The Playlist

Cannes: Tilda Swinton Suggests ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ Could Be A Documentary For The Outsiders Of The World; Jim Jarmusch Won’t Analyze This

By Rodrigo Perez
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May 25, 2013 3:12 PM
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1 Comment

Festivals

The 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival is quickly coming to a close. In fact the Un Certain Regard winners were just announced a short while ago (you can catch up with them right here). This year’s line-up, unlike years past, positioned a lot of heavyweights near the end of the festival, filmmakers like Roman Polanski, whose “Venus In Fur” screened today and Jim Jarmusch, whose deadpan, odd and deeply enjoyable vampire movie, “Only Lovers Left Alive” screened last night (you can read our review right here.)

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5 Things You May Not Know About 'Return Of The Jedi' & How It Could Have Been Much Cooler

By Drew Taylor
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May 24, 2013 1:57 PM
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23 Comments

Features

This week George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” turns 30. The conclusion to what was then imagined to be the end of the "Star Wars" saga concerned the Rebellion going up against the evil Galactic Empire, which has constructed a second, planet-destroying Death Star that is about to go online. It had a whole bunch of thrills, chills, and fussy robots, but, as we look back on ‘Return of the Jedi’ (and look forward to whatever J.J. Abrams’ "Star Wars: Episode 7" will be,) it’s interesting to note what the sequel might have contained under different conditions– and how it could have ended up being much, much cooler (This as the companion piece to that ran earlier today btw.)

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How 'Return Of The Jedi' Ruined 'Star Wars' Forever

By Drew Taylor
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May 24, 2013 12:00 PM
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37 Comments

Features

Imagine it: you've taken off from school and waited in line all day to see "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," the last installment (ever!) in the "Star Wars" saga. You're wearing your favorite "Star Wars" shirt, have your bucket of popcorn and jumbo-sized soda, and a primo seat in the auditorium, the best possible vantage point from which to watch the end of the trilogy unfold. No more than twenty minutes into the movie the lovable rogue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) dies fighting the evil Galactic Empire, sacrificing himself for the good of the Rebellion. The shockwaves from his death ripple through the audience and a very clear warning is issued from the filmmakers: no one is safe. Co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan fought for this to be a reality. So did Ford, who had grown weary of the character. But series overlord George Lucas said no. As Harrison Ford put it in 2010: "George didn't think there was any future in dead Han toys."

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Cannes: New Clip From ‘The Immigrant’; James Gray Talks Title Changes, Working With Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard & More

By Rodrigo Perez
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May 24, 2013 10:35 AM
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6 Comments

Festivals

James Gray’s long-awaited period drama, “The Immigrant,” finally screened in Cannes early this morning. Starring the excellent cast of Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Renner, “The Immigrant” centers on a conniving pimp (Phoenix) who manipulates a destitute Polish immigrant (Cotillard) into a life of prostitution. Saddled with a sick sister, she works to pay for her medicine and her dismal life seems hopeless until a curious magician (Renner) enters her life.

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Cannes: Alexander Payne May Do His Sci-Fi Film Soon; Bruce Dern Calls Him One Of 6 Directing Geniuses

By Rodrigo Perez
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May 23, 2013 5:18 PM
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5 Comments

Features

This morning, Alexander Payne's black and white, father/son roadtrip film, "Nebraska," debuted in Cannes. Starring the unlikely trio of Bruce Dern, comedian Will Forte and Stacy Keach, “Nebraska” centers on a poor old man (Dern) living in Montana who repeatedly escapes from his house to try to go to Nebraska to collect a sweepstakes prize he thinks he has won. Frustrated by his increasing dementia, his family debates putting him into a nursing home -- until one of his two sons (Forte) finally offers to take his father by car, even as he realizes the futility of it all. It’s a comedy, and while our reviewer didn’t necessarily love it, she called it a “small-scale quixotic adventure about the importance of dreams,” and coming from Alexander Payne it's probably worth giving a shot, even if it didn't surprise us as much as we’d like.

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The 5 Best Episodes Of 'Arrested Development' From The First 3 Seasons

By The Playlist Staff
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May 23, 2013 3:13 PM
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7 Comments

Features

"Arrested Development," as the opening credits inform us, is the story "of one wealthy family, who lost everything and the son who had no choice but to keep them all together." This synopsis, about the Bluth family and their continued struggles, makes it sound like something out of the Chuck Lorre factory of middlebrow mediocrity. But "Arrested Development," created by cracked genius Mitchell Hurwitz, would go on to become one of the most beloved (and short-lived) comedy series in the history of television, one whose fan-base was so outspoken that this weekend the series will be resurrected with a collection of episodes airing exclusively on Netflix's streaming service. The unthinkable has happened: The Bluths are back from the dead.

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5 Things You Can Expect From Nicolas Winding Refn's Polarizing, Moody & Brutal 'Only God Forgives'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 23, 2013 12:09 PM
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10 Comments

Features

As you may have heard by now, the reception for Nicolas Winding Refn's latest "Only God Forgives" was mixed at the Cannes Film Festival, with a smattering of boos mixed in with applause during the press screening on Wednesday morning. Our review by Jessica Kiang didn't find much substance beyond the gorgeous stylization, but I would beg to differ that there is much more going on than just a twisted, Oedipal, coming-of-age story (of sorts). I would wager that beneath the slick surface is a story about breaking a cycle of violence...and that's all I can really write about it, without spoiling things further.

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10 Essential Vegas Movies In The Hungover Spirit Of 'The Hangover Part III'

By Drew Taylor
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May 22, 2013 2:00 PM
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2 Comments

Features

Las Vegas is one of those distinctly American creations: it was designed and built by a gangster, in the middle of a deathly desert, as a utopian celebration for bad behavior, gilded excessive-ness, criminal activity and off-color kitsch. It's a place where you can stay in intricately themed hotel/casinos based upon the pyramids of Egypt, Arthurian castles, New York City, Paris, Amazonian rain forests, Roman coliseums and Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island," but you'd be hard-pressed to find a museum or library to whet your cultural appetite. And yet there's something hypnotically attractive about this place – we keep returning to it, again and again, both in real life and in the movies. This week's "Hangover, Part III" climaxes (as it were) in Vegas, high atop Caesar's Palace, and in keeping with this we decided to celebrate the bad taste and blinding neon lights of Vegas by showcasing ten of the very best Las Vegas movies.

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How 'The Dark Tower' Inspired 'Arrested Development' & More From Rolling Stone's Piece On The Show's Creator Mitch Hurwitz

By Drew Taylor
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May 21, 2013 4:10 PM
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0 Comments

Mitch Hurwitz, David Cross, Arrested Development

Features

If the hairs on the back of your neck are standing up it probably means you have Spidey-senses. It also means that the new season of "Arrested Development," available streaming instantly over Netflix, is about to drop on Sunday. We are so close to new episodes of the iconic cult series, about a family that falters during the financial crisis and must make do with each other, it's almost hard to fathom. But still – it's a reality. We've seen the bus stop posters. In preparation for the new season's launch, creator Mitch Hurwitz talked to Rolling Stone at length about the show, the potential movie, and what organizational chaos it was trying to make everything fit. Here are five things we learned from the interview.

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Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Suggests J.J. Abrams Needs To Leave His Mystery Box Alone For A While

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 21, 2013 2:34 PM
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13 Comments

Features

In 2007, J.J Abrams gave a TED talk about the mystery box; principally, a Tannen's Mystery Box he was bought by his grandfather from a magic store when he was a child. Abrams, in a typically articulate, engaging and funny address, talked about how the box had come to represent, for him, infinite possibility, and became a kind of manifesto for much of his work up to that point. And in the years since (quite deliberately, in a lot of way; it served as the front cover of an issue of Wired he edited, for one), it's become a recurring motif in his work, and often referred to in reviews or commentary of his work. And with "Star Trek Into Darkness," it's started to become a bit of an albatross.

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