The Playlist

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

Interviews

Michel Hazanavicius In Talks To Direct Tom Hanks, Maybe Natalie Portman In 'In The Garden Of Beasts'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 13, 2012 8:29 PM
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5 Comments

News

An hour or so ago, most of the moviegoing world had their eyes on the trailer premiere for Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," tipped by many to lead to Oscars for both the director and its star, Daniel Day-Lewis. And yet at the same time, last year's Best Director Academy Award winner, and one of only five living actors with as many gold statues as Day-Lewis, were sneakily making plans for a film that looks like it could be a future awards juggernaut, and may be bringing along a recent Best Actress winner too.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 5, 2012 4:29 PM
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7 Comments

News

Well, if the set pics so far are anything to go by, filming on Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups" has been absolutely delightful. If there's heavy drama to found in the picture, we haven't seen it yet as Christian Bale has been happily frolicking with Wes Bentley and Natalie Portman in the snaps that have made it online. And now, a few more of Bale and Portman riding in a classic convertible with the wind in their hair have made their way to the interwebs.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 31, 2012 1:09 PM
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11 Comments

News

While we continue to wonder about..."To The Wonder"...and if it will show up at the Venice Film Festival or continue to stay on Terrence Malick's shelf, the filmmaker is already headlong on three movies in various stages of development: the doucmentary "The Voyage of Time" and a pair of feature films, the formerly titled "Lawless," and "Knight of Cups." Of course, Malick goes by Malick's schedule and he's been in pre-production/shooting on both pictures already and at least in the case of the latter, the seaside is going to provide a common meeting place for the main characters.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 22, 2012 2:10 PM
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5 Comments

News

Since starring in the surprise hit "Black Swan," and winning an Oscar for her troubles, Natalie Portman's been decidedly picky about her choice of roles. It's partly because she became a mother last year, and has been taking a little time off. But also, she's clearly not wanted to rush into a decision, and while films like the Wachowski's "Jupiter Ascending" and Ridley Scott's "The Counselor" have chased the actress, she seemingly turned the projects down. She has decided to return to acting at last: she'll spend the second half of the year shooting Terrence Malick's double-header "The Knight of Cups" and the film formerly known as "Lawless," before she segues into the contractual obligations of "Thor 2." But it's clearly harder than ever to get the actress' attention.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 14, 2012 2:23 PM
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9 Comments

News

So, if you happen to be Paul McCartney, you can pretty much get anybody you want for whatever project you're working on. And with a new album out now, the former Beatle rounded up mega-watt stars Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman to star in the three different videos for the lead single. And if that's not enough, he also got Christopher Nolan's regular collaborator, cinematographer Wally Pfister, to shoot them. Like we said, dude can make anything happen.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 23, 2012 3:27 PM
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25 Comments

Features

Put simply, the number of actreses who can be deemed consistent box office draws seems to diminish, rather than grow, as each year goes on. In part, it's because it's so rare for the major blockbusters to be lead by a woman: of the top 20 worldwide grossers last year, only "Twilight" could arguably be said to be led by a woman, and holding up those films as a victory for womankind would be an error, given their prehistoric sexual politics. 2010 was a little better, thanks to "Black Swan" and "Alice in Wonderland," but not much