The Playlist

Roman Polanski Apologizes To His Sexual Assault Victim In New Secret Doc Premiered In Zurich

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 28, 2011 1:46 AM
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6 Comments

For all the films that he's made in the last 33 years, from the great to the dreadful, everything that Roman Polanski's done has been overshadowed by his 1978 sexual assault of a thirteen-year-old girl. The director was arrested and charged with six counts, including rape, but in a bargain with the courts, plead guilty only to "Unlawful Sexual Intercourse with a minor," and was sentenced to 90 days in prison. On his release, however, it was suggested by the judge that Polanski would face more prison time, and the helmer fled to France, where he's lived in exile ever since.

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Venice '11 Review: 'Carnage' Is Fun While It Lasts, But Insubstantial & Anonymous

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 1, 2011 12:22 PM
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6 Comments

Compared to his last film, Roman Polanski's "Carnage" must have been a breeze. Not that the shoot for "The Ghost Writer" was "Fitzcarraldo" or anything, but, famously, the project hit a major speed bump in September 2009, while the film was in post-production, when the helmer was arrested in Zurich, and deportation proceedings were begun against him for the statutory rape case that has overshadowed the last thirty-odd years of his career. The Swiss authorities decided not to hand Polanski over, but he still spent months in prison, and was forced to complete post on his Robert Harris adaptation from there.

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French Poster & More New Images From Roman Polanski's 'Carnage'

By Simon Dang
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August 13, 2011 12:43 PM
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1 Comment

Alexandre Desplat Replaces Alberto Iglesias As Film's ComposerWhile it may seem like heavier fare, "God of Carnage," the Tony-winning play by Yasmina Reza which Roman Polanski's "Carnage" is based on, is actually a comedy first, with some dramatic elements dashed in. In fact, one of the film's stars, Kate Winslet, recently revealed that the work is so riotously funny that during a performance of the play on Broadway in 2009, she "actually peed my pants, and not just once." Not exactly what we were expecting but it's definitely something we can get on board with.

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When Celebrated Directors Lose The Plot: Interesting Left Turns And Failures In An Auteur's Oeuvre

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 21, 2011 6:55 AM
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85 Comments

Even the greatest of auteurs in cinema generally take one or two big missteps in their careers, either early on -- as happened to a lot of the Easy Riders/Raging Bulls generation of American filmmakers, bringing their hirsute hubris down to earth with a bump -- or later, when poor judgement and a degree of fossilisation can cloud a director’s vision -- see Quentin Tarantino’s remarks, for example, about not wanting to be a "geriatric" filmmaker, making films deep into his old age because this is when filmmakers generally lose their mojo, or Steven Soderbergh’s early retirement plans, which he hopes will see him exit filmmaking at the top of his game.

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As 'The Dark Tower' Crumbles, Here Are 10 Dead Projects In Search Of Resurrection

By Gabe Toro
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July 21, 2011 3:56 AM
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3 Comments

One of the more ambitious projects in recent memory, "The Dark Tower," was canceled earlier this week by Universal Pictures. It's not a surprise, as the studio also recently put the kibosh on a $150 million-budgeted R-rated take on "At the Mountains of Madness" by Guillermo del Toro and Ron Howard, and Akiva Goldsman's multi-platform, multi-film Stephen King adaptation was arguably more risky and definitely much more expensive. We here at The Playlist root for movies to be good, but we mostly root for movies to be made, for a director to complete their vision and for it to have a chance to reach an audience and possibly become a part of the popular culture.

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New Looks At The Leads Of Roman Polanski’s ‘Carnage’

By Sam Price
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July 12, 2011 1:40 AM
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1 Comment

Update: Another new "Carnage" pic has fluttered online over at Italian site ComingSoon. Check it below.Update #2: Fotogramas also has a new pic from "Carnage." Check it out below.

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Polanski's 'Carnage,' Cronenberg's 'A Dangerous Method' Set For Premieres At Venice Film Festival

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 18, 2011 1:07 AM
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5 Comments

New Films From Todd Solondz, Steven Soderbergh, Steve McQueen, Michael Winterbottom, Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, Tomas Alfredson, Yorgos Lanthimos & More All In Contention Too

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Roman Polanski Circling Polish Postmodern Mystery 'True Crime'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 8, 2011 6:04 AM
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6 Comments

Roman Polanski recently wrapped filming on his upcoming, surefire Oscar-bait "Carnage" -- which has already been snatched up by Sony Pictures Classics -- and it looks like he's already eyeing his next project and it may find the director switching gears and heading back into the crime genre, with a project based on a fascinating true story.

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First Look At Roman Polanski's 'Carnage'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 22, 2011 2:34 AM
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7 Comments

To be certain, Roman Polanski's last effort, "The Ghost Writer," polarized The Playlist staff. While some found it be a pretty harmless, if not particularly memorable, political potboiler, others completely hated it (though we all agreed Kim Cattrall's accent was egregious). Even on the score, some of us loved Alexandre Desplat's whirring strings, while others found it be a weaker work from the accomplished and prolific composer (the Christmas party eventually turned ugly). But regardless of all that, Polanski's latest has us all pretty excited, bringing together a top notch cast for the film version of an acclaimed play.

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Entertainment Weekly Pick The 25 Greatest Working Directors; Confirms The Fallacy Of Listmaking

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 25, 2011 1:58 AM
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19 Comments

Lists are subjective. That's the joy of them, to some degree -- you get to see the tastes of others, and hopefully pick up a few tips for things you may have overlooked. And you're never going to find a list that you agree with 100%, particularly when the stakes are bigger -- lists of 'greatest films' or 'greatest directors' are a veritable minefield of disputes and feuds. But that doesn't change the fact that some lists are just dumb.

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