The Playlist

What Are You Seeing This Weekend? 'This Is 40' & 'Jack Reacher' Are 'On The Road' At 'Zero Dark Thirty'

By Emma Bernstein
|
December 21, 2012 5:21 PM
|
6 Comments

News

Well folks, today is the Mayan Apocalypse, the official end of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar -- which doesn't sound so bad -- and, possibly, the world as we know it, which sounds pretty terrible. If we're all still here tomorrow (or tonight, for that matter), there is a delectable spread of filmic morsels on this weekend's menu. The latest Judd Apatow feature, Tom Cruise's new moody thriller, the first direct cinematic adaptation of Jack Kerouac's most famous work, and Kathryn Bigelow's second venture into modern warfare will grace the nation's silver screens, and we would encourage you to indulge where possible. So, toast the end of planet Earth while you tell us what you hope you'll be seeing in the comments section below. It probably wouldn't hurt to knock on wood or rub a rabbit's foot too. No, seriously: we really want to see "Gangster Squad" next year.

More:

Review: Overwrought 'The Impossible' Drowns In A Sea Of Melodrama

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 21, 2012 11:05 AM
|
12 Comments

Reviews

If "The Impossible" moves viewers to do anything, it may be to upgrade their life insurance policy to cover injuries due to tsunami. Following a wealthy family who encounter undeniable hardship, they are also blessed with the kind of luck and good fortune that only happens in the movies (or to people who can afford it). Except as director Juan Antonio Bayona takes great pains tell us, this is Based On A True Story (with the words "true story" then left to linger on their own before the movie begins). And while that may (almost) forgive some of the more happenstance developments in the film, it doesn't excuse the overbearing emotion and narrow focus of this overwrought picture.

More:

Watch: The Tsunami Comes In New Clip From 'The Impossible'

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 20, 2012 2:58 PM
|
0 Comments

News

You'll have a lot of options over the holidays at a theater near you, but making its way to cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles this weekend will be "The Impossible." Starting out its journey, and hoping to grab some attention alongside the other awards season players, this one starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts (who is getting buzz for her performance) centers around the devastating 2004 tsunami that occured on Boxing Day. And a new clip places you right at the beginning.

More:

Exclusive: Listen To 'The Impossible' Main Title Theme By Composer Fernando Velazquez

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 20, 2012 10:58 AM
|
1 Comment

News

How do you find the notes to effectively and respectfully capture the emotions in a true-life story set against a terrible tragedy? That was the challenge facing composer Fernando Velazquez for "The Impossible." Reteaming with director J.A. Bayona after collaborating on "The Orphange," Velazquez rose to the challenge of honoring the survivors whose story inspired the movie, by writing a score to compliment the complex tides of feelings of a family torn apart by the deadly 2004 tsunami, and ultimately reunited once again.

More:

'Zero Dark Thirty' Wins Best Picture, Director & Actress From National Board Of Review, Leonardo DiCaprio Takes Supporting Actor

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
December 5, 2012 2:34 PM
|
8 Comments

Awards

Awards season continues on apace, and if things keep on the way things have been going this week, Kathryn Bigelow may need to enlarge her trophy cabinet. Her follow-up to the awards-laden "The Hurt Locker," Bin Laden-hunt picture "Zero Dark Thirty" hasn't even opened in theaters yet, but it already won the Best Film (along with Director and Cinematography) prize from the New York Film Critics' Circle on Monday, and now the National Board of Review (the somewhat nebulous organization who traditionally kicked off awards season, before the NYFCC moved their dates up last year) have followed suit.

The 10 Films Worth Tracking Down In Theaters In December

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
December 4, 2012 11:13 AM
|
3 Comments

Features

With November done, there's only a few weeks left of 2012, and as ever, they're positively stacked with movies. The month is back-loaded with the usual mix of family fare, blockbusters and awards hopefuls, and no less than sixteen major movies will hit screens between the 19th and the 28th of December. To help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we've picked out ten of the key releases that, whether they work or not, will be dominating the conversation all the way into 2013. Check them out below, and let us know what you're most looking forward to in the comments section.

More:

New Images Of Naomi Watts As Princess Diana & In 'The Impossible'

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
December 3, 2012 12:58 PM
|
1 Comment

News

True stories and tragedy seem to be drawing Naomi Watts' attention these days. Though Oscar talk has quieted a bit, the actress stars in this month's disaster drama "The Impossible," and she spent the fall shooting the Princess Diana flick "Diana." And if all goes according to plan, she'll feature in Andrew Dominik's Marilyn Monroe film "Blonde." And some new pics have landed to today allowing us to see Watts in action as a princess in love and a mother in peril.

More:

Oscars: Taking The Temperature Of The Race As 'Les Miserables' & 'Zero Dark Thirty' Screen

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
November 26, 2012 10:57 AM
|
13 Comments

Awards

With Thanksgiving over and done with, we've arguably reached the mid-point of the awards season. Things will be kicking off with the Independent Spirit nominations arriving tomorrow, and the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review following next week. And with Oscar ballots going out not long after, almost every film has been screened, with "Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty" making their debuts over the weekend to press and industry types, leaving "Django Unchained" the last major contender to be seen by critics. And many of the big movies, including "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Life Of Pi" most recently, have now been seen by audiences too.

More:

Poster For 'The Impossible' & Two New Clips From The Tsunami-Set Drama

By Edward Davis
|
September 11, 2012 4:51 PM
|
0 Comments

News

The L.A. Times made us chuckle when they recently wrote, "One man's ambitious, iconoclastic, like-nothing-ever-before-seen passion project is another man's 'Battlefield Earth.' " They were of course talking about the Wachowski's polarizing "Cloud Atlas," a picture some adored and some loathed (our review was on the negative side, but not quite as damning as some). The same ideas could apply to Juan Antonio Bayona’s “The Impossible” starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.

More:

TIFF Review: Overwrought 'The Impossible' Drowns In A Sea Of Melodrama

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
September 10, 2012 6:01 PM
|
16 Comments

Reviews

If "The Impossible" moves viewers to do anything, it may be to upgrade their life insurance policy to cover injuries due to tsunami. Because as we watch the Bennett family get whisked away by helipcopter at the end of the film to the facilities of a hospital in Singapore, leaving the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami beneath them, all we could wonder is how everybody else in those dire circumstances are coping. Following a wealthy family who encounter undeniable hardship, they are also blessed with the kind of luck that only happens in the movies. Except as director Juan Antonio Bayona takes great pains tell us, this is Based On A True Story (with the words "true story" then left to linger on their own before the movie begins). And while that may (almost) forgive some of the more happenstance developments in the film, it doesn't excuse the overbearing emotion and narrow focus of this overwrought picture.

More: