When I was a teenager I went to see Depeche Mode play at the Los Angeles Sports Arena with several friends and right before leaving the house, I told my Israeli mother I was going to a “Depeche Mode” concert. ‘Tipesh Meod’ means ‘very stupid’ in Hebrew. So, when my mother responded “why are you going there if its so stupid?” I couldn’t help but laugh…

The 2007 film “The Posters Came from The Walls” is a documentary film about Depeche Mode fans from around the world. I can’t find the film anywhere on IMDB yet, but apparently its playing at the London Film Festival ….

Here’s nine things you should know about Depeche Mode:

1. Dave Gahan’s birthday falls on 9th May, Russia’s National Day. In St Peterburg, Mode fans celebrate it as “Dave Day” every year.

2. When he overdosed in 1996, the heroin Dave Gahan used for the speedball was a pure brand called ‘Red Rum.’ He said: “I thought it referred to the racehorse until someone pointed out it spells ‘murder’ backwards.”

3. George Michael’s favorite Depeche Mode track is ‘A Question Of Lust.’

4. Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher were in the 5th Basildon Boys Brigade.

5. The band are from Basildon. An anagram of Basildon is “I So Bland.”

6. The first album Martin Gore bought was David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust.’

7. Vince Clarke’s real name is Vince Martin. He changed his name when he realized he would be in trouble as he was still signing on to the ‘dole’ (unemployment benefits in the UK.)

8. When Alan Wilder (who lied about his age at the audition – he was over 21) joined Depeche Mode, he was paid only £50 a week.

9. Alison Moyet was in Andy Fletcher’s class at school and “the best fighter in the year”.

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Sean Penn was the first of what seems to be many husbands to Madonna. Sources on the set say that after a gay kissing scene, Penn who plays ‘Harvey Milk’ a San Francisco gay politician and activist, called his ex-wife from the set of “Milk” and left her a message saying that he now understood her better.

The trailer for “Milk” can be found here

“Milk” is in theaters starting November 26, 2008

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Disney have now released a 4 minute clip from the opening sequence of their animated film “Bolt” which alongside another 3 and a 1/2 minute clip and the trailer of the film are available at the Apple.com website or by pressing this link.

‘Bolt’ voiced by John Travolta is a super-dog that lives every day filled with adventure, danger and intrigue or at least until the cameras stop rolling. ‘Bolt’ is the star of a hit TV show and is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City where he begins his adventure to get back to to his owner and co-star ‘Penny’ (voiced by Miley Cyrus.)

“Bolt” is clearly the animated dog version of Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show” in that the dog has no idea he is a TV character.

Disney will be releasing the film in Disney Digital 3D which I am told is very cool. The film will be released nationwide on November 21, 2008.

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Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx team up in a ‘heart-warming’ tale of a journalist and a mentally impaired musical genius in “The Soloist” from director Joe Wright (”Atonement“.)

Susannah Grant (”Erin Brokovich” and “In Her Shoes“) adapted the books and columns of Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez who met and befriended Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless, Julliard-educated Los Angeles musician and wrote the book “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and The Redemptive Power of Music.”

It will be interesting to see which actor – Downey Jr. (’Steve Lopez’) or Foxx (’Nathaniel Ayers’) is in line to winning an Oscar nomination this year for their performance in this film….

“The Soloist” releases in time for Thanksgiving on November 21st from DreamWorks, Participant Productions and Universal Pictures….

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