Happy Halloween! Welcome to this surprise Radical Retro Movie Review. Recently I was thoroughly disappointed by “The Thing,” a prequel to the John Carpenter film by the same name. Since the 2011 counterpart turned out to be such a dud, I thought I should revisit the 1982 version and discuss what still makes it such a compelling masterpiece today.

What most people don’t know, is that John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was actually a remake of a 1951 film called “The Thing from Another World,” which was based itself, on a short story by John W. Campbell Jr. Carpenter was able to effectively ...

Punk icon Patti Smith has been selected to receive Sweden's prestigious Polar Music Prize.

The rocker will share the honor, which is handed out by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, with the Kronos Quartet.

The prize committee which selected Smith insisted that "by devoting her life to art in all its forms, Patti Smith has demonstrated how much rock 'n' roll there is in poetry and how much poetry there is in rock 'n' roll."

The judges added that the 64 year old "has transformed the way an entire generation looks, thinks, and dreams."

Both Smith and the string quartet will be invited ...

Celine Dion has been booked to sing at the Oscars as part of the ceremony's annual tribute to the stars who have passed.

According to Eonline.com, the new mom will sing "Smile" at the ceremony for the In Memoriam segment.

Dion already holds the record for the most vocal performances at the Academy Awards - this will be her sixth time.

She last performed "I Knew I Loved You" in 2006 as part of a salute to composer Ennio Morricone.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Randy Newman, Mandy Moore and Florence Welch have already been booked to perform the nominated Best Songs at the Oscars on February 27.

...

The many people who say Will Smith's I Am Legend may have noticed something unique about the monsters, namely that they sounded like no other creature to grace the film. That's because every snarl and growl was provided by former Faith No More and Mr. Bungle front man Mike Patton. Mike's always working on something, whether it be managing Ipecac Records, putting out albums under the many monikers he goes by, or providing voice-overs for video games like Valve's Portal or Capcom's remake of The Bionic Commando. Starpulse was thrilled to speak with Mike about I am Legend, and even more thrill...

Happy Birthday to rapper Eve (1978), actress Brittany Murphy (1977), baseball player Shawn Green (1972), actress Mackenzie Phillips (1959), comedian Sinbad (1956), composer Tim Rice (1944), Jaws star Roy Scheider (1932), The Good The Bad and The Ugly composer Ennio Morricone (1928), Welsh actor Richard Burton (1925; d. 1984), English film star Claude Rains (1889; d. 1967), and German protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483; d. 1546).

Trumpeter Chris Botti is a gifted instrumentalist, a talented composer, and a charismatic performer who--since the release of his first solo album in 1995--has created a series of recordings which have made him a virtual genre-of-one in the realm of contemporary jazz while at the same time capturing the attention of the pop music world. Through his singular combination of lush atmospheres and thoughtful improvisations, Botti has earned both critical acclaim and mainstream appreciation for a succession of best-selling albums including When I Fall In Love (2004, #1 Top Jazz Album, #37 Billboa...

Rockers Metallica have stunned fans by signing up for a Ennio Morricone tribute project.

The group have used the composer's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly track "The Ecstasy Of Gold" to open their stage shows since 1983, and now the US band will repay the musical favor with a cover version of the song for a tribute album due out later this year.

The Metallica cover features on "We All Love Ennio Morricone", alongside offerings from an assorted array of other celebrity Morricone fans including opera star Andrea Bocelli, Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion.

Frontman Jam...

Celine Dion will perform a new song at the Academy Awards later this month during a tribute to legendary composer Ennio Morricone. Morricone will be receiving an honorary Oscar at the February 25 ceremony for lifetime achievement.

According to E! Online, lyrics have been written especially for Dion's performance of Morricone's score from "Once Upon A Time In America." A source confirms, "The lyrics have never been heard before." The song may be included in Dion's upcoming English-language album, which is expected to be released later this year.

The singer will also be part of a ...

Happy Birthday to rapper Eve (1978), actress Brittany Murphy (1977), baseball player Shawn Green (1972), actress Mackenzie Phillips (1959), comedian Sinbad (1956), composer Tim Rice (1944), Jaws star Roy Scheider (1932), The Good The Bad and The Ugly composer Ennio Morricone (1928), Welsh actor Richard Burton (1925; d. 1984), English film star Claude Rains (1889; d. 1967), and German protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483; d. 1546).

Canadian superstar Celine Dion has teamed up with legendary producer Quincy Jones to record a tribute to Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Dion, who has spent the past few years performing in Las Vegas, Nevada's Colosseum, spent the day in nearby Vegas studio Palms on Tuesday, recording a track for a tribute album for Morricone, who created the score to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly and Yentl.

The singer's husband/manager Rene Angelil enthuses, "It's the principal reason why we accepted, to work with Quincy." Dion is planning to release her first album in four years in 2007 - the sam...

Universally acclaimed, legendary film composer Ennio Morricone whose work includes over 450 film scores including Once Upon A Time In America, The Mission, The Good The Bad And The Ugly and Cinema Paradiso, is set to perform an intimate, rare UK concert performance at the London Hammersmith Apollo Theatre on Wednesday July 19th. This is the first British concert Morricone will perform since he last graced our shores at London’s Royal Albert Hall on November 10th 2003.

This unique concert is part of this year’s Don’t Look Back concert series, which sees artists performing retrospectiv...

A number of big names are dropping new albums this week including highly anticipated fresh cuts from Korn, Lil' Wayne and Lindsay Lohan; plus new collections from Eminem, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Don Omar and a whole lot more. Check out this list of noteworthy release (many with reviews) for Tuesday, December 6th, 2005...

Ashanti - Collectables by Ashanti

Carl Craig - Fabric 25

Don Omar - Da Hitman Presents Reggaeton Latino

Eminem - Curtain Call: The Hits

Ennio Morricone - Morricone Happening

God Forbid - Out of Misery

Heather Headley - In My Mind

Ja Rule - Exodus

Jennifer Peñ...

Happy Birthday to Silverchair bassist Chris Joannou (1979), rapper Eve (1978), actress Brittany Murphy (1977), baseball player Shawn Green (1972), rapper Warren G (1970), actress Mackenzie Phillips (1959), comedian Sinbad (1956), Emerson, Lake & Palmer and King Crimson bassist Greg Lake (1948), composer Tim Rice (1944), Jaws star Roy Scheider (1932), The Good The Bad and The Ugly composer Ennio Morricone (1928), Welsh actor Richard Burton (1925; d. 1984), English film star Claude Rains (1889; d. 1967), and German protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483; d. 1546).