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Has there ever been a more perfect match for a movie soundtrack than Daft Punk and "Tron: Legacy"? Certainly there are few collaborative efforts that have received as much fan excitement as this one. Daft Punk is going to be involved in a good portion of the "Tron: Legacy" promotional efforts as the days tick down until the film's December 17 release, and that explains why the latest trailer is really a music video for one of the 24 songs on the "Tron: Legacy" soundtrack, "Derezzed."

The only new scene in the trailer is a shot of the Daft Punk duo, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, in their cameo as disc jockeys at a nightclub within the digital world. And those costumes that they're wearing aren't even costumes, but just the typical outfits that Daft Punk wear during all their performances. So, has there ever been a soundtrack and film so perfectly matched for one another? Check out a handful of our recent favorites after the jump! Read more...

Tags Away We Go, Daft Punk, Karen O, marilyn manson, Resident Evil, robert pattinson, The Social Network, the twilight saga, Trent Reznor, Tron Legacy, Video, where the wild things are

2009 was a year of delights at the movies. The list below testifies to that. It doesn't rival '07 when two examples of virtual moviemaking perfection were released--namely "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" but '09 may have been filled with as many unexpectedly joyful film going experiences as I can remember in a single calendar year.

From sitting in the first public screening of what should have been a forgetful and frivolous romantic comedy on a frigid night in Park City (see #8) to being flabbergasted by the inventiveness of a would-be sci-fi auteur (whose name I couldn't spell or pronounce at the time, see #7) for 112 riveting minutes. Franchises were reborn. Genres were injected with new life. Stephen Sommers made a watchable film called "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra." Young filmmakers came of age. And one mad genius with the heart of a pussycat and 300 million at his disposal opened our eyes once more to how a night at the movies can make us feel.

THE TOP TEN (er ELEVEN) Read more...

Tags 500 days of summer, A Serious Man, An Education, Anvil, avatar, Bright Star, district 9, inglorious basterds, star trek, up in the air, where the wild things are

1. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" ($21.3 million)
2. "Paranormal Activity" ($16.5 million)
3. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($7.3 million)
3. "Couples Retreat" ($6.1 million)
5. "Saw VI" ($5.6 million)

Would-be moviegoers opted for a weekend filled with trick-or-treating, costume partying and other similar shenanigans in celebration of Saturday night's Halloween, with a select few heading into movie theaters as a way to embrace the holiday. But it wasn't the ghost and slasher-heavy horror flicks that won the weekend — instead, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" commanded the box office with a $21.3 million first place finish. Read more...

Tags couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Paranormal Activity, saw vi, where the wild things are

1. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" ($7.9 million)
2. "Paranormal Activity" ($6.1 million)
3. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($2.42 million)
4. "Couples Retreat" ($2.38 million)
5. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($1.9 million)

There are ghosts and serial killers aplenty in movie theaters this Halloween weekend, but it appears that moviegoers are looking to celebrate the haunted festivities with none other than Michael Jackson.

The deceased pop sensation is the subject of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the Sony distributed documentary chronicling Jackson's rehearsals for a massive concert series that never came to pass due to his death. "This Is It" unsurprisingly wound up in first place on Friday evening with $7.9 million, which brings the film's cumulative total to $19.1 million since its opening last Wednesday — but the Jackson documentary hasn't moonwalked all the way to the bank, certainly not in the way that Sony and concert promoter AEG had expected. Read more...

Tags couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Paranormal Activity, where the wild things are

FROM MTV.COM: It has been seven years since filmmaker Spike Jonze released a feature, but now he's suddenly flooding the market with content. In addition to the recently released "Where the Wild Things Are," Jonze also just premiered "We Were Once a Fairytale," a short film starring Kanye West and featuring the 808s & Heartbreak track "See You in My Nightmares." The film, which surfaced online on West's official blog last week (only to be taken down), casts the rapper as a troubled, chemical-addled star who goes to the bathroom at a club to exorcise his demons, only to literally pull a small beast out of his chest. It's a graphic, surreal, dreamlike production — one that fits both director and star perfectly.

"We rehearsed the night before we shot, and talked about trying to get to that raw place, that sad, pathetic, drunken, lost place," Jonze told The New York Times. "I told him the more shameless it is, the more pathetic it is, the better. He just went for it."

Continue reading Kanye West 'Just Went For It' In 'We Were Once A Fairytale,' Spike Jonze Says

Tags kanye west, spike jonze, We Were Once a Fairytale, where the wild things are

1. "Paranormal Activity" ($22 million)
2. "Saw VI" ($14.8 million)
3. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($14.4 million)
4. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($12.7 million)
5. "Couples Retreat" ($11.1 million)

Aside from the Ghostbusters themselves, it's hard to imagine a force powerful enough to topple "Paranormal Activity," the independently financed and created horror film from director Oren Peli. Now with its largest theater count to date at 1,945, "Paranormal" has finally ascended to the top spot at the box office with a $22 million weekend finish. Read more...

Tags astro boy, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Paranormal Activity, saw vi, where the wild things are

1. "Paranormal Activity" ($7.6 million)
2. "Saw VI" ($7 million)
3. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($4.4 million)
4. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($4.1 million)
5. "Couples Retreat" ($3.7 million)

T'was the weekend before Halloween and all through Hollywood, not a feature was stirring — except for "Paranormal Activity," the slow-boiling low-budget horror flick that has shocked-and-awed both moviegoers and box office watch dogs. For the first time since its September release, "Paranormal" debuted in the number one spot with a $7.6 million intake on Friday, heralding a potential $21 million weekend according to Deadline Hollywood Daily's best projections. Read more...

Tags astro boy, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Paranormal Activity, saw vi, where the wild things are

1. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($32.5 million)
2. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($21.3 million)
3. "Paranormal Activity" ($20.3 million)
4. "Couples Retreat" ($17.9 million)
5. "The Stepfather" ($12.3 million)

The wild rumpus was in full swing at the box office this weekend as "Where The Wild Things Are," the Spike Jonze-directed adaptation of Maurice Sendak's much-beloved children's book, decisively outgrossed the competition for a first place finish. "Wild Things" managed a $32.5 million intake by Sunday's conclusion, which wasn't quite as high as what some watchdogs thought the film might earn, but it's not a bad start towards earning back its $80 million budget. Read more...

Tags Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Paranormal Activity, The Stepfather, where the wild things are, zombieland

1. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($12 million)
2. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($7.7 million)
3. "Paranormal Activity" ($6.6 million)
4. "Couples Retreat" ($5.8 million)
5. "The Stepfather" ($4.3 million)

I know where the wild things are, and apparently so do many of you as the Spike Jonze-directed "Where The Wild Things Are" captured the box office crown on its opening day yesterday. The monster-filled epic, which features the voices of James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker, earned $12 million on Friday much to the surprise of box office analysts. Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that the film was expected to make only $30 million at best this weekend, but the excellent Friday night performance could lead the picture straight past $38 million. Read more...

Tags couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Paranormal Activity, The Stepfather, where the wild things are

FROM MTV.COM: Anyone wanting to turn Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" into a movie must face a steep challenge. The 1963 book — esteemed as a classic for ... I guess "kids of all ages" would be the term — is only 48 pages long, and consists largely of Sendak's cozy-strange illustrations; there's very little text. So to assist in plumping up this story for a 90-minute film, director Spike Jonze brought in writer Dave Eggers, who last lent his alt-lit touch to the languid "Away We Go." The result is a picture whose pleasures are almost entirely visual. The dialogue gets some energetic spin from the actors involved, but — no surprise — there's too much of it, and it wears you down.

The story, for those who may have forgotten, or never known, concerns a little boy named Max. In the movie as in the book, Max (played wonderfully well by newcomer Max Records) is a handful. He's raucous and needy in the usual little-boy manner, and is constantly being fobbed off to go play alone by his single mom (Catherine Keener), who's preoccupied with her job, and by his older sister (Pepita Emerichs), who's preoccupied with being a teenager. After pitching a fit in the kitchen one night, Max runs off into the nearby woods, where he wanders for a while before coming upon a small boat pulled up on a beach. Climbing aboard, he sails away in search of a more agreeable life.

Continue reading 'Where The Wild Things Are': Fretting Zoo, By Kurt Loder

Tags catherine keener, Dave Eggers, Maurice Sendak, Max records, spike jonze, where the wild things are