For many of us, trailers are half the fun of going to the movies. Thanks to YouTube, there’s no price of admission to watch them. More and more, entertainment brands are promoting trailers on YouTube so fans can view and share them whenever they choose. As people engage with their favorite titles pre- and post-launch across multiple screens, online trailers have become an integral part of entertainment launches today.
The 2012 YouTube Top Trailers Leaderboard celebrates the movie, TV, and gaming trailers that most moved audiences through a winning combination of promotion (paid ads) and popularity (organic views). Combined, they have over 170 million views — proof that great ads can be entertainment that people choose to watch.
Someone Like You’ beats Carly Rae Jepsen and One Direction to the top spot
Karaoke website Lucky Voice has released the 10 most popular songs on their website, which is topped by Adele’s hit single ‘Someone Like You’. Of the 3.1 million songs recorded by LuckyVoice, ‘Someone Like You’ accounts for 7.4 per cent of all plays.
Adele took the lead by a large margin, beating Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ into second place, with the pop earworm accounting for 5.4 per cent of song plays. Meanwhile, ‘That’s What Makes You Beautiful‘ by boy band One Direction finished third. Adele also appears in fourth and sixth position, with ‘Rolling In The Deep‘ and ‘Make You Feel My Love.’ Other artists in the Top 10 include Bon Jovi, Journey and Queen.
The Top 10 most popular songs on luckyvoice.com
1. ‘Someone Like You’ – Adele (7.4 per cent)
2. ‘Call Me Maybe’ – Carly Rae Jepsen (5.4 per cent)
3. ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ – One Direction (4.2 per cent)
4. ‘Rolling In The Deep’ – Adele (4.1 per cent)
5. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Queen (3.7 per cent)
6. ‘Make You Feel My Love’ – Adele (3.6 per cent)
7. ‘Livin’ On A Prayer‘ – Bon Jovi (2.7 per cent)
8. ‘Sexy And I Know It‘ – LMFAO (2.4 per cent)
9. ‘Don’t Stop Believin” – Journey (1.7 per cent)
10. ‘Somebody That I Used To Know‘ – Gotye feat Kimbra (1.6 per cent)
It was quite the unusual year for documentaries. One director made our list twice, with a movie about pop music and a movie about child murder. Possibly reflecting an emerging trend, five of our top 20 docs were made by co-directing teams. Last year’s Academy Award winner Undefeated and nominee Paradise Lost 3saw mainstream release in 2012. Former Academy Award winners and nominees brought us strong, solid offerings—Amy Berg’s West of Memphis, Kevin Macdonald’s Marley, Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa—but still didn’t top our list. That’s because, most unusually (and excitingly) of all, our top three docs of the year were made by new feature filmmakers. And our favorite documentary this year will likely be unfamiliar to most of our readers, but is an absolute must-see. Here are the 20 Best Documentaries of 2012.
20. Under African Skies Director:Joe Berlinger
Joe Berlinger’s fascinating, immersive documentary Under African Skies celebrates the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon’s landmark Graceland album and examines the firestorm of controversy that it ignited.The narrative core of the film is Simon’s 2011 return to South Africa to stage a reunion concert and, most poignantly, a conversation between him and Dali Tambo about their opposing stances 25 years ago and where they find themselves today. To his credit, Berlinger presents all arguments impartially and leaves the viewer to come to his or her own terms with Simon’s motives and actions.—Clay Steakley
19. The Queen of Versailles Director:Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield only meant to take a few pictures of a very wealthy family in the midst of all their opulence. Her subjects were the Siegels—the self-made billionaire, the trophy wife, the eight not-as-maladjusted-as-you-might-think children, the monochromatic menagerie of animals. But once the family began opening up about their lives, the woman behind the camera decided to stick around a little while longer, positing that there might be more to this story than just infinity symbols for account balances. Her perseverance resulted in an alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching cautionary tale about the excesses of the American dream.—Tyler Chase
19. The Queen of Versailles Director: Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield only meant to take a few pictures of a very wealthy family in the midst of all their opulence. Her subjects were the Siegels—the self-made billionaire, the trophy wife, the eight not-as-maladjusted-as-you-might-think children, the monochromatic menagerie of animals. But once the family began opening up about their lives, the woman behind the camera decided to stick around a little while longer, positing that there might be more to this story than just infinity symbols for account balances. Her perseverance resulted in an alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching cautionary tale about the excesses of the American dream.—Tyler Chase
18. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Director: Joe Berlinger
In 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were discovered in a creek in West Memphis, Ark. They were naked and hogtied, and had possibly been sexually mutilated before being murdered. It’s hard to believe that a situation could get any worse from there, but it did. Three teenage boys were put on trial for the crime. None of them had anything to do with it. They might have been victims of the system, had their case not caught the attention of documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. Given that all three of these documentaries draw attention to the institutional problems of our legal system, it only makes sense that the long-awaited outcome would still be frustrating. As much as we would like to hope otherwise, there was never any Hollywood-style perfect happy ending to this case in the picture. This is what Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelly had to settle for: the good enough. There’s a valuable lesson right there.—Dan Schindel
17. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God Director: Alex Gibney
Alex Gibney’s latest film delves into the history of sexual molestation in the Catholic Church as cases began to emerge in the late ’50s. Even though it can be incredibly sad and frustrating, the documentary is able to go beyond the tragedy of these boys’ lost childhoods, using empathy to incite anger, impatience and action in its audience. The lack of answers or rectification for the victims and the church’s attitude of omnipotence and turning a blind eye is enough to move even the most passive viewer to want to dosomething. And it’s that persuasive power that makes Mea Maxima Culpa a great documentary. The film is able to tell these traumatic stories without limiting them to just the impotence of sadness and lack of resolution; it encourages its viewers through history and facts to participate in the same sense of rage and injustice underscored with retributive justice that this group of deaf men so eloquently embody in their stories and interviews.—Emily Kirkpatrick
16. Shut Up and Play the Hits Directors: Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern
A year ago, hundreds of friends and thousands of fans converged on Madison Square Garden for LCDSoundsystem’s farewell performance. All the while, the cameras were rolling, resulting in Shut Up And Play the Hits, a documentary that follows James Murphy and the band in the days leading up to, during and after the tumultuous four-hour farewell. Directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern use a staggering number of cameras and crosscut liberally to provide an experience that’s arguably even better than seeing the band live (okay, maybe not quite that good but…). And the scenes outside the concert footage are equally compelling. —Michael Dunaway/Bo Moore
15. The Waiting Room Director: Peter Nicks
A heart-wrenching wake-up call about the complex problems with our healthcare system in America. Director Peter Nicks chronicles patients who are waiting for treatment in a saftey-net hospital in Oakland, Calif. People living without health insurance talk about their hardships and struggles as they to find relief for their illnesses. A real eye-opener, The Waiting Room beautifully pieces together disparate stories that make us question our current healthcare system, and point us to reform. —Danielle Radin
14. Brooklyn Castle Director: Katie Dellamaggiore
The subject of Brooklyn Castle sounds like the premise for a soppy, Oscar-baiting drama. At I.S. 138 in Brooklyn, New York, a competitive chess program has helped an extraordinary number of lower-income inner city students improve their standings in life. But this documentary is all real, which makes the triumphs and failures of these kids all the more affecting. Featuring a delightful roster of vibrant young people and a timely exploration of how budget cuts are harming extracurricular programs, it may be the best school doc since Resolved_._—Dan Schindel
13. Tchoupitoulas Directors: Bill Ross and Turner Ross
Named for the New Orleans street that traces the Mississippi River from the southern edge of the French Quarter through Uptown, Tchoupitoulas is a lyrical nighttime exploration of the city from the point of view of three brothers who embark on a secret, illicit adventure in the Big Easy. On the heels of Bryan, Kentrell and especially little William Zanders, filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross (who are brothers themselves) dip into the flow of Crescent City nightlife—the revelers, the hustlers, the street preachers and especially the musicians—with a vérité camera, watching and listening, without motive or commentary. The result is less documentary than experience, an immersion in a neighborhood infused with culture and soul.—Annlee Ellingson
12. How To Survive a Plague Director: David France
A New York journalist who has covered the AIDS epidemic for 30 years, first-time filmmaker David France has assembled a superb record of the decade-long fight for a viable treatment protocol and an intimate portrait of the personalities leading the charge. How to Survive is indeed a tale of survival, but the AIDScommunity didn’t get there without a fight—and a steep personal toll. —Annlee Ellingson
11. Bully Director: Lee Hirsch
According to the Department of Education, 13 million children will be bullied this year. Bully profiles five of these victims, including Alex, a 12-year-old seventh grader at East Middle School in Sioux City, Iowa. Alex’s victimization, as well as the well-meaning yet highly ineffectual efforts of school administrators and even his parents to deal with what they don’t fully understand, is caught on tape. Alex is subjected to the foulest of threats and name-calling by his peers. He’s also hit, pushed, poked and stabbed—all on film. Hirsch was able to capture such shocking behavior by blending into the fabric of the school while shooting over the course of the 2009-2010 academic year. He also wielded a Canon 5D Mark II, which looks like a regular still camera, an equipment choice that also yielded footage that struggles to stay in focus. Still, the camera yields exquisite imagery with the intimate feel of home video, especially in Hirsch’s moving interviews with the parents of Tyler and Ty.—Annlee Ellingson
10. Undefeated Director: Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin
In introducing us to Coach Bill Courtney, Undefeated finds its voice. The Memphis family man and owner of a lumber business isn’t just the team’s coach; he’s a father figure, mentor and therapist to its troubled players. O.C., Chavis and “Money” are, for all their pluck, still teenagers from broken homes—making them especially difficult and moody. It’s a marvel how tirelessly Courtney works to instill character, discipline and selflessness into each of them—to mold these boys into sound human beings. WatchingUndefeated, one realizes that it’s on the backs of individuals like Courtney that entire communities find their soul, their humanity.—Jay Antani
9. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Director: Alison Klayman
Alison Klayman’s loving portrait of China’s dissident artist Ai Weiwei may strike some as hagiographic, but how can it not be? This is a man who would be a major artist no matter what his national origin. Yet both his art and his story are made infinitely more fascinating by the incredible courage and steadfastness he shows in openly defying and mocking one of the most evil regimes on Earth. He’s smarter than them, he’s more talented than them, and he’s more charismatic and popular than them. Of course, they have the guns. That the fight seems evenly matched may be the greatest tribute of all.—Michael Dunaway
8. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters Director: Ben Shapiro
Many photographers work meticulously for ever-more-true depictions of physical reality. Not Gregory Crewdson. His delberatley conceived, meticulously constructed, artificfially lit scenes are more like paintings; they just happen to be captured with a camera. Ben Shapiro’s documentary isn’t a particularly deep dig into Crewdson’s background or psychology, nor is it a linear story with conflict and climax. It’s really just an exploration of the work itself, as we look over Crewdson’s shoulder while he prepares, shoots and opens his monumental “Beneath the Roses” show. It’s a fascinating, unforgettable ride. —Michael Dunaway
7. Marley Director: Kevin Macdonald
It’s not entirely clear why director Kevin Macdonald decided to make a documentary about the musician Bob Marley, a cultural icon whose life has been recounted countless times through a variety of mediums. Macdonald claims it’s because he wants to understand why Marley continues to speak to legions of fans around the world. Whatever his reasons, he’s clearly up to the task. Marley offers an expansive and at times fascinating perspective on the man through interviews with his fellow former Wailers, family, and childhood friends. The film is fairly detailed concerning Marley’s songwriting and musicianship from his early ska days up through the release of Catch a Fire. After this, however, it skips through his catalogue, choosing to focus more on his personal life, conversion to Rastafarianism, the tumultuous state of Jamaican politics, and his prolific womanizing—all of which are important elements of the artist’s character.—Jonah Flicker
6. West of Memphis Director: Amy Berg
The buzziest documentary of the Sundance Film Festival was also one of the very best. The involvement of Peter Jackson (one of the film’s producers), Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, and others, as well as the very recent dramatic developments in the case, ensured that. The film itself is enormously moving. Any investigative documentary, especially dealing with the wrongly accused, walks in the gargantuan footsteps of Errol Morris and his seminal The Thin Blue Line. Director Amy Berg received an Academy Award nomination for her Deliver Us From Evil, but the fact that she lives up to the legacy of Morris’ film may be an even greater accomplishment. In addition to chronicling justice, West of Memphis actually helps enact it. What higher calling can there be?—Michael Dunaway
5. Searching for Sugar Man Director: Malik Bendjelloul
“The Story of the Forgotten Genius” is such a well-worn formula for music documentaries that it was already being parodied more than three decades ago in This is Spinal Tap. In Searching for Sugar Man, as Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul begins to tell the story of Rodriguez—the Dylanesque folk rocker who released two apparently brilliant albums in the early 1970s, then disappeared—it appears he’s traveling a familiar road. But that road takes a sharp left turn when we learn that bootleg recordings catapulted Rodriguez to stratospheric heights of fame in apartheid-era South Africa. (When a record-store owner is asked if Rodriguez was as big as the Rolling Stones, he matter-of-factly replies “Oh, much bigger than that.”). In fact, his uncensored depictions of sex and drugs were so thrilling to South African musicians that he became the patron saint of the Afrikaner punk movement, which in turn laid the groundwork for the organized anti-apartheid movement that eventually brought the regime down. It’s just a shame that Rodriguez never lived to see it—he burned himself to death onstage in the middle of a show. Or overdosed in prison. Or shot himself alone in his apartment. Or… could he still be alive? Bendjelloul’s film manages to create an aura of mystery and suspense around a search that actually unfolded 14 years ago—a “detective documentary” set in the very recent past.—Michael Dunaway
4. This Is Not a Film Directors: Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
In December 2010, renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Offside) was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films for 20 years. His crime? Supporting the opposition party during Iran’s highly charged 2009 election. Three months later on the eve of the Iranian New Year, while his wife and children are away delivering gifts, Panahi is home alone in his apartment. He turns on a camera. What follows is a document of the day-to-day life of a man under house arrest: He spreads jam on bread. He brews tea. He feeds his daughter’s pet iguana. He calls his family. He checks in with his lawyer. But it also evolves into a provocative meditation on the nature of filmmaking itself: Although he has been barred from directing films, writing screenplays, leaving the country and conducting interviews, Panahi’s sentence says nothing about reading or acting, so this is what he does, explaining what his most recent film would have been about had he been allowed to make it. Like René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, in which the artist scrawls the words “This is not a pipe” under a painting of just such a smoking device, this is not a film but a representation of one.—Annlee Ellingson
3. Jiro Dreams of Sushi Director: David Gelb Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary about one of the greatest masters of the culinary world, one whom casual foodies have never even heard of. Although Jiro’s work is ostensibly the focus of the documentary, the film is really propelled by the story of his relationship with his two sons; the youngest of whom has started his own restaurant, and the oldest of whom, at the age of 50, continues to work with his father, training to one day take over his restaurant. Devoid of the typical familial jealousy you may expect, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is instead a beautifully filmed documentary about a father and his sons who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of the perfect piece of sushi. —Emily Kirkpatrick
2. The Imposter Director: Bart Layton
It’s obvious The Imposter is going to be a thriller, and a thriller it is, and then some. Three years after the disappearance of their 13-year-old son, a Texas family receive word he’s been found in Spain. When they go to pick him up, they’re so desperate to believe he’s alive that they don’t even notice that the “boy” is actually a French man in his mid-twenties. Is it a monumental case of grief and hope blinding sense, or is there a darker explanation? Director Bart Layton mixes elements of documentary and narrative filmmaking seamlessly in ways I’ve never seen done before. And every character he uncovers in the drama is more of a treasure trove than the last. It’s one of the most compelling films you’ll see all year, in any genre.—Michael Dunaway
1. Low and Clear Directors: Kahlil Hudson and Tyler Hughen
Reading the description of Kahlil Hudson and Tyler Hughen’s remarkable film—two friends who are world-class fishermen, half a country apart, take a trip to British Columbia to fly fish and reconnect—you’ll think that you’re in for a slow, meditative, deeply felt journey with lots of beautiful scenery. And it is meditative and deeply felt and beautiful, but it’s anything but slow. Having two fascinating, outspoken, and often at-odds subjects helps, as does the deft and slightly mischievous touch of editor Alex Jablonski. But most of all, Hudson and Hughen seem determined not to settle for a tone poem and tell a real story here. And it’s mesmerizing.—Michael Dunaway
Top British writers hail birth 200 years ago of Grimm tales that bewitched them
In interviews and readings on BBC3, writers including Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, John Agard, Michael Morpugo and Carol Ann Duffy explain how they fell under the spell of the German masters of the fairytale
Lily Collins as Snow White in the film Mirror Mirror, directed by Tarsem Singh, which came out this year. Photograph: Sportsphoto/Allstar
The stories of the Brothers Grimm have been read at bedsides and seen in cinemas all over the world. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella are still vivid characters today, but their popularity began 200 years ago.
Radio 3 will this week celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales with a series of interviews and readings by some of Britain’s greatest writers. They include poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Morpurgo, the author of War Horse, John Agard, the poet and playwright, Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, and the writer of comic fantasy stories, Sir Terry Pratchett.
In 1812 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published Children’s and Household Tales in the German region of Westphalia and its influence slowly spread all over the world. The Grimms’ book, which they updated in their lifetime, is the second bestselling book in the German language after the Bible.
While many in Britain will have first experienced the tales in Ladybird Books, others will have seen some of the Walt Disney films that brought the stories into the televisual era of the 20th century.
The Brothers Grimm harvested their tales from friends and old books. Many of the tales date back thousands of years and have variations in other languages and cultures. The Grimms later published collections of Irish and Scandinavian folk tales.
The writers on the Radio 3 shows offer their own interpretations of the tales. Terry Pratchett said his work was heavily influenced by the Grimms and his story, The Amazing Morris and his Educated Rodents, is a retelling of their Pied Piper of Hamelin. “They [Grimms’ tales] hang in the ether. We probably first met them at school,” he said. Because of this he used the tales extensively in his work; “knowing that we all know the fairy tales means that someone like me can play a lot of tunes with them knowing that I don’t have to explain an awful lot to people”.
Most adaptations of the stories make them less sexual and violent. In the Grimms’ original, Snow White’s stepmother dies as she is forced to dance in red-hot metal shoes at Snow White’s wedding. Rapunzel’s long hair is used to bring up a prince to her tower cell for a sexual liaison which leads to pregnancy. The Frog Prince is not kissed by the princess but thrown against the wall in anger by her.
Philip Pullman is about to publish his own collection of some of the Grimms’ fairy tales.
“My main aim was to take some of the stories I have read and loved enormously and tell them as if I was telling them to an audience, to take the stories and put them into my own voice,” he said. “So I took 50 or so and marinaded them and told them as well as I could.”
Little Red Riding Hood. Rapunzel. Cinderella. Snow White. Rumpelstiltskin. These fairy tales are so common, so well-known that it is hard to believe that this December 200 years will have passed since their initial publication. The work of the Brothers Grimm are second only to Martin Luther’s translation of the bible for most widely read German work.
At the beginning of the 19th century Jacob Ludwig Carl and Wilhelm Carl Grimm began collecting the fairy tales being told around the country. They hoped that their collections—published in 1812 as Kinder- und Hausmärchen—could help to add to the German national identity, and were chosen and edited with this in mind.
To celebrate the 200-year anniversary, the Deutsche Vertretung in Griechenland is raffling off several copies of Grimms Märchen. To enter, you first have to answer 12 questions about the tales correctly. To take the quiz and enter the contest, click here.
The fairy tale road
The fame of the Brothers Grimm has led to the idea that Germany is “the land of fairy tales.” Those interested in following in the footsteps of the Grimm Brothers can follow the Fairy Tale Road, a driving tour that follows the Grimm brothers throughout their lives—starting in Hanau where they were born and passing through Steinau where they were raised, and Göttingen where they worked at the university.
Other stops include the settings of many popular tales, although many of the stories originated throughout Europe. The Schwalm River is said to be the setting for Little Red Riding Hood, while the medieval castle of Trendelburg is said to be the setting for Rapunzel. Hamlin (the Pied Piper), Castle Sababurg (Sleeping Beauty), and Bremen are also included.
In honor of their 200th anniversary,The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimmbrings to life twenty-seven of the most beloved Grimm stories, including classics such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Hansel and Gretel, in a vibrant and meticulous new translation commissioned for this publication.Containing a selection of charming vintage illustrations from the 1820s to the 1950s by true masters of pictorial invention-—the legendary Kay Nielsen, bestselling children’s books author Gustaf Tenggren, British artists Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham, and giants of nineteenth century German illustration Gustav Süs, Heinrich Leutemann, and Viktor Paul Mohn, as well as many new discoveries—this compilation also features historic and contemporary silhouettes that dance across the pages like delicate black paper lace. In addition to the tales and illustrations, the book contains a foreword on the Grimms’ legacy, brief introductions to each fairy tale, and extended artists’ biographies in the appendix.For adults and children alike, this opulent edition rekindles the eternal magic of the Grimms’ tales—the second most widely read collection of stories in the world after the Bible.Following fairy tales are featured in the book:The Frog Prince, The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats, Little Brother and Little Sister, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Brave Little Tailor, Cinderella, Mother Holle, Little Red Riding Hood, The Bremen Town Musicians, The Devil with Three Golden Hairs, The Shoemaker and the Elves, Tom Thumb’s Travels, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, The Three Feathers, The Golden Goose, Jorinde and Joringel, The Goose Girl, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Star Coins, Snow White and Red Nose, The Hare and the Hedgehog, Puss n’ Boots, The Golden Key
Matthew R. Price has translated for leading theaters and publications in Germany and the US. A graduate of Princeton University, he studied in Berlin on a DAAD Fellowship, receiving his masters from the University of the Arts. After an early career producing theater, he earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University and lives in New York City.
Translator’s Note
“Once upon a time I counted thousands of deutsche marks in a Dresdner Bank vault with a colleague who spoke in heavy Saxon dialect; deciphered medieval German texts in rare-books rooms; and performed Schubert lieder in places as different as Moscow and Montana. These experiences stretched and challenged me, and the German literary, theatrical, and musical culture came to exercise an unexpected grip.
The Grimms occupy an iconic place in that canon, of course. Yet initially I had little sense how best to unpack these stories for today’s Englishspeaking readers—and listeners. I leaned on my training: countless hours of living with the language, and theatrical instincts I’d honed for years. In my mind I saw fantastic animated films as I worked through these stories. They were dark, complex, and arcing versions, not the Disney films associated with the material. There is no denying the unforgiving morality or the harshness of daily life one finds in the tales. But even more striking, finally, was the full range of emotion, especially the comedy and delight of the characters and their antics.
I faced a balancing act between adherence to the original structure, and freedom with the abundant choices of English. I tried to use clear “camera angles” and to dose in narrative color as a sensory highlight. Noel Daniel and I disciplined ourselves to hold fast to the original, despite my urges to tread off the path into the magical woods. I sincerely hope readers will feel that our efforts resulted in a fresh and enjoyable translation reflecting the depth and wonder of these magnificent tales, which offer something for all ages.”
–Matthew R. Price, New York City
The editor:
TASCHEN editor Noel Daniel graduated from Princeton University, and studied in Berlin on a Fulbright Scholarship. She received a master’s in London and was the director of a photography art gallery before becoming a book editor. Her TASCHEN books include The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm(2011), Magic 1400s–1950s (2009), and The Circus 1870s–1950s(2008).
Go to taschen.com to buy the Brothers Grimm’s books.
(compiled from guardian.co.uk, young-germany.de, and taschen.com)
Rammstein are back with their second set of brutal visuals in as many weeks. Today’s video is once again set to the sounds of “Mein Herz Hrennt”, and depicts menacing, goulish dominatrixes holding children captive in a cage and a bunch of other storylines that I really don’t know how to describe. Watch it below, but maybe make sure the kids are out of the room before doing so.
This video appears in Rammstein’s new compilation Videos 1995-2012, due out January 15th. The set contains over seven hours of material featuring 25 music videos, 24 behind-the-scenes clips of the making-of-the-videos, and a 56-page booklet. Order your copy here.
Piano version in HD
(article made by alex young for consequence of sound)
In the last two weeks, Paramount has released a one-minute announcement video, a nine-minute IMAX preview and a full trailer for the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness. Even with all of this footage, the film’s story and primary antagonist remain shrouded in mystery. Such is the way of J.J. Abrams projects. From the two online teasers released thus far, we’ve compiled 10 questions worth pondering from some interesting stills we’ve pulled from the video, some of which were carefully edited out of order.
The Hand Mystery
In this scene reminiscent of the iconic Kirk-Spock moment at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock offers a “live long and prosper” gesture to an unconfirmed second party.Is this scene going to have similar results? Is that Kirk or John Harrison‘s hand on the opposite side of the glass from Spock? Is this foreshadowing a sacrifice on the part of one of these characters as hinted at in the official Star Trek Into Darknesssynopsis?
The Starfleet Funeral
Who is the Starfleet funeral for and is this scene taking place before or after the all-out attack on Earth? Does Kirk lose his mom, making the crew of the Enterprise his only “family” left? Is Admiral Pike, a narrator of the teaser trailer, the focus of this service?
The Life Pods
Intentionally included as a quick shot after the funeral sequence in the trailer, this still features what appears to be life pods and not caskets, as evidenced by the frosted viewing glass – Oddly reminiscent of the SS Botany Bay where Khan and his group of genetically-enhanced Humans (Augments) lay cryogenically frozen in the main Star Trek timeline.Are these Augments and another hint at Khan, or something entirely different? Perhaps people sick of an ailment similar to that of the little girl in the IMAX prologue?
The Submarine
In the Star Trek Into Darkness announcement video, there are two separate shots involving a Starfleet vessel and water. One with a ship emerging from the water with warp nacelles entirely different than that of the Enterprise, and another with an Enterprise-shaped ship crashing into the water.What’s going on in the water (from the IMAX prologue) and what ship is this depicted on the bottom half of the image? Is it a re-designed Enterprise?
The Red Shirt
Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin) – who didn’t appear in the announcement video – is shown in the full trailer sporting a different uniform color. Has his position on the Enterprise changed? Is he now doomed as an infamous “red shirt”? Maybe it means nothing since others – including Uhura and Scotty – sport red uniforms as well.Will Chekov say “Nuclear Wessels“?
John Harrison in the Brig
Benedict Cumberbatch is playing a character named John Harrison as confirmed by Paramount Pictures and (secret) footage screened for the media, but it’s widely believed to be an alias to cover a secret identity. Who is John Harrison, what are his motivations, and why is he in the brig?Being imprisoned intentionally is all the rage these days – just ask Javier Bardem and Tom Hiddleston about their characters Silva and Loki in Skyfall and The Avengers, respectively (we’ll skip the Dark Knight reference… this time).
The Klingons
Klingons play an important part in Star Trek Into Darknessand we’ve already seen a brief glimpse of their homeworld Qo’noS in the teasers. Why does the crew of the Enterprise and the character of John Harrison go there and what is their part in the overall narrative? Is that a Klingon ship in this image?
Enterprise Battle Damage
In a very brief shot in the full Star Trek 2 teaser trailer, the Enterprise is clearly depicted with significant battle damage across the top of its saucer section and along the bottom of it, including the deflector array which is shown here on the left, offline and not functional.What confrontation and enemy caused this? Does the Enterprise survive its journey Into Darkness? Could this explain a potential redesign from the water sequence if that is in fact, the Enterprise?
Spock & Uhura
While Dr. Carol Marcus and Captain Kirk may not share romance in Star Trek Into Darkness, the unlikely relationship between Spock and Uhura continues and will be put to the test. Said J.J. Abrams to USA Today:“This movie tests a number of relationships. And one of them is theirs. What is it to date a Vulcan? He may be reliable, loyal, honest, logical and smart. But he also, to a fault, follows rules. Does that get in the way of love?”
The Sick Child
The Star Trek 2IMAX prologue attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this weekend opens with a scene on Earth with two new characters, a couple (played by Noel Clarke and Nazneen Contractor) going to the hospital to visit their sick child. Clarke, emotional, goes outside and is confronted by John Harrison (Cumberbatch) who says he can help save her.How and what does Harrison want in exchange? What is Clarke’s character doing in this brief shot where he places a ring in a cup? Must he sacrifice himself and do something to aid Cumberbatch to save his daughter?“Is there anything you would not do for your family” is one of the themes of the film.
If rock’n’roll could be turned into flesh and made to walk the earth, it would look and sound a lot like Keith Richards. It’s not the skull ring, the elegantly wasted appearance or the chemically-enchanced bloodstream that does it – although that all helps – but the fact that he has an unerring knack of hoovering up pretty much all of the greatest guitar riffs ever written. In the current Christmas double issue of NME, the man himself tells us exclusively about The Rolling Stones’ triumphant 50th anniversary shows, his plans for the New Year and reveals which of his many, many riffs is his favourite. But what are the candidates? On the day he turns 69, cheating death improbably for another year, here’s a dozen of my own personal selections. Believe me, it’s only the beginning:
12. Start Me Up
One of Keith’s most world-famous riffs, it’s sort of surprising to learn that this track was originally conceived as a reggae number and took the band six years to get right after originally trying it out in 1975. It’s now so instantly recognizable that it’s the riff that Keith uses to announce himself and Mick at the Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp in The Simpsons.
‘Beggars Banquest’ is the first in a flawless four-album run that lasted from 1968 to 1972, and this is its centre point. An exhilarating kicking-against-the-pricks moment, it also proves beyond question that great guitar riffs don’t have to be electric.
In his cracking autobiography ‘Life’, Richards talks lovingly about how much the open G guitar tuning changed his playing forever – and this is a great example of how it sounds at its best: deep-fried and filthy.
9‘Beast Of Burden’
Part of Keith’s genius is his ability to make a great riff work for a slower ballad just as well as a foot-stomping rocker. He’s not concerned with being the centre of attention: Ronnie Wood plays the solo, and throughout the song their guitars weave interchangeably, but the woozy riff is pure Richards.
8. ‘Brown Sugar’
Now that’s how you announce a song: those opening staccato notes sound the alarm before the definitive hip-wiggling riff, the perfect companion for Jagger’s taboo-crushing tale sadomasochistic slave rape with a taste of heroin.
7. ‘Tumbling Dice’
Written late at night in the elegant front room of Keith’s French chateau, Villa Nellcôte, this is a Richards riff at his laidback, rolling best. The rest of the song just hangs on as best it can and lets it glide.
6. ‘All Down The Line’
Another cut from ‘Exile On Main Street’, Mick Taylor’s slide guitar is great but again it’s all about Richards’ driving riff that makes this track a classic.
5. ‘Bitch’
Back at the dawn of time, before MP3s had even been dreamt of and all records had to be turned over halfway through, this was the opener to side two of ‘Sticky Fingers’. Given that the opener of side one was ‘Brown Sugar’, this had to be special – and it might even be a better riff. As unstoppable as a freight train with burnt-out brakes.
4. ‘Rocks Off’
‘Exile’s’ opener turns around on itself a couple of times, then kicks into maybe the druggiest, most strung-out riff of all time – and that’s a category with a fair bit of competition. As Keith himself sings, it’s “zipping through the days at lightning speed.”
3. ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’
Is there any sound more exciting that the opening lick of ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’? No, frankly. Ted Demme knew this when he set the opening cocaine-production montage of the Johnny Depp-starring ‘Blow’ to this tune. As Keith himself wrote in ‘Life’: “‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking‘ came out flying – I just found the tuning and the riff and started to swing it and Charlie picked up on it just like that, and we’re thinking, hey, this is some groove. So it was smiles all around. For a guitar player it’s no big deal to play, the chopping, staccato bursts of chords, very direct and spare.”
The legend goes that he wrote this one in his sleep. Or at least, he woke up just long enough to play it into a tape recorder before falling asleep – the recorder capturing him dropping the pick and then “snoring for the next forty minutes.” Keith wanted his riff sketch to be replaced by horns – as Otis Redding would eventually do on his cover – but manager Andrew Loog Oldham convinced him to release it as it was and his signature sound – and a legend – was born.
1. ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’
After mucking around with psychedelia – with dubious amounts of success – on ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’, the Stones announced their return to rock’n’roll with Richards’ greatest ever riff. Mind-blowingly cool, it went on to soundtrack everything from Scorsese’s ‘Mean Streets’ to Johnny Depp’s Hunter Thompson driving off into the desert at the end of Terry Gilliam’s ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. As for the riff itself? Well, as Keith himself puts it in the Christmas issue of NME: “It just floats there, baby”
Below the best solo ever made by Keith Richards
Articles made by Kevin EG Perry for NME. Images from NME Magz.
“Love is not only a feeling.” Magnolia has debuted the first mesmerizing trailer for Terrence Malick‘s new film (one of them, at least) titled To the Wonder. This is the one that stars Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams, as well as Olga Kurylenko. It’s about a vast love affair, set mostly in Oklahoma and a bit in France, with Affleck as the man in the middle. This trailer is as bleak and abstract as the film itself. Some of the voiceover is from Javier Bardem, playing the local priest, who really has no importance other than to say these lines. It’s not as good as this trailer looks, but dang does Malick shoot beautiful films. View below!
Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem and Olga Kurylenko star in this new film from Terrence Malick, about a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart. After visiting Mont Saint-Michel, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Marina meets a priest and fellow exile, who is struggling with his vocation, while Neil renews his ties with a childhood friend, Jane. To the Wonder is directed by reclusive iconic filmmaker Terrence Malick, of Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World and The Tree of Life. This premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and will finally be released by Magnolia Pictures onApril 12th, 2013. Curious now?
Adele took the lead by a large margin, beating Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ into second place, with the pop earworm accounting for 5.4 per cent of song plays. Meanwhile, ‘That’s 
Doodle Dandy 