The worlds of rock and roll and film composing have been intertwining for a few decades now. Most people know the history of Danny Elfman who transitioned from Oingo Boingo front man to film music legend, and of course the recent notoriety of Daft Punk and Trent Reznor, have ushered in a whole new generation of film music fans.

Most people, however, don’t know of composer Cliff Martinez’s history in rock and roll. The Drive composer spent the better part of the ’80s as a drummer for several bands, and when conflicts rose during the early years of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers he stepped in. Cliff Martinez was the drummer for the band during their first two albums and associated tours, and now as the Red Hot Chili Peppers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so too is Martinez.

While he didn’t stay with the band long, original drummer Jack Irons was free of other commitments and returned after the second album, he was a part of the history of the band. Shortly after his stint with the Chili Peppers Martinez got his start in composing with a job writing music for an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

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Before I can go forward with a review of director Steven Soderbergh’s latest film Haywire, I need to make a confession: I’m a big fan of almost all of his films. Sure, he’s managed to make one or two that don’t exactly work (The Girlfriend Experience comes to mind), but he’s never boring and always tries to push filmmaking and creativity in new and different directions.

Given this, I went into Haywire with somewhat raised expectations due to my fondness for his previous works. As the film unfolded I was struck by several things. First, lead actress and MMA superstar Gina Carano is not only beautiful, I would not want to ever make her angry. She’s that tough.

The film also moves quickly and at a running time of 93 minutes, almost seems a bit short. I think that’s a good thing because at the end, I wanted more.

I was also struck by how similar Haywire is to one of Soderbergh’s earlier films, The Limey (which is also my favorite of his films). I guess one reason could be that screenwriter Lem Dobbs wrote both films.

I’m not saying Haywire‘s similarity to The Limey is a bad thing, it was just interesting. More on that a bit later.

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When it comes to action movies, the name Steven Soderbergh may not come to mind first. He’s not really known as an “action director” but after watching his latest film Haywire, that title may just end up being his.

If you’re not familiar with Haywire, here’s some info about it:

Mallory Kane is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Suddenly the target of skilled assassins who know her every move, Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive.

Using her black-ops military training, she devises an ingenious—and dangerous—trap. But when things go haywire, Mallory realizes she’ll be killed in the blink of an eye unless she finds a way to turn the tables on her ruthless adversary.

The film opens tomorrow but to get you ready, we’ve got two new clips from it to share with you today. Both of these clips are scenes from the film and help demonstrate just what we’re talking about where Soderberg’s new title is concerned.

Haywire features MMA superstar Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor and Channing Tatum. Check out both of the scenes after the jump.

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In the next couple of weeks a very interesting new movie will be hitting theaters nationwide. What makes Haywire so intriguing is that it has a fantastic pedigree, yet it is being released in the January doldrums. Normally this would speak to the poor quality of the movie, but early word has been strong and it is hard to bet against Steven Soderbergh.

The movie is released in a couple weeks, but to help drum up more excitment the first five minutes of the movie have been released on Hulu. For those of you who are unaware of what the film is about, here is the synopsis:

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Here we are, the end of the summer season, well into the fall box office lull where most movies go to die. Instead of getting another historical drama or disease-based thriller, we’re getting a 3D re-release of a film that came out nearly a decade ago.

That’s right, Disney managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat in getting their 3D re-release of Lion King to open to just over $29 million this weekend, making it #1 by about a mile.

Coming in second place this weekend, Soderbergh’s Contagion took a step down, losing only 35% of last weekend’s weekend pull. The film only walked away with $14.5 million this weekend.

Also opening this weekend, the indie action flick Drive pulled in $11 million in the #3 spot, the Straw Dogs remake only made $5 million for the weekend, which is pretty low considering the True Blood bump the film had.

Next weekend, tons of potential box office surprises. Lionsgate’s Taylor Lautner vehicle, Abduction, hit theaters, as does the family flick Dolphin Tale. For the grownups, Killer Elite and Brad Pitt’s Moneyball hit theaters everywhere.

Steven Soderbergh seems to have found his new Clooney, as Matt Damon has helped the man snag a #1 spot twice now with The Informant! and as of this weekend, Contagion.

Hard to believe a film about a virus wiping out the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne could bring in $25 million worldwide in the first weekend, but that’s just what it’s done. Not terrible, considering the film’s budget was a measly $60 million (most of which likely went to the ensemble cast).

Following up in the top 5, The Help finally got knocked from its #1 spot for the first time in 3 weeks and finally hit the $140 million mark. In third, another new release, as the “Rocky of UFC” movie, Warrior, opened to a quiet response, with only $5.6 million.

In fourth place, political thriller The Debt managed to drop off significantly from last week and only pull in an estimated $5 million this weekend.

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Even though he’s said he’s going to retire from film directing soon, that hasn’t stopped Steven Soderbergh from continuing to make some pretty great films. From his first effort Sex, Lies and Videotape through one of my favorites The Limey, the Oceans 11 trilogy, Traffic and more he’s constantly demonstrated his skills as a storyteller.

This time around he’s turned his attention to something that scares the crap out of many people: a virus that can kill all humans. In his latest film Contagion, Soderbergh tells the story of a virus that mutates quickly and starts killing the world’s population faster than we can find a way to stop it.

The film features an amazing ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marianne Cotillard, Kate Winslet, John Hawkes and Gwyneth Paltrow who, sadly, doesn’t seem to have a happhy ending in this one. We’ve got the brand new trailer for the film to share with you right here.

Gotta say this looks pretty good. Also, it looks pretty scary.

Check out Contagion on September 9th. See the trailer after the break.

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We hinted at it a while back, but now it looks like it’s officially news, as Pirates of the Carribbean helmer Gore Verbinski will be taking on the adventure of The Lone Ranger for Disney. Deadline has the scoop.

Still no word on when the film will begin production or who’ll play the Lone Ranger. Verbinski had been looking around for his next job after completing his first animated film as a director in Rango, which Paramount Pictures distributes next year.

While there’s no word on who will play the masked avenger, there is already strong rumors the Johnny Depp will be taking on the role of Tonto. This news came through months ago when both Verbinski and Bruckheimer were first rumored to be attached to the film.

That theory would go along nicely with the fact that Verbinski’s Rango, which he is currently wrapping up, stars Depp as the voice of the main character.

Also a rumor around the time of Depp was the idea that George Clooney would be playing The Lone Ranger. No word whether this is still an option, but if he’s in the running for Soderbergh’s Man From U.N.C.L.E., then you can expect him to pass on Ranger.

We at The Flickcast are pretty diligent about serving up all the news that comes out each week. However, try as we may to cover it all, some things occassionally slip by. Well, no longer.

Welcome to On The Radar! This weekly post will be your premiere destination for a comprehensive roundup of items that may be developing stories we’re watching, Twitter commentary, or other relevant news that wasn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.  In short, a grab bag of geek items which are sure to please.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

‘Zombieland’ devours video rentals

Zombieland dominated the video lists this week, “…on the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc chart, “Zombieland” went three for three, bowing at No. 1 and …racked up 31% of its total first-week sales from the Blu-ray Disc.” Way to go Zombieland, we can’t wait for the sequeal.

‘Avatar’ 3D boosts Cineplex ticket sales in Canada

3D showings of Avatar did wonders for Cineplex’s bottom line in Canada, “Despite running for only 13 days during its latest financial frame, “Avatar 3D” was Cineplex’s biggest boxoffice performer during the fourth quarter to Dec. 31, and has done around $74 million in Canadian ticket receipts to date.” No surprise really given the popularity of this film and the fact 3D showings are still being sold, out or causing line-ups.

Geek flicks drive Viacom profits

DVD and Blu-Ray disc sales from Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe stimulated Viacom’s fourth quarter earnings to the tune of $694 million.  Not bad considering the $173 million it made in the same quarter in 2008.  Also helping was the indie hit Paranormal Activity which increased operating expenses by 24%.

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Late yesterday the SXSW Fim Festival, which runs from March 12-20 in Austin, TX, announced the full lineup of films that will be screening at this year’s event. And baby, it’s quite a list. Mixing big name films with intimate indie gems, the sheer number of films and the vast array of talented filmmakers is sure to be a hit with attendees and critics alike.

This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.

For more on the SXSW lineup and these films and everything related to the event, be sure to visit the official SXSW site. The complete press release announcing the lineup follows:

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the complete features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 12 – 20, 2010 in Austin, Texas. Over the course of nine days, 119 features will screen at the festival, with 55 of those having their world premieres at SXSW 2010. These films were selected from a record 1,572 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,206 U.S. and 366 international feature-length films.

Among the major films added to the lineup are: Rogue’s MacGruber, from director Jorma Taccone, Jay & Mark Duplass’ Cyrus, Bernard Rose’s Mr. Nice, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart, Alexandre O. Philippe’s The People vs. George Lucas, Shane Meadows’ Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee, Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine, Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’ American: The Bill Hicks Story, Mike Woolf’s Man on A Mission, Jacob Hatley’s Ain’t In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm, Mark Landsman’s Thunder Soul, Daniel Stamm’s Cotton, Chris D’Arienzo’s BARRY MUNDAY, and Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways.

They join previously announced films such as Opening Night film Kick-Ass, as well as narrative features Cold Weather and Elektra Luxx, and documentaries Hubble 3D, Lemmy, SATURDAY NIGHT and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights.

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Steven Soderbergh’s latest offering suffers from some major pacing problems.  On my drive home from the screening, I kept mentally comparing the experience of watching the film with childbirth. Going through the labor is very unpleasant, and you swear you will never do it again, but the payoff is so fantastic, that you forget about all the pain you endured and immediately want to do it again. That’s right, I want to see this movie again.  After all my sighing, seat shifting and a subliminal kiss-off of all future Soderbergh projects, I want to see this film again. That, my friends, is the talent of Soderbergh.

Based on the  true  story of Illinois agriculture executive turned FBI informant Mark Whitacre, The Informant! takes a slightly satirical spin on actual events. Far from being the ribald comedy the trailers lead you to believe it is, this is actually a character study of a very complicated man. There are funny parts peppered throughout, but if you go to this movie expecting a flat-out comedy, you will be disappointed. Several people walked out of the screening that I attended, and based on the marketing, I didn’t blame them.

Matt Damon is stupendously good as the nerdy executive at an agriculture plant that produces lysine, a corn by-product.  He is a shoo-in for best actor this year.  Whitacre’s bizarre and inappropriate inner dialogue garners most of the film’s laughs. He’ll be shaking the hand of a business prospect while thinking ” I wonder if bees ever get sad.”  He does this through the whole movie, and Damon provides the voice-over for Whitacre’s running stream of consciousness, which allows the audience to  be privy to the fact that Whitacre has some serious social flaws. He lives in his own little world, observing the minutiae of day to day life. Cliff from Cheers has nothing on this guy, they both recite useless knowledge they have collected in lieu of having actual conversations with people.

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