The Playlist

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

Interviews

Casting: Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Jean Dujardin & More Sign Up For New Projects

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 13, 2013 4:22 PM
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3 Comments

News

There's been a flurry of actors signing onto projects in recent days, with indie projects, tentpoles and European productions all in the mix, here's a quick rundown of who signed onto what.

By Kimber Myers
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March 28, 2013 5:56 PM
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0 Comments

Reviews

Quentin Dupieux directs like David Lynch. On mushrooms. With a head injury. After reading a lot of Haruki Murakami. We promise we mean this in the best way possible, to both Dupieux and those struggling with traumatic brain injury. There are elements of the surrealist auteur's work in the off-kilter comedy "Wrong," from the sometimes dissonant, creepy score to the juxtaposition of the the mundane and the truly odd. But comparisons to the "Lost Highway" director aside, Dupieux is a filmmaker all his own whose mind clearly works in ways that most others' can't or won't. He embraces the weird with such glee and abandon, that it's hard not to shrug your shoulders, smile and join the group hug.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 22, 2012 10:29 PM
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1 Comment

News

When the awesome Dwight Yoakam had to drop out of the villain role in the upcoming "The Lone Ranger," we wondered who and how they would be able to fill in that gap. He has a particular screen presence that few can fill. But it seems we forgot about William Fucking Fichtner.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 6, 2012 1:10 PM
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2 Comments

News

Call up your grandma, because in case you forgot, Billy Crystal is back to host the Oscars for the ninth time, stepping in replace Eddie Murphy, after the whole Brett Ratner/shrimpgate fiasco. But just to ensure everyone that they are hip and "with it," a new teaser for the show has just dropped rounding up folks that "the kids" like in a somewhat amusing little spot.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 9, 2011 12:20 PM
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0 Comments

Since the moment we walked out of "District 9," buzzing with the energy and invention of the picture, we, like you, have been keenly awaiting more work from South African director Neill Blomkamp. And after a heap of speculation -- the Blomkamp directing "The Hobbit" rumor must have raised its head a good half-dozen times -- the helmer's follow-up was finally announced at the end of last year as the mysterious sci-fi project "Elysium."

By Gabe Toro
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May 13, 2011 1:45 AM
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4 Comments

Why is it that all hard boiled detectives in movies have to have the standard-issue growly deep-voiced monotone? Are there no soprano private investigators? The throat lozenge market would make a killing catering their ads specifically to people like P.I. Ned Cruz, the hero of this Friday’s “The Big Bang,” a silly noir pisstake hitting DVD soon after its theatrical run.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 6, 2011 8:41 AM
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5 Comments

Actor Also In Talks For 'Wrong,' Quentin Dupieux's Follow-Up To 'Rubber'Is there anything William Fichtner can't do? The longtime character actor basically spruces up whatever project he winds up participating in, even if it's playing something as ludicrous as the devil's right hand man in "Drive Angry 3D." Christopher Nolan realized that man brings gravity to any scene he's in, which is why he used him for the few minutes of screen time he had in the opening heist sequence of "The Dark Knight"; he needed someone who could believably stand up to the Joker, if only for a few moments.