Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are Step Brothers
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here at Paste, we're not in the business of validating clichés, but we are more than happy to let the above picture speak for itself. All right, fine; we’ll give you a little more. The picture illustrates the camaraderie between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who are starring in Step Brothers as Brennan Huff and Dale Doback. It’s the pairs’ first outing together since an obscure, independent film that you probably didn't see called Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Talladega’s director, Adam McKay, is back for Step Brothers,... read more
Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak teams up with Downtown Records
If you’re the son of the founder of Benihana, even the onion volcano stops being impressive after awhile. So what do you do? Well, you step away from the hibachi and become a world-famous DJ and club promoter. Perhaps you even start a record label. It turns out that that’s exactly what happened to one Steve Aoki, who occasionally DJs as Kid Millionaire. But even a childhood exposure to dangerous, flying knives could not help Aoki run his own record label as successfully as he wanted. Aoki told the Los Angeles Times that Dim Mak, the label, wasn’t where he... read more
Starz to feature stars in TV's Crash
Starz Entertainment announced Monday that the film Crash will be made into a 13-episode, one-hour series come August. No, not 1996's Crash, the high drama starring James Spader as a car-crash victim who discovers an underground culture of individuals who have a fetish for car crashes. (Although, come to think of it, television series idea!) The Crash we speak of here is the film that shocked millions when it beat out Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture at the Academy Awards back in 2005, the film that touted a superstar cast of actors and actresses (Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon,... read more
Download site Qtrax pushes on despite setbacks
At the beginning of this week the long-awaited Qtrax was supposed to finally launch. The peer-to-peer downloading site has boasted legal means for music lovers to access their favorite artists. With an advertised catalogue of over 25,000,000 songs and a partnership with four major record labels (EMI, Warner, Sony/BGM and Universal Music Group), Qtrax seemingly had the potential seriously rival iTunes in 2008. Unfortunately, the too-good-to-be-true MP3 source is proving to be just that. First off, these alleged cooperatives with the recording companies are turning out to be a marketing farce, seeing as that all four of them have... read more
WGA reaches compromise with Grammy Awards
The 50th Grammy Awards will air Feb. 10, despite the tension as the writers’ strike continues to keep artists and execs at arms. On Jan. 15, Grammy producers made a formal request to the Writers Guild of America Board of Directors for an interim agreement that would contract writers for the awards. Just last week, the WGA announced that it would, in the least, not picket the event. The Recording Company has hence begun to coordinate acts for the show. The lineup includes a gospel segment featuring Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and the Clark Sisters. The Time will reunite,... read more
Nick Cave tours Europe, conquers world?
It sure seems like the mysterious, mustachioed Australian known as Nick Cave is trying to take over the planet via an endless onslaught of new (and awesome) material. After a year in which he released the well-received, self-titled Grinderman debut and scored an acclaimed film, the prolific quinquagenarian is strutting into 2008 armed with a new album and his first European tour in over three years. As we reported earlier this month, the 11-track album—the group's fourteenth studio release—emerges in the U.K. on March 3 and, on a Mayflower-esque schedule, lands on U.S. shores about five weeks later, on April... read more
Julianne Moore to star in supernatural horror flick, Shelter
Julianne Moore starts work this spring on her starring role in a supernatural horror film. Nala Films will produce the movie, called Shelter, which is based on a script by Michael Cooney. Swedish directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein will be at the helm when filming begins in Pittsburgh late March. The producers on the project are Darlene Caamano Loquet, president of Nala Films, and Emilio Diez Barroso, chairman and CEO of Nala Investments, which is funding the $22 million budget. Also producing will be Mike Macari and Neal Edelstein (Amusement, The Invisible). Shelter should play to Moore’s sensible chic,... read more
Lionsgate reaches deal with striking writers
Good news for people who love television. According to a TV Guide report, Lionsgate Entertainment has announced that it has signed an interim agreement with the Writer's Guild of America allowing popular shows Weeds and Mad Men to go back into production. Lionsgate is the latest independent film company to sign a deal with the WGA following The Weinstein Company, RKO and Marvel Entertainment. However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is neither happy nor hopeful about the group of independent production companies, as they recently stated: “These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know... read more
Mark Ronson releases cover video for Radiohead's "Just"
Remember The Bends? At the time of the album's release (1995), back before Kid A or "pay what you want," Radiohead was a great rock 'n' roll band with serious guitar chops and a knack for hooks. Nothing super fancy, though still quite good. Now, remember "Just" from said album? It was that gloriously anthemic track that begin unassumedly enough with acoustic strumming before exploding into a wall of noise—the kind that just begged for air guitar theatrics. Basically, it's one of the most badass songs ever written. If your memory is still not appropriately jogged, try this video refresher:... read more
Widespread Panic to tour Free Somehow
Along with the free single Widespread Panic released in October, the band has also made the track “Boom Boom Boom” available for streaming and another single, “Walk on the Floor,” available with a $10 donation to the Make it Right foundation. Now, the Panic is hitting the road in support of Free Somehow, which hits record store shelves on Feb. 12. Dates: April 1-2 - D.C. @ Warner Theatre 4-5 - New York, N.Y. @ United Palace 6 - Albany, N.Y. @ Palace Theatre 9 - Cincinnati, Ohio @ US Bank Arena 11-13 - Chicago, Ill. @ Auditorium Theatre 16... read more
Documentary chronicles a day in the life of Ladyhawk
Upcoming documentary Let Me Be Fictional follows the members of Canadian rock band Ladyhawk as they record their latest album, reflect on society’s definition of adulthood and return to the town where they grew up together – all while consuming large quantities of alcohol. You weren’t really expecting Ken Burns, were you? Ladyhawk is the latest in a recent surge of indie rock bands to announce its foray into film. The band's entry comes hot on the heels of White Rabbits and The National, both the subject of documentaries in the works. The film begins with the members of Ladyhawk... read more
Bon Iver schedules winter tour
Bon Iver, otherwise known as Justin Vernon, recorded his debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, in his father's north Wisconsin cabin where he lived alone for three months in the dead of winter, and it reeks of the cold Midwest: low temperatures, foliage blanketed with snow, and solitude. Already shortlisted as a contender for Best Album of 2008 (although technically it was released by Vernon in 2007 before he signed with indie label Jagjaguwar, a midwestern resident itself), For Emma, Forever Ago will be supported by an appropriately seasoned tour, which begins mid-February in Vernon's hometown of Eau Claire, Wis., and... read more
Paul Simon to share stage with David Byrne, Grizzly Bear
From Graceland to South America to Africa, Paul Simon has traversed the songwriters' world more thoroughly than most. Now, Paste's #13 Best Living Songwriter is taking his experience and talent to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a month-long residency, and he isn't traveling alone. Throughout April, Simon will put on three series of performances, each time joined by special guests best able to lend their specific musical abilities to the portion of Simon's extensive catalogue they'll be exploring. The first series, "Songs from The Capeman," takes place April 1-6 at the BAM Harvey Theater. Oscar Hernández and The Spanish... read more
Neil Young pushes back Archives, Greendale headed to stage
Neil Young’s long-waited Archives series is being pushed back. Again. The box set is being held up because Young, long an opponent of digital music, has decided to release the material via DVD and Blu-Ray. The format change will allow the set to more closely adhere to the songwriter’s multimedia vision. "I know it's in technical production now, but it's only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD," Young told Billboard.com. "There won't be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we're able to actually present it. But there's no doubt it... read more
Beyoncé to play Etta James in Cadillac Records
In a shocking move, Beyoncé Knowles has signed up to play a singer in a feature film! (We kid because we love.) Cadillac Records, the forthcoming Darnell Martin movie depicting the 1950s Chicago music scene and already boasting a cast featuring the likes of Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Cedric the Entertainer, has added another star to its musical ranks. Knowles has reportedly signed up to fill the shoes of multiple Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Etta James. James is best known for her #2 R&B chart hit single "At Last," which has itself, along... read more
Robert Redford announces next two projects
Robert Redford announced this weekend that he has decided to move forward with his film adaptation of A Walk in the Woods, a venture that has reportedly been on the books for a while. Redford plans to star in the film as well as produce the project. Barry Levinson is slated to direct. Bill Bryson’s bestselling novel of the same title recounts the adventures of Bryson and a friend from his native state Iowa as they attempt the Appalachian Trail, the legendary mountain pass that runs from Georgia to Maine. Bryson had just returned from spending 20 years in Britain... read more
R.E.M. takes Modest Mouse, The National on tour
Anyone who frequents PasteMagazine.com knows that our hearts were stolen last year by a certain Ohio-cum-Brooklyn, patriotically named indie-rock band that features two pairs of brothers and a gravel-voiced lead singer. Not only did we declare The National a Band of the Week last May, but the group also graced our December/January cover. We did all this with good reason, though. After all, The National did make the #1 album of 2007. Good news, then, since it was announced recently that the band has not only added more tour dates for the spring (and made thousands of fans jealous... read more
Dax Riggs returns to the road
On the heels of an opening slot for Queens of the Stone Age, metalhead-cum-bluesman Dax Riggs will return to the road with a string of U.S. dates throughout the month of February, kicking off in the longstanding rock haven of Toledo, Ohio. After the demise of his former band, deadboy & the Elephantmen, Riggs went on to release his solo debut last summer, We Sing of Only Blood or Love, on Fat Possum. Even before that, he spent time fronting the seminal Southern sludge-metal band, Acid Bath. Drummer Andy McLeod will join Dax once again, with other touring members to... read more
Rivers Cuomo begins work on memoir
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has already completed about 400 pages of an upcoming memoir, according to Gigwise.com. That's one book down, and another seven to go, if he sticks with the current treatment planned for his work. We first reported on the reclusive singer’s literary intentions back in August, when he shared his plan to write a book based on the contents of diaries he had written during his Harvard days. Cuomo wrote on his MySpace blog that the book would be “just as much musical in nature as literary,” and was definitely not a memoir. Well, the times they... read more
Luke Temple to release collectible 7-inch, play SXSW
Brooklyn songwriter Luke Temple is set to release, Brain, a limited edition vinyl 7-inch, on Feb. 26. It's the fourth volume of the Seven Inch Project, a series of limited edition vinyl collectibles, each by a different artist. Created during a late November recording session (right around the time when he was a Paste Artist of the Week), the 7-inch will be available through SevenInchProject.com and at Temple's shows. Previous contributors to the Seven Inch Project include Agent Ribbons, June Madrona and Half-handed Cloud. Recording untraditionally and adhering to D.I.Y. philosophies as always, Temple laid down tracks for Brain in... read more
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant
The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So…
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 30 Best TV Shows on Netflix…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
