New Springsteen Documentary Coming

It's called Springsteen and I and is set for release next month.  Here's a trailer.  (Thanks, John!)

Better Sound Coming to Movie Theatres

It takes a lot to get me off my couch and away from my home theatre system.  I have a 50-inch TV, a 5.1 sound system with a big subwoofer in a great room right off the kitchen (very important) and a few steps away from a powder room (also very important).  With Blu-ray, on-demand HD, Apple TV and Netflix, it's a pretty comfortable way to enjoy movies.

Sure, I don't get the communal experience of seeing a first-run movie on a big screen.  But I also don't like paying $15 for a Coke and some popcorn.  

And I'm not alone.  Something has to be done to reverse a decline in movie attendance.  But what? Maybe the answer lies in sound.

Movie audio has improved a lot over the last couple of decades, thanks to the work by Industrial Light and Magic (THX) and Dolby Labs.  But to my ears, all this has done is make the explosions in Michael Bay movies louder and more rumbly (not that I'd EVER see a Michael Bay movie, mind...)

Dolby's new product is call Atmos, which involves a technology that allows as many as 128 different sounds to be placed anywhere in a theatre without the need to add extra speakers.  It's said to also be much more effective in conveying subtle sounds (think rustling leaves or a delicate piece of music) as well as making dialogue easier to hear.

Check out the full story at USA Today.

Father's Day Watching: The Other F Word

See if you can find this documentary on punk rock fathers somewhere.  Dad will love it.

Feature on the Upcoming Documentary U2 BROTHR

Full disclosure: I appear in this film about Mark Baker although I've yet to see it.  Start with the trailer and then move on to an intertivew with director Michael Corbiere at Toronto Film Scene.

Plenty of documentaries have been created to showcase some of the worlds biggest bands, but how often do we get the chance to follow their biggest fans? Director Michael Corbiere knew he had the perfect fan to follow, his friend Mark Baker. Mark is a huge fan of U2, even building a ‘shrine’ to the band in his basement. After winning a car in a contest held at the radio station 102.1 The Edge, Mark’s girlfriend bought him a personalized license plate that reads U2BROTHR. Easily one of the biggest U2 fans around, Mark received plenty of friendly teasing from Michael, but Mark’s passion for the band, and his dream of being pulled up on stage during a U2 concert, was the building block for Michael’s documentary, U2 Brothr. Toronto Film Scene had a chance to speak with Michael about his film, his friendship with Mark, and what the future holds for the director.

Toronto Film Scene: First of all, what made you want to tell Mark’s story?

Michael Corbiere: Mark is just that one-in-a-million type of character that anyone would consider themselves lucky to be friends with.  His unwavering positive attitude is so out-of-this-world, people always see something special in him instantly.  His energy attracts all these great things, and events, towards him, that he’s become a living testament that karma is real.  I wish I could say that I instantly knew I should tell his story in a film, but it was only after so many special things just kept happening to him month to month, year to year, that I finally had my eureka moment. I mean really, how many people win a car, and then have a rock superstar sit on the hood and pose with you for a photo shoot?

Read on.  

In Movie News, Jagger: The Movie and Mercury: The Doc

Martin Scorsese is a fan of two things:  the mob and the Rolling Stones.  It looks like his next project will be as executive producer of some kind of rock'n'roll-based drama for HBO with his two partners, once of whom is Mick Jagger.

The as-yet-untitled show (it once had the working title History of Music, but no more) will follow the life of a cocaine-powered New York record excecutive back in 1977 when rock, punk, pop, R&B, funk. disco and New Wave were all colliding. Throw in an little super-early hip hop and you've got a pretty good stew.

Now that the psychotic Gyp Rosetti, Bobby Cannavale's character on Boardwalk Empire has been killed off (and Nurse Jackie can't take up that much of his time), Bobby is looking for work.  He's been tapped to play Richie Finestra, a semi-psychotic A&R guy at the fictional American Century Music.

The project has been in the works for years and it's apparently based on an idea dreamed up by Jagger. Terrence Winter, who has done a ton of work on Boardwalk Empire, is also involved.  More at The Hollywood Reporter.

In other movie news, a documentary on Freddie Mercury entitled The Great Pretender won a big award in Brussels the other night.  Read more here.

And finally, Johnny Depp seems determined to make a movie about Keith Richards which has the working title Happy.  We'll see.