Over the decades, we’ve seen quite a few documentaries about the life of Leonard Cohen. Most recently, he was the subject of the doc, “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.” To say that his life and career are fascinating and iconic is an understatement. And now, a production company would like to bring a specific period of Leonard Cohen’s life to TV screens in a new drama.

Continue reading ‘Who By Fire’: New Limited Series About Leonard Cohen’s 1973 Concert In Israel In Development at The Playlist.

Not many songs have been covered by so many artists like Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” First recorded in 1984 on the underwhelmingly received Various Positions album, “Hallelujah” received little success upon its release but eventually found fame when Jeff Buckley and John Cale covered the song. However, many people know the song from the Dreamworks’ movie, “Shrek,” covered by Rufus Wainwright.

Continue reading ‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song’: Leonard Cohen’s Most Enduring Song Gets The Doc Treatment at The Playlist.

Daniel Gellar and Dayna Goldfine’s “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” begins at what is, by most definitions, the end: with Cohen’s final concert, in December of 2013. He roams the stage, growling out the title song in his trademark fedora and black suit, with all 79 of his years behind it, and it sounds like both a dirge and a celebration. By this time, the omnipresent “Hallelujah” was the song Cohen was most associated with, its strange combination of spirituality and sin, of operatic emotion and shrugging acceptance, making it a standard – the 21st century’s “Yesterday.” 

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But there’s a whole oddball history there, a strange, twisted story of the “Hallelujah” path from forgotten album track to cultural ubiquity, first told in Alan Light’s 2012 book “The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah’” (Light is credited here as a consultant), and later on in Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” podcast.

Continue reading ‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song’ Is A (Mostly) Fascinating Chronicle Of A Musical Masterpiece [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

Few great movies evade analysis as skillfully as Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller.” Its narrative and technique are easy to explain, and even correlate; it’s not that an intellectual case for its effectiveness can’t be mounted. But doing so doesn’t explain the picture’s particular magic – try to wrap your hands around that, and it’ll disintegrate like the fog in the corner of the frame. 

It begins, as so many stories do, with a stranger in town.

Continue reading ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller’ At 50: Robert Altman’s Revisionist Western Is Filmmaking Sorcery at The Playlist.

If you’ve seen the trailers for “The Great,” or already begun watching the series (it premieres today on Hulu), you know that series creator Tony McNamara, who previously wrote “The Favourite,” has crafted a fun, somewhat silly at times story about the rise of Catherine the Great. That being said, there are moments of emotional heft and the music of the series follows the same push and pull between drama and comedy.

Continue reading ‘The Great’ Exclusive Music: Hear The Haunting Cover Of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Bird On A Wire’ From The Hulu Series at The Playlist.

As rich as the field of documentary is, the realities of filmmaking usually prevent films from achieving the same intimacy, fluidity, depth, and scope as classic written memoirs. With Nick Broomfield’s “Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love,” the stars have aligned, with the perfect match of filmmaker and subject, a fortuitous discovery of lost footage, and a narrative spanning a lifetime, to create a film that not only embodies the best of the written memoir but is even richer because it can include musical performances and wonderfully evocative period footage.

Continue reading ‘Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love’ Is A Beautiful, Poignant Look At Love And Loss In A Bohemian Paradise [Review] at The Playlist.

You may not remember, but Disney’s original “Pete’s Dragon” from 1977 was actually a musical. While David Lowery’s 2016 version won’t feature actors belting it out on camera, the newly released tracklist shows that it won’t be pushing music to the side.

Disney has enlisted a talented set of musicians to fill the “Pete’s Dragon” soundtrack, which features three original songs written for the film.

Continue reading ‘Pete’s Dragon’ Soundtrack Features Songs By St. Vincent, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Leonard Cohen, The Lumineers & More at The Playlist.

Feist, Micah P. Hinson, Leonard Cohen & The Buggles: All The Music Featured In 'Take This Waltz'

Continue reading Feist, Micah P. Hinson, Leonard Cohen & The Buggles: All The Music Featured In ‘Take This Waltz’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Poster, Stills & Synopsis For Sarah Polley’s ‘Take This Waltz’; Soundtrack To Feature Leonard Cohen at The Playlist.

Hammond was born into a wealthy family in New York in 1910, and quickly developed an interest in music, particularly that which he heard sung by his servants.

Continue reading Biopic Of Legendary Music Scout John Hammond In The Works at The Playlist.

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Mixed (to favorable) critical response might not matter though, Johansson tells MTV that she “would love to do another album.” The actress turned singer turned wife of Ryan Reynolds says the project probably “wouldn’t be covers” album again, but she thinks that another disc is probably “somewhere in the future.”

Johannson stresses that she wouldn’t do covers again, but if she did, “I dunno, Leonard Cohen, maybe?” The Playlist thought: honey, you dogged one bullet already, don’t press your luck.

Continue reading Scarlett Johansson May Record A Second Abum One Day? Covers? Probably Not… at The Playlist.