MUSIC
Frank Black keeps the music coming nonstop
Having dabbled in various styles over his two-decade-plus career, singer-songwriter Charles Thompson (aka Frank Black, Black Francis) tells Billboard.com his creative approach _ as heard on his new Black Francis CD "NonStopErotik," due out March 30 on Cooking Vinyl _ remains the same. That is, there isn't one. "I have to say I'm pretty limited in the whole artistic vision department," Thompson says. "I basically set out to make a record and at times in the beginning of the process I don't even have the songs. It's just kind of a big burst of energy. I don't really have any prerequisites to make it this or make it like that. There is no goal other than, 'Let's make a record, let's make it good.' That's how I work on every single record." For "NonStopErotik," which was recorded in Los Angeles, London and Brooklyn last fall and produced by Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart and PJ Harvey) and Thompson, the 11-track affair includes the tender piano ballad title track, the garage-y rocker "Cinema Star" and the Creedence Clearwater Revival-inspired "When I Go Down On You," as well as a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Wheels." While Thompson expects to tour the album in 2010, no date has been set.
MUSIC
6 questions for Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur has spent much of her career on major labels, playing bass in Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins and releasing her 2004 solo debut on Capitol, but she says her heart has always been independent. After leaving Capitol, she teamed with the Montreal-based Phi Group for her second album, "Out of Our Minds," a multimedia project that includes the record, a 28-minute film and a comic book, due March 23. Auf der Maur spoke with Billboard about the album, science fiction and becoming an independent businesswoman. BB: Your first solo record was released on Capitol. How did that end, and why did you want to release independently going forward? When I made my first record, I self-financed and self-created and then later licensed to Capitol Records. Capitol was great and very supportive of me. Then fast forward to the beginning of the writing and the making of my next record. Capitol was going through problems and in one fell swoop, everyone I worked with there was fired, all in one day, and that, to me, was danger. It was very clear to me that I wanted to get out at all costs. So I made a big decision about a year-and-a-half ago to not get back into bed with a big box and forge ahead as an independent musician and businesswoman.
MUSIC
Cult favorite 'The T.A.M.I. ' comes to DVD
Director Quentin Tarantino ranks it in the "top three of all rock movies." "Little Steven" Van Zandt proclaims it "the greatest rock movie you've never seen." That's about to change March 23 when Shout Factory releases "The T.A.M.I. Show: Collector's Edition" for the first time on DVD. Filmed live at the Santa Monica (Calif.) Civic Auditorium in 1964, the first concert movie of the rock era brims with nearly two hours of kinetic performances by 12 acts, seven of whom are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including the Rolling Stones (with the late Brian Jones), James Brown, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys and the Supremes. "It was all live, no postproduction, no second choices. It was all gut instinct," recalls "T.A.M.I." director Steve Binder, whose credits include "Elvis: '68 Comeback Special." In fact, Binder adds, when he and executive producer Bill Sargent screened the film for several studio executives, one executive said, "'This is a total disaster; it has too many closeups."
MUSIC
Usher: A single man
Usher and his creative team began tossing around ideas for his next album, they had one goal in mind: to get his swagger back. "I had checked out," the singer acknowledges. "I went all the way into being super husband and super dad, thinking, 'I've got to be serious all the time. I've got to be the man.' I put my swagger down for a minute, but I didn't throw it away. Now it's time to get it back." Flashing a devilishly engaging smile, Usher exudes steely determination as he shifts position on a rehearsal room couch at Centerstaging in Burbank, Calif. Clad all in black _ from tennis shoes to the shades he never removes during an hourlong interview _ the singer is there to rehearse for his Feb. 27 performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. His quiet fortitude on a rainy afternoon becomes all the more compelling _ and fitting _ when it's learned the room he's rehearsing in was last used by Michael Jackson while mapping his own anticipated return on the This Is It tour. "It wasn't intentional," Usher says when asked about the coincidence. "But I love being in this space. That same energy is still here; it lingers. All I've ever wanted as an artist is to appeal to as wide an audience as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson." Now all eyes are on Usher as the March 30 release date approaches for "Raymond Vs. Raymond." It's the often-delayed follow-up to his 2007 album, "Here I Stand" _ and the first since his much-publicized marriage to Tameka Foster ended in divorce. While "Here" eventually became a platinum seller (1.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan), fans' response to its more serious, mature tone paled in comparison to Usher's previous multiplatinum hallmarks, "8701" (4.7 million) and "Confessions" (9.7 million). With three tracks simultaneously climbing the R&B and pop charts and the recent hire of a new manager, industry veteran and AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips, can the 31-year-old divorced father of two recapture his swagger? Lamonda Williams, director of video on demand for Music Choice, believes that Usher is primed to capture the base he lost.
MUSIC
Slash enlists friends for solo debut
As a former member of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, Slash knows more than most musicians about what he calls "band drama." "It just goes hand in hand with rock 'n' roll," the 44-year-old guitarist says with a seen-it-all laugh. "It's a very volatile world. And I actually thrive on it _ but at the same time it makes it really hard to get anything done." Getting stuff done was the primary motivation behind Slash's self-titled solo debut, due April 6 in the United States. "After the last Velvet Revolver tour, I was like, 'I just need to do something on my own,'" says the musician, who's also released a pair of discs with Slash's Snakepit. "'Something where I can make my own decisions and do whatever it is that I want to do, without having to conform to anyone else's taste.'"
MUSIC
She & Him inspire even more indie crushes
With She & Him's 2008 debut, "Vol. 1," M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel proved it's possible for a respected indie-rock troubadour to successfully team up with a songwriting film star. Released on Ward's longtime label Merge, the duo's first effort won over fans and critics with the combination of Deschanel's sugary lyrics and simple song structure in front of Ward's guitar and production work. But when the act first signed with Merge in late 2007, it wasn't with the assumption that a second set would follow. "Even though it was called 'Vol. 1,' we didn't know if it was going to be an ongoing project or not," label co-founder Mac McCaughan says. "Maybe if it wasn't fun for them that would've been the end of it." Deschanel and Ward have had a busy couple of years, she with promotion for the movie "(500) Days of Summer" and he with a solo record and Monsters of Folk, his collaboration with Conor Oberst, Jim James and Mike Mogis. But with the March 23 release of "Vol. 2," they want it known that She & Him aren't just a one-off affair. "As long as Matt wants to produce this music I write, I want to keep that partnership going," Deschanel says. Ward responds with a laugh, "As long as Zooey asks, the sky's the limit." Manager Jordan Kurland says that so much of the build happened organically for "Vol. 1" that the act's team had only three months to set up the record's release. But for the new album, there was more time to plan. "We knew it was a great record by super-talented individuals and that certainly there was a very magical chemistry between the two of them, but we didn't know what we were going to sell first week," he says. "We didn't know what the market was going to be like." Even without a strong promotional push on the first go, the band has sold 190,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and She & Him were able to cross-market the album through "(500) Days of Summer," in which Deschanel played the title character. The film's soundtrack includes the pair's take on the Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want," and Deschanel and film co-star Joseph Gordon Levitt starred in a music video for She & Him's song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" Kurland says the team at first tried to keep "a separation between church and state, so to speak," but the opportunity came up and they went with it because of the musical nature of the film. "Obviously we weren't going to hide the fact that Zooey was an actress, but we also didn't want to tie it in that much because we really wanted people to appreciate 'Vol. 1' for what it was," he says. At the same time, Deschanel says she doesn't mind mixing her creative outlets when it makes sense. "I'm really interested in moving more and more toward this idea that you can be an all-around person _ that you can do a lot of different things," she says. "We live in a world where everything seems to be specialized. I think there's something to be said for being able to do more than one creative thing." And in terms of how they'll be promoted, Ward says he has no worries with Merge. "There's a lot of security in knowing that the people you work with aren't going to try to sell what you do in the wrong way," he says. Both musicians know that balancing multiple projects can be difficult, but Deschanel _ who's set to star in the HBO series "I'm With the Band," based on Pamela Des Barres' memoir of being a groupie in the '60s and '70s _ says it just means saying "no" to more offers. "If you're spreading yourself too thin doing things that don't mean anything to you _ which is easy to do if you're an actor, to be honest _ then you end up becoming extremely exhausted, extremely drained, and you don't have anything that means anything to you at the end," she says.
MUSIC
Trans-Siberian Orchestra aims for Broadway
As it prepares to mount its first-ever non-holiday tour _ the long-awaited recital of "Beethoven's Last Night" _ Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also setting its sights on the Great White Way. "Broadway beckons," Paul O'Neill, the founder and chief creative force behind the classical rock troupe best known for its trilogy of Christmas concept albums and pyrotechic-laden tours, tells Billboard.com. "We're a bit nervous about Broadway because we've never done it before, but it's time. Trans-Siberian Orchestra will keep going and keep recording and continue as a progressive rock band, but within the near future we'd like to have the first theatrical show up and running." That will likely be "Gutter Ballet," a piece O'Neill began as a 1989 album for the group Savatage and was still an active interest when he formed TSO in 1996. O'Neill and company are currently "re-recording 'Gutter Ballet' in its original Broadway format," though there's no firm timetable on when it might go into full production. Meanwhile, O'Neill also envisions turning "Beethoven's Last Night" into a Broadway piece as well but says that "it's important to tour it as a rock band first. If it's a Trans-Siberian Orchestra rock opera we have to tour it first just like Pete Townshend toured 'Tommy' before he allowed it to be a movie or go to Broadway. The Who blazed a trail, and I think that trail is correct. That's why we pretty much follow the road they blazed through the jungle."
MUSIC
Michaels gets busy with Miley
Poison is on a pre-planned break this year, but frontman Bret Michaels isn't having trouble finding other folks to work with _ including Miley Cyrus and his fellow cast members on the new season of "Celebrity Apprentice." Michaels and Cyrus have traded guest appearances for each other's next albums; she sings on his new single "Nothing to Lose," while Michaels guests on a cover of the hit Poison ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" that's slated for Cyrus' next album. "Miley got ahold of me and wanted to re-cut 'Every Rose...,' " Michaels tells Billboard.com. "When we were in the studio, I said, 'Do you want to hear some of my new tracks?' She said 'I'd love to,' and I played her 'Nothing to Lose' and she fell in love with it and said she'd love to sing on the song. I was like, 'That'd be killer!'"
FILM
A script grows in Brooklyn
HOLLYWOOD _ Don Cheadle, Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke play New York cops in the gritty police drama "Brooklyn's Finest," yet Gere and Hawke barely say two sentences to each other and Cheadle has almost no dialogue with the other two. "It's very much like we were doing separate movies," says Cheadle, the Oscar-nominated actor for "Hotel Rwanda." Cheadle says he couldn't turn down the offer to play Tango, an undercover narcotics officer who wants nothing more than to get away from undercover work and return to a normal life. One of his friends is a notorious drug dealer (played by Wesley Snipes) who saved Tango's life, and Tango is torn between betraying his friend and wrapping up an investigation that could be his ticket off the streets. Cheadle, 45, spent a lot of time on the set with first-time screenwriter Michael C. Martin, who wrote the script while working as a New York City transit employee. "I wasn't aware until I got to the set that ... he was a first-time writer," marvels the Missouri-born actor. "He did a great job. There's an authentic voice and sound to these characters."
TELEVISION
More than a 'Coach'
Craig T. Nelson, perhaps still most identified with the comically oafish and bumbling title character on "Coach" (1989-97), insists his lifelong career on television has in no way curtailed other options. More to the point, making TV his base of operation was his choice. "I have had to feed a family, and the best way to do that was to do television," he says. He now can be seen on a new NBC series, "Parenthood," co-starring Lauren Graham and Peter Krause. Nelson plays Zeek Braverman, a macho, traditionalist grandfather in a totally dysfunctional and very contemporary family. "The script was just great," says Nelson. "It's sophisticated and funny, and the cast is extraordinary. When I heard them read, I realized just how remarkable they all were. The actors, directors, and the character I'll play are all considerations. But it's predominantly the story that draws me to a project." Whatever the role, Nelson has a clearly delineated approach, starting with "going by the smell," he remarks cryptically.
FILM
Kristen Stewart: Runaway success
HOLLYWOOD _ "Twilight" fans will have to wait until June 30 to see whether Bella chooses Edward or Jacob in the third installment of the saga. But they won't have to wait long to see "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart on the big screen. The 19-year-old "It" girl has two movies hitting theaters in short succession. In "The Yellow Handkerchief," Stewart plays a Louisiana runaway who hitches a ride with a couple of outcasts. She also portrays a teenage Joan Jett on the verge of rock and roll fame in "The Runaways." Sporting a Jett-inspired punk hairdo, the young actress appears to be taking her international fame in stride. "Anytime you have to play a person who is not yourself, you're stepping out of a comfort zone," she says. "But that's what we do, and if the role is bigger, that's just more to chew on _ and that's always good."
MUSIC
Lavigne among artists on 'Almost Alice'
Three days before Tim Burton's 3-D reimagining of "Alice in Wonderland" with Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway hits U.S. theaters, Buena Vista Records will release an "inspired by" album that offers as much star power as the film. "Almost Alice," due March 2, features original songs from pop and rock acts like 3OH!3, the All-American Rejects and Franz Ferdinand and a marketing campaign that highlights their broad appeal. Avril Lavigne's empowering new track, "Alice," has sold 45,000 copies in four weeks of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and will play over the film's end credits. The artist signed on to the project because of the film's unique charm. "I've always liked the story," she says, "and it was exciting to see Tim Burton put his cool twist on it."
MUSIC
6 questions for Amy MacDonald
She has the model looks and the soccer player boyfriend, but Amy Macdonald isn't your typical British pop starlet. Despite an absence of hype and a failure to be pictured in the tabloid press falling out of nightclubs, the Scottish singer/songwriter's 2007 debut album, "This Is the Life" (Vertigo/Mercury), was a slow-burn success that has now sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, according to Universal. The album hit No. 1 in Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland (where the album is certified five-times-platinum for shipments of 150,000) and also went top 10 in 10 other European markets. The long-awaited follow-up, "A Curious Thing," arrives worldwide outside North America March 8 on Mercury, with a U.S. release due later in the year. It features a darker, more sophisticated take on Macdonald's radio-friendly, folk-rock sound alongside a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark." BB: Have you tried to analyze why your first album was so successful? AM: I broke through purely because of the radio . . . It's been more natural, like things seemed to happen before we had the Internet. Now you have all these lists that come out at the end of the year, saying who's going to be big next year, and that's unnecessary. It's hard enough waiting to release your first album, nevermind when you've got everyone looking at you before you even release one song. Was I on any of those lists? [laughs] No, never!
MUSIC
Erykah Badu: Odd Number
If Lil Wayne is from Mars, then Erykah Badu is the high priestess of Venus. It's a cosmic bummer that the syrup-soaked rapper and the future-funk diva hadn't thought to pair up before Badu's new single, "Jump in the Air." Originally a cut from her upcoming "New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh" album, the duo's collaboration leaked and was subsequently released as a Web-only track, accompanied by one acid trip of a music video, in which Wayne's and Badu's heads float and multiply. (Badu describes it as an "Erykahleidoscope.") Wayne raps about going "nuts like a danish" and vanishing into thin air while Badu howls and ululates, beckoning the listener to "come fly with us" over a sample of Parliament Funkadelic's "Hydraulic Pump." Viral music videos don't get any weirder _ or really, more genius _ than this. "No one can say anything negative about it, because it's just fun," Badu says of the song. "That's all it's meant to be."
MUSIC
Belinda: Mexican Miley
She may only be 20, but Mexican pop princess Belinda has already spent a large part of her life in the music industry. The former star of kids' telenovelas, who recorded on BMG before signing with the now-defunct joint-venture label EMI Televisa in 2006, is beginning a new stage in her career with the March 23 release of "Carpe Diem" on Capitol Latin in the United States and on EMI in Mexico and Latin America. The set will get a May release in Europe. The album _ which has a high-energy, electro-pop-rock sound heavy on the attitude of Pink and Katy Perry _ solidifies the transition from kiddie act to teen diva that Belinda made with her 2006 EMI Televisa album, "Utopia." That release went platinum for sales of 100,000 copies in Mexico and sold a combined 79,000 copies of its original and deluxe edition in the States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
MUSIC
Texas Tornados: Storm Watch
After 10 years and the passing of two original members, the irrepressible Texas Tornados are back with a new studio album, "Esta Bueno," due March 2 on Bismeaux Records. "I feel real proud and satisfied," says accordionist Flaco Jimenez, who popularized traditional conjunto music as a founding member of the Tornados. "All of the songs have charisma, power; they are all different, so versatile." Jimenez and fellow Tornados Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers and Freddy Fender began playing together in 1990. Their fusion of country, rock, Mexican folk, R&B and polka into a unique sound earned them a reputation as "the Tex Mex super group." The landmark gigs the Tornados have played include President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Ball, the Montreux Jazz Festival and Farm Aid. The Tornados disbanded, however, when Sahm died in 1999. Jimenez credits Sahm's son, Shawn, with breathing new life into the band.
MUSIC
Top 40 music money makers
In music, success can be measured by many yardsticks: Billboard No. 1s, Grammy Awards, AA medallions. But as acts from Barrett Strong to Pink Floyd to Sean "Diddy" Combs have testified in song, when you come right down to it, it's all about the benjamins. The fourth edition of Billboard's annual countdown of music's highest earners finds wide-eyed youngsters _ Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift _ rubbing elbows with their well-heeled elders _ Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac. As the music industry grows ever more complicated, so does Billboard's Money Makers formula (detailed in the current issue) _ comprising, among other variables, monies earned from CD and digital sales, publishing royalties and all forms of streaming. But one thing remains constant: Touring is the prime fattener of bank accounts, as evidenced most dramatically in the eye-popping, chart-topping tally of high-end road hog U2.
MUSIC
Santana celebrates 'Supernatural' reissue
Rock guitar legend Carlos Santana is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough "Supernatural" album _ which won nine Grammy Awards and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide _ with a "Supernatural: Legacy Edition" that includes a second disc of rare and unreleased material. It's the touchstone for "Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits," which resumes its residency at the Joint in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on April 21. And Santana and Sony Music Entertainment chief Clive Davis are working the same magic again on a new collaborative, thematic album that's due out later this year. "I think if there's anything about 'Supernatural' it's an affirmation that people trust me," Santana tells Billboard.com about the album that paired him with collaborators such as Rob Thomas, Dave Matthews, Everlast, Lauryn Hill, Product C&B and Eric Clapton. "All those musicians, artists, writers, engineers, producers, lawyers, accountants...It was like a parade of roses and I'm in front, in the middle and in the end."
MUSIC
Producer dishes on Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga's most devoted "little monsters" may know 41-year-old Rob Fusari as one of the executive producers of the 2.8 million-selling album "The Fame," or as the co-writer of three published Gaga songs, including the hit "Paparazzi." Perhaps they've stumbled across the tale of how Fusari, a fan of the Queen song "Radio Gaga," helped formulate Stefani Germanotta's royal moniker. But even the most avid Gagaphiles may not know the full extent of Fusari's sway and impact on her career. The classically trained Livingston, N.J., native broke into the business at the not-so-young age of 29, with a co-writing credit on Destiny's Child's 1998 debut, "No, No, No," and went on to enjoy intermittent success as a producer and writer for, among others, Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, Kelly Rowland, Whitney Houston and, most notably, with Destiny's Child again, on 2001's "Bootylicious." When a friend phoned him from a New York club late one evening in January 2006 with a tip on an undiscovered, then-raven-haired rock singer/songwriter, Fusari was dubious, but his career had stalled and he was in no position for snobbery. A few days later, the two met, and Germanotta performed a couple of her songs for him on piano. "In 20 seconds," Fusari says, "I knew this girl would change my life."
MUSIC
Alicia Keys: Expect more 'Freedom' on tour
Alicia Keys says fans can expect to hear lots of material from her latest album, the platinum-certified "The Element of Freedom," when she kicks off her North American concert tour on Sunday in Montreal. Even though it's the first of her albums not to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (it bowed at No. 2 in December), Keys tells Billboard.com that "I have to say I love this new album so much. I love all my albums, but I love this new album so much; I definitely have included a lot of the songs from the record, a lot of my favorites from the record." But she also promises that "the repertoire for the tour is really diverse...There's a nice balance between the old and the new. You will hear a lot of the new songs from the album, and of course you'll hear the favorites, too. It's a nice mixture. It's all sporadic; one minute it's a joint you know, and then it's moving into something that's kind of new. It's nice, and it's fun to perform like that."
FILM
Technology, acting and 'Avatar'
Back in 1995, James Cameron came up with the idea that would blossom into "Avatar," the genre-busting epic that uses motion-capture effects in ways never seen before. The film has revolutionized the industry, created a star out of Australian actor Sam Worthington, broken box-office records (including besting Cameron's own "Titanic" as the highest-grossing film of all time), and earned rapturous reviews. But the writer-director is also keenly aware that many actors are concerned about this new technology and what it means for the future of their careers. Cameron and actor Zoe Saldana (who portrays fierce Na'vi princess Neytiri) spoke to an audience of actors in January after a SAG Foundation screening of the film. They revealed how nothing the actors did in front of the camera was exaggerated or changed by the motion capture and how the technology in "Avatar" was used in conjunction with the actors' performances, not to replace them. The experience was, in Saldana's words, like "playing in the world's most amazing sandbox."
FILM
Sandra Bullock up close
Sandra Bullock still can't believe the year she's having. After starring roles in box-office hits "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side," the actress recently received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as tough-talking Leigh Anne Tuohy in the latter film. "I'm still just sort of catching up with everything," Bullock admitted when speaking to a crowd at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she received the American Riviera Award. After being presented with the award by her "Hope Floats" director Forest Whitaker, Bullock spent a few minutes with Back Stage to discuss her career in front of and behind the camera.
FILM
Depp thoughts
HOLLYWOOD _ With a frizzy red wig, bright green contacts, pale white makeup and gapped false teeth, Johnny Depp is almost unrecognizable as the outrageous Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," based on Lewis Carroll's classic children's novels. Depp, who's normally tan with coal-black eyes and stringy brown hair, conceived the look of his movie character, offering makeup artist Patty York a watercolor he painted of how he wanted to appear in the film. "From that, it was a matter of creating the look with makeup," York says. Depp, 46, is always deeply involved in creating his character's appearance, from the gentle monster in "Edward Scissorhands" to the candy peddling Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to the bawdy buccaneer Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of Caribbean" to the streaky haired Demon Barber in "Sweeney Todd." It's always a challenge to top himself and create something unique every time, he says. Depp has worked with Burton seven times over the past two decades, and each time he has come up with strikingly unique characters.
FILM
DiCaprio on Scorsese
It's been 19 years since Leonardo DiCaprio made his film debut in the instantly forgotten B-movie that was "Critters 3," but since then the actor has grown in stature to become one of Hollywood's hottest properties. His roles in "The Aviator," "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond" have cemented his reputation as one of the brightest prospects of his generation. We met up with the actor in London to discuss his latest project, Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," a Paramount thriller based on the book of the same name by Dennis Lehane. DiCaprio stars as Teddy Edwards, an FBI agent who is sent to a remote prison island to investigate the disappearance of one of its inmates. However, things are not all that they seem at the prison, and soon he finds himself caught up in a battle of wills with the governors and wardens who run the island. As with the DiCaprio starrer "The Beach," it's another film involving an island _ any similarities between the films, perhaps? "Yes, it is an interesting coincidence," he responds. "This is another island, but it's like the flipside of the same coin. 'Shutter Island' is based in a high-security mental ward with people that are experimented on, to discover new ways of dealing with their mental disabilities. My character is there to investigate what's really going on. But this movie changes form in a lot of ways. Hopefully, it will surprise a lot of people; certainly it's going to be an interesting film-going experience. There's no one that's going to see this movie and say it's not interesting."
FILM
Poseidon adventure
Kevin McKidd has played a time-traveling journalist, a tortured Roman soldier, and a star athlete-turned-heroin addict. But nothing quite compares to his most recent role: In "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," McKidd moves earth and sea as the Greek god Poseidon. "You do some research into the traits of the gods, I guess," muses the actor, sounding remarkably laid-back as he reflects on how, exactly, one prepares to play a towering mythological figure. "You look at images. But in this movie, I had to take the lead from [director] Chris Columbus, pick his brains a little and see what realm he wanted us, the actors, to live in." Much of this fine-tuning came down to making sure the international cast _ which also includes Uma Thurman as Medusa and Steve Coogan as Hades _ sounded like they could inhabit the same world. "[Chris] really loved the show 'Rome' that I did, and he said he wanted that, dialectically," explains McKidd. "In 'Rome,' we kind of used our own dialect but in that slightly more classical tone of voice." Nailing Poseidon's godly cadences was a challenge different from the more down-to-earth acting obstacles McKidd faces every week on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," wherein he plays former Army trauma surgeon Owen Hunt.
FILM
'Phillip Morris' full of surprises
No, "I Love You Phillip Morris" is not an aggressively pro-nicotine sequel to "Thank You for Smoking." It is important to point out right off that the cigarette brand uses the single-L spelling. The double-L variety is the effete, fair-haired object of obsessive affection for one Steven Russell, a real-life cop turned con artist turned con. What he did for love is a far-out, fantastical journey, reported first in a nonfiction book by Houston Chronicle investigative scribe Steven McVicker and now in a major motion picture adapted by first-time directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. "It's our first love story," Requa simpers with a tart tinge of mock sentimentality. Their previous stabs in that direction have fallen decidedly short of the mark, somewhere between scrappy ( "Cats & Dogs") and cranky ( "Bad Santa," "Bad News Bears"). Irreverence, as you can gather, is their watchword _ or, as Requa states as blandly as Bonnie and Clyde said "We rob banks": "We push buttons. It's a weakness of ours."
FILM
Oscar Watch: Actor
Can anyone beat Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz? That's the question facing Academy voters as they ponder this year's actor and supporting actor categories, where there are two clear favorites and everybody else. Bridges and Waltz have dominated their categories this season in what has become a fairly uneventful actor race. In fact, heading into the morning of the Oscar announcements, four of the five nominees for best actor were considered sure things. Only Jeremy Renner was a bit of a question mark, but as "The Hurt Locker" gained traction, his chances improved.
FILM
Oscar Watch: Actress
Meryl or Sandra? The race for best actress is proving to be one of the tightest and most interesting head-to-head matchups in recent Oscar history. Will the Academy embrace Meryl Streep, whose record 16th nomination comes for her remarkable portrayal of chef Julia Child in "Julie & Julia"? Or will voters prefer Sandra Bullock, who garnered her very first nom for channeling real-life Good Samaritan Leigh Anne Tuohy? Early in the season, Streep was the front-runner to nab her third Oscar and her first since 1983 (when she won for "Sophie's Choice"). Her performance as Child delighted audiences and critics, and she won the best actress prize from the New York Film Critics and Broadcast Film Critics. Bullock, by contrast, came from, well, the blind side. She was not included on any early lists of contenders and did not win any awards from major critics' groups.
FILM
Oscar Watch: Director
History will likely be made when the envelope revealing the best director Oscar winner is opened at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Most insiders know that Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") would become the first woman to take home that prize. And Lee Daniels ("Precious") would be the first black winner. But even if the Academy opts to bestow a second directing Oscar on James Cameron ("Avatar"), it would still be kind of epic, since Cameron would become the first director since David Lean's victory laps for 1957's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" to win the directing prize for back-to-back narrative features. The betting is that the contest boils down to a Bigelow-Cameron face-off. Here are the factors likely to tip the balance one way or another.
FILM
Oscar Watch: Opportunity knocks
Not long ago, Lee Daniels received a phone call out of left field: George Lucas had seen his film "Precious" and wanted the director to come to his Skywalker Ranch for a visit. Daniels flew up north, had lunch with Lucas and even spent the night in one of his cottages. "I was nervous and intimidated at first," recalls Daniels, who brought along his leading lady, Gabourey Sidibe. "Then we just kicked back and talked about life and about how the film affected him and his girlfriend. We also talked how sound can help me on my next movie, because I have limited funds. It was a really chill conversation." Daniels says he now has a new friend whom "I can feel free to call for further advice." Having Lucas as a mentor is just one of the doors that have opened for Daniels as a result of "Precious." And he's not alone: For many of this year's Oscar nominees, the success of their films has resulted in unimaginable job offers, higher paychecks, more respect within the industry and incoming phone calls from Hollywood power players.
FILM
Oscar Watch: Best picture
Forget the rules of awards season, we were told. When the Academy's board of governors announced June 24 that the best picture category would be supersized to 10 nominees, awards watchers predicted that the race for the top Oscar would play out like none in the modern era. Gone were the honed awards playbooks, the paint-by-numbers campaign strategies that have come to define the annual winter horse race. We were entering a brave new world of unpredictability and experimentation. Or something like that. Now that the first crop of 10 nominees has been selected, it's time to evaluate how the expanded field changed the game. Which strategies benefited from the 10 nominations and which fell flat? Here are five lessons learned from the season.
FILM
Oscar Watch: Show time
HOLLYWOOD _ Times may be tough but audiences are going to the movies in record numbers. While other sectors of the economy struggled in 2009, the movie industry racked up $10 billion in ticket sales. "Avatar" alone has earned more than $2.4 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in history. So to celebrate the banner year, Hollywood has extra special plans for the 82nd annual Academy Awards. And what an event it will be. For the first time in 67 years, 10 films are vying for Best Picture honors, double the usual number. The wider field, the thinking goes, will attract a broader audience. Science fiction, human drama, dark comedy, war drama and even an animated feature are among the genres represented in the category this year. "It's such an array of good stuff _ I think it's going to be an interesting night," says Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose 5,777 voting members represent various branches of the film industry.
MUSIC
DeLonge talks about 'Love'
It will be all "Love," all the time for Tom DeLonge's Angels & Airwaves this year. With the new "Love" album just out _ and being distributed for free online _ a feature film of the same name and plenty of touring, DeLonge tells Billboard.com that "we'll keep working this record forever. There's no stop as to what we can do and what kind of deals we can make." That begins with the tours, the first of which commences March 27 at the Bamboozle festival in Anaheim, Calif., and wraps May 28 in Las Vegas. "There'll be a couple different tours on this record," DeLonge reports. "This first one is promotion for the launch of the album. The second tour will come out after the movie goes theatrical, and that will be the big tour where we basically couple everything together. But this first tour is going to be exciting and will hearken back to our old catalog. I think this'll be a great experience, and it might be some of the last to have with this band in these [theater]-size venues, so I'm excited to go and do this."
MUSIC
Bonnawho?
When the Bonnaroo festival was first announced in 2002, only jam band obsessives and the local Manchester, Tenn., media cared enough to press the organizers for lineup details. By the third year, media guys with any leverage at all _ including yours truly _ were hounding their friends at Bonnaroo for exclusive info on who was playing the festival. Now in its ninth year, Bonnaroo has taken control of its own big reveal. The lineup for Bonnaroo, set for June 10-13, fell into place Feb. 9 for music fans much like National Signing Day did a few days earlier for college football fans.
MUSIC
Ke$ha: Golden Girl
If you want insight into a celebrity's self-image, you could do worse than watch one make the brief walk from the star's chosen chariot to the red carpet prior to an awards show. The frenzied VIP drop-off area at the 2010 Grammy Awards reveals more than any klieg-light TV interview could. Alice Cooper pulls himself from a nondescript car and strolls _ nonchalant and unassuming _ through the throng before anyone can look twice. Lady Gaga's mini convertible pulls up with her sitting atop the back seat, eyes fixed studiously on a point in the distance; as she exits the car, some of the dozens of wires that orbit her dress get caught on the seat, and there's a collective holding of the breath as she detaches. And then there's Ke$ha. The 23-year-old steps out of a black SUV with the grace of a baby colt _ all legs that she sometimes looks to be still learning to use _ squints and rubs her eyes. She's stunning, twirling and spinning in her gold Nicolas Jebran dress, teetering on Guiseppe Zanotti heels. I know the designers' names because she has them scrawled on a cheat sheet, and as she makes her way down the carpet for the preshow carnival _ cameras clicking and stressed TV producers yelling her name _ she murmurs Jebran's name to remind herself. Her long blonde hair is disheveled, even when styled. She wobbles and looks around warily. Everything in her body language, expression and posture perfectly conveys one thought: "I'm not sure, but I may still be drunk." It's not so different from the look on her face when she climbs out of the bathtub in the video for her breakthrough song "TiK ToK," which just spent its ninth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 _ the longest stretch for a debut single by a female artist since Debby Boone held at No. 1 for 10 weeks in 1977 with "You Light Up My Life." Her album, "Animal," debuted the week "TiK ToK" hit No. 1, sold more than 150,000 copies and went on to become the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. It even did the undoable and finally stopped the Boyle-dozer, ending Susan Boyle's six-week run atop the albums chart.
MUSIC
Ludacris: Low Motion
It's Super Bowl weekend, and Ludacris is onstage at Miami's Fontainebleau hotel, where he's co-hosting a pool party with NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. At the moment, though, no one is looking at the Atlanta rapper. All eyes _ including Ludacris' _ are firmly fixed on the two female fans who are pop-lock-and-dropping it to his current top 10 single, "How Low." A camera catches the enthusiastic booty-shakers in action, and before Drew Brees can book a ticket to Disneyland, the video is a viral sensation. "They're going extremely low," Ludacris says with a laugh. "I love the fact that my fans are able to make the song their own." The clip in question is just one of the homemade "How Low" videos available on YouTube. That's no accident; "Battle of the Sexes," his seventh studio set, is due March 9 on Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam. The hyper-speed wordplay and house-influenced surges of "How Low" command the listener to dance. In the 10 weeks since the song debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, the T-Minus-produced track has sold 984,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
MUSIC
Fans demand Johnny Cash's `Tears' album
On Feb. 23, a few days before what would have been Johnny Cash's 78th birthday, Lost Highway will release "American VI: Ain't No Grave," the final recordings Cash made with producer Rick Rubin. And as fans celebrate the legacy of one of the most iconic musicians of the last century, some Cash scholars and relatives are trying to tell another, seldom-heard part of the story. They're lobbying Sony to rerelease his virtually unknown 1964 album "Bitter Tears," a protest album that lamented our nation's institutional mistreatment of Native Americans. Leading the campaign is Antonino D'Ambrosio, author of the book "A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears" (Nation Books, 2009). D'Ambrosio, who wrote about the intersections of music and politics in his book "Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer," discovered "Bitter Tears" while digging around the Bowling Green State University Sound Recordings Archives. He describes himself as a passionate Cash fan, but this was the first time he'd heard the album. "It would have been very easy for Johnny Cash to make a civil rights record at that time," he says. "He didn't. He chose to focus on the very real struggle of another group, and the album is relevant to this day."
MUSIC
Marvin Sapp still spreading the word
When it was time to record his next Verity album, Marvin Sapp decided not to tamper with the live formula he used on his 2007 best seller, "Thirsty." So on Oct. 16 last year, he returned to the same site _ Resurrection Life Church in Grand Rapids, Mich. _ with the same talent _ including writer/producer Aaron Lindsey and backing vocals director Myron Butler _ to record the March 16 release "Here I Am." Verity got a jump on listener reaction to Sapp's new songs by providing a live video stream of the performance/recording and a chat room on its Web site. "Thousands of people watched the stream from everywhere in the world," Verity senior director of marketing Cheryl Marks says. "It gave us a bird's-eye view of what hit home." That song was "Best in Me," which after only nine weeks is shaping up as another No. 1 for the singing pastor. Co-written by Sapp and Lindsey, the song is No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Gospel Songs chart. It's another uplifting anthem in the vein of Sapp's "Thirsty" mega-hit, "Never Would Have Made It." That song ruled Hot Gospel Songs for 46 weeks and claimed the crown for the longest-running No. 1 on a Billboard airplay chart. The crossover R&B hit also propelled "Thirsty" to sales of 706,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Here I Am" revolves around messages of inspiration, praise and guidance delivered to full emotional and joyous effect on "He Has His Hands on You," "Fresh Wind" and the title track. And Sapp takes his crossover appeal a step further by letting loose on the rock-infused "Praise You Forever." To broaden Sapp's reach, Verity will stream the singer's street-date retail appearance at the Experience in Chicago. An upcoming Atlanta in-store will be broadcast/streamed to 13 markets by local radio partner WPZE and air personality CoCo Brother. Marks notes that gospel, like other genres, has less opportunities to spread its message on TV and in magazines. "But the one thing we have that other genres don't is a church base."
MUSIC
Stooges to start new three-year cycle
Iggy Pop is eyeballing "a three-year cycle" for the current incarnation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-bound Stooges that will include the expanded re-release of 1973's seminal "Raw Power" album, touring and quite likely some new recording. "We'll give it a good, sharp poke for the next three years and then step back and see where we are, see what we can do with it after that," Pop tells Billboard.com. "After that we should step back and pick our shots once in awhile. Hopefully we can be like something that convenes for certain occasions."
FILM
Kingsley admired by `Shutter Island' actors
HOLLYWOOD _ Sir Ben Kingsley has three guiding principles to acting: never judge his character, never sentimentalize any moment and never embellish what can be done simply. ``If I can do something with one gesture, I do it with one,'' says the Oscar winning actor by phone from New York. ``And if I can say something economically rather than with several flourishes, I¿ll do that.'' And he¿s been faithful to those principles in his vast body of work, from his depiction of a pacifist Indian leader (``Gandhi'') to ruthless mobster Meyer Lansky (in ``Bugsy'') to the gentle Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (in ``Schindler¿s List''). His latest opportunity to use those guidelines was while working with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese on ``Shutter Island,'' a gothic thriller based on Dennis Lehane¿s best-selling novel.
FILM
Bledel not fooled by `The Good Guy'
HOLLYWOOD _ It¿s only fitting that ``Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'' star Alexis Bledel is wearing a stylish salmon-colored dress for an interview rather than blue jeans. After all, the pretty, blue-eyed Houston native is no longer a teen. Bledel, 28, is all grown up. Following a seven-year run on the popular TV series ``Gilmore Girls,'' playing a precocious teenager and the ``Traveling Pants'' adventures aimed at the high school crowd, she matriculated to the working world in ``Post Grad'' last year.
MUSIC
TobyMac takes aim at mainstream
NASHVILLE _ Long before he was the Grammy Award-winning solo artist TobyMac, Toby McKeehan, one-third of pioneering Christian rap group dcTalk, was well-known for upsetting the status quo in Christian music. With the release of his fourth solo album, "Tonight" (ForeFront), Feb. 9, TobyMac is challenging a different set of rules _ namely, how to break through to the mainstream market in 2010 when traditional (i.e., secular) promotional channels are closed off. "I don't have MTV at my fingertips. I don't have VH1," TobyMac says. "I can't immediately get all this coverage when my record comes out. The way I sell gold and platinum records is by being on the road. The record company [gives] me support and they are very good at it, but at the end of the day people hear about my music from word-of-mouth and touring. That's the two things I can control."
MUSIC
British electro artist Dan Black eyes U.S.
U.S. audiences may not recognize Dan Black, but the British electronic artist has spent the last two years soaking up American pop music for his debut album, "UN." Seven months after Black's sample-heavy soundscapes made a splash in the United Kingdom, the record will hit American stores Feb. 16 via the Hours, a French label. Although "UN" and its stylish singles amassed a following in the United Kingdom, the singer/songwriter/producer says that he's a little worried about trying to translate the success to the United States. "I'm still an unknown quantity," he says. "We've tried to do things at a slower level and focus on European audiences, but now we're taking things up a few gears. I'm nervous but amazingly excited."
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R&B singer Monica returns with new album
At first "Monica: Still Standing" sounds a little dull _ a reality show that doesn't focus on catfights and drunken outbursts, but instead features R&B singer Monica Arnold performing in church, having a quiet dinner with her fiance and celebrating her album release with her family and the mayor of Atlanta. But the 29-year-old artist is banking on her recent BET success to help launch her first album in four years and cement her place as a mature, family-oriented woman capable of speaking to other middle-class African Americans. "I originally didn't think it'd be a good idea _ I assumed it would be what you usually see on reality TV," Monica says. "But they told me it wouldn't be scripted _ it would just be me. If they would've gotten me 12 years ago, they would've gotten a lot of drama. That's just not the life I'm living anymore."
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Devo's Mothersbaugh talks Olympics, hats
Legendary art rock band Devo will perform live at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on Feb. 22 during a Victory Ceremony, which will be the band's first network broadcast performance in 20 years. Devo will be one of 15 headlining acts, including Feist, Usher and the Fray, who will each perform one night at the Whistler Victory Ceremonies between Feb. 13 and 27. The internationally televised performance comes as Devo prepares to release its first studio album since 1990. Partnering with its original label Warner Bros. and ad agency Mother, the band is taking a consciously ironic ultra-corporate approach to the release, including focus-grouping every aspect of the album's marketing. They'll also use the Olympics performance to reveal a new look, including a possibly shocking new color scheme for their iconic yellow hazmat suits and red "energy dome" hats. Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh gave Billboard.com the scoop.
MUSIC
Lady Antebellum: The Billboard cover story
How's this for cultural whiplash: Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott _ better known as the country act Lady Antebellum _ are calling prior to a performance at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, less than a week after rubbing designer-cloaked elbows with the likes of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga at the 51st annual Grammy Awards. Their Grammy performance was memorably elegant, not to mention a commercial home run, but suffice to say that the Nashville-based trio feels more at home among the Wrangler set. "The Grammys were a big moment," says Kelley, who shares lead vocals with Scott, "but we felt a bit like fish out of water with all those big-time musicians." Outsized humility is a well-worn country-music verity, but regardless, with the release of its second album, "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum has officially joined the big-time. "Need You Now" sits atop the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week, selling 209,000 copies one week after its head-turning 481,000-unit bow. That was the biggest country debut since Taylor Swift's "Fearless" in November 2008, and the biggest debut sales week since Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" moved 701,000 last November. The title-track lead single, already topping the country chart, is now moving up the pop charts as well, buoyed by the act's Grammy performance. Lady A also picked up its first Grammy that evening, taking home the trophy for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals for "I Run to You," from the group's 2008 debut. Following the Grammys, the threesome hung around in Los Angeles long enough to see "Need You Now" shoot to No. 1, then headed back to the more familiar pastures of San Antonio. That's where the trio spoke with Billboard about the price of pop, calling mama and what roads Lady A might travel in the future.
MUSIC
Producer details 'We Are The World 25'
"We Are the World _ 25 for Haiti" will premiere in 3D on NBC prior to the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Spearheaded by Quincy Jones, producer, and Lionel Richie, co-writer, of the 1985 philanthropic anthem "We Are The World," "WOTW-25" was recorded on Feb. 1 in the same L.A. studio as the original 25 years earlier (Henson Recording Studios, formerly A&M Recording Studios). Jones and Richie served as executive producers and producers, in collaboration with executive producers Wyclef Jean, Randy Phillips and Peter Tortorici; producers Humberto Gattica and RedOne; and co-producers Rickey Minor, Mervyn Warren and Patti Austin. Proceeds from the project will benefit the Haitian earthquake relief efforts and the rebuilding of Haiti. Downloads will be available on iTunes, and through a partnership with YouTube, the video will be viewable on the "We Are the World 25" YouTube Channel. Billboard spoke with Phillips, president/CEO of AEG Live, about the project.
FILM
Chris myths
HOLLYWOOD _ It must seem like déjà vu for filmmaker Chris Columbus. After launching the wildly successful "Harry Potter" franchise for Warner Bros. in 2001 with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Columbus is helming another family friendly fantasy, this time for 20th Century Fox, based on a series of popular young adult books involving the adventures of a young hero and his two friends. "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" centers on a dyslexic boy who learns he has special powers. He's not a wizard like Harry Potter but a demigod _ half-human, half-god. Percy's dad, it turns out, is none other than the mythological Greek ocean god Poseidon. Percy, of course, is completely unaware of this until a big storm starts brewing and his secret protectors reveal themselves and fill him in on his remarkable lineage. It turns out someone has stolen Zeus' lighting bolt, and the prime suspect is Percy's father. So Percy and his two pals have to find the bolt or serious trouble will break out among the gods.
FILM
Solid 'Frozen'
Adam Green hasn't slept in weeks. The writer-director, probably best known for the 2006 horror-comedy "Hatchet," is speaking to Back Stage the day after his new film, "Frozen," had its midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. "I haven't slept more than an hour in four weeks," Green admits. "We wrapped 'Hatchet 2' at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. I went home, packed, flew here, and started doing press. I literally still have fake blood all over me from the set." Green is running partially on adrenaline and also flying high on the good word-of-mouth his new film is generating. The claustrophobic story focuses on three 20-somethings (played by Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell) trapped on a ski lift with the skiing resort closed for the week. While the idea may seem limited, Green delivers a tense man-versus-nature survival tale that literally has audience members fainting. Whether the Sundance buzz can translate to box-office dollars will be seen when "Frozen" opens in theaters.
FILM
Hopkins delivers the chills
HOLLYWOOD _ From Hannibal Lecter to Richard Nixon to Adolf Hitler, Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins knows how to chill an audience to the bone with depictions of dark, complex characters. It can be a cold stare, the subtle arch of an eyebrow or a kind of stillness. "I know how to be strong and I know how to be ruthless," says the 72-year-old Welshman. "It's part of my nature. I wouldn't be an actor if I weren't. I'm not an evil or a cruel person but I don't have much time for wimps." After five decades as an actor, Hopkins is fairly comfortable in his skin and unabashedly confident in his ability to tackle whatever role, whether a villain, hero or someone in between. "Acting is pretty easy," he says, "when you've been doing it a long time. You can't think about it too much. You just have to do it."
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