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Van Morrison At The Movies: Soundtrack Hits

SOLISTA EN INGLES

If Hollywood's marriage with pop music is too often a marketing-driven shotgun affair, there remain musicians whose artistry can't help but elevate whatever film project they're associated with. This 19-track compendium underscores that notion, gathering a career-spanning collection of the Irish rock-R&B legend's contributions to an eclectic body of films that stretches from Pope of Greenwich Village's effusive early solo hit "Jackie Wilson Said" to the unlikely live collaboration with Roger Waters on "Comfortably Numb" that seasons Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated The Departed. The collection serves as a concise primer to the high points of Van Morrison's mercurial career, from the gritty career-breakout hits ("Gloria," "Baby Please Don't Go") of his British Invasion band Them through such early solo touchstones as "Wild Night," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Domino," and the collection's fine, previously unreleased live version of "Moondance" from An American Werewolf in London. But, as tracks like "Wonderful Remark," "Bright Side of the Road," "Someone Like You," and his Chieftains collaboration "Irish Heartbeat" ably argue, it's also an invitation to explore less heralded, if equally seductive, corners of the singer's rich oeuvre. --Jerry McCulley
More from Van Morrison

Moondance
Astral Weeks
The Best of Van Morrison
Into the Music

Mar 31-08 Coffee Break with Barbara Stanwyck
I spent a rainy night viewing of the pre-release version of "Baby Face" with Barbara Stanwyck which leads me to note how much creativity the film industry lost when Hollywood enforced the "Production Code" aka "Hays Code" in 1934.

The code stated that films could only present certain things that were explicit, degenerate or unvirtuous if they motivated the plot and were not shown as acceptable behavior. The audience wasn't to view anything deemed immoral.

Baby Face (1933) was one such movie. Many critics at the time thought that Baby Face was "The most depraved film to come out of Hollywood." It is the story of Lily, played by Barbara Stanwyck, who sleeps her way to the top and isn't denounced for her raunchy behavior. The film was scrubbed according to the code and released to the public in 1934 as a far less interesting film.

Between the years of 1929 and 1934, women in Hollywood movies were portrayed as modern. For those years, women in American movies were unrepentant about having a career, divorced, took lovers, had babies out of wedlock, got rid of cheating husbands, and enjoyed their sexuality.

In general almost everything in Hollywood cinema between 1934 and 1968 complied with the code and depicted "good" women in ways very different from those complex ladies of the 30's. In 1968 when the code was no longer in effect, these portrayals began to change in Hollywood. Europe and other film making countries, on the other hand, had maintained broader viewpoints and less restricted "moral" standards throughout the Thirties to the Sixties. No wonder there were so many of us only going to "art house" movies and foreign films. The censorship meant to be a positive force in the building of a strong western society only added to the mediocratizing and stereotyping of the North American culture.

The pre-release version of "Baby Face" I watched this evening belies its age and I recommend it, should you find a pre-release copy.

LORD HELP US

Written, Directed and Edited by Shavar Ross
Producers: Michele Turner, Foster Corder and Alphonso Slater
Associate Producers: Pearl Devers, Danna Kiel, Rhonda Lee, Shawn Harrison and Kim Price
Executive Producers: Jacqueline Ross, Nicholas Turner and Shon Gables

Genre: Inspirational Romantic Comedy

Plot: Sometimes you find romance in places you'd never imagine! In this hilarious romp, unlucky-at-love Kayla and her best buddy Jewels help a recently widowed Baptist minister regain his flock and his life as they battle a scandalous rumor. Starring newcomer Bill Toliver, Nadia Turner (American Idol), Joe Clair (B.E.T.'s Rap City), Debra Wilson (MADtv, Scary Movie 4) and Margaret Avery (The Color Purple) with appearances by Omar Gooding, Al Jarreau, Tico Wells, Sam Sarpong and more, this delicious taste of love, family and friendship will leave you wanting more!

Website: LordHelpUsMovie.com (coming soon)

Stars:
Margaret Avery (Oscar Nominee, The Color Purple)
Nadia Turner (American Idol Top 10 Finalist)
Joe Clair (Comedian, HBO Specials, BET's Rap City)
Debra Wilson (Mad TV, Scary Movie 4 as Oprah Winfrey)
Johnny Brown (Bookman from GoodTimes)
Aloma Wright (Scrubs, Johnson Family Vacation, The Gospel)
Deezer D (ER, CB4, In the Mix)
Sam Sarpong (MTV's Yo Mama, Love Don't Cost A Thing)
Marion Ramsey (Sgt. Laverne Hicks on the Police Academy Movies)
Al Jarreau (Grammy Award Winning Singer)
Tico Wells ("Choirboy" The Five Heartbeats)
Amentha Dymally (Baby Boy)
Silvia Moore (Screen Door Jesus)
and Introducing Bill Toliver

Cameos by:
Omar Gooding
Sy Richardson
Chrystee Pharris

"I'll Be"
TITLE soundtrack by MELBA MOORE and KEVIN WYATT
Produced by Sean and John Dunson for Frame of Mind Entertainment

©2007.A Taste of Us Pictures, LLC.
©2007.Tri-Seven Entertainment.
©2007.Image Entertainment, Inc.

The bay owls came out of their house,
and they sat on the tree and waited.
A big branch for Sarah, a small branch for Percy,
and an old piece of ivy for Bill.

When three baby owls awake one night to find their mother gone, they can't help but wonder where she is. Stunning illustrations from unique and striking perspectives capture the owls as they worry about their mother: What is she doing? When will she be back? What scary things move all around them? Not surprisingly, a joyous flapping and dancing and bouncing greets her return, lending a celebratory tone to the ending of this comforting tale. Never has the plight of young ones who miss their mother been so simply told or so beautifully rendered.