Shawn “Drake Lelane” Anderson reaches oh-so-far to find someone and something against which Billy Corgan and If All Goes Wrong could never, ever measure up:

It’s telling that we see nearly as much of Corgan in a bathrobe writing songs as we do of him on stage playing them, showing that he wanted to give access to his artistic process. But in the end, he comes off more of an egomaniac than what he probably was hoping to convey. Perhaps he saw himself like Jeff Tweedy in the Wilco documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, but Corgan seems far more aware of the camera. The idea of writing a song during the day and debuting it later that night at a show is kind of cool in theory, but that’s only if the songs will resonate, and, for the most part, they don’t.

I guess WesleyDodds was right…either that, or whoever typed up the back cover verbiage didn’t get the memo on use of the word reunion (and will be hearing from Billy soon?).

So, now that it’s been widely available for a day (sorry we didn’t post anything about its release yesterday!), I’ve finally seen If All Goes Wrong. A few initial thoughts:

• For about the first two-thirds of the film, I wasn’t particularly crazy about any of the lyrics that made it to onscreen text. Some better ones surfaced later…
• …such as a few lines from “The Rose March”, which I personally would pick as the best song (or “peak experience”?) to emerge from the residencies — the film implies this is Billy’s opinion as well, but please come to your own judgments.
• The most sizable bout of laughter from both myself and HU reader Stace was prompted by the immediate wake of the Super Melt-Down of “Jeff Shroeder” [sic]: as band members pull themselves together to troop back out on stage for an encore, of all moments Billy might choose to comically acknowledge the documentary camera…that one.

What observations or thoughts does everyone else have? There’s a lot to process in the film, but please jump right in.

Is there an 8pm screening of “If All Goes Wrong” in your area tonight?  Find out at IfAllGoesWrong.com.

If all goes right (ha!) and you do see it, please share your observations and thoughts in the comments.

A newly launched website for the new Smashing Pumpkins movie (can I call it that?) lists exactly 43 U.S. locations (hmm…) at which “If All Goes Wrong” can be seen on November 6. Australian and British showings are on tap for Nov. 7 and Nov. 25, respectively.

The website also contains a proper trailer, a set of 22 stills from the film, as well as a message board that is sure to be the source of many wise sayings and good tidings.

Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly’s “Hollywood Insider” blog doesn’t give much more detail than that:

“The 105-minute documentary If All Goes Wrong chronicles the seminal alt-rock band’s unconventional 19-concert stint in Asheville, N.C., and San Francisco as part of their 2007 reunion/reformation (with two of the original four members). The intimate film, which features interviews with head Pumpkin Billy Corgan (pictured), his cohorts, fans, journalists, and musicians like Pete Townshend, will screen in 40 cities across the country for one day only: Nov. 6.”

What cities? I’m sure we’ll find out soon, but I would note that Emerging Cinemas has 43 locations, of which we know at least two to be showing the film…

That “Upcoming D&E Premiere” of a Smashing Pumpkins film, which we first reported over a year ago, is now just a month away:

Where can I see it, you ask? The only specific listings I’ve yet found come from Emerging Cinemas:

Frontier Cafe, Cinema & Gallery - Brunswick, ME 11/6/2008
Robinson Film Center - Shreveport, LA 11/8/2008

Here is a list of Emerging Cinemas locations, but it seems doubtful that all of them will participate.

ALSO: The band will be uploading a series of “video postcards” to its YouTube account. The first is available now and has a duration of 10 seconds.

Even as it becomes increasingly doubtful that the sports team from his area will prove superior to sports teams from all other areas, we receive word that Billy Corgan has once more been filmed speaking of his affection for that team:

The fully authorized theatrical documentary “We Believe – Chicago and its Cubs” is expected to be released in the spring of 2009. …

According to [director-writer-producer John] Scheinfeld, “This documentary film is not going be a 100-year history of the Cubs’ triumphs and tragedies. We will explore and reveal the character, spirit and soul of the city and why its people have rooted for this team so passionately and for so long,” he said. …

Interviews with current and former Cubs players, fans and famous Chicagoans have already been completed… The completed interview list also includes singer-songwriter Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, actor-director-producer Jeff Garlin of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Playboy founder-publisher Hugh Hefner, actor-producer Joe Mantegna, Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig, Former American Major League Baseball Player and current broadcaster Steve Stone, Best-selling author Scott Turow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist George Will and Dutchie Caray (wife of Harry Caray, the former Cubs television broadcaster). More celebrity interviews will be shot in October.

They got Stoney?! That alone might be worth watching.

The White Stripes and Raconteurs axe ace explains in a press release:

Alicia put some electric energy into her breath that cemented itself into the magnetic tape. Very inspiring to watch. It gave me a new voice, and I wasn’t myself anymore. I drummed for her voice and she mimicked the guitar tones, then we joined our voices and screamed and moaned about these characters in the film and their isolation, having no one to trust, not even themselves. Maybe we became them for a few minutes.

I want to know if there will be a video in which Jack explores 007’s brain. (Is Dame Judi Dench inside?)

The photographer tells SmashingPumpkins.com:

I’m really, really proud of this Pumpkins documentary coming out in September, “If All Goes Wrong.” I’ve been working on it with Coming Home Studio over the past year. I went on tour for 3 months and documented Billy writing, rehearsing, and playing new songs at small residency shows. This movie will be really interesting for the Pumpkins fans, and even non-fans will be compelled because it’s such a great portrait of a band at work. The director, Jack Gulick, did a great job, and really allowed me to do my thing. He wasn’t worried about my technical abilities, and really let me have a free rein with trying to capture moments instead of having to worry about things being technically perfect. In the film, we used different juxtapositions of black and white and color, raw and refined, and created a beautiful layered collage, while maintaining the integrity of the story. Because of the split screen effect that runs throughout the film, I had to shoot extra material. This increased the demands on me and I tried everyday to shoot as many stills and as much video as I could. Billy could go days without an idea, and then get hit with a flood of ideas, so it was important for me to just shoot everything. The biggest thing I learned from this project is that you have to stand in the rain to appreciate the sunshine!

Following up on the initial reports of Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against Lester Cohn’s Pure DV Productions, someone who writes for the Sun-Times News Group’s Gurnee (Ill.) Review has completed a closer reading of the legal documents:

The portion of the [footage] that Cohn did provide was “completely unsatisfactory,” according to the lawsuit. In particular Cohn did not organize, catalog or maintain the footage in a way necessary to allow for coordination with music.

On April 1, Corgan’s attorney sent Cohn a letter demanding Cohn return the footage. Yet despite many efforts, Cohn refuses to deliver an improved version of the [already-provided] portion of the [footage] and still refuses to deliver the remaining portion of the footage that Corgan paid to produce, the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit also alleges Cohn is attempting to exploit his prior relationship with Corgan, as well as Corgan’s name for his own personal gain.

However Cohn may be “exploiting” that relationship, it’s not via his LinkedIn profile…

UPDATE: A different Sun-Times News Group article, this one by Beth Kramer for the Lake County News-Sun, adds:

In addition, Corgan’s attorney Marc Silver said Wednesday the Pure DV Productions Web site displayed portions of Corgan’s films, which violated Corgan’s publicity rights.

I can find no such video on the Pure DV site right now, but there is a “Jimmy Chamberlain [sic] Complex” video, which is captioned (my link):

Lester was asked to shoot the first ever show of the Jimmy [Chamberlin] Complex at Double Door in Chicago. This was a no budget shoot but as one of the greatest rock drummers on the face of the planet and good friend it was covered with 2 cameras and the content edited which can also [be] seen on the Jimmy [Chamberlin] Complex website.

UPDATE: The Internet: now with actual Corgan v. Cohn court filing (6-page .pdf).

This week’s installment of “As the Pumpkins Sue” finds litigious band leader Billy Corgan suing suburban filmmaker Lester Cohn for $100,000 in damages because of unsatisfactory work and Cohn’s refusal to hand over footage shot between 2003 and 2005.

Cohn had done previous work for Corgan on the Zwan DVD that was part of the limited-edition version of Mary Star of the Sea.

Today’s news follows on the heels of former members James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky’s lawsuit against Virgin Records regarding royalties and breach of contract.

You’re up, Jimmy!

In related news, HU may be in the market for a legal expert if this keeps up…

Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! offers a long piece on shoegaze, My Bloody Valentine’s well-regarded album Loveless, and the influence thereof. In it we are alerted to this:

Los Angeles-based filmmaker Eric Green has spent the last four years making Beautiful Noise, a forthcoming scene documentary that features interviews with music makers like Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Neil Halstead (Slowdive) and Kevin Shields, and fans like Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips) and Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails).

The IMDb entry for Beautiful Noise also mentions the Corgan appearance and indicates that the film has been in post-production since February.

There was lots to talk about this week despite the short time since the last podcast, so we went a bit long, and for the first time since episode 5 we had all four original members of the podcast on to give their opinions on what was a bizarre half-week of news.

Listen to the whole show (1:10:19)

(download)(iTunes)

This week’s topics:

Panelists
-Chris, Jason, Jill, and Andrew

Jill responds to our ticket price comments from last week and discusses her new gig at smashingpumpkins.com.  Plus we get a sneak peek at some of her future articles. (10:02)

News
-We go Access Hollywood and discuss Courtney Love and her alleged blogging skills. (5:32)

-The August tour gets some new dates, and we discuss the slow rate of ticket sales.  Plus, Jason hatches a plan to get my grandparents to the Boca Raton show, and Jill is unaware of the musical genius of Lifehouse. (6:09)

-The Beginning is the End is the Beginning shoots to the middle of the iTunes sales charts, was there ever a more unlikely “hit”?  Plus, Jason, who runs a Smashing Pumpkins fan blog, calls Watchmen fans ”dorky”, and Andrew humbly recalls predicting the whole thing. (13:55)

In Depth Discussion: Where do the Pumpkins rank amongst their 1990’s peers?
-VH1 considered the Pumpkins worthy as a promotional tool for their top 100 songs of the 1990’s list, but not as musicians to be included.  What was the most likely Smashing Pumpkins song to be included on the list and where would we place it?  We have a few laughs and ponder the Pumpkins’ place in the 90’s.  Plus, we once again groove to Third Eye Blind, Jill warms up her vocal chords, and Andrew reveals himself as the only hair metal fan on the panel. (26:16)

This Week in Pumpkins History
-The band plays an extended stay at the Fillmore. (1:17)

Song of the Week
-The End is the Beginning is the End, June 28th, 1997

Stay tuned after the credits for some outtakes from our discussion of 1990’s music.

Another chapter has been written in the improbable rise of all-but-forgotten Batman & Robin disc-filler “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” to minor cultural relevance, as Watchmen trailer-viewing iTunes buyers have momentarily propelled the track past offerings from Vanessa Hudgens and Keith Urban to a position in the top 80 50 songs.

So, a little back-of-the-envelope arithmetic:

• Expected $150 million gross for what may be the biggest opening in Hollywood history;
• I’ll conservatively estimate the average ticket price at $10;
• And I’ll guess that a third of the tickets are going to people seeing it for the second or third time.

If most everyone is in their seats in time for the Watchmen trailer — and if that trailer is indeed on every Dark Knight reel across the country — that would put the admittedly cut-down Smashing Pumpkins track into the ears of 10 million Americans this weekend.

Could that many different people ever have heard lesser Pumpkins singles “Rocket”, “Thirty-three”, or “Tarantula” on the radio? Or consider that the band’s bestselling 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness hasn’t quite moved five million copies in the U.S., and that album tracks like “Jellybelly” and “Stumbleine” would be lucky to have been heard even once by each of its buyers (although perhaps siblings, two parents and several roommates could be counted for many of those), so…

Seriously, has “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” just become one of the most-heard Billy Corgan songs of all time?!

UPDATE (7/20): While the Watchmen trailer was not on every reel, I was too conservative in estimating the number of tickets sold. I guessed 15 million, but the Associated Press reports:

Box office tracker Media By Numbers estimates today’s average movie prices at $7.08, which means “The Dark Knight” would have sold 21.94 million tickets.

If I still guess that one-third of the tickets go to repeat viewers, then the Watchmen trailer would need to be shown about 70% of the time to reconstitute the 10 million figure.

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan made himself available yesterday to take a few questions on the song “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” and its use in the trailer for the upcoming movie Watchmen. The questioner? Why, it was our own Jill, in her other role as a writer for the band’s official website. Here are her questions and Billy’s answers:

SP.COM: “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” is one of the most synthetic-sounding Pumpkins tracks, yet the Batman songs were concurrently recorded with very raw-sounding Adore demos. How did you put the song together and what technology did you use to achieve the effects?
Billy Corgan: Honestly, I don’t remember, other than trying to merge the ‘band’ sound with a synthetic approach.

SP.COM: The sessions that TEITBITE and TBITEITB came from also inspired remixes from Rabbit in the Moon, Fluke, and Nellee Hooper. Who else worked on these songs with you in the studio? Do you recall any particular reference points for or influences on the song, either sonically or conceptually?
Billy Corgan: My main focus was to write a track that would capture what I thought was the original feeling of Batman from the comics in the 40’s where he was a darker character. The lyrics to the two versions reflect that idea.

SP.COM: Back in 1997, you spoke about the “Batman and Robin” songs as being fairly specifically inspired by the character of Batman. What are your thoughts about those songs now, over a decade later, and particularly given that this song has been repurposed for “Watchmen”?
Billy Corgan: Fans never seemed to care much for those songs, so I am pleasantly surprised that they have been found to have some value somewhere, and that maybe this will give those tracks a second chance. I always thought it was a good song and that the slower version was really well done.