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Press Play

 "The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This is a web site built around original video essays and critical, personal writing about movies, TV, music, comics and whatever else interests its contributors. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is published by Seitz and Cancelosi and overseen by editor-in-chief Kevin B. Lee and managing editor Max Winter.

Video Essays

  • Raised in Fear: The Superdynamational Horrors of Ray Ha...
  • CANNES 2013: Jia Zhang-ke's A TOUCH OF SIN
  • CANNES 2013: Joel and Ethan Coen's INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
  • CANNES 2013: Images, Part 1
  • VIDEO ESSAY: Wong Kar-Wai's Lust for Life

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Press Play

SIMON SAYS: White Men Can't Ninja

Blogs
In 1981, producer-cum-director Menahem Golan was supposed to direct Charles Bronson in "Death Wish 2." But, as the apocryphal story goes, Bronson didn't want Golan at the helm. So Golan directed "Enter the Ninja"—a movie which, oddly enough, has remote ties to the spaghetti western genre.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • June 1, 2012 9:29 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Simon Abrams, Simon Says, Menahem Golan, Enter the Ninja, Franco Nero, Charles Bronson, Richard Harrison, Sergio Corbucci, SIMON SAYS (Simon Abrams)

CANNES 2012: And the Winners Should Be...

Festivals
Read our critics' personal predictions of who SHOULD win the awards, and who WILL win the awards, at Cannes 2012...
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  • By Glenn Heath Jr. & Simon Abrams
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  • May 27, 2012 1:31 PM
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  • 3 Comments
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Glenn Heath Jr.

Cannes 2012: Sang-soo Im’s THE TASTE OF MONEY

Festivals
You have to really want to say “F*** you” to anyone watching your work to make a black comedy as rancid as "The Taste of Money."
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 26, 2012 7:53 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Im Sang-soo, The Taste of Money, Kang-woo Kim, Yoon-sik Baek, Maui Taylor, Hyo-jin Kim, Yeo-jong Yoon

CANNES 2012: Koji Wakamatsu’s 11/25: THE DAY HE CHOSE HIS OWN FATE

Festivals
Legacy is the thing in "11/25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate," Japanese guerilla filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu’s remarkable drama about the death of militant poet/novelist Yukio Mishima.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 25, 2012 4:37 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Kôji Wakamatsu, 11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Arata, Shinnosuke Mitsuhima, Yukio Mishima

CANNES 2012: Lee Daniels' THE PAPERBOY

Festivals
The best that can be said of Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" is that it’s sometimes intentionally awful. More often than not, however, it’s just awful.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 24, 2012 9:53 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Lee Daniels, The Paperboy, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, Macy Gray, Nicole Kidman, David Oyelowo, Zac Efron

CANNES 2012: Walter Salles' ON THE ROAD

Festivals
Walter Salles and Jose Rivera love the characters and world of "On the Road" too much to know how to properly represent them.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 23, 2012 1:56 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, On The Road, Walter Salles, Jose Rivera, Jack Kerouac, Sam Riley, Kirsten Dunst, Garrett Hedlund, Elizabeth Moss

CANNES 2012: Andrew Dominik's KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Festivals
It’s a testament to Australian director Andrew Dominik’s considerable story-telling abilities that a movie as nakedly cynical and aggressively repellent in its philosophy as "Killing Them Softly" is as satisfying as it is.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 22, 2012 6:56 PM
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  • 2 Comments
More: Cannes Film Festival, Andrew Dominik, Killing Them Softly, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Simon Abrams

CANNES 2012: Brandon Cronenberg's ANTIVIRAL

Festivals
"Antiviral," Brandon Cronenberg’s directorial debut, proves the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. Like his father David Cronenberg’s early features, "Antiviral" is more of a collection of inspired, perverse ideas than a cogent piece de provocation.
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  • By Simon Abrams
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  • May 21, 2012 1:31 PM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Brandon Cronenberg, Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Joe Pingue, Douglas Smith, David Cronenberg

CANNES 2012: Michael Haneke's AMOUR (Glenn Heath Jr.'s Take)

Festivals
Michael Haneke’s "Amour" dares to address the possibility that nightmares and hopeful dreams can co-exist in the same closed-off cinematic space.
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  • By Glenn Heath Jr.
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  • May 20, 2012 3:48 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Michael Haneke, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Amour

Welcome to the Cannes Film Festival 2012!

Festivals
Editor's Note: Press Play has two critics covering the Cannes Film Festival this year. Simon Abrams and Glenn Heath Jr. are tag-teaming their way through the most anticipated collection of screenings in the film industry. This is your ticket to Cannes. Enjoy!
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  • By Glenn Heath Jr. & Simon Abrams
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  • May 20, 2012 2:08 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Cannes Film Festival, Simon Abrams, Glenn Heath Jr., Sergio Leone, Michael Haneke, Matteo Garrone, Michel Gondry, Jacques Audiard, Yousry Nasrallah, Wes Anderson, Walter Salles, Andrew Dominik, Leos Carax, Kôji Wakamatsu

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