There is nothing new about the debate over rampant commercialism and Sex and the City. So, I'm not even going to go into whether empowerment can be achieved through shopping. But, Fergie's new theme song for the big-screen SATC has hit the web, and she has no qualms about making an ode to designer labels. Titled Labels or Love, the track sounds like a My Humps redux, and frankly, it's pretty awful. For starters, throughout most of the song I had a hard time understanding what she was even saying. But when you can make out the lyrics, they include such philosophical statements as: "Love is a like a runway," "Stop chasing those boys and shop some more," and "No emotional baggage, just replace it with Dior."

Fans of the show have been awaiting the feature film version with bated breath since the news first hit, and the fever pitch has only risen now that Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker have been letting the spoilers fly. Unfortunately, SATC was never really my thing, so I only have a passing curiosity to see how they translate Carrie and the gang on the screen. One thing is for sure, if this theme song is an indication of the music for the movie, I definitely won't be buying the soundtrack.

Take a listen and tell me what you think: Did Fergie improve upon the original? Or is this track best reserved for the closing credits?

After the girls, James Bond theme songs are probably one of the hallmarks of the franchise. Yahoo! music is reporting that the Finnish metal band, H.I.M are the front runners to record the theme for Bond 22. According to Yahoo's report, Bond composers David Arnold and Don Black "were allegedly impressed by the band's track 'Wings Of A Butterfly.'" Yahoo! reports that sources told The Daily Star, "David Arnold and Don Black were in deep conversation with [frontman] Ville on the night. They love the song that won him an award. They think he has just the right ear to write a classic Bond hit with them." H.I.M was formed in 1992 and has released six-full length albums, one of which earned them the distinction of being the first Finnish band to go gold in the US.

It might just be me, but what is with the 'hard rock' themes? I was a big fan of Casino Royale; unfortunately, Chris Cornell's contribution to the soundtrack wasn't exactly my idea of a quality Bond theme. Although to be fair, it did snag an award for "Best Original Song Written Directly For A Film". So while I fully get that they are trying to go in for a more "macho" theme for the new Bond, I'm just not convinced that metal power ballads are the way to go. As Bond fans are well aware, Bond 22 is still in production and updates have been few and far between. Although, there is still the off chance of a delay since script-polisher Paul Haggis hinted to Empire magazine that there were some serious re-writes on the way (fingers crossed that they have axed some of the more comical material). Since this is all just speculation, stay tuned for Bond updates as they come our way.

For Simpsons fans, the Danny Elfman theme song is probably considered sacred, but it looks like there could be some changes planned for the big-screen release. TV Squad reports that pop-punk trio Green Day will be making an appearance in The Simpsons Movie and that they will also be doing their very own version of the theme song -- hey, it worked for Sonic Youth.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the band will be appearing in the film as themselves and "crazy things happen" but obviously the details are being kept under wraps. Green Day's theme will also be released as a single on July 24th, three days before the film's release for a little extra buzz for the movie. Fox Music president Robert Kraft is planning on a three-part approach for the release of the soundtrack, which includes the single, making the soundtrack available for download and the more traditional CD (your choice of a regular jewel case or a limited edition pink donut.) TV Squad could not say if Green Day's version would be replacing Elfman's, but it might be the next major musical change Fox has planned for the film -- series composer Alf Clausen was the first casualty when he was ditched in favor of Oscar winner Hans Zimmer for the score. Or it could just be one in a series of celebrity cameos, you never know. We'll just have to wait until July 27th, when The Simpsons Movie hits theaters to find out.

Hey Spider-Man fans, I feel your pain. It still seems like forever until May 4th when the latest installment of the web-slinger's celluloid exploits, Spider-Man 3, hits the big screen. It's tough going when you really want the film to come out so you can experience all the action, thrills, super-villains and, yes, even romance, the film has to offer. Over the past few months we've tried to help you deal with the pain by offering a few choice tidbits for your enjoyment, including an extremely comprehensive all-you-need-to-know guide to the film prepared by our own Erik Davis.

Now, thanks to the marketing machine that is MySpace, there's some soundtrack samples to get your blood pumping, build your excitement and increase your anticipation for the film even more. Over at the film's official MySpace page, they've posted details on the film's soundtrack release and even included three sample tracks from it as well. Among the three tunes they let you listen to is a pretty catchy song called Signal Fire, recorded by the UK's Snow Patrol. Also offered for your consideration are soundtrack sample songs from The Walkmen and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.

I'm not normally in love with soundtracks from modern films. Since the late eighties, they've all started to sound very similar and have included the requisite "15 or 20 pop hits" most films feature these days. And usually, those "hits" are rather lame and uninspiring. In the case of Spider-Man 3, however, it sounds like the filmmakers have gone to great lengths to ensure not only the movie's quality but the soundtrack's as well -- and it shows. At least from the samples. Bonus points if you know what movie the previous quote is from.

It seems like you aren't a music legend these days unless you have your own biographical film. Variety has reported that rock legend Van Morrison (born George Ivan Morrison) had been compiling material for a documentary about his life and career, but the production has stalled. In talking about the idea, Morrison said, "I have all this material collected and I realized we weren't getting past 1968. We were really squeezing everything in. It was getting very complicated and I realized, 'I need someone to collaborate with,' so I just put it all aside for now."

Morrison also spoke about his relationship with the movies over the years and some of the great and not-so-great uses of his music -- Julia Roberts trying on silly hats to the strains of Brown-Eyed Girl comes immediately to mind. Morrison is pretty protective of his music and still likes to watch a clip of the film that wants to use one of his songs; saying, "when top directors ask to use one of your songs. If Neil Jordan wants to use a song, you can be pretty sure he's going to use it appropriately and he's going to be sensitive to the material." The interview comes on the heels of the release of Morrison's soundtrack compilation Van Morrison at the Movies: The Soundtrack Hits. So until Van Morrison finds a collaborator for his own biopic, we'll have to settle for hearing his music in other films.

For a reason I don't remember, a few weeks ago I watched an online clip (Which seems to have been taken down. Stupid laws.) of Samuel L. Jackson on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In addition to listening to Jackson tell his now-standard story about wanting to do the movie because of its title, DeGeneres was explaining to him that she'd put together a couple of entries for the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack contest that New Line was running. She didn't explain anything about the contest, but one of her songs involved chanting "Snakes, snakes, snakes on a plane!" over and over again, and it was clearly going to be in the running when the time came to pick the contest's most impressive submission.

Well, New Line has announced its winner, and Ellen DeGeneres' name is nowhere to be found (she must have screwed up the application, or something). Instead, the prize -- spots on both the movie's soundtrack and in the film itself -- goes to LA band Captain Ahab's work, Snakes on a Brain. Either my computer or I have a problem because we can't get the song to play but, really, I think Ahab said it all after the results were announced: "By pairing the greatest film of all time with the greatest song of all time, David Ellis and the executives at New Line Cinema have surpassed all previous expectations of human endeavor." U-S-A! U-S-A!

It's official: Beck has lost his damn mind. Based on the abundant evidence of a single feature, he has elevated Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess into the film stratosphere alongside none other than Federico Fellini. Seriously. That really happened. Talking to a stunned Rolling Stone reporter, Beck dropped the following bomb: "No filmmaker since Fellini has had such an eye for amazing characters [as Hess]." Um, wow. Read that carefully, now: I realize he's not comparing Hess' visual style to that of Fellini, but still - in Beck's personal world of great characters, there are only two masters, and one of the is Jared Hess. Man, if Wong Kar Wai knew who Beck was, he would totally come kick his ass, and Michelangelo Antonioni might just tie him to a chair and force him to watch The Passenger over and over again.

Sadly for those two, the lack of Beck love means that he'll never, ever score one of their films. Since his first ever foray into movie scores will be for Hess' Nacho Libre, he clearly has very high standards for such things - if Fellini were alive, he'd be the only other man with a shot. In addition to scoring Hess' film, Beck will also contribute songs to the soundtrack (though it's unclear if they'll be new recordings); the movie hits theaters June 2.

Disney announced recently that it has fully restored the 1955 animated film Lady and the Tramp for a Feb. 28 DVD release. According to this article, technicians digitally removed 30 million bits of dirt and dust from the frames of the film in preparation for the release. The cleaned-up Tramp (sorry, I couldn't resist) is playing through Valentine's Day in Hollywood at the El Capital Theater, which Disney owns. It was the first animated movie released in CinemaScope widescreen, so I'm betting the film looks pretty smashing on a theater screen.

But all this high-tech restoration talk reminded me of childhood days when we did not have a line of movies on VHS or DVD near the TV, but instead had to settle for listening to abbreviated soundtracks or better yet, long-playing records that told the story of the movie with a few songs interspersed. That's why today's image is a cover from a Little Golden Record—a 45 RPM that contained a couple of songs from Lady and the Tramp. While I feel a tiny bit of nostagia for the kids' movie-based records, I realize how lucky we are today, when we can have whole libraries of movies in our homes.

Film Music Radio is a wicked cool (as we say here in Boston) 24/7 Internet radio stream featuring only movie and TV music which officially launches on September 12, 2005.  However, anyone with an itchin' to see what it's all about can check it out right now. The stream will play through iTunes, with it and other free music players available through the site.