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Fly Me to the Moon boasts a stellar soundtrack with R&b/Soul songs to transport viewers to the late 1960s space race era. The movie expertly utilizes iconic tunes from artists like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin to recreate the feeling of 1969. In addition to the popular music choices, Fly Me to the Moon also features original songs composed for the film's soundtrack.

Fly Me to the Moon includes a stellar soundtrack loaded with R&b and Soul songs from popular music artists as the backdrop to the space race. The 2024 movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum chronicles NASA in 1968 and 1969 as the space program prepares for the Apollo 11 launch. The late 1960s setting is perfectly created with real-life archival footage, period-appropriate costumes, and more great details to highlight Fly Me to the Moon's true story.

One of the other ways that the NASA movie helps...

The Almost Famous soundtrack is full of great songs, both beloved rock classics and underappreciated deep cuts. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous follows young writer William Miller’s escapades on the road with the fictional rock band Stillwater in the 1970s. It’s a semi-autobiographical story drawn from Crowe’s own experiences as a teenage music journalist for Rolling Stone. Since the entire narrative revolves around music, the Almost Famous soundtrack is more important than that of the average movie. It plays like a classic rock and roll playlist. Almost Famous has a few original songs attributed to Stillwater, but the majority of its soundtrack comprises licensed hits.

Almost Famous was widely praised by critics as one of the greatest movies of 2000 and has since become a beloved cult classic. Crowe won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his Almost Famous script, and his music...

With the title of Licorice Pizza, referencing the record store chain founded in Southern California in the 1970s, it was a given that Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feature would have a killer soundtrack. While the film has only just started screening for select guilds ahead of a limited release on November 26, the official details for the soundtrack releases have now been unveiled and they do not disappoint.

Coming out on December 10 on vinyl followed by a December 26 digital release via Republic Records, the 20-track album includes cuts by Nina Simone, David Bowie, The Doors, Sonny & Cher, Chuck Berry, Donovan, Paul McCartney, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal, Mason Williams, and many more, notes Film Music Reporter. Of course, PTA has also continued his collaboration with Jonny Greenwood, who has snuck in there with a single title track running just over three minutes.

Check out the tracklist and cover art below.

1. July...

The Almost Famous soundtrack was pressed on vinyl so few times that the original record is rare — a dream for every collector who just wants to light a candle and see their entire future. Thankfully, Cameron Crowe will expand the soundtrack into a limited-edition box set, out August 20th via UMe.

Stillwater Runs Deep!

The news arrives after the film celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, which included a podcast, cast reunion, and an unearthing of Crowe’s archive. The upcoming box set marks the first-ever release of all the...

Welcome to this week’s Nxt review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and Joaquin Phoenix is a f—— weirdo. I still like him, though. Lee Michaels asked Andrew Gold if he knew what he meant, but Gold just told him that he was a lonely boy like David Soul, who just wants to you to not give up on us baby. We’ve got more Nxt invasion stuff to get to, so let’s pretend that this isn’t just Ring Of Honor painted gold and black and get ready to rock.

Match #1: Lio Rush def. Angel Garza – Nxt Cruiserweight Championship Match The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Angel Garza sought to get inside the head of Lio Rush, and it only seemed to light a fire under the Nxt Cruiserweight Champion. With that fury, The Man of The Hour overcame the challenge of the...

Blues icon B.B. King often said in interviews that the blues and country music were “first cousins.” Riley B. “Blues Boy” King was born on this day in 1925, and is being paid tribute in today’s Google Doodle, which depicts the legendary musician playing his signature guitar, “Lucille.” Hitchhiking to Memphis in 1947 from his home in tiny Itta Bena, Mississippi, King would soon become one of the most renowned blues musicians in the world. While he excelled as a solo artist King also collaborated with a number of acts outside blues,...

Jimmy Johnson, the guitarist for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (a.k.a. “the Swampers”) whose foundational R&b-based playing could be heard on hundreds of records, including iconic hits by Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Wilson Pickett and Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at the age of 76. His death was confirmed by his son Jay Johnson, who did not reveal a cause of death. “He is gone,” his son wrote on Facebook. “Playing music with the angels now.”

“The mighty Jimmy Johnson has passed,” Jason Isbell, who grew up in the Shoals area,...

Fifty years ago, a handful of milestone albums set the tone for rock of the following decade. Crosby, Stills & Nash initiated a fresh approach to harmonies and looser group names; the eponymous debut by the Allman Brothers Band laid the foundation for the Southern rock of the Seventies. And setting the scene for the white soul-pop that would explode with the likes of Hall and Oates was Boz Scaggs’ self-titled album, which Atlantic Records rolled out on this day in August 1969.

Technically, Boz Scaggs wasn’t a debut; Scaggs had...

At 78, Willie Hightower sometimes struggles to remember details from his long career, but there are some occasions he recalls vividly: like the day his wife died (April 16th, 1995 — Easter Sunday), or the time he met Sam Cooke. The gospel phenom had traveled to Hightower’s Gadsden, Alabama, hometown with his gospel group, the Soul Stirrers. Hightower, who grew up singing in church, was just a teenager when he met Cooke in the mid-late fifties, but his life would never be the same after getting to speak with the soon-to-be pop superstar.

Muscle Shoals, a drama based on the life of Rick Hall, producer of the legendary Muscle Shoals sound, has sold to ABC for development under a straight-to-series model, Deadline has learned. The project hails from Global Road Entertainment, Johnny Depp and Christie Dembrowski’s Infinitum Nihil, Richard Branson’s Virgin Produced, and Joshua D. Maurer and Alixandre Witlin’s City Entertainment. The drama has been in development at Global Road since 2016.

Emmy-nominated Bettina Gilois (Bessie) is writing the drama based on Hall’s life as chronicled in his autobiography The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame and the acclaimed Sundance documentary Muscle Shoals.

Depp, Dembrowski and Bobby DeLeon of Infinitum Nihil are executive producing along with Jason Felts, Justin Berfield and Rene Rigal at Branson’s Virgin Produced; and City Entertainment’s Maurer and Witlin. Nancy Wilson of the seminal group Heart serves as Executive Music...

It's that time of year for Christmas movies and holiday music, so why not mix them together into a mutant hybrid? That's exactly what one YouTuber has done and the results are pitch perfect. That unbeatable Arnold Schwarzenegger performance in Jingle All the Way has been mashed up with Run-Dmc's classic "Christmas in Hollis" and it works a lot better than you're probably thinking right now, bringing up memories of the Dr. Demento Show where this song would have definitely been featured around this time of year.

The new mashup is called "Jingle All the Way (Put That Cookie Down) Remix" and it is based off of the now world-famous meme of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Jingle All the Way character in the movie yelling at Phil Hartman over the phone to, "put that cookie down!" The soundbite has been a fan-favorite for over a decade now, but isn't as...

Reginald D Hunter will investigate the history of blackface and minstrel shows in a new BBC Two documentary.

The three-part Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South will see the comedian journey the American South and find out why local traditional tunes still carry a strong element of racism.

Reginald D Hunter interview: 'Britain is full of position-takers'

Hunter, who was born in Georgia, will visit his home state as he drives 1,000 miles from North Carolina to New Orleans.

He will speak to the musicians Dr John, Eddie Floyd, Clarence Carter, Seasick Steve and The Handsome Family, as well as 'Rainy Night In Georgia' writer Tony Joe White.

Hunter will also go to a Lynyrd Skynyrd festival in Alabama, try soul food in Georgia, square dance in Paducah and explore the rise of hip-hop in Atlanta.

Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South will air next February on BBC Two.

★★★☆☆ Whilst never quite reaching the compelling heights of recent rockumentary offerings Beware of Mr. Baker, Crossfire Hurricane or Searching for Sugar Man, Greg Camalier's Sundance select Muscle Shoals (2013) succeeds in cogently relaying the star-studded history of the now iconic Alabama recording studio in question. Under the tutelage of founder Rick Hall, Fame Studios was responsible for laying down classic recordings from a whole raft of RnB and rock artists, many of whom (those still in the land of the living, at least) providing candid interviews on their time in the presence of the "Muscle Shoals sound".

Situated on the muddy banks of the winding Tennessee River, the city of Muscle Shoals proved the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's best and most memorable music produced between the years 1969 and 1984. Receiving spiritual guidance from the "Singing River" (as the departed Native Americans once knew it), Muscle Shoals played its part...

Press Release: PBS announced today its slate of Winter/Spring 2014 programs, including the long-awaited return of Masterpiece “Sherlock, Season 3” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the legendary British sleuth, on Sunday, January 19 at 10 p.m. Et. The highly acclaimed “Sherlock” follows Season 4 of “Downton Abbey,” which debuts with eight new episodes January 5 on Masterpiece. The two shows bolster Sunday night as a hallmark of British drama on PBS, whose ratings that night have grown 26 percent (8-11 pm, 2011-12 season: 9/19/2011-9/23/2012 to 2012-13 season: 9/24/2012-9/22/2013) season over season. The schedule also reinforces PBS’ move into 10 p.m. programming on several key nights.

PBS also announced a number of new programs, including the real-life adventure series Chasing Shackleton, the broadcast premieres of biopics “Salinger” on American Masters (about the reclusive Catcher in the Rye author) and Hawking, an intimate portrait of physicist Stephen Hawking’s extraordinary life and career, along with a roster of...

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new music documentary “Muscle Shoals” featuring Aretha Franklin!

“Muscle Shoals,” which is rated “PG” and opens in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2013, also features Alicia Keys, Bono, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Rick Hall, Greg Allman, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Ed King and Spooner Oldham from director Greg “Freddy” Camalier.

To win your free “Muscle Shoals” passes courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 at 7 p.m. in Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition or lower your odds!

Preferably,...

Opening September 27th, director Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier’s riveting documentary, Muscle Shoals, explores the Alabama town that became a musical mecca in the 60’s and 70’s and an unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative music. At its heart is Rick Hall, the founder of Fame Studios who created the distinctive Muscle Shoals sound, and The Swampers, the legendary rhythm section at Fame that eventually left to start their own successful Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Through archival footage and interviews with Aretha Franklin, Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, and others, Camalier tells the story behind Muscle Shoals’ enduring magnetism, mystery and influence. In an exclusive interview, Camalier revealed how a 1700-mile road trip led to a fascinating film about a rural place in Alabama with a rich musical history, why Muscle Shoals attracted so many great artists,...

U2 frontman Bono is just one of several musical legends who recount their experiences recording at a legendary Alabama music studio in the upcoming documentary Muscle Shoals. We have an exclusive TV spot for director Greg 'Freddy' Camalier's upcoming film, which explores the legacy behind the studio that attracted the likes of Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan, Percy Sledge and countless others in its storied history. Take a look at our exclusive video to learn more about about this upcoming film, debuting in theaters and on VOD formats September 27.

Muscle Shoals tells the incredible and unlikely story of a small Alabama town by the Tennessee River, where a man named Rick Hall overcame crushing personal hardship to put together a recording studio and house band (the Swampers) that became legendary for its electrifying musical chemistry. Luring some of the biggest figures in 20th century pop music, like Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan,...

A new trailer and poster for Greg "Freddy" Camalier's musical documentary Muscle Shoals are now available.  The picture takes a look at the spiritual influence and soulful sound of the title town.  Muscle Shoals features testimonials to the power of the studio setting from such artists as Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards and Percy Sledge.  The trailer itself plays like a "Best Hits" compilation and plays like a worthy down-home companion to Dave Grohl's West Coast studio doc, Sound City.  Hit the jump for the Sundance feature's trailer, synopsis and poster. Watch the trailer for Muscle Shoals below and click over to Apple to view in HD: Here's the official synopsis: Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the "Singing River,...

A new trailer and poster for Greg "Freddy" Camalier's musical documentary Muscle Shoals are now available. The picture takes a look at the spiritual influence and soulful sound of the title town. Muscle Shoals features testimonials to the power of the studio setting from such artists as Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Keith Richards and Percy Sledge. The trailer itself plays like a "Best Hits" compilation and plays like a worthy down-home companion to Dave Grohl's West Coast studio doc, Sound City. Hit the jump for the Sundance feature's trailer, synopsis and poster. Watch the trailer for Muscle Shoals below and click over to Apple to view in HD: Here's the official synopsis: Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the "Singing River,...

“What they built there, you can’t see with your eyes,” says Bono at the close of Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier’s music documentary Muscle Shoals, named after the Alabama city and its legendary studio where prolific acts such as Lynyrd Skynrd, Etta James and Aretha Franklin crafted their greatest hits.

Bono speaks much sense; as the dozens upon dozens of vinyl records bearing the Muscle Shoals signature stack into a pile that threatens to tower toward the camera, one gets the impression there’s fundamentally no real substitute for these iconic sounds in transporting the audience back to that specific time or place.

Camalier nevertheless commits an admirable effort into compiling a visually comprehensive retrospective of this uniquely creative environment. Studio footage, live performances and archive photos collect around stories from the musicians that had the privilege to work there, spearheaded by Fame studio founder Rick Hall.

Hall’s mantra was,...

Magnolia Pictures has picked up the Us rights to Greg "Freddy" Camalier's recording studio documentary "Muscle Shoals," the company announced today. The announcement comes just hours ahead of the film's debut tonight in Austin at the SXSW Film Festival. "Muscle Shoals," documents the history of the titular Alabama recording studio established by Rick Hall and his house band the Swampers which became legendary through the various 20th century acts that moved through its doors, including the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Simon and Garfunkle among others. The film's main focus lies in the studio's melding of black and white musicians during a particularly turbulent period in the deep south and features interviews by Mick jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and many more. "'Muscle Shoals' is a great accomplishment," said Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures. "It captures the elusive magic of a.

Magnolia Pictures likes docs. The indie distributor has acquired Us rights to Greg "Freddy" Camalier's Sundance entry "Muscle Shoals," a documentary about the Alabama Muscle Shoals recording studio that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and more. The film is debuting in Austin Tuesday at the Paramount Theater as part of the SXSW Film Festival. Rick Hall put together a recording studio and house band (the Swampers) in a small Alabama town by the Tennessee River, where he lured the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Staples Singers, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Simon and Garfunkle to produce such classic songs as “Mustang Sally,” “I Never Loved a Man,” and “Wild Horses," uniting black and white musicians...

The Wagner/Cuban Company's Magnolia Pictures announced today that they've acquired Us rights to Muscle Shoals, a documentary about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio in Alabama that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Directed by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier, and produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film features interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and many others.

The film premiered at Sundance, and is debuting in Austin today at the Paramount Theater in the SXSW Film Festival.

Muscle Shoals tells the incredible and unlikely story of a small Alabama town by the Tennessee River, where a man named Rick Hall overcame crushing personal hardship to put together a recording studio and house band (The Swampers) that became legendary for its electrifying musical chemistry. Luring some of the biggest figures in 20th century pop music, like Aretha Franklin,...

The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they’ve acquired Us rights to Muscle Shoals, a documentary about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio inAlabama that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Directed by Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier, and produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film features interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and many others. The film premiered at Sundance, and is debuting in Austin today at the Paramount Theater in the SXSW Film Festival. Muscle Shoals tells the incredible and unlikely story of a small Alabama town by the Tennessee River, where a man named Rick Hall overcame crushing personal hardship to put together a recording studio and house band (the Swampers) that became legendary for its electrifying musical chemistry. Luring some of the biggest figures in 20th century pop music, like Aretha Franklin,...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Muscle Shoals, a documentary about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio in Alabama, which spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Directed by Greg "Freddy" Camalier and produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film features interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys and Bono, among others. The film premiered at Sundance and is debuting in Austin on Tuesday at the SXSW Film Festival. Film Review: Muscle Shoals The story centers on a small Alabama town by the Tennessee River where Rick Hall overcame crushing personal

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The documentary about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio in Alabama, has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures for U.S. distribution. The recording studio is responsible for spawning some of the greatest records of all time. Greg 'Freddy' Camalier directs the film produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, which includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and many others. Muscle Shoals made its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and debuts in Austin today, playing at the Paramount Theater in the SXSW Film Festival.

The documentary about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio in Alabama, has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures for U.S. distribution. The recording studio is responsible for spawning some of the greatest records of all time. Greg 'Freddy' Camalier directs the film produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, which includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and many others. Muscle Shoals made its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and debuts in Austin today, playing at the Paramount Theater in the SXSW Film Festival.

Sundance 2013 kicks off in Utah next week and among the multitudes of world premieres is Muscle Shoals.

Muscle Shoals is a music documentary and is the first feature from Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier. It tells the story of a city in the state of Alabama that is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music and features candid interviews and live performances with the likes of Mick Jagger, Bono, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Cliff, Keith Richards among many others.

Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the “Singing River” as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded Fame Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies,...

Killer Joe

Directed by: William Friedkin

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, Juno Temple, Matthew McConaughey

Running Time: 1 hr 43 mins

Rating: Nc-17

Release Date: August 3, 2012 (Chicago)

Plot: A father (Church) and his son (Hirsch) hire a killer (McConaughey) to murder an estranged family member in order to collect the insurance money.

Who’S It For?: Do you like your comedy dark? Okay, how about extra, extra crispy? And then kicked around in the mud, and then shoved in someone’s mouth? That’s Killer Joe.

Read Nick’s interview with playwright/screenwriter Tracy Letts Read Jeff Bayer’s SXSW review of “Killer Joe” (9/10)

Overall

If Killer Joe had some bigger wits about it you might be able to accuse the film of being a less enjoyable Coen Brothers movie. It’s got the setting (Texas), the concept of a collapsing scheme that takes nearly everyone down with it,...

Matthew McConaughey continues a summer of jolting performances with Killer Joe, a movie about a family in Texas (comprised of Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church, and Juno Temple) who have a wild scheme to kill Church’s ex-wife for her insurance money. Hired to do the job is McConaughey’s title character, who affects the twisted family in ways they could have never imagined.

Playwright Tracy Letts wrote the screenplay for the film, based off his own play which was first staged in 1993. In 2006, Killer Joe director William Friedkin adapted Letts’ play Bug for a film adaptation starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon.

I sat down with Tracy Letts to discuss his story, his relationship with now two-time collaborator Friedkin, and what his impression was of Matthew McConaughey’s romantic comedies before Killer Joe came along.

Killer Joe opens in Chicago on August 3.

Read Jeff Bayer’s “9/10″ SXSW...

The holidays can be a stressful time. To combat those inevitable surges of annoyance that arise only around family, we've complied a selection of Christmas songs that just might help keep those feelings at bay. Some have Christmas-sounding titles (but have nothing to do with Christmas), some are about Christmas (but not in the traditional vein), and others are covers of traditional Christmas songs by untraditional people (we're looking at you, Scott Weiland). From Kanye and Mogwai to Kate Bush and The Ramones, there's a little something for everyone here -- just don't play the ones marked "Not Safe for Home" around the kiddies. So the next time you feel the urge to talk back to your mom, take a moment to pause, press play and let the music drown out the comebacks.

Spin the playlist in full below, or pick out your favorites below below.

The Raveonettes - The...

A man who has never met a genre he hasn't liked, filmmaker Curtis Hanson again demonstrates his keen versatility by following his highly acclaimed "L.A. Confidential" with "Wonder Boys", a wise and quirk-laden lark of a middle-age-crisis comedy.

Adapted from the Michael Chabon novel of the same name, the handsome picture has much going for it, not the least of which is a winning ensemble headed by Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey Jr.

That said, the Paramount release should prove to be a tricky sell, with the kind of very specific, very delicate tone that could have a marketing department working long hours. Still, positive baby-boomer word-of-mouth from sneak previews should translate into respectable if not wonderful boxoffice.

After playing a series of cool customers in Armani suits, Douglas goes for a delightful change of pace as the somewhat pudgy, rumpled Grady Tripp, a 50-year-old English professor and once-promising author whose award-winning Great American Novel has been followed by a writer's block going on seven years and counting.

To complicate matters, he's having an affair with his college's chancellor (the always terrific McDormand), who happens to be the wife of the English department chairman (Richard Thomas) and who also happens to be carrying Grady's child -- that is, should she receive any kind of sign from him that he's ready and willing to be a father.

Into Grady's hemp-induced haze walks James Leer (Tobey Maguire), a gifted but oddball writing student who wears his loner status like a badge of merit. Taking James under his tattered wing in something of an unconscious paternal test run, Grady embarks with young James on an uncertain journey of self-discovery.

The cast couldn't be better. Led by Douglas' courageous character turn, the others shine equally brightly. Maguire, hot off the still percolating "The Cider House Rules", delivers another intelligent and sensitive performance, although this time he has the opportunity to throw some adept comic timing into the mix.

It's also refreshing to see Douglas and McDormand in a grown-up, sexy relationship that is, by the usual Hollywood standards, essentially free of age disparity.

Rounding out the lively performances are Downey as Douglas' flamboyant editor and Katie Holmes as an infatuated student.

While the languidly paced story doesn't always manage to stay on track, Hanson and screenwriter Steve Kloves ("The Fabulous Baker Boys") do a fine job keeping things amusingly involving.

And thanks to several members of his "L.A. Confidential" team, including director of photography Dante Spinotti and production designer Jeannine Oppewall, the picture makes great use of its inclement Pittsburgh backdrop, while veteran editor Dede Allen ("Bonnie and Clyde", "Reds") has been coaxed out of a lengthy hiatus to keep things humming agreeably.

Hanson also manages to coax an impressive new tune out of Bob Dylan -- the bemused "Things Have Changed" -- which, along with vintage selections by Dylan, Neil Young, Clarence Carter and Van Morrison, headlines a folk and blues soundtrack that fits in nicely with the reflective landscape.

WONDER BOYS

Paramount

Paramount Pictures

and Mutual Film Company present

a Scott Rudin/Curtis Hanson production

Producers:Scott Rudin, Curtis Hanson

Director:Curtis Hanson

Writer:Steve Kloves

Based on the novel by:Michael Chabon

Executive producers:Adam Schroeder, Ned Dowd

Director of photography:Dante Spinotti

Production designer:Jeannine Oppewall

Editor:Dede Allen

Costumes: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

Music:Christopher Young

Music supervisor:Carol Fenelon

Casting:Mali Finn

Color/stereo

Cast:

Grady Tripp:Michael Douglas

James Leer:Tobey Maguire

Sara Gaskell:Frances McDormand

Terry Crabtree:Robert Downey Jr.

Hannah Green:Katie Holmes

Walter Gaskell:Richard Thomas

Q:Rip Torn

Hank Winters:Philip Bosco

Oola:Jane Adams

Vernon Hardapple:Richard Knox

Running time -- 112 minutes

MPAA rating: R...