TV / Film News

"Let's Get Lost" The Lasting Allure of Chet Baker

Source: All About Jazz
October 13, 2008

Let's Get Lost captures the seductive power of the conflicted jazzman. Bruce Weber's 1989 film is a vivid portrait of trumpeter-vocalist Chet Baker.

Early on in Let's Get Lost, Bruce Weber's 1989 documentary about Chet Baker, the jazz trumpeter is asked if he'd like a glass of wine? Yeah, he replies in that wispy exhale of a voice that always made his singing sound so imperiled - and irresistible. The way Baker pronounces the word you hear diffidence, ...

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"Crazy," Film Inspired by the Life of Guitarist Hank Garland

Source: All About Jazz
October 13, 2008

Crazy, an independent feature film inspired by the tragic life and groundbreaking music of legendary 1950s-era guitarist Hank Garland, will have a limited theatrical release beginning October 17 at Regal Theatres and Carmike Theatres in Nashville and Malco Theatres in Memphis, TN. The film, which stars Waylon Payne (Walk The Line) as Garland and Ali Larter (Heroes) as his wife Evelyn, has been winning major festival awards throughout 2008. In addition to being a rising film star his performance as ...

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New Oscar Rules Announced for Songs and Music Scores

Source: Michael Ricci
October 12, 2008

The Oscars have announced new regulations governing songs and music scores that will enable more voters to participate in the selection of nominees and permit campaigners to reach them directly with music CDs.

Last year Oscars campaigners were barred from sending CDs to voters. The academy wanted members of the music branch to judge scores in the context of viewing the full films and to evaluate songs during separate “bake-off" viewing sessions conducted over one day in Los Angeles and ...

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Sat Eye Candy: SNL Turns 33

Source: JamBase
October 12, 2008

“LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT"

On this evening in 1975, George Carlin hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live. Joined by musical guests Janis Ian and Billy Preston, he kicked off one of the longest running comedy variety show in TV history.

Each Saturday night for a good chunk of each year, the 90-minute NBC series has honed young talent and offered up a satirical eye on popular and political culture. But beyond the yucks, SNL ...

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"Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer": All That Jazz and Plenty of Drama

Source: All About Jazz
October 10, 2008

Anita O'Day sang like an angel, lived like the devil and made enough great music to fill a couple of lifetimes. Actually, she did live twice, considering that a heroin overdose killed her briefly in 1966, before revival with a then-experimental electric-shock device. It's practically a miracle O'Day lived to age 87, singing nearly until the time of her death in 2006. “Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer" tells the tale in documentary form, enabling the self-destructive diva ...

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Movie for Masekela

Source: All About Jazz
October 9, 2008

International jazz giant Hugh Masekela travels the world, playing London, New York, Paris and more in any given year. But he has such fond memories of his childhood in Emalahleni, which was called Witbank at the time, that he's planning a movie about those years. “I want the film to depict how Witbank was back in those days. There is so much about the place that defines who I am, even today, “ he says. The movie is very much ...

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Forest Whitaker to Play Louis Armstrong

Source: All About Jazz
October 9, 2008

Oscar Winner Will Also Direct What A Wonderful World Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker is about to bring another jazz legend's life story to the big screen.

Whitaker, who portrayed Charlie Parker for director Clint Eastwood in Bird, will star in and direct a film on jazz great Louis Armstrong. According to Variety, Whitaker will direct and star in What a Wonderful World. The trade magazine said that the film will begin shooting in the summer in Louisiana. Whitaker ...

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Studios, Theaters Near Deal for Digital Movies

Source: PC Magazine
September 27, 2008

Walt Disney, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox and Universal are soon expected to announce a long-sought $1.1 billion digital cinema deal that Hollywood hopes will boost attendance, cut costs and enable more 3-D viewing, sources close to the deal said on Thursday. The studios declined to comment, but sources with knowledge of the talks said the deal to help co-finance the upgrade for a group of movie chains was virtually complete, with an announcement expected within days or weeks. Long delayed ...

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