The Playlist

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

Interviews

Sundance Review: ‘Austenland’ Is A Pleasant Comic Romp That May Leave You Feeling Unfulfilled

By Cory Everett
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January 19, 2013 2:45 PM
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0 Comments

Reviews

Jane Austen has provided as fertile a ground for adaptation as nearly any author in the last century. From her most beloved works (“Pride & Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility") to more modern interpretations (“Clueless,” “Bridget Jones's Diary”), her work has inspired countless filmmakers to try their hand at bringing her stories to life. Between romantic literature courses, reruns of the BBC production of “Pride & Prejudice” and pop culture riffs like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," new fans are still being made every day.

By Cain Rodriguez
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November 6, 2012 8:57 AM
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2 Comments

News

While everyone is focused on what Disney is doing with the next “Star Wars” film -- which won’t hit theaters for another three years -- the Mouse House is focusing on next year’s films, which include the surprisingly under-the-radar (given the amount of press the 2011 film had in advance of its release) “The Muppets 2.” Now comes word that one of the first film’s important collaborators will return for the sequel.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 23, 2011 1:20 PM
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5 Comments

Awards

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 18, 2011 3:00 PM
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0 Comments

News

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 10, 2011 12:02 PM
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0 Comments

Film Features Four New Songs By 'Flight of the Conchords' Man Bret McKenzie, & Covers Of Cee-Lo Green & NirvanaUpdate: A new trailer/TV spot for the film has landed, courtesy of Bleeding Cool, with a couple of excellent new gags: we're particularly fond of the traveling-by-map one. You can find it after the jump.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 6, 2011 1:23 AM
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1 Comment

'Twilight' Author Stephenie Meyer Producing, 'Napoleon Dynamite' Co-Writer Jerusha Hess Making Directorial DebutIf you've been feeling a strange, nagging void in the part of your soul where you keep your love for costume drama, there's a reason for that: we've somehow gone four years without a major Jane Austen-centered movie. Sure, Bollywood flick "Aisha" borrowed the plot of "Emma," and "From Prada to Nada" was (very) loosely based on "Sense & Sensibility," but given the wealth of adaptations, and even biographical entries like "Becoming Jane" and "Miss Austen Regrets" that appeared in the middle of the last decade, it doesn't quite compare.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 5, 2011 2:16 AM
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It looks like Bret McKenzie is getting ready to head back to Middle Earth but not as Figwit, as his character was dubbed -- after a fan said “Frodo is great ... who is that?” -- following his fleeting appearance in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” He later appeared again, ever so briefly, in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” As was reported last week, McKenzie was being sought out to return to the franchise and it looks like everything is signed, sealed and delivered, but he won't be a Figwit this time around.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 31, 2011 9:49 AM
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1 Comment

It was a blink and you miss it moment from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," so you'll be forgiven if you missed it, but "Flight of the Conchords" star Bret McKenzie was in the film. During the council meeting where Frodo says, "I will take it!" the camera pans over to a pouty elf. The story goes that a fan said, "Frodo is great ... who is that?" thus spawning the nickname of Figwit. He reappeared in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" alongside Liv Tyler and that has been his extent so far in the franchise, but perhaps not for long.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 16, 2010 2:56 AM
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4 Comments

Dave Grohl To Cameo, Lead Muppet Won't Have Celebrity Voice Coming off a banner couple of years, where even non-Pixar animations like "Tangled," "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs" have turned out to be terrific, it could be argued that it's something of a golden age of family films. And as someone raised on monstrosities like "Richie Rich" and "Space Jam," this writer firmly believes that kids today don't know how lucky they are. But unfortunately, 2011 looks a little grim, with Pixar and DreamWorks both promising fairly uninspired-seeming sequels, and the rest of the year looking pretty barren.