2009 Coachella

The Coachella music festival begins today in Indio, CA, and sadly, I'm missing out on it this year. But the lineup is so great I figured I'd put together a lil playlist with music by some of my favorite musicians who are heading down to Indio, perhaps right as we speak (or type).

I'm really pleased with this playlist: a little Yeah Yeah Yeahs ("Cheated Hearts"), some Franz Ferdinand ("Lucid Dreams"), and Beirut ("Scenic World"), along with tunes by the more seasoned folks like Leonard Cohen ("Everybody Knows"), The Cure ("Close to Me") and, of course, Paul McCartney ("Maybe I'm Amazed"). There isn't a song for every act at the festival, but it's a meaty list nonetheless. Want to check it out? It's pretty darn good, if I may toot my little horn. Just read more

• Chris Rock will join Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan for Neil LaBute's remake of the 2007 British film Death at a Funeral. — Zap2It
• Amy Winehouse is pulling out of the lineup for this year's Coachella festival. — Billboard
• Little People, Big World is getting a spinoff about a newly married couple. — Variety
• Julia Roberts will produce the comedy Jesus Henry Christ, which follows Henry James Hermin, a boy conceived in a petri dish and raised by a loving, left-wing feminist. — ComingSoon
• Molly Parker and Nate Corddry will play Sarah Michelle Gellar's siblings in the HBO pilot The Wonderful Maladies. — Zap2it
• Ryan Phillippe and Malin Akerman will star in the indie drama The Bang Bang Club, set in apartheid-era South Africa. — ComingSoon
• The 1990 movie Ghost will get the Sleepless in Seattle treatment and be turned into a stage musical aiming for a West End opening in 2010. — Variety
• Jericho will continue its life as a comic book. — The Futon Critic

Source

Paul McCartney is making the rounds these days, what with promoting his latest album Electric Arguments — most hilariously on The Colbert Report, the uncomfortable video of which you can check out after the jump — and now there's news that he'll topline the the tenth Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival this April. The question becomes, however, is Coachella a good fit for this former Beatle?

LA Times blogger Geoff Boucher wonders "What remains to be seen is whether the choice will cost the festival credibility with its core clientele: young fans who are more likely to listen to the White Stripes than the White Album and who are far more familiar with Rage Against the Machine than Band on the Run."

Some of the other acts of note on this year's lineup include Morrissey, The Cure, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, M. Ward, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine and Jenny Lewis. To see the full list of acts performing at this year's festival, click here.

What do you think? Are you planning on going to Coachella this year? Would you be psyched to see Paul McCartney play live at that festival?

And to check out the very funny — and awkward — clip from McCartney's appearance on The Colbert Report, read more

• The Mentalist is inching closer to being picked up for a full season. — Entertainment Weekly
• Hairspray is now set to close on Broadway. — Variety
• Coldplay will release an EP featuring a track with Jay-Z in November. — Billboard
• James Caan and Gabriel Macht have joined the cast of Middle Men, "a chronicle of the birth of the Internet porn industry." — Variety
• The creator of One Tree Hill is launching a record label. — Hollywood Reporter
• The dates for the 2009 Coachella are being moved up two weeks to April 17-19. — Billboard
• Landmarks from The Hills and Entourage are some of LA's hottest new tourist destinations. — LA Times
• Wayne McClammy, director of those "I'm F---ing. . . " videos for Jimmy Kimmel, will direct a new Fox pilot, his first-ever network TV episode. — Hollywood Reporter

Photo courtesy of CBS