The Playlist

5 Things You Might Not Know About Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice'

By Drew Taylor
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March 29, 2013 11:00 AM
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11 Comments

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This week, Tim Burton's wild supernatural comedy "Beetlejuice" turns a whopping 25 years old. A funny/scary ode to both the potential liveliness of haunted houses and the deathly drudgery of everyday life, it stars Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the Maitlands, a pair of suburban Connecticut softies who, after their death in a tragi-comic automobile accident, have to try and spook the upper crust Manhattanites named the Deetzes who have taken up residence in their home (the all-star family consists of Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara as the parents and Winona Ryder as Lydia, their sullen daughter). Since they don't have what it takes to scare away their new houseguests, they have to call on Betelgeuse (an unstoppable Michael Keaton), a self-styled "bio-exorcist," to get rid of them. And all hell (quite literally) breaks loose.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About The Coens' Cult Classic 'The Big Lebowski'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 6, 2013 1:06 PM
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22 Comments

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Aside from perhaps "The Ladykillers" (and even that film features a great Tom Hanks performance, at least), it's hard to find at least one Coen Brothers movie that doesn't have passionate supporters that declare it the best thing the directing duo ever made. From debut "Blood Simple" to the recent megahit western "True Grit," every Coen picture has its advocate (this writer has an unconditional adoration of their 1994 commercial disaster "The Hudsucker Proxy," for instance). But none of their films are more beloved than "The Big Lebowski."

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Groundhog Day' On Its 20th Anniversary

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 12, 2013 1:04 PM
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2 Comments

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Twenty years ago today, on February 12th, 1993, Harold Ramis' comedy "Groundhog Day" opened in theaters. Twenty years ago today to the day, on February 12th, 1993, Harold Ramis' comedy "Groundhog Day" opened in theaters. Twenty years ago today to the day, on February 12th, 1993, Harold Ra-- sorry, we're not sure what came over us there. The film stars Bill Murray as crotchety weatherman Phil Connors, forced to go to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebrations -- where, as legend has, a groundhog may or may not see its shadow, portending whether an early spring is coming, or if another six weeks of winter lie ahead.

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The Essentials: 5 Great Ernst Lubitsch Films

By The Playlist Staff
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November 30, 2012 2:20 PM
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11 Comments

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Sadly, the name Ernst Lubitsch isn't one that's batted around much by the hip young gunslingers of the movie world. Given that he passed away in the 1940s, there are many whose grandparents were barely out of short trousers the last time a Lubitsch picture was in theaters, and only a few filmmakers (Wes Anderson the most recent) mention him as a touchstone these days. But we're firmly of the belief that cinema would be much improved if every screenwriter and director sat down for a weekend with the films of the much-missed director.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Casablanca' On Its 70th Anniversary

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 26, 2012 1:57 PM
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3 Comments

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A little over 70 years ago, Allied troops had invaded and freed French North Africa from Nazi occupation. And aside from helping to turn the tide of the war, it proved to be something of a boon for Warner Bros. as the company had just completed a film called "Casablanca," which was set among the resistance movement in the Moroccan city under German occupation. The film hadn't been greenlit with high hopes and was generally seen as something of filler material, intended to cash in on the recent success of the now-mostly-forgotten "Algiers."

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How Paul Thomas Anderson Ruined A Day Of Shooting On 'No Country For Old Men' & More You Might Not Know

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 9, 2012 3:40 PM
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1 Comment

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At the start of 2007, the Coen Brothers were not in a good place in their careers. Even after the major success of "O Brother Where Art Thou" and the critical acclaim of "The Man Who Wasn't There," they weren't able to get their Brad Pitt-starring adaptation of James Dickey's WWII novel "To the White Sea" financed, and two commercially-aimed star-laden pictures, "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers," had disappointed financially and seen them pick up the worst reviews of their careers.

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5 Things You May Not Know About Alfred Hitchcock's 'Spellbound'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 31, 2012 1:57 PM
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2 Comments

Features

We're of the general opinion that you can never get enough Hitchcock, and while we've just wrapped up our massive retrospective of the director's works, to celebrate the release of a new Blu-ray boxset of his work, today has another Hitch connection. These days, Halloween means "Paranormal Activity" sequels in theaters (and before that, "Saw" movies), but in the past, when the holiday wasn't such a corporate behemoth, more interesting fare made it to theaters for that time of year. And October 31st, 1945 saw the release of Hitchcock's "Spellbound."

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Reservoir Dogs' On Its 20th Anniversary

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 23, 2012 1:47 PM
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5 Comments

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Prepare to feel very, very old indeed -- twenty years ago today, on October 23rd 1992, "Reservoir Dogs" was released in theaters, introducing the world to a 29-year-old video store clerk turned filmmaker with an encyclopaedic knowledge of film named Quentin Tarantino. But even in the months beforehand, his feature directorial debut, "Reservoir Dogs" had already started to upend the American independent film movement but with tremendously well received screenings at Sundance, Cannes and Toronto.

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Looking Back On 20 Years Of 'Candyman': What's Blood If Not For Spilling?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 16, 2012 1:23 PM
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5 Comments

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Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman. One silly sounding word repeated five times into a mirror, which unleashes all kinds of mayhem -- and, as it happens, one of the more original horror creations of the last few decades. The hook-handed son of a slave (as embodied by Tony Todd) summoned by the chanting of his name, created by horror legend Clive Barker (along with writer/director Bernard Rose), he's appeared in three films to date. And while the substandard sequels saw the character lose his luster, it doesn't change the fact that the original "Candyman," which was released twenty years ago today on October 16th, 1992, is a fairly superior and unusually intelligent horror flick.

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5 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Princess Bride' On Its 25th Anniversary

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 25, 2012 12:01 PM
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2 Comments

Features

The bargain bins of the world are littered with attempts to make films for the whole family. Making something that will please young kids, grandparents, and everyone in between (a four-quadrant hit, as studio types call it) is a tough nut to crack. But one of the most enduring family favorites of the last few decades is one that, against the odds, managed to thrill audiences, make them laugh, and make them swoon: Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride."

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