The Playlist

Review: Mira Nair's 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' A Heavy-Handed Look At A Post 9/11 World

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 23, 2013 7:00 PM
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Reviews

Opening last year’s Venice Film Festival, Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” is an intriguing prospect. The film, an adaptation of the best-selling and acclaimed novel by Mohsin Hamed, had been under the radars of most until its selection, and aside from Kate Hudson, is mostly lacking in the starry names that normally attract attention to a festival. Fans of Nair (whose superb “Monsoon Wedding” won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2001) have been hoping for a return to form after her last film “Amelia,” disappointed. Was the film’s presence in such a prestigious slot a sign that she might have delivered? Unfortunately, despite a very fine central performance from ever-rising British actor Riz Ahmed (“Four Lions,” “Trishna”), not so much.

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LFF Review: 'My Brother The Devil' A Fresh & Exciting Take On The Familiar Urban Crime Drama

By Joe Cunningham
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October 17, 2012 3:58 PM
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Reviews

British urban drama is fast becoming a crowded genre. It seems that every couple of months there’s a movie released depicting issues of drug abuse, violence and poverty in the council estates of one of London’s many recession hit suburbs. Well, in UK cinemas that is. Not many make it out of the country, and in fairness probably few deserve to. Sally El Hosaini’s debut feature is playing at the London Film Festival and will get a limited UK cinematic release in November, and it would be nice if it got the opportunity to travel further because it’s one of the better examples of the genre.

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James Gandolfini Returns To HBO To Star With Riz Ahmed In 'Criminal Justice' Pilot, Steve Zaillian To Direct

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 19, 2012 2:01 PM
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Television

It seems that HBO and James Gandolfini are just the kind of couple that are meant to be together. Of course, the network and star both mutually benefited with the rousing success of "The Sopranos," but even after the show was over they kept each other's phone numbers. Gandolfini's been attached to a number of brewing projects for his old employers, and a few years later the actor co-starred in the HBO movie "Cinema Verite" with Diane Lane and Tim Robbins. And it looks like they're set to work together again as the cable channel has greenlit a pilot that will put Tony Soprano back in the fold.

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Venice Review: Mira Nair's 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' A Heavy-Handed Look At A Post 9/11 World

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 29, 2012 7:31 AM
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8 Comments

Reviews

Opening films at festivals are always worth approaching with a little caution. Normally given out-of-competition slots, it’s often a signal that the films have been selected to bring some starry names, and the attention that goes with them to the red carpet, or to make some kind of mission statement, with the more prestigious pictures being saved up for the main competition. But generally speaking, Venice has had a good run in the last few years for their opening night film: “Atonement,” “Burn After Reading,” “Black Swan” and “The Ides Of March” all picked up varying degrees of praise, with Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baaria” the only one of late that failed to get much of an international following.

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New Pics Of Kate Hudson, Riz Ahmed & Kiefer Sutherland In 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 24, 2012 12:27 PM
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1 Comment

News

Mira Nair is getting her Air Miles checked, passport ready and luggage packed. She heads to Venice in August to open the proceedings there with "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," before crossing the ocean in September to unspool it for audiences at TIFF, and a few more images from the film have arrived.

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Ciarán Hinds, Julia Stiles & Riz Ahmed Join Untitled Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall-Led Suspense Thriller

By Edward Davis
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April 11, 2012 7:00 PM
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1 Comment

News

Production begins next week in the U.K. on Focus Features and Working Title's latest collaboration: an untitled suspense thriller that stars Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall and Jim Broadbent. And there's plenty of reason to pay attention, apart from the boutique studios with discerning film taste and these three stars.

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Watch: New Trailer For Michael Winterbottom's 'Trishna' Borrows A Classic Line By Lauren Bacall

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 4, 2012 2:32 PM
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News

Until now, the teasers and previews for Michael Winterbottom's "Trishna" have largely focused on the lush Indian setting and the handsome faces of its two leads, but with the film now a few months away from hitting theaters, a brand new trailer has arrived showing off the tougher dramatic undercurrent running through it.

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First Look At Riz Ahmed & Kate Hudson In Mira Nair's 'The Relucatant Fundamentalist,' Film Aiming For Venice Premiere

By Joe Cunningham
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April 2, 2012 8:41 AM
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2 Comments

News

While Mira Nair has enjoyed some success over the years for her films, acclaim has usually tended to gather around films set in her native India rather than her more mainstream efforts. "Vanity Fair," "Amelia," and even her segment in "New York, I Love You" have all, to one extent or another, fallen flat. Her next feature may be an adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's (mostly) New York-set novel "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", but we're really pretty intrigued to see how this one will play out.

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Marrakech Film Festival '11 Review: There's A Reason They Don't Make 'Em Like 'Black Gold' Any More

By Jessica Kiang
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December 12, 2011 1:05 PM
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1 Comment

Reviews

Left in a strange kind of limbo, partly due to a delay in finding U.S. distribution, and therefore a large swathe of the Western audience to whom it rather panders, Jean-Jacques Annaud's period sand saga "Black Gold" makes an odd addition to a festival line-up.

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LFF '11 Review: Michael Winterbottom's 'Trishna' Is Picturesque, But Entirely Lacking In Passion

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 22, 2011 7:28 AM
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2 Comments

Over his career, Michael Winterbottom has hopped frequently from genre to genre, from subject matter to subject matter, rarely covering the same territory twice. But one of the few things he has returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. The late 19th century British author has so far inspired two of the director's films: 1995's "Jude," an adaptation of "Jude the Obscure" with Kate Winslet, and "The Claim," a version of "The Mayor of Casterbridge" moved to a Californian mountain Western setting.

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