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Beastie Boys’ Star-Studded ‘Fight For Your Right Revisited’ Released

@coltondaniel — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:09:09 +0000

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The legendary Beastie Boys fought for their right to party nearly thirty years ago, yesterday they revisited their roots with more cameos than a season of “Entourage” would supply.

Short snippets of the video have been circulating around on TV and online, and the short-film does not disappoint. Featuring a battle-royale of sorts between the 1986 Beasties (Danny McBridge, Seth Rogan and Elijah Wood) dueling the future Beasties (John C. Reilly, Jack Black and Will Ferrell) and their acid-tripping rampage. Along the way, run in’s with various famous faces: Stanley Tucci, Jason Schwartzman, Susan Sarandon, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Bateman, Amy Poehler, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst, Steve Buscemi, Rashida Jones, Rainn Wilson, Maya Rudolph and Chloe Sevigny. Oh yes, Orlando Bloom drops in for the shenanigans also.

Adam Yauch wrote and directed the footage of the trio’s short film and music video, in connection with his indie film company Oscilloscope Laboratories.

“Normally the song is king and the footage has to kind of bow down to it. With this I flipped it,” he said, explaining how he used sound effects and toyed with the track’s tempo to fit the narrative, such as it is.

The group’s ninth album, “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two,” is due May 3.

Beastie Boys Preview Star Studded Music Video

@coltondaniel — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:58:12 +0000

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The legendary Beastie Boys have a new album “Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2″ coming out May 3rd, a new single and now a preview for the short film Fight for Your Right Revisited has hit the interweb.

Don’t like the Beasties? Well, check out the casting call: Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, John C. Reilly, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, David Cross, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jason Schwartzman, Adam Scott, Rainn Wilson, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Alicia Silverstone, Martin Starr, Ted Danson, Rashida Jones, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA.

The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival last month and received a mix of reviews. In the video, we find the Beastie Boys (Elijah Wood, Seth Rogan, Danny McBride) in 1986 the day after the legendary “Fight for Your Right (To Party)” video took place. It is rumoured to be a long-running Saturday Night Live skit from there on out.

Judging by the preview, it appears to be some battle royale between past and present versions of the Beastie Boys. At the same time, it is between comedy of today versus yesterday. Some fascinating double-entendre, I do say.

Ch-ch-check it out!

Jason Schwartzman to Star in HBO Comedy

andPOP Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:15:04 +0000

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Jason Schwartzman is coming back to television.

The film star, who was once the lead in a short-lived Fox show “Cracking Up,” has signed on for HBO’s new comedy, “Bored to Death.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Schwartzman will play “a struggling thirty something writer with a drinking problem in Brooklyn who, following a painful breakup with his girlfriend, decides to emulate his heroes from the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. He takes out an ad pretending to be a private detective and starts taking cases — solving some and making others worse.”

Production will begin in September. Until then, Schwartzman is busy filming “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” directed by Wes Anderson.

Zooey Deschanel’s First Album Complete

andPOP Staff — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:56:12 +0000

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Actress Zooey Deschanel has completed her first album with the producing help of folk singer M. Ward.

Ward, who met Deschanel on the set of the upcoming film, “The Go Getter,” told AVclub.com that he was extremely impressed by Dechanel’s original songs. “I was amazed by the quality… I just had an incredible time working with her. She’s an amazing talent, and a genius vocalist… I’m looking forward to people hearing this record.”

Ward isn’t the only person Deschanel has impressed with her pipes. She will be playing Janis Joplin in the upcoming biopic “The Gospel According To Janis.” She has previously sung onscreen in films like “Elf,” “Winter Passing,” and in the short film that marked Julia Stiles’ directorial debut, “Raving.” Deschanel also lent her voice to several tracks on Jason “Coconut Records” Schwartzman’s solo album, “Nighttiming.”

Look for Deschanel’s album to be released later this year.

Wes Anderson Urges Audiences to Watch Prequel Online

andPOP Staff — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:10:45 +0000

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Before you rush to theatres next weekend to see Wes Anderson’s fifth feature film, The Darjeeling Limited, be sure to watch the short film that precedes the story.

The 13-minute short entitled Hotel Chevalier stars Jason Schwartzman (one of the Darjeeling leads) and Natalie Portman. It was made a year before filming of Darjeeling even began. Originally intended to stand alone as a short film, Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) realized that Schwartzman’s character was perfect for the feature film he was envisioning.

Portman appears nude in the short, and has a tiny cameo in Darjeeling. Though it is not necessary to see the short to understand her relationship with Schwartzman?s character in the full-length film, Anderson says Chevalier does flesh out the story.

“My ideal thing would be to have the audience member come over to my apartment and watch the short on my computer and the next day they’d watch the movie in the theater,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

Hotel Chevalier premieres tonight at Apple stores in selected American cities, but will be available starting tomorrow as a free download on iTunes.

Jason Schwartzman Desires Return to Music

Adam Gonshor — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 19:21:51 +0000

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Quitting a band during its early stages could come back to haunt you. Dick Taylor, for instance, left the Rolling Stones before they hit it big, and returned to art school. Imagine how he feels 40 years later, watching his old pals still bringing in millions on a never-ending tour.

So when Jason Schwartzman quit as drummer of Phantom Planet to focus on a movie career, it could have been the biggest mistake of his life. After he hung up his sticks, the band gained a large following and opened for Incubus on a massive North American tour. They also reached a unique level of fame, as their song “California” was chosen as the theme song for “The O.C.”

Schwartzman, however, has no need to look back at what could have been, because he has blossomed into one of Hollywood’s most promising young actors. Soon after he left Phantom Planet, he starred in “I Heart Huckabees,” which was followed by a role in “Bewitched.” His latest film, “Shopgirl,” opens Friday in select cities, and sees him starring opposite Steve Martin and Claire Danes.

And while a return to Phantom Planet — or perhaps any touring band — is probably out of the question, he has plans to return to music in some form.

“After I quit my band, I definitely was so full, like I’m so full I could never eat again,” he said while in Toronto for the Film Festival last month. “I had that kind of feeling where the elements, like the touring stuff, were harder for me and I definitely felt fine not experiencing it again.”

Schwartzman’s working on material, but unless you are a fly on his wall, you may never hear it.

“I have never stopped playing music,” said Schwartzman, 25. “I still try to write all the time, play songs; I’m just not getting paid.”

Admitting he misses performing in front of a crowd, he said he may do it again one day ? sort of.

“I’m not going to say no, but I am going to say not yes.”

In “Shopgirl,” his character, Jeremy, is so devastated after losing Mirabelle (Danes), he becomes a roadie for a band.

The film is a half comedy and half tragedy, and amazingly, Martin does not provide the comic relief. That was Schwartzman’s job.

Attempting to be funny while comedic legend Martin — who also wrote the film — looked on, was intimidating.

“It’s an awkward and scary proposition,” he said. “I always tell people that to try to be the funny person in a Steve Martin movie is like getting a call that [The Who drummer] Keith Moon wants you to play drums on his record. He should be playing drums on his record. He’s Keith Moon.

“I was scared. It felt like a daunting responsibility to try to be as funny as Steve Martin, because God knows, to me, he’s one of the funniest people in the world. I had a slight confidence that the novel, the script, and Anand [Tucker, director], were three incredible ingredients that might help me out a little bit towards the possibility of being funny.”

Schwartzman said he was given the freedom to shape the Jeremy character in a way he felt comfortable.

The reason for that, Tucker said, was because the character of Jeremy was someone who needed an actor’s touch to bring to life.

“While the rest of the film was very structured and planned and meticulous, the work of Jason was a lot of improvising,” Tucker said. “Steve encouraged Jason to improvise off the back of what he had written so that Jason could create Jeremy.”

Now seven years after his breakout role in “Rushmore,” Schwartzman isn’t sure where his acting career is heading.

“I ultimately just want to live my personal life with a flair and hopefully that will filter into my work. I think it’s great to know what you want; I also think it’s good to not be too careerist,” Schwartzman said. “I still am so star struck and I am nervous. I have a hard time with, like, meeting Steve Martin. It’s not natural to me. It always feels like a blessing. It always feels like an honour. That is a true feeling.

“I’m just so happy to be here that I just want to keep rolling with it and going down the ski slope.”