This Week's UK Cinema Releases

Revolutionary Road



Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist



Tokyo Sonata

Also released today: Red Cliff, The Broken

Don't mention spaghetti...

Christopher Frayling makes a pilgrimage to Italy to meet Ennio Morricone for BBC Radio 4.

Also featuring Goldfrapp and Chris Rea, among others.

Mrs Morricone isn't allowed to dust his study, fact fans.

Listen again here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00f65l8/The_Morricone_Affair/

We're Just Not That Into The Soundtrack

He's Just Not That Into You, the movie based on the internationally best selling book by Sex & The City writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo, is released in the UK next week (6 Feb).

I've been looking forward to this film for the following reasons:

• I love a rom-com/chick flick, but only if they're well made. I draw the line at something like Coyote Ugly, because it was utter shit.
  
• Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo are responsible for writing some of the wittiest and most original dialogue to appear on television (for Sex & The City).
  
• The book was mildly amusing.
• All-star ensemble casts are my favourite - this one includes Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Connolly.

By the looks of it, we're in for a well-acted, well-written treat, which won't be stretching my grey matter or bothering awards voting academies any time soon (that's a good thing by the way - there's only so much earnest cinema one can take, surely)

He's Just Not That Into You trailer:

BUT the soundtrack looks dire. The tracklisting reads like a dreadful compilation aimed at those who buy their music in Asda. Corinne Bailey Rae... Maroon 5... James Morrison... Keane...The worst Cure song ever recorded... Oh, and a bit of The Ting Tings and Lily Allen shoehorned in to give it some 'edge'. As if all that wasn't bad enough, someone told Scarlett Johansson she was allowed to sing again.

He's Just Not That Into You - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1. Corinne Bailey Rae - I'd Like To
2. My Morning Jacket - I'm Amazed
3. The Human League - Don't You Want Me
4. R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious
5. Tristan Prettyman - Madly
6. Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
7. The Black Crowes - By Your Side
8. Wilco - I Must Be High
9. James Morrison - You Make It Real
10. Maroon 5 - If I Never See Your Face Again
11. The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait
12. The Ting Tings - Fruit Machine
13. Lily Allen - Smile
14. Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
15. Erin McCarley - Love, Save The Empty
16. The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
17. Scarlett Johansson - Last Goodbye

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Sound(Track) Of The Week #2

Shout Out Louds :: Very Loud
Buy here:

This week's (Sound)Track Of The Week is from Michael Cera's latest offering, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (released in the UK this Friday).

Once again, iTunes are only letting you buy the album as a whole. But you can buy 'Very Loud' as a separate track from their brilliant album, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (one of the best albums of 2005) here:

Having said that, the whole soundtrack (which features We Are Scientists, Devendra Banhart and Vampire Weekend, among others) is definitely an album worth having in your collection.

Christ knows what The Dead 60s are doing on it though. They're quite possibly the worst band ever allowed near a recording studio.

Edgar Wright, Wright, Wright

Straight To Video had the pleasure of interviewing Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz writer/director, Edgar Wright, on this very dreary London Sunday. It's for a special project we've got coming up.

1) Edgar is A Very Nice Man.
2) We're very excited about his next film, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, with Michael Cera.

That's all we can tell you right now. All will be revealed in due course...

Get your Straight To Video tickets quick!

Buy tickets for Straight To Video here:

Arcade Fire to score Cameron Diaz film

Canadian troupe Arcade Fire have been enlisted by Donnie Darko writer/director, Richard Kelly, to score his next film – The Box staring Cameron Diaz and Frost/Nixon’s Frank Langella - with 80 minutes of original music.

Kelly went backstage in 2007 to hand-deliver the script to Arcade Fire’s frontman, Win Butler.

"They're just, like, my favorite band, period," he said. "I saw the Neon Bible tour. I went to, like, four shows. And I just have always felt that their stuff was really cinematic. They're really political and I think with The Box, it's a morality tale, and it takes place in 1976, but conceptually, there's a real message to the film in terms of what it has to say about the nuclear family, and about greed, or about what everyone is willing to do to achieve a certain level of happiness in their life."

Kelly adapted the script from a '70s-era short story by Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson. The film follows Diaz as one half of a miserable suburban couple (James Marsden is the other half) who are approached by a mysterious stranger (Langella) with a proposition… press the button on this box and you'll receive $1 million, but someone on the planet will die as a consequence.

“The band's focus was on a Russian style of composition," explains Kelly. "The strings being really raw and emotional. I think they were able to create a score that feels like it's from another era. It's kind of like [Psycho composer] Bernard Hermann on acid, what they did. It's very lush, and kind of a very bombastic, emotional score. And kind of Hitchcock. It feels like a score from the 1970s. I just feel really blessed that they were willing to score the film. I'm really excited for people to hear what they've come up with.”

The Box is set for theatrical release towards the end of this year.

If you've been living under a stone for the last few years and you haven't had the glorious pleasure of Arcade Fire's two majestic masterpieces in your ears, we implore you to rectify this immediately.

Buy Funeral here:

Buy Neon Bible here:

M.I.A.'s Mum is happy

Here's M.I.A.'s response to the Oscar nod for 'O Saya' from Slumdog...

"This is a great honour. Thank you to all the people who are supporting us and the making of a real story of a Slumdog Millionaire. Maybe I can afford to book Dave Chappelle at the baby shower now. Thank you again; my mum wants everyone to know what wonderful news this is for her."

So there you have it.

Of course, posting this gives us a valid excuse to post Dave Chapelle's 'Rick James' sketch...  If you haven't seen this before, you're in for an hilarious treat.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91T1HlZ3_I

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhyJwWMZ2hE

(They won't let us embed them. Ugh.)

This Week's UK Cinema Releases

Better Things

Frost/Nixon

JCVD

Milk

Rachel Getting Married

Valkyrie

Sex & The City 2?

Renowned purveyors of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Us Weekly and The Sun, are reporting that a Sex & The City sequel has been confirmed.

According to 'a source', "Not all the contracts have been signed, but everyone is on board."

Now, everyone knows that quotes from 'sources' are made up on the spot in a cynical attempt to give the piece credibility. So...

A source from Sex & The City Headquarters in actual New York, who is also a close friend of Carrie Bradshaw, called Straight To Video only this morning and told us, "There might be a second Sex & The City movie." You heard it here third.

It's also been reported that one of the four ladies will be killed off, yada yada...

Dear Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha,

If the sequel does go ahead, can we please not be subjected to that disgusting dirtbag Fergie doing the theme again? Aaron Zigman is more than welcome to stay on for the scoring though.

Yours sincerely,

The 20th Century Fox

OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2008

The nods for movie music greatness are...

Achievement In Music (Original Score)

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat

Defiance - James Newton Howard

Milk - Danny Elfman

Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman

Wall-E - Thomas Newman

Achievement In Music (Original Song)

Wall-E - 'Down To Earth'

Slumdog Millionaire - 'Jai Ho'

Slumdog Millionaire - 'Oh Saya'

...which means M.I.A. will be performing on the night, as she features in Slumdog Millionaire's 'Oh Saya'.

Can AR Rahman beat score-composing titans like Elfman, Newton Howard and Newman to the Oscar?  We hope so.  

"I am overjoyed by these nominations," Rahman said today. "And deeply grateful that the Academy has embraced the music of this film.  Slumdog Millionaire has paid magical dividends for so many people around the globe.  I am deeply honoured to be a part of a film that has inspired so many."

In other news, Mamma Mia and High School Musical are nowhere to be seen... YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

We're Back!

Buy tickets for Straight To Video here:

The Oscars

Nominations.

Tomorrow.

Excited.

Believe The Hype

Slumdog Millionaire is

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT.

What an original way to tell a story. Incredible.

We're excited to see what Oscar noms it gets tomorrow... Hopefully AR Rahman's score will be in with a shot. As mentioned in a previous post, Straight To Video's (Sound)Track Of The Week is M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes' - one of three musical appearances by the diminutive Sri Lankan on the film's soundtrack.

In context, the film's music illustrates the story and the stunning cinematography beautifully. I've got a girl crush on Latika, the object of the protagonist's affections, and her theme is equally beguiling. I picked this track out ('Latika's Theme') as a highlight, along with the end-song, 'Jai Ho', before seeing the film and now I heart them even more.

Check out the way 'Jai Ho' is used as the credits roll...

Slumdog Millionaire (Music From The Motion Picture) Tracklisting:

O...Saya - M.I.A. & AR Rahman

Riots - AR Rahman

Mausam & Escape - AR Rahman

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Paper Planes (DFA Remix) - M.I.A.

Ringa Ringa - AR Rahman, Alka Yignik, Ila Arun

Liquid Dance - AR Rahman, Palakkad Sriram & Madhumitha

Latika's Theme - AR Rahman & Suzanne

Aaj Ki Raat - Sonu Nigam, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Alisha Chinai

Millionaire - AR Rahman & Madhumitha

Gangsta Blues - AR Rahman, Blaaze & Tanvi Shah

Dreams On Fire - AR Rahman & Suzanne

Jai Ho - AR Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer

Buy it here:

STV Film Rating:

STV Soundtrack Rating:

Tony Hart :: A Tribute

Tony Hart

1925 - 2009

So, Tony Hart died earlier this week :(

As a tribute to the artistic dandy, we thought we'd take you on a little tour of our gallery, just like on Hartbeat. It's what Tony would have wanted...

Keep your eyes peeled for our next movie poster bastardisation. It's coming soon.

You Had Me At G'day

Baz Luhrmann’s Australia has everything you want in a sweeping epic... Goodies, baddies, a strapping hero, a ballsy heroine (with a great wardrobe and well-placed hair), a kid with doe eyes, some cows, love across the classes, more than one opportunity to have a little cry, crescendo-ing strings and a happily-ever-after ending.

Nicole Kidman and Luhrmann are both fully forgiven for that Chanel advert. Even the bit where she says ‘driiive’, which makes me want to scrape off my own face.

Watch the trailer:

Australia is an ode to the most beautiful country in the world, complete with a bit of Rolf Harris on his wobble board, some ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and a smattering of didgeridoo. Harold Arlen’s ‘Over The Rainbow’ from The Wizard Of Oz is a recurring motif and the use of Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ is guaranteed to make you well up.

For some reason they’re not releasing the entire soundtrack, but you can buy a 5-track EP which includes the really quite dreadful ‘The Drover’s Ballad’ by Elton John and absolutely none of the really quite beautiful original score by David Hirschfelder.

Buy it here:

Barack H. Obama. He Knows The Score.

The 44th President of the United States of America was sworn in today moments after a classical quartet played a new piece composed by none other than John Williams.

Air & Simple Gifts is an original composition written especially for Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington D.C.

John Williams is the man who has composed arguably the most recognisable film scores in existence - Star Wars, Jaws, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, and Superman... plus my iPod's Christmas playlist staples from Home Alone.

Williams also scored presidential biopics JFK, Nixon and Steven Spielberg's Amistad - a film based on a real-life mutiny on board a ship carrying captured Africans to a life of slavery.

Welcome to a new era, with new ideas...

Location, Location, Location

Anyone in the market for a piece of British cinematic history? Uncle Monty's Cottage from Withnail & I is going under the hammer on 16 February with a starting price of £145,000.

United Utilities senior land agent, Edward Holt, says: "Sleddale Hall is in one of the quietest parts of the Lake District. I hope it is bought by someone who can restore it. It would make a lovely family home."

Apparently it has retained many of the original features used during filming. So if you're a Withnail & I fan, you've got upwards of 145 grand lying around and you don't mind not having a roof - this could all be yours...

(Sound)Track Of The Week

M.I.A. :: Paper Planes

This week's (Sound)Track Of The Week comes courtesy of the Brit flick currently on everyone's lips... Slumdog Millionaire (which we're going to be seeing this week).

The rest of the album features the Golden Globe-winning original score by AR Rahman. The beautiful 'Latika's Theme' and Bollywood-esque 'Jai Ho' are the highlights. Go and stream them at iTunes and hopefully they'll let you buy them as separate tracks at some point.

To buy the M.I.A. track separately, go here:

And while you're at it, you may as well get the DFA remix:

Even though she dresses like a dog's dinner on acid, M.I.A. is still Officially Very Good.

No funny biznizz.
The 20th Century Fox
x

We Heart Awards Season

The nominations are in.

The BAFTAs. Not quite as amazing as the Oscars, but far less embarrassing for the UK than the BRIT Awards.

Double Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet has TWO nods for Leading Actress and we have a feeling her mantel piece is going to be glistening with multiple prizes for her star turns in Revolutionary Road and The Reader by the end of awards season.

Elsewhere, Slumdog Millionaire leads the pack with 11 nominations (as does The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.) The skinny virgin from low-rent TV show Skins (essentially a 'gritty' Hollyoaks with drugs), Dev Patel, has only gone and bagged himself Leading Actor alongside Mickey Rourke, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Frank Langella... Amazing.

And over in the Music Department, the nominations are as follows:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
The Dark Knight – Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
Mamma Mia – Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Slumdog Millionaire – AR Rahman
Wall-E – Thomas Newman

If Mamma Mia wins anything, we're retiring.

The 20th Century Fox x

The 20th Century Fox's Award for Best Red Carpet Outfit goes to...

Emma Thompson

Ummmm... perhaps not. Even she seems to be aware of all the crimes she's committing with this hideous ensemble...

The real winner is:
Eva Longoria

Also nominated:

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kate Winslet, Hayden Panettiere

And the winner is...

The Golden Globes took place in Hollywoodland last night. Here are the musical victors and also-rans:

Best original song
The Wrestler (The Wrestler)

Also nominated
'Down to Earth' (Wall-E)
'Gran Torino' (Gran Torino)
'I Thought I Lost You' (Bolt)
'Once In A Lifetime' (Cadillac Records)


Best original score
AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)

Also nominated
Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Clint Eastwood (Changeling)
James Newton Howard (Defiance)
Hans Zimmer (Frost/Nixon)


You can see all of last night's winners at the official Golden Globes site HERE

Winslet for an Oscar! Winslet for an Oscar!

A Sunday smile for you

LETS DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE

WHO IS STRAIGHT TO VIDEO?

Straight To Video is brought to you by

The Freelance Hellraiser & The 20th Century Fox.

The Freelance Hellraiser

The Freelance Hellraiser is a DJ, remixer and producer who has worked with The Verve, Ladyhawke, Snow Patrol, Richard Ashcroft, Little Boots, Editors, Placebo and loads more.

The Freelance Hellraiser shot to bootleg fame in 2001 with his Strokes/Christina Aguilera mash-up, ‘A Stroke of Genius’, which was voted, by Blender, as one of the best records of the last 25 years. Which is good.

The Freelance Hellraiser was commissioned by the Paul McCartney to remix his back catalogue and go on tour with him in 2004.

The Freelance Hellraiser released his debut album of original material, ‘Waiting For Clearance’, in 2006 through SonyBMG imprint Ugly Truth. It featured collaborations with Jan Hammer and Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody. The artwork is nice, isn’t it.

The Freelance Hellraiser’s Top 5 Movie Scores are:

The Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 - David Shire
Dirty Harry - Lalo Schifrin
Hell's Belles - Les Baxter
Assault On Precinct 13 - John Carpenter
Commando - James Horner

www.thefreelancehellraiser.com
www.myspace.com/freelancehellraiser

The 20th Century Fox

The 20th Century Fox is originally from Northampton. Just like the new Dr Who, Dorian out of Birds Of A Feather and the remains of Princess Diana.

The 20th Century Fox was a publicist during the fin de siécle of the music industry, but she soon came to her senses. She went to live in Sydney, acquired an impressive tan and regenerated as a writer of all things musical and celebrity.

The 20th Century Fox’s career highlights include walking behind Lorraine Kelly when her skirt was tucked in her knickers, being caught staring at Catherine Zeta Jones’s boobs by Michael Douglas (she was pregnant - they were enormous), being pushed out of Slash’s way on a staircase, comparing tattoos with a Spice Girl, being an extra in a Ronan Keating video and holding Sonia out of Eastenders’ handbag.

The 20th Century Fox's DJ resumé looks a bit meek next to The Freelance Hellraiser's, but she's still really good. Honest.

The 20th Century Fox’s Top 5 Movie Scores are:
Titanic – James Horner
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind – Jon Brion
Meet Joe Black – Thomas Newman
Doc Hollywood – Carter Burwell
The Piano – Michael Nyman

www.myspace.com/the20thcenturyfoxdj

WHAT IS STRAIGHT TO VIDEO?

Straight To Video is all about movies and the music that comes from them. This music generally falls into one of the three following categories:
1) Amazing.
2) Shit.
3) Neither here nor there.

Straight To Video was born on 29 August 2008 as a club night in Shoreditch, London. There was a brief gestation period of course, but we won’t go into it because that’s boring and makes it seem less magical.

Straight To Video is now more than a club night and stretches farther afield than London. You’ll have to take our word for it at the moment though.

*As heard on BBC Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank & Friends and XFM's The Remix*

“A fiesta of soundtracks and mashed up film music”
- The Times (No.1 in Top 5 Clubs)

“Awesome. I had a blast.”
- Edgar Wright (Director of Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz)

“For ‘Ditchsters that just wanna have fun”
- Time Out (Critics’ Choice)

WEBSITE: StraightToVideo.co.uk
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