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Today in Movie Culture: 'Passengers' Music Video, 'Star Wars' Mannequin Challenge and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Music Video of the Day:

Imagine Dragons have an original song titled “Levitate” on the Passengers soundtrack, and Sony released this music video to showcase it (via /Film):

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Cosplay of the Day:

The employees of an Australian movie theater made a Rogue One: A Star Wars Story-inspired entry into the Mannequin Challenge trend (via Fashionably Geek):

Fan Theory of the Day:

Speaking of Rogue One, The Film Theorists’ MatPat looks at the theory that the main characters turn to the Dark Side and maybe will be back in Star Wars: Episode VIII:

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Alternate Ending of the Day:

Here’s an animated look at what really happened to the title alien in Predator, bridging the original movie with its sequel:

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Movie Takedown of the Day:

Honest Trailers does its business all over The Secret Life of Pets:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Joel Coen, who turns 62 today, directs Jeff Bridges on the set of The Big Lebowski in 1997:

Filmmaker in Focus:

Great directors don’t need characters to say a thing, and here’s proof in a highlight of silent moments in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven (via Film School Rejects):

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Talk Show Appearance of the Day:

In a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, Tom Hanks discusses and reenacts part of the running sequence from Forrest Gump:

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Movie Style of the Day:

Learn how to braid your hair in styles inspired by Frozen, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and Aladdin:

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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the wide release of Network. Watch the original trailer for the Oscar-winnning classic below.

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Today in Movie Culture: 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' Lego Trailer, 'The Iron Giant' Lego Playset and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Remade Trailer of the Day:

The teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has received its obligatory Lego-style trailer (via /Film):

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Movie Toy of the Day:

Speaking of Lego, here’s a fan-made The Iron Giant playset submitted to Lego Ideas. See more photos and details at Geek Tyrant:

Re-dubbed Movie of the Day:

Was Yoda really speaking wisely in The Empire Strikes Back? This video imagines that he was singing a song about seagulls instead (via io9):

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Re-edited Movie of the Day:

Quentin Tarantino is known as a dialogue-heavy filmmaker, so this version of Pulp Fiction with the dialogue removed is very strange (via Film School Rejects):

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Misread Movie of the Day:

Find out what Sausage Party is really all about according to an alien in the future:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Joe Dante, who turns 70 today, directs a little title creature for a scene in Gremlins in 1983 (via Ain’t It Cool News):

Filmmaker in Focus:

For Fandor Keyframe, Philip Brubaker highlights dance scenes in David Lynch movies:

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Movie Science of the Day:

Wired got dialect coach Erik Singer to scientifically analyze 32 actors’ accents in movies:

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Supercut of the Day:

Need a good laugh? How about an hours worth, care of this supercut of laughter in movies from Candice Drouet:

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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the release of Sling Blade, which won an Oscar for its screenplay and earned Billy Bob Thornton a nomination. Watch the original trailer for the movie below.

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Best of the Week: Martin Scorsese's 'Silence' Trailer, Another 'Game of Thrones' Star Joins 'Star Wars' and More

The Important News

Star Wars: Emilia Clarke joined the Han Solo spinoff. And that spinoff was revealed to be like a Western. The canceled Boba Fett spinoff reportedly had a teaser trailer. Tickets for Rogue One will go on sale Monday.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Angela Bassett joined Black Panther. Kevin Feige announced it’s impossible for the X-Men to join the MCU.

X-Men: Fox scheduled two new X-Men movies for 2018 and 2019. The villain in New Mutants might be Demon Bear.

Disney Remakes: Marc Forster will direct Christopher Robin.

Sci-fi Remakes: Legendary Pictures will bring Dune back on the big screen. Chad Stahelski will direct the Highlander reboot.

Video Game Movies: Paul W.S. Anderson wants to make a Monster Hunter movie.

Comic Book Movies: Ben Wheatley and Tom Hiddleston will reunite for Hard Boiled.

Dance Movies: Step Up 6 will be a Chinese movie.

YA Adaptations: Chloe Grace Moretz will star in The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

Biopics: Adam McKay is making a movie about Dick Cheney.

Secret Movies: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara and director David Lowery made a movie under the radar.

Box Office: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened at number one.

Awards: Moonlight and Jackie are among the Independent Spirit Awards nominees.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie and TV Trailers: Silence, Cars 3, T2: Trainspotting, The Book of Love, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, Passengers, The Comedian, and The Last Face.

Proof of Concept Teaser: New Mutants.

TV Spots: Fifty Shades Darker.

Movie Clips: Hidden Figures.

Easter Eggs: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Movie Comparisons: The Thing and The Hateful Eight, Whiplash and Black Swan and Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Memes: Trailers redone “Logan style.”

Contests: Sing‘s Real Talent, From Real Life.

Remade Movies: 8-bit video game version of Doctor Strange.

Mashups: Batman fights classic movie villains and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Pokemon.

Fan Theories: Cannibalism in Wall-E.

Movie Posters: All of this week’s best new posters.

Our Features

Wizarding World Guide: Everything we know about the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel.

Marvel Guide: We looked at why the new Marvel civil war is about ABC versus Netflix.

Film History Lesson: We remembered when The Addams Family encouraged movies based on TV shows.

Geek Movie Guide: We spotlighted the geeky things we’re thankful for this year.

Home Viewing: Our guide to everything hitting VOD this week.

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Today in Movie Culture: Batman vs. Classic Movie Villains, Thanksgiving in Movies and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Mashup of the Day:

Batman finds the hangout of all classic movie villains, including Voldemort and Loki, and takes them on himself in this animated parody:

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Supercut of the Day:

For Fandor Keyframe, Jacob T. Swinney spotlights dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinner scenes in movies:

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Movie Reenactment of the Day:

A British couple likes to recreate scenes from movies, like Alien, with their cats. See more, including The Shining and E.T. at Geekologie.

Movie Comparison of the Day:

Couch Tomato shows 24 reasons that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is basically a remake of Double Dragon:

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Movie Homages of the Day:

Here’s another showcase of paintings side by side with the shots in movies they inspired, including one in Eraserhead, from Candice Drouet:

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Reimagined Movie of the Day:

What if Titanic was a modern cruise line instead of a movie? CineFix imagines it so with this fake ad:

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Vintage Poster of the Day:

Franco Nero, who turns 75 today, broke out as the original Django in this 1966 Spaghetti Western:

Actor in the Spotlight:

In honor of the release of Allied, check out some trivia about Brad Pitt via ScreenCrush:

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Film Studies Lesson of the Day:

The Nerdwriter looks at brilliant lighting in animation with focus on the anime classic Akira:

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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the release of Giant, starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Watch the original trailer for the movie below.

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Today in Movie Culture: 'Sing' Will Make You a Star, the Gruesome Truth About 'Wall-E' and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Rising Star Contest of the Day:

In honor of the new animated musical Sing, you can audition to appear on the YouTube homepage or win a trip to Los Angeles as part of Illumination Entertainment’s Real Talent, From Real Life contest. Below is a lyric-filled video for the movie’s original song “Faith,” which you’ll need to enter.

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Alternate Movie Poster of the Day:

Speaking of animated features, in honor of today’s home video release of Kubo and the Two Strings, Mondo Prints unveiled this new poster by Cesar Moreno (via /Film):

Fan Theory of the Day:

And here’s something about another animated feature: MatPat of The Film Theorists tackles the theory that the humans in Pixar’s Wall-E are cannibals:

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Movie Recap of the Day:

Speaking of Disney animated movies specifically, here’s a recap of the plot of Frozen in rap song form, with “Let It Go” sample, of course:

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Cosplay of the Day:

Apparently it was only an accident that this dog is cosplaying as No-Face from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, but who knows? (via Fashionably Geek):

Animated Remake of the Day:

If Doctor Strange had come out 30 years ago, it might have gotten a video game that looks like 8 Bit Cinema’s version of the movie:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Terry Gilliam, who turns 76 today, directs Winston Dennis as the Samurai Warrior on the set of his 1985 film Brazil:

Screenwriting Lesson of the Day:

Lessons from the Screenplay focuses on obsessed artist characters and the structure used to portray them in both Black Swan and Whiplash:

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Reimagined Movie of the Day:

And get ready for Black Friday with a reworked trailer for Paul Blart: Mall Cop selling it as a serious action movie:

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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the release of the Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday classic Jingle All the Way. Watch the original trailer below.

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New Mix: Some Of The Best Songs We Missed This Year

(Clockwise from upper left) Africaine 808, D.D Dumbo, The Frightnrs, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Anthony Joseph. Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

Bob Boilen and I, along with the rest of the NPR Music team, have been prepping for our year-end coverage by listening to hundreds of songs and albums in one big shared playlist. Along the way, we’ve all discovered stuff we hadn’t heard before — and even fallen in love with some of it.

On this week’s show, Bob and I share some of the artists and albums we missed before now, from Caribbean roots music by Anthony Joseph to the Boston-based funk group Lettuce and the idiosyncratic pop of D.D Dumbo.

NPR Music’s Tom Huizenga stops by to talk about his favorite discovery from our year-end playlist: The Frightnrs, a band that lovingly recreates the retro sounds of reggae.—Robin Hilton

Songs Featured On This Episode

Cover for Caribbean Roots

01Slinger

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Anthony Joseph

  • Song: Slinger
  • from Caribbean Roots

Anthony Joseph makes Caribbean-based music and “Slinger” is a song that honors the classic calypso singer The Mighty Sparrow. The song comes from Anthony Joseph’s latest album, Caribbean Roots.

Cover for Nothing More To Say

02Nothing More To Say

4:11

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The Frightnrs

  • Song: Nothing More To Say
  • from Nothing More To Say

This pick comes from guest DJ and Deceptive Cadence host Tom Huizenga. Though he’s a classical expert, Tom has some of the biggest ears on the staff, and will listen to and appreciate a wide swath of music. Tom heard The Frightnrs and enjoyed their music as comfort food and a safe haven from a stressful year. This Queens, N.Y. band lovingly recreates a retro rocksteady sound, down to the lo-fi quality, loving harmonies and delicate instrumentation.

Cover for Utopia Defeated

01Walrus

3:13

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D.D Dumbo

  • Song: Walrus
  • from Utopia Defeated

Australian artist D.D Dumbo is influenced by pop and West African music, creating an interesting blend of two worlds. “Walrus” comes from his debut album, Utopia Defeated. The song is a commentary on the horrors of making foie gras; the entirety of Utopia Defeated is about animal rights and the importance of treating the planet right.

Cover for The Rarity Of Experience

01Anthem I

2:45

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Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band

  • Song: Anthem I
  • from The Rarity Of Experience

You might recognize Chris Forsyth from the Tiny Desk Concert he and The Solar Motel Band had back in July. “Anthem I” is from Forsyth’s double record, The Rarity of Experience. His anthemic music is informed by ’70s guitar rock, with a portion of the tracks on the album being purely instrumental.

Cover for Basar

02Ngoni

6:05

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Africaine 808

  • Song: Ngoni
  • from Basar

Don’t let their name deceive you — Africaine 808 is a duo from Germany fusing global music with danceable beats. Their name is derived from the familiar Roland 808 drum machine they use. “Ngoni” is from Basar, Africaine 808’s debut album. We featured them in our First Listen series in February.

Cover for Mt. Crushmore

01The Love You Left Behind (feat. Alecia Chakour)

3:42

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Lettuce

  • Song: The Love You Left Behind (feat. Alecia Chakour)
  • from Mt. Crushmore

A funk band from Boston, Lettuce has been making music for 25 years. They formed in 1992 after meeting at the Berklee College of Music and released their first album a decade later. “The Love You Left Behind” comes from their most recent release, Mt. Crushmore.

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Today in Movie Culture: 'Fantastic Beasts' Easter Eggs, 'Rogue One' Set Up and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Easter Eggs of the Day:

Mr. Sunday Movies is here to explain all the Harry Potter references and point out the Easter eggs in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them:

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Movie Set Up of the Day:

Get ready for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by learning 51 things revealed in the new book Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (via /Film):

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Cosplay of the Day:

This Darth Talon cosplay is pretty amazing, but we’re betting on little Rey to win this battle. See more of Darth Talon at Fashionably Geek.

Supercut of the Day:

Get ready for Thanksgiving with the family by watching this supercut of dinner table conflicts (via Film School Rejects):

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Mashup of the Day:

Find your favorite sci-fi characters, including RoboCop and the Predator, in this mashup illustration by artists Josan Gonzalez and Laurie Greasley (via /Film):

Movie Comparison of the Day:

See parts of The Thing side by side with similar shots and scenes from The Hateful Eight in this video from Kino:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Goldie Hawn, who was born on this day in 1945, with director Steven Spielberg on the set of The Sugarland Express in 1973:

Movie Homages of the Day:

Candice Drouet is the master of finding homages in movies, and here’s her latest video showing master works of art side by side with the movie shots they clearly inspired:

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Movie Meme of the Day:

The latest trailer meme is to rework other movies “Logan style,” as seen with the moody Iron Man rework titled “Stark” below. See it done for Superman and Batman at Geek Tyrant.

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Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Rocky. Watch the original trailer for the Best Picture winner below.

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Best of the Week: Trailers for Live-Action Remakes of 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Ghost in the Shell' and More

The Important News

The Wizarding World: David Yates might direct all five Fantastic Beasts movies.

Jurassic World: Jurassic World 2 will be connected more to Jurassic Park.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had to make a special trade deal with Deadpool. The Inhumans will be a TV series with an IMAX pilot.

DC Extended Univers: Willem Dafoe joined Aquaman.

Muppets: Sesame Street is heading to the big screen again.

Spinoffs: Matt Damon says he’ll appear in Ocean’s Eight.

Sequels: Isla Fischer says a Wedding Crashers sequel might happen.

Remakes: Oscar-winning animated short The Dam Keeper is being redone as a feature.

Reboots: Gavin O’Connor is making another go of The Green Hornet. The reboot of The Crow has jumped to another company.

Comic Book Movies: Amblin is making a movie based on the graphic novel Dan and Sam. Mark Osborne is now directing the Bone movie.

Video Game Movies: Steve Carell will star in the Minecraft movie.

Horror: Fede Alvarez wants to make a Don’t Breathe sequel.

Disaster Movies: The Hindenburg disaster will be the subject of another movie.

True Stories: Forest Whitaker joined the Biggie and Tupac movie LAByrinth.

R.I.P.: Robert Vaughn died at the age of 83.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie and TV Trailers: Beauty and the Beast, Ghost in the Shell, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Kong: Skull Island, Patriot’s Day, Jackie, Monster Trucks, Before I Fall, Detour, Justice League Dark, A Kind of Murder and Netflix’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

TV Spots: Allied.

Movie Clips: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Manchester By the Sea and Passengers.

Featurettes: How Rogue One fits into the Star Wars franchise and Army of One.

Behind the Scenes: Doctor Strange effects breakdown, A Wrinkle in Time cast and crew do the mannequin challenge, Kubo and the Two Strings shows off massive sets and Transformers: The Last Knight IMAX showcase.

Trailer Remakes: Ghost in the Shell with animate footage and Fantastic Beasts with 8-bit video game graphics.

Recaps: The Harry Potter series in 90 seconds.

Mashups: Frozen meets Suicide Squad, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs meets X-Men and Beauty and the Beast meets The Avengers.

Fan Theories: The magic of Doctor Strange explained with science.

Short Films: Foodfellas.

Movie Posters: All of this week’s best new posters.

Our Features

Interviews: Alden Ehrenreich on his first step onto the Millennium Falcon and on how his Han Solo will be different.

Comic Book Movie Guide: We list five alternate cuts of superhero movies that made a difference.

Interview: Andrew Stanton on what’s stopping a Pixar Cinematic Universe.

Interview: Vin Diesel on reinventing the xXx franchise.

Home Viewing: Our guide to everything hitting VOD this week.

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Today in Movie Culture: Marvel's 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Harry Potter' Trivia and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Mashup of the Day:

Darth Blender has come through with another necessary mashup, this one redoing the Beauty and the Beast trailer with footage of Marvel’s Black Widow and the Hulk:

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Redone Trailer of the Day:

Where’s the old school video game tie-in for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? At least here’s an 8-bit graphics redo of the movie’s trailer:

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Movie Trivia of the Day:

Speaking of the wizarding world, ScreenCrush shares some trivia about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban you might not know:

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Movie Comparison of the Day:

And speaking of Prisoner of Azkaban, Couch Tomato has 24 reasons it’s the same movie as The Monster Squad:

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Video Essay of the Day:

More on Harry Potter, here’s a video essay on the series’ theme of politics of hate by Kaija Siirala for Fandor Keyframe:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Martin Scorsese, who was born on this day in 1942, directs Tom Cruise while Paul Newman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who was born on this day in 1958, look on during the making of The Color Money in 1986:

Reimagined Movie of the Day:

It’s also Danny DeVito’s birthday, so here’s a trailer for Matilda as if it was directed by Scorsese instead of him:

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Actor in the Spotlight:

Ranker’s latest actor-focused supercut shows us how John Goodman is always really angry in his movies:

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Star Wars of the Day:

Watch Ben Schwartz and Bill Hader help give BB-8 a voice in this new bonus feature from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Collectors Edition (via /Film):

BB-8 speaks in “Sounds of the Resistance,” from Star Wars #TheForceAwakens Collector’s Edition. https://t.co/vOOTyXzurL pic.twitter.com/z1NUjT7nic

— Star Wars (@starwars) November 15, 2016

Classic Movie Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Elia Kazan’s The Last Tycoon, starring Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson. Watch the original trailer below.

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In This Bobo Yéyé Box Set, Find The Creativity And Optimism Of A Lost World

Volta Jazz, also known as Orchestre Volta-Jazz, was one of the most prominent Bobo Dioulasso bands of the ’60s and ’70s. Sory Sanlé hide caption

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Sory Sanlé

Imagine that an important American musical city, one at a crossroads of commerce and culture (say, Memphis), was unknown to much of the world. Bobo Dioulasso in Upper Volta, the name Burkina Faso went by during the French colonial period, could be described in this way. French author and producer Florent Mazzoleni has spent years visiting that city, literally going door to door to collect vinyl records that rarely circulated beyond the country’s borders.

The music Mazzoleni collected is described as “Bobo Yéyé.” Bobo refers to its city of origin. Yéyé is how French-speaking people in the 1960s and ’70s talked about the era’s rock n roll, especially The Beatles with their immortal refrain, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Mazzoleni’s work has culminated in a box set, which he titled Bobo Yéyé: Belle Époque in Upper Volta. “Belle Époque” means “a beautiful era.

Among the groups featured in the box set is Volta Jazz, one of the most prominent bands of this time. You can hear a strong Afro-Cuban influence in their music, because Latin music was huge in West Africa in the ’60s. Bobo was a market center and an army town, booming, full of nightclubs and bands that catered to locals, soldiers and visitors alike. All sorts of cultures, including rock and roll, collided merrily in this hopeful milieu.

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The bands featured in this box set were all processing the excitement, complexity and upheaval of Upper Volta’s recent independence from France. Radio was introducing new sounds, and musicians and fans were keen to fuse their local identity with international trends. In the song “De Nwolo,” Tidiane Coulibaly and his band Dafra Star incorporate the region’s most prominent instrument, the wooden xylophone known as the balafon, into electric guitar pop.

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Unfortunately, this rich cultural moment was crushed after 1984, when a new military leader, Thomas Sankara, imposed a curfew in the country’s cities and decreed that musicians could no longer charge money for their concerts. This box set gives us 41 tracks and over 100 black and white photographs depicting stylish musicians and their fans, African mods and urban warriors, young people with high hopes and big dreams. Bobo Yéyé lets us savor the seductive creativity and optimism of a lost world, a belle époque indeed.

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