The Playlist

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

What Are You Seeing This Weekend? 'Epic' Memorial Day Brings 'Fast & Furious 6,' 'The Hangover Part III' & 'Before Midnight'

By Emma Bernstein
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May 24, 2013 3:51 PM
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1 Comment

News

There are plenty of traditions associated with Memorial Day: barbeques, the return of white pants, massive sales, and, of course, the release of long-awaited blockbuster flicks. We get two this weekend, both hailing from impressively resilient franchises. Plus, there's the highly anticipated next chapter in the "Before [insert time of day]" series. But maybe you're not a sequel person, in which case you can indulge in a 3D animated feature for the kiddies (in all of us), probing documentaries, dark comedies, and a biopic. Because what's more American than variety? Happy Memorial Day, cinephiles: let us know how you'll be celebrating at the theaters!

By Gabe Toro
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May 22, 2013 11:35 AM
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8 Comments

Reviews

Titles can be sticky, none moreso than “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.” The “we” mentioned could be speaking in first-person perspective in regards to the muckracking online collective, which helped power the biggest security breach in government history. Then again, is the story of WikiLeaks anything other than our story? The story of anyone online who’s ever wanted to know more, who ever wanted to remove the veil of secrecy? If anything, director Alex Gibney might have shot himself in the foot: he could never begin to grasp the magnitude of our collective societal curiosity that has helped bring down walls during the current administration.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 17, 2013 10:15 AM
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1 Comment

News

We've had our ears on composer duo Fall On Your Sword (aka Will Bates and Phil Mossman) for a while now. The duo have become some of the most in-demand musicians in the indie world over the last few years, thanks to the works on "Another Earth," "Nobody Walks," "Lola Versus" and "28 Hotel Rooms," among others, and we named them as one of our 5 Composers On The Rise earlier this year.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 21, 2013 4:33 PM
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2 Comments

News

Hero, martyr or threat? Depending on where you stand, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is either one of the above or all three, and now Hollywood is coming to tell his story, or at least their version of it. While Benedict Cumberbatch will play the platinum haired whistleblower in this fall's "The Fifth Estate," first out of the gate is Alex Gibney's "We Steal Secrets: The Story WikiLeaks" and it seems like a crash course in everything you need to know about Assange and the group that continues to frustrate authorities worldwide.

By Joe Cunningham
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December 21, 2012 3:50 PM
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2 Comments

News

There’s no doubt that the whole WikiLeaks scandal and the fallout from their major information releases ever since has been nothing short of fascinating. Well, Hollywood seems to think so anyway, and they’re seeing a whole load of storytelling potential in it, with both dramatic features and documentaries on their way. Among them, there’s the Australian TV movie “Underground: The Julian Assange Story,” which played at TIFF (our review here); Bill Condon’s as-yet-untitled movie that will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange; a delayed project at HBO; a possible drama from Mark Boal (“Zero Dark Thirty”) based on a New York Times article; and a documentary titled “We Steal Secrets” all at various stages of development.