The Playlist

10 Movies Booed At Cannes

By Drew Taylor
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May 15, 2013 2:35 PM
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34 Comments

Features

If the Cannes Film Festival is known for one thing, it's the festival's close proximity to topless beaches. But if it's known for two things, it's the emotional, emphatic responses that usually greet the films. These reactions come from audiences that are unafraid to tell the film (and the filmmakers, who are often sitting in the theater, squirming inside their rented tuxedoes and sequined ball gowns) how much they love or (just as often) hate, these movies. Not that these audiences are always right – far from it. Some of the movies that have been audibly shouted down are the ones (in the same festival) that take home the top prizes or garner widespread critical and commercial approval outside of Cannes. The Brooklyn Academy of Music is currently having a Booed at Cannes mini-festival, celebrating some of the best movies with the worst reputations. We wanted to also look at ten movies that got hissed at in Cannes and what happened afterwards.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

By Drew Taylor
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May 14, 2013 12:57 PM
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8 Comments

Star Trek Into Darkness, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto

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This week, one of the most hotly anticipated (and deliberately mysterious) movies of the summer movie season boldly goes into theaters nationwide. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is director J.J. Abrams' follow-up to the ridiculously entertaining 2009 "Star Trek" reboot, which introduced audiences to a younger, sexier Enterprise crew and turned the occasionally lifeless original series into a zippy space opera. The first film was the best kind of surprise – Abrams only had a single feature under his belt (the somewhat disappointing "Mission: Impossible III") and had yet to solidify his magic-loving geek-cred persona into an identifiable, Steven Spielberg-like brand. "Star Trek Into Darkness" is less of an unknown quantity in that respect, but Abrams and his confederates have tried, tirelessly, to keep the movie shrouded in mystery, offering all sorts of red herrings and deliberate attempts at obscuring plot details from being delivered prematurely. Still, there are some things we can tell you about this new 'Star Trek' experience. And so, without further ado, we will deliver five things you might not know about "Star Trek Into Darkness." Because in space, no one will hear you nerd out.

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From Best To Worst: Elmore Leonard Movie Adaptations

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 14, 2013 11:57 AM
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17 Comments

Features

Today sees the release of a sparkling new Criterion version of "3:10 To Yuma," the perpetually-underrated 1957 Western that's somewhat overshadowed by the more recent 2007 remake. Even those who have seen the earlier version may not be entirely aware that it's based on a short story by a man that we consider not just one of America's finest crime novelists, but one of our finest writers full stop: Elmore Leonard.

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John Boorman, Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight & Ned Beatty Talk 'Deliverance,' Casting, Marlon Brando & More

By Diana Drumm
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May 13, 2013 5:58 PM
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1 Comment

Features

The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival recently wrapped and we're still catching up on a number of great events that we got to sit in on. One of them was a screening of the '70s classic “Deliverance,” hosted by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. Organizers managed to wrangle director John Boorman and three-quarters of the cast's leads – Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight and Ned Beatty (Ronny Cox was off somewhere playing folk music,) to introduce the film.

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The 5 Most Ridiculous Things About 'The Great Gatsby,' Old Sport

By Drew Taylor
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May 13, 2013 12:04 PM
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80 Comments

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Opening a bit bigger than expected this past weekend and getting ready to explode confetti over crowds at Cannes later this week, Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, is totally ridiculous. It’s a rococo doodle, one full of flash and dazzle and sparkle, but empty inside, which would be an apt metaphor for the titular character if Luhrmann would slow down long enough to establish such things (even if he did bother to try to the make the connection, it would probably be besieged by schizophrenic cutting and accompanied by a Jay-Z song). In fact, it was something of a chore to narrow down the list of the most ridiculous things about “The Great Gatsby” to just five. We could go on and on all day. Oh, and spoiler warning old sport.

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Happy Mother’s Day! 5 More Of The Worst Movie Moms

By Diana Drumm
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May 12, 2013 10:38 AM
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8 Comments

Features

Flowers, a brunch featuring eggs benedicts and mimosas, an ill-fitting spring sweater -- it’s Mother’s Day! Rather than bore you senseless with good movie mothers or create some awkward moments today with great movie mamas, we have compiled a list of 5 more of the worst movie moms. We began this endeavor a few months back with “5 Of The Worst Movie Moms,” and thanks to the holiday, we have an excuse to expand on the theme that may or may not make our mothers proud. From emotionally damaging to rising from the dead, these mothers are awful, horrible and terrifying, enough to spook you into making that dreaded weekly phone call to hear about your mother’s rhododendron and that darn squirrel that keeps eating all of the birdseed. Here’s to mothers and their ability to not turn you into a raging psychopath (we hope)!

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5 Things Learned From Baz Luhrmann On The Road To ‘The Great Gatsby’

By Edward Davis
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May 12, 2013 10:02 AM
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5 Comments

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This weekend Baz Luhrmann's gold-encrusted, glitter-covered, FM radio-fueled "The Great Gatsby" hit theaters, and while critics may be split, audiences turned up in droves. But it wasn't the easiest journey to the big screen. The expensive production underwent reshoots, was pushed back from its previously planned Christmas Day release last year, and some wondered if it was a sign that the movie was troubled. But undoubtedly, it's Luhrmann's vision through and through.

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Albert Maysles & Joan Churchill On 'Gimme Shelter,' The Rolling Stones, Bad Acid Trips & More

By Diana Drumm
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May 10, 2013 5:03 PM
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0 Comments

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Another great conversation at the recently wrapped TCM Classic Film Festival found famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler discussing the landmark Rolling Stones doc “Gimme Shelter” with filmmaker Albert Maysles (“Salesman,” “Grey Gardens”) and camera operator Joan Churchill. Wexler acted as host and introduced the film with Maysles. After the film, Wexler, Maysles and Churchill sat down for a discussion that turned into a brief impromptu Q&A with the three discussing everything from the Hell’s Angels to being on acid to a few near-death experiences, with some additional comments by ‘Gimme Shelter’ producer Ron Schneider. Below is a selection of highlights from the conversation.

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5 Reasons Why You Must See The Hilariously Dark & Twisted 'Sightseers'

By Rodrigo Perez
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May 10, 2013 2:45 PM
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0 Comments

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Caravanning into theaters this weekend in limited release is Ben Wheatley's "Sightseers." It’s easily one of the best films of the year so far and perhaps more importantly one of the most enjoyable. Our review of the film from Cannes last year affectionately dubbed it "Natural Born Campers," and that's pretty apt. A pitch-black road-trip comedy (or at least that's one of many ways to describe it), "Sightseers" centers on Chris and Tina, two misfit lovers taking a sightseeing trip through rural England, but during their voyage, Chris (Steve Oram) starts to show his psychopathic true colors once he crosses paths (and becomes incensed) with society’s various annoying boobs: the careless litterer, the obnoxiously loud party girls, the pedantic asshole, etc.

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Terrence Malick’s Editor Billy Weber Says 'Knight of Cups' Won’t Be As Dialogue-Free & Experimental As 'To The Wonder'

By Diana Drumm
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May 9, 2013 3:36 PM
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8 Comments

Features

While at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, we had the chance to sit down with Billy Weber, Terrence Malick’s longtime editor. Beginning his editing career on the cult horror flick “Messiah of Evil,” Weber went on to work with directors ranging from Malick to Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver”) to Tony Scott (“Top Gun”). Meeting Malick as an editing assistant on “Badlands,” the two have become decades-long friends and worked together on four more films spanning over forty years -- “Days of Heaven,” “The Thin Red Line” and “The Tree of Life.” Being close to the enigmatic director, Weber gave us some insight on Malick’s upcoming projects, although Weber won’t be involved in either, and laid some rumors to rest. As we shared last week, Weber revealed that Malick is working on a director’s cut for "The Tree of Life.” Here are a few more things we gleaned from that conversation.

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