The Playlist

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

Elisabeth Moss, Mark Duplass & Ted Danson Are 'The One I Love'

By Tess Hofmann
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March 7, 2013 5:31 PM
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5 Comments

News

An unexpected mix of thespians -- Elisabeth Moss, Mark Duplass, and Ted Danson have signed on to star in a new indie entitled “The One I Love,” from first-time feature director Charlie McDowell and first-time feature scribe Justin Lader. Moss and Duplass will play a married couple with relationship issues, while Danson will play their therapist. Duplass will also be executive producing, once again flexing his multi-hyphenate muscles.

By Jessica Kiang
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February 12, 2013 11:58 AM
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2 Comments

Reviews

Taking the concept of binge-watching to a whole new theatrical level, we were lucky enough to spend most of our Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival in a large auditorium consuming Jane Campion’s six-hour “Top of the Lake” TV series, which will air in seven episodes on The Sundance Channel starting March 18th. It was a great experience, and not just because of the quality storytelling and filmmaking on display, but because of the sense of community and buzz you get at this type of event. We saw the show divided into three two-hour chunks, and during the brief intermissions, the audience buzzed with speculation: who was the father of the unborn child? Was X dead or alive? What was the significance of Y?

By Rodrigo Perez
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January 20, 2013 5:00 PM
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4 Comments

Reviews

Moody, without being oppressively dark or atmospheric, compelling and mysterious, Jane Campion's seven-part Sundance Channel series, "Top Of The Lake" – based on two episodes thus far – is an intriguing crime drama and mystery that's got this writer hooked.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 9, 2013 9:25 AM
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0 Comments

Television

One of the most interesting projects unspooling at the Sundance Film Festival isn't an indie film, a foreign movie or a documentary -- it's a TV miniseries, from an acclaimed auteur. Jane Campion will be in Park City to present -- in full, in one sitting -- her seven-part, six-hour "Top Of The Lake." And if you can't be there, a handful of new images have arrived to give you a sneak peek at the show.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 17, 2012 11:38 AM
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1 Comment

News

This Christmas holidays are nearly upon us (damn, that was fast) and while Hollywood will take a brief breather, come January everyone will be packing their bags and kicking off 2013 at the Sundance Film Festival. It's as pretty stellar lineup this year, and in particular, two projects with female leads -- hailing from the same hit TV show -- are ones we'll be keeping our eye on.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 26, 2012 6:45 PM
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4 Comments

Television

Of the handful of enduring questions remaining from the end of the excellent fifth season of "Mad Men," perhaps the biggest surrounded the fate of Peggy Olson, played by Elisabeth Moss. Having had enough of being overlooked and ill-treated at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (RIP), she jumped to a new job at Cutler Gleason and Chaough, which many figured meant Peggy's arc was done. And indeed, her brief appearance in the season finale seemed like a farewell, with her meeting Don who declared he was proud of her, before she left to go on the road for her job. But there is still more Peggy to come in season six.

By Benjamin Wright
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June 26, 2012 10:48 AM
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1 Comment

Television

If there’s one show that abides strictly to the current sentiment that television is fast becoming (or is already) more mature, dramatic, and well-made than mainstream films, many would agree that it would have to be AMC’s Matthew Weiner-created “Mad Men.” With the series just wrapping up its fifth season, leaving the future of many of the series’ long-running characters in doubt, one particular actress has spoken out about the fate of her character on the series. Caution, spoilers ahead!

By James Rocchi
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May 23, 2012 7:29 AM
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15 Comments

Reviews

Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" has been heralded for decades: an important novel, a cultural signifier, a sociological landmark, a cracking good read. It's also been considered "unfilmable" -- but now Walter Salles ("The Motorcycle Diaries," "Dark Water") brings the novel to the screen, and "The Motorcycle Diaries" turns out to be a pretty good template for understanding how Salles has shot his adaptation. "On the Road," like 'Diaries,' is scenic and episodic, full of youth's passion but with a shade of the future yet to come dimming the brightness of its vision, as a charismatic young man travels with another young man, saying little but watching everything along the way.

By Simon Dang
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March 28, 2012 11:16 AM
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6 Comments

Television

In case the abundance of television news lately wasn't enough of a hint, it's pilot season which can see some interesting projects attempt to break onto the scene. One television project already fronting cameras that we're highly anticipating for next year is Jane Campion's six-part mini-series "Top Of The Lake."