Upcoming must-see indie flick: Some Days Are Better Than Others

I don’t think I can wait until the Spring for this movie.

Starring two Portland indie greats, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney and NPR blogging fame and James Mercer, head of the now almost controversial band The Shins, this movie follows two characters that seem to be stuck in neutral.

The debut full-length feature film by Matt McCormick looks incredibly beautiful as it shows how much a place or time can have a hold on a person. And, you know, this description from the website gives it more drama: it “asks why the good times slip by so fast while the difficult times seem so sticky. The film explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment while observing an interweaving web of awkward characters who maintain hope by inventing their own forms of communication and self-fulfillment.”

It is also gives mad props to Portland. I agree with Brad Frenette – “Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, Calgary – let’s do this.”

Watch the trailer for Some Days are Better Than Others here:

more about “some days are better than others“, posted with vodpod

Canadian bands team up with the Toronto International Film Festival

It has been announced recently that many handfuls of Canadian bands have signed on to play sets during the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Canadian Music Cafe will take place from September 15 to 17 at the Hard Rock Cafe atYonge and Dundas.

Winter Gloves

Sept. 15
Stef Lang (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Spiral Beach (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Emma-Lee (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Winter Gloves (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
TBC (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Arkells

Sept. 16
Jason Bajada (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Saukrates (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Terri Clark (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Arkells (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
The Duhks (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Amy Millan

Sept. 17
The Mountains And The Trees (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Hawksley Workman (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Amy Millan (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
USS (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Also, it’s a pleasure to hear some musician/filmmakers have had their films selected to screen in the festival. You can see Scorsese and the Duchess of York by The Wet Secrets’ Trevor Anderson and A Gun To the Head by The New Pornographers’ Blaine Thurier.

Sept. 15
Stef Lang (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Spiral Beach (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Emma-Lee (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Winter Gloves (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
TBC (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Sept. 16
Jason Bajada (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Saukrates (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Terri Clark (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Arkells (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
The Duhks (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Sept. 17
The Mountains And The Trees (1:00-1:25 p.m.)
Hawksley Workman (1:45-2:10 p.m.)
Ruby Jean And The Thoughtful Bees (2:30-2:55 p.m.)
Amy Millan (3:15-3:40 p.m.)
USS (4:00-4:25 p.m.)

Broken Social Scene cover Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” for The Time Traveler’s Wife

So Canadian uber-band Broken Social Scene has already announced that they will play a wedding band in the upcoming sob fest The Time Traveler’s Wife. Yesterday they let slide that they covered the always covered Joy Division track “Love Will Tear Us Apart” for the film’s soundtrack. Front man Kevin Drew sounds eerily too similar to Ian Curtis, and it’s unusual to hear a piano this prominent in a BSS song, but it’s well done.

In a soundtrack heavy of Mychael Danna, this track will find itself getting plenty of attention, I’m sure.

You can listen to the song on Pitchfork.

Zooey Deschanel promotes She and Him and 500 Days of Summer at the same time

Ah, Zooey Deschanel. How we all love you. And how we will all continue to love you.

In a clever marketing move, Zooey and (500) Days of Summer co-star Joseph Gorden-Levitt perform a dance routine as robber & bank teller (with dance moves more like they belong in Grease) to “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” a track from her band with M. Ward, She & Him.

The video was directed by Marc Webb, who also made the film.

On USA Today, the two reveal a fun secret:

“Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt say they hope to team up repeatedly and have aspirations of being a regular screen couple, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

They’re not a real couple, but they’re good at faking it.”

It’s almost too cute.

Go here to watch the video!

Indie music soundtracks: A look at the pleasing and the strange

Recently, there has been news fluttering around two very hyped up soundtracks. There’s the quirky comic-turned-Michael Cera-comedy Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World and then there’s the movie series I still refuse to have anything to do with (other than this blog post, pretty much), Twilight, with their upcoming installment New Moon.

But here’s my deal, and this has nothing to do with my prejudice against Twilight (okay, maybe just a little, but I’m here for the music): Scott Pilgrim is getting lucky and Twilight is causing a hail storm in the alternative music communities, but mainly only of confusion.

Photo by Edgar Wright

Scott Pilgrim’s team has announced recently (funnily enough by a later-mentioned band’s producer) the inclusion of Broken Social Scene, Metric and even Beck to their soundtrack and possibly even the movie. The comic featured other noteworthy bands such as Sloan, Joel Plaskett and Neko Case, all bands which any fan would hope to see in the movie as well (although filming wraps sometime next week, so – I call for edits!). Pretty good roster for something that started out small and Canadian, right? Although, with actors like Cera, Jason Schwartzman and Kieran Culkin on the roster, American main stream will slowly pour in soon.

And then we have the reverse affect, something so warped these days that only dogs can hear the teenaged high screams: Twilight. Last week, news stories of rumors about the New Moon soundtrack started to pop up, and this week there was one important one confirmed: Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has crossed over to what many would call the dark side  to create just one measely song for the new film (rather than oddly lending “15 Step” to the credits. Also confirmed for an original song was Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, who in other news will also be performing a Charlie Chaplin film score with collaborator Chris Rosenau. They certainly strayed away from the idea that I had developed of such a movie using bands like the Jonas Brothers.

We aren’t in the days of Garden State or High Fidelity anymore. Movies need to be on top of what is “underground” in order to get the hottest playlist. Where Scott Pilgrim works mainly from its text and Canadian bands totally willing to help out, Twilight obviously can’t do that as there, I assume, aren’t any musical nods in the books. They want to get the big names, and the big names want a paycheck. Or do you think Yorke really does love the story of a young confused girl and her vampire? He must think it’s sweet.

So, what do you support? The Toronto-made Scott Pilgrim or the popular Twilight series? Why? What are some of your favourite soundtracks?