The Playlist

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

Interviews

In Theaters: 'The Avengers' Is 'A Little Bit Of Heaven'; Have It 'My Way' At 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

By Emma Bernstein
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May 4, 2012 5:02 PM
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News

Well, people, it’s here. Each year, starting around Memorial Day and continuing through the early weeks of summer, we find ourselves knee-deep in a period marked by the release of monstrously large popcorn flicks, movies that show off stars and special effects while raking in the dough. That’s right: it’s the season of the terminal illness drama-comedy. And the studios aren’t wasting any time with two films already released this first weekend. Oh, wait – just kidding. It’s Summer Blockbuster Season! And we’re off to a great start with Marvel’s debut picture this weekend. Buckle up.

By Emma Bernstein
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May 1, 2012 12:58 PM
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Reviews

“My Way,” from one of Korea’s most famous and acclaimed directors, Kang Je-kyu, is a venture of expansive and expensive proportions, recounting two men’s overlapping lives, and set against the backdrop of the Second World War. The film opens with a runner suddenly taking the lead at the 1948 Olympic Marathon in London. Just as quickly, we are pulled 20 years back and half the world away, to Korea under Japanese occupation. Two young boys – one the grandson of a prominent Japanese official, the other his Korean servant – run a footrace, and the metaphor for national conflict commences. Shots of their running feet transition from this playful moment to all-out competition, as the boys are swiftly replaced with teenage versions of themselves, involved in a heated rivalry.