The Playlist

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

Interviews

The Crime Genre Is Still Alive & Original Says Writer/Director Michael Roskam Of The Oscar Nominated 'Bullhead'

By Erik McClanahan
|
June 26, 2012 2:50 PM
|
3 Comments

Features

The crime film is ever evolving. As in all genres, however, plots and characters have been repeated and copied throughout the history of cinema in this ubiquitous mainstay, but it’s the gifted filmmaker that finds a new way to tell a familiar story. History tells us that European art house directors, or really any auteur from outside the States, have typically been the most adept at re-working tired formulas in the gangster milieu. With that in mind, we are currently experiencing something of a golden age in crime cinema.

By Katie Walsh
|
February 17, 2012 4:28 PM
|
1 Comment

News

YEAH! Are you ready for some Cage's Festival of Wigs (TM)??? A wig made of FIRE perhaps? That is right, people. Nicolas Cage is BACK as that motorcycle madman from hell (nope this is not "Drive Angry 2") as the GHOST RIDER in "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance." And that's it, no other movies to see this week. KIDDING, there's like some Oscar nominated documentaries and foreign films and shit. And Tom Hardy debasing himself in "This Means War" with Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine. But really, it's all about the Cage this week. When is it not?

By Gabe Toro
|
February 16, 2012 10:05 AM
|
6 Comments

Reviews

It only makes sense that geek-friendly Drafthouse Films would be behind the distribution of Belgium’s Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee “Bullhead.” Sparse and unnerving, this unusual social drama features a central character so pulpy and tragic he might as well be a barmate of Mickey Rourke’s Marv of “Sin City.” Jacky (Matthais Schoenaerts) is a drug dealer high on his own supply. That drug isn’t cocaine or heroin, but synthetic steroids. As a cattle farmer, he’s got to keep his animals pumped and beefy. What does it matter if he becomes a brooding, hormonal, muscled beast as well?

By Simon Dang
|
February 5, 2012 8:40 AM
|
2 Comments

News

At least in this writer's eyes, one of the more intriguing Oscar nominations was that of Michael R. Roskam's latest film, "Bullhead," in the Foreign Language Film category. It seems like this branch of the Academy are much bolder when it comes to their nominations. Only a couple of years ago, Giorgos Lanthimos' "Dogtooth" received a nod, but we never would have thought Roskam's less-publicized, brooding character study would receive the same recognition.

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
January 18, 2012 2:40 PM
|
8 Comments

News

...and then there were nine. After sixty-three submissions, we're down to the last batch hoping to make it the final five when the Oscar nominations are announced next Tuesday. The process is an odd one, with L.A.-based Academy members voting in the top six, and three more films added by the branch committee headed by chief Mark Johnson. Now, invite-only members in New York and Los Angeles will vote and weigh in with the final five. But before we get to those, let's see who got left out.