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Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton Perform Just a Fool
Stephen King Reveals Details on Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
What is Ghost Brothers of Darkland County? It’s a Southern gothic supernatural musical, according to Stephen King. King, John Mellencamp, and T Bone Burnett created the musical which features original music and lyrics plus “key dialog excerpts” from guest artists including Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Taj Mahal, Ryan Bingham and Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis and Meg Ryan.
The soundtrack’s set for release on March 19, 2013 by Hear Music/Concord Music Group in a variety of formats, including the standard edition with the complete soundtrack, dialog excerpts and digital libretto. The 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition has the soundtrack, deluxe art work, handwritten lyrics, specially printed libretto and the Making of Ghost Brothers mini-documentary DVD featuring in-depth interviews with King, Mellencamp and Burnett along with other bonus material.
The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County came about after Mellencamp told King a story about a murder on his Indiana land. Per King’s press release, “[…]two brothers had gotten in a fight over a girl; one brother accidentally killing the other, only to die along with the girl in a car crash a short time later.” A few days after hearing the story, King wrote an outline for a play. From there, it transformed into a full-length musical.
The official plot description: “Set in the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi, the Ghost Brothers’ story centers on two sets of brothers: the ghosts of Jack and Andy, dead in an apparent murder/suicide, and their nephews, the living Frank and Drake, who seem to be headed toward the same downward spiral as their uncles. Joe, younger brother of Jack and Andy, father of Frank and Drake, has decided it’s time to reveal his own terrible secret at the site of the tragedy, before it’s too late.”
Details on Ghost Brothers [Courtesy of Stephen King.com]:
“The superb blues ‘n’ roots music of Ghost Brothers reflects the wide range of styles and influences needed for a work that jumps back and forth across decades. Rather than use the songs to propel the play’s narrative, as in a conventional musical, Mellencamp chose to make them a way to reveal the emotions and inner workings of the characters—like Neko Case’s exquisite, unapologetic delivery of ‘That’s Who I Am;’ the intense passion of Kristofferson’s ‘How Many Days;’ or Costello’s cunning ‘That’s Me,’ which establishes the persona of ‘The Shape,’ the Puck-like devil figure at the heart of Ghost Brothers who floats between the worlds of the living and the spirits. Numerous other highlights include the thunderous, dramatic ensemble piece ‘Tear This Cabin Down’ and ‘Jukin,’ a grease-laden delta-rocker performed by Sheryl Crow. Mellencamp himself delivers the closing ‘Truth,’ a sublime meditation on the moral issues underpinning the action.
Though some of the songs were written without knowing where they would fit in the script, most were the result of specific assignments. ‘Steve would call me up and go, ‘We need a song like this to fill this place,” Mellencamp says. ‘To be able to go, ‘OK, now you’re a 10-year-old boy, what would he say? Now you’re a 19-year-old girl trying to attract the attention of a barroom of fellas’…that was just fun to do.’
Once a working show had been assembled, producer Burnett—acclaimed for his work on such albums as Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack—was brought in to help unify the flow and feel of the music on stage. Burnett would also prove crucial when it came time to cast and record the Ghost Brothers album.
He started with the voice of ‘The Shape’—’immediately, Elvis Costello came up,’ says Burnett, ‘who could be better playing the devil?’ Rosanne Cash struck the producer as a match for Monique, Joe’s troubled wife, as did Kris Kristofferson’s unmistakable scratchy baritone to play the patriarch himself.
As the story emerged, it became clear to the collaborators that Ghost Brothers had taken them into unfamiliar territory—and they liked it that way. ‘John can make rock & roll records and I can write books for the rest of our lives,’ says King, ‘but that’s the safe way to do it, and that’s no way to live if you want to stay creative. We were willing to be educated, and at our age, that’s an accomplishment.’
GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY Track List and Credits:
-Libretto by Stephen King
-Music & Lyrics by John Mellencamp
-Musical Direction by T Bone Burnett
-Featured cast: Kris Kristofferson, Meg Ryan, Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis, Elvis Costello
-Featured musicians: Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Phil Alvin, Kris Kristofferson, Taj Mahal, Neko Case, Dave Alvin, Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp
1. That’s Me | Elvis Costello
2. That’s Who I Am | Neko Case
3. So Goddamn Smart | Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow
4. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Me | Elvis Costello
5. Brotherly Love – Ryan Bingham, Will Dailey
6. How Many Days | Kris Kristofferson
7. You Are Blind | Ryan Bingham
8. Home Again | Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Taj Mahal
9. What’s Going On Here | Rosanne Cash
10. My Name Is Joe | Clyde Mulroney
11. Tear This Cabin Down | Taj Mahal
12. And Your Days Are Gone | Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin
13. Jukin’ – Sheryl Crow
14. What Kind Of Man Am I | Kris Kristofferson, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow,
Dave Alvin, Taj Mahal
15. So Goddamn Good | Phil Alvin, Dave Alvin, Sheryl Crow
16. Away From This World – Sheryl Crow
17. Truth – John Mellencamp
Source: StephenKing.com
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Carrie Fisher Support Autism Research
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Carrie Fisher, Betty White, Tom Hanks, Ed Asner, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, and Derek Jeter have signed on to help with the “Sound Off for Autism Speaks®” fundraising campaign. These celebs have all agreed to to record personalized voicemail messages for fans, with all the proceeds going to the Autism Speaks® foundation.
So, how do you get Tom Hanks or any of the aforementioned celebs to record a message which you can use forever? Make a donation of $299 to support autism research and advocacy.
The Details:
– Celebrity messages will be available only December 3-9, 2012 (of course you can use the message forever);
– Register online at SoundOffForAutismSpeaks.com to receive a reminder about its December 3 launch;
– Each celebrity will only do a limited number of messages, and the celebs are available on a first come, first served basis;
– Specify what you want your chosen celebrity to say;
– The recorded message will be sent via digital file within a few weeks by Autism Speaks®.
“I got together with my son Matt (Autism Speaks’ Executive Director for Southern California) and we talked about what my friends and I could do to support the important work of Autism Speaks,” stated Ed Asner. “We decided that bringing together a group of celebrities with great voices and doing a kind of ‘voiceathon’ would be a really fun idea that could help individuals with autism and their families.”
Source: Autism Speaks
—Posted by Rebecca Murray
Catching Fire Contest and New Poster
Do you want to see your name in the credits of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire? That’s the prize up for grabs in Lionsgate Films’ new Share the Spark contest. 12 lucky Hunger Games fans will be chosen and their names will appear in a ‘special thanks’ section of the credits of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Here’s the basics:
1 – Like The Hunger Games Facebook page.
2 – Click on the Catching Fire Logo app.
3 – Share the logo with your friends (you can also enter without sharing).
Once The Hunger Games Facebook page receives 12 million likes, the 12 fans who will see their names on the screen will be selected.
Visit the Catching Fire Facebook page for all the details.
Fiona Apple Cancels Her Tour to Care for Her Dying Dog
Fiona Apple has had to pull out of her upcoming tour in order to be with her 14 year old dog, Janet, and that’s a decision I have no problem in supporting. In her position, I would have done exactly the same thing as would almost anyone who’s ever loved a dog.
Apple posted the sad news on her official Facebook page via a heartfelt handwritten letter to fans:
“It’s 6pm on Friday,and I’m writing to a few thousand friends I have not met yet. I am writing to ask them to change our plans and meet a little while later. Here’s the thing. I have a dog Janet, and she’s been ill for almost two years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She’s almost 14 years old now.I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then, an adult officially – and she was my child.
She is a pitbull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face. She was the one the dogfighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders. She’s almost 14 and I’ve never seen her start a fight, or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She’s a pacifist.
Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact. We’ve lived in numerous houses, and jumped a few make shift families, but it’s always really been the two of us. She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.
She was under the piano when I wrote songs, barked any time I tried to record anything, and she was in the studio with me all the time we recorded the last album. The last time I came back from tour, she was spry as ever, and she’s used to me being gone for a few weeks every 6 or 7 years.
She has Addison’s Disease, which makes it dangerous for her to travel since she needs regular injections of Cortisol, because she reacts to stress and to excitement without the physiological tools which keep most of us from literally panicking to death. Despite all of this, she’s effortlessly joyful and playful, and only stopped acting like a puppy about 3 years ago. She’s my best friend and my mother and my daughter, my benefactor, and she’s the one who taught me what love is.
I can’t come to South America. Not now.
When I got back from the last leg of the US tour, there was a big, big difference. She doesn’t even want to go for walks anymore. I know that she’s not sad about aging or dying. Animals have a survival instinct, but a sense of mortality and vanity, they do not. That’s why they are so much more present than people.
But I know that she is coming close to point where she will stop being a dog, and instead, be part of everything. She’ll be in the wind, and in the soil, and the snow, and in me, wherever I go. I just can’t leave her now, please understand.
If I go away again, I’m afraid she’ll die and I won’t have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out. Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes to pick which socks to wear to bed. But this decision is instant. These are the choices we make, which define us.
I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship. I am the woman who stays home and bakes Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend. And helps her be comfortable, and comforted, and safe, and important. Many of us these days, we dread the death of a loved one. It is the ugly truth of Life, that keeps us feeling terrified and alone.
I wish we could also appreciate the time that lies right beside the end of time. I know that I will feel the most overwhelming knowledge of her, and of her life and of my love for her, in the last moments.
I need to do my damnedest to be there for that. Because it will be the most beautiful, the most intense, the most enriching experience of life I’ve ever known. When she dies. So I am staying home, and I am listening to her snore and wheeze, and reveling in the swampiest, most awful breath that ever emanated from an angel.
And I am asking for your blessing.
I’ll be seeing you.
Love, Fiona”
Our thoughts are with Fiona and Janet. Enjoy what time you have left together – your fans will understand.
Cast Expands for ‘All Cheerleaders Die’
Writer/directors Lucky McKee (May) and Chris Silvertson (I Know Who Killed Me) have added Caitlin Stasey and Sianoa Smit-McPhee to the cast of All Cheerleaders Die. Modernciné is producing the supernatural teen thriller which is expected to begin shooting in LA on November 26, 2012.
McKee previously worked with Modernciné on the thriller, The Woman.
All Cheerleaders Die started life as a video project Silvertson and McKee shot right after graduating USC 10 years ago. “All Cheerleaders Die is leading us into the exciting world of popcorn fare, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have the creative freedom that a company like Modernciné provides for writer/directors. This is going to be a thrill-packed extravaganza with a hot young cast to die for,” stated McKee and Sivertson.
The Plot: Mäddy Killian is a 17 year old rebel at Blackfoot High School on a mission to take down the captain of the football team. She rallies a group of cheerleaders around her cause, but after a tragic turn of events the girls are thrust into a supernatural battle that culminates in a mayhem-filled night they will never forget.
On the Road Soundtrack Details
The soundtrack to On the Road, the dramatic film based on the Jack Kerouac novel and starring Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Sam Riley, will be released on December 11, 2012 followed by the film’s theatrical release on December 21st. The original score was composed by Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain), and the soundtrack also features songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker.
Nine original compositions are performed by Santaolalla, Charlie Haden and Brian Blade and, according to Verve Music Group, add up to a score that is “subtly provocative yet emotionally powerful, reminiscent of the 1950s Beat Generation’s evolution of sex, drugs, and jazz — the rock and roll of its time.”
Details on On the Road:
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Walter Salles and based on the iconic novel by Jack Kerouac, On the Road tells the provocative story of Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken and ultimately redefined by the arrival of Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a free-spirited, fearless, fast talking Westerner and his girl, Marylou (Kristen Stewart).
Traveling cross-country, Sal and Dean venture out on a personal quest for freedom from the conformity and conservatism engulfing them in search of the unknown, themselves, and the pursuit of “it” — the pure essence of experience.
Seeking unchartered terrain and the last American frontier, the duo encounter an eclectic mix of men and women — Bull (Viggo Mortensen), Camille (Kirsten Dunst), Carlo (Tom Sturridge), Jane (Amy Adams), Terry (Alice Braga), Galatéa (Elisabeth Moss) — each impacting their journey indelibly.
On the Road Soundtrack Track List:
1. Sweet Sixteen (Greg Kramer)
2. Roman Candles (Gustavo Santaolalla)
3. Yip Roc Heresy (Slim Gaillard)
4. Reminiscence (Gustavo Santaolalla)
5. Mean And Evil Blues (Dinah Washington)
6. Lovin’ IT (Gustavo Santaolalla)
7. The Open Road (Gustavo Santaolalla)
8. A Sailboat In The Moonlight (Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra, Lester Young)
9. Ko-Ko (Charlie Parker)
10. Memories / Up To Speed (Gustavo Santaolalla)
11. I’ve Got The World On A String (Ella Fitzgerald, Sy Oliver & His Orchestra)
12. That’s IT (Gustavo Santaolalla)
13. Keep It Rollin’ (Gustavo Santaolalla)
14. Salt Peanuts (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker)
15. Hit That Jive Jack (Slim Gaillard)
16. God Is Pooh Bear (Gustavo Santaolalla)
17. Death Letter Blues (Son House)
18. I Think Of Dean (Gustavo Santaolalla)
19. Jack Kerouac Reads On The Road (Jack Kerouac)
Source: Verve/Universal
New ‘The 39 Clues’ eBook Set for Holiday Release
Scholastic is set to release The 39 Clues: Cahill Files: Silent Night, a new original eBook in the bestselling 39 Clues series, on December 25, 2012. This upcoming release is a stand-alone entry in the franchise and, according to Scholastic, the online release will include a “free collectible digital game card as well as a bonus excerpt from Infinity Ring #1: A Mutiny in Time.”
The bestselling series is also set to launch a spin-off, The 39 Clues: Unstoppable, in October 2013.
“The global fan base of The 39 Clues series continues to amaze and delight us with the books now published in 27 countries,” stated Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. “With the enormous success of The 39 Clues: Rapid Fire ebook shorts which we released last holiday season, we know that kids are clamoring for more adventures while they wait for the next 39 Clues installment. The Silent Night ebook is a perfect gift of reading for fans of the series.”
Details on The 39 Clues: Cahill Files: Silent Night:
“The year is 1914 and war is raging in Europe. Eager to win the glory for the Lucian Branch, 16-year-old Rupert Davenport (Ian Kabra’s ancestor) sneaks off to France to join the fighting. But the reality of battle is unlike anything Rupert imagined. Even if he survives the bullets and explosions, he’ll have to face an even deadlier threat: the Vespers–the Cahill family’s rivals who are plotting a dangerous scheme behind enemy lines. Yet just when Rupert’s about to lose hope, Christmas Eve arrives and Rupert witnesses something that changes everything he thought he knew about war…and his own family. Is it a holiday miracle? Or a twisted game designed to destroy the Cahills?”
First Look: Smash Season 2 Trailer
The Plot:
In Season 2, the “Bombshell” team is one step closer to achieving their Broadway dream. The Boston run was the success the team was hoping for, including producer Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston), writers Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) and Julia Houston (Debra Messing), last-minute star Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) and director Derek Wills (Jack Davenport). But, they are all about to learn even a charmed show cannot avoid paying for sins of the past. Will Eileen get away with mixing business and pleasure with her shady paramour, Nick (guest star Thorsten Kaye)? Will Julia’s marriage to Frank (guest star Brian d’Arcy James) survive the revelation of her infidelity? Will actress Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) bounce back from the shame of losing the lead role to rival Karen and bedding her fiancé in retaliation? And will Tom and Julia’s long-time partnership endure the changing tides of opportunity?
As they all scramble to push forward, one of the show’s players finds Brooklyn natives Jimmy Collins (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle Bishop (Andy Mientus) toiling away on a current-day rock musical of their own, which could either become “Bombshell’s” biggest rival, or yet one more Broadway false start.
Weighing both the benefits and sacrifices of a career on Broadway, the “Smash” cast of Broadway hopefuls is rounded out by Karen’s lively new roommate/actress Ana Vargas (Krysta Rodriguez) and Tom’s boyfriend, Sam Strickland (Leslie Odom).
Watch the trailer:
Jennifer Lawrence Says Honey Boo Boo Made Her Crash
Lawrence explained her car crash on the November 19, 2012 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno:
—Posted by Rebecca Murray
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