Producer Mary Wharton didn’t know how she would continue working once the pandemic hit, but she got some help from Tom Petty. The rock star died in 2017, but he left behind a treasure trove of footage that would become Wharton’s upcoming music documentary “Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free.” The movie is making its premiere as one of three headlining films at the SXSW Film Festival, and, in fact, all three movies headlining the festival are music documentaries, including docs on Demi Lovato and Charli Xcx. The films are part of a surge of documentaries centered on notable musicians regardless of genre or generation — rock or pop, living or dead, archival-based or fly-on-the-wall style, and everything in between. In 2020, TheWrap counted a rough shortlist of at least 20 music docs, including films about The Go-Gos, The Bee Gees, The Beastie Boys, Blind Melon, J Balvin, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes,...
- 3/16/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Pathway to Paris gave voice to the urgent issue of climate change on Sunday night at Carnegie Hall, celebrating the launch of its 1,000 Cities initiative and the organization’s three years of environmental advocacy.
Patti Smith and Flea perform on stage during Pathway To Paris Concert For Climate Action at Carnegie Hall
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Kane/Getty Images for Undp
Founded by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, Pathway to Paris orchestrated the event in partnership with the Un Development Programme and 350 org – bringing together a collection of artists, activists, academics, musicians, politicians, and innovators to shine a light on 1,000 Cities’ imperative mission, supported by a Care2 petition which invites the world’s cities to transition off of fossil fuels in a call to action.
The evening opened with powerful speeches and performances by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, who curated the event, encapsulating the essence of Pathway to Paris.
Patti Smith and Flea perform on stage during Pathway To Paris Concert For Climate Action at Carnegie Hall
Credit/Copyright: Kevin Kane/Getty Images for Undp
Founded by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, Pathway to Paris orchestrated the event in partnership with the Un Development Programme and 350 org – bringing together a collection of artists, activists, academics, musicians, politicians, and innovators to shine a light on 1,000 Cities’ imperative mission, supported by a Care2 petition which invites the world’s cities to transition off of fossil fuels in a call to action.
The evening opened with powerful speeches and performances by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, who curated the event, encapsulating the essence of Pathway to Paris.
- 11/8/2017
- Look to the Stars
Magnolia Pictures has picked up U.S. rights to Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Nico, 1998,” the distributor announced on Wednesday. The film is a look at the last two years of the Velvet Underground singer and actress’s life. Financial terms were not disclosed. Danish actress, singer and songwriter Trine Dyrholm plays Nico during singer and former Warhol superstar’s last hurrah during the final two years of her life, 1987 and 1988, when her new manager convinces her to go on tour and promote her new album. Nico is also looking to reconnect with her son. “Nico, 1988” won Best Film in Horizon section at this.
- 9/20/2017
- by Matt Pressberg
- The Wrap
Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Nico, 1988, the biopic of sorts of the sometime-Velvet Underground lead singer that was written and directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli. The pic both opened and won the Horizons competition at the Venice Film Festival, and now Magnolia is planning a 2018 theatrical release. Danish actress-singer-songwriter Trine Dyrholm stars as Nico, the Andy Warhol discovery who sang lead vocals on several tracks of Vu’s 1967 debut album…...
- 9/20/2017
- Deadline
Lou Reed: A Life Anthony DeCurtis (Little, Brown and Company)
Lou Reed has to be one of the most audacious and iconic rockers to have committed his dark muses to his music and poetry. And writer/professor Anthony DeCurtis's new must-read bio of Mr. Reed perfectly captures the ethos of this misanthropic rocker. Let's be clear, Lou's outrageous life story is truly stranger than fiction. But then again, so are many of our most celebrated artists, especially those who not only create but also live on the edge/fringe of society, pushing their artistic vision on, for the most part, a rather pedestrian audience.
From Lou's humble middle-class upbringing on Long Island that included his life altering electro-shock treatments to his dying breath, his life was filled with passion and for pushing people, fans and critics alike, to explore the darker side of life; to if not to "walk on the wild side,...
Lou Reed has to be one of the most audacious and iconic rockers to have committed his dark muses to his music and poetry. And writer/professor Anthony DeCurtis's new must-read bio of Mr. Reed perfectly captures the ethos of this misanthropic rocker. Let's be clear, Lou's outrageous life story is truly stranger than fiction. But then again, so are many of our most celebrated artists, especially those who not only create but also live on the edge/fringe of society, pushing their artistic vision on, for the most part, a rather pedestrian audience.
From Lou's humble middle-class upbringing on Long Island that included his life altering electro-shock treatments to his dying breath, his life was filled with passion and for pushing people, fans and critics alike, to explore the darker side of life; to if not to "walk on the wild side,...
- 9/13/2017
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
Susana Nicchiarelli's eccentric biopic about the final days of Nico, the equally eccentric former "Factory Girl" and front woman of Lou Reed's Velvet Underground, is being roundly praised following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival today. Nico, 1988 is being called authentic, while early reviews also praise a pitch-perfect performance by actress Trine Dyrholm. The first trailer for the film has appeared and if this short look is anything to go by, I think the film will be a powerhouse in terms of filmmaking, performance and music. Synopsis: Nico, 1988 is the story of Nico's last tours with the band that accompanied her around Europe in the Eighties: years in which the "priestess of darkness", as she was called, found herself again, shaking off...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/30/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Long past her glory days as a superstar beauty at Andy Warhol’s Factory and sometimes lead singer for the Velvet Underground, Christa Paffgen, known professionally as Nico, is tumbling down the slope of heroin addiction as Nico, 1988 opens. Concentrating on her band’s disastrous tour from Manchester, England, to Italy and East Europe, writer-director Susanna Nicchiarelli dives deeply into the life of a tragic but remarkable woman, memorably portrayed by Danish actress and singer Trine Dyrholm as an unpleasant, hurtful junkie plagued with memories and regrets. It opened Venice Horizons with a rebellious backward look at the counterculture of the...
- 8/30/2017
- by Deborah Young
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Attendees at Jorja Smith’s Thursday night show at Toronto’s Velvet Underground nightclub got more than their money’s worth when the London singer was joined onstage by none other than Drake. Smith, who collaborated with Drake on his “More Life” album, invited him onstage to perform a duet on their track “Get It Together” at the […]...
- 8/25/2017
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
26 years, 6 movies, and 1 miniseries since winning the grand Jury Prize with his debut film Poison at Sundance, Todd Haynes remains a remarkably difficult auteur to pin down. He made his first short while still in high school but decided to focus on semiotics in university instead. That knowledge would nevertheless bleed into the fabric of his work, becoming a director of significant gestures and homage. He soon became a major — and quite radical — player in both the American independent and queer film scenes of the early ‘90s before channeling that spirit to produce experimental works on Bob Dylan and Glam Rock. His period films, those great sweeping odes to Golden Age Hollywood, were radical in their own subtle way, if less avant-garde. He recently peppered that remarkable back catalogue with Wonderstruck, his first family-oriented outing.
The Locarno International Film Festival decided to acknowledge that diversity and radicalism this year by...
The Locarno International Film Festival decided to acknowledge that diversity and radicalism this year by...
- 8/17/2017
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
News of Todd Haynes making his first documentary should’ve come as something of a curveball, but it was reported that the “Carol” director is planning a non-fiction project about the Velvet Underground, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine” is such a knowing, textured, and vividly remembered reflection on the glam rock era that it can be easy to forget that its story merely alludes to the likes of Lou Reed.
But the fascination the Velvet Underground holds for Haynes isn’t the only thing that makes this newly announced documentary feel like such a perfect pairing between subject and storyteller. With the landmark “The Velvet Underground & Nico” LP, Reed and his cohorts effectively forged a new language for countercultural expression, synthesizing the subversive pop stylings of Andy Warhol into a rock movement that had already been neutered of its rebellious beginnings. With films like “Poison” and “Safe,...
But the fascination the Velvet Underground holds for Haynes isn’t the only thing that makes this newly announced documentary feel like such a perfect pairing between subject and storyteller. With the landmark “The Velvet Underground & Nico” LP, Reed and his cohorts effectively forged a new language for countercultural expression, synthesizing the subversive pop stylings of Andy Warhol into a rock movement that had already been neutered of its rebellious beginnings. With films like “Poison” and “Safe,...
- 8/8/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Coming off the heels of the Cannes premiere of his new film Wonderstruck, which will be shown as the Centerpiece selection of this year’s New York Film Festival, Todd Haynes has announced that his next project will be a documentary on the legendary rock band The Velvet Underground. As reported on by Variety, Haynes, for which this will be his first documentary, is seeking to create a visual experience that will “rely certainly on [Andy] Warhol films but also a rich culture of experimental film, a vernacular we have lost and we don’t have, [and that] we increasingly get further removed from,” in addition to interviews with the surviving members of the band and other contemporaries.
In addition, the article mentions an Amazon limited TV series that the director is developing which is said to be about a currently unidentified, immensely influential and radical public figure.
Haynes, who is in Locarno...
In addition, the article mentions an Amazon limited TV series that the director is developing which is said to be about a currently unidentified, immensely influential and radical public figure.
Haynes, who is in Locarno...
- 8/7/2017
- by Ryan Swen
- The Film Stage
Todd Haynes, visionary director of “Carol” and “Far From Heaven,” is teaming longtime collaborator Christine Vachon’s Killer Films to direct his first documentary, about legendary rock group The Velvet Underground. David Blackman and Universal Music Group will also produce.
Variety reported the news out of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where Haynes received the Pardo d’onore Manor award for career achievement. Haynes’ debut feature “Poison,” played in festival competition in 1991. The festival screened “Wonderstruck,” the newest film from Haynes which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, alongside “Poison.”
Read More‘Wonderstruck’ Trailer: Todd Haynes Restores the Beauty of Silent Cinema in Oscar Hopeful
Haynes is also working with Amazon on a limited TV series ““an intensely important figure of immense historical and cultural influence,” the director told Variety.
The new project is currently in development, but will feature interviews with the living members of the band, as...
Variety reported the news out of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where Haynes received the Pardo d’onore Manor award for career achievement. Haynes’ debut feature “Poison,” played in festival competition in 1991. The festival screened “Wonderstruck,” the newest film from Haynes which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, alongside “Poison.”
Read More‘Wonderstruck’ Trailer: Todd Haynes Restores the Beauty of Silent Cinema in Oscar Hopeful
Haynes is also working with Amazon on a limited TV series ““an intensely important figure of immense historical and cultural influence,” the director told Variety.
The new project is currently in development, but will feature interviews with the living members of the band, as...
- 8/7/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Todd Haynes has had a long running interest in the world of music and the personalities that populate it. The director’s early short film “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” made him one to watch, he explored the ’70s glam scene with “Velvet Goldmine,” and tried to capture the enigmatic Bob Dylan with “I’m Not There.” All of these projects were cinematic visions of their subject, but now Haynes is taking a more straight-ahead approach to one of rock ‘n roll’s most influential acts.
Continue reading Todd Haynes To Direct Documentary On The Velvet Underground, Prepping Amazon Series at The Playlist.
Continue reading Todd Haynes To Direct Documentary On The Velvet Underground, Prepping Amazon Series at The Playlist.
- 8/7/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In 1966, as the underground film wave was sweeping the country, a Boston off-shoot of New York City’s Film-Makers’ Cinematheque opened at a performance space at 53 Berkeley Street. Underground films were shown on weeknights, while on the weekends the space transformed into a music venue called The Boston Tea Party.
The Cinematheque and the Tea Party were founded and run by a controversial figure named Mel Lyman, a harmonica player and the leader of a hippie commune in Boston’s Fort Hill neighborhood. Lyman has also been considered a cult leader on par with Charles Manson, except Lyman’s followers never actually murdered anyone. According to the book Apocalypse Culture, Lyman claimed to be an extraterrestrial and was seemingly obsessed with “ruling” the country’s underground culture.
Whatever Lyman’s background, the Cinematheque showed some cool films, according to the actual flyers from that time period below. Click each poster...
The Cinematheque and the Tea Party were founded and run by a controversial figure named Mel Lyman, a harmonica player and the leader of a hippie commune in Boston’s Fort Hill neighborhood. Lyman has also been considered a cult leader on par with Charles Manson, except Lyman’s followers never actually murdered anyone. According to the book Apocalypse Culture, Lyman claimed to be an extraterrestrial and was seemingly obsessed with “ruling” the country’s underground culture.
Whatever Lyman’s background, the Cinematheque showed some cool films, according to the actual flyers from that time period below. Click each poster...
- 8/6/2017
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli's Nico 1988, a biopic about Velvet Underground lead singer Christa Paffgen, better known as Nico, is set to open the Venice Film Festival's Horizon section. The film will have its world premiere on the fest's opening day on August 30 in Sala Darsena. The film stars Danish multihyphenate Trine Dyrholm, who started out as a singer and who won the 2016 Berlin Golden Bear for her work in Thomas Vinterberg's The Commune. She'll star as…...
- 7/19/2017
- Deadline
The recording academy will pay tribute to this year’s lifetime achievement honorees with a concert at New York’s Beacon Theater on July 11. Each of the six artists being feted are — Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, and the Velvet Underground — will be honored by others whom […]...
- 7/7/2017
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The recording academy will pay tribute to this year’s lifetime achievement honorees with a concert at New York’s Beacon Theater on July 11. Each of the six artists being feted are — Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Sly Stone, and the Velvet Underground — will be honored by others whom […]...
- 6/27/2017
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Long Strange Trip (Amazon Video)
I was stoked have scored a ticket for the limited-run (one week) theatrical screening of the new Grateful Dead documentary at IFC Cinema in the West Village. A four-hour love fest for Deadheads young and old, and more importantly for those music fans and the curious who just never got "it" and what it means to be a Deadhead. Expertly handled by director Amir Bar-Lev, there is so much to mine here that I can't imagine how much was left on the cutting room floor. (Props to executive producer Martin Scorsese, too.) Jerry's Frankenstein story frames the movie in a way that initially seems odd but by the end of the film makes perfect sense. After all, like the Monster, the band was "assembled" by the various parts (members, friends, fans, staff) that comprised it. Messy, joyous entropy in action; seemingly random, but actually spiritually...
I was stoked have scored a ticket for the limited-run (one week) theatrical screening of the new Grateful Dead documentary at IFC Cinema in the West Village. A four-hour love fest for Deadheads young and old, and more importantly for those music fans and the curious who just never got "it" and what it means to be a Deadhead. Expertly handled by director Amir Bar-Lev, there is so much to mine here that I can't imagine how much was left on the cutting room floor. (Props to executive producer Martin Scorsese, too.) Jerry's Frankenstein story frames the movie in a way that initially seems odd but by the end of the film makes perfect sense. After all, like the Monster, the band was "assembled" by the various parts (members, friends, fans, staff) that comprised it. Messy, joyous entropy in action; seemingly random, but actually spiritually...
- 6/1/2017
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
John Cale Liverpool Sound City, UK Friday 26th May 2017
Fifty years on and it is time to remember one of the most innovative albums ever impressed onto wax. A delicious dark and jagged confection of nihilism and sulky sophistication unlike it's Liverpudlian counterpart Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, also now fifty, but which was sunny, funny and a bit vaudeville. Both represent a pair of wildly different bookends. The Velvet Underground and Nico was then a monumental, commercial flop, whilst the Beatles album sold in the millions. With half a century under its belt of shiny studded leather, the Velvets album now has an arc of influence that continues to reach into the hearts of those who wish to create a positive noise.
There is something incongruous about the weather, it is clammy and warm, and the sun is blinding, and yet the music we await really should be...
Fifty years on and it is time to remember one of the most innovative albums ever impressed onto wax. A delicious dark and jagged confection of nihilism and sulky sophistication unlike it's Liverpudlian counterpart Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, also now fifty, but which was sunny, funny and a bit vaudeville. Both represent a pair of wildly different bookends. The Velvet Underground and Nico was then a monumental, commercial flop, whilst the Beatles album sold in the millions. With half a century under its belt of shiny studded leather, the Velvets album now has an arc of influence that continues to reach into the hearts of those who wish to create a positive noise.
There is something incongruous about the weather, it is clammy and warm, and the sun is blinding, and yet the music we await really should be...
- 5/30/2017
- by robert cochrane
- www.culturecatch.com
Mubi is exclusively playing Tyler Hubby's Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present (2016) from April 8 - May 8, 2017 in the United Kingdom and United States.Tyler Hubby (left) and Tony Conrad (right)I met Tony Conrad in 1994 just as he was re-emerging as a composer and musician. I was recording with my Hi-8 camera when he played one of his first public shows as a violin soloist and have been recording since.Tony was electrifying in how he could always find ways to confront establishment ideas and personal belief systems. Not only was his sabre rattling at the foundations of western culture inspiring, it was also just, and deeply resonated with my ideas of the role of art in society.Over the years as I worked as an editor on films like The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Double Take and The Great Invisible I kept shooting performances and interviews with Tony,...
- 4/8/2017
- MUBI
I can see the comments now. Who the hell is Tony Conrad, and why the hell is there a documentary about him?
In many ways, that’s kind of the point with regards to the existence of the debut film from editor-turned-director Tyler Hubby. Hubby, best known for editing award-winning documentaries like The Devil And Daniel Johnston, jumps behind the camera for a briskly paced and yet lovingly dense look at an artist who has gone far too long unsung among the masses.
Entitled Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present, Hubby’s film takes a look at the life and work of Conrad, who may not be familiar but has surely inspired or been directly involved with some of your favorite musical and avant garde art collectives. An artist in various mediums, Conrad has worked in realms ranging from experimental film to public access television over his expansive 50-plus year career,...
In many ways, that’s kind of the point with regards to the existence of the debut film from editor-turned-director Tyler Hubby. Hubby, best known for editing award-winning documentaries like The Devil And Daniel Johnston, jumps behind the camera for a briskly paced and yet lovingly dense look at an artist who has gone far too long unsung among the masses.
Entitled Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present, Hubby’s film takes a look at the life and work of Conrad, who may not be familiar but has surely inspired or been directly involved with some of your favorite musical and avant garde art collectives. An artist in various mediums, Conrad has worked in realms ranging from experimental film to public access television over his expansive 50-plus year career,...
- 4/7/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Bob Odenkirk's 30-plus-year career has included a stint as an SNL writer, a groundbreaking sketch series (Mr. Show), stand-up comedy, and, most recently, Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad prequel in which he gives a brilliant performance as "morally flexible" lawyer Jimmy McGill. And how has the 54-year-old actor's outlook changed over that three-decade span? "As a young man I was the fuckin' expert on comedy, on who was funny and who wasn't funny and who's a douchebag," he says. "I still feel those things but I don't think I'm so right.
- 4/5/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Everyone’s heard the famous maxim, generally accredited to legendary music producer Brian Eno: while the Velvet Underground’s debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico, sold a paltry 30,000 copies upon release in 1967, every person who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band. Though a slight exaggeration, the line is a testament to the album’s far-reaching influence trumping its commercial failure. Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker merged raw rock and roll with musique concrète and the avant-garde to create an untamed and menacing sound that perfectly underscored their poetic tales of drug deals, sadomasochistic sex...
- 4/1/2017
- by Jordan Runtagh
- PEOPLE.com
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” was a complex, nearly indecipherable musical riddle that flummoxed even its composer. Originally released as a funereal synth-laden dirge on 1984’s Various Positions, he spent years tinkering with the track during live performances in a relentless pursuit to unlock its full melodic potential. Ultimately, it was John Cale who provided the key.
The iconoclastic Velvet Underground co-founder, producer and innovative writer/arranger crafted an elegiac version of “Hallelujah” that vaulted the song into a rarefied strata of modern standards. Now he speaks to People about the song’s long journey.
First included on an obscure Leonard Cohen tribute album,...
The iconoclastic Velvet Underground co-founder, producer and innovative writer/arranger crafted an elegiac version of “Hallelujah” that vaulted the song into a rarefied strata of modern standards. Now he speaks to People about the song’s long journey.
First included on an obscure Leonard Cohen tribute album,...
- 3/24/2017
- by Jordan Runtagh
- PEOPLE.com
Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” is the toast of South by Southwest. The allusive writer/director gives credit where it’s due in a new interview published by Empire, namely Walter Hill’s 1978 “The Driver”; Wright praises Hill in general and his 1978 car-chase movie in particular throughout their discussion, which seems a continual surprise to the genre auteur. “The Driver” “did not find an audience,” says Hill, who has to be reminded of his film’s impact on a generation of filmmakers by the “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” director.
Read More: ‘Baby Driver’ Review: Edgar Wright’s Brilliant Car Chase Musical Casts Ansel Elgort As an Outlaw Fred Astaire — SXSW 2017
Other than the title and basic idea, “The Driver” seems to have influenced Wright in a really specific way. He says he read the film’s screenplay “because I wanted to know, how do you write a car chase?...
Read More: ‘Baby Driver’ Review: Edgar Wright’s Brilliant Car Chase Musical Casts Ansel Elgort As an Outlaw Fred Astaire — SXSW 2017
Other than the title and basic idea, “The Driver” seems to have influenced Wright in a really specific way. He says he read the film’s screenplay “because I wanted to know, how do you write a car chase?...
- 3/14/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Music industry figure Danny Fields – who knew Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground – is a wry raconteur full of spit and vinegar in this engaging documentary
Danny Fields is one of those mysterious figures in the music industry you often see in black and white band photographs grinning away with his arms around the talent, too hip-looking to be a venue manager, too square to be a dealer. Turns out, he’s an interesting character, a wry raconteur full of spit and vinegar even now in his late 70s, who has had a varied music business career, and who was canny about keeping recordings of conversations , which enrich this documentary by Brendan Toller. A hyper-smart, gay, Jewish boy from Queens who studied law at Harvard, he became a music journalist and was the guy who reported in the Us that John Lennon had said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
Danny Fields is one of those mysterious figures in the music industry you often see in black and white band photographs grinning away with his arms around the talent, too hip-looking to be a venue manager, too square to be a dealer. Turns out, he’s an interesting character, a wry raconteur full of spit and vinegar even now in his late 70s, who has had a varied music business career, and who was canny about keeping recordings of conversations , which enrich this documentary by Brendan Toller. A hyper-smart, gay, Jewish boy from Queens who studied law at Harvard, he became a music journalist and was the guy who reported in the Us that John Lennon had said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
- 1/26/2017
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
As meticulously crafted as everything else about his films, Wes Anderson’s soundtracks are indispensable primers for the musically agnostic movie dork. Never dug into The Kinks? Cue up The Darjeeling Limited. Ignorant of The Who? Rushmore is there. Is your Bowie knowledge lacking? The Life Aquatic has you covered (in Portuguese, to boot). It’s a move right out of the Max Fischer playbook: Drop the right signifiers, amp up your confidence, and never let the other guy see you sweat. Anderson’s soundtracks can form the spine of a pretty respectable record collection—or at least, give you the quick, digested version of one. That’s especially true if, like me, you were a teen who spent more time playing through the cave levels of video games than spelunking through The Velvet Underground. Even today, I’m not a “music guy.” I have songs and artists I love...
- 12/14/2016
- by William Hughes
- avclub.com
Do you remember the first time you heard “Hallelujah?” Was it in Shrek? Maybe on a reality-singing competition show? Maybe you just heard it from a street musician somewhere and thought, “That’s a really nice song.”
It’s safe to say at this point, though, that the majority of people who’ve been touched by the song didn’t hear it from its writer, the late Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s song — like Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” vis-a-vis Johnny Cash — has become one of those rare examples of a song completely outshining its author as it’s made its way through pop culture.
It’s safe to say at this point, though, that the majority of people who’ve been touched by the song didn’t hear it from its writer, the late Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s song — like Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” vis-a-vis Johnny Cash — has become one of those rare examples of a song completely outshining its author as it’s made its way through pop culture.
- 11/11/2016
- by alexheigl
- PEOPLE.com
Lacma’s Michael Govan presented the first of two tributes on Saturday night at the museum’s sixth annual Art + Film Gala, honoring his friend and mentor Robert Irwin. In doing so, Govan, Lacma’s CEO and Wallis Annenberg director, praised Irwin as a man whose “biography has convinced more young people to become artists than the Velvet Underground has created rockers.” Govan continued: “His whole life and career is a teaching moment.” And even though Irwin was nursing a broken back, his teaching skills were still in top shape as the 88-year-old slowly made his way to
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- 10/30/2016
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lou Reed: The RCA & Arista Album Collection (Sony Legacy)
In a nutshell: If you are a Lou Reed fan, you should get this seventeen-cd box set regardless of how much of its contents you already own. Everything has been remastered; I compared the sound on six albums I have earlier CDs of (I did not compare the new CDs to my old vinyl, as that's apples and oranges), and on five the sound is greatly improved, more focused and with greater clarity; The Bells in particular has its murky sound fixed but retains its darkness. The exception is Take No Prisoners; it may be, given the circumstances under which this concert was recorded, that there wasn't much to work with there, but the sound is just as good as before. Throw in a very nice book -- not booklet; this thing's hardbound and roughly 11"x12" -- with co-producer Hal Willner's reminiscences,...
In a nutshell: If you are a Lou Reed fan, you should get this seventeen-cd box set regardless of how much of its contents you already own. Everything has been remastered; I compared the sound on six albums I have earlier CDs of (I did not compare the new CDs to my old vinyl, as that's apples and oranges), and on five the sound is greatly improved, more focused and with greater clarity; The Bells in particular has its murky sound fixed but retains its darkness. The exception is Take No Prisoners; it may be, given the circumstances under which this concert was recorded, that there wasn't much to work with there, but the sound is just as good as before. Throw in a very nice book -- not booklet; this thing's hardbound and roughly 11"x12" -- with co-producer Hal Willner's reminiscences,...
- 10/26/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Nico—singer-songwriter, model, actress, German—will be getting the biopic treatment in Nico, 1988, focusing on the icon’s final years. Cosmonauta director Susanna Nicchiarelli will direct, and the role of Nico herself will be portrayed by Denmark’s Trine Dyrholm.
“Most people think, as Andy Warhol once said, that after her experience with Velvet Underground and the Factory—and after having had sex with most of the rock stars of those years—Nico simply ‘became a fat junkie’ and disappeared,” Nicchiarelli said in a statement, pitching the film to buyers at the Rome Film Festival. “But is this how her life really went?”
The film will not focus on Nico’s ’60s heyday, appearing in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and performing with the Velvet Underground. Nor will it depict her solo career throughout the ’70s. Rather, it will focus on the last year of her life. Nicchiarelli, who ...
“Most people think, as Andy Warhol once said, that after her experience with Velvet Underground and the Factory—and after having had sex with most of the rock stars of those years—Nico simply ‘became a fat junkie’ and disappeared,” Nicchiarelli said in a statement, pitching the film to buyers at the Rome Film Festival. “But is this how her life really went?”
The film will not focus on Nico’s ’60s heyday, appearing in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and performing with the Velvet Underground. Nor will it depict her solo career throughout the ’70s. Rather, it will focus on the last year of her life. Nicchiarelli, who ...
- 10/24/2016
- by Mike Vanderbilt
- avclub.com
When Tony Conrad passed away in April of 2016, I knew of him as an experimental filmmaker. It’s hard to be an art student at the University at Buffalo — despite his teaching in Media Studies rather than Fine Art — and not know his name. But that was all I knew: a name, reputation, and the plaudits of countless friends who knew so much more. Only when obituaries started being released in the likes of the New York Times did I realize how renowned a figure he was beyond local heroic status working alongside Paul Sharits and Hollis Frampton in my hometown. Then Rolling Stone posted. Pitchfork, Stereogum, NME, and other music publications quickly followed suit. Suddenly a whole world was opened by his sprawling legacy.
This is where documentarian Tyler Hubby arrives — with a film twenty years in the making that proves perfectly suited for a Conrad novice like myself.
This is where documentarian Tyler Hubby arrives — with a film twenty years in the making that proves perfectly suited for a Conrad novice like myself.
- 10/9/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.
This Past Weekend:
While the new movies reigned at the box office this past weekend, both Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven (Sony) and the animated Storks (Warner Bros.) didn’t fare nearly as well as our projections, both falling short by about $10 million. The Magnificent Seven, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, fared decently with $34.7million, which is about the average for Washington’s films, but the fourth highest opening for a Western after last year’s The Revenant, the animated Rango, and Cowboys and Aliens. Storks’ $21.3 million opening wasn’t great compared to other animated September releases with Sony still holding the September opening record with Hotel Transylvania 2, but it should continue to do well with no other animated movies opening for another month.
This Past Weekend:
While the new movies reigned at the box office this past weekend, both Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven (Sony) and the animated Storks (Warner Bros.) didn’t fare nearly as well as our projections, both falling short by about $10 million. The Magnificent Seven, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, fared decently with $34.7million, which is about the average for Washington’s films, but the fourth highest opening for a Western after last year’s The Revenant, the animated Rango, and Cowboys and Aliens. Storks’ $21.3 million opening wasn’t great compared to other animated September releases with Sony still holding the September opening record with Hotel Transylvania 2, but it should continue to do well with no other animated movies opening for another month.
- 9/28/2016
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Danny Says, a new documentary about the career of one of rock's famous managers, Danny Fields, is set for release September 30th. In a new teaser, Alice Cooper spoke about Fields' business savvy. "Danny was in the middle of all of it, almost orchestrating," he said. "Those are the guys that are always in the wings, but they're always the most effective people."
Fields is most famous for being the manager of the Ramones and Iggy and the Stooges (immortalized in the Ramones tune "Danny Says"). But the documentary, directed by Brendan Toller,...
Fields is most famous for being the manager of the Ramones and Iggy and the Stooges (immortalized in the Ramones tune "Danny Says"). But the documentary, directed by Brendan Toller,...
- 9/22/2016
- Rollingstone.com
When Alice Cooper says you're "at the pulse of the underground," you're at the pulse of the underground. Nobody challenges that.
That's how the rock legend describes music-industry legend Danny Fields, the subject of the trailer for the new documentary Danny Says. The documentary, which premiered at SXSW last year, chronicles Fields' life, and examines his context in the rock history books — as Iggy Pop puts it, "Danny's a connector, he's a fuel line, a place where things are liable to erupt."
"He's been a handmaiden to the gods...some...
That's how the rock legend describes music-industry legend Danny Fields, the subject of the trailer for the new documentary Danny Says. The documentary, which premiered at SXSW last year, chronicles Fields' life, and examines his context in the rock history books — as Iggy Pop puts it, "Danny's a connector, he's a fuel line, a place where things are liable to erupt."
"He's been a handmaiden to the gods...some...
- 8/11/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Prepare to meet Danny Fields. A music industry whiz kid who helped make punk rock, well, punk rock, Fields has lived a thousand lives since his rise in the ’60s. A music manager, publicist, journalist and author, Fields has done it all, even though he could have quite easily rested on certain career highlights like “signed and managed Iggy and the Stooges” or “signed the MC5” or “managed The Ramones” or “worked with Jim Morrison and The Velvet Underground.” And that’s just a taste of Fields’ wide-ranging career.
So what could possibly be next for Fields? How about his very own documentary? “Danny Says,” from filmmaker Brendan Toller, promises to deliver a full look at Fields’ live and legacy (as aided by the man himself), complete with something for both music industry veterans and newbies looking to see where it all began.
Read More: How ‘Miss Sharon Jones!’ Turns...
So what could possibly be next for Fields? How about his very own documentary? “Danny Says,” from filmmaker Brendan Toller, promises to deliver a full look at Fields’ live and legacy (as aided by the man himself), complete with something for both music industry veterans and newbies looking to see where it all began.
Read More: How ‘Miss Sharon Jones!’ Turns...
- 8/1/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
On Monday, July 26, famed rock producer, manager, and lyricist Sandy Pearlman died at the age of 72. His Wikipedia page says he "was the recipient of 17 gold and platinum records." He managed that despite not actually producing many bands, or even albums -- but he left a big imprint on every one he worked on.
Born in Rockaway (Queens), NY in 1943, he got a college degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island in 1966.
A year later, still in the Stony Brook area, he recruited a band so he could have a series of science-fiction poems he'd written (the Imaginos saga, about a group secretly controlling world history) set to music and performed. He named the band Soft White Underbelly after Winston Churchill's epithet for Italy, but changed its name to Oaxaca after Soft White Underbelly got a negative review at a big concert.
Born in Rockaway (Queens), NY in 1943, he got a college degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island in 1966.
A year later, still in the Stony Brook area, he recruited a band so he could have a series of science-fiction poems he'd written (the Imaginos saga, about a group secretly controlling world history) set to music and performed. He named the band Soft White Underbelly after Winston Churchill's epithet for Italy, but changed its name to Oaxaca after Soft White Underbelly got a negative review at a big concert.
- 7/28/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Orange Is the New Black returns June 17. The show has rightly earned praise for its nuanced, moving portrayals of female inmates of all stripes, and serves as a reminder of how far things have come in terms of images of incarcerated women on screen. In appreciation of series creator Jenji Kohan and the cast and crew's elevated take on the subject matter, we're looking back at the bleak and often exploitative history of the strange "women's prison drama" film genre. The portrayal of women in prison can be split - as most of Hollywood can - into two periods: Pre- and Post-Code.
- 6/15/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- PEOPLE.com
Orange Is the New Black returns June 17. The show has rightly earned praise for its nuanced, moving portrayals of female inmates of all stripes, and serves as a reminder of how far things have come in terms of images of incarcerated women on screen. In appreciation of series creator Jenji Kohan and the cast and crew's elevated take on the subject matter, we're looking back at the bleak and often exploitative history of the strange "women's prison drama" film genre. The portrayal of women in prison can be split - as most of Hollywood can - into two periods: Pre- and Post-Code.
- 6/15/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- PEOPLE.com
Chicago – The great benefit of the Chicago Underground Film Festival (Cuff) is the exposure to the layers of outsider art within cinema and other categories. A prime example was the fest’s Opening Night film, “Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present,” directed by Tyler Hubby.
Tony Conrad was an underground artist, in almost a Forrest Gump-like way. He studied math at Harvard in the early 1960s, and was one of the wave of bohemians that took advantage of the crumbling infrastructure of pre-Disneyland New York City, forging art from the ruins of civilization. His contributions to music – he took the tone of a violin to new levels of sonic revelations – and film are still being felt to today, he was one of those prototypical ahead-of-his-time artists. He influenced elements of The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, German rock and counterculture film, with an understated presence that was about the work,...
Tony Conrad was an underground artist, in almost a Forrest Gump-like way. He studied math at Harvard in the early 1960s, and was one of the wave of bohemians that took advantage of the crumbling infrastructure of pre-Disneyland New York City, forging art from the ruins of civilization. His contributions to music – he took the tone of a violin to new levels of sonic revelations – and film are still being felt to today, he was one of those prototypical ahead-of-his-time artists. He influenced elements of The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, German rock and counterculture film, with an understated presence that was about the work,...
- 6/5/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Tony Conrad, 1983. Photo by Joe Gibbons.Tony Conrad, who passed away on April 9 aged 76, was a vital figure in the fields of both filmmaking and music. His work in each is often characterized by its visceral power, its clear-eyed critique of Western art traditions, its interest in social questions and relations of control, its technical virtuosity and wit.Conrad was an indisputable innovator. His film works, beginning with The Flicker (1966) and continuing through, the Yellow Movies (1973), Film Feedback (1974), the ‘cooked film’ and ‘pickled film’ series, and many others, pushing the medium to its inner and outer limits: exploring the potential of long durations, stroboscopic effects, the physical properties of celluloid, the relation of filmmaker to spectator, the relation of film to other arts and to history. Conrad also created a vast number of video works, reflecting the same incisive energy. Too seldom referred to in contemporary writing about experimental film,...
- 4/19/2016
- by Yusef Sayed
- MUBI
Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.
Pedro Costa tells Grasshopper Film his 10 favorite films of the last 10 years.
Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, and Paul Schrader give an oral history of Taxi Driver at THR:
We had one screening at the studio in a small screening room for some friends, and then it was shown to the studio. I don’t recall what my friends said, but people were kind of perplexed. I believe it was the next day that the studio saw it and there was a smiling kind of reaction that was very brief. Then I heard word that they were concerned that women wouldn’t like the film. Then,...
Pedro Costa tells Grasshopper Film his 10 favorite films of the last 10 years.
Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, and Paul Schrader give an oral history of Taxi Driver at THR:
We had one screening at the studio in a small screening room for some friends, and then it was shown to the studio. I don’t recall what my friends said, but people were kind of perplexed. I believe it was the next day that the studio saw it and there was a smiling kind of reaction that was very brief. Then I heard word that they were concerned that women wouldn’t like the film. Then,...
- 4/11/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
Yesterday, Buffalo News arts critic Colin Dabrowski broke the news that composer, artist and filmmaker Tony Conrad had passed away earlier in the day at the age of 76. "Conrad, who taught in the University at Buffalo's media study department since 1976, was idolized by a generation of composers, musicians and artists who credit him with changing the course of American art and music with his seemingly endless series of inventive projects, performances and installations." Artforum adds that "Jack Smith, Mike Kelley, and Henry Flynt were among his many frequent collaborators. Conrad also composed as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music, which included John Cale and La Monte Young. A book in his collection, titled The Velvet Underground, ultimately gave rise to the name of Lou Reed’s eponymous band." » - David Hudson...
- 4/10/2016
- Keyframe
Yesterday, Buffalo News arts critic Colin Dabrowski broke the news that composer, artist and filmmaker Tony Conrad had passed away earlier in the day at the age of 76. "Conrad, who taught in the University at Buffalo's media study department since 1976, was idolized by a generation of composers, musicians and artists who credit him with changing the course of American art and music with his seemingly endless series of inventive projects, performances and installations." Artforum adds that "Jack Smith, Mike Kelley, and Henry Flynt were among his many frequent collaborators. Conrad also composed as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music, which included John Cale and La Monte Young. A book in his collection, titled The Velvet Underground, ultimately gave rise to the name of Lou Reed’s eponymous band." » - David Hudson...
- 4/10/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Of the many many TV shows over the years that were about TV shows, Garry Shandling didn't just co-create and star in the very best, he starred in two of the very best. Shandling, who died suddenly today at 66 (as first reported by TMZ), was not only co-creator (with Dennis Klein) and star of the trailblazing HBO comedy The Larry Sanders Show, about the narcissistic, self-loathing host of a late night network talk show, but earlier co-created (with Alan Zweibel) and starred in It's Garry Shandling's Show, an incredibly self-aware sitcom (originally airing on Showtime, and later rerun on Fox) where Sanders broke the fourth wall, went into the studio audience, and had a theme song so meta, it puts Abed on Community to shame: You can trace an entire generation of TV comedy to Larry Sanders. Not only did powerhouse writer/producers like Judd Apatow and Steve Levitan take early jobs there,...
- 3/24/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
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Vinyl seems to be running out of things to explore about Richie Finestra worryingly early. At least the music's still great...
This review contains spoilers.
1.5 He In Racist Fire
I’m starting to worry about Richie Finestra. I’m not concerned for his welfare, or his financial standing or even his marriage. He’s perfectly capable of screwing all of those up by himself. I’m worried about what Richie Finestra actually does. He is necessarily the lynchpin character in Vinyl but I’m not convinced that he is interesting enough to carry a sufficient amount of the narrative on his own and this episode, the least effective of the season so far, does very little to ease that feeling.
It’s not entirely barren. Two of Richie’s significant relationships are explored in more detail than they were before, while a third (and possibly more interesting one) is introduced.
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Vinyl seems to be running out of things to explore about Richie Finestra worryingly early. At least the music's still great...
This review contains spoilers.
1.5 He In Racist Fire
I’m starting to worry about Richie Finestra. I’m not concerned for his welfare, or his financial standing or even his marriage. He’s perfectly capable of screwing all of those up by himself. I’m worried about what Richie Finestra actually does. He is necessarily the lynchpin character in Vinyl but I’m not convinced that he is interesting enough to carry a sufficient amount of the narrative on his own and this episode, the least effective of the season so far, does very little to ease that feeling.
It’s not entirely barren. Two of Richie’s significant relationships are explored in more detail than they were before, while a third (and possibly more interesting one) is introduced.
- 3/16/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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Youth is something Vinyl's record execs can sell, but not something they can ever get back. Here's our review of Yesterday Once More...
This review contains spoilers.
1.2 Yesterday Once More
The first time that I heard Bob Dylan I was in the car with my mother, and we were listening to, I think, maybe Wmca, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody kicked open the door to your mind - Bruce Springsteen
It becomes very clear, early on in this second episode, just why Vinyl, a TV show obsessed with rock ’n’ roll is set in the 1970s, rather than during the genre’s birth in the 1950s or at its high water mark in the late 1960s. It’s for purposes of nostalgia. This is not merely the ex-universe sense of longing for the sounds of several decades ago (which Vinyl, with...
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Youth is something Vinyl's record execs can sell, but not something they can ever get back. Here's our review of Yesterday Once More...
This review contains spoilers.
1.2 Yesterday Once More
The first time that I heard Bob Dylan I was in the car with my mother, and we were listening to, I think, maybe Wmca, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody kicked open the door to your mind - Bruce Springsteen
It becomes very clear, early on in this second episode, just why Vinyl, a TV show obsessed with rock ’n’ roll is set in the 1970s, rather than during the genre’s birth in the 1950s or at its high water mark in the late 1960s. It’s for purposes of nostalgia. This is not merely the ex-universe sense of longing for the sounds of several decades ago (which Vinyl, with...
- 2/22/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
On February 15th, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj will both be returning to the Grammys — and both will be vying to take home their first trophy. Like Patti Smith (one nomination), Nas (11) and Snoop Dogg (17), neither has won a gramophone of his or her own. Here's a rundown of the pop stars, punk icons and rock geniuses whose work has never been recognized by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Snoop Dogg
Times nominated: 17
As of 2015, Snoop Dogg was tied for first place in the dubious competition to...
Snoop Dogg
Times nominated: 17
As of 2015, Snoop Dogg was tied for first place in the dubious competition to...
- 2/9/2016
- Rollingstone.com
The eleventh entry in an on-going series of audiovisual essays by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin. Greg Mottola's Adventureland (2009) is now playing in the United States through February 29.Few subjects divide people more sharply and ferociously than respective tastes in music. We build our identities, our system of values, even our world-views, through the music we choose to love and cultivate, whether as players or listeners—and we project our musical distastes onto a screen (or a variety of screens) constituting those monstrous Others from which we differentiate and dissociate ourselves.Popular movies have a lot to do with propagating this fascinating but treacherous and unstable cultural process. Especially teen movies, which involve themselves with the vagaries of pop, rock, and other musical styles more extensively and intimately than most genres—particularly at the level of ‘sampling,’ of the selection of pre-existing tracks for the film soundtrack (and,...
- 1/30/2016
- by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
- MUBI
Read: SXSW: 7 Must-See Music Documentaries At This Year's Festival Magnolia Pictures has picked up worldwide distribution rights to a documentary chronicling the life and times of former music executive and punk legend, Danny Fields. From Velvet Underground to The Doors, Iggy and the Stooges to the Ramones, the "godfather of punk" has worked with them all, accumulating along the way his fair share of stories that range from the bewildering to the profound and empathetic. Along with Danny Fields' tales of debauchery and hedonism, the new doc "Danny Says" explores the rise of the young music enthusiast from a Harvard Law School dropout to a leading music industry figure. "'Danny Says' is a flat-out gas," said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. "In spite of the fact that Danny helped introduce to the world some of the most transformative artists and scenes in rock and roll, his accomplishments take...
- 1/12/2016
- by Riyad Mammadyarov
- Indiewire
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