Elvis Presley is most known for his rock and pop hits, but he also recorded some classic gospel songs. A major pop singer performed backup on one of Elvis’ gospel tracks. She also discussed attending religious services with the “Heartbreak Hotel” singer.
The most famous member of a girl group sang backup on 1 of Elvis Presley’s gospel songs
Darlene Love was a member of the girl group The Blossoms. She might be most known today for her solo hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” which was produced and co-written by the legendary producer Phil Spector. During a 2018 interview with The Village Voice, Love was asked to name some of the gospel songs she recorded with Elvis.
“There is ‘Let Us Pray,’ the one from the movie we did with Elvis, Change of Habit,” she recalled. “That was his last film.” In fact, Change of Habit was Elvis’ final film as an actor,...
The most famous member of a girl group sang backup on 1 of Elvis Presley’s gospel songs
Darlene Love was a member of the girl group The Blossoms. She might be most known today for her solo hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” which was produced and co-written by the legendary producer Phil Spector. During a 2018 interview with The Village Voice, Love was asked to name some of the gospel songs she recorded with Elvis.
“There is ‘Let Us Pray,’ the one from the movie we did with Elvis, Change of Habit,” she recalled. “That was his last film.” In fact, Change of Habit was Elvis’ final film as an actor,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
This article contains spoilers for "Barbie."
What if I told you that Greta Gerwig's 2023 summer blockbuster "Barbie" wasn't the first movie that explored the complex feminist issues with Mattel's world-famous doll?
"May December" director Todd Haynes started as an experimental filmmaker who made waves in the underground cinema scene back in the '80s with his stop-motion music doc, "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story." Haynes' film might not have been as record-breakingly successful as Gerwig's was, but it helped jumpstart what became an incredibly successful career for the director. "Barbie" was the first corporate-sanctioned film that explored the doll's complicated relationship with women and their bodies, but Haynes technically did it first back in '87. Mattel and Warner Brothers executives were even concerned that Gerwig might get a little too inspired by Haynes' dark take on the toy.
"Barbie" is set in the fictional world of Barbieland, where everything is perfect — until,...
What if I told you that Greta Gerwig's 2023 summer blockbuster "Barbie" wasn't the first movie that explored the complex feminist issues with Mattel's world-famous doll?
"May December" director Todd Haynes started as an experimental filmmaker who made waves in the underground cinema scene back in the '80s with his stop-motion music doc, "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story." Haynes' film might not have been as record-breakingly successful as Gerwig's was, but it helped jumpstart what became an incredibly successful career for the director. "Barbie" was the first corporate-sanctioned film that explored the doll's complicated relationship with women and their bodies, but Haynes technically did it first back in '87. Mattel and Warner Brothers executives were even concerned that Gerwig might get a little too inspired by Haynes' dark take on the toy.
"Barbie" is set in the fictional world of Barbieland, where everything is perfect — until,...
- 12/31/2023
- by Shae Sennett
- Slash Film
Sure, “Barbie” was a billion-dollar blockbuster, but writer-director Greta Gerwig is revealing that the film’s backers were skeptical about her approach to the material due to Todd Haynes’ controversial 1987 short “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.”
During a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter, Gerwig admitted that “Barbie” producers were “nervous about the possibilities” of bringing the Mattel doll to the big screen in part because of Haynes’ use of the dolls in “Superstar.” Haynes’ experimental 1987 short film focused on singer Karen Carpenter’s battle with anorexia, with Barbie dolls used to convey the star’s disintegrating state in the public eye. Richard Carpenter sued over the licensing of The Carpenters’ music, and the film was never properly distributed.
“I was going to say, you made the original ‘Barbie’ movie,” Gerwig said to Haynes. “There was a bootleg of it at Cannes.”
She added, “It’s a wonderful thing that...
During a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter, Gerwig admitted that “Barbie” producers were “nervous about the possibilities” of bringing the Mattel doll to the big screen in part because of Haynes’ use of the dolls in “Superstar.” Haynes’ experimental 1987 short film focused on singer Karen Carpenter’s battle with anorexia, with Barbie dolls used to convey the star’s disintegrating state in the public eye. Richard Carpenter sued over the licensing of The Carpenters’ music, and the film was never properly distributed.
“I was going to say, you made the original ‘Barbie’ movie,” Gerwig said to Haynes. “There was a bootleg of it at Cannes.”
She added, “It’s a wonderful thing that...
- 12/16/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Todd Haynes has come a long way since self-distributing his unauthorized cult classic “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” in 1988, but he’s still grateful for the people who helped him turn the short film into the foundation for one of the most celebrated careers in independent filmmaking.
Haynes, whose Cannes hit “May December” is one of the most acclaimed movies of 2023, was honored with the Vanguard Award at the 2023 IndieWire Honors. When Haynes took the stage to accept the award at NeueHouse Hollywood on Wednesday, December 6, he reflected on the initial boost that he received from influential New York film critics and the ways that critics continue to shape his career.
Haynes recalled his attempts to screen “Superstar,” which used Barbie dolls as puppets to tell a satirically biographical story about pop music legend Karen Carpenter, in New York after graduating film school. He credited critics with responding to his...
Haynes, whose Cannes hit “May December” is one of the most acclaimed movies of 2023, was honored with the Vanguard Award at the 2023 IndieWire Honors. When Haynes took the stage to accept the award at NeueHouse Hollywood on Wednesday, December 6, he reflected on the initial boost that he received from influential New York film critics and the ways that critics continue to shape his career.
Haynes recalled his attempts to screen “Superstar,” which used Barbie dolls as puppets to tell a satirically biographical story about pop music legend Karen Carpenter, in New York after graduating film school. He credited critics with responding to his...
- 12/7/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
It has been 40 years since Karen Carpenter — the charismatic sister half of the multiplatinum-selling sibling act The Carpenters — died at the age of 32, and the chasm she left behind has never been filled. A virtuosic drummer with a sweet, melancholic singing voice, she and brother Richard Carpenter conquered the easy-listening charts with melodically sophisticated hits like “Superstar” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Even President Richard Nixon was a fan and invited the Carpenters to the Oval Office in 1972 — cementing their status as the ultimate squares to the Flower Power generation. But time has been kind to the Carpenters, whose signature sound is now widely considered an American classic. In a new biography, Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter, author Lucy O’Brien reframes Karen Carpenter’s life as that of a pioneering woman within the male-dominated recording industry and offers new insights into her tragic battle with anorexia, a...
- 10/31/2023
- by Seth Abramovitch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Night 4 of The Voice’s Season 24 Battles teed up a handful of genuinely jaw-dropping performances (a couple of which you can watch below). But the episode also marked the end of the line for five members of John Legend, Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani and Niall Horan’s teams. Which ones? Read on…
Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and OthersView List
Team Reba: Ruby Leigh (Grade: A) defeated Al Boogie (Grade: B) on “Jolene” | After being warned by Reba in rehearsal that they weren’t connecting...
Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and OthersView List
Team Reba: Ruby Leigh (Grade: A) defeated Al Boogie (Grade: B) on “Jolene” | After being warned by Reba in rehearsal that they weren’t connecting...
- 10/31/2023
- by Charlie Mason
- TVLine.com
Sound Unseen, the music documentary festival held in Minneapolis, is returning with a slew of rock docs including Alison Ellwood’s Cyndi Lauper film Let the Canary Sing and the North American premiere of Peter Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin about the Libertines co-founder.
The 24th iteration of the festival runs between November 8-12.
Let The Canary Sing will open the festival on Wednesday November 8 and Katia de Vidas’s Doherty film closes the festival on Sunday November 12.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing some of the best and most buzzed about music documentaries and fiction films of the year to Minneapolis”, said Sound Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell. “The entire team has done an incredible job and after the success of last year’s festival, we hope the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota audiences will bring the same energy and excitement to Sound Unseen more than ever.”
Federation...
The 24th iteration of the festival runs between November 8-12.
Let The Canary Sing will open the festival on Wednesday November 8 and Katia de Vidas’s Doherty film closes the festival on Sunday November 12.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing some of the best and most buzzed about music documentaries and fiction films of the year to Minneapolis”, said Sound Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell. “The entire team has done an incredible job and after the success of last year’s festival, we hope the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota audiences will bring the same energy and excitement to Sound Unseen more than ever.”
Federation...
- 10/4/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSTiny, a Canadian technology holding company, has completed a majority acquisition of the film-oriented social networking platform Letterboxd, Business Wire reports. Letterboxd’s founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow will continue to lead the business independently as the company scales up.REMEMBERINGThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.Michael Gambon has died aged 82. A notable stage actor, Gambon appeared in Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) before taking on memorable roles in Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), and the Harry Potter films, in which he took over the role of Albus Dumbledore from Richard Harris. "Gambon left school aged 15 and, unlike many of his contemporaries, did not receive any formal training at drama school," writes Chris Wiegand in his Guardian obituary.
- 10/4/2023
- MUBI
The influential director’s latest film, May December, is coming to cinemas soon. Here’s your chance to ask him about this and other provocative work, from Carol to I’m Not There
There’s considerable competition of course, but Todd Haynes has a strong claim to be one of America’s greatest living auteurs, with a string of outstanding films to his name including the Patricia Highsmith adaptation Carol, Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, and Douglas Sirk homage Far From Heaven.
Haynes first made a name for himself with his Barbie-doll animated short film Superstar, about Karen Carpenter, and then acquired career momentum with his feature debut Poison in 1991, part of the early 90s New Queer Cinema movement. Safe, the creepy mid-90s fable about a woman afflicted by a mysterious allergy-like illness, marked his first collaboration with Julianne Moore; she would go on to appear in further films...
There’s considerable competition of course, but Todd Haynes has a strong claim to be one of America’s greatest living auteurs, with a string of outstanding films to his name including the Patricia Highsmith adaptation Carol, Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, and Douglas Sirk homage Far From Heaven.
Haynes first made a name for himself with his Barbie-doll animated short film Superstar, about Karen Carpenter, and then acquired career momentum with his feature debut Poison in 1991, part of the early 90s New Queer Cinema movement. Safe, the creepy mid-90s fable about a woman afflicted by a mysterious allergy-like illness, marked his first collaboration with Julianne Moore; she would go on to appear in further films...
- 10/2/2023
- by Guardian film
- The Guardian - Film News
It was 20 years ago this month that Jack Black put on a bow tie, walked into a prep school, and told a bunch of fourth graders to get the Led out. His star turn as the lovable loser in Richard Linklater’s School of Rock helped the film gross nearly $20 million when it opened, breaking the record for music-themed comedies at the time. Over the years, it’s inspired a hit Broadway musical, a TV show, and a children’s book, and helped popularize actual School of Rock programs for...
- 9/28/2023
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
The multiplex is about to get Barbiefied, but the soon-to-be hit isn’t the first film to feature Mattel’s favorite plaything. A previous Barbie movie was made in 1987, an experimental musical biopic that barely saw the light of day. The dolls sing, and they argue, and the most famous one dies. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story was an art school project by a mischievous but deadly earnest Bard College Mfa student named Todd Haynes. Yes, before he went on to make major, Oscar-nominated films like Far From Heaven and Carol,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
Marcia Cross, Bryan Batt and Ron Canada will star in the world premiere of the play Pay the Writer, with the first performance set as a benefit for the Writers Guild.
The comedy-drama, written by novelist Tawni O’Dell (Back Roads) will play Off-Broadway at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater at the Pershing Square Signature Center for a seven-week engagement starting Aug. 13. Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore) directs.
The story of Pay the Writer follows a well-known literary agent Bruston Fischer (played by Batt) and his complicated relationship with his best friend, Cyrus Holt (played by Canada) who is also his most successful client, as well as Holt’s ex-wife Lana, played by Cross.
The production describes the play saying: “Bruston Fischer is a young gay man suffering from social persecution while trying to make it in publishing when he first meets Cyrus Holt some 40 years earlier.
The comedy-drama, written by novelist Tawni O’Dell (Back Roads) will play Off-Broadway at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater at the Pershing Square Signature Center for a seven-week engagement starting Aug. 13. Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore) directs.
The story of Pay the Writer follows a well-known literary agent Bruston Fischer (played by Batt) and his complicated relationship with his best friend, Cyrus Holt (played by Canada) who is also his most successful client, as well as Holt’s ex-wife Lana, played by Cross.
The production describes the play saying: “Bruston Fischer is a young gay man suffering from social persecution while trying to make it in publishing when he first meets Cyrus Holt some 40 years earlier.
- 7/19/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Todd Haynes animated the impossibly slender doll to show what drove the singer to her early death. The film has more in common than you might expect with Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, out next Friday, is the most anticipated film of the year. Yet, for all the hype, this is not the first time Barbie has found herself cast as the lead in a film. Much like mumblecore queen Gerwig herself, Barbie first arrived on screen as an insurgent outsider. Back in 1987, Todd Haynes, later the director behind contemporary classics such as Carol, Safe and Far from Heaven, cast a downmarket version of the popular doll in the title role of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. The underground classic charts the rise and tragic demise of singer Karen Carpenter and her breezily Californian musical stylings, using whittled down Barbie-style dolls to illustrate the worsening anorexia...
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, out next Friday, is the most anticipated film of the year. Yet, for all the hype, this is not the first time Barbie has found herself cast as the lead in a film. Much like mumblecore queen Gerwig herself, Barbie first arrived on screen as an insurgent outsider. Back in 1987, Todd Haynes, later the director behind contemporary classics such as Carol, Safe and Far from Heaven, cast a downmarket version of the popular doll in the title role of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. The underground classic charts the rise and tragic demise of singer Karen Carpenter and her breezily Californian musical stylings, using whittled down Barbie-style dolls to illustrate the worsening anorexia...
- 7/18/2023
- by Sam Joyce
- The Guardian - Film News
Tl;Dr:
Elvis Presley’s “Solitaire” was also recorded by Andy Williams and other artists. A writer of the song listened to all 90 recordings of the song and picked a favorite. Elvis’ version appeared on the album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee.
Elvis Presley‘s “Solitaire” was originally by Neil Sedaka. The co-writer of the song wasn’t a fan of Elvis’ version. On the other hand, he loved a cover of the song by The Carpenters.
A songwriter disliked that Elvis Presley’s ‘Solitaire’ was from the singer’s ‘fat’ period
Phillip Cody is a songwriter who worked with Neil Sedaka on multiple occasions. He co-wrote Sedaka songs such as “Bad Blood,” “The Immigrant,” and “Solitaire.” The latter song became a standard. The artists who recorded “Solitaire” included The Carpenters, Andy Williams, Sheryl Crowe, and Elvis Presley.
During a 2011 interview with Songfacts, Cody discussed his feelings about Elvis’ “Solitaire.
Elvis Presley’s “Solitaire” was also recorded by Andy Williams and other artists. A writer of the song listened to all 90 recordings of the song and picked a favorite. Elvis’ version appeared on the album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee.
Elvis Presley‘s “Solitaire” was originally by Neil Sedaka. The co-writer of the song wasn’t a fan of Elvis’ version. On the other hand, he loved a cover of the song by The Carpenters.
A songwriter disliked that Elvis Presley’s ‘Solitaire’ was from the singer’s ‘fat’ period
Phillip Cody is a songwriter who worked with Neil Sedaka on multiple occasions. He co-wrote Sedaka songs such as “Bad Blood,” “The Immigrant,” and “Solitaire.” The latter song became a standard. The artists who recorded “Solitaire” included The Carpenters, Andy Williams, Sheryl Crowe, and Elvis Presley.
During a 2011 interview with Songfacts, Cody discussed his feelings about Elvis’ “Solitaire.
- 7/12/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Exclusive: Christine Vachon offered her outlook on some of the industry’s most pressing issues at a keynote masterclass session this afternoon at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The session, moderated by Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr, opened with a focus on Vachon’s career before blossoming into a wider discussion about the industry, including what Vachon believes exhibitors can be doing to encourage audiences to get back into cinemas.
“It’s about creating environments that make the experience feel more like an event,” she said of the moviegoing experience. “I know in Europe this is old, but in America, the idea of eating a meal or having a drink in a movie theater is still relatively new, and creating an event where your seat is extraordinarily comfortable with actually decent projections.”
Vachon, a native New Yorker, later joked: “I don’t know if in New York you are...
The session, moderated by Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr, opened with a focus on Vachon’s career before blossoming into a wider discussion about the industry, including what Vachon believes exhibitors can be doing to encourage audiences to get back into cinemas.
“It’s about creating environments that make the experience feel more like an event,” she said of the moviegoing experience. “I know in Europe this is old, but in America, the idea of eating a meal or having a drink in a movie theater is still relatively new, and creating an event where your seat is extraordinarily comfortable with actually decent projections.”
Vachon, a native New Yorker, later joked: “I don’t know if in New York you are...
- 7/3/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Before Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie captured the zeitgeist with their Warner Bros-backed Barbie, the popular doll was the subject of a much darker indie pic directed by Todd Haynes.
Titled Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), the experimental pic used archival material, dramatized talking heads, and, most importantly, stop-motion animation featuring Barbie dolls to tell singer Karen Carpenter’s rapid journey from obscurity to pop stardom and her untimely death due to anorexia-related-complications. Among the team behind the film was stalwart indie producer Christine Vachon, who dug into the film’s origins and checkered legal past at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Monday afternoon.
Vachon isn’t listed as a producer on the pic but receives a “Special Thanks” from the filmmakers. She told the audience in Karlovy Vary that Barbie’s parent company Mattel paid a visit to their office when the film was released, but...
Titled Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), the experimental pic used archival material, dramatized talking heads, and, most importantly, stop-motion animation featuring Barbie dolls to tell singer Karen Carpenter’s rapid journey from obscurity to pop stardom and her untimely death due to anorexia-related-complications. Among the team behind the film was stalwart indie producer Christine Vachon, who dug into the film’s origins and checkered legal past at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Monday afternoon.
Vachon isn’t listed as a producer on the pic but receives a “Special Thanks” from the filmmakers. She told the audience in Karlovy Vary that Barbie’s parent company Mattel paid a visit to their office when the film was released, but...
- 7/3/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Great music can be difficult to understand. For example, Petula Clark’s “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” baffles the star who sang it. Notably, the oblique lyrics of “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” made it fit in with numerous other songs from the 1960s.
Petula Clark | Mirrorpix / Contributor Fred Astaire wanted Petula Clark to explain the lyrics of ‘Don’t Sleep in the Subway’
Clark co-starred in the 1968 Francis Ford Coppola musical Finian’s Rainbow with Fred Astaire. During a 2013 interview with Songfacts, she discussed talking with the movie star. “Well, I remember Fred Astaire, we used to spend a lot of time just sitting around singing,” she said. “I thought he was a great singer and he would sing those wonderful songs from his movies.
“Then he would get me to sing songs and explain,” she added. “He said, ‘What does this really mean?’ He wanted me to explain a Beatles song,...
Petula Clark | Mirrorpix / Contributor Fred Astaire wanted Petula Clark to explain the lyrics of ‘Don’t Sleep in the Subway’
Clark co-starred in the 1968 Francis Ford Coppola musical Finian’s Rainbow with Fred Astaire. During a 2013 interview with Songfacts, she discussed talking with the movie star. “Well, I remember Fred Astaire, we used to spend a lot of time just sitting around singing,” she said. “I thought he was a great singer and he would sing those wonderful songs from his movies.
“Then he would get me to sing songs and explain,” she added. “He said, ‘What does this really mean?’ He wanted me to explain a Beatles song,...
- 6/11/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week we look at Sonic Youth's Disappearer, directed by Todd Haynes. The love affair of Todd Haynes with Sonic Youth is a long one. Before his feature length debut, Poison, but after his seminal short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Haynes directed a music video for Disappearer. It was one of many videos made for the album Goo, which, surprisingly for that time, had music videos for almost every single song. Curiously enough, other music videos for that album include ones called Tunic (A Song for Karen) which was about Karen Carpenter, and one called Mildred Pierce. Did Sonic Youth seek out Todd Haynes on the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/5/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Led Zeppelin wouldn’t have been the same band without drummer John Bonham. You could say that about any member of the band, but Bonham’s imposing beats — inspired by an early rock ‘n’ roll song that mesmerized him — were irreplaceable. That’s why the band decided to break up when he died in 1980 instead of soldiering on. For all the praise, Bonham remained modest about his drumming skills, and it’s almost hilarious how unassuming he was.
Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham | Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images John Bonham once modestly said he was ‘a simple, straight-ahead drummer’
Even though he once lost to Karen Carpenter in a best drummer poll, Bonham routinely appears at or near the top of the list when talking about the greatest classic rock drummers. The self-taught Bonham became one of the best of his generation even though he never wanted or tried to be.
Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham | Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images John Bonham once modestly said he was ‘a simple, straight-ahead drummer’
Even though he once lost to Karen Carpenter in a best drummer poll, Bonham routinely appears at or near the top of the list when talking about the greatest classic rock drummers. The self-taught Bonham became one of the best of his generation even though he never wanted or tried to be.
- 4/5/2023
- by Jason Rossi
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
M M Keeravani is a man of few words, but he has mastered the art of bringing the house down across his many public appearances in America. In an unusual acceptance speech that got him several rounds of applause, Keeravani gave his unusual spin to the ageless hit of The Carpenters, ‘Top of the World’, that many of his age have grown up grooving to.
“I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars,” Keeravani began, and then started singing his own version of the ’70s pop smash hit: “There was only one wish on my mind. … ‘Rrr’ has to win, pride of every Indian, and must put me on top of the world.”
The brothers-and-sister duo, Karen and Richard Carpenter, became hugely popular and sold more than 100 million albums in the 1970s, their joint career coming to an end when Karen succumbed to anorexia nervosa,...
“I grew up listening to The Carpenters and now here I am with the Oscars,” Keeravani began, and then started singing his own version of the ’70s pop smash hit: “There was only one wish on my mind. … ‘Rrr’ has to win, pride of every Indian, and must put me on top of the world.”
The brothers-and-sister duo, Karen and Richard Carpenter, became hugely popular and sold more than 100 million albums in the 1970s, their joint career coming to an end when Karen succumbed to anorexia nervosa,...
- 3/13/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Lyricist and composer Paul Williams will be honored by the 13th annual Guild of Music Supervisors awards with the 2023 Icon award at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on March 5. The awards show will also be posthumously honoring former Sony Pictures Entertainment senior VP and music supervisor, Pilar McCurry.
Williams’ standards have been recorded by such decorated artists as Ray Charles, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross and Willie Nelson, among others. He’s previously been recognized with six Oscars, nine Grammys, six Golden Globes, and two Emmy nominations.
“There is a strange, beautiful alchemy, that occurs when the perfect song placement transforms
both the scene and the song,” said Williams in a news release. “I have been graced with many opportunities to write music for picture in my career, and it feels like magic every single time.
Williams’ standards have been recorded by such decorated artists as Ray Charles, David Bowie, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross and Willie Nelson, among others. He’s previously been recognized with six Oscars, nine Grammys, six Golden Globes, and two Emmy nominations.
“There is a strange, beautiful alchemy, that occurs when the perfect song placement transforms
both the scene and the song,” said Williams in a news release. “I have been graced with many opportunities to write music for picture in my career, and it feels like magic every single time.
- 2/27/2023
- by Thania Garcia
- Variety Film + TV
In the English-speaking world, almost everybody over a certain age is familiar with the story of Karen Carpenter. Indeed, a not insignificant number of people are alive because of it. Karen’s untimely death catapulted awareness of eating disorders into the spotlight, starting urgent conversations about the relationship between body weight, beauty, fame and control which are still going on today. Randy Martin’s documentary doesn’t add much to what we know about her, but does succeed in making her visible to younger generations, even if it seems exclusively concerned with speaking to older ones.
Early on in this film, which premièred at the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, anorexia is described as a form of self loathing, and the film reinforces this rather narrow definition throughout, which is disappointing in light of the complexity of the disease and the many different forms it takes. It seems to apply in Karen’s case,...
Early on in this film, which premièred at the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, anorexia is described as a form of self loathing, and the film reinforces this rather narrow definition throughout, which is disappointing in light of the complexity of the disease and the many different forms it takes. It seems to apply in Karen’s case,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"Perfection is a battle that you'll never win." Ams Pictures has revealed an official trailer for a documentary titled Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection, a look back biopic at the beloved American singer and drummer. Karen Carpenter was half of the sibling duo the Carpenters, but died at only the young age of 32. Now forty years after her death, this doc reveals astounding new insight into the singer's tragically short life and enduring musical legacy. Utilizing unreleased recordings and celebrity interviews – including with Olivia Newton-John, Cynthia Gibb, Suzanne Somers, Kristin Chenoweth, Carnie Wilson, Bob James and Carol Burnett – the documentary sheds light on the musician's challenges with eating disorders. Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection is a "captivating, revealing, and unvarnished doc providing astounding new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy." This looks like a tough look at Karen and her harsh struggles with anorexia & fame.
- 2/10/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Burt Bacharach, the velvety smooth composer and orchestrator whose partnership with lyricist Hal David brought swanky sophistication to pop music in the 1960s, has died. He was 94.
Bacharach died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, publicist Tina Brausam announced.
Bacharach composed the music for some 50 top 10 hits, including six that reached No. 1. Among his most celebrated efforts were “Walk on By,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “What’s New Pussycat?” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Alfie,” “This Guy’s in Love With You” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
He and David were dubbed the “Rodgers & Hart of the ’60s.” Many of their songs were popularized by Dionne Warwick, whose singing style inspired Bacharach to experiment with new rhythms and harmonies, composing innovative melodies for such tunes “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “I Say a Little Prayer.
Bacharach died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, publicist Tina Brausam announced.
Bacharach composed the music for some 50 top 10 hits, including six that reached No. 1. Among his most celebrated efforts were “Walk on By,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “What’s New Pussycat?” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Alfie,” “This Guy’s in Love With You” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
He and David were dubbed the “Rodgers & Hart of the ’60s.” Many of their songs were popularized by Dionne Warwick, whose singing style inspired Bacharach to experiment with new rhythms and harmonies, composing innovative melodies for such tunes “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “I Say a Little Prayer.
- 2/9/2023
- by Duane Byrge and Lisa de los Reyes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced plans Wednesday for 52 world premieres and 78 U.S. premieres spanning a total of 43 countries throughout the 11-day event.
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
- 1/18/2023
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which will run Feb. 8-18, will open with Miranda’s Victim, one of 52 world premieres in this year’s lineup, and will close with the U.S. premiere of I Like Movies, one of 78 U.S. premieres, the fest announced Wednesday.
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
- 1/18/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In recent interviews, Natalie Mering has invited us to picture our hearts as glow sticks, lighting up when broken. So her fifth album as Weyes Blood, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Aitdha), finds her addressing the unsettling state of the world with a beguiling blend of cosy nostalgia and cautious optimism.
If you're unfamiliar with the LA-based, 34-year-old artist, imagine those “occupants of interplanetary craft” had responded to Karen Carpenter’s call and beamed her aboard a slightly wonky flying saucer, powered by vintage synths. Her velvety vocals are so rich and warm that listening to her often feels like dipping your anxieties in melted chocolate. At times, she can pile her impeccably researched retro-gloop on a little thickly. But 2019’s Titanic Rising had a confidence and melodic complexity that lifted it beyond pastiche.
Written during the pandemic, Aitdha plays out as a proggy prayer for humanity. Mering’s...
If you're unfamiliar with the LA-based, 34-year-old artist, imagine those “occupants of interplanetary craft” had responded to Karen Carpenter’s call and beamed her aboard a slightly wonky flying saucer, powered by vintage synths. Her velvety vocals are so rich and warm that listening to her often feels like dipping your anxieties in melted chocolate. At times, she can pile her impeccably researched retro-gloop on a little thickly. But 2019’s Titanic Rising had a confidence and melodic complexity that lifted it beyond pastiche.
Written during the pandemic, Aitdha plays out as a proggy prayer for humanity. Mering’s...
- 11/17/2022
- by Helen Brown
- The Independent - Music
Click here to read the full article.
If you were raised in a house tuned to Am radio in the 1970s and early ‘80s, chances are that the crystalline vocals of Olivia Newton-John, who died Monday at age 73 at her Southern California ranch, were a big part of your childhood soundtrack.
This was especially true if you grew up in Australia, where we eagerly claimed her as our own, even if Onj was born in Britain and moved with her family to Melbourne when she was 5. I just have to think about her 1971 breakthrough hit, a wistful, soft-rock country love song by Bob Dylan called “If Not for You,” to start it playing in my head on a loop for days. “Let Me Be There,” from the same debut solo album has a similar lasting hold over me, as does “Banks of the Ohio,” a 19th-century down-home murder ballad rendered with sweet,...
If you were raised in a house tuned to Am radio in the 1970s and early ‘80s, chances are that the crystalline vocals of Olivia Newton-John, who died Monday at age 73 at her Southern California ranch, were a big part of your childhood soundtrack.
This was especially true if you grew up in Australia, where we eagerly claimed her as our own, even if Onj was born in Britain and moved with her family to Melbourne when she was 5. I just have to think about her 1971 breakthrough hit, a wistful, soft-rock country love song by Bob Dylan called “If Not for You,” to start it playing in my head on a loop for days. “Let Me Be There,” from the same debut solo album has a similar lasting hold over me, as does “Banks of the Ohio,” a 19th-century down-home murder ballad rendered with sweet,...
- 8/9/2022
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gru and the minions are back in an all new blast from the past adventure. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” takes viewers back to Gru’s childhood where, on the brink of adolescence, Gru wants nothing more than to join The Sinister Six, a group of villains notorious for their collaboration in crime.
The adventures of all these characters as well as the minions are backed by a reimagined soundtrack full of ’70s hits.
Produced by Jack Antonoff, the soundtrack includes St. Vincent’s rendition of Lipps Inc’s 1979 hit “Funkytown,” H.E.R.’s version of “Dance to the Music” from Sly and the Family Stone in 1967, Bleachers’ rendition of John Lennon’s 1970 song “Instant Karma” and Phoebe Bridgers’ version of The Carpenters’ 1972 ballad “Goodbye to Love.” Even the Minions get a few spotlight moments like when they sing Paul Simon’s “Cecelia.”
Here are all the songs in...
The adventures of all these characters as well as the minions are backed by a reimagined soundtrack full of ’70s hits.
Produced by Jack Antonoff, the soundtrack includes St. Vincent’s rendition of Lipps Inc’s 1979 hit “Funkytown,” H.E.R.’s version of “Dance to the Music” from Sly and the Family Stone in 1967, Bleachers’ rendition of John Lennon’s 1970 song “Instant Karma” and Phoebe Bridgers’ version of The Carpenters’ 1972 ballad “Goodbye to Love.” Even the Minions get a few spotlight moments like when they sing Paul Simon’s “Cecelia.”
Here are all the songs in...
- 7/1/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Music is a powerful force that connects members of a generation, and when an icon of that generation passes away, the loss is felt among the masses; it is especially shocking when that larger-than-life celebrity dies suddenly and at a young age. Sadly, we have lost several musical artists much too soon, often due to the pressure, exposure or commitments that come with fame. Tour our photo gallery remembering 30 music legends and the details around their tragic deaths.
I was only nine years old when John Lennon died, and over 40 years later, I remember sitting at the kitchen table hearing the report on the radio that crazed fan Mark David Chapman had shot the legendary singer to death. This was one of the most shocking events in rock and roll history; fans were devastated, with a least three committing suicide. Chapman pleaded guilty and remains incarcerated. Just 15 years later, promising...
I was only nine years old when John Lennon died, and over 40 years later, I remember sitting at the kitchen table hearing the report on the radio that crazed fan Mark David Chapman had shot the legendary singer to death. This was one of the most shocking events in rock and roll history; fans were devastated, with a least three committing suicide. Chapman pleaded guilty and remains incarcerated. Just 15 years later, promising...
- 6/16/2022
- by Susan Pennington
- Gold Derby
Music is a powerful force that connects members of a generation, and when an icon of that generation passes away, the loss is felt among the masses; it is especially shocking when that larger-than-life celebrity dies suddenly and at a young age. Sadly, we have lost several musical artists much too soon, often due to the pressure, exposure or commitments that come with fame. Tour our photo gallery remembering 30 music legends and the details around their tragic deaths.
I was only nine years old when John Lennon died, and over 40 years later, I remember sitting at the kitchen table hearing the report on the radio that crazed fan Mark David Chapman had shot the legendary singer to death. This was one of the most shocking events in rock and roll history; fans were devastated, with a least three committing suicide. Chapman pleaded guilty and remains incarcerated. Just 15 years later, promising...
I was only nine years old when John Lennon died, and over 40 years later, I remember sitting at the kitchen table hearing the report on the radio that crazed fan Mark David Chapman had shot the legendary singer to death. This was one of the most shocking events in rock and roll history; fans were devastated, with a least three committing suicide. Chapman pleaded guilty and remains incarcerated. Just 15 years later, promising...
- 6/16/2022
- by Susan Pennington, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Wolfgang Van Halen slammed Reelz Channel Wednesday over an upcoming episode of their series Autopsy that investigates the “untimely death” of his late father, Eddie Van Halen.
Autopsy: The Last Days of Eddie Van Halen, airing this weekend on the cable channel, will reportedly examine Eddie’s death at the age of 65 following a lengthy battle with cancer, and whether his lifestyle and treatment choices caused his death despite “reasonable survival rates.”
After a preview of the episode was released, the Mammoth Wvh frontman turned to Twitter to criticize everyone involved in the episode,...
Autopsy: The Last Days of Eddie Van Halen, airing this weekend on the cable channel, will reportedly examine Eddie’s death at the age of 65 following a lengthy battle with cancer, and whether his lifestyle and treatment choices caused his death despite “reasonable survival rates.”
After a preview of the episode was released, the Mammoth Wvh frontman turned to Twitter to criticize everyone involved in the episode,...
- 6/2/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Flush with awards after The Lost Daughter and Cabaret made her a star, Buckley has made musical alchemy with guitarist Butler. They discuss why being raw and unguarded is essential for great art
In a crowded recording studio in London, a woman’s voice unfurls from speakers, filling every atom in the air. Beyond a glass wall she’s barely visible in semi-darkness, surrounded by three musicians on piano, trumpet and viola. The song, Seven Red Rose Tattoos, is plaintive and stained with regret in the manner of vintage jazz; her voice is colossal and intimate, deep and soaring. We just don’t hear voices like this any more, somehow echoing the liquid vibrato of Scott Walker with the fathomless richness of what Karen Carpenter called her “basement”. Studio crew and colleagues are transfixed. “It set our homes on fire, watch my memories fall away,” Jessie Buckley sings. “I have seven red rose tattoos,...
In a crowded recording studio in London, a woman’s voice unfurls from speakers, filling every atom in the air. Beyond a glass wall she’s barely visible in semi-darkness, surrounded by three musicians on piano, trumpet and viola. The song, Seven Red Rose Tattoos, is plaintive and stained with regret in the manner of vintage jazz; her voice is colossal and intimate, deep and soaring. We just don’t hear voices like this any more, somehow echoing the liquid vibrato of Scott Walker with the fathomless richness of what Karen Carpenter called her “basement”. Studio crew and colleagues are transfixed. “It set our homes on fire, watch my memories fall away,” Jessie Buckley sings. “I have seven red rose tattoos,...
- 4/15/2022
- by Sylvia Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
In the summer of 1974, the Carpenters sat down with Rolling Stone writer Tom Nolan at Hollywood’s Au Petit Café for a cover story. Richard and Karen Carpenter, who had spent the past four years scoring massive soft-rock hits like “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Superstar,” and “Top of the World,” took the opportunity to vent to Nolan about the uncool, wholesome image that they felt the press had created for the sibling duo.
“This …thing they’ve built up, where it’s...
“This …thing they’ve built up, where it’s...
- 11/19/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Todd Haynes spoke about his plans to make a Sigmund Freud film at the Zurich Film Festival, where he is presenting his documentary “The Velvet Underground.”
“I have to make a film about Freud before I completely retire,” he shared during his masterclass. “Every day we slip toward authoritarianism, anti-immigrant sensibility, conservative governments and fundamentalist instincts, and that’s just one small part of what Freud anticipated. There is something very radical and intensely observant about his work.”
Before he starts focusing on the father of psychoanalysis, Haynes will first turn to singer Peggy Lee, with biopic “Fever” set to begin production next year. Long time in the making, the project was originally supposed to star Reese Witherspoon, with his “Wonderstruck” and “I’m Not There” collaborator Michelle Williams now tapped as the lead.
“It’s something I’d started to develop between ‘Carol’ and ‘Wonderstruck.’ Then I put it aside...
“I have to make a film about Freud before I completely retire,” he shared during his masterclass. “Every day we slip toward authoritarianism, anti-immigrant sensibility, conservative governments and fundamentalist instincts, and that’s just one small part of what Freud anticipated. There is something very radical and intensely observant about his work.”
Before he starts focusing on the father of psychoanalysis, Haynes will first turn to singer Peggy Lee, with biopic “Fever” set to begin production next year. Long time in the making, the project was originally supposed to star Reese Witherspoon, with his “Wonderstruck” and “I’m Not There” collaborator Michelle Williams now tapped as the lead.
“It’s something I’d started to develop between ‘Carol’ and ‘Wonderstruck.’ Then I put it aside...
- 9/29/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
So far 2021 is turning out to be quite the year for documentaries unearthing long-buried or unknown musical treasures of the ’60s. The current Summer of Soul highlights a series of Harlem-based concerts with iconic Black artists, a kind of African American Woodstock stuck in someone’s basement for half a century and now getting a much-acclaimed film directed by Questlove made from those tapes. Edgar Wright’s fascinating The Sparks Brothers, the story of the quirky band Sparks featuring brothers Russell and Ron Mael, gives this cult musical act a long-deserved place in the sun. And now, just premiered out of competition today at the Cannes Film Festival, comes director Todd Haynes’ feature documentary debut on the avant garde rock/punk band The Velvet Underground in a movie of the same name that shows why this ’60s creation from the world of Andy Warhol has made such an impact decades...
- 7/7/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
, Todd Haynes’ “The Velvet Underground” is a documentary (his first) by a man whose previous musical tributes include a glam-rock fantasia that gave David Bowie the “Citizen Kane” treatment, a “Mishima”-esque kaleidoscope that refracted Bob Dylan through the infinity mirror of his own myth, and an underground Karen Carpenter biopic that cast the late singer as a literal Barbie doll. It makes Haynes’ choice to make a comparatively straightforward non-fiction movie about his favorite band is a curious one, and it calls implicit attention to the kind of artistic intentionality that most womb-to-tomb music docs only highlight in their subjects.
What might compel an auteur capable of exorcising “Far from Heaven” from the ghost of Douglas Sirk to make a film so full of talking heads and archival footage? Why would someone with Haynes’ gift for interpolating his influences in unexpected ways submit himself to the strictures of a...
What might compel an auteur capable of exorcising “Far from Heaven” from the ghost of Douglas Sirk to make a film so full of talking heads and archival footage? Why would someone with Haynes’ gift for interpolating his influences in unexpected ways submit himself to the strictures of a...
- 7/7/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In 1991, Sundance took place at the height of the AIDS epidemic, which, unlike the Covid-19 pandemic, was propelled by a disease that is sexually transmitted and was predominantly killing gay men. (By year’s end, the U.S. death toll would reach 29,850, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Amid that politically charged public health catastrophe, a 30-year-old filmmaker debuted his first feature, Poison.
Todd Haynes — who had become an underground sensation with his 1987 short, Superstar, a retelling of the life and death of Karen Carpenter using Barbie dolls — drew from the writings ...
Todd Haynes — who had become an underground sensation with his 1987 short, Superstar, a retelling of the life and death of Karen Carpenter using Barbie dolls — drew from the writings ...
- 1/28/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 1991, Sundance took place at the height of the AIDS epidemic, which, unlike the Covid-19 pandemic, was propelled by a disease that is sexually transmitted and was predominantly killing gay men. (By year’s end, the U.S. death toll would reach 29,850, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Amid that politically charged public health catastrophe, a 30-year-old filmmaker debuted his first feature, Poison.
Todd Haynes — who had become an underground sensation with his 1987 short, Superstar, a retelling of the life and death of Karen Carpenter using Barbie dolls — drew from the writings ...
Todd Haynes — who had become an underground sensation with his 1987 short, Superstar, a retelling of the life and death of Karen Carpenter using Barbie dolls — drew from the writings ...
- 1/28/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
There’s a scene early on in the fourth season of The Crown, shortly after the 19-year-old, soon-to-be princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin), has just moved to Buckingham Palace. Alone and feeling abandoned by Prince Charles in the cold, gilded recesses of the palace, she is buckling under the pressures of public life and fighting with her (correct) suspicions that the relationship between Charles and his friend Camilla Parker Bowles is more than platonic. Anxious and isolated, she sneaks downstairs to the kitchen in the middle of the night.
- 11/24/2020
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
The pop star and actor talks about her third diagnosis of cancer, taking cannabis and ayahuasca, having Karen Carpenter as her spirit guide – and why her hit film Grease shouldn’t be accused of sexism
Olivia Newton-John likes to sing to herself. Over and over, she will repeat, “I’m healthy, I’m strong” to a random melody she has picked up. “I think it’s very important to keep that positive message in your head,” she says cheerfully. “You know, if you have a difficult moment, music is always a great healer.” It is something that has kept her going during her darkest days dealing with stage four breast cancer, the third time she has been diagnosed with the illness in the past 28 years.
Sitting in the kitchen of her ranch near Santa Barbara, California, the singer radiates optimism. Her blond hair is cropped above her chin, colourful glasses perched on her nose.
Olivia Newton-John likes to sing to herself. Over and over, she will repeat, “I’m healthy, I’m strong” to a random melody she has picked up. “I think it’s very important to keep that positive message in your head,” she says cheerfully. “You know, if you have a difficult moment, music is always a great healer.” It is something that has kept her going during her darkest days dealing with stage four breast cancer, the third time she has been diagnosed with the illness in the past 28 years.
Sitting in the kitchen of her ranch near Santa Barbara, California, the singer radiates optimism. Her blond hair is cropped above her chin, colourful glasses perched on her nose.
- 10/26/2020
- by Ann Lee
- The Guardian - Film News
The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” turned 50 last month — and now Bat for Lashes has released a dazzling rendition of the classic.
Natasha Khan offers a sparse take on the track, omitting the original’s climax and Karen Carpenter’s upbeat vocals. “And when the evening comes, we smile,” she sings. “So much of life ahead/We’ll find a place where there’s room to grow.”
Bat for Lashes performed the cover several times in 2016, but this is the official studio version. According to Instagram, Khan’s vocals...
Natasha Khan offers a sparse take on the track, omitting the original’s climax and Karen Carpenter’s upbeat vocals. “And when the evening comes, we smile,” she sings. “So much of life ahead/We’ll find a place where there’s room to grow.”
Bat for Lashes performed the cover several times in 2016, but this is the official studio version. According to Instagram, Khan’s vocals...
- 9/28/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Hi there! Welcome back to Intermission, a spin-off podcast from The Film Stage Show. In a time when arthouse theaters are hurting more than ever and there are a plethora of streaming options at your fingertips, we wanted to introduce new conversations that put a specific focus on the films that are foundational or perhaps overlooked in cinephile culture. Led by yours truly, Michael Snydel, Intermission is a 1-on-1 supplementary discussion podcast that focuses on one arthouse, foreign, or experimental film per episode as picked by the guest–or by listeners.
For our second episode, we talked with critic Caden Mark Gardner about Todd Haynes’ prophetic 1995 film, Safe, which is currently available on The Criterion Channel through the end of the month and on disc. Coming after the arthouse darlings of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and Poison, Safe was arguably Haynes’ breakthrough and has endured as one of the...
For our second episode, we talked with critic Caden Mark Gardner about Todd Haynes’ prophetic 1995 film, Safe, which is currently available on The Criterion Channel through the end of the month and on disc. Coming after the arthouse darlings of Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and Poison, Safe was arguably Haynes’ breakthrough and has endured as one of the...
- 5/14/2020
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Tom Waits and collaborator and wife Kathleen Brennan penned a tribute to late producer and longtime friend, Hal Willner. Willner died last week at the age of 64. The cause of death has not yet been publicly confirmed, but he was reportedly suffering from symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
In 1974, the pair met after one of Waits’ shows when he was 24 and Willner was 18. Calling the producer “more than kin and more than kind, more than friend and more than fiendish in his daunting pursuit of the lost and buried,” Waits...
In 1974, the pair met after one of Waits’ shows when he was 24 and Willner was 18. Calling the producer “more than kin and more than kind, more than friend and more than fiendish in his daunting pursuit of the lost and buried,” Waits...
- 4/16/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Albertina Carri's The Daughters of Fire is exclusively showing March 23 - April 21, 2020 in Mubi's Undiscovered series.Dating back to making shorts in the late 1990s, Albertina Carri has become a significant iconoclast in Argentine cinema in both realms of fiction and non-fiction films. Film and politics run in her blood and have long informed her confrontational and subversive sensibilities. As a queer woman, sex and gender amid homophobia, sexism, maschismo culture, and the male gaze also inform her work and career, which in addition to filmmaking also has her working within Argentine film culture as a major creative force behind Argentina’s Lgbtq film festival, Asterisco. Her most recent feature, The Daughters of Fire, is provocative in its explicit scenes among a group of queer women in which sex is presented in shockingly honest and upfront detail in fully pornographic splendor.
- 4/3/2020
- MUBI
Released early in 1972, a time when concept albums were regularly being delivered to record stores, The Ballad of Calico checked all the boxes. Narrative storyline with songs sung in the voices of characters? Check. Cover packaging that made it look more like a scrapbook than an album? Check. Accompanying booklet laying out the concept? Check. Symphonic fanfare that opens the album and is reprised at the end? Check. All of it spread over two LPs, just like Tommy and Jesus Chris Superstar? Double check.
The only thing abnormal about it...
The only thing abnormal about it...
- 3/23/2020
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Barnburners from Nashville native Gabe Lee and songwriter Gretchen Peters sidle up next to introspective ballads from Brandy Clark and Brian Dunne in this week’s list of songs to stream now.
Rumer, “The Song Remembers When”
British singer Rumer takes a stroll through the Hugh Prestwood song catalog on her new album, Nashville Tears, lending her warm alto — with some shades of Karen Carpenter — to “The Song Remembers When,” previously a hit for Trisha Yearwood. She wisely doesn’t fool around with the arrangement or try to match Yearwood’s power,...
Rumer, “The Song Remembers When”
British singer Rumer takes a stroll through the Hugh Prestwood song catalog on her new album, Nashville Tears, lending her warm alto — with some shades of Karen Carpenter — to “The Song Remembers When,” previously a hit for Trisha Yearwood. She wisely doesn’t fool around with the arrangement or try to match Yearwood’s power,...
- 3/20/2020
- by Jon Freeman and Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Harry Townsend's Last Standa new play written by George Eastman The Snow Job Bitter Exchange and directed by Karen Carpenter Love, Loss and What I Wore Handle With Care, has extended its limited run through April 5th due to enormous response from critics and audience alike, it was announced today by producerDennis Grimaldi A Gentlemen's Guide... Love Letters, Angels in America, Other People's Money. This is the final extension and the play must close on that date.
- 1/21/2020
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
I would be remiss if I did not include this angel in my 12 Days Of Christmas choices. Yes, the singular voice of Karen Carpenter. Arguably the most perfect pop voice of all time. Effortless. Full of pathos. Perfect. I remember hearing her beautiful voice ringing throughout our house during the holiday season. It always made me feel like I was being wrapped by a warm blanket whenever she sang.
- 12/22/2019
- by Norm Lewis
- BroadwayWorld.com
Harry Townsend's Last Stand www.HarryTownsendsLastStand.com a new play written by George Eastman The Snow Job Bitter Exchange and directed by Karen Carpenter Love, Loss and What I Wore Handle With Care, just opened at New York City Center Stage II 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues and is produced by Dennis Grimaldi A Gentlemen's Guide... Love Letters, Angels in America, Other People's Money. Starring Three time Tony Award Nominee and Tony Award winner, Len Cariou title role in Sweeney Todd A Little Night Music with Glynis Johns and Hermione Gingold Applause starring Lauren Bacall 'Blue Bloods' and Craig Bierko Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee, Music Man 'The Long Kiss Goodnight, 'UnREAL,' 'Blue Bloods'.
- 12/5/2019
- by Linda Lenzi
- BroadwayWorld.com
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