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Dune is one of the standout films of this decade. The film is an immaculate adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name, and Denis Villeneuve proved his genius once more with this production.

The technical aspects of the film are very intriguing, contributing just as much to the finished product. Ultimately, the results are glorious, from the more obvious features, such as acting and direction, to the more mechanical facets, such as sound production and editing.

Dune and its sequel are as much a visual treat as they are an auditory delight. Moreover, a legendary Jamaican dub reggae artist inspired the team to create some of the most chilling scenes ever seen on a screen.

The film had several intriguing aspects (Source: Dune) How a reggae artist inspired the creation of the Voice in Dune

Helmed by Denis Villeneuve, with Timothée Chalamet playing the protagonist, Dune is...

Bono delivered an impromptu, a cappella rendition of Bob Marley’s classic “Redemption Song” Friday at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where a documentary about U2’s long history with the Bosnian city premiered.

Both Bono and the Edge were on hand for the screening of Kiss the Future, which documents aid worker Bill Carter’s efforts to bring U2’s Zoo TV tour to then-war-torn Sarajevo. Following the debut of the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck-produced film, the U2 duo took the stage with the documentary’s crew, and...

Lee “Scratch” Perry, the legendary Jamaican producer and a pioneer of dub, has died. He was 85.

Perry, whose pioneering accomplishments made him of of reggae’s most eccentric producer-vocalist, died Sunday at the Noel Holmes Hospital in western Jamaica, according to the Jamaican Observer. A cause of death was not provided at press time.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed the news in a tweet on Sunday.

“My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry Od, affectionately known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry,” Holness wrote. “He has worked with ...

Lee “Scratch” Perry, the monumental reggae singer, producer and studio wizard who pushed the boundaries of Jamaican music — and as a byproduct, rock, hip-hop and dance — with his explorations into dub, has died at the age of 85.

The Jamaican Observer reports that Perry died Sunday at the Noel Holmes Hospital in western Jamaica. Cause of death was unknown at press time.

Andrew Holness, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, tweeted Sunday, “My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry Od, affectionately known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry.

A lost Peter Tosh master recording is unearthed in this clip from Studio 17 – The Lost Reggae Tapes, a 2019 documentary about the Jamaica’s legendary Randy’s Records studio.

“Formed by a Chinese-Jamaican couple in the early ‘60s in Kingston, Jamaica, Randy’s Records started as a used record store, then grew to house a reggae recording studio in the upstairs part of the building,” the film’s synopsis states.

“With archival photos and videos as well as compelling interviews with musicians who lived in the golden age of reggae, the...

Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe and dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry have joined forces for “Lions,” a new single they contributed to art collective/supergroup Saudade.

The track opens with a peaceful interlude of Perry speaking, as Blythe takes over on vocals. “Honey dripping through the ceiling/On the shifting blue below,” he sings. “Their beauty stings in floating dreams/That let the poison flow.” He uses his heavy-metal vocals to scream through the chorus: “We’ve been pushed to this/We kill with a kiss.”

“What an incredible...

★★☆☆☆ Once in a blue moon, pop culture is delivered a figure cut from such a radical and innovative cloth that it hardly knows how to handle it. This figure achieves such a legendary status that they reach a cult-like standing in the consciousness of others. Such is the status of reggae producer and musician Lee Scratch Perry, who now lives in a rarefied state replete with mysticism, pontificating at length and at will to any willing listener on all he sees and believes and continuing to make some of the most intriguing and trippy music on either side of the Atlantic. Volker Schaner's documentary, Lee Scratch Perry's Vision of Paradise covers more than a decade of Perry's life.

Nothing fits the music documentary format quite so compellingly as a life cut tragically short. In addition to the ready-made dramatic arc, a subject who leaves this mortal coil before their time usually also leaves a certain amount of mystery in their wake, providing ample grist for filmmakers (and the folks they interview) to chew on.

Even when the hows and whys of an artist's tragic exit are a matter of uncontroversial record, questions of "What might have been?" inevitably linger over their prematurely truncated discography — in itself a far...

Festival to include 18 world premieres and close with Us crime documentary 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets.

Amit Gupta’s One Crazy Thing (fka Nothing Like This) is to receive its European premiere as the opening film of the 14th East End Film Festival (July 1-12).

Starring and produced by Ray Panthaki, the romantic comedy also stars Daisy Bevan

Panthaki plays a former daytime TV star whose life has hit rock bottom until he meets his dream girl - and has to choose his moment to tell her about the leaked sex tape that made him an internet sensation.

Eeff will this year include 18 world premieres, 8 European premieres and 20 UK premieres.

The closing film will be Marc Silver’s 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, which examines the aftermath of a tragic incident at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, in which an unarmed 17-year old African-American was gunned down for playing loud music. It marks British documentary filmmaker Silver’s follow-up to Who...

Chicago – Clocking in at a shade under two-and-a-half hours, Kevin Macdonald’s hugely informative yet leisurely paced documentary plays like the condensed version of a top-drawer TV miniseries. There’s even enough fade-outs for one to mentally insert commercial breaks. Yet for music buffs, the need to see this footage on the big screen undoubtedly justified its theatrical release.

As someone only vaguely familiar with Bob Marley, I found myself completely captivated by this picture, which tells the story of a life purely through in-depth interviews and archival footage. Though the film perhaps could’ve benefitted from more concert footage, the context in which the footage is presented is always enlightening, and at times, very moving. Marley’s messages of peace and unity resonate not only through the power of music, but through the methods in which the filmmakers explore the origins of Marley’s beliefs.

Blu-ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

In sequences...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 7, 2012

Price: DVD $26.98, Blu-ray $29.98

Studio: Magnolia

Marley is a 2011 music documentary film on the legendary reggae godfather Bob Marley.

Marley’s universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. The film chronicles the life story of the revolutionary musician from his early days to his rise to international superstardom.

Directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and made with the support of the Marley family, the film features a slew of footage, music performances and interview snippets with a host of talking heads, including family members Ziggy, Rita and Cedella, Island Records head honcho Chris Blackwell, and reggae stars Lee Perry, Bunny Wailer, and Judy Mowatt.

The PG-13-rated Marley premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February, 2012, followed by its North American premiere at SXSW. It went on to a limited release in U.

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the new Bob Marley documentary “Marley,” which is the definitive life story of the beloved king of reggae! The film opens on April 20, 2012 from Magnolia Pictures.

“Marley,” which was made with the support of the Marley family, features Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Rita Marley, Cedella Marley, Lee Perry, Chris Blackwell, Cindy Breakspeare, Neville Garrick, Bunny Wailer, The Wailers, Lee Jaffe, Carlton Fraser, Judy Mowatt and Junior Marvin from Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”).

To win your free passes to the advance Chicago screening of “Marley” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. The more social actions you complete below,...

The original Gears of War was a risky venture for Epic Games, it has been revealed. Senior gameplay director Lee Perry described its cover-based gameplay as "a total crap shoot" because the studio wasn't sure whether people would enjoy it. "Cover-based play was a total crap shoot for us, because we didn't know whether people would find it fun to get into cover and not get shot," he told Digital Spy. "For all we knew, people might just see that as cowardly and defensive. But we hit this really magic time to launch a cool new IP, because the Xbox 360 came along and people were willing to try new styles of play. Perry added: "The timing worked out really well, and we were very fortunate (more)...

Gears of War 3 becomes "very different" when played with four people, according to Epic Games. The campaign will allow up to four people to play at once, a first for the franchise, and will see enemy difficulty change as more players are added. "[Four players] definitely feels very different and the balance is a little different," senior gameplay designer Lee Perry told Digital Spy. "It's more challenging per enemy when there are four players. Early co-op tests were just four players smashing through everything in the level, just devastating everything. "Because these levels can be played through by one player, so you throw in three more intelligent players and it's just carnage. So the more people that you add, the more challenging each enemy gets." Watch the Gears of War 3 campaign trailer below: Perry also said that there (more)...

With Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two due in stores today, we look back to 1998, when the Beasties rode the wheels of steel with 'Scratch.'

By James Montgomery

The Beastie Boys' Mike D in 1998

Photo: MTV News

In 1998, the Beastie Boys had entered a new phase in their career. Buoyed by the success of 1992's Check Your Head and '95's Ill Communication, they had become a respected, downright revered act, the kind capable of doing whatever they want, with whomever they saw fit. They had certainly earned that right, and on their Hello Nasty album, they were determined to take full advantage.

And while we can only speculate how songs like "I Don't Know" (featuring Miho Hatori, then of Cibo Matto, on guest vocals), the Krautrock-indebted "And Me," the jazzy, bossa-nova instrumentals-laden "Sneakin' Out the Hospital" and "Song for Junior" ended up making the cut, we know...

Widely revered in reggae and hip-hop circles, Lee “Scratch” Perry is one of 20th century music’s most influential and mysterious artists, a tried-and-true rasta man whose lasting contribution goes beyond spawning some of reggae’s most seminal acts. He was, in fact, the driver for the aesthetic innovations that germinated into the two genres mentioned above, and he reinvented the image of the studio engineer from mere technician to artistic focal point. Now in his mid seventies and expatriated to Switzerland, he’s the subject of the feature-length doc The Upsetter, from the directors Adam Bhala Lough (The Carter, Weapons) and Ethan Higbee (Red Apples Falling). Nyu classmates, frequent collaborators (Higbee has scored several of Lough’s previous features) and nearly lifelong reggae fans, Lough and Higbee received unprecedented access to the beguiling Perry, who speaks in gorgeous, puzzle-like sentences that require significant scrutiny to unpack.

The Upsetter screened...

Finally in theaters after a lengthy post-festival absence, The Upsetter: The Life & Music Of Lee Scratch Perry tells the story of Lee “Scratch” Perry, who is every bit as much a wizard as a magician. Working in a Kingston studio called the Black Ark, outfitted with hyper-customized recording and remixing equipment that could charitably be describes as low-end, he created some of the most astonishing and complex musical textures ever heard, this is Jamaican dub at its source and there is much to appreciate in it.

This film shows us the Upsetter as he talks about his music, recounts his life, demonstrates his remixing technique and goes to the edge of insanity again and again. We hear unbelievable stories about his life and the music business in Jamaica, where there are no rules. The interviews with Perry leave no doubt that this is a man who marches to the beat of his own echoplex,...

Earlier this year, Tim Schafer's Doublefine Productions released the cute and charming downloadable "Costume Quest" to consoles. The well-reviewed title showed off everything that's great about indies and digital distribution: a quirky concept married to a unique look and feel in a bite-sized game that didn't have to fight for shelf space in games stores across the country. "Costume Quest" was only the first in Doublefine's two-game digital distro deal with Thq. And now, they've pulled back the veil on the next. Here's the official description:

In "Stacking," a family of Russian stacking dolls has been separated by tough economic times. The youngest doll, Charlie Blackmore, begins a heroic effort to bring his family back together. But he's one size smaller than any other doll in the world. Game players will help Charlie, who is all too accustomed to being overlooked and dismissed - too small to be of...