phish Tagged Articles at Cinematical

AEG and Action 3D are betting on music lovers that will want to catch their favorite performers in a movie theater -- on the screen, that is. According to Variety, the two companies have already been getting footage from different festivals for their limited-run, 3D-only concert movies, which will be offered in a similar manner as U2 3D. The first series of movies will be footage of concerts from Dave Matthews (yay?), Relentless7, Ben Harper, and Gogol Bordello. The only group that sounds like it would wow music fans in 3D is Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk band known for their outrageous live shows and songs like "Start Wearing Purple."

However, AEG is also behind the recent release of Michael Jackson's film This is It, along with Sony, which has made $186 million worldwide so far. While concert movies with built-in audiences like the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds have been similarly successful, I'm not convinced that semi-random concert series will really put bottoms in seats. And for all you Phishheads, AEG has apparently already "filmed several 3D live sets of Phish from Festival 8 in Indio, Calif., in late October. According to [John Rubey, president of Network Live, a division of AEG Live], the company plans to roll out 'best of' edition from Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits as followups to the Matthews feature in 2010." So get your Birks and tie-dye ready to jam out, man!

I think it's a cool idea to offer people the chance to see their favorite bands up close and personal if they can't see them live, but there isn't anything to rival the actual live experience. Granted, you're not usually that close to the stage and some jerk just spilled beer on your shoes and someone else is singing along to every song and/or shouting "WOO!" in your ear, but that's all part of the concert experience, right?

Could it be that we might actually see a film with the National Lampoon name on it that doesn't have to do with pledging a fraternity and/or sleeping with every girl on campus? No offense to Van Wilder and Paris Hilton, but now that National Lampoon is on their own (buying, releasing and producing films in-house), I'd love it if the quality was taken up a notch. Variety tells us that NL has popped its cherry and officially purchased their first film, Electric Apricot, with intentions to release it later this year under the name National Lampoon Presents Electric Apricot -- Quest for Festeroo. And, after reading the plot description, I'm all kinds of stoked.

Pic, which marks the directorial debut of singer/bassist Les Claypool (Primus), is a comedy set in the world of jam bands, and is said to be in the vein of This is Spinal Tap. For anyone that's ever attended a Grateful Dead or Phish concert (and still remembers the experience), then this film is for you. Running down the cast list, there aren't many recognizable names. Seth Green and Matt Stone (South Park co-creator) apparently play tapers (these guys show up to tape each live performance, and most of them can recall set lists going back 10 years). I assume the film will be told in a mockumentary sort of style, while we follow the band around on tour. Having attended some of these shows myself, I know for a fact that there's a ton of room for comedy ... in the parking lot alone.

Aside from Apricot, National Lampoon is also planning to release its first inhouse feature production, National Lampoon's Bagboy, later this year. That film chronicles the trials and tribulations of a teenager who enters the world of competitive grocery store bagging, and stars Brooke Shields, Dennis Farina and Larry Miller.