So long*

Yep.

MOVIE FILTER for the week

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes reviewed and more at 225.

Your mind is the scene of the crime

I've often thought that a movie about where ideas physiologically come from would be pretty cool (and maybe a little creepy), and now writer-director Christopher Nolan is following The Dark Knight with Inception, a film all about stealing ideas before others can successfully execute them. I saw the trailer for Inception in front of Sherlock Holmes on Saturday, and now the mind-bending clip is online right here.

With a cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy, this should be outstanding.

Science fiction gets smarter next summer. Can't wait.

SUB QUESTION: Long before Inception was cast, Cotillard and Levitt were both widely rumored/discussed for roles in a third Nolan Batman film as Catwoman and The Joker (in place of the late Heath Ledger). Now both have worked with Nolan. Could both or either of these actors appear in his next Batman movie? If not, who would you like to see?

Lost Gems: Harry Nilsson edish

One of the most heart-tugging ballads of the 1970s, yet never heard on classic rock radio, Harry Nilsson's nostalgic and tragic "Don't Forget Me" is as gorgeously rendered as piano pop can get. Released on 1974's Pussycats, an album that was produced by longtime friend John Lennon (Nilsson is seen above wrestling with the ex-Beatle) after Nilsson had ruptured his usually silky vocal chords, the record stands alone in Nilsson's catalog as a piece of old ragged glory. Despite several stunning tracks including the Lennon duet "Many Rivers to Cross" (a cousin to Lennon's own Walls and Bridges hit "#9 Dream") the record is bizzarely out of print.

The Walkmen thought Pussycats was good enough to cover completely, and their version of "Don't Forget Me" is one of the highlights of that hit-or-miss effort.

My wholly incomplete and unrepentantly biased list of the Top 25 Films of the '00s*

Dig it.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
2. Almost Famous (2000)
3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
4. All The Real Girls (2003)
5. Traffic (2000)
6. There Will Be Blood (2008)
7. Children of Men (2006)
8. City of God (2002)
9. The Dark Knight (2008)
10. High Fidelity (2000)

11. Memento (2000)
12. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
13. Adaptation (2002)
14. Mulholland Drive (2001)
15. Half Nelson (2006)
16. Brick (2005)
17. Lost in Translation (2003)
18. No End in Sight (2007)
19. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
20. Thank You For Smoking (2005)
21. Closer (2004)
22. Best in Show (2000)
23. Michael Clayton (2007)
24. Wall-E (2008)
25. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

*This list is inherently incomplete as there are several films from this fall/winter (many of them already award winners) that I have yet to see.

New Music Video: Rebecca Roubion "Free"

"Free" is one of those perfectly balanced piano pop songs from Rebecca Roubion, and it will get stuck in your head if you're not careful. I was fortunate enough to work with her on her brand new music video. With invaluable help and creativity from Lawles Bourque at Mammoth Visual, I think it turned out really well. Let me know what you think.

Next month Rebecca is heading to Nashville to become a big star. Good luck friend!

Free Mix Tape: Phrase and Fable

After getting a lot of great feedback about our Thrifty Christmas Mix from New Orleans to Birmingham to NYC, I thought it would be nice to put together something fun as a thank-you to everyone who has been a regular reader of Media, Darling in 2009. I didn't really have big plans or high hopes for this blog when it launched almost a year ago, but I always thought it'd be cool if whoever followed it heard about some quality music and movies they may not have otherwise. In that spirit, we present Phrase and Fable, a unique mix tape of sweet tunes from the past year that may have flown in under the radar and a couple classics that deserve a new listen, too. Download it for free right here, and enjoy!

PHRASE AND FABLE

SIDE 1
1. Nothing I Ever Imagined – DEAD MELLOTRON
2. Little Bird Courage – OLD CANES
3. Doctor (Five Discs cover) – ATLAS SOUND
4. Little Boxes – JENNY LEWIS AND JOHNATHAN RICE
5. Friendly Ghost – HARLEM
6. Love is a Dirty Word – JASON COLLETT
7. 5 Years Time (live) – NOAH AND THE WHALE
8. Bring it on Home to Me (Sam Cooke cover) – BRITT DANIEL

SIDE 2
9. Catch a Falling Star – FRANCOISE HARDY
10. Love is Strange (demo) – BUDDY HOLLY
11. The Wolves {Act 1 and II} (Bon Iver cover) – ELLIE GOULDING
12. The Mightiest of Guns (live) – A.A. BONDY
13. Bird – SCOTT BRABSON
14. She Loves You (Beatles cover) – GIANMARCO CILLI
15. Let Her Dance – THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR