News: Film News Archives

March 03, 2008

Fan hasn't found what he's looking for in U2 film

Richard Carter, Wichita Times Record News

It cost an audience of about 30 people exactly $1.02 to see U2 play at a club in Dallas on April 2, 1982.

The show at Dallas's Bijou was promoted by former FM radio station Q102, and the Irish band was supporting its first album, "Boy." Nearly three decades later, $1.02 wouldn't buy a single bottle of water at a U2 show or even cover a small percentage of the ticket surcharge.

With ticket prices up and shows limited, someone had the idea to record a concert film of the band with multiple 3D cameras and release it in movie theaters. Nowadays, it's a heck of lot cheaper to see any band in a movie theater than to buy tickets, drive 150 miles and fight traffic and pay for parking.

Truth be told, I would have preferred to see U2 play live in 1982. It has less to do with ticket prices and more to do with seeing a more energetic, primal band performing songs from what early fans, like myself, still think is their best album.

What the theatrical release of "U2 3D" has going for it is crystal-clear sound. Multiple camera angles are edited to the point where a viewer sees a goodly amount of views switched back and forth on the performers and the stage.

Also, the band is tight. Bono is in good voice, the drums and bass are joined at the hip and The Edge's playing and solos are pretty much CD-perfect. For those people who cannot afford to see U2 play live, this movie in a lot of ways is a good substitute.

There are also some artistic ideas present in the film that suggest future possibilities of the 3D format for DVDs and movie theaters. Near the end, the 3D film is effectively merged with multiple letters, words and sentences in a variety of colors and fonts.

But while the film's 3D images can be an interesting effect, it can also become tiresome and lead to the typical drive-in movie cliches. Especially annoying are the repeated images of clapping hands to simulate the experience of being in the live crowd.

What would be very interesting is to see a band that is a little more cutting-edge than Hannah Montana or U2 as the subject of a 3D film with the director experimenting more with layering images and visual language.

As much as "U2 3D" is really meant to be the next best thing to a live concert, there really is no substitute for seeing a band live and close up. That includes the joke of going to a stadium and watching a band "live" on a screen from 800 rows away.

Devout U2 fans will still likely enjoy seeing the four lads play to a perfectly in-sync audience that comes off as programmed. The performance is also way over-rehearsed, with The Edge switching guitars on every song.

Things have sure changed over the years, when the youthful band first came over and The Edge played fiery guitar lines on a Gibson Explorer guitar for the whole show. I even kind of miss Bono's mullet.

And, all for only $1.02. Whatever happened to live rock music?

Posted by Jonathan at 03:46 AM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

U2 3D Brings Hyperreal Arena Rock to the Multiplex

Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired

As I left the Imax theater after seeing U2 3D, a man asked me, "So, what did you think?" Using my best Larry David impression, I responded, "Pretty good. Pretty... pretty good."

I was lying. The film I had just seen -- the world's first three-dimensional live-action concert film -- was astounding. I just didn't want to tell him that, because he was one of U2 3D's producers. What if I changed my mind before writing this review? Better to form an opinion after my post-show elation had worn off, I figured.

More than a week later, the film still resonates as a stunning cinematic experience, and the best rock show I've never attended.

With 3-D glasses trained on the Imax screen at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, I felt I was experiencing more of the U2 concert from my theater chair than I would have in person. Chalk it up to the impossible camera angles, the breathtaking close-ups and panoramas, or the convincing nature of the latest 3-D technology, but I was really there: watching guitarist-keyboardist The Edge play a Fender Rhodes from a vantage point 4 feet above his head, seeing lead singer Bono's hand reach out to the crowd, and flying through a massive stadium lit up by thousands of cellphones waving in unison like a school of glowing sea creatures. The capacity crowds filling these South American soccer stadiums go absolutely mad for the music of U2. Their hands wave to the beat just a few feet in front of you. Their enthusiasm is wildly infectious.

"Every development in the history of cinema has always been about making the experience more realistic, whether going from silent to talkies, or black-and-white to color," said John Rodell, the producer I spoke with outside the theater. "We see the world in 3-D, so this is a natural progression, now that the technological limitations have been conquered."

The 3-D format goes a long way toward making the movie great, but the film would not have been nearly as powerful with the cameras pointed at most other bands. U2's musicians are masterful performers, and the epic nature of their songs and stage act lends itself perfectly to larger-than-life treatment.

Still, watching a movie is a passive experience; to keep viewers fully engaged for more than an hour, Sassoon Film Design added a smattering of clever visual effects somewhat reminiscent of the square that Uma Thurman's character draws in the air in Pulp Fiction. Post-production staffers also added animated versions of U2's backdrop videos -- most notably a series of icons suggesting that the world's major religions are one. To capture multiple band members in the same frame, the filmmakers added as many as five 3-D layers to the final cut.

Other than that, U2 3D includes little visual or audio trickery. The band insisted that no audio overdubs be included; every note in the film was played live (although for on-stage close-ups, U2 agreed to be filmed playing one show to an empty stadium). "I could make my cat sound like a good singer with Pro Tools," said Rodell, "but we didn't use any of that. What you see there are those guys, playing that night, in front of 90,000 people."

Director Catherine Owens, whose background includes sculpture and music videos, used long, sumptuous cuts that encourage viewers to focus on the music -- as they should during a concert film -- rather than employing the exhausting, cut-heavy style so prevalent in music videos and even some feature films.

The 3ality hyper-realistic 3-D video-capture technology, which uses two lenses to mimic the human visual system with a degree of precision possible only with digital technology, is another crucial ingredient. Stereoscopic cameras have been around for ages, as my grandmother knew, but previous attempts at 3-D cinema were stymied by the complexity of forcing both cameras to work in perfect concert with each other -- thus the nausea and headaches associated with 3-D movies of the past. The 3ality solution begins with nine mobile camera setups, each consisting of two $115,000 Sony F950 CineAlta digital cameras and a surround-sound recording apparatus.

"Every camera has an onboard computer which is correlating all of the different parameters of the camera," said Rodell. "And each camera has 13 very precise Swiss motors on it, and they're moving those cameras relative to each other. They're also making sure focus, focal length, aperture and stuff like that is exactly matched between the two eyes.... This is also the first time zoom lenses have ever been used for 3-D, which is a very tricky thing with 3-D because you have to match your two lenses so precisely." Because even the best zoom lenses have slight variations, 3ality wrote software that finds those trouble spots and compensates accordingly.

Data from each camera traveled through fiber-optic cables to a control room, where it was recorded in the Sony HD SR format. Each frame uses nearly 20 MB of data, 9 MB to 10 MB for each eye. With a frame rate of 24 frames per second, that added up quickly. The entire film consumes almost a petabyte (1 quadrillion bytes) of data on 3ality's servers. Despite the advanced technology involved in creating all those bytes, Rodell pegged the total budget of the film at around $15 million, though he acknowledged "bills are still coming in."

The end result is amazing. U2 3D makes the band's four members -- Bono, Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. -- look and sound like musical heroes, even to this lapsed fan. The songs sound incredible. Only once does the specter of Ben Stiller arise: when Bono hugs the crowd in slow motion, gently ending in an embrace of himself as the crowd roars. The thing is, that's exactly the sort of gesture that electrifies a stadium crowd. As it turns out, such moves are nearly as effective in 3-D Imax theaters as they are in packed arenas.

For all the fun I was having, I did sense an occasional nostalgic pang for an experience I'd never actually had: being a member of these ecstatic stadium throngs. Watching the audience's energetic displays while strapped into my chair felt like being trapped inside of one of those pods from The Matrix -- feeling like a participant, yet participating in nothing.

Those feelings passed -- especially when I realized I could just saunter out of the theater rather than plodding with the other 90,000 or so attendees trying, cattlelike, to exit a stadium.

Besides, I'd had the best seat in the house.

- - -

The movie U2 3D, distributed by National Geographic Cinema Ventures, opens Jan. 23. To find local venues, go to the U2 3D website and click Find a Theater. According to producer Rodell, the Imax version offers a more immersive experience, while the Digital 3-D version features more vivid colors.

- - -

Eliot Van Buskirk has covered digital music since 1998, after seeing the world's first MP3 player sitting on a colleague's desk. He plays bass and rides a bicycle, usually not at the same time.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2008

3-D film about U2 is 1 big hit at Sundance fest

Larry D. Curtis

PARK CITY - In the galaxy of stars that is the Sundance Film Festival, could there be any bigger than the supergroup U2?

Despite the international fame, fortune and name recognition, U2, the band, premiered

"U23D," the film, Saturday night at an independent film festival.

And the scene was as frantic as at any big premiere.

Major news outlets lined the red carpet. Fans screamed inside the auditorium, but others were almost as enthusiastic outside waiting for the midnight screening. Rumors had tickets being scalped for more than $1,000.

And while anything branded with the U2 label may not seem inherently independent, as the Sundance name generally implies, the 90-minute concert film experience is precisely that.

Financed by the group that owns the Baltimore Ravens and made without at distributor, "U23D" promises to raise the bar for both concert films and the 3-D experience, according to the brain trust behind the film, which opens in wide release Jan. 23. It will be screened in both IMAX and digital cinema, giving fans what they hope is an immersive concert experience.

"This film is a love song to Latin America," said lead singer Bono from the red carpet. "We love playing for the people there. I really hope it communicates."

The documentary was filmed in seven cities but primarily in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during a South American tour with crowds reaching sizes up to 100,000. It features hits such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "One," "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day."

"Watching it gives a real perspective of being in the audience at a U2 show," said guitarist The Edge. "So many concert films reduce the band. This one brings scale and grandeur."

Because the film was shot with as many as nine digital cameras per show, The Edge felt much more comfortable than during other digital video concerts because the cameras were small and less intrusive, he said. "This technology made it a lot easier."

Much of the talk of the film and the 3-D experience is how the technology is taking what viewers expected to be a marketing gimmick and making it into something that is easily viewed and enjoyed by a mass audience. Significant directors like Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson are embracing the technology that the crew behind the concert film developed.

The film is directed by Catherine Owens. It is her first feature, but the sculptor has a long history with the band and has directed some videos for them and their first four world tours.

Sandy Climan, a producer, said Owens' background is apparent in the finished product.

"This film is different than any other 3-D film anyone might have seen. People want to dance in this film. People behave like they would if they were seeing them in concert. They hold up their cell phones to the band and dance." He was excited to finally see the film with fans and related his experience when during a screening somebody stood up and blocked his view, which he then realized was part of the film.

David Model, an executive producer, tried to sum up Owens' work.

"It seems as though Catherine has sculpted a fantastic 3-D film," he said.

The team that developed the technology is not done improving and refining the way people experience 3-D films.

"Our goal in the end," Model said, "is to shoot live and broadcast live to your home on your TV where you will see it in 3-D without glasses."

Posted by Jonathan at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2007

Bono Featured In Ginsberg Documentary

In an exclusive interview, Bono can be seen on the special two-disc DVD documentary called "The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg". The DVD went on sale Tuesday, July 17, and can be purchased through the official website or through Amazon.com

Information on the documentary is available on the official web site, which also features a brief video clip of Bono's interview. According to a press release, Bono speaks for about 15 minutes on the second disc of the set.

Below are further details on the official DVD release.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLEN GINSBERG (Deluxe 2-Disc Set)

PRODUCT DETAILS --

Actors: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Ken Kesey, Joan Baez, Timothy Leary, Norman Mailer and others.
Director: Jerry Aronson
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video
Region: 1
Language: English
Sound: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Number of discs: 2
Rating: NR
Studio: New Yorker Video
DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
Run Time: 84 minute (feature) + 6 hours of extras

DISC ONE:
Feature: The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg—84 minutes

Extras:
- William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg in Boulder, CO-1984.
- Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg at City Lights Bookstore-San Francisco-1965.
- The Making of The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg.
- Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg at Jack Kerouac's Grave.
- Original theatrical trailer.
- Excerpts from Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit, by Jonas Mekas.
- The making of the music video A Ballad of the Skeletons.
- Stan Brakhage and Allen Ginsberg in Boulder Colorado-1996
- Ginsberg reading selected poems.
- Ginsberg guides us through an exhibition of his photographs.
- Memorial for Allen Ginsberg in New York City, 1998.
- Ginsberg's photo gallery.

DISC TWO:
Memorial for Allen Ginsberg, May 19, 1998 -- New York City.

Exclusive Interviews: Joan Baez, Beck, Bono, Stan Brakhage, William Burroughs, Johnny Depp, Philip Glass, Abbie Hoffman, Jack Johnson, Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, Paul McCartney, Jonas Mekas, Sonic Youth (Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo), Yoko Ono, Ed Sanders, Patti Smith, Hunter S. Thompson, Anne Waldman, Andy Warhol and many more!

Posted by Jonathan at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2007

U2 goes 3D, rocks Cannes Film Festival

By Mike Collett-White

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Irish band U2 rocked the Cannes Film Festival early on Sunday with a short live set on the famous red carpet on their way into the main cinema for the premiere of a new film "U2 3D".

One of the world's biggest rock acts, U2's gig attracted hundreds of fans who crammed around the VIP entrance to the Grand Theatre Lumiere to hear Bono belt out "Vertigo" and "Where the Streets Have No Name".

Several actors from another film showing in Cannes, among them Spain's Javier Bardem, waited patiently with the crowds to dance to the music.

The performance helped set this year's festival alight after a subdued start, and underlined the importance music has played in Cannes this year.

Minutes before, just along the palm-lined Croisette waterfront, Finland's monster rock act Lordi performed "Who's Your Daddy?" and "They Only Come Out at Night" at a special party.

The makers of "U2 3D" say it is a pioneering recreation of a live concert.

Shot in South America during the band's "Vertigo" tour, it seeks to recreate the atmosphere of a gig and take fans on a thrilling visual ride.

The film combines camera angles that soar over the audience of up to 80,000, zoom in to within inches of the performers, join them on stage and look back into the stadium.

At one point, U2's lead singer Bono reaches out towards the 3D camera and looks as if he is about to step into the cinema.

Journalists at a preview screening of a 55-minute version of what will eventually be an 80-90 minute picture, were given glasses through which to view the film and were impressed with the authenticity of the images and sound.

The film's backers say "U2 3D" is part of a revolution in the industry leading to more 3D productions and ever more elaborate techniques.

"Not every film will benefit, in my opinion, from 3D technology," said executive producer Sandy Climan.

"I think when you have the choice of 3D and 2D, you will choose 3D overwhelmingly," he told a news conference. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

The band had been due to appear before the press on Saturday, but their plane was delayed.

Producer John Modell described the technology used in "U2 3D" as a sea change from what came before.

"We are replicating the physiology of sight, and that's a very tricky thing to do," Modell said. "If you get it off by just a hair it creates actual physical problems -- eye strain, nausea. We don't have that at all."

One possible limit on the film's box office prospects is the limited number of appropriate 3D cinemas around the world, although Climan said he expected the number to grow rapidly in the United States and elsewhere.

The digital 3D film is expected to be released internationally in around 1,000 theatres equipped with digital projection systems. It will be shown only in 3D.

"U2 3D" is one of several rock-related pictures at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

"Control", a biopic about Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, has been widely praised by critics.

Posted by Jonathan at 01:47 AM | Comments (1)

May 07, 2003

Bono Helps Launch Film Festival

5.7.03 - ITV

Rock legend Bono and Ewan McGregor have helped launch the second Tribeca film festival in downtown Manhattan. The pair were joined by actor Robert De Niro, who started the annual event last year to help revitalise the area following the September 11 terror attacks.

Bono said that he first fell in love with New York through watching films set in the city - many starring De Niro.

The movies captured the "heat and the rub and the static" of the city with "extraordinary honesty", he told the crowd at the opening ceremony close to Ground Zero. "It was the cultural power of New York city that turned an Irishman like me living a long way away in Dublin into a fan."

Posted by Jonathan at 02:55 AM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2002

Hail, Hail, 'Gangs' Is Here

12.12.02 - USA Today

NEW YORK -- Leonardo DiCaprio (news), a smart little goatee on his handsome chin, beamed as he watched U2 perform, Bono's voice soaring to the rafters of the New York Public Library as he sang The Hands That Built America.

"Now that's dope!" Leo told his dad at the party that followed the premiere of his movie Gangs of New York.

His Gangs co-star Cameron Diaz (news) took advantage of a bitter cold night to stand out in a neon-violet hat.

Guest Nicole Kidman (news) showed off a head of short golden curls, a new do she cut herself. "Not much hair left!" she said.

And director Martin Scorsese (news) seemed to be pals with Miramax Films' Harvey Weinstein after all their battles over Gangs.

No, it wasn't your average movie premiere as Scorsese's bloody epic of New York, set against the Civil War and draft riots, finally took its bow. It opens Dec. 20.

Daniel Day-Lewis (news) shunned the media, skulking about with a shaven head. As the truly frightening Bill the Butcher, both mentor and nemesis to DiCaprio's Irish gang leader, Day-Lewis is responsible for much of the movie's gore.

Scorsese said: "It's not like the violence of my other films. The violence is natural. It comes out of the world they're in. They're in the middle of the Civil War. And it's implied more than actually shown graphically, through the editing, the camera moves, music and sound effects." Bono wrote some of that music, including Hands.

Diaz, as a skilled pickpocket in her first period piece, does a lot of biting/kissing with DiCaprio. "It was a very physical film for everyone, and the guys had to endure this old-style boxing."

Of her role as a loose but loyal woman, she said, "I have to tell you, playing Jenny, I didn't really corset up my corsets very tight. I cheated!"

At the library party, Tim Robbins (news) enjoyed the ham, joking that it came from Bill the Butcher, who uses a pig carcass for knife practice. Baz Luhrmann (news) and wife Catherine Martin basked in the good reviews for La Bohame on Broadway.

Posted by Jonathan at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2002

Bono Co-Writes Song For Andrea Corr For Upcoming Film 'In America'

10.26.02 - Launch

U2's Bono has co-written a song called "Time Enough For Tears" for the upcoming film In America, and the track will feature vocals from Andrea Corr of the Irish band the Corrs.

Bono co-wrote the song with Irish artist Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer for the movie, from Irish director/producer/screenwriter Jim Sheridan (Some Mother's Son, In The Name Of The Father, My Left Foot). The number is said to have a 1940s feel, inspired by classic songwriters like Cole Porter and singers like Ella Fitzgerald.

"Bono saw the film and was blown away by it," Friday told the website U2log. "He wanted to work with us and something happened, organically. It's very poetic, very romantic. Very vulnerable and naked. It's a beautiful song." In America is tentatively scheduled to premiere in Ireland in the spring of 2003.

In other U2-related news, Bono was also one of several music stars quoted in the Irish Times recently about manufactured pop music. "People are sick to the teeth of processed and hyped pop bands. It's crap. They want something real again and that's where we come in," Bono told the newspaper, which also printed opinions from Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC, George Michael, and Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz.

"The tide is turning," he said. "Normally, people want big rock bands to fall flat, but what I'm picking up is that they want us to do well because we are flying the flag for bands who can really play."

The Best Of U2 1990-2000 is in stores November 5. The band's video for "Electrical Storm" from the set is available for viewing on LAUNCH (launch.yahoo.com).

Posted by Jonathan at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2002

New U2!

1.24.02 - NME

Bono has teamed up with Scottish soundtrack composer Craig Armstrong to record a new version of the U2 hit 'Stay (Faraway So Close').

The track will feature on 'As If To Nothing', Armstrong's second album due for release on April 1 through Massive Attack's Melankolic Records. 'Stay...' originally appeared on 1993's 'Zooropa'.

The U2 frontman is not the only collaborator to team up with Armstrong, best known for work with Baz Luhrmann on 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Romeo & Juliet'. A raft of strange bedfellows include Evan Dando, popping up on new track 'Wake Up In New York', Mogwai appearing on 'Miracle' and drum 'n' bass pioneer Photek, who crops up on 'Hymn 2'.

Armstrong picked up a Golden Globe on Sunday in LA for work on 'Moulin Rouge'.

The Evan Dando single is released on March 18. Armstrong will be performing a special one-off show on April 7 at London's Barbican. It is unclear at present if any of his big name friends will guest.

Posted by Jonathan at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2000

Sightings of Bono

9.13.00 - AllIrelandNow.com

A short film titled "Sightings of Bono" was shot in Dublin last weekend starring Bono, the U2 lead singer. The seven minute short was made by AllIrelandNow.com which has the exclusive rights to the film.

A completely Irish project, the film was written by Kathy Gilfillan and produced by Parallel Films. The story focuses on a Dublin girl called Ellen (played by Marcella Plunkett) who sees Bono everywhere until she eventually meets him in the shop where she works.

Bono arrived, relaxed and happy, on the set on Sunday afternoon to shoot the interior scenes. In between takes, Bono relaxed outside with friends and crew much to the delight of tourists, fans and passersby. Bono had a warm word for everyone including a young toddler whom he advised to "Vote for Bono".

The production then moved around the corner to shoot exteriors in front of Abrakebabra on Stephen St. A crowd quickly gathered to cheer on the singer.

The film will premiere exclusively on AllIrelandnow.com shortly.

Posted by Jonathan at 11:52 PM | Comments (1)

August 26, 2000

Bono Presents Film at the Sarajevo Film Festival

8.26.00 - U2Station.com

Bono arrived in Sarajevo for the 6th Annual Sarajevo Film Festival. As stated on the SFF website, "at 5pm he presented The Tigger Movie to 2,800 children, and later The Million Dollar Hotel by Wim Wenders at the Open Air Cinema to 2,600 spectators."

Furthermore, Bono was awarded a Bosnian passport by Alija Izetbegovic, the chairman of the country's collective presidency.

In 1997, U2 played at Kosovo Stadium in Sarajevo during their Popmart tour. The band has had a longstanding relationship with the country's people when they performed there in a special concert with Luciano Pavarotti and others. In 1993, on their ZooTV tour, U2 created a satellite linkup with the war-torn city, giving the people a chance to see what was taking place on the rest of the planet.

Posted by Jonathan at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2000

Bono Grabs Berlin Spotlight

2.10.00 - BBC Online

The Berlin Film Festival has opened with a premiere of German director Wim Wenders' latest work, The Million Dollar Hotel, based on a story co-written by rock star Bono.

The romantic thriller, which was financed in Germany but shot in Los Angeles, stars the Hollywood superstar Mel Gibson.

It tells of a group of down-and-out people under investigation for a murder, and the doomed love of retarded Tom-Tom, played by Jeremy Davies, for Milla Jovovich's character Eloise.

After the screening, Wenders said he was delighted to be back at the newly rebuilt Potsdamer Platz, where he shot one of his first successful films, Wings of Desire, 15 years ago.

"It'd be an honour for any director on the planet to be here, but for me it's highly emotional," he said. "I never would have dreamed it."

Wenders may have been centre stage at his post-screening news conference, but most of the questions from the media were directed at U2 frontman Bono, who also provided the soundtrack and makes a cameo appearance.

"I still flinch when I see it," Bono said. "It's one of those awful 'There's the rock star in his movie' moments for me."

The inspiration for the film, which launches 10 days of cinema leading up to the Golden Bear awards ceremony on 20 February, came to Bono while wandering through the real Million Dollar Hotel in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

"Every room - there's so many stories in there," he explained.

Tough competition

The Million Dollar Hotel is one of three German movies among 21 in competition at the festival, but the six Hollywood films, including The Beach and The Talented Mr. Ripley, are grabbing most of the attention.

The jury is headed by Chinese actress Gong Li and includes veteran Polish director Andrzej Wajda, who is due to receive an honorary Oscar in Hollywood next month.

Other big names expected include French screen legend Jeanne Moreau, who will receive a special tribute on Friday, while Robert De Niro is due to be honoured with a retrospective.

ER star George Clooney and rapper Ice Cube are in town for a showing of their Gulf War movie Three Kings ahead of its European release and Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to promote The Beach.

Posted by Jonathan at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2000

U2 Soundtrack Album: More Details

1.18.00 - music365

More information, including a full tracklisting, has surfaced regarding the soundtrack to the forthcoming Wim Wenders movie The Million Dollar Hotel, featuring new material from U2.

To be released through Universal Island on March 13, the album was recorded in Dublin and features 16 tracks from the film. It was produced by Hal Willner and includes two new U2 tracks and three new tracks co-written by Bono and various members of the all-star Million Dollar Hotel Band (see below for line-up details).

As previously reported on Music365, the opening track, 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' is by U2 with lyrics by Salman Rushdie from his novel of the same name. The soundtrack also includes the movie's female lead Milla Jovovich performing Lou Reed's 'Satellite Of Love'.

The Million Dollar Hotel stars Mel Gibson, Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan) and Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) and is based on a story written by Bono and Nicholas Klein with a screenplay by Nicholas Klein. It was filmed on location in Los Angeles in 1999.

The full track listing is:
1) 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' U2 with Daniel Lanois
2) 'Never Let Me Go' Bono and the MDH Band
3) 'Stateless' U2
4) 'Satellite Of Love' Milla Jovovich and the MDH Band and Chris Spedding
5) 'Falling At Your Feet' Bono and Daniel Lanois
6) 'Tom Tom's Dream' The MDH Band
7) 'The First Time' U2
8) 'Bathtub' The MDH Band
9) 'The First Time (Reprise)' Daniel Lanois and the MDH Band
10) 'Tom Tom's Room' Brad Mehldau with Bill Frisell
11) 'Funny Face' The MDH Band
12) 'Dancin' Shoes' Bono and the MDH band
13) 'Amsterdam Blue (Cortge)' Jon Hassell, Gregg Arreguin, Jamie Muhoberac & Peter Freeman
14) 'Satellite Of Love (Reprise)' The MDH Band featuring Daniel Lanois, Bill Frisell, Greg Cohen
15) 'Satellite Of Love (Danny Saber Remix)' Milla Jovovich with the MDH Band and Chris Spedding
16) 'Anarchy In The USA' Tito Larriva and the MDH Band with Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton & Chris Spedding

The Million Dollar Hotel Band features Bono (vocals, guitar, piano), Daniel Lanois (guitars, vocals, pedal steel), Brian Eno, (keyboards), John Hassell (trumpet), Greg Cohen (Bass), Brian Blade (drums), Adam Dom (beats/synth/programming) and Bill Frisell (guitar).

U2 are currently in the studio recording their tenth studio album which is due for release later this year.

Visit the film website on www.milliondollarhotel.com from Tuesday January 18.

Posted by Jonathan at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 1999

Boyzone Seeks Bono For Feature Film

7.8.99 - MTV News

While U2 continues work on its next album, the group's friends in Boyzone are apparently eyeing Bono to play a major supporting role in a film about the Irish boy band.

According to MTV Europe, Boyzone plans on making a film about the group that would be similar to the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" (a movie also aped by the Spice Girls in its critically savaged 1997 film "Spice World") and wants Bono to play the group's manager.

Boyzone previously hooked up with Bono last year when it made a cameo appearance in the video for U2's most recent single, "The Sweetest Thing".

No word yet on when the planned Boyzone feature film might start shooting, but we'll keep you posted.

Posted by Jonathan at 06:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 1999

Pro Bono

4.21.99 - Entertainment Weekly

Bono plays himself in his first fiction film. U2's lead singer inspires director Phil Joanou to shoot his own life story

by Chris Willman

Some people would contend that U2's Bono is always acting. (And ever since he adopted the wraparound sunglasses and ''Fly'' persona, he might not disagree.) Nevertheless, his official onscreen thespian debut is a supporting part - as himself! - in director Phil Joanou's ''Entropy,'' which premiered this past weekend as the L.A. Independent Film Festival's opening-night-gala attraction.

Joanou's most famous feat remains the 10-year-old U2 concert film ''Rattle & Hum,'' though his subsequent credits include conventional pictures such as ''State of Grace'' and ''Heaven's Prisoners.'' Says Joanou of Bono, ''He's my toughest critic and one of my best friends. This guy loves nothing more than to kick the s--- out of me on a regular basis.'' The singer had some advice for the auteur a couple of years ago: ''His take was, 'Being a director-for-hire is like covering other people's songs, which is great, but they're not your songs. Write your own song.'''

So Joanou did. ''Entropy'' is a not-too-thinly-disguised, seriocomically autobiographical account of romantic and professional travails in the director's own life, but it'll hold special appeal for U2 fans because of a bit of real-life lore it re-creates. The main character is a filmmaker (played by Stephen Dorff) who breaks up suddenly with the love of his life, only to meet a woman backstage at a U2 show, whom he proposes to on the spot. Following a drunken Vegas ceremony, U2 projects the regrettable wedding footage on giant screens during ''Mysterious Ways.'' Diehard fans will remember that, back during the Zooropa tour, U2 really did show tens of thousands of fans footage of Joanou's Vegas wedding to a record company A&R executive he'd just met and married on the rebound. Reenacting this embarrassing moment for the new movie was ''both my catharsis and my penance,'' says Joanou.

Though the names and personas of almost everyone else have been changed -- including the many movie stars and studio executives Joanou takes revenge on -- he had no intention of fictionalizing U2's part in the proceedings. ''Bono was the first person I gave the script to, because without U2's involvement, I couldn't make the movie. It's a plot point, and it isn't like he plays the waiter. He plays Bono, and I'm not gonna get someone else to play an Irish rock star.''

Bono and U2 agreed to perform for free, but it took the director a year to raise the indie film's $3 million budget; it came together just in time for Joanou and a crew to get to Capetown, South Africa, to film the final show of last year's PopMart tour. Those who are eager to see U2's stranger-than-fiction film appearance will have to wait; Joanou is still seeking a distributor for ''Entropy,'' and it's uncertain if he'll find a market for a film about a filmmaker. ''Singers write about their breakups,'' he says. ''I mean, Jesus, Alanis Morissette reads a love letter and it's a song -- and no one questions that for a second. But God forbid a filmmaker puts some of his personal life into a film.'' Luckily, not everyone feels that way: ''Bono was like, 'That's exactly what you should be doing.' He never teased me about hanging my bare ass out the window.''

Posted by Jonathan at 05:54 AM | Comments (0)

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