The Playlist

Storyboards From 'The Tree Of Life' Reveal Abandoned Early Life Sequence With Adam, Eve, Cain & Abel, Plus Photos From Missing Scenes In The Film

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 2, 2012 9:48 AM
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6 Comments

News

It was quite a 2011 for Terrence Malick. Not only did the director return with his long awaited, Palme d'Or winning "The Tree Of Life," he's got four films in various stages of development including the IMAX documentary "Voyage Of Time," the untitled Ben Affleck/Rachel McAdams romance and two pictures set to shoot this year, "Lawless" and "Knight Of Cups." And yet, with all that going on, people are still talking about "The Tree Of Life" (which has placed on many year end, Best Of lists) and it's not hard to see why. The ambitious film's extended creation and early life sequence is still one of the most discussed of last year, and as you might expect, there was even more that was eventually abandoned by the director in the decades long development of the project.

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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 Year In Review, Part One -- The Notable Highlights & Lowlights Of January-June 2011

By The Playlist
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December 29, 2011 3:47 PM
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11 Comments

Features

Well, with twelve months basically in the can, it’s time to put the year to bed, and hopefully, into a little perspective. 2011 was, well, just another year in movies, and that's not to say it was an uninteresting year, it's just that while things are evolving, and not always for the better, Hollywood, indies and the general state of filmmaking kept on trucking like they had to.

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Drew Taylor's Favorite Films Of 2011

By Drew Taylor
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December 24, 2011 9:25 AM
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21 Comments

News

2011 was undoubtedly the year of Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life." It just wasn't for me. After winning the Palme d'Or on the same day that I saw the movie, I was left feeling baffled. Like I had missed something.

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Gabe Toro's Best Films Of 2011

By Gabe Toro
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December 21, 2011 3:30 PM
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55 Comments

Features

Great art challenges. Bad art flatters. But those of us who don’t dedicate our lives to film don’t always seek to be challenged. Sometimes we want to experience art at our leisure. One doesn’t schedule, or plan the impact of art (making a film review deceptive, as it can never be a critics’ final thoughts).

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The Playlist's Woman Of The Year 2011: Jessica Chastain

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 20, 2011 1:30 PM
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10 Comments

Features

To start things off, there was really only one choice for The Playlist's inaugural Woman of the Year 2011, an actress who was virtually unknown twelve months ago, but has appeared in no fewer than seven films that premiered at film festivals or went into wide release over the course of the year, without a real stinker in the bunch. Her roles ranged from an Israeli spy to an ethereal 1950s housewife, from a Texan FBI agent to a platinum-blonde bombshell forming an unlikely friendship with her maid (the latter a part that looks set to take her to the Oscars this year). Yes, it's Jessica Chastain. Who else?

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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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The Alternate 2011: Who Nearly Directed Or Starred In The Most Notable Movies Of The Year?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 12, 2011 2:05 PM
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12 Comments

Features

2011 hasn't been too shabby for the movies. But even in a year such as this, there's that niggling feeling of what could have been. With the process of picking a director and casting a film seemingly more public than ever, thanks to rumors leaking and trades running short-list stories, it's possible to imagine any number of alternate outcomes for many of the biggest, and best, films of the year.

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Awards Mania As 'The Artist,' 'The Tree Of Life' & 'The Descendants' Earn Top Critic Organization Honors

By Gabe Toro
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December 12, 2011 8:59 AM
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1 Comment

News

Sunday was a major day for Oscar prognosticators, as a number of critics organizations went live with their end-of-2011 honors. Some films gained support, and some lost quite a bit of steam, but for those of you who look at the whole thing like a horse race, there was a lot of movement amongst a thick group of thoroughbreds.