The Playlist

Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Dominates European Film Awards

By Cain Rodriguez
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December 3, 2012 10:44 AM
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0 Comments

News

As we head into December, we head deeper into awards season and that means accolades bestowed upon films deemed worthy. Over the weekend, the European Film Awards were handed out with Michael Haneke’s “Amour” leading the night with wins in the four major categories: best film, director, actor (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and actress (Emmanuelle Riva).

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My Favorite Films Of 2011 - Rodrigo Perez

By Rodrigo Perez
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January 14, 2012 10:35 AM
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15 Comments

Features

Topping my list of 2011’s #1stworldproblems was making a top 10 list. Such is the difficult life of having to see movies for free and then attempt to express something insightful about them. I have the same issue every year: feeling zero motivation to write a top 10 list and then of course, almost writing about 20 films this year. #contradictoryfail. However, I can’t promise there will be any insights here. Perhaps the problem was that Gabe, Chris, Drew, Kevin and Oli all made eloquent lists that said all that really needed to be said about 2011’s film, but regardless, here I am with my belated round-up.

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My Favorite Films Of 2011: Kevin Jagernauth

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 30, 2011 11:01 AM
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11 Comments

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The annual top ten list is pretty much an exercise in futility to some degree. With a race to cram in as many movies as possible as the clock on the year winds down (and let it be said, I didn't get to see everything I would have wanted to) combined with the added duty of then ranking them, it's safe to say that in three months (not to mention three years) feelings and impressions on the movies I've seen will have changed. But in considering the list for this year, I went with the former adjective -- "feeling." Because at the end of the day, the movies that will linger with me the most, that I will want to share and encourage others to see are those that struck a deep chord that still resonated days, weeks and months later. Others are just movies that thrilled and entertained with an inventiveness and creativity unlike anything else I saw on the big screen.

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The Playlist's Man Of The Year 2011: Michael Fassbender

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 22, 2011 3:12 PM
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22 Comments

Features

A couple of days ago, as part of our year-end coverage, we named Jessica Chastain as our Woman of the Year, and it was an easy decision to make; no one's been as omnipresent, or given as many different, and excellent, turns, as Chastain did. But our man of the year was slightly more difficult. Should it be Matt Damon, who cropped up in five major releases, including Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion?" Hmm... no. Damon's "Happy Feet Two" shrimp partner Brad Pitt, who fought to get both "The Tree of Life" and "Moneyball" made, to tremendous results? No. Ryan Gosling, who embraced stardom at long last with a trio of performances in "Crazy Stupid Love," "Drive" and "The Ides of March?" George Clooney, who directed the latter and starred in Alexander Payne's "The Descendants?" No.

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'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' & 'Drive' Lead London Film Critics Nominations

By Drew Taylor
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December 20, 2011 3:02 PM
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1 Comment

News

The London Film Critics' Circle has released their nominees this morning, with some surprising frontrunners. Tomas Alfredson's Cold War thriller "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and Nicolas Winding Refn's pulpy blast "Drive" were the top nominees, with six nominations apiece, while Lynne Ramsay's chilling "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and Asghar Farhadi's emotionally devastating "A Separation" each picked up five nominations. Steve McQueen's sex addiction drama "Shame" and indie black-and-white silent thingee "The Artist" each secured four nominations. Sadly "Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star," was, again, overlooked.

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My Favorite Films Of 2011: Christopher Bell

By Christopher Bell
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December 20, 2011 2:30 PM
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17 Comments

Features

Something that always bothered me about being a critic was that your feelings on whatever you're writing about suddenly get stuck in stone after pushing that glorious "Publish" icon.

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‘Shame’ Screenwriter Abi Morgan Talks Ralph Fiennes’ ‘Invisible Woman’ Project, Joe Wright’s ‘Little Mermaid, ‘Suffragettes’ & More

By Jen Vineyard
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December 17, 2011 9:30 AM
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4 Comments

News

Three of screenwriter Abi Morgan's projects were honored by Golden Globe nominations Thursday -- the first season of her much-acclaimed BBC miniseries "The Hour," as well as the lead actors from her films "Shame" and "The Iron Lady," Michael Fassbender and Meryl Streep. And Morgan is already hard at work on her next round of projects, including the second season of "The Hour," which is in the middle of shooting now.

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From Bloody Murders To Bridesmaid Speeches: The 25 Best Movie Moments Of 2011

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 13, 2011 1:59 PM
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49 Comments

Features

The great Howard Hawks once famously said that what makes a good film is "three great scenes, and no bad ones." While we'd argue that that's not an absolute hard-and-fast rule, he wasn't far off. With 2011 providing a number of above-average films, there've been plenty of memorable moments to go around, even if we couldn't attest to them all following Hawks Law.

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