The Playlist

The Essentials: 5 Amazing Joe Wright Scenes You Need To Know

By Drew Taylor
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November 15, 2012 1:14 PM
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6 Comments

Features

In just five movies, British director Joe Wright has established himself as a master stylist with an almost painterly eye for shot compositions and spatial geography. On the eve of his newest film, "Anna Karenina," we thought we would go through the five most amazing shots in his oeuvre (whittling them down was something of a challenge). As an added bonus, we got to talk to Seamus McGarvey, the cinematographer behind behind three of the five scenes, including the one from "Anna Karenina," about what it was like crafting these truly unforgettable moments. We've included the scenes where possible, but of course, you can check out each of these films on home video.

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The Films Of Spike Lee: A Retrospective

By The Playlist Staff
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August 10, 2012 4:05 PM
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32 Comments

Features

If this weekend feels special for movie fans, it's not because of the trio of big-name blockbusters hitting theaters, it's because it sees a new dramatic feature -- the first in four years -- from Spike Lee, one of the most talented, idiosyncratic, maddening and controversial American filmmakers of the last thirty years. It's a rarity for a director to be instantly, iconically recognizable, but Lee's one of the exceptions, gaining visibility through starring roles in his early films, a famous appearance in a Nike ad alongside Michael Jordan, and plenty of moments when he's spoken his mind and caused an uproar.

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The Essentials: The 5 Best Sam Fuller Films

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 10, 2012 3:49 PM
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7 Comments

Features

The great Sam Fuller began life as a crime reporter at the age of 17, before writing pulp novels and doing mostly uncredited work on screenplays through the 1930s (his first credit was on 1936's "Hats Off"). He served in World War Two, seeing action in France, Italy and North Africa, as well as being present at (and filming) the liberation of the concentration camp at Sokolov. By the time he came to direct in 1939 -- having been inspired by his anger at what Douglas Sirk did to his screenplay "Shockproof" -- Fuller would infuse his work with his experience as both a journalist and a soldier.

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The Films Of Sidney Lumet: A Retrospective

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 9, 2012 11:00 AM
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13 Comments

Features

Lumet was never fancy. He never needed to be, as a master of blocking, economic camera movements and framing that empowered the emotion and or exact punctuation of a particular scene. First and foremost, as you’ve likely heard ad nauseum -- but hell, it’s true -- Lumet was a storyteller, and one that preferred his beloved New York to soundstages (though let's not romanticize it too much, he did his fair share of work on studio film sets too as most TV journeyman and early studio filmmakers did).

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Woody Allen & Dick Cavett Look Back At 'Radio Days' In Candid Conversation At 92Y

By Cory Everett
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February 23, 2012 9:56 AM
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1 Comment

Features

With the Academy Awards almost here at last we can finally put a capper on 2011. One of last year’s most unexpected success stories was “Midnight In Paris,” which is currently nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen. Allen’s 41st feature film was also his highest grossing of all time, but in all likelihood he'll be skipping the festivities at the Kodak Theater this Sunday. Instead, the filmmaker decided to drop in to the 92Y in New York with his old friend, talk show host Dick Cavett for a discussion about his early days in Brooklyn, the golden age of radio and his 1987 film “Radio Days” which screened immediately following the discussion.

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The 5 Worst Best Picture Oscar Line-Ups Of All Time

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 20, 2012 2:57 PM
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48 Comments

Awards

Alright, you've already seen our picks for the five best BEST Picture years, the Oscar years that you can actually look back on and not wince if you're a fan of movies and just-deserved prizes. So let's keep it simple: here are the five worst years below, the ones that make fans of cinema rather crazy and that have had people bitching about it ever since.

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The Playlist's Most Anticipated Escapist/Popcorn Films Of 2012

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 5, 2012 10:31 AM
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38 Comments

Features

Admittedly, Team Playlist is an oddball collection of cinephiles, snobs and genre-dorks, sometimes only unified by one thing: a healthy dose of skepticism in a world largely occupied by wishful-thinking fanboys. But this diversity means that we can be at once cynical optimists and optimistic cynics.

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The Playlist Staff Pick Their Most Underrated & Overrated Films Of 2011

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 20, 2011 9:26 AM
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65 Comments

Features

One of the pecularities of our site is our insistence on writing in the third personn, something designed to create the impression of a collective, a hive mind, and it's served us fairly well so far. But the realities of this are a little trickier; we're not all programmed the same way, and our beloved readers, understandably, can be puzzled to see a film derided in a review, and then ranking highly in our end-of-year features. But the truth is, we're not all cut from the same cloth; one person's treasure can be another's trash, and the debates around The Playlist's proverbial water cooler rage on year-round (for some reason, we continue to fight about Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," two years after it came out).

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The God Of Carnage: The Complete Films Of Roman Polanski

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 16, 2011 2:54 PM
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12 Comments

Features

With a career marked by controversy and tragedy, triumphs and disasters, that Roman Polanski has shaken off personal obstacles and professional setbacks is a feat in itself.

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Hope You Like Synths: The Best Scores & Soundtracks Of 2011

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 14, 2011 2:29 PM
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30 Comments

Features

Way back in the day, The Playlist started as a site focused principally on the places where movies and music met, and in particular, on scores and soundtracks. We've widened our net in the intervening years simply because that sole focus felt too small and we're movie lovers just as much as music lovers, but that interest has never gone away. And how could it? In many ways, we've reached the most interesting time in film scoring in years, with 2011 in particular seeing a number of electronic artists bringing the synth back into fashion in a big way. Between these and last year's Daft Punk-abled "Tron: Legacy" score, has there ever been a time when movie music has been so, well, danceable?

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