Foreign Films
-
The Playlist2 commentslike0tweet1
NYFF '11: 'The Artist' Director Michel Hazanavicius Credits Orson Welles As One Of Many Influences
Director Wanted To Revive Silent Movie Style For A Contemporary Movie AudienceDespite stealing audiences' hearts and walking away from the prestigious Cannes Film Festival with the Best Actor Award, Michel Hazanavicius's nostalgia-fueled silent feature "The Artist" may have its work cut out for it. Will regular movie-goers go and see something like this in an era when the mere thought of a flick not being in color is appalling? It's a tough call, but with the right push, it might get sales solely based on the fact it's unlike anything in at the cineplex today. After that, all the movie needs is five minutes: it's an instant charmer, an escapi...
Read More » -
The Playlist1 commentlike0tweet0
In Theaters: '80s Night At The Multiplex With 'Footloose' & 'The Thing'
Kick off your Sunday shoes, dear readers, this weekend it's time to cut loose with "Footloose." And what's that? It's a remake-tastic weekend with "The Thing" also in theaters, if you enjoy your '80s nostalgia with body inhabiting aliens instead of nubile dancing teens. Also, Señor Almodóvar's lates...
Read More » -
The Playlist7 commentslike9tweet0
The Films Of Pedro Almodóvar: A Retrospective
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most respected filmmakers in the world, an Oscar winner whose films have become Cannes mainstays, and who's capable of attracting almost any talent that he'd like, despite having never made a film in the English language (although he says that one is on the one way soon). But his global reputation is all the more remarkable considering just how challenging his fare can be. His violent, sexual taboo-pushing early work is the most obvious example, but throughout his career his interest in gay issues, Sirk-ian melodrama, explicit sex and obsessive behavior has hardly been the kind of thing that usually makes the cha...
Read More » -
The Playlist1 commentlike0tweet0
NYFF '11 Review: 'Policeman' A Strong, Haneke-Inspired Rumination On Israeli Society
While it's absolutely an important issue that deserves coverage, we've already heard nearly every angle of the Israel-Palestine conflict seventy times over -- so much so that we barely have a clue about their other dilemmas. One of these issues starting to come to light is the large economic dispari...
Read More » -
The Playlist0 commentslike0tweet0
NYFF '11: Pedro Almodóvar Talks The Identity And Gender Themes Of ‘The Skin I Live In’
Director Discusses Finding Humor In Tragedy, Differences Between Men And Women, And MoreWhen we first laid our eyes upon Pedro Almodóvar's "The Skin I Live In" at Cannes, we called it a film that "snaps between bright glittering glamour and dark, doomed horror," and emerges largely triumphant, "uniquely beautiful and distinctively imperfect." The reception for Almodóvar's latest in the Big Apple has been similarly apprehensive and appreciative; the audience's reaction at last Tuesday's press screening was a testament to the polarizing nature of the film. Almodóvar and stars Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya were present with a translator in to...
Read More » -
The Playlist0 commentslike0tweet0
Review: Byzantine, Bloody Almodóvar Takes A New Direction With 'The Skin I Live In'
The following is a reprint of our review from Cannes.
Read More » -
The Playlist1 commentlike2tweet0
NYFF: Pedro Almodóvar Told Antonio Banderas To Watch Cary Grant Movies To Prep For 'Skin I Live In'
The Director Reveals He's Not Doing A Biopic On Mina; Tension, Twists & More From The Team Behind The FilmPedro Almodóvar crafts a creepy Frankenstein-esque tale of rape, revenge, and survival in "The Skin I Live In" – a polarizing film which is one of his most ambitious yet. Because the movie features an unexpected twist halfway through the film, discussing it becomes difficult – how do you debate the themes, the issues and the meaning without giving it all away? We leave that task to the esteemed director and his cast that includes Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya, who hit NYFF this week to present this latest concoction, a tale unlike anyt...
Read More » -
The Playlist0 commentslike0tweet0
VIFF '11: Johnnie To's 'Life Without Principle' An Uneven, All Too Familiar Financial Crisis Drama
While movies are primarily considered a form of entertainment, they do have the ability to inform, especially to a mass audience. But that’s a slippery slope. All too easily, the audience can be taken right out of the story if things get too didactic. We at the secret Playlist headquarters (which is...
Read More » -
The Playlist1 commentlike13tweet0
Béla Tarr Confirms At NYFF That He's Retired From Filmmaking
We can't claim to be massive fans of everything that Béla Tarr's made; his work can be fascinating, but somewhat trying. But when he's firing on all cylinders, as in "Werckmeister Harmonies," the Hungarian director is an incredibly vital voice in cinema, and even when he's not, his films find a way ...
Read More » -
The Playlist2 commentslike0tweet0
NYFF '11 Review: Bela Tarr's Swan Song 'The Turin Horse' Is Despairing But Unforgettable
If the name Béla Tarr rings any sort of bell in your head, chances are you've already formed an unwavering opinion of his work. He hasn't exactly shaken up his approach since 1988's "Damnation" (that said, this writer -- probably like most -- isn't familiar with his crop of '90s short films), and if...
Read More »
fresh from the blogs
-
The 2013 Cannes Review Report: 'Inside Llewyn Davi ...Criticwire
-
Box Office: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Opens At Number ...The Playlist
-
Malcolm X Was Born Today; Watch Orlando Bagwell's Comprehensive ...Shadow and Act
-
Cannes: Coens Make A Splash with 'Inside Llewyn Davis' ...Thompson on Hollywood
-
2013 Cannes News - Part 2Women and Hollywood
-
CANNES 2013: Images, Part 1Press Play
-
Good Night, Lost Boy(s)The Lost Boys
-
Greta's New Wave: Frances HaLeonard Maltin
on 
