Featurette: 'The Women of THE SPIRIT'

Because let's be honest. They're the only reason most of us will be seeing the movie anyway. (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

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TV on DVD: Freaks and Geeks, Sports Night & MST3K

It seems like every week there's an announcement that some old TV show is getting released on DVD. But it's never the ones you want. Granted, there must be some audience for the 'Golden Girls Season 4' and 'The Best of Dr. Katz' or they wouldn't release them, but it seems like the best shows are always out of print. Until now. This holiday season, Shout! Factory is releasing 3 TV-on-DVD box sets that had me updating my Amazon wishlist for the first time in a long time.

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First up, the 'Freaks and Geeks Yearbook Edition'. The show that launched the career of Judd Apatow and pretty much everyone he knows has a rabid cult following and has been out of print for years. And now, not only do you get 6 DVDs of a great show, you get 2 discs of extra stuff and a completely superfluous 80-page yearbook of photos and stuff. It's pretty much your dream come true.

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'Sports Night: The Complete Series 10th Anniversary'. I can't believe it's been 10 years since Aaron Sorkin affected his way into the hearts of American TV watchers with his signature snappy dialogue and steadicam hallway walk-n-talks. Those became standards of his later, more well-known series 'The West Wing' (which ruled) and 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' (which blew). If you liked either of those, you owe it to yourself to check out 'Sports Night'.

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And of course, MST3K. There's certainly no shortage of available DVDs for this one, but it's all just so good I can't help but plug it when new stuff comes out. This 20th Anniversary Edition features 4 DVDs of the series' most requested shows, 4 lobby cards and a figurine of Crow. It also happens to come in a tin box, which I think is meant to be a selling point.







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Kidulthood on DVD

Not many people saw KIDULTHOOD, but those of us who did won't soon forget it. Dark, graphic and downright disturbing, it's sort of an updated, underground British version of Larry Clark's movie KIDS from 1995. Both are harsh, gritty and pretty hard to watch at times, earning most of their cred from their unflinching realism. As a side note, KIDULTHOOD also happens to boast a pretty stellar soundtrack, especially for fans of UK hip-hop. Here's the trailer. (Trailer courtesy of Image Entertainment)

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The Spirit - The Short Trailer

Apparently our Red Bull brains can't sit still for a full 2 1/2 minute trailer, thus necessitating the advent of the 'short trailer'. Here's the new one from THE SPIRIT, due out Christmas Day. The previous full-length trailers have left lots of us feeling uninspired. Is the short one any better? Your thoughts. (Trailer courtesy of Lionsgate)

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Transporter 3 - New Clip!

It's hard to not love Jason Statham. Even when he does crap movies like DEATH RACE and that even more crap Uwe Bol DUNGEON SIEGE movie, he still manages to pull off whatever the badass male version of the 'hooker with a heart of gold' thing is. And for us, it all started with the TRANSPORTER movies. Number 3 is due out in the US on November 26. Here's a new clip. (Clip courtesy of Lionsgate)

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Soundtrack Review: Charlie Bartlett

The movie was charming and funny in parts, but ultimately too fluffy and flawed to carry any real weight. And the soundtrack kind of feels the same way. The produced tracks are a grab bag: spunky, hollow electro pop from Spiral Beach, slightly grittier pop from Hard-Fi and The Subways, plus a front row seat to Tom Freund's best Dylan impression. And most of Christophe Beck's jazzy, minimalist score cues sound like they were ripped straight from episodes of "Mad About You":



Our 2¢: Netflix a season of "Mad About You". Or swallow some bleach. Whichever hurts less.

Our helpful 2¢: Check out CB's far superior score for YEAR OF THE DOG instead.
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Score Review: UNTRACEABLE by Chistopher Young

UNTRACEABLE had an interesting premise. A crazy guy with a webcam hooks people up to this torture machine that kills them fast or slow, depending on how many hits the website gets. In the tired torture porn genre, it sounded original-ish. But ultimately, it didn't really do it for us. And while it was nice to see Diane Lane in something other than a romantic comedy (and to see Colin Hanks in anything at all), it wasn't enough. And neither was Young's music, really. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad. Young is a composer of crazy talent. And if anybody can write a good score for a bad movie, it's Young. (Think GHOST RIDER, THE CORE, etc). And for thriller music, UNTRACEABLE is actually pretty listenable. There's more than a little of James Newton Howard's FUGITIVE influence present here. (That's a compliment.) As a result, tho, there's nothing terribly new or captivating going on.



Our 2¢: You can probably live without it. Unless you're a Christopher Young groupie. Or have, for your own reasons, taken a blood oath to buy the soundtrack for every Diane Lane movie. (You know who you are.)

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Welcome back, Blogger!

Yes, we've been MIA for a while. And we're sorry. We've been focusing our efforts on the soon-to-launch STC HD. That's right - everything you love about STC in 1080p and 5.1 surround sound. Drool away. But as you've still got a bit to wait for that one, we'll soften the blow by getting back into the swing of posting more soundtrack reviews (complete with sweet imeem streaming tracks, if you promise to be on your best behavior). Bear with us tho, as we've got a bit of catching up to do. (And by a bit I mean we're going back to February. Ha! You thought we forgot about the UNTRACEABLE score, didn't you? Oh no. We've just been saving it for the right moment...)

That's right, John. We're back home.
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New Podcasts Available

Hola everybody. New STC News podcasts are up. This week, in the Hollywood Headlines, we've got a look at the boring writers strike, plus a boring round-up of the awards season thus far. In the Movie Music News, there's look at a great movie music podcast, plus some scoring updates from Patrick Doyle and Christopher Young. The Soundtrack News takes a look at the scores from CITY OF MEN and IN BRUGES. And the Movie Tech News explores a few creative ways to keep yourself entertained when you're not watching Soundtrack Channel.

Also, the STC Previews show featuring the Valentines Day releases is up. Mieke's got reviews of DEFINITELY, MAYBE, STEP UP 2 THE STREETS, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, JUMPER and DIARY OF THE DEAD. Nothing says 'I Love You' like an evening with George Romero.
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Movie Music on the World Wide Web

As much as you'd probably like to, we know you can't spend all of your Internet time on the STC website. So here's a few other things that might hold your interest until the next STC News update:

StageAndScreenOnline.com has posted their latest composer interview with none other than our hero, Dario Marianelli. S&SO regularly posts great interviews with big-name composers and industry types, but this one is especially good. 45 minutes of pure Dario, talking about his transition from concert works to scoring, his relationship w/ director Joe Wright, his upcoming projects, and lots more. Check it out.

APMMusic.com also puts out a pretty great podcast. It's called, appropriately, the APM Film & TV Music podcast, and it's also got lots of great movie music interviews. The latest edition features a nice chat with Alan Menken, the 8-time Oscar winner and resurrector of the Disney musical. Enjoy!
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BE KIND REWIND: Michel Gondry is the greatest. Ever.

No one has ever made movies like Michel Gondry. In a world full of remakes and sequels and franchises, he is a genuine auteur. A free-thinking, unbridled explosion of child-like creativity. So what does he do when New Line makes a flashy trailer from his movie about making lo-fi versions of flashy movies? He makes a lo-fi version, of course. Brilliant.

Note: In case you are completely confused, the man who is playing all the characters in the above trailer is Michel Gondry. He is the director of the film BE KIND REWIND, being advertised in the trailer below. which is being 'sweded' in the trailer above. To learn what sweding is, go here. And go see the movie when it comes out on Feb 22. You will love it.

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New Podcasts Posted

Hey everybody, the new podcasts are up. On STC News, we've got Hollywood Headlines, with Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro sharing stylists as well as duties on THE HOBBIT. Plus Paul Haggis is bringing CRASH to the small screen. Then there is a new Soundtrack News, with a look at the scores from CASSANDRA'S DREAM and RAMBO. Then there are 2 Special Edition: Best Soundtracks of 2007 segments, with a look back at the music from 300, HOT FUZZ, SUPERBAD, and the Oscar-nominated score from 3:10 TO YUMA.

Plus, this week's STC Previews show is up, with some sassy reviews by Mieke Buchan of THE EYE, STRANGE WILDERNESS, OVER HER DEAD BODY and CARAMEL, with a First Glimpse at the big screen adaptation of MAMMA MIA! (The exclamation point is a part of the title. I didn't put it there. I'm not excited about it at all.)
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JUNO Video: Anyone Else But You

A cool little clip of Michael Cera and Ellen Page singing the Moldy Peaches' song "Anyone Else But You" from the Juno soundtrack. The whole album is pretty solid - full of standard mellow indieness - mostly from Kimya Dawson (the female half of the Moldy Peaches). Interestingly, it was Ellen Page who suggested Kimya's music for the film. Check it out.

As a side note, turns out the movie is actually really great as well. Just got a boatload of Academy Award noms, too. So if you're planning on making any money at all in the office Oscar pool, you probably ought to check it out.
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New Podcasts Available

4 new STC News podcasts were posted on iTunes today. They include reviews of 2 new soundtracks (There Will Be Blood and Youth Without Youth), as well as a look back at 6 of the best soundtracks of 2007 (Across the Universe, La Vie En Rose, August Rush, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Rendition). The STC News segments are also available on our official YouTube channel, as well on the player there to the right.

Also posted is the STC Previews show for films releasing this Friday, January 25. It includes reviews of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Meet the Spartans, How She Move, Untraceable and Rambo. Yikes.

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WIRED: Academy score rules suck

Wired Magazine recently reported something we've been saying for years -- that the Academy's eligibility rules regarding music and scores are antiquated and lame. They sight AMPAS's disqualification of the amazing score from THERE WILL BE BLOOD, written by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. They canned the score because it sampled pieces of other existing classical works, completely ignoring the fact that the 35 minutes of new music he composed for the film is more original than basically anything else to come out this year. Kinda makes me hope the writer's strike lasts long enough to send the blessed Oscar ceremony the way of the dodo. Or at least the way of the Golden Globes.

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Sad News: Heath Ledger is dead.

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in a Manhattan apartment early this afternoon, allegedly of a drug overdose. It's a pretty tragic story from a guy who was on top of his game. Defamer is following the story closely and, unlike a few other places, with a bit of respect.

Ledger was in production on Terry Gilliam's latest film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He is survived by his daughter Matilda.

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HONEYDRIPPER: Rocking the blues

HONEYDRIPPER is a new indie flick about the roots of rock n' roll -- namely, the blues of the 1950's deep South. And as you could probably guess, the soundtrack is the best part. It's packed with blues staples like Mable John and Keb Mo', and introduces an amazing new guitar talent in Gary Clark Jr. The film is still in extremely limited release (like '30 theaters in the entire country' limited). So chances are you might have to wait a bit for it to come to your local art house. (If it comes at all. Sorry, Burnsville, WV. Life's hard.) But let us make it up you. While you're pining away in your room waiting for your release date to come, you can check out the entire soundtrack via the exclusive Rhino Records listening party. Links are here, here and here. So no more tears.

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Welcome to the official STC blog!

Welcome to the official blog of the Soundtrack Channel. Here you'll get access to all of our digital content, including podcasts, YouTube video and links to IPTV providers. Plus you'll find loads of extras not available anywhere else -- including promotions, internet-only trailers and exclusive soundtrack and movie reviews. So check back often, and don't hesitate to leave us all your comments and suggestions.
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