Wednesday Video Spotlight: “The Hunger Games” cast interviews
“Hunger Games” Week continues here at BAM’s Blog, where we’re counting down the minutes until the opening of one of the most anticipated films of the year at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
In this Wednesday Video Spotlight, check out these cast interviews with members of the cast of “The Hunger Games,” including Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and Wes Bentley.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: “Hunger Games” soundtrack contributors The Secret Sisters
It’s “Hunger Games” Week here on BAM’s Blog, and the excitement for the movie continues with today’s eagerly awaited release of the soundtrack “The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond.”
Produced by 12-time Grammy-winning soundtrack guru T Bone Burnett, the album features an eclectic lineup of 17 new and exclusive tracks by many of music’s top artists, including Tishomingo country music star Miranda Lambert and her Pistol Annies, Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, Arcade Fire, Kid Cudi, Maroon 5, The Decemberists and more.
I had the chance to talk to vintage country-folk duo Secret Sisters about contributing to the soundtrack. Look for my interview with them as well as my review of the soundtrack Friday here at BAM’s Blog, on NewsOK and in the Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
In the meantime, check out a few tracks that demonstrate the beautiful close harmonies and lovely old-fashioned sensibilities that real-life sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers of Muscle Shoals, Ala., bring to their music as The Secret Sisters. With their “Hunger Games” soundtrack contribution, the mournful but hopeful shuffle “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder,” I doubt The Secret Sisters will stay secret for very long.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: “The Muppets” “Hunger Games” parody trailer
In honor of Tuesday’s release of “The Muppets” on DVD and Blu-ray, the lovably witty felt friends have released a new parody trailer titled “Feel the Hunger.”
The trailer is spoofing this week’s hotly anticipated release of “The Hunger Games,” the first book based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling dystopian trilogy.
Since it’s “Hunger Games Week” here on BAM’s Blog, enjoy the Muppets’ latest hilarious parody.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Oscar winner Bret McKenzie and the music of The Flight of the Conchords
For the second straight year, the Oscars gave me a giddy thrill as a music fan.
Back in 2011, I got a kick out of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame suddenly becoming Oscar winner Trent Reznor for his work on “The Social Network” score.
And last month, I couldn’t help laughing as Bret McKenzie, one half of the ridiculously witty folk-comedy duo The Flight of the Conchords, became an Oscar winner for writing “Man or Muppet,” the existential power ballad theme from “The Muppets.” Being able to call the New Zealand singer/songwriter/musician Oscar winner Bret McKenzie pretty much offset my annoyance that the Academy couldn’t come up with more than two nominees in the best original song category.
Check out these clips of McKenzie and his musical partner Jemaine Clement performing live or on their HBO show “The Flight of the Conchords,” which aired two seasons from 2007-09, and just remember that one of these guys has actually won an Oscar. (“Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring” is a particular favorite, since McKenzie has appeared as an elf extra in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Return of the King” and is set to reprise the role, which has since been given the name Lindir, in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” due in theaters Dec. 14.)
To compare these songs with some of McKenzie’s work on “The Muppets,” click here. To read my new feature on McKenzie, click here.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Bret McKenzie and the music of “The Muppets”
With the help of Bret McKenzie, the Muppets have new songs on their lips and a new place in the cultural consciousness.
Half of the folk-comedy duo The Flight of the Conchords, McKenzie, 35, served as music supervisor on the characters’ newest movie, “The Muppets,” writing or co-writing four original songs, including the Oscar-winning power ballad “Man or Muppet.”
“The Muppets,” which debuted on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, was the first film for the lovably witty band of felt friends since 1999′s largely ignored “Muppets from Space.” And thanks to McKenzie’s existential anthem, it is the first of the franchise to earn an Academy Award.
In this Video Spotlight, check out a couple of song clips from “The Muppets,” and to read my new feature on McKenzie, click here.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Oklahoma City Museum of Art celebrating 10th anniversary with free admission, special film events
![Family Day [10th anniversary celebration] Oklahoma City, OK](http://partners.wimgo.com/event/258745/medium.gif)
This weekend, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the grand opening of its Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center. Admission to the museum will be free Friday-Sunday.
In addition, the museum will mark the occasion with three days of events, including kindie rock concerts, story times, magic shows, puppet performances, free film screenings, hands-on art-making activities and gallery talks inside an array of special exhibitions.
Check out my preview feature about the celebration by clicking here.
In this Wednesday Video Spotlight, OKC Museum of Art CEO Glen Gentele talks to NewsOK about the museum’s programs and impact on the community.
Also, check out trailers and clips from some of the movie the museum will be showing for free this weekend. On Friday, I’ll have much more on the film portion of this weekend’s anniversary celebration.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Samantha Crain “The Last Stanchion Goes Belly Up”
Shawnee singer-songwriter Samantha Crain plays “The Last Stanchion Goes Belly Up” in at Magic Mark’s in Tulsa in this installment from the “Be Nice to Your Kids,” a video series from Oklahoma City’s Delo Creative.
“The Last Stanchion Goes Belly Up” is one of the story-songs on Crain’s 2008 EP “The Confiscation,” which made my top 10 list for that year.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Greyson Chance pays tribute to Frank Sinatra
Edmond singer/songwriter/pianist Greyson Chance, 14, covers Frank Sinatra’s classic standard “My Way” (from “Sinatra: Best of the Best”) in this Wednesday Video Spotlight.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: The songs of the Sherman Brothers
As previously reported, Robert B. Sherman, who with his brother Richard M. Sherman composed scores for many Disney films including “The Jungle Book,” ”The Aristocats,” ”Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” died Tuesday in his adopted home of London, according to The Associated Press.
Over their long and prolific career, the Sherman Brothers won two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s 1964 smash “Mary Poppins” — best score and best song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” They also picked up a Grammy for best movie or TV score, according to the AP.
They also earned the distinction of coining one of the longest and most tongue-twisting words ever with “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
Their hundreds of credits as joint lyricist and composer also include the films “Winnie the Pooh,” ”The Slipper and the Rose,” ”Snoopy Come Home,” ”Charlotte’s Web” and “The Magic of Lassie.” Their Broadway musicals included 1974′s “Over Here!” and stagings of “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in the mid-2000s.
The brothers’ awards included 23 gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They became the only Americans ever to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for “Tom Sawyer” in 1973 and were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2005. President George W. Bush awarded them the National Medal of Arts in 2008.
They wrote more than 150 songs at Disney, including the soundtracks for such films as “The Sword and the Stone,” ”The Parent Trap,” ”Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” and “The Tigger Movie.”
Their “It’s a Small World (After All)” has become one of the most translated and performed songs on the planet. It plays on a continual, multilingual loop every few minutes at Disney theme parks across the world — a fact that Disney employees are only too well aware of.
“We’ve driven teenagers crazy in every language,” quipped Robert Sherman.
In this Wednesday Video Spotlight, check out just a few of the Sherman Brothers’ songs:
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Neal McCoy’s “A-OK”
On Tuesday, country singer Neal McCoy released his 12th album, appropriately titled “XII.”
Last spring, the fun-loving honky-tonk singer got a solid shot of positive publicity when country music power couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert invited him to perform at their star-studded wedding.
The Tishomingo pair subsequently accepted the 1990s hitmaker’s invitation to co-produce “XII,” McCoy’s first record of original material since 2005′s “That’s Life.”
Shelton and Lambert, who co-produced “XII” with guitarist Brent Rowan, provide backing vocals on the first single, the bouncy earworm “A-OK.” An irresistible sing-along about putting aside your troubles and taking a positive point of view, “A-OK” also opens “XII.”
Look for my full review of “A-OK” in the coming days here on BAM’s Blog, on NewsOK and in the Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
-BAM
