The Playlist

Watch: Spike Jonze Short For Opening Ceremony, Darren Aronofsky Directs Ad For Yves Saint Laurent

By Cory Everett
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April 17, 2011 6:32 AM
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1 Comment

With only 3 feature films to his credit over the last 12 years, Spike Jonze has still managed to keep busy in the world of commercials and the occasional music video. His latest is a collaboration between world reknown cellist Yo-Yo Ma and famed LA dancer Lil Buck. (As a member of The Playlist staff put it "that kid is like spaghetti.") It's more a case of Jonze assembling these two artists in one place and less of a Jonze directed short film, but it's still pretty unbelievable to watch. Jonze says this of the project, "The other day, I was lucky enough to be at an event to bring the arts back into schools and got to see an amazing collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and a young dancer in LA, Lil Buck. Someone who knows Yo-Yo Ma had seen Lil Buck on YouTube and put them together. The dancing is Lil Buck's own creation and unlike anything I've seen. Hope you enjoy."

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SXSW Review: Spike Jonze & Arcade Fire's 'Scenes From The Suburbs' An Intense Look At Fading Youth

By Drew Taylor
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March 18, 2011 1:20 AM
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1 Comment

While technically not a full-length feature, Spike Jonze's Arcade Fire music video/short film/spin-off/thingee "Scenes from the Suburbs" is one of the most hotly anticipated and frequently discussed entries in this year's SXSW line-up, so much so that they paired it with three other medium-length "shorts" and created a whole new distinction for them. (Since they're longer than shorts but shorter than features.) "What is it?", is the biggest question, but "Will it work?" was just as pressing.

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Watch: Grim & Carefree Trailer For Spike Jonze's Arcade Fire Short Film 'Scenes From the Suburbs'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 14, 2011 1:48 AM
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0 Comments

Riding high off their Grammy win, and with a post-celebratory jaunt around the world this spring and summer, Arcade Fire show no signs of slowing down any time soon. And they still have more in store for their fans including the Spike Jonze-directed short film "Scenes From The Suburbs" which first appeared in an abbreviated form in the video for "The Suburbs."

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Spike Jonze & Charlie Kaufman Satire May Find Financing With Annapurna Pictures

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 1, 2011 10:15 AM
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5 Comments

'Frank & Francis' No Longer At Sony, Seeking A New HomeLook out Harvey Weinstein, there is a young whippersnapper on your heels. Megan Ellison, the woman behind Annapurna Pictures, has been on a buying streak of late, picking up and/or stepping behind esteemed projects that have earned the attention of cinephiles including John Hillcoat's "The Wettest County," Andrew Dominik's "Cogan's Trade" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" and his untitled Scientology project. Now Ellison is circling another project from a celebrated pair of auteurs.

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Spike Jonze/Arcade Fire Short 'Scenes From The Suburbs' Set For May Release

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 14, 2011 1:52 AM
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0 Comments

With their return-to-form record "The Suburbs" winning a surprise victory for Album of the Year at the Grammys last night, Arcade Fire are pretty much at the top of the world right now, and as longtime fans of the band, we're delighted. But the band's ambitions clearly don't stop here: they're going for part two of the EGOT, with a short film collaboration with Spike Jonze that was announced last year, making our filthy hipster brains explode.

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Poster For Spike Jonze's Arcade Fire Short Film 'Scenes From The Suburbs' Unveiled

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 7, 2011 6:37 AM
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2 Comments

For those lucky enough to attend the Berlin Film Festival, they will be able to catch the thirty minute Spike Jonze short film "Scenes From The Suburbs" based around Arcade Fire's latest album "The Suburbs," at one of its four screenings. The rest of us will have to wait, but for now a new poster recently debuted on the band's website, will have to suffice.

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David O. Russell Almost Made A 'There Will Be Blood'-Like Film About The Industrial Revolution

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 21, 2011 3:23 AM
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4 Comments

Says Darren Aronofsky's Version Of 'The Fighter' Was Much Darker Than His & Many Other Things Gleaned From A Recent MOMI Talk With Spike Jonze“If you don’t like any of my movies, just give it ten years.”

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Rosie Perez Is A Big Fan of 'The Fighter'

By Edward Davis
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January 20, 2011 7:01 AM
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2 Comments

Last night, the beautifully designed, newly re-opened Museum of the Moving Image in Queens hosted a screening of “The Fighter,” the first film in their David O. Russell retrospective. That screening was followed by an hour-long conversation between Russell himself and long-time friend and filmmaker Spike Jonze. Jonze interviewed Russell on the condition that when Jonze had a new film out, the Museum would do his retrospective and Russell would return the favor and interview him. (Keep up the great programming, guys, seriously.) It was a candid, funny chat that zig-zagged through Russell’s entire career, starting with his Sundance splash “Spanking the Monkey” through his latest film, boxing drama “The Fighter.”

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The Spike Jonze-Directed Arcade Fire Short 'Scenes From The Suburbs' To Premiere At Berlin Film Fest

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 18, 2011 2:53 AM
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2 Comments

You gotta hand it to Arcade Fire. The hard-working indie rockers pretty much write their own playbook and their growing success has allowed them to work on their own terms with likeminded collaborators. Earlier this year they tapped Terry Gilliam to direct a webcast of their Madison Square Garden gig, but long before that, they were hard at work with Spike Jonze on a secretive short film based around the loose themes of their latest album "The Suburbs."

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David Fincher Responds To Robert Duvall's "Too Many Takes Is The Enemy Of Acting" Comments

By The Playlist
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December 18, 2010 4:15 AM
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7 Comments

Spike Jonze Initially Tried To Talk Fincher Out Of Making 'The Social Network'; Director Says He Warned Justin Timberlake About His Tough MethodWhat a grouping in New York yesterday evening. Last night, Spike Jonze moderated a post-"The Social Network" Q&A with director David Fincher and star Jesse Eisenberg. If that's not enough talent in one room we're not sure what is (photos courtesy of the honorable Mr. Jeff Wells). We were in attendance for what was a spirited and lively discussion of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and the idea of subjective truths in Aaron Sorkin's screenplay (it should be noted, while Sorkin at the New York Film Festival insisted everything in the script was of the utmost veracity, Fincher seemed at ease with describing the film as their version of the events that took place).

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