Noel Gallagher posted the following message on OasisNet: "It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan." Yes, it looks like Noel quit Oasis and his brother has everything to do with it. [OasisNet]

- Death Cab for Cutie will be on the New Moon soundtrack. [SPIN]

- The Foo Fighers will include two new tracks, "Wheels" and "Word Forward" on their upcoming greatest-hits release, which is due to hit stores on Nov. 3. [Rolling Stone]

- Check out a sneak peek of Kurt Cobain's Guitar Hero character here. [SPIN]
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DJ AM Found Dead in NYC Apartment

The Associated Press is reporting that DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) was found dead in a Manhattan apartment this Friday evening.  AP cites a New York City law enforcement official as their source. Rumors are circulating that drug paraphenalia was also found in the apartment.

Last year, DJ AM and drummer Travis Barker were the only surviors of a plane crash in South Carolina that killed four other people. Goldstein was a popular deejay who often spun at high-profile celebrity events and regularly worked the club and music festival circuit. He received mainstream media attention during his engagement to socialite Nicole Richie and relationship with singer Mandy Moore.

DJ AM was 36 years old.

[Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Music Notes: Details of Madonna's 'Celebration,' Ellie Greenwich dies

- The tracklisting for Madonna's Celebration has been announced. What can we expect? Thirty-six remastered songs on two CDs, alongside two new songs. The Celebration two-disc DVD package will include 47 music videos, including 18 never-before-seen clips. [SPIN]

- Ellie Greenwich, the girl group songwriter, died today of a heart attack. Greenwich brought us hits like "River Deep, Mountain High" and "(Today I Met) the Boy I'm Going to Marry." [Jezebel]

- Outside Lands, the Golden Gate Park music festival, will be the first-ever music festival webcast on YouTube this coming weekend. The site will stream all three days of the festival (Aug. 28-30). [Paste Magazine]

- Bob Dylan will release Christmas in the Heart, a Christmas album, on Oct. 13. [Rolling Stone]

- Peter Murphy of Bauhaus (yes, Bela Lugosi's dead) joined Nine Inch Nails during their third stop in NYC. This tour is supposed to mark the end of NIN's live shows. [SPIN]

- Them Crooked Vultures made their live UK debut with the Arctic Monkeys, surprising those in attendance. [NME]

- Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump got arrested in California late last night as a result of driving without a valid license. Stump told MTV News the following: "All I really have to say is ignorance of the law isn't innocence. I didn't want to give up my Illinois driver's license and was unaware that was a crime. It is, by the way, in the state of California. Lesson learned. I technically broke a law, so technically I deserve whatever I get. But man, is my mom gonna be pissed." [MTV News]

- Brooklyn-based World's Fair Label Group, a record label administration and PR company, folded yesterday. The group once did promotional work for artists like British Sea Power and Jarvis Cocker. [Pitchfork]
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Ian McKellen Confirms Return as Gandalf, Says Bilbo Cast

SlashFilm.com reports that Sir Ian McKellen caused some waves this weekend when he appeared in London to introduce a marathon screening of all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  While speaking to the audience, McKellen announced that he will indeed be reprising his role as Gandalf for The Hobbit films.  Even more surprisingly, McKellen said that the pivotal role of Bilbo Baggins has been cast, that he knows who has been chosen and "he's sure that the fans will be very, very pleased." 

Considering that exactly one month ago at Comic-Con Peter Jackson himself was saying that they weren't yet far along enough in the process to offer roles to anyone, it will be interesting to see if this news will soon be confirmed with a formal announcement.

Click here to watch a video clip of Peter Jackson's Hobbit update at Comic-Con in July. [/film]
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Zachary Quinto Talks Trek, Heroes and Production Company

Just found a nice little interview with Zachary Quinto over at SCI FI Wire in which he talks about everything from the next Star Trek movie to upcoming projects through his new production company (Before the Door Pictures) to the new season of Heroes and Sylar's fate.

One of the interesting things he says in the interview is about the possibilities for the next Trek movie.  After saying that the creative team behind this summer's blockbuster film aren't in a rush to produce the follow-up film, Quinto said, "I think it's going to be much better served by taking time and being clear about the story that they want to tell. Whether or not that involves Khan or Mr. Shatner remains to be seen" (emphasis mine).  He could just be responding to swirling rumors and fan speculation, but it's interesting that he mentioned Khan and William Shatner specifically. [SCI FI Wire]
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Monday, August 24, 2009

This Week's Music (August 25, 2009)

Hello readers!  Here's a quick round-up of some of this week's notable new music releases. I'm just pinch-hitting for Radhika as she settles into her new schedule, so she'll be back to posting the good stuff soon. This week's new albums include the Arctic Monkeys' third album Humbug; special collectors editions of Radiohead's Amnesiac, Hail To the Thief and Kid A; Matisyahu's Light; Imogen Heap's Ellipse; and the soundtrack to the new Fame movie.






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New on DVD and Blu-Ray (August 25, 2009)

Check out a selection of the new DVD and Blu-Ray releases available tomorrow. Movie releases include Sunshine Cleaning starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Click here to read Pop Wench Joia's review of this film. On the TV front, we have the release of season two of Californication, season five of House and the last season of Scubs with the original cast. Enjoy!

Movies:




Television:






Blu-Ray:

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Music Notes: NIN play final NYC shows, Radiohead debut latest track live

- Some fun coverage of the final NYC Nine Inch Nails here. NIN played all of The Downward Spiral. And covered Joy Division! [Rolling Stone]

- Radiohead played their latest track "These Are My Twisted Words," live at Austria's Frequency 2009 Festival over the weekend. Watch video here. [Pitchfork]

- Listen to Karen O's "All Is Love" on the Where The Wild Things Are MySpace now. The single drops on iTunes tomorrow. [Where The Wild Things Are MySpace]

- Bat For Lashes' Two Suns, which only came out earlier this year, will see the special edition treatment this September. Lots of fun goodies are planned! [Pitchfork]

- Thom Yorke's contribution to the Mark Mulcahy tribute album Ciao My Shining Star, a cover of "All For The Best," will be released as a limited-edition 7-inch single. Mulcahy's Ciao My Shining Star will be the b-side. Only 2,000 copies of the single will be available worldwide. [Greenplastic]

- Them Crooked Vultures played Belgium's Pukkelpop festival this weekend. Watch/listen to them perform "Elephants" here. [Stereogum]

- Kiss announced their 35th anniversary tour, which will kick off Sept. 25 in Detroit. [SPIN]

- Maximo Park canceled their September North American tour, citing "personal reasons" in a scan of a written note posted on their MySpace. [Pitchfork]

- I know I've been awful with my posts, so here's a late one... Jay-Z's vid for "Run This Town" is here. [Rolling Stone]
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Michael Jackson Cause of Death Revealed

An affidavit that was filed last month in Houston as part of a search warrant application has been unsealed and reveals what has long been suspected—Michael Jackson's "cause of death was due to lethal levels of Propofol (Diprivan)."

The 32-page document includes details such as the amount of the anesthetic that was usually administered to the singer by Dr. Conrad Murray.  It also details the seven doses of four different drugs that Murray has acknowledged administering to Jackson on the morning of his death, a series that began and ended with Propofol.

In addition, the affidavit says:
A search of the residence, specifically Jackson's bedside, revealed numerous bottles of medications prescribed by Dr. Murray to Jackson, including Diazepam (Valium), Tamsulosin (Flomax), Lorazepam (Ativan) and Temazepam (Restoril). Prescription pill bottles of Clonazepam (Klonopin) and Trazodone (Desyrl), prescribed to Jackson by Dr. Metzger and a prescription bottle of Tizanidine (Zanaflex), prescribed to Jackson by Dr. Klein were also found at Jackson's bedside. According to the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR), most of these drugs have an indicated or off label use in the treatment of insomnia.
[The Smoking Gun][Los Angeles Times]
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Friday, August 21, 2009

"Twitterviews" with Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly by Focus Features

Ramping up promotions for the September 9 release of Shane Acker's 9 movie, Focus Features is conducting live "Twitterviews" with film stars Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly today at www.twitter.com/FocusFeatures.  The questions were submitted by fans through Twitter.

The interview with Wood was scheduled to start at 11:00AM PST, but didn't start until about 10 minutes ago.  Jennifer Connelly's interview is scheduled to start at 12 noon PST.
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TV News: "Lost" and "Scrubs" Casting News, Locklear Returns to "Melrose Place?"

- Well that didn't take long! Hot on the heels of the leak of a character description for a new Lost character, it was announced today that actor John Hawkes will be joining the show as the recurring character Lennon. The casting side described the character as "the spokesman/translator for the president of a foreign corporation" who's "far more powerful than his lowly position would seem to indicate." Hawkes is a veteran of shows including Deadwood and Eastbound & Down. [TV Guide]

- The three new regulars who will play the next generation of Scrubs doctors have been cast.  Dave Franco (yes, he's James Franco's younger brother and has also starred in Greek and Privileged), Michael Mosley (The Proposal) and Kerry Bishé (Virtuality) will be the new med students under the tutelage of series veterans Donald Faison and John C. McGinley. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Speaking of Scrubs, congrats to actress Sarah Chalke and her fiancé, who recently announced that they are expecting their first child! [People]

- Heather Locklear may return to Melrose Place. The erstwhile Amanda Woodward is now in talks to reprise her role on the rebooted series, which now stars Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. Several of Locklear's fellow cast members from the original series have also signed on, including Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett and Daphne Zuniga. [TV Guide]

- Syfy has reupped their new original series Warehouse 13, ordering a 13-episode second season of of the show. Evidently Warehouse 13 is the most-watched show in the channel's history.  [Variety]

- In some groan-worthy tv news, ABC is looking to turn both the '80s "Brat Pack" movie St. Elmo's Fire and the novel The Time Traveler's Wife into television series. A feature film version of The Time Traveler's Wife was, of course, was released into theaters last weekend.  Click here to read Pop Wench Radhika's review of the movie. [TV Guide and MTV.com]
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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Release Date for Michael Jackson "This Is It" Film Announced

Sony has announced that Michael Jackson: This Is It will be released into theaters on October 28 for a limited two-week worldwide engagement. The film is cut together from footage shot prior to Jackson's June 25 death as he rehearsed in Los Angeles for a series of 50 sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena. Tickets go on sale beginning September 27.


[Associated Press via Yahoo! News]
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"Avatar" Trailer Released Online

The first trailer for James Cameron's Avatar was released today and can be viewed at Apple.com.  Most of the footage in the trailer is new, only about a quarter of it was previously screened at Comic-Con.

Visit Pop Wenches' write up of the Avatar clips that were shown in San Diego to see which footage was previously released.  You can also visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/popwenches to watch several high-def video clips from the Avatar panel last month that included James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang.
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Jackson Brothers Get a Reality Series on A&E

Well before Michael Jackson's death, A&E had shot a reality series pilot centering on the Jackson brothers and a reunion with Michael that never materialized.  Now it's being reported that A&E has greenlit additional episodes showing the remaining brothers dealing with the aftermath of the superstar's death and the brother's personal lives. The pilot episode is expected to air this month. I'm not even going to add snarky commentary to this bit of news . . . [Hollywood Reporter: Showbiz 411]
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Jon Hamm Joins Zach Snyder's "Sucker Punch"

Jon Hamm of Mad Men will soon be busy with a new big screen endeavor.  Hamm has joined the cast of Zach Snyder's (300, Watchmen) next project, the action fantasy flick Sucker Punch.

Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish and Carla Gugino and Jamie Chung will co-star with Hamm in "the 1950s-set tale of a girl (Browning) confined to a mental institution by her stepfather, who intends to have her lobotomized in five days." Browning's character and her friends are able enter an alternate reality where they can begin planning an escape.

Hamm's character name is "High Roller," but beyond that details are being kept under wraps. [Hollywood Reporter]

[Edited to correct the spelling of Jon Hamm's name because Pop Wench Callie was blinded by his hotness while looking for a photo to accompany this post. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!]
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Watch "Legion" and "Alice" Movie Trailers

Sony Pictures has just released the trailer for the feature film Legion, starring Paul Bettany. I had so many panel reports and videos from Comic-Con to get posted that I never got around to talking about Legion, but the trailer for this (especially seen on a big screen) impressed the heck out of me. There are angels.  Angels with machine guns.  Angels with machine guns trying to exterminate mankind.

Check out the trailer below!  Legion is in theaters January 22, 2010.


And because I totally missed this trailer when it came out a month ago (since I was traveling for the convention), but it's too good to pass up, I'm posting the first trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland too.

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Music Notes: Beatles Rock Band songs confirmed, Karen O helms film soundtrack

- More songs have been announced for The Beatles Rock Band and you can see the game's tracklisting here. [NME]

- The soundtrack for Where The Wild Things Are will come out Sept. 29. It's credited to Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O and the Kids, the name she gave her collaborators. The movie itself hits theaters in October. [Pitchfork]

- Get a glimpse of supergroup Them Crooked Vultures at work in the studio here. [Rolling Stone]

- Kraftwerk will reissue eight of their albums in a box set called 12345678: The Catalogue due in the US on Oct. 6. [Pitchfork]

- Nineteen-year-old Mike Byrne has been chosen to replace Jimmy Chamberlain in the Smashing Pumpkins lineup. Frontman Billy Corgan said Byrne has "a stunning blend of power, speed, and grace." [Billboard]

- Pete Doherty said he plans to reform The Libertines in time for the band to play festivals in 2010. [NME]

- Reports indicate that Dr. Conrad Murray could be charged for manslaughter and arrested by next week as a result of the case surrounding Michael Jackson's death. [NME]
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TV News: Gina Torres Gets "Gossip"-y, Lots of "Idol" Guest Judges, Marsters to Terrorize "Caprica"

- Gina Torres (who has, of course, appeared in everything from The Matrix Revolutions to Firefly to Angel) is joining the cast of Gossip Girl next season.  Torres will play Gabriela Abrams, whose daughter is the home-schooled Vanessa, in two eps next season but will have a recurring role throughout the series. [TV Guide]

- In the wake of Paula Abdul's departure, a whole slew of celebrities have been announced as guest judges on the upcoming season of American Idol. Confirmed guest judges to date include Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Katy Perry and Shania Twain. Why is it that only two of these judges have had respected music careers for more than a couple of years? [US Magazine]

- Oliver Stone and Showtime have announced that the controversial director will helm and narrate a 10-part documentary series titled Secret History of America. The series will revolve around events that "at the time went under-reported, but crucially shaped America's unique and complex history of the last 60 years"—events including the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, the Kennedy administration, the origins of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and America's changing role on the global scene since the fall of Communism.  The series is set to debut on Showtime in 2010. [Hollywood Reporter]
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- TNT has extended the summer leg of Leverage's second season by two episodes, one of which features Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Shark) in a guest starring role. It has yet to be seen if TNT will order up additional eps of the Timothy Hutton-starring drama, since this announcement leaves only six episodes on order for the winter half of the show's season. [TV Guide]

- James Marsters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame (also Angel, Smallville and Torchwood) will join the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica, during its freshman season on SyFy. According to EW's Michael Ausiello, Marsters will play Barnabus Greeley, "a dangerous terrorist leader . . . driven by desires both moralistic and carnal," for at least three episodes. [Entertainment Weekly]

- Michael Ausiello also shared another juicy bit of news— a casting side for a new, recurring Lost character. The search is on for a mid-30s to late-50s actor to play Lennon, who is described as:
Scruffy, edgy, charismatic, and slightly stir-crazy, Lennon can be deferential when it's called for. He's the spokesperson/ translator for the president of a foreign corporation. He's a wily negotiator, and far more powerful than his lowly position would seem to indicate.
I'm guessing Lennon is a translator for Sun's father, who is the head of Paik Heavy Industries. Do you agree or do you have another guess? [Entertainment Weekly]
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Concert Review: Depeche Mode at the Hollywood Bowl, 8/16/09


Along with 7 of my friends, I decided earlier this year to trek down from San Francisco to Los Angeles to see Depeche Mode at the Hollywood Bowl. Why? Because their SF stop was due to be at Shoreline Amphitheatre, and we don't like the acoustics there. We are picky folk! (Okay, so it was also an excuse for a weekend vacation!) Turns out we were lucky to decide on LA, because the band canceled the Shoreline show on doctor's orders at the last minute to rest David Gahan's voice. That was only a week before the LA show. And then, a couple of days before our show, they canceled their San Diego gig, too! Plane tickets in hand, we didn't know whether our LA trip would be in vain...

Luckily, not only did they show up to their Hollywood Bowl engagement on Sunday, no signs of vocal stress were in evidence. This was my first trip to the Bowl, and I was happy to find that its acoustics lived up to the Bowl's reputation, too. It was an all-around fun show, full of energy and creative visuals.[bxA]

The show was scheduled to start at 7pm, and I missed the opener, Peter Bjorn and John. Depeche Mode started earlier than I expected, coming on stage just after I arrived, around 8:20. They opened with their new song "In Chains". The audience stood up right away and kept its enthusiasm as the band played two more new songs, "Wrong" and "Hole to Feed", before launching into some of their many classics. David Gahan was full of energy. He seemed to especially enjoy grabbing the mic stand and twirling around and around until he got visibly dizzy, but he also wasn't above a little booty-shaking during "It's No Good". It wasn't until the slower Martin Gore-sung tune "Jezebel" that people finally took a rest and sat down. They didn't stay seated for long. After a couple more slow songs, the band launched into "Policy of Truth", and everyone was back on their feet, nodding and bopping for the rest of the night.

Visually, the key gimmick was a large hemispherical disco ball-like bulge on the main screen behind the performers. It sometimes just displayed a fish-eye view of the middle of the screen, but other times displayed something uniquely designed for it. One of the first memorable uses was when the screen showed a standing crow while the heimsphere became a giant eyeball, looking around and occasionally blinking. So creepy. Even for songs that didn't have pre-designed images, they didn't take the easy road with the displays. Every shot used carefully framed camera angles, black and white, high-contrast processing, and other live video effects, making for some arresting real-time art.

My favorite visual was for "Enjoy the Silence". On the screen were Gahan, Gore, and Andrew Fletcher in space suits. As each verse began, a different one of them would slowly walk to the center of the screen, where his head would be magnified by the ball. All three of them would then just stand there, staring wistfully off into the ether. I commented to my friend, "I supposed that in space... you can truly enjoy the silence."

They played for a good hour and a half before encore tease #1. Then Martin Gore came back on stage and began singing "Somebody" for the first time this tour. It's one of Depeche Mode's most unique yet ironically defining songs. (One of my cousins even used it for the first dance at his wedding!) You could hear the hush come over the audience.

This was followed up by "Stripped", and then "Strangelove", which featured the most.. lecherous visuals yet. One woman in a burlesque outfit lies on a couch while another woman in leather lingerie sucks on her feet. Strangelove indeed. It's more strange than pornographic, but the first woman does eventually take her top off. Quite edgy for a nearly 30-year-old synthpop band! On a related note, the visuals for "Personal Jesus" during encore #2 featured dancers in silhouette against primary color backgrounds; it was like a sleazier version of an iPod commercial. I wonder if that was intentional commentary about the apotheosis of Apple?

The band closed off their 2-hour set with a quiet duet, with Gahan and Gore singing "Waiting for the Night" together. It was nearly ruined for me by the guy next to me who insisted on singing along. I cupped my ears toward the stage and was able to mostly block him out.

I got into music pretty late. I only started really listening to popular music in late high school, and the first band I really got into in college was Depeche Mode. I'm not quite as obsessed with them as I used to be, but it was still great to have a chance to finally see them live for the first time, and in a venue with great sound that was clear and undistorted even though I was seated pretty far back.

Depeche Mode played the Hollywood Bowl again on Monday. They were in Anaheim last night and will be in Santa Barbara tonight before moving on to Vegas and further east. You can see their remaining tour dates and full set lists of past shows on their website. If you have a chance to see them, know that this here is a band from the 80s that's still relevant and interesting. They might not belt out quite as many hits as they used to, but there's no denying that they have at least one great song on their latest album. If you haven't seen it, take a look at the supremely disturbing yet supremely awesome video for "Wrong". Here's wishing David Gahan the best of health.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Imogen Heap's New Album "Ellipse" Streaming Online

Imogen Heap fans who are looking forward to the artist's new album, Ellipse, can listen to the album in its entirety online through the music player below or by visiting the album website.

Ellipse will be released in the UK on August 24 and in North America on August 25.

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RIP Robert Novak

Longtime Chicago Sun-Times political columnist and co-host of CNN's Crossfire Robert Novak died early this morning at the age of 78 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

A controversial journalist who riled Americans on both sides of the aisle, Novak began his career with the Sun-Times in 1963 when he began assisting with the "Inside Report" political column that eventually was widely syndicated. When CNN was launched in 1980, Novak was tapped as a regular commentator for the channel, working with the innovative news network for the next 25 years. [Chicago Sun-Times][CNN.com]
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Film News: Avatar Preview Rush Crashes Site; McAvoy Picks Next Role; Spidey 4, 5 & 6?

- After crashing on Monday from the overwhelming number of people logging onto the site, AvatarMovie.com is back up for those looking to secure tickets to see advance footage from the upcoming James Cameron film. As we reported from San Diego Comic-Con last month, fans who secure the free tickets through the Avatar website will be able to see 15 minutes of the film in IMAX 3D on August 21. While many locations have already sold out of their allotment of tickets, some locations and showtimes are still available. [AvatarMovie.com]

- James McAvoy will star in a comedy co-produced by Seth Rogen and based on the real-life story of a screenwriter who was diagnosed with cancer in his mid-twenties and battled it successfully for the next several years.  The untitled project will be McAvoy's first project since starring in the hit 2008 action movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. [Hollywood Reporter]

- With Spider-Man 4 in the pipeline for a May 2011 release, Sony Pictures Entertainment has begun prepping for two more installments in the Spider-Man story. Screenwriter James Vanderbilt has been hired to write Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.  Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are not currently signed beyond the fourth film, but that does not rule out any or all of their returns for future movies. [Variety]

- 20th Century Fox has brought scribe Christopher McQuarrie onboard to pen the sequel to this summer's Wolverine.  The project marks a return to the franchise for McQuarrie, who did uncredited work on Bryan Singer's first X-Men film. [Variety]
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Monday, August 17, 2009

New on DVD and Blu-Ray (August 18, 2009)

Check out a selection of the new DVD and Blu-Ray releases available tomorrow. There's a ton of good stuff coming out this week, particularly on the TV front.  Everything from the Patrick Swayze's The Beast to the third season of Dexter to the freshman season of Sons of Anarchy is available starting tomorrow.  Enjoy!

Movies:


Television:





Blu-Ray:

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Music Notes: Radiohead release free track, Aerosmith cancel tour

So as I posted late last week, I'm planning on making Music Notes a three-times-a-week thing on this blog now that I have a nutty schedule. I'm hoping I'll be able to stick with it, and I'll keep you all posted.

- Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood confirmed that the band will debut new material at the Reading and Leeds Festivals later this month. He also linked to a free download of a new track, "These Are My Twisted Words." [NME]

- Aerosmith have canceled the remainder of their summer tour. [Brooklyn Vegan]

- Michael Jackson will be buried on Aug. 29, the date that would have marked his 51st birthday. [NME]

- Iggy Pop contributed vocals to a new version of "Oh My God," a track on Ida Maria's Fortress Round My Heart. This new version of the song hits radio this week, and will be available on iTunes starting Aug. 31. Listen to the collaboration here. [SPIN]

- Check out the premiere of Smokey Robinson's "Don't Know Why" here. [Billboard]

- Christina Aguilera is continuing to work with some very interesting collaborators for her next album: M.I.A., Santigold and Ladytron are on the list. [SPIN]
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This Week's Music (August 18, 2009)

Welcome back to the weekly new music roundup, where I will try highlighting some of tomorrow's interesting/major music releases.

Hello again readers, I'm back to posting the new music round-ups for now though I'll keep you posted if anything changes.

We've got some neat releases this week, especially when it comes to vinyl. Numerous Muse albums are being reissued this week in vinyl format (three of them are in 2-LP format), and The Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin is also getting a special reissue treatment. Modest Mouse's latest EP (released earlier this month) comes out on vinyl this week.

There's some neat soundtracks too — Mad Men's Season 2 soundtrack and the one for Inglourious Basterds will be released this week.

Check out these and some more of this week's releases below:

Albums, Singles, EPs:
- 7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out (Vinyl)
- The Antlers - Hospice; Vinyl
- Colin Hay - American Sunshine
- Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke (Vinyl, Special Edition)
- Ledisi - Turn Me Loose; CD/DVD Edition
- Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next (EP, Vinyl)
- Sean Paul - Imperial Blaze
- Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
- Sister Hazel - Release

Reissues, Box Sets:
- Michael Jackson - The Ultimate Collection
- The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (2 LP Vinyl with Bonus CD)
- Muse - Absolution (2 LP)
- Muse - Black Holes and Revelations (Vinyl)
- Muse - Origin of Symmetry (2 LP)
- Muse - Showbiz (2 LP)
- Richard Thompson - Walking on a Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009)

Soundtracks:
- Various Artists - Inglourious Basterds
- Various Artists - Mad Men: Music From The Series Vol. 2
- Various Artists - Season 2 - Music From The Showtime Series Californication
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