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Back in 1985, Emilio Estevez and Andrew McCarthy shared the screen in the Joel Schumacher-directed coming-of-age film St. Elmo’s Fire, which was a box office hit that’s still remembered fondly to this day, even though the critical response wasn’t very positive. In the build-up to the release of that film, Estevez and McCarthy were set to co-star in another project, called Young Men with Unlimited Capital… but unfortunately, eighteen days before the release of St. Elmo’s Fire, New York Magazine published an article by David Blum in which Blum dubbed several of the hottest young actors of the day the Brat Pack. The actors mentioned in that article were shocked and offended by the Brat Pack label – so much that Estevez refused to do Young Men with Unlimited Capital with McCarthy, killing the project. Thirty-nine years later, the story of Young Men with Unlimited Capital has still never made it to the screen.

How do you follow one of the most critically acclaimed rock docs of all time? Michael Wadleigh’s seminal 1970 documentary “Woodstock ” was immersive and electric, a definitive, you-are-there experience rather than a here’s-what-happened chronicle.

Despite its ambitious title, “Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation” is a here’s-what happened chronicle. There’s nothing wrong with that; most documentaries fit a similar category. And this one — which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and opens theatrically in May — was made for PBS’ “American Experience” series to mark the event of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary. So even if it never steps out of the shadow of its powerful predecessor, its relatively smaller scale is perhaps inevitable.

But let’s start by taking it on its own terms. Director Barak Goodman (“Oklahoma City”) brings us back to 1967, when buds John Roberts and Joel Rosenman have the wild idea to throw a really groovy party.

After 11 years pushing A Star Is Born as producer though three studio administrations — not counting the earlier iterations with Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill and Will Smith he worked on while a Warner Bros exec — Bill Gerber is moving on to other projects. Not surprising, a lot of what he’s working on remains in the realm of music.

One of them solves the lingering mystery of the absence of Neil Young in Woodstock, the 1970 Michael Wadleigh-directed documentary. Young will be seen in a new docu that Gerber is producing as a companion piece to the original, and the singer is reunited onscreen for the first time with ex-bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. Gerber is hard at work on a documentary that will be released within a re-release of the 1970 Michael Wadleigh-directed documentary chronicle of – sorry, Live Aid, Queen and Freddie Mercury — the most famous and...

The Woodstock music festival, the multi-act concert that took place in Bethel, N.Y., in 1969 is celebrating its 45th anniversary today.

Woodstock Turns 45

Throughout the weekend of Aug. 15 – 19 in 1969, Woodstock played host to a number of acts that hold significant stature in the history of music. When co-creators Joel Rosenman and John Roberts came up with the plan for the festival, they had no idea of the cultural impact it would go on to have. Woodstock was certainly the first of its kind, and now decades later copycats like Bonaroo, Coachella, Governor’s Ball and Firefly are summer fixtures.

“There has to be a granddaddy—and this was certainly it for the festival business,” said Rosenman. “There’s something about festivals that is timeless and indestructible.”

After the 1969 enterprise, Woodstock was held twice more in 1994 and 1999. A fourth Woodstock could potentially be in the cards, according to co-creator Michael Lang,...

Taking Woodstock is released on DVD this Monday, 8th March (or now on iTunes). We also have a competition running which gives you the opportunity win the movie on DVD which you can enter here.

We’ve managed to get an exclusive interview with it’s director, Ang Lee on his experience filming the movie and on the Woodstock festival itself plus we take a look at his interests in the music scene.

Ang Lee Q&A Interview

Do you remember Woodstock yourself?

I remember seeing it on the news, there were some big hairy guys jamming on their guitars and a sea of people. Very brutally, they said, “Woodstock is happening in the States, in New York.” That’s all I can remember. But that music was in the air The baby-boomers were about to take the world to another chapter of history, so, as an adult, I could not escape from that.

Woodstock was a business. A very poorly run business. The four organizers, John Roberts (who died in 2001), Joel Rosenman, Michael Lang, and Artie Kornfeld were all in their 20s when they formed a company called "Woodstock Ventures" with the original intention of building a recording studio and retreat in the upstate New York town where Bob Dylan lived. They were in it to make money, but it didn't quite work out that way. It wasn't for lack of trying, though, and two things were definitely in their favor early on: they had a great idea and they knew their audience.The festival's early "Aquarian Exposition" catch phrase was a calculated reference to the musical "Hair," which was popular with Woodstock Ventures' target audience. The final slogan of "3 Days of Peace & Music" was meant to link the concert to...