Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips counts down his twelve reasons why Christmas matters. Missed reasons twelve through seven? Find them here.

Reason No. 6:
When I was 6 years old, my older brothers told me that Santa Claus was not real. I said, "What do you mean he's not real? I see him everywhere I go." And they replied, "That's just your dad or some guy at the store dressing up like him." For a brief moment I despaired, but I quickly recovered and thought, "If there is no real Santa, then maybe we could all be Santa. That way we don't really have to wait for him to drive all the way down from the North Pole. We'll just be him right now." And so maybe Santa himself is not real, but we can easily make the idea of Santa real.

Reason No. 5:
We have sympathy for those humans that are suffering. We also have sympathy for all the creatures of the world that might be suffering. There is a mechanism within the human mind that allows us to have a psychic "oneness" with the people and animals around us. If we are lucky, they are happy and healthy and in turn make us, in a psychic sense, happier and healthier. But when we are around those who are suffering, we have a psychic suffering as well. So we want to relieve their suffering because it relieves our suffering.

Reason. No. 4:
We get to look at colored lights in the darkness of winter. It is a great coincidence that as our days -- in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway -- get shorter we battle back with artificial light. And so, as we all cooperate by adding our own little light into this cold, dark world, we transform this bleak void into a place of hope and wonder.

Reason No. 3:
To be hopeful and to be happy -- these are strange, silent sensations that seem to happen only in our minds. But as Christmastime proves, it is a contagious way of being. To show each other that we believe in each other is an energizing event. To be in the company of other humans who are being optimistic and enthusiastic is like a form of real magic! Anything is possible!

Reason No. 2:
Christmas celebrations encompass all the wonders of our natural world. It is full of animals, trees and even weather. So even if there are not humans in our life to give love to, we can always give love to animals, give love to trees and plants, and we can always have experiences that illuminate the grandeur of existence by simply realizing how helpless we are to the patterns of our planet.

Reason No. 1:
It shows us and proves to us the power of giving love. We sometimes think it's about giving gifts, but what the gift represents is love. And so, to some, it's awkward and maybe for some it is even embarrassing, but you see, it's the giver who is actually getting the greatest gift. So we set aside this day to have this powerful interaction with the people around us. If we did not get to do it once a year, our world, as we would eventually see, would not have experiences with "giving love" and the human race would slowly evolve back to its medieval nature.

--Wayne Coyne

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The Flaming Lips brought their seven-years-in-the-making interstellar vision of 'Christmas on Mars' to life on film this year. Today, frontman Wayne Coyne explains to Spinner why Christmas matters, but this time a little closer to home.

Reason No. 12:
Smiling triggers a release of endorphins. Smiling is contagious. And smiling almost always makes your face look better. Christmas makes you smile!

Reason No. 11:
Santa! Elves! Reindeer! Trees! Snow! Presents! Misletoe! Music! Lights! Food! Parties! Who needs religion?! Christmas shows that generosity and sympathy for suffering are reasons to believe in humans, not gods.

Reason No. 10:
We forget how lucky we are to live in a world where almost anything we want to eat at any time -- regardless of how exotic -- is available. Christmas gives us an opportunity see once again how simple and pleasurable human existence can be. Remember "food made with care always has the flavor of love." Didn't Padma Lakshmi say that?

Bruce Springsteen's theme for the critically acclaimed film 'The Wrestler' is nominated for a Golden Globe, but filmmaker Darren Aronofsky says he wasn't the impetus for Springsteen's affiliation with the film -- it was actor Mickey Rourke.

"Springsteen did the film for one reason," Aronofsky tells Slashfilm. "It had nothing do with me. In fact, to be honest, I met with Bruce, and he's heard of me, but he had never seen any of my work." Aronofsky admits, "He did it for one reason and that was that he did it for Mickey. He's a tremendous fan of Mickey's ... so he wanted to help, and that's the only reason he did it. And he did it for basically nothing."

"I can't wait for [Bruce] to see the movie because Asbury Park is in it, and I think he'll be psyched," the director says. "He read the screenplay, knew it and basically just pumped it out. It's a beautiful song."

Elvis Costello isn't happy with filmmaker Jared Hess, who, Costello says, refused to credit him for the name to his smash 2004 film, 'Napoleon Dynamite.' Costello fans have long recognized the moniker as Costello's mid-'80s alter-ego.

Hess maintains that the name of his outcast movie character was something he dreamed up, but Costello firmly disputes that notion. "The guy just denies completely that I made the name up," Costello tells Spin in its December issue. "But I invented it."

Well, it's about time. A new biopic about Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia is slated for the big screen. Focusing on the future counterculture hero's early years in the Bay Area before he joined the Grateful Dead, the untitled project will be based on Robert Greenfield's book, 'Dark Star.'

Producers have reportedly acquired the rights to Greenfield 's oral history of Garcia, which counts the perspectives of the musicians, relatives and artist friends like Ken Kesey. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the project will focus on Garcia's stint in the military, his life-changing car accident and his first interactions with members of the San Francisco music scene, including future Dead bassist Phil Lesh.

Although the Grateful Dead have been the subject of number of documentaries, including the Garcia-directed concert film 'The Grateful Dead Movie' (1977), the story of Garcia's life has yet to be explored on film.

Though hours from the site of the historic music festival, Woodstock, NY has long been considered synonymous with music. To that end, it's fitting that the Woodstock Film Festival would honor its location's reputation. The 9th annual fest, which took place Oct. 1-5, included several music documentaries in its 'Focus on Music' series. Spinner took in all of the flicks and pared it down to the top three music lovers must see.

1. 'All Together Now': Stunningly shot and pleasantly insightful, 'All Together Now' follows the collaboration between the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil to produce 'Love' -- a project George Harrison barely began before he died. This "privileged view," as the director calls it, reveals more than the intense rehearsal and staging process. The film witnesses the artful reconfiguration of Beatles classics by producer George Martin and his son Giles; Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison loyally defending their deceased husbands' visions and integrity; and a moment of elation as Ringo Starr giddily jumps up and down in his seat, while Paul McCartney plays air drums and lip syncs 'Sgt. Peppers.' The filmmakers expect a DVD release in time for Christmas.

Producer Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, while editing the Oscar-winning film 'When We Were Kings,' took note of the hundreds of hours of footage not being used. It's that footage -- which documents the musical concert that was also a part of the 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle' heavyweight championship boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire -- that's now become his directorial debut film, 'Soul Power.'

"I knew there was this amazing repository," Levy-Hinte tells Spinner. "If it wasn't made into a film it would essentially be unwritten history."

The film, beautifully edited and digitized, features performances by James Brown, B.B. King, Celia Cruz and Miriam Makeba, among others, as well as a few shots of the notorious Don King, who promoted both the fight and the concert. But it's not just a concert movie. It's a film that highlights the event's evolution, African culture and the importance of music -- soul music.

Makeup and role play isn't out of the ordinary for Gene Simmons. That said, it only seems fitting that the Kiss bassist makes a cameo in Japan's No. 2 box office hit, 'Detroit Metal City,' as Jack Ill Dark, a legendary American death metal guitarist who holds the title "The Emperor."

Simmons flew to Japan last March for five days of shooting after director Toshio Lee tracked the rocker down with the help of Sony Music Japan. "He was a complete professional," Lee tells Spinner with the aid of an English-speaking translator. "He didn't even want to rest. He said, 'I'm here for business.'"

Amy Winehouse doesn't take no for an answer. When producers of the upcoming James Bond flick 'Quantum Of Solace' passed over her theme song last month in favor of the Jack White/Alicia Keys collaboration 'Another Way to Die,' the embattled singer decided to go it alone and release her unwanted song after all.

Winehouse reportedly intends to "prove that [film executives] made a "big mistake" by dismissing her then-unfinished Bond theme contender. She's even thinking of releasing the Mark Ronson-produced tune the same week as the new White/Keys single. "I guess they are going for clean-cut and boring," Winehouse reportedly told Britain's New Magazine. "When I do release mine -- and I am tempted to do it on the same day -- this would be the bigger hit."

"I do think they could have waited a bit," a confident Winehouse said, pointing to her head. "If they want a worldwide hit, I have them all up here."

Best known for his role as the tightly wound Dwight Schrute on TV's 'The Office,' Rainn Wilson has become something of a cultural icon. (How many Schrute Bucks do you have?) And while he's held several smaller roles on both the big and small screen, including last year's runaway indie hit 'Juno' and HBO's cult series 'Six Feet Under,' he makes his starring debut as an overspandexed has-been drummer from the '80s in 'The Rocker.' Wilson took time out to catch up with Spinner and talk about his real-life role as a music enthusiast and his own rock-star tendencies.

"There were a lot of perks," he told us of his recent promotional tour, which had him making appearances at music festivals this past spring, including Sasquatch. "I got to interview the Who. I was terrible. But it was a dream come true," he admits, calling Pete Townshend an "icon" and maintaining that behind Bob Dylan, "there's no other person I wound rather meet." But he isn't just about the veterans. During our talk, he drops names like Cold War Kids, the National, Fleet Foxes, the Raconteurs, Kings of Leon and Wilco. "I love Wilco," he gushes. "I just think they will be remembered like the Byrds were, as just a great American rock band. But ask him for his favorite of all time, he's quick to answer "Radiohead."