Tag: "film"

It’s that time of the year again: gearing up for the inevitable onslaught that is the South by Southwest schedule. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. To make it a little easier to pick through the massive amount of events going on, we’ve highlighted the five best music-related films for you to check out, along with a handy “when to watch” guide to enhance your viewing experience.

Broadway Idiot & ¡Cuatro!

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It’s a two-for-one deal for Green Day this year, so we’re grouping the dual documentaries on the band into a single punktastic category. Broadway Idiot focuses on Billie Joe Armstrong’s transition to the Broadway stage for the theatrical rendition of the band’s 2004 rock opus American Idiot, while ¡Cuatro! focuses on the making of the band’s recent trilogy of albums.

Watch it after: Missing your favorite punk band’s set in favor of that “awesome new shoegaze, EDM meets post-punk” act that your friend misguidedly recommended. Continue reading ’5 Most Anticipated Music Films Of SXSW’

This Year’s South By Southwest Festival will see the premiere of several notable music documentaries, with themes ranging from the digital download revolution to a little-known secretary for The Beatles. The new documentary Downloaded tracks the precipitous rise and fall of Napster and the whiz kids behind it: Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. Fun fact: it’s directed by Alex Winter. Don’t know the name? Well, surely you know Bill S. Preston, esquire. Yep, that’s right. The new documentary film is directed by Keanu Reeves’ co-star in the famous Bill and Ted movies. Though it might come as a surprise, Winter made the jump to directing in 1993 with the comedy sci-fi flick Freaked. Excellent.

Another SXSW premiere this year is Good ‘Ol Freda, which tells the almost entirely unacknowledged life story of Freda Kelly, the president of the Beatles Fan Club, and the band’s “secretary” for 11 years. Kelly became close to the band during their early days as an up-and-coming Liverpool act and stayed loyal to the band during their rise to fame and subsequent breakup. The film depicts how, “as the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution – advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in history.” Even more reason to get excited for SXSW 2013.

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Young Money CEO Lil Wayne has been straying further and further from the world of music in recent years, and now the New Orleans born rapper is taking his vocal talents to the world of animation with not one, but two upcoming roles in major motion pictures.

Miss Info is reporting that Weezy has officially joined the cast of an upcoming Pixar film entitled, The Good Dinosaur, which is being helmed by Up directors Bob Peterson and Peter Sohn. The feature follows a boy and his pet brontosaurus and is currently scheduled for a May 30, 2014 release. You can view the first image from the film below:

In other Lil Wayne film news, IMDB has revealed that he will also be lending his voice to the upcoming 2013 film, Smurfs 2. You can view the trailer for that feature below:

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2012 has been a fantastic year for movies, but it may have been an even better year for movie soundtracks. From action and horror, to comedies and dramadies, the world of film was made more enthralling in 2012 than any year in recent memory thanks to music, and today we’re highlighting our five favorite releases. I would suggest you see every film mentioned on this list in order to fully appreciate the accompanying music, but perhaps one of the greatest features of each of these releases is how well they play outside the context of cinema. So whether you’re a cinephile or you refuse to pay ridiculous cinema prices, there is something here for everyone. Click through the “Read more” link and enjoy. Continue reading ’5 Best Movie Soundtracks of 2012′

After almost 2 years of waiting, we can finally prepare for Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl‘s debut documentary Sound City. The film, based around the history and significance of Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, California, is set to premier at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which starts on Jan. 17. The official release date will be some time in February.

For those of you who have been following the production, you may have watched plenty of clips, but now witness the official trailer right here.

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Hard rock band Story Of The Year‘s Ryan Phillips (lead guitarist) and Adam Russell (bassist) are planning to create a documentary called Who Killed (Or Saved!) The Music Industry?. The two band members have years of experience between them as film makers for music videos, documentaries, art films, and more, but now they are asking for your help to produce what may be the most important documentary of their careers to date. The duo plan to tackle to issue of our rapidly changing and deteriorating music industry by talking to bands, artists, producers, record labels, managers, and anyone else who has been affected by this dilemma. Their goal is to attempt to find answers to some of the industry’s biggest and most currently pressing questions by offering insite into the working class artist’s perspective. To learn more and donate to the funding of this project, head over to their Kickstarter. This is something that affects all of us music types, especially here at OurStage, and it would be really great to see this documentary come to fruition!

If you like Story Of The Year, then you might also like OurStage’s own Arazi.

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Between X Factor renewal announcements and tour buses catching on fire, I’d say it’s been a pretty busy day thus far. But after hearing that the first trailer for the highly anticipated Iron Man 3 is out, well now, your Tuesday just got a whole lot better.

In a two-minute trailer that boasts a much darker plot line, we see what Tony Stark has been up to since saving the world in The Avengers.

“Nothing’s been the same since New York,” Stark says in the trailer, “I can’t sleep, and when I do, I have nightmares.”

So what is Stark on about this time? Read on, after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Iron Man 3 Trailer Released’

On August 28th and 29th, folk rock sensations Mumford & Sons performed at the famous and awe-inspiring Red Rocks Amphitheater near Morrison, Colorado. From this experience, the band plans to release a documentary called Road To Red Rocks, including footage of the live performance, life on the road, and, in an interesting twist, fan submitted home-videos of their experiences before, during, and after the show. Now, after a three part series of promo trailers, the band have released their official music video for new single “I Will Wait” off their upcoming album Babel, which will be out September 24th. Click here for preorders, and check out the video below:

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Music documentaries abound this year, with works in progress by The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, and Björk.

According to Rolling Stone, HBO will be airing a documentary this fall about The Rolling Stones, ”as part of the band’s 50th anniversary.” Each of the four current band members will be involved, as will former band members, all of whom are being interviewed extensively for the film. Directed by documentary filmmaker Brett Morgan (director of The Kid Stays in the Picture), the feature will trace the band’s career from their inception to present.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Beyoncé is also working on a documentary. The pop/R&B diva will be producing, directing, and starring in a biographical/concert film chronicling her life and music career, similar to the recent Katy Perry and Justin Bieber films. For more updates, possible sneak peak photos, and film clips, visit her personal Tumblr page.

The most unique documentary news, however, might be that regarding Icelandic experimental singer Björk, who has decided to team up with famed nature filmmaker and broadcaster David Attenborough for a music documentary. According to NME.com, “Attenborough and Bjork: The Nature of Music looks at the evolution of music, our relationship with music and how technology could impact this relationship in the future.” This is very much in-line with the theme of Björk’s newest album, Biophilia, and its accompanying iPhone app, which explore the connections between nature and music, including the many ways in which music is created naturally throughout the world and universe.

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It seems like 2012 is going to be a big year for Usher. In addition to the release of his latest album The Shanertance, the singer has also been in London training for the upcoming movie Hands of Stone.

The singer will play Sugar Ray Leonard in the movie about Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, played by Gael García Bernal. Robert De Niro is also reported to star in the movie.

The last time Usher appeared in a film was in the 2010 romantic action-comedy, Killers. In an interview with the BBC, the pop star expresses his excitement for his next project: “This is going to be an incredible movie — in time an incredible story — and I’m really looking forward to that.” Not having Kutcher and Heigl as your leads is a good start.