The Playlist

Review: ‘Mr. Popper’s Penguins’ Shamelessly Calculated Studio Fare

By Mark Zhuravsky
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June 17, 2011 1:59 AM
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0 Comments

Jim Carrey must have taken "I Love You Philip Morris" languishing on the shelf for two years while hankering for a release date to heart. Enter "Mr. Popper’s Penguins," a film that when set alongside the gay con man comedy can demonstrate the “one for me, one for them” philosophy with crystal clarity. ‘Penguins’ is lazy, calculated, overlong and most importantly, lacking even a bit of genuine fun.

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Review: 'Battle For Brooklyn' Shines A Light On Corruption Hiding Behind Hoops

By Gabe Toro
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June 16, 2011 1:57 AM
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0 Comments

Few real estate decisions have rankled citizens and elected officials as much as the Atlantic Yards program. Spearheaded by Forest City Ratner and its founder Bruce Ratner, the program was dedicated to invoking eminent domain on a small residential area in Brooklyn, supplanting the residents in place in order to allow Ratner to build a new basketball arena and add sixteen skyscrapers to the area, which apparently already featured Ratner architecture. In other words, a Bruce Ratner theme park, the horrorshow foreshadowed by the new documentary "Battle For Brooklyn."

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Review: 'Jig' Could Have Used A Little More Spring In Its Step

By Drew Taylor
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June 15, 2011 2:59 AM
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4 Comments

The common wisdom, when going into any documentary seems to be that, no matter what the subject, it will make it seem really, really interesting. And, truth be told, some pretty thrilling documentaries have been woven from things that, on the outset, appeared quite dull. Anyone who thought that "The King Of Kong" about a "Donkey Kong" championship was going to end up being one of the most thrilling and humanistic sports movies of all time was either psychic or lying through their fucking teeth.

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Review: 'Green Lantern' Is A Tale Of Good Versus Evil For Dummies

By Gabe Toro
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June 15, 2011 2:16 AM
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27 Comments

Why are superhero and comic book movies so popular? It may be the comfort of believing there is a clear distinction between “good” and “bad” people, that “good” isn’t such an abstract notion within one’s identity and bad, in itself, is an unchanging, sometimes unstoppable force. There is poetry in this oversimplified view, both in the way it calms the troubled minds of moviegoers and the very notion of an unchanging duality forever at war, one side “morally” representing the winning side, the other not.

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Review: 'Attenberg' Is A Strange And Unique Experience

By Christopher Bell
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June 14, 2011 2:52 AM
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"Attenberg" was screened as part of Sound Unseen International Duluth Film And Music Festival.

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Review: 'A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt' Lacks Sizzle

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 13, 2011 4:32 AM
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3 Comments

Among the great food cities of the world, New York City stands near the top. Home to some of the finest restaurants and most interesting, challenging cusine anywhere, it's a foodies delight. However, for those working in the industry in the Big Apple, the restaurant business can eat you alive. With restaurants making it or breaking it on the word of a handful of highly influential critics, with customers that are savvier than ever, building a career as a chef is a endeavor that only the most deliriously passionate can survive. A combination of long grueling hours, little to no recognition during those all important, but taxing years as a sous chef or apprentice, and the high wire act of finally striking out your own and opening your own restaurant can defeat even the most inspired and talented chefs. But for Paul Liebrandt, his situation was almost ten times worse.

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Review: Dense And Oblique, Monte Hellman's 'Road To Nowhere' A Welcome Return

By Christopher Bell
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June 10, 2011 8:53 AM
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0 Comments

The reemergence of a well-respected filmmaker will always draw the eyes of cinephiles everywhere; these once-master auteurs come out of hiding, hoping to recapture the energy and attention they once had. "The Godfather" auteur Francis Ford Coppola is currently enjoying a second career in film, and though he isn't making serious bank ("Youth Without Youth" couldn't even muster up $250,000 domestically), his latest output is some of his best work since the early 1980s. Few are as successful critically as that, and though we all have our dream lists (this writer can't be the only one hoping for a new Nagisa Oshima), some filmmakers can't restart the fire they once had -- often it feels like they're trying too hard to either keep up with current stylistic trends or forcing out a passion that they no longer have. Either way, these artistic resuscitations are often only ever seen as complete travesty or modern masterpiece, regardless of how detrimental those extremist labels truly are. Which brings us to this unfortunate question: which camp does "Road to Nowhere" by Monte Hellman (director of the great "Two-Lane Blacktop," absent from features since 1989) fall into? Depending on your affinity for David Lynch/Claire Denis-type narrative puzzles, it could go either way.

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Review: 'Trollhunter' Visits The 9-To-5 Lifestyle Of The Monster Killer

By Gabe Toro
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June 9, 2011 12:17 PM
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If you're one of the countless people that saw "Cloverfield" but felt there just weren't enough trolls, it appears that your needs have been catered to. "Trollhunter" is the latest in the Found Monster Footage genre, a weirdly-specific niche that accommodates the necessity of shooting cheaply with digital video and not showing much of the beast. This kooky Norwegian import pries open a mystery no one was really clamoring to answer, which is: what is buggering around in the forests of Norway? And is it possibly the mythical giant trolls we know from old bedtime stories?

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Review: Michael Winterbottom's 'The Trip' A Wickedly Funny Road Trip

By The Playlist
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June 7, 2011 10:03 AM
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0 Comments

This review originally ran during the Tribeca Film Festival.

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Review: 'Bobby Fischer Against The World' An Intriguing Portrait Of Genius & Madness

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 6, 2011 2:22 AM
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1 Comment

It's hard to believe, but at one time chess was a national obsession and that was all due to one man: Bobby Fischer. A genius, enigma, egotist and sensitive recluse all rolled into one, Fischer's dynamic and unparalleled performance with chess pieces was matched by his notably eccentric personality when out in the real world. His tragic story -- from a beloved American icon to an embarrassing, blowhard bigot -- is already well documented, but director Liz Garbus breathes new life into it with "Bobby Fischer Against The World," the most compelling chess documentary you're ever likely to see.

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