«
»
The Playlist
The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.Interviews
-
Greta Gerwig Talks 'Frances Ha' & Working With Noah Baumbach -
Joel Edgerton On 'Wish You Were Here,' 'Jane' Drama & More -
James Gray On 'The Immigrant,' 'The Gray Man,' 'The Lost City Of Z' And More -
Brit Marling Talks 'The East' & Espionage Thrillers -
Nicolas Winding Refn Discusses 'Only God Forgives -
Justin Lin Talks 'Fast Furious 6' & The Influence Of Altman -
Interview: Noah Baumbach Talks 'Frances Ha' -
Ben Wheatley Talks 'Sightseers,' Violence & More -
Mark Romanek On 'One Hour Photo' & Leaving 'Cinderella'
The Playlist
L.A. Film Fest Review: Pedro Almodóvar's 'I'm So Excited'
- By Katie Walsh
- |
- June 14, 2013 5:32 PM
- |
- 3 Comments
Upon introducing his latest film, “I’m So Excited” at the opening night of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Pedro Almodovar took care to explain that in Spanish, the title of his film has a double meaning— as he said, “horny.” And yes, the characters aboard his doomed flight are indeed, very, very libidinous. Almodovar also explained that “I’m So Excited” allows him to take a catastrophe and turn it into a party. With that idea in mind, it helps to see the bigger picture Almodovar is trying to paint with what seems like a silly sex farce on a plane.
Review: 'Berberian Sound Studio'
- By Oliver Lyttelton
- |
- June 12, 2013 7:04 PM
- |
- 2 Comments
People love movies about the making of movies. Well, that's perhaps an exaggeration -- general audiences have a history of some apathy towards the genre. But filmmakers certainly love films that go behind the scenes of their own business, from "8 1/2" to last year's Oscar winner "The Artist," and cinephiles tend to eat them up as well. But most examples of the type tend to focus on the making of the movie, with a handful, like "Adaptation," following the gestation and writing of a film, but very few have ever focused on the point at which many filmmakers say their movies actually come together: post-production.
Review: 'Man Of Steel' Directed By Zack Snyder, Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams & Michael Shannon
- By Charlie Schmidlin
- |
- June 10, 2013 11:00 PM
- |
- 22 Comments
In the opening scenes of Zack Snyder's “Man of Steel,” the planet of Krypton announces itself with the director's customary visual smorgasbord: canyons bathed in stark golden light, frenzied aerial battles for the planet's future, and a host of CGI creatures and machinery zipping around. It is a garish, worrying sight, saved finally by silence, as a mother laments her son's future on Earth. “We'll never see him walk,” Lara Lor-Van (Ayalet Zurer) quietly says to her husband, Jor-El (Russell Crowe, solid throughout his considerable role). The line connects, both actors retrieving the film from gaudy chaos for a moment of humanity; the child departs, leaving his parents to their planet's fate. Thankfully, down on Earth, we proceed to see him walk, run, and then fly in Snyder's impressive, bold take on the Superman mythology -- one that strains under its helmer's indulgent action tendencies, but succeeds on heart where brawn will not.
Review: 'Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer'
- By Kevin Jagernauth
- |
- June 10, 2013 5:58 PM
- |
- 3 Comments
"Free Pussy Riot!" became a familiar rallying cry on social media throughout 2012. When five members of the feminist punk rock collective Pussy Riot enacted a guerilla performance of "Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!" in Moscow's biggest Orthodox Church, three of them were arrested and charged with hooliganism. Advocates for free speech rallied around the three girls, including celebrities like Madonna, Sting, Yoko Ono, Peaches and Bjork. The story took on a life of its own, traveling around the world, shining an unfavorable light on the justice system in Russia and Vladimir Putin's rule in particular. But this case was always about more than just some young punks, doing some bad things and directors Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin attempt to add some context with their film "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer."
Review & Recap: 'Game Of Thrones' Season 3 Episode 10, 'Mhysa' Draws Things To A Close (For Now)
- By Katie Walsh
- |
- June 10, 2013 10:02 AM
- |
- 34 Comments
Well, after last week's horrible trauma, which I'm not sure everyone has gotten over, "Game of Thrones" returns with a final episode of the third season, "Mhysa," that lets us lick our wounds and offers some uplifting moments to temper all that violence and nihilism (don't worry, there's still plenty of violence and nihilism too). And we even get a few small moments of justice and a tiny bit of revenge on the part of one of the Starks. As for tying up loose ends, I didn't have high hopes for this episode's ability to draw all of its many disparate story lines to satisfying close, but, as directed by David Nutter, this episode addresses most of our characters and brings them to a place of certainty, at least, until the next season.
Review: 'Wish You Were Here' Starring Joel Edgerton & Teresa Palmer
- By Todd Gilchrist
- |
- June 8, 2013 12:16 PM
- |
- 1 Comment
Although its title implies either a whimsical journey of self-discovery or an ironic riposte to the vacation from hell, the story of “Wish You Were Here” is, in either context, a disappointingly pedestrian experience. The story of a husband and father trying to return to his normal life after a vacation with his wife and her sister that ends in the disappearance of his sister-in-law’s boyfriend, Kieran Darcy-Smith’s Australian import inspires a deluge of possibilities and provocative thoughts in its audiences’ heads, but languid pacing undermines the too-simple and ultimately too-conventional revelations that wrap up its simmering mysteries. Nevertheless, strong performances from the four leads sustains its unhurried approach far longer than the payoff deserves.
Review: 'World War Z' Starring Brad Pitt
- By Oliver Lyttelton
- |
- June 7, 2013 8:56 AM
- |
- 18 Comments
"World War Z" was always going to be a difficult nut to crack. The book of the same name, by son-of-Mel Max Brooks, was a bestseller a few years back, and a somewhat atypical one; a brainy, grim faux oral history of a zombie apocalypse that wiped out most of the world's population. It made enough of a dent in pop culture to warrant a movie adaptation, but it wasn't going to be an easy translation with no main character and a documentary-like format. So it's no surprise that the film was several years in development, and that even once filming got underway, it had one of the more publicly troubled shoots in memory, with reports flying of budget overages, script triage and extensive pick ups.
Review: Alain Resnais' 'You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!'
- By Peter Labuza
- |
- June 6, 2013 6:29 PM
- |
- 0 Comments
Alain Resnais is no stranger to the absurd. For over fifty years, his films—beginning with “Hiroshima, Mon Amour,” have asked questions through their oblique narratives about the way we think about story, performance, and cinema. But such a serious statement also obscures the pure delight it is to get lost in the filmmaker’s lush imagery and his pure sense of magic. Surrealism can spark at any moment, and never feels unnatural. And in “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!,” the filmmaker’s purported last film, he’s gone to new wild imaginations of delight, a true send off from one generation of cinematic legends to the next.
Review: Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing'
- By Christopher Schobert
- |
- June 5, 2013 7:35 PM
- |
- 4 Comments
How does one follow the biggest superhero film in box office history? Perhaps a better way to phrase it is, how does the man behind some of the most beloved cult TV series and characters in recent pop history follow the biggest superhero film in box office history? If we're talking about the much-loved Joss Whedon – who else? – you decamp to your home, grab a camera, invite over your friends, and create a delightful, DIY, modern-day black-and-white adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." Duh.
Review: 'Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie'
- By Gabe Toro
- |
- June 5, 2013 6:28 PM
- |
- 2 Comments
A charlatan, a ringmaster, and, at his most charitable, an irresponsible pig. This was Morton Downey Jr., and “Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie” is probably the film he deserves. Destined to provoke knowing nods from his fanbase, and predictable tsk-tsks from his detractors, 'Evocateur' examines the seeds that were planted in the late eighties when “The Morton Downey Jr. Show” hit the airwaves to a cacophony of pop culture noise.
Email Updates
What's Poppin'
-
Watch: Ace First Trailer For Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' Starring Leonardo DiCaprio -
Girls Gone Bad: 20 Lethal Girl Gang Movies -
10 Meta Movies That Break The Fourth Wall And Blur Reality & Fiction -
Where Will 'Man Of Steel' Rank? Rating The ‘Superman’ Movies From Worst To Best -
Is This The End? Get To Know Your 2013 Apocalypse Movies -
12 Great & Not-So-Great Debuts From Screenwriters-Turned-Directors -
5 Versions Of ‘Jurassic Park’ You Never Saw -
2013: The Best Films Of The Year...So Far -
20 Great Workplace Comedies -
12 Observations On The New 'Arrested Development' Season
Recent Comments
I don't really get the buzz about Woodley- acting wise. I found her to be nothing special in
oh wow, I knew I'd get torn apart by her fans(the few of them she has anyways), however I know
This is a disgrace to Bale
dat editorialization.
My esteem for Armie Hammer has just gone up.
This side-by-side documentary should be required viewing for every movie critic at the Playlist to
Whaddya know, kanye west stealing someone else's idea...Didn't see that coming.(Sarcasm)
kanye is an odd, odd man, but he means no harm so i guess we can just let him be......for now...
So it made sense to have Mary Jane already established in Peter's life if they plan to kill
Jessie is a great character. Also, Dory. Also, Elastigirl. Also, Violet. Also, Edna Mode. Also