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5 Songs That Should've Been Nominated For An Oscar & Would Have Made The Live Show More Fun

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • February 8, 2012 12:57 PM
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  • 19 Comments
Features
Never exactly the finest hour of the Oscars, the Best Original Song category of the Academy Awards this year has been something of a fiasco. First it was nominations with only two tracks -- "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" and "Real In Rio" from the animated film "Rio" -- making the cut. Then, at the start of this week, Deadline broke the news that neither song would be performed as part of the Oscar telecast, seemingly in the ever-vain hope of keeping the running time of the ceremony under three hours, despite protestations from those behind the two films, and many others.
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More: Oscars, Academy Awards, Submarine, Alex Turner, Win Win, The National, The Muppets, The Chemical Brothers, Hanna, Take Shelter

Drew Taylor's Favorite Films Of 2011

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • December 24, 2011 9:25 AM
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  • 21 Comments
News
2011 was undoubtedly the year of Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life." It just wasn't for me. After winning the Palme d'Or on the same day that I saw the movie, I was left feeling baffled. Like I had missed something.
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More: Best Of 2011, Beginners, The Tree Of Life, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Skin I Live In, Miss Bala, I Saw The Devil, Tabloid, Corman's World, Winnie The Pooh, Rango, Contagion, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Hanna, Margaret, Attack The Block

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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More: Features, Feature, 2011: The Year In Review, Hanna, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Attack The Block, Young Adult, Submarine, The Skin I Live In, Drive, The Muppets, Best Of 2011

The Best Films Of 2011...So Far

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • June 21, 2011 4:05 AM
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  • 54 Comments
Well, today is the first day of summer, more or less the midpoint of the year, and looking back over the the first six months of 2011, it’s definitely been a bit more of a scattershot movie year compared to the arthouse heavy start of 2010. We'll be honest, compiling this list wasn't exactly easy, the year has been uneven so far, but that said, it's certainly not without highlights: Terrence Malick finally delivered his long awaited film, Woody Allen flexed some of the old magic we love him for, and Michael Winterbottom found life and heart from a familiar comic pairing, while Joe Wright moved completely in a new, exciting direction. Over at the multiplex, big summer entertainment has already made that overpriced, greasy bag of popcorn worth the price with J.J. Abrams proving that genre thrills don't have to be empty, while one of the year’s best efforts unfolded beautifully on the small screen.
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More: Films, Foreign Films, Super 8, The Tree Of Life, Meek's Cutoff, Jane Eyre, Bridesmaids, Midnight In Paris, Submarine, Hanna, Beginners, Mildred Pierce, The Trip, I Saw The Devil, Win Win

Weekend Box Office: 'Rio' Defeats 'Madea' Before The Summer Onslaught Begins

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • April 24, 2011 4:56 AM
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  • 3 Comments
Hollywood doesn’t really recognize the seasons as clearly as you. Which is why even though you’re in school, summer begins in May, and even though you still have a full month of spring, that period usually closes in Hollywood around this time every year. In 2011, “summer” is beginning even earlier with next week’s release of “Fast Five,” sure to be the year’s biggest opener, which means that “Rio” effectively gets its licks in before the hot season begins, scoring a second straight weekend at #1 with a $26 million take.
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More: Films, Actors, Actresses, Film Studios, Weekend Box-Office, Tyler Perry, Modern Horror, Scream 4, Animated Films, Source Code, Water For Elephants, Soul Surfer, Hanna, Atlas Shrugged: Part I, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, The Weinstein Company, 20th Century Fox, Insidious, Hop, Rio

Box Office: 'Rio' First 2011 Release To Crack $40 Million Opening Weekend; 'Scream' Goes Quiet

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • April 17, 2011 6:18 AM
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  • 9 Comments
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: it’s been a dismal year at the box office. Studios have their fingers crossed in regards to a tepid-looking summer schedule, but many were hoping the season could be kick(punch)-started early with a strong April, as two new films were tracking well over $40 million this weekend. And it looks like those hopes are for naught, as the number one movie for this period looks to be Fox and Blue Sky’s animated “Rio,” clocking in juuuust about at $40 million for the three day weekend. Yes, Hollywood, it's taken more than four months to register year's first $40 million opening weekend.
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More: Films, Film Studios, Weekend Box-Office, Modern Horror, Scream 4, Animated Films, Source Code, Your Highness, Soul Surfer, Hanna, The Conspirator, Atlas Shrugged: Part I, Universal, The Weinstein Company, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Sony, Roadside Attractions, Insidious, Arthur, Hop, Rio, Win Win

Weekend Box Office: 'Hop' Defeats Four Newcomers; 'Your Highness' Flops Loudly And Rudely

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • April 10, 2011 4:48 AM
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  • 12 Comments
Earlier in the year, the tepid box office returns were something to be ignored, as 2011 was competing with the previous year, with both “Avatar” and then the anomaly of “Alice In Wonderland” each raking in a cool billion. Well, it’s April, and it’s time for Hollywood to panic. There have been no genuine out-of-the-box hits so far this year and lots of flops, and the two (barely) $100 million grossers considered underperformers (“Rango” and “Just Go With It”). Let’s face it, part of it is a failure of marketing, but the blame must be laid on inadequate product. Even when it comes to the early year doldrums, this has been a banner year for garbage.
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More: Films, Actors, Actresses, Film Studios, Weekend Box-Office, David Gordon Green, Joe Wright, Duncan Jones, Modern Horror, Animated Films, Source Code, Meek's Cutoff, Your Highness, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Hanna, James Franco, Danny McBride, Russell Brand, Eric Bana, Saoirse Ronan, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Sony, Paramount, Insidious, Arthur, Hop, Win Win

The Playlist's Guide To Assassins In The Movies

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • April 8, 2011 4:45 AM
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  • 10 Comments
Features
We often don’t know where they come from, their real names or even why they do what they do. Yet, as an audience, we are frequently enamored with the glossy thrill of power offered to a hitman, a silent assassin disappearing into the night. Why hitmen have been such a genre staple isn’t hard to see - you put a gun into the hand of a major character, and boom! drama. The idea of a hired gun, someone whose line of work involves ending human lives without passion or emotion, is naturally fraught with tension and emotional weight.
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More: Films, Feature, Hanna, Features, Saoirse Ronan

Q&A: Joe Wright Talks 'Hanna,' Says He Was "Terrified" At First About Directing The Action Sequences

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • April 7, 2011 5:10 AM
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  • 8 Comments
Says 'Oldboy' A Work Of "Genius," Cites Robert Bresson's 'Pickpocket' As An Inspiration & Is Totally Bored When Shooting Blue ScreenThis weekend, there will really be nothing quite like "Hanna" in theaters. Oh sure, there's "Sucker Punch", another film about ass-kicking girls, but it lacks the kinetic energy of Joe Wright's film, which features a cast led by Saoirse Ronan and co-starring Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett through some dynamic action set pieces in the film about Hanna -- a girl who also happens to be a highly trained assassin -- who is on the run from the CIA.
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More: Films, Joe Wright, Hanna

Review: 'Hanna' A Study In Merciless Violence, Strong Performances And Block Rockin' Beats

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • April 6, 2011 11:25 AM
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  • 2 Comments
In "Hanna," Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan graduates to the next stage of her career, the one that all "respected actors" reach -- the action stage, where her piercing looks and astute natural intelligence are replaced by kicks, punches and improbable stunts. The anomaly, of course, is that Ms. Ronan has become a remarkably accomplished, borderline preternatural performer at a young age, and so the action phase of her career -- admittedly, a brief tour as opposed to the extended sojourn other actresses might enjoy -- has arrived fairly early. Such is the natural gimmick at the heart of "Hanna," one that audiences should find familiar by now: the little girl with wolf's teeth and bear's claws.
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More: Films, Actors, Actresses, Review, Joe Wright, Hanna, Eric Bana, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett

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