Trailer of the Week: Billy Elliot

Before Kurt Hummel caught crap for being a boy in the glee club, there was Billy Elliot.

Billy Elliot is about a boy who just wants to dance. Of course, everyone assumes there’s something wrong with him.

Unlike Black Swan, this is a ballet movie that won’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.

The film is set during the 1984–1985 UK miners’ strike, and centres on the character of 11-year-old Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell), his love of dance, and his hope to become a professional ballet dancer. Billy lives with his widowed father, Jackie (Gary Lewis), older brother, Tony (Jamie Draven), and his invalid Nan (Jean Heywood), who once aspired to be a professional dancer. Both Jackie and Tony are coal miners out on strike.

Jackie takes Billy to the Sports Centre to learn boxing, but Billy dislikes the sport. He is instead drawn to a ballet class that is using the gym while their usual basement studio in the Sports Centre is temporarily being used as a soup kitchen for striking miners.

Unknown to Billy’s father, he joins the ballet class. When Jackie discovers this after the boxing coach mentions Billy’s absence, he forbids Billy to take any more ballet. But, passionate about dancing, Billy secretly continues his lessons with his dance teacher Georgia Wilkinson’s help.

Jackie sees Billy dancing and realizes his son is gifted.

In the end, Billy is accepted by his family as they watch him perform the lead in Swan Lake.

According to Hollywood, that’s the only ballet that exists.

Billy Elliot won several UK Independent Film Awards and was nominated for three Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Julie Walters).

The song is Book of Days by Enya.

Soundtrack of the Week: Rocky Horror Picture Show

Being covered on Glee does not necessarily make you a great artist.

However, the Rocky Horror Picture Show deserved its day in prime time.

Adapted from a British musical stageplay by Richard O’Brien, the film introduced Tim Curry and features Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick along with cast members from the original Kings Road production presented at the Royal Court Theatre, London. In its day it was a highly provocative, though comedic, portrayal of gay and transgender culture, a symbol of LGBT themes, as well as for sexual quirks.

It gained notoriety as a midnight movie in 1977 when audiences began participating with the film in theaters. Rocky Horror is the first film from a major Hollywood studio to be in the midnight movie market.

The soundtrack was released as The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Music From The Motion Picture in 1975.

The world record for number of people performing the “Time Warp” at one time was broken at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval on October 31st/November 1st 2010. The number was 8, 239.

It’s just a jump to the left…

Gleek the Halls

The “Glee” version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” topped the digital track sales chart last week, the best any “Glee” tune has done so far.

Now there are two new soundtracks available. Read their track listings after the jump. …

The release order of the two albums seems backwards but for some reason the “Glee” Christmas album is already available while the shows “Volume 4″ soundtrack won’t be out until next Tuesday.

The Christmas album includes music from the show’s Christmas episode, scheduled to air Dec. 7.

The full track listing for  “Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album” is:

1. We Need A Little Christmas
2. Deck The Rooftop
3. Merry Christmas Darling
4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
5. The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year
6. Last Christmas
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. O Christmas Tree
9. Jingle Bells
10. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
11. Angels We Have Heard On High
12. O Holy Night

As for the show’s fourth soundtrack, it includes tunes from the first half of the show’s second season, including the hit “Teenage Dream” performed by new cast member Darren Criss.

The full track listing for “Glee: The Music, Volume 4″ is:

1. Empire State Of Mind
2. Billionaire
3. Me Against The Music
4. Stonger
5. Toxic
6. The Only Exception
7. I Wanna Hold Your Hand
8. One Of Us
9. River Deep, Mountain High
10. Lucky
11. One Love
12. Teenage Dream
13. Forget You
14. Marry You
15. Sway
16. Just The Way You Are
17. Valerie
18. (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life

I’ve written about the “Glee” soundtracks in the past and somehow missed a disc from the show’s Halloween episode. “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” was released in October.

 

Glee surpasses Beatles on Billboard Top 100

The cast of “Glee” broke one of The Beatles’ longest-standing records in the history of the Billboard music charts. The singing and dancing misfits passed the Liverpool lads’ old mark for “most appearances among non-solo acts.” After releasing five Britney Spears covers and their rendition of Paramore’s “The Only Exception” on October 7, the glee club will have seventy-five entries on the Billboard “Hot 100,” eclipsing the fab four’s old mark of seventy-one.

On the Hot 100 list dated October 16, the cast’s remake of Britney’s “Toxic” will rank as the hottest selling debut, claiming sixteenth place on the chart and boasting 109,000 downloads during its first week on the music sites. In Billboard’s survey of digital music, “Toxic” will jump onto the list at #9. Together, the six new pieces have sold more than 405,000 downloads. Sales slightly exceeded forecasters’ predictions but surprised no one in the wake of the show’s record-shattering Britney Spears-themed episode, which aired September 28 and owned the night in every demographic in the Nielsen ratings.

According to the Associated Press, “Elvis Presley still leads overall with 108 songs to chart on the Hot 100. He’s followed by James Brown with 91, then ‘Glee’. The Beatles are sixth, behind Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Elton John, Lil Wayne, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z round out the Top 10.”

Although no one doubts the Gleesters’ talent and universal appeal, pop pundits credit not only “Glee” cast’s powerful performance of the pop princess’s greatest hits but also the permanent appeal of Britney Spears’s music. No matter how the paparazzi and press have harassed and harangued the beleaguered Spears, she has continued to sell millions of records and sell-out her concerts. Tweeters saw living proof of Britney’s persistent appeal, driving Twitter traffic off the top of the meter when she sent her best wishes to “Glee” during the west coast broadcast of their tribute episode. Experts also credit technology with “Glee’s” quick rise to chart dominance: The internet can bring songs to market at the speed of light; vinyl presses turned out records at glacial speed by comparison.

Glee dominates Emmy nominations

“Glee” has picked up 19 Emmy noms, including Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Morrison, and Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Lea Michele.

“30 Rock” has won the category the last three years and is nominated again this year. Another big contender in the comedy category is “Modern Family”. We’ll see if “Glee” or “Modern Family” can knock out the reigning champ.

“Saturday Night Live” was nominated for 12 Emmys this season and has now surpassed “ER” as the most nominated show. “SNL” has been nominated for 126 Emmys in its 35 year run.

While the late night talk show battle has cooled, the Emmys have given Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” received a nomination for Best Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. Jay Leno and David Lettermen were left out of the category.

Here’s the full list.

Glee, Twilight, and Soundtracks on the Charts

The finale of Glee is a week gone, but that doesn’t mean we have forgotten our favorite high school misfits. On iTunes, the Journey to Regionals (pun intended) album features six songs from the finale including Journey’s “Faithfully”, “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the mash-up of “Any Way You Want It/Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’”.

Glee: The Music Vol. 3 is currently ranked 12th in albums on iTunes. This is the Deluxe addition with 20 songs vs. the poor man’s version that only has 14 tracks. Before you decide, keep in mind that Deluxe has both songs that Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel did for the show, while the regular version does not.

Meanwhile, holdout Coldplay has granted the Glee producers use of their catalogue for the show. It seems that Coldplay and Bryan Adams have so far been the only holdouts for the show.

If you are wondering if the score for Glee will be released, there is no word on that yet, but the vocals are provided by the Swingle Singers, who have several albums available for purchase. They have appeared on other soundtracks including Thank You for Smoking and Milk.

Also muscling its way into the Top Albums on iTunes is The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. Currently ranked 9th, the soundtrack features an original song by MUSE written exclusively for the soundtrack.