The Playlist

Spike Jonze's Sci-Fi Romance 'Her' Finally Gets A Release Date

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 21, 2013 5:05 PM
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6 Comments

News

It feels like an age since we've had a Spike Jonze movie in theaters. Of course the filmmaker has never had a particular sense of urgency to his output, with only three films in fourteen years, and a seven year gap between "Adaptation" and 2009's "Where The Wild Things Are." Even with terrific shorts like "I'm Here" to tide us over we've been looking longingly out the window for news of the director's next film, "Her."

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Carey Mulligan Joins Coens' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' & Spike Jonze's New Film Starring Joaquin Phoenix

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 21, 2011 4:01 AM
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3 Comments

It's hard to believe that just two years ago the world was waking up to Carey Mulligan. The actress seemed to come out of nowhere with her turn in Lone Scherfig's "An Education," and rather than try and go for big paydays in tentpole or franchise movies, Mulligan has wisely opted to work with filmmakers instead. Jim Sheridan ("Brothers"), Oliver Stone ("Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"), Mark Romanek ("Never Let Me Go"), Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") and Steve McQueen ("Shame") now grace her filmography, with Baz Luhrmann being added this fall as she shoots "The Great Gatsby." And Mulligan isn't stopping there, as Variety report, she's adding two more helmers to the list.

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Watch: Spike Jonze Co-Directed, Stop Motion Animated Short Film 'Mourir Auprès de Toi'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 19, 2011 6:03 AM
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0 Comments

Earlier this spring, in the midst of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Critics Week sidebar, a sneak preview popped up online for "Mourir Aupres de Toi," a short film collaboration between director Spike Jonze and designer Olympia Le-Tan. Jonze has been busy since with a plethora of projects including music videos for the Beastie Boys and Kanye West and Jay-Z, that we kind of forgot about this. But the full-length short is now available to view in the comfort of your own home/office, and it's certainly worth clicking on during your next coffee break.

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Watch: Jay-Z & Kanye West Drive Recklessly, Set Off Fireworks In Spike Jonze Directed "Otis"

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 12, 2011 2:59 AM
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9 Comments

Also, Aziz Ansari Is There Too For Some ReasonIn case you feel off the planet Earth this week, you might have heard that Jay-Z and Kanye West released a new collaborative album under their new namesake The Throne. Entitled appropriately Watch The Throne you may have also heard that the album is what the kids like to call "shit hot." Well, as was reported not too long ago, Yeezy called up his old pal Spike Jonze to direct the video for the lead single "Otis" and frankly, it looks like they had a fucking blast making it.

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Spike Jonze Has Directed "Otis" For Kanye West & Jay-Z

By Benjamin Wright
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August 2, 2011 1:40 AM
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3 Comments

While things seemed to have been quiet for Spike Jonze since his 2009 adaptation of the children’s classic “Where the Wild Things Are,” the director has been very busy in the last year or so, making a return to the sort of short form film projects and music videos that gave him his street cred. 2010 saw Jonze delivering the lovely short "I'm Here" and working with Arcade Fire on their “Scenes from the Suburbs” flick, while this year he co-directed the short “Mourir Aupres de Toi (To Die Next),” made the memorable Beastie Boys action figure video "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" and has a brewing Charlie Kaufman-penned feature with Joaquin Phoenix attached to star. But when Yeezy comes calling, you gotta pick up the phone.

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Watch: Spike Jonze's Action Figure Vid For Beastie Boys 'Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win' Rules

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 19, 2011 3:01 AM
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2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago it was revealed that Spike Jonze had reteamed with the Beastie Boys for the first time in over a decade, directing the video for the Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 cut “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” featuring Santigold. Well, with previous efforts with the hip hop group resulting in the now classic videos for "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot," Jonze has once again created an inventive, hilarious and memorable clip for the band.

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Joaquin Phoenix Attached To Star In Spike Jonze & Charlie Kaufman's Untitled Satire

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 13, 2011 7:35 AM
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2 Comments

Film Now Has A Home At Warner Bros.Bravo, Joaquin Phoenix, bravo. After effectively putting himself into the wilderness following the faux/mock-doc "I'm Still Here," he is marking his comeback by choosing a variety of fantastic projects. He's currently filming Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master," he's going to reteam with James Gray on the period drama "Low Life," and now he's lined up another outstanding project.

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Spike Jonze Directing Video For New Beastie Boys Single... With Action Figures

By Oliver Lyttelton
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July 1, 2011 10:32 AM
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8 Comments

We might be a couple of years away from Spike Jonze's last feature, the tremendous "Where the Wild Things Are," with only the loosest of movements towards his next, a reunion with writer Charlie Kaufman, but the director hasn't been idle. He's helmed a terrific short film, "I'm Here," as well as collaborations with two of the best bands around, LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire, on "Drunk Girls" and "Scenes of the Suburbs." And now, it looks like the director's coming full circle, teaming up once again with one of the bands with whom he launched his music video directing career.

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First Look & Teaser For Spike Jonze Co-Directed Animated Short 'Mourir Aupres de Toi (To Die Next)'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 20, 2011 2:41 AM
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0 Comments

If you're heading to the Cannes Film Festival and just taking a look at the official selection, you're only getting a very small sampling of a plethora of movie options at your disposal on the Croisette. The Cannes market has a boatload of films (if you can manage to squeeze into any of the industry/buyer only screenings), there's numerous special programs and there's also the Critic's Week sidebar focusing on first and second directors (with "Take Shelter" taking the top prize this year). So given all the distraction, a new animated short co-directed by Spike Jonze completely missed our radar.

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Deluxe Edition Of Arcade Fire's 'The Suburbs' Lands In June, With DVD Copy Of Spike Jonze Short

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 20, 2011 1:03 AM
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1 Comment

It feels like years since rumors started flying that Spike Jonze would be collaborating with Montreal's favorite sons Arcade Fire on a short film inspired by their latest album -- and indeed, the project was first revealed over a year ago. We've had a glimpse of the final product (entitled "Scenes From The Suburbs"), in the form of the video for the title track from the album, and the film premiered at SXSW last month, but with the group now anointed as one of the biggest bands in the world, following their surprise success at the Grammys, it feels like about time you and me got to see the full thing, right?

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