Within one second of the public's first viewing of Baz Luhrmann's take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it's clear music will be a centerpiece.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, saying "New York ... 1922 ..." over the Kanye–Jay–Frank Ocean track "No Church in the Wild." After first listen (and viewing), it didn't make any sense, and that hasn't really changed with subsequent viewings. The song, while quite effective as the backing for 2012's Safe House, seemed like an odd pick for our first impression of a film adapted from one of our most celebrated American novels.
By Rembert Browne at
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2012 has been a remarkable year for testing the limits of trailers, with studios often oversaturating the market with four or five previews before a film is actually released, putting out teasers for "official" trailers, and even deploying the much-hated "teaser for the teaser." While this double-tease phenomenon has been the lowlight in the world of movie previews this year, a high point has been the music that has accompanied the trailers.
It's not simply acoustic guitar into electric guitar with a voice-over anymore. Or just "O Fortuna" or "Gimme Shelter" over and over again. (Well, there was Flight, but ...) Major artists are getting involved, new artists are breaking into the mainstream by way of their inclusion in a big movie's trailer and, in many cases, a trailer (and a film) would be nothing without the wise decision to incorporate the perfect song.
"I don't think [Lady Gaga] lives it, because it's all artifice. It's all image with no meaning behind it. You can't sink your teeth into it. It's a sound bite. It's very of this age, because that's what people want." — Jack White in Esquire UK
"I never said anything about her music, or questioned the authenticity of her songs in any way. I was in a conversation about the drawbacks of image for the sake of image, and that it is popular nowadays to not question an image in front of you, but only to label it as 'cool' or 'weird' quickly and dispose of it. I don't like my comments about Lady Gaga's presentation being changed into some sort of negative critique of her music." — Jack White's follow-up statement
Jack White has never been one to stand still, but his post–White Stripes era has elevated his all-purpose restlessness to bold new heights: There have been appearances on American Pickers, collaborations with Insane Clown Posse, even an actual solo album. And now, his latest endeavor, as reported by Variety: The score for The Lone Ranger, the Jerry Bruckheimer–produced adaptation of the '50s TV show starring Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as his sidekick, Tonto.
The New York Times took a trip down to Nashville to profile Jack White (his solo album, Blunderbuss, is out this month) and, in the process, revealed all manner of delightful J.W. factoids. Most of this stuff — his perfectionism, his Protestant work ethic, his slavish devotion to old shit — you likely already knew. But a peek into his day-to-day- life, which currently involves a coterie of nutso projects tied around his all-purpose Third Man Records (there’s “a record store, his label offices, a concert venue, a recording booth, a lounge for parties and even a darkroom”), points exactly at his level of commitment to the Jack White Persona.
Madonna featuring M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj, “Give Me All Your Luvin’”
This song sounds like Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” which on its own isn’t the worst thing ever, but it pointedly contains the lyrics, “Every record sounds the same / You’ve got to step into my world.” Also: Madonna made M.I.A. and Nicki awkwardly shake pom poms around just in case anyone forgot for a second that she was playing the Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday, and then only gave them four worthless, tacked-on bars each? On the plus side: Doesn’t she look amazing, folks?!
Following up his collection of short stories, Palo Alto, James Franco has sold his first novel, Actors Anonymous, directly to Amazon. Only appropriately, it’s a fictionalized version of Franco’s real life as an actor. It's a pretty big departure, though: In the book version, the fake Franco sells his novel to Barnesandnoble.com. Grade: C [Observer via Vulture]
It's pretty much impossible to know when Internet-baiting horrorcore duo Insane Clown Posse is doing something because they really want to or because they think it'll make people's heads explode. The latest, and arguably greatest, WTF example: On September 13, ICP will release a cover of Mozart’s “Leck Mich Im Arsch,” a largely forgotten canon in B-flat whose title translates in English to “Lick Me in the Arse.” Their version will feature instrumental backing from Nashville thrashers Jeff the Brotherhood and production from — ready?! — former White Stripe Jack White. What? Apparently, the Clowns have written their own lyrics, which they'll add to Mozart's original German ones. One way this makes the tiniest bit of noncontrived sense: Both ICP and Jack White are from the Detroit area, and it’s not inconceivable they met years ago — perhaps in some Michigan dive bar, over a game of Big Buck Hunter — and planned a collaboration, only to be sidetracked by their own projects and rises to notoriety. Now, with White in semiretirement, his Third Man Records pumping out novelties (a Conan O’Brien live album, a Stephen Colbert single), and Insane Clown Posse enjoying their greatest fame — why not? Equally as plausible: This was a really good opportunity for Jack White to be photographed, for the first time ever, with people wearing jorts.
