Man on the Moon:  Music from the Motion Picture
Andy Kaufman managed to blur the line between his life and sur-reality. Completely transforming himself into his characters--for better or (more often) for worse--Kaufman viewed limits as something worth being tested. His own death by cancer at first seemed to be just another of his elaborate put-ons, on par with his affection for female mud wrestling. But his very real death guaranteed his legacy.R.E.M.paid him tribute several years ago with the movie's title track, and now they've come back to finish the job, contributing the film's score and "The Great Beyond," a melancholy number that stands as one of R.E.M.'s strongest songs in years. Several tracks of Kaufman himself--leading a spirited romp through theMighty Mousetheme song, yodeling a sensitive, country-tinged "Rose Marie," singing as Tony Clifton (belting out a terse "I Will Survive"), and then inviting the audience out for milk and cookies--as well as the theme fromTaxiand a few other comedic odds and ends, round out the portrait with suitable wackiness and pathos.--Rob O'Connor