Michael Jackson's This Is It (in theaters tonight for a two-week limited engagement) starts with tears.

It's a prescient moment, as the gushing Jackson backup dancers interviewed no doubt little suspect that their hero will be dead before they ever get the chance to feel the applause.

Starting on that blue note, Kenny Ortega's documentary proceeds to straddle the fine line between fan letter and expose. MJ appears momentarily— looking as prosthetic and skeletal as can be— and I seriously wasn't sure whether I was supposed to cheer or to cringe. Dressed in a series of interesting jackets and never without his shades, Jackson rehearsal-marks his way through a catalog of his greatest hits against a backdrop of stunning green screen film footage created especially for the tour-that-never-was.

Not much else happens. For the next two hours, we watch Jackson be, at turns, megalomaniacal, charming, childlike, creepy and cracked out. It isn't the prettiest of pictures, but it's a testament to his enormous talent that even at his gauntest, freakiest and most drug-addled... he can still dance circles around any of us on our best day.

Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn is co-writing a script for a film adaptation of Chuck Klosterman's seminal first work Fargo Rock City along with Tom Ruprecht, a writer for the Late Show With David Letterman. The book is a collection of essays about Klosterman's love of metal while growing up in North Dakota.

This intrigues me. Craig Finn and Chuck Klosterman are two of my favorite things (even though Downtown Owl wasn't very good). And now that Finn is finally getting into the film industry, maybe we're one small step closer to having my dream of a Fiestas + Fiascos movie come true? Maybe? Just maybe? I know, probably not, but wouldn't it be amazing? It really, really would! (And for the record, Finn once told me that Nightclub Dwight would be played by none other than Christopher Walken. Just picture it!)

The film features interviews with Ian MacKaye, Ray Cappo, Karl Buechner, Russ Rankin, and many more, as well as music by Minor Threat, Youth of Today, Earth Crisis, Have Heart, and Tristeza.

There will be a Q&A with directors Marc Pierschel and Michael Kirchner afterwards.

(*If you are someone who would NOT enjoy that at all, then please refer to Cocktail Compass, our free iPhone happy hour app, and use it to find the nearest bar and celebrate NOT being straight edge. You lousy drunks.)

NYC documentary filmmaker and former Federation X front person, Bill Badgley, brings a preview of his film, Kill All Redneck Pricks, KARP lives 1990-1998, to the Northwest for 5 shows in 4 cities October 22-25 (dates below) . The film chronicles Olympia's mighty and very missed band KARP, which featured bassist Jarred Warren (Big Business, The Melvins, The Whip) and guitarist Chris Smith, as well as drummer Scott Jernigan (The Whip), who died in a tragic boating accident in 2003. Badgley will show scenes from the unfinished film before, during, and after the show, as well as give KARP fans a chance to be interviewed for the film while also raising money for the film's completion.
Badgley currently is a producer for Brooklyn based film company Punched In the Head Productions who have produced multiple episodes of MTV's True Life series. He has been working on the KARP film over the last 2 years, flying back to the Northwest in his spare time to film and conduct interviews. Badgley and volunteers have finished transcribing and are currently in the editing phase of the film, although interviews from these shows will be intended for use in the film.

Also, in 2003-04, Badgley and drummer Sterling Callier (Loving Thunder) performed as a two piece band from Brooklyn, called 1776. They recently reunited and recruited bassist Matt Menold and keyboardist Jack Dawson to fill out the line up. After 2 practices the band recorded four songs at Brothers Studio in Brooklyn with Eric Emm (!!!, Holy Fuck). At the show, they will be celebrating the release of these songs as the 12" EP Teenage War Songs, on Callier's Aerodrome Records label. Menold and Dawson's band Marionettes of Satan also make the trip from Brooklyn to open. Seattle's heir to the KARP throne, Akimbo, will headline.

all dates (all shows with 1776, Marionettes of Satan):
10/22—Mars Bar, Seattle w/ Akimbo. 10/23—Bellingham, Early Show—Jinx Art Space, w/ Moons and Goochers, Late Show—Cap Hansen's. 10/24 The Northern, Olympia w/ the Hive Dwellers (Calvin Johnson), Western Hymn, Vern Lumsey. 10/25 Portland w/ Purple Rhinestone Eagle.

Here's the trailer again:

Please note! This is absolutely a Tori Spelling-free event!

Tonight!

Fame (2009) is a "reinvention" (their words, not mine) of Fame, the hit movie from 1980, which follows a diverse group of students at a fictionalized version of New York City's LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts from their placement audition through to graduation. The film won two Oscars, inspired countless children of the 80s to move to NYC (ahem) and spawned a series of hit songs that are still vaguely familiar today.

So, I have to ask: do you really need to re-make a film that's less than 30 years old? They're dancing to electronic music on a taxi cab; it's not like they're doing the Charleston on a Model T Ford. It's not like it was filmed in black and white.

Also, look out for Light in the Attic's Sept. 8 release of the superb Kearney Barton LP by Wheedle's Groove. Many of the artists who play on this full-length and who had tracks on the excellent 2004 comp Wheedle's Groove (also on LITA) will appear in the film.

Below's a little preview of what to expect from the doc.

(Thanks Josh Bomb!)

Jen Graves: "Do you want to hear something funny about my iPod? It contains the soundtrack to Coneheads."

The multiplying layers of sound-clips.

The repetition. The build-up. The punchline.

The Coen Brothers, no stranger to self-promotional greatness, have made the most unique and musical trailer of the year.

Björk was gnarly, out-of-this-world magic. Her stage setup was a
proper spectacle of flags, television screens, neon-clad (dare I
envoke "new rave?") backing brass band, and of course, Björk herself.
I'd never seen her before, and though I was excited, I wasn't even
ready for this. She jumped and danced and air-drummed around the
stage, looking positively elfin in a yellow gown. The jumbotrons were
intermittently flickering off or interrupted by horizontal static,
but that eventually-fixed technical difficulty didn't damper her show
in the slightest—nor did her apparently reading some of her own
lyrics off the TelePrompTer that Droste pointed out. Her band—
including the above mentioned brass players, Mark Bell (of LFO) and
another man on electronics, a pianist, and a live drummer—was
incredibly tight and adventerous. Bell's wild, electronic treatments
of older Björk material were especially impressive. And the sound was
perfect—that flutter was gone, Björk's voice was clear and primal,
and the low-end synth and drums were intense even in the open night air.

Things peaked with a mind-blowing rendition of "Army of Me"—green
lasers shot out from the stage and across the amphitheater in perfect
time with the song, and floating down there in the darkness, all made
up in neon robes and surrounded by flags, Björk's stage really seemed
like a cosmic warship landing on Earth. If this is what the aliens
looked and sounded like, I would happily be taken over. The whole set
was incredible, and the song selection was perfect, everything was a
highlight, but especially "Hyperballed," "I Miss You," "All is Full
of Love," "Earth Intruders," "Declare Independence," Hunter," and
"Army of Me." Words more or less fail; suffice to say, I was a casual
admirer of Björk before last night's show, I am now a wholly
converted fan.

The Volta Tour screens tonight and tomorrow night at 11 pm.

Tuesday July 7 (8pm, doors at 7:30)
Michael Jackson Tribute
Northwest Film Forum hosts a special celebration of and fitting tribute to the great entertainer and popular music icon Michael Jackson who passed away on June 25th at the age of 50. His greatest music videos from the late-70s and 80s will be shown in the cinema (and cranked up loud). We’ll also show excerpts of a 1968 performance of the Jackson 5, his performance in the 1978 musical ‘The Wiz,’ the unavailable 1983 documentary “The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” and the 1983 TV performance that introduced the “moonwalk.” Refreshments will be available in the cinema, and all ages are welcome. Join us raising a glass to the one and only King of Pop, seeing Michael’s moves in action, and shaking a behind to the music that moved the world.

2009 marks the 25th anniversary of Prince's Purple Rain and lots of people will be (rightly) making a big stink about it. Having lived through that time, I can attest that Purple Rain was a one-of-a-kind, culture-dominating explosion: The album was #1 for six months straight, the film earned $70 million at the box office, and best of all, the whole thing was powered by great, progressive art. (If the U.S. has ever had a more artistically ambitious #1 single than "When Doves Cry," I'll eat Prince's old hips.)

Which brings us to the point of this post, made possible by the good folks at Spin, who are devoting a good chunk of their July issue to commemorating Purple Rain, most notably with Purplish Rain, a full album of Purple Rain covers that will be available as a free download for Spin readers and subscribers. Find the full track-and-cover-artist listing for Purplish Rain here, and while you're there, do yourself a favor and check out the amazing preview track, in which lifelong Prince lover Greg Dulli and onscreen Prince lover Appollonia make something new and beautiful of Purple Rain's and indeed Prince's greatest song.

See the times/dates here.

Update: I now know the difference between death metal and black metal. Thank you.

The book is about a kid named Tom Henderson who fantasizes about being in a band and absolutely HATES Holden Caulfield. It's a fun read, and a film adaptation could be a really smart, funny, and good thing. According to punknews.org, the book was optioned in 2006 by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay but now, Dr. Frank has updated the progress, saying:

"...a new deal was reached just this week. The King Dork movie: it lives. This time around it is Sony Pictures. Same producers (Gary Sanchez.) Seth Gordon, the guy who did King of Kong, is attached to direct. This doesn't necessarily mean it'll get made but it is way more likely than it was last month.

This is great news. If Seth Gordon did King Dork, it could be every bit as awkward and charming and weird as it should be. My fingers are crossed.

Right after [Blood's solo album] “The Way We Live” was mastered, I started writing new songs for another album. I was, for some reason, inspired to write about some of my favorite figures in 70’s pornography and for a while considered making the album entirely about porno. This proved to be more difficult than I had expected, but in the spirit of a challenge, I did a lot of research.

In my viewings of good, bad, straight, gay, boring, and nasty porno from it’s “Golden Age”, I found a little film called “Gladys’ All Girl Rock Group” on a compilation of no budget Super 8 flicks all involving rock music called Rock-O-Rama. The content was nostalgic at best, but not really inspiring by any sense of the word, but there amid the silly dialogue and forced eroticism was this brilliant piece of music.

He's been unable to find out any details regarding this music. If you have any information about it, please let us know in the comments.

If you're in the mood for more onscreen metal, get yourself to the Neptune Theater, which is hosting a one-night-only screening of Iron Maiden: Flight 666.

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 is a full-length documentary film shot as the band embarked on their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in February and March of 2008, considered to be the most ambitious and adventurous tour in rock history. The band flew in a specially customized Boeing 757 airliner, piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson, to 23 sold-out stadium and arena shows in Asia, Australia and North, Central and South America, travelling 50,000 miles and performing to almost half a million fans. Flight 666 gives a close up, inside-the-scenes look at what happened on and off stage, when the band gave full access to a film crew for the first time ever, and contains some of the most spectacular live footage yet seen of Maiden.

You know what I love? A bunch of surly metal dudes answering to the name "Maiden."

Film starts at 8 pm, full info here.

While there seems to be sufficient buzz surrounding the documentary, Anvil! The Story Of Anvil, I thought I'd give an additional nudge, just for good measure.

I caught it yesterday, and will say simply that it's more than worthy of everyone's time and consideration.

Upon exiting the theater, I heard a movie-goer emphatically confirm his love of the film by saying to his friend, "that movie &#@*-ing rocked". Aside from unknowingly playing to my love of puns, he was spot &@#(-ing on.

Get there! You'll be glad you did.

Future showings at Gainsbourg include West Way to the World (about the Clash) and Benjamin Smoke (directed by Jem Cohen).

The Northwest Film Forum is screening Wilco’s new concert film Ashes of American Flags tonight and tomorrow at 8pm. An added bonus: the film is directed by Burn To Shine directors Cristoph Green and Brendan Canty (also of Fugazi). In the meantime, check out this clip from their show at Marymoore Park back in 2007, and be sure to at least watch til the 1:45 mark.