Just before the new year singer songwriter David Dondero popped in NPR's Tiny Desk Concert studio to play four songs...and their all worth listening to! The set included a brand new tune titled "We're All Just Babies in Our Mama's Eyes", followed by the amazing "Rothko Chapel". Dondero also played a couple of great older tunes..."In Love With the Living and the Dead" and "It's Peaceful Here".
Watch the performance (Courtesy of NPR) Right Here
I went ahead and ripped the brand new song for you all because I'm sure you will love it as much as I do! Have a listen...
New Andrew Bird! Yes, please. Noble Beast will officially release on Jan. 20th 09. A deluxe version of the album will also be available, packaged with a second disc of instrumental works, featuring collaborations with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and jazz bassist Todd Sickafoose.
Listen to Andrew Bird's forthcoming album Noble Beast in it's entirety (Courtesy of NPR) Right Here
Every year it seems that I miss seeing more and more films, but here is a list of my favorite films that I did see with a little music mix from some of the films.
Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later, Sunshine) Slumdog Millionaire's plot revolves around an Indian street orphan who wins the grand prize on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire, as we find out (via flashbacks) if it was it all luck or if he was cheating. View the trailer here or right here...
The Wrestler
Directed by Darren Aronofsky this is the story of Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) a professional wrestler from the 80s, who still wrestles on the weekends in semi-pro matches for extra money. He is forced to retire completely after a heart attack threatens to kill him the next time he wrestles. He takes a weekend shift at the deli counter at the grocery store where he already works on weekdays, attempts to form a relationship with an aging stripper (Marisa Tomei) and does his best to reconcile with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). However, he is drawn to the prospect of a rematch with his old wrestling nemesis the Ayatollah (Ernest Miller), even though the fight may cost him his life.
View the trailer here or right here...
Paranoid Park
Directed by Gus Van Sant this artsy drama (based on the novel of the same name by Blake Nelson) takes place in Portland, Oregon and revolves around a teenage skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard. View the trailer here or right here...
The Visitor
The Visitor's plot revolves around sixty-two-year-old Walter Vale, who is sleepwalking through his life. Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, his college sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference and he is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment who have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him. View the trailer here or right here...
A Band's Visit
The film follows a band of members of the Egyptian police force who head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town with a series of quiet happenings and confessions. View the trailer here or right here...
The Go-Getter
The plot to this road-trip movie revolves a teenager (Lou Pucci) who steals a car to find his long-lost brother and discovers a profound connection along the way (with Zooey DeShannel). View the trailer here or right here...
The Counterfeiters
Based on the true story of counterfeiter extraordinaire Salomon Sorowitsch who gets put in a German concentration camp and agrees to help the Nazis in an organized counterfeit operation set up to help finance the war effort.
Directed by Woody Allen, Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell play brothers in this dark drama about siblings who dream of improving their lives only to find themselves in a sticky situation when an uncle asks them to do an illegal favor. View the trailer right here...
Frozen River
Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an stuggling mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border.
This is the strange tale of a high school student who discovers that she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence. View the trailer here or right here...
Cloverfield
The plot revolves around an attack in New York as told from the point of view of a small group of people who film the entire story on their hand held camera. View the traier here or right here...
When Did You Last See Your Father
This film explores the father/son relationship of Blake Morrison (Colin Firth) deals with the death of his father. Blake’s upsetting memories about his childhood are interspersed with tender scenes in the present, as he struggles to come to terms with his father and their history of conflict. View the trailer here or right here..
Girl Cut in Two
This French film from Claude Chabrol is about a girl torn between an older man (a famous married author who won't leave his wife) and a semi-deranged young heir to an industrial fortune who loves her. View the trailer here or right here...
Towelhead
Directed by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and based on Alicia Erian's novel of the same name, Towelhead tells the story of a young Arab American girl named Jasira (Summer Bishil) who is sent to live with her strict Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) who lives in a suburb of Houston, Texas. Jasira struggles against her father's lifestyle and against her racist classmates. For the first time in her life, the problems of being an Arab in America hits Jasira, causing her to become sexually obsessed with her neighbor; a bigoted army reservist. View the trailer here or right here...
Flashbacks of A Fool
Errogant and aging Hollywood star Joe Scott (Daniel Craig) finds out about the death of his childhood best friend and takes us into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970's Britain that helps to explain why he is so tormented. View the trailer here or right here..
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald this tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.
When two brothers plan to rob their parents' jewelery store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards a shattering climax.
Ed Harris directs this western about two gunmen (Harris and Viggo Mortensen) who try to help a lawless town suffering at the hands of a thuggish rancher (Jeremy Irons).View the trailer here or right here...
In Bruges
This film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hitmen hiding out in the Belgian city of Bruges, awaiting instructions from their gangster boss (Ralph Fiennes) as they come to terms with issues of guilt, morality, and redemption. View the trailer here or right here...
Quarantine
In this film a television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC after the outbreak of a mysterious virus. View the trailer here or right here...
The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Following, Insomnia) directs the second installment of the Batman seires, and I'm sure you've all read that Heath Ledger steals the show as The Joker. View the trailer here or right here...
