Musician, mogul, throne-watcher, and Donda CEO Kanye West is finally returning to his roots as a filmmaker. According to the New York Observer, Ye is in the Middle East to shoot a follow-up short to “Runaway,” which, of course, was so good that it cured world hunger. This time, Yeezy has his sights set even higher, according to his reps:
“His reps seemed genuinely enthusiastic about creating a piece which highlights the culture accurately,” our source explained. “There’s a lot of preconceived notions and stereotypes about Emiratis and Qataris, which Westerners often play up. They discussed how Kanye is looking to bridge the cultural divide and break misconceptions.”
Yup, the film will indeed finally create peace between the West and the Middle East, so we have that to look forward to, along with Ye’s eventual Nobel Peace Prize (and subsequently shoving Philip Roth off the stage to demand the Nobel Prize for Literature should go to Haruki Murakami instead). Of course, its always possible that this is just a ruse to cover up the fact that Kanye is finally beginning work on The Jetsons movie, so more on this story as it develops.
Once again, TUiW is fortunate enough to go to the Savannah Film Festival and get a sneak peak of some of this year’s Oscar contenders before they hit wide release. Headline films include Roman Polanski’s Carnage and Cannes favorite The Artist, and this morning, the festival announced its competition films. Check out the list below and check back when the festival starts to read our thoughts on them.
After 31 years, R.E.M. are calling it quits. One of the most important bands of the last three decades, R.E.M. are responsible for the success and popularity of modern indie rock. There are obvious musical descendants, like The National, but every band on an independent label owes a little bit to R.E.M. for helping keep indies financially viable. Even after joining Warner Brothers, the band set the gold standard for artistic integrity in the MTV era, creating compelling, thoroughly enjoyable music without a hiccup for nearly 15 years. Though the band weakened a bit with the departure of drummer Bill Berry after 1997’s New Adventures in Hi Fi, the three remaining members went through a renaissance on their last two albums, 2008’s Accelerate and this year’s Collapse Into Now. Undoubtedly, their legacy will be centered into what they did between 1981 and 1995, but what the band leaves behind is a tremendous catalogue of music that very few bands can match.
It’s become a small tradition here at TUiW to report on every movement Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum makes, but this one undoubtedly takes the cake. On the band’s newly redone website, Mangum announced the release of a massive vinyl box set of NMH material, including a slew of previously unreleased tracks. The box will contain the band’s two classics, On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, as well as the out of print Everything Is EP and 7″ for Aeroplane single “Holland, 1945.” The exciting part is the bonus EP, Ferris Wheel on Fire, that features seven previously unreleased tracks (and “Engine,” a b-side), a single of unreleased versions of Avery Island‘s “You’ve Passed” and “Where You’ll Find Me Now,” and a single with studio and live versions of unreleased track “Little Birds.” Phew. The box is available for pre-order for $88, while MP3s of the unreleased tracks will be available as pay-what-you-want on November 22 at the new 
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Having spent a good part of 2010 on the road with 
Good news today for fans of Manic Pixie Dream Girls and bad news for fans of White Sox-loving cops. With the fall season coming to a close and network upfronts on their way, Fox has picked up four new shows, including The New Girl, a Zooey Deschanel vehicle that features Mrs. Ben Gibbard as a suddenly single teacher who moves in with three guys. Also picked up were J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and a Bones spin-off, Finder. To make room, the network is dropping poor performers Breaking In, The Human Target, Lie to Me, Traffic Light, and Sean Ryan’s cop drama The Chicago Code. Rumor is the rest of their lineup will be filled with shows with singing and Seth McFarlane. [Ed. Note: That was a startlingly accurate joke]
It’s that time of year again when everyone gets nervous that their favorite show that no one watches is going to get cancelled. To help ease (or feed) your fears, we’ve come up with this handy list and scale to help you out. The scale is 0-10, with 0 meaning the show is gone, 5 meaning it’s on the fence, and 10 meaning it’s a sure bet to return. So without further ado, here we go:
What started out as a chaotic, melodramatic show, Parenthood has become one of the best ensemble dramas on TV. It’s no coincidence that its gotten better as executive producer Jason Katims wrapped up Friday Night Lights, and any fan of the football drama that isn’t watching Parenthood needs to do so immediately. That aside, the strong ratings opposite CBS’ popular The Good Wife and the critical acclaim (rare for an NBC drama in recent years) will probably come back for a third season, even though there hasn’t been a renewal yet.
Surprised to see this one on here? The show hasn’t been renewed yet as FOX and the show’s studio, NBC Universal are haggling over contracts, but the long running show has ratings to back it up. Ultimately the biggest issue for TV fans is whether or not House will still be quality entertainment for another season or two. I love the cranky doctor as much as the next guy, but after seven seasons, the jokes are stale and the insane medical crisises aren’t exciting. House will be back, rest assured, but maybe its time to start thinking about pulling the plug.
For a show that most people didn’t like at first, it has steadily improved as its become less and less reliant on Matthew Perry making sour faces and brought the excellent supporting cast into the spotlight a bit more. The show has been ABC’s best new comedy, despite airing opposite American Idol and frequently after low rated Modern Family reruns. This isn’t a perfect show, but there’s potential, especially if its paired with Cougar Town, which shares a similar quirky vibe. If ABC finds something better, it’ll get the axe, but if not, expect to see it on the lineup in the fall.
Shawn Ryan had a rough fall with Terriers, and his cop drama on FOX hasn’t exactly done stellar this spring. Still, the show has been slowly getting stronger and has been up against lighter, popular comedies on CBS, and FOX really needs it. The network has had a rough stretch when it comes to new dramas in the past few years, and their two popular franchises in the genre, House and Bones have lost the shine they had a few years ago. It wouldn’t be uncharacteristic of the network to drop The Chicago Code and start fresh in the fall with four new dramas, but the prevailing notion is that unless something better comes along, you’ll hear more ridiculous statements about the White Sox being better than the Cubs.
To be clear, Perfect Couples isn’t a good show, but Outsourced is atrocious. The former should be cancelled because it isn’t fresh or entertaining enough to watch week to week, and the latter has spent an entire television season insulting smart viewers and the entire nation of India with jokes about diarrhea and culture clashes. The two shows are the weak links in NBC’s three hour comedy block, but they aren’t necessarily signs that the experiment failed. 10:00 is a good spot for 30 Rock, and renewals for Community and Parks and Recreation have proven they work in their time slots. This is ultimately an issue of quality instead of quantity, but NBC will probably run for cover and put an hour long show back in at 10. Despite this fact, it’ll be nice to get rid of Outsourced and barely noticeable that we’ll be rid of Perfect Couples.
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