Huey Lewis and The News’ “Pineapple Express” Hits Web. Nice.
Today brings us, “Pineapple Express,” the sooo ’80s and agreeable theme song for Seth Rogen’s pot actioner of the same name by Huey Lewis and the News (Sports, Patrick Bateman’s Walkman). If you thought Huey might try to imitate the Neptunes, please excuse yourself and go bask in I Love the New Millenium, because this track could have been the adulterated b-side to BTTF’s “Back in Time.” Is it better? No way. Does it make you want to do a cannonball with a joint in your mouth and a hamburger in your left hand? Obviously.
You can stream the film’s entire soundtrack on MySpace, which includes tracks from Cypress Hill (so ’90s), Peter Tosh, Bell Biv Devoe (my second babysitter, Pam, is siked!), Public Enemy and Mountain. Wow, Huey Lewis just said “chronic” in his signature happy hour jock croon. M.I.A. move over. Summer ‘08 just got lazier and so much higher.
Discuss: Is this the new “Back in Time”?
via Film School Rejects
Tom Jane Confirms That He’s Vying For Jonah Hex. Rad.
Our friends at Film School Rejects just received word personally from Tom Jane regarding the origins of the artwork above and his (non-)involvement in the DC Comics adaptation Jonah Hex…
“Yeah, the pic is real all right – my pal [writer/producer] Akiva Goldsman told me about the project and I fell in love with the idea right away. Being a huge fan of all things Hex – I just couldn’t help myself. I called up my buddy Chris Nelson and we spent a Saturday afternoon working up some make-up for this impromptu shoot and I fired a few pics off to Warners. How do people get a hold of this shit? It’s a little embarrassing seeing my fanboy enthusiasm spilled all over the web, but great scripts don’t come around too often, especially for characters I love.”
On one hand, it’s rather awkward that Hex writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, awesomeness) didn’t see the above art until it flamed out across the Web. Neveldine even emailed Shock to say he had ”no clue” what the art was for. But maybe this will start a dialogue with Jane for the role, who knows? The actor’s fallout with the Punisher franchise was unfortunate and I’m always hoping to see him in another role that’s as break-out bananas as his Todd in Boogie Nights or his lead in the underrated Stander. This project has definitely moved up as one of my more anticipated comics-to-film. Just imagine: House 2 meets Crank 2. C’mon.
Jonah Hex is a former alcoholic and confederate soldier turned supernatural loner and gunslinger. He received his signature scar at the hands of Indians who placed a hot tomahawk to his face. His mother was a prostitute and his dad sold him into slavery. Total winner. Based on this decade’s Vertigo series, Neveldine/Taylor have said they’ll focus on the supernatural elements (zombies, et al) and want to build a viable franchise. With Cowboys and Aliens also on the way (possibly with RDJ), we only need one more flick to make Genre Westerns a trend.
Madonna’s Directorial Debut
Madonna’s Directorial Debut
With the film festival season raging on, one Material Girl stood head and shoulders above the rest in Berlin on Wednesday - Madonna.
The “Like a Virgin” singer is enjoying the premiere her new movie “Filth and Wisdom” at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, and it has been her most positive foray into film yet.
During an interview, Madge told press, “I have always been inspired by the films of Godard, Visconti, Pasolini and Fellini and hope that I may one day make something that comes close to their genius.”
In the liner notes to “Filth and Wisdom” Madonna wrote, “I have always admired the art of filmmaking and the ability to tell a good story. After almost three decades of being in front of a camera, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. ‘Filth and Wisdom’ was essentially my way of putting myself through film school.”
30 Days: Working in a Coalmine (season premiere)
“All you need to be a coal miner is a weak mind and a strong back.” James
One thing I love about 30 Days is that in every episode there is a wealth of information. In the first five minutes of this season’s premiere episode, I more than doubled the amount of information I knew about the coal mining industry. More importantly, I was ready to learn even more.
This season’s premiere, like the past premieres, stars Spurlock himself as the episode’s guinea pig and just like the other times he has put himself in harm’s way, Spurlock’s wife Alex expresses her concerns. What I found funny is that her knowledge of the perils of your average coal miner was pretty equal to my own. It really doesn’t go too far past cave-ins and black lung.
Before he goes back home to his coal mining town in West Virginia, Spurlock fills us in on exactly how his family made their living off of the coal industry and while he may be an elite New York documentarian, it was his father’s hard work and digging know how that sent him to that fancy film school in New York City.
The first surprise for me was learning that the average coal miner makes $65,000 a year and that’s just the laborers. The managers and the more experienced workers make considerably more. This really shattered the images I had gotten from movies like Coal Miner’s Daughter and Zoolander.
On day one, Morgan meets his boss and the patriarch of his host family, Dale. Dale seems to be a great guy and when he says that he’s worked twenty seven years in the mines without being diagnosed with black lung, the foreshadowing is almost enough to make you cry.
Spurlock does a brilliant job trying to express how strange it is heading underground for a day of work. The smells, the temperature, the noise, the lack of daylight are all factors that serve to make him nervous and it’s clear that most viewers will never know the feelings that he’s having and, more importantly, will never want to.
While Spurlock is given the simplest task in the mine, shoveling coal onto a conveyor belt, he still is reminded that if he doesn’t watch what he’s doing, he could get caught on the belt and killed. This made me wonder exactly how many different ways a person could die in a coal mine and also wonder if I was about to find out.
Halfway into the episode, Spurlock takes a look at the environmental effects of coal mining. In great detail, he shows us the more destructive ways that companies mine for coal and the effect it has on the landscape. The environmentalists he speaks with make a damn good case for the halting of mountain top removal.
In the very next scene, Morgan visits a lobbyist for the mining company who makes his case in black and white. Until someone can come up with a cheaper and safer way to power America, they will keep digging for coal.
One of the most heartbreaking moments comes when we meet Dale’s older brother Coy, who suffers from black lung and even though he can’t walk 100 feet without having to stop and catch his breath, he says he wouldn’t have done anything differently.
One thing that makes Spurlock so engaging is that he isn’t afraid to show sympathy for the subjects in his documentaries. Unlike Michael Moore, who stoically argues his position and ridicules those who disagree, Spurlock is sensitive to the fact that there are always two sides to every issue and more importantly, each side has a very human face.
When Dale and Morgan go in to get checked for black lung, Dale’s news is, of course, bad and he is diagnosed with particles in both lungs. Even though, he is destined to end up like his brother, he makes it clear that he is in no position to retire or find another job so he must continue to work in the mine.