Everyone’s cooing over what appears to be a very outrageously dark and vulgar, “Observe & Report” the new Jody Hill-directed comedy starting Seth Rogen and Anna Faris that many were calling the dark version of “Paul Blart,” but now many are calling “Taxi Driver” with a comedic bent (Hill just called ‘Blart’ a “piece of shit” yesterday; Wired called ‘Observe,’ “violently funny“; Matt Dentler said it could be “the craziest studio movie of the year.” ).
The trailer already hinted at some choice musical cuts including classic ’60s tracks by The Animals (“House of the Rising Sun”), more obscure fare like “Over Under Sideways Down” by The Yardbirds (from the album Birdland) and super obscure fare by ’70s British progressive jazz-rockers Patto’s “The Man” (major points there).
But the rest of the soundtrack is apparently pretty awesome too and even the trades are noticing. Evidently the film also includes cuts by The Band, and North Carolina orchestral collective, Pyramid, which isn’t a total surprise considering they wrote much of the score of Hill’s previous film, “The Foot Fist Way,” starring Danny McBride (who has a small ‘Observe’ cameo) and that band has been part of that NC Crew from pretty much day one also being featured in David Gordon Green’s 2003 film, “All The Real Girls.” (that whole scene is pretty intertwined in incestual, Green’s cinematographer Tim Orr also shot, “Observe & Report”).
THR writes: the film boasts “an impressively obscure soundtrack that might start with the Band but immediately segues to groups like Pyramid, whose musical vigor far exceeds their songwriting gifts.”
Variety says: “[The] pic makes inspired use of a semi-obscure oldie on the soundtrack, the Yardbirds’ “Over Under Sideways Down,” during a sequence that will make viewers guffaw until they’re thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”
Hopefully we’ll get the rest of the soundtrack details soon and our own review from friends at SXSW. In the meantime, here’s Patto’s “The Man.”