Just Ebook

By the time Cameron Crowe made Singles in 1992, the 35-year-old director was already a decade into his careers second act. A former journalist for Rolling Stone, hed pivoted towards the movies after adapting his book about going undercover at a Los Angeles high school Fast Times at Ridgemont High for the screen in 1982. And his directorial debut, Say Anything.. . (1989), proved that he had a knack for capturing teen spirit. Crowe, however, wanted his audience to grow up with him, so for his follow-up movie, he turned his attention to twentysomethings. Having moved to Seattle in the late Eighties, he began writing a screenplay revolving around several interlocking storylines nestled in the culture he knew intimately: the citys burgeoning music scene. Released 25 years ago today, Singles captured a city and a group of artists on the brink of national stardom. Yes, the characters were fictional but the bands in the film are real, often playing live mini-concerts on set. (Even the ma...

Heres the first major movie of the new year that touches greatness, and damn if there isnt a curse hanging over it. Stop-Loss , directed with ferocity and feeling by Kimberly Peirce ( Boys Dont Cry ), is up against the war raging between audiences and films about Iraq. Box-office casualties last year include Lions for Lambs , Rendition , Redacted , Grace Is Gone and the unfairly scorned In the Valley of Elah . Stop-Loss has the juice to break the jinx. The emotional battlefield on which Peirce paints her canvas strikes a universal chord that transcends politics and preaching. Peirce, who co-wrote the script with Mark Richard, takes us inside the minds and hearts of soldiers who enlisted after 9/11. Why? To get the people who had done this, in the words of Peirce, whose brother joined a unit attached to the 82nd Airborne. At first, Peirce thought of making documentary about the trauma faced by men and women in military service who struggle to re-enter civilian life after duty in Iraq. ...

Sheryl Crow debuted her new song "Easy" last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live , which turned out to be more like Matt Damon Live after the actor tied up Kimmel and took over the show. Wearing a Western blouse worthy of the golden age of Nudie's Rodeo Tailors, Crow strummed an acoustic guitar on the rootsy song, backed by trebly electric guitar licks, pedal steel and rich backing vocals on the chorus. The song is the first single from an upcoming album that Crow is calling her "country debut."

A couple is torn apart by an unspeakable injustice in the powerful first trailer If Beale Street Could Talk . The movie is based on James Baldwins 1974 novel of the same name and the trailer arrives on the late authors birthday. Directed by Moonlight directorBarry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Fonny and Tish, a young couple who are expecting their first child when Fonny is framed for rape. Tish enlists her dysfunctional family to help prove Fonnys innocence and free him from a corrupt system. The trailer is light on plot specifics, but captures the emotional turmoil of the story. Shots of Fonny and Tish together one moment are juxtaposed with footage of them separated by the glass of a prison visitation booth. The trailer is guided by an old audio clip of Baldwin, who says, When I was growing up, I was trying to make a connection between the life I saw and the life I lived. There are days when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your future ...

When Step Brothers director Adam McKay tweeted earlier this week that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly would reprise their characters on a forthcoming rap album, it was reasonable to assume that it was some kind of weird joke. But as it turns out, its a weird joke thats actually happening. McKay has since confirmed the project, tweeting, I wasnt kidding about Step Brothers rap album. And we just found out we have a crazy big time producer. No further details have surfaced. Photos: Hip Hop Royalty In Step Brothers , a deeply strange and generally underrated comedy from 2008, Ferrell and Reilly play grown men who clash when their parents get married. After the two bond, they form a rap duo known as Huff N Doback. Peter Travers Video Review: The X-Files, Step Brothers If you are unfamiliar with Ferrell and Reillys rap style, here is a clip of the two performing their absurd song Boats N Hoes in Step Brothers .

Producer Frances McDormand, a supreme talent who doesnt act in this film version of Laura Lippmans unnerving 2003 mystery novel, had this to say about why she decided to help bring Every Secret Thing to the screen: I wanted to make a movie about a group of irredeemable women, giving her last two words an emphatic snap. Point taken. The movie, directed by documentarian Amy Berg ( Deliver Us From Evil ) from a script by Nicole Holofcener ( Enough Said ), doesnt coddle audiences by giving them much to root for. Maybe thats why reviews for the film have been mixed to worse. I say give this toxic valentine to Mothers Day sentiment a chance. Even when it dawdles too much over forensics and then rushes to wrap things up, Every Secret Thing bristles with a toxic energy that commands attention. Tops among the high-powered cast is the extraordinary Diane Lane, who nails every nuance in the role of Helen Manning, a teacher and single mother who lives with what she believes is her biggest embarr...