Bright Star Archives - The Playlist

Jane Campion Talks Her Career and ‘Top Of The Lake: China Girl’

Martine Olivier — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 20:10:16 +0000

Jane Campion has helped to pave the way for women in her field since the early 1980s. As much as it would be nice to overlook Campion’s gender, the industry appeared both unable and unwilling to do so in the past. Since its inception in 1929, only 4 women have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, Jane being the second. Campion appeared at the Film Society of Lincoln Center last week to chronicle her astonishing career, discuss her love of David Lynch and what it really means to be a filmmaker.

Continue reading Jane Campion Talks Her Career and ‘Top Of The Lake: China Girl’ at The Playlist.

Essentials: The Films Of Jane Campion

The Playlist — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 17:20:39 +0000

What can we say about Jane Campion that we didn’t already say last week in lauding the venerable filmmaker’s feminist history? Simply put, the New Zealander is one of the greatest filmmakers in the world.

The first woman awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes—for her Oscar-winning 1993 feature “The Piano”—and the second woman ever nominated for the Academy Award prize for Best Director, Campion’s indelible, revelatory career started in 1989 with her debut “Sweetie,” and it launched one of the most distinctive voices in cinema.

Continue reading Essentials: The Films Of Jane Campion at The Playlist.

The Feminist History Of Jane Campion, From ‘Sweetie’ To ‘Top Of The Lake’

Lena Wilson — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 19:33:08 +0000

Starting tomorrow, The Film Society of Lincoln Center will honor Jane Campion with a retrospective, “Jane Campion’s Own Stories,” including an evening with the filmmaker herself. This is just one more accolade in the Academy Award and Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker’s estimable career, as she has spent decades in the male-dominated world of cinema creating profound work by and about women. According to the press release from FSLC:

“Campion makes films that reflect a highly personal and idiosyncratic style, influenced by her background in anthropology and painting, and notable for their visual inventiveness, dark sense of humor, and complex depictions of women and sexuality.

Continue reading The Feminist History Of Jane Campion, From ‘Sweetie’ To ‘Top Of The Lake’ at The Playlist.

The 50 Best Romantic Films Of The 21st Century So Far

Oliver Lyttelton — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 20:04:44 +0000

If you haven’t noticed from the decorations, shop displays, email reminders, and worried reminder texts from your partner, it’s Valentine’s Day, the annual celebration of love, sex, romance, coupledom and having arguments in the Uber on the way to the second-choice restaurant. As always, we’re looking through the holiday through the cinematic lens, and whether you’re planning on snuggling up together on the sofa, or putting something on for company while you listlessly swipe through Tinder, we figured you could probably use some movie recommendations.

Continue reading The 50 Best Romantic Films Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

On The Rise: 5 Cinematographers On Their Way To The A-LIst

Oliver Lyttelton — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:59:00 +0000

A couple of months ago, we took a look at five of the screenwriters that we’re most excited about making their big screen debuts in the near future. For the next step in our semi-regular series, we wanted to look at another job that sometimes doesn’t get the credit that it deserves. If the layman is struck by a film’s imagery, the most common response is “That was well directed.” But while a handful of directors have the technical knowledge necessary (Steven Soderbergh comes to mind), most filmmakers will admit that one of the most vital collaborative relationships on set is between them and their Director of Photography.

Continue reading On The Rise: 5 Cinematographers On Their Way To The A-LIst at The Playlist.

Why Scrapping The UK Film Council Is Bad News For Film Fans Everywhere

Oliver Lyttelton — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:20:00 +0000

Between 1997 and 2009, turnover in the British film industry went up by 50%, contributing £4.5 billion to the economy, while cinema takings in the U.K. are at an all time high. This can be partly attributed to the creation, in 2000, of the UK Film Council, a publicly-funded body (whose budget comes from the takings of the National Lottery), with the stated aim “To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK.

Continue reading Why Scrapping The UK Film Council Is Bad News For Film Fans Everywhere at The Playlist.

Most Overlooked/Underappreciated Films of 2009

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:11:00 +0000

We see a lot of movies every year, and there are always those films that we end up sitting in awe of in an empty theater wondering, “Where is everybody?” These are the films that for whatever mystical reason slipped through cracks, were ignored by critics and given the cold shoulder to by audiences. We feel a Netflix account is vital to anyone even remotely interested in film, and if you haven’t seen these we urge you skip the crap that’s filling up theaters over the next two months, add these to your queue and catch up with some great films you missed in the last year.

Continue reading Most Overlooked/Underappreciated Films of 2009 at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s Best Films Of 2009 (*Editor’s Picks Only)

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Getting a definitive top 10 out of the Playlist team is hard.

There’s a lot of differing opinions and some writers, due to their locations (we’ve got people in the U.K., Australia, Canada and U.S. places other than NY/LA), don’t get to see most of the year’s films until January 2010. And yes, we’re deep in January now, but some are still making their way through everything (example, “The Lovely Bones” just hit wide this past weekend).

Continue reading The Playlist’s Best Films Of 2009 (*Editor’s Picks Only) at The Playlist.

Jane Campion To Develop Six-Hour Mini-Series For The BBC, ‘Bright Star’ Screenplay Classified By The Academy As Adaptated Not Original

Simon Dang — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:49:00 +0000

TV 1, Cinema 0.

Jane Campion has temporarily turned her back on cinema and is set to develop a six-hour mini-series for the BBC, according to The Australian (via Eyes Wired Open).

Details of the project were not revealed but it was noted that the mini-series will reunite the director with Gerard Lee, the writer of her 1989 feature film debut “Sweetie.” Campion’s move to the smaller screen seems to be catalyzed by the state of the film industry — she laments that to gain financing or attention, films today must have some other incarnation whether that be a musical, a series of novels or comic book.

Continue reading Jane Campion To Develop Six-Hour Mini-Series For The BBC, ‘Bright Star’ Screenplay Classified By The Academy As Adaptated Not Original at The Playlist.

Emily Blunt Reigns Among A Fine Cast In ‘The Young Victoria’

Kimber Myers — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:22:00 +0000

In contrast to the buttoned-up, mourning monarch most people are accustomed to, “The Young Victoria” offers an alternate take on the historic queen during her youth. As played by the vivacious Emily Blunt, Victoria is revealed to have been energetic, headstrong, and shockingly sensual. This tightly focused biopic arrives with a fascinating pedigree — both Martin Scorsese and Sarah Ferguson are listed as producers — and an acclaimed cast, and it’s sure to quell the corset cravings of costume-drama lovers.

Continue reading Emily Blunt Reigns Among A Fine Cast In ‘The Young Victoria’ at The Playlist.

The 2009 Season Almost Over: Checking The Oscar Temperature Once More

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:25:00 +0000

The Oscar race is turning into a weird and very ugly one this year.

Or perhaps because we’ve paid less attention than usual. The “big four” ended up being mostly a big waste of time: Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” is — again, we’ll repeat this line cause it really fits — a tampon commercial set to the music of Enya (at least all those terrible fluffy CGI-heaven moments are), “Nine” was a major disappointment, “Invictus” is moderately rousing, but still an average-to-ok work and now we obviously have “Avatar” which was met with some surprisingly breathless reviews, despite being just enjoyable B-movie.

Continue reading The 2009 Season Almost Over: Checking The Oscar Temperature Once More at The Playlist.

‘Fish Tank’, ‘An Education,’ ‘Moon’ Lead British Independent Film Award Nominations

Oliver Lyttelton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:08:00 +0000

The British Independent Film Awards, founded in 1998 by British indie godfather and galactic-level self-publicist Elliot Grove, founder of the Raindance Institute, are undeniably a good thing — like the Independent Spirit Awards, they bring much-needed attention to some of the smaller movies that would be otherwise overlooked by BAFTA and other similar awards ceremonies. Well, at least in theory — last year’s awards were dominated by “Slumdog Millionaire.” This year, with the exception of Oscar hopeful “An Education,” it’s a pretty broad church, and one that speaks to the strengths of the strength of the British indie scene in the last few years.

Continue reading ‘Fish Tank’, ‘An Education,’ ‘Moon’ Lead British Independent Film Award Nominations at The Playlist.

LFF ’09 Day Six: ‘Bright Star,’ ‘Micmacs’ and ‘The Informant’

Oliver Lyttelton — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:36:00 +0000

We’ve covered all these films at least once, so we’re gonna try and keep it brief (plus, to be frank, we’re a few days behind on our reviews), but Monday at the LFF saw showings of Jane Campion’s comeback movie “Bright Star,” “Micmacs,” from “Amelie” helmer Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant.”

“The Informant” opened in the States almost two months ago, so it’s old news for most of you, but we fall right between our most positive review of the movie, and the more guarded verdict of our editor-in-chief: the film plays like gangbusters, with a hugely enjoyable central performance from Matt Damon (who really does get better and better with each role), and Soderbergh’s unusual casting choices pay off: the highlights in a very strong ensemble include Melanie Lynskey, also great in “Up in the Air,” Scott Bakula and Joel McHale.

Continue reading LFF ’09 Day Six: ‘Bright Star,’ ‘Micmacs’ and ‘The Informant’ at The Playlist.

Tarantino Writes Championing Loveletters To Fellow Cannes Peers

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:37:00 +0000

Quentin Tarantino is soooo many things. Director, screenwriter, budding novelist (if he ever delivers that longform version of ‘Basterds’, actor, pretentious movie critic, and now penpal and “way to go!” encourager of fellow filmmakers who appeared alongside him at this year’s Cannes film festival.

We’ve already well-documented his love for Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” (smart move, it’s one of the years best) and now two separate sources have revealed two different letters he penned: one to Campion about how much he loved her 19th century romance picture and one to Brillante Mendoza the director of the divisive documentative murder-picture “Kinatay” (not a great move, we walked out of this one during Cannes, granted we were tired and it was dull as fuck).

Continue reading Tarantino Writes Championing Loveletters To Fellow Cannes Peers at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office- Season Gets ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,’ ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Goes Untouched

Gabe Toro — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Slow goings at the box office this weekend. We blame the baseball season, since it’s obviously heating up and- oh, wait, the season’s pretty well decided. Well, people are upset about the recession, right? Which explains why “Transformers” only made $400 mi- well, ok, got us there. How about… there’s nothing remotely exciting enough to see? The number one movie is the most reliable of subgenres, the CG-toon “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.” Its debut was much softer than others of its ilk (particularly the recent “Ice Age” installment, which recently became the third highest grossing film of all time outside of America- spittake), and the numbers were definitely goosed by the 3D showings.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office- Season Gets ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,’ ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Goes Untouched at The Playlist.

In Theaters: ‘The Informant!,’ ‘Jennifer’s Body’ & ‘Bright Star’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:39:00 +0000

Mid-September and fall is looking up. After a couple of dreadful weeks of cringe-worthy options, the multiplex has become a bit less frightening. Get out there and show your support for good work, so the dry spells won’t last this long in the future. We can only hope, right?

In Wide Release: The most notable release this week has got to be Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant.” We’ve been excited to see him get back to the quality and stylish comedy of “Out of Sight” or the “Ocean’s” movies and he has certainly delivered.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘The Informant!,’ ‘Jennifer’s Body’ & ‘Bright Star’ at The Playlist.

Taking The Oscar Temperature Before TIFF; Mild Playlist Predix

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Every September we do our early Oscar predictions piece and we stress, they are predictions of the right here and now. And let’s face it, we’re all guessing to some extent, even the bloggers who are specifically devoted to Oscar predictions. Also, these picks ALL change (or relatively) after TIFF. Doing Oscar predictions before you’ve actually seen all the movies is admittedly a little silly, but when in Rome we suppose, because it’s what everyone else does and yes, we’d jump off a cliff if you did.

Continue reading Taking The Oscar Temperature Before TIFF; Mild Playlist Predix at The Playlist.

New Photos: Plus Even Quentin Tarantino Loves ‘Bright Star’

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Sometimes its hard to get good people into good movies. “Bright Star” sometimes feels like that movie. The 18th century Jane Campion romance picture was easily the best thing we saw at the Cannes Film Festival this year — it’s wonderful, evocative, gorgeously and meticulously crafted; Campion workin’ on all four cylinders — but we noticed some slight resistance to its greatness from some critics we know and respect — Jeff Wells we’re looking in your direction (not that he’s bad-mouthed it, but maybe he’s just not as on-board as we woulda hoped).

Continue reading New Photos: Plus Even Quentin Tarantino Loves ‘Bright Star’ at The Playlist.

Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’ Set For Telluride, Julie Taymor’s ‘Spiderman’ Musical Hits Bump, ‘It’s Complicated’ Trailer Debuts

Simon Dang — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:32:00 +0000

Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” is set to feature at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, the place where “Slumdog Millionaire’s” glorious rise began last year. Campion’s latest effort played at Cannes this year to stellar reviews and will also feature at Toronto before seeing release through Apparition, a new banner which also has Terrence Malick‘s “Tree Of Life” under it’s umbrella. [ThompsonOnHollywood]

Could the “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark” musical starring Evan Rachel Wood be in trouble?

Continue reading Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’ Set For Telluride, Julie Taymor’s ‘Spiderman’ Musical Hits Bump, ‘It’s Complicated’ Trailer Debuts at The Playlist.

Poster: Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:46:00 +0000

What was the best film at the 2009 Cannes film festival that we saw? The vampires of “Thirst”? The chattiness and occasional gun bursts of “Inglourious Basterds”? The hammering of male genitalia in “Antichrist,” perhaps? Hmm, how about the wafting airs of doobage from “Taking Woodstock” or the balletic violence of Johnny To’s “Vengeance”?

Nope, the best film we saw at Cannes was Jane Campion’s 18th-century love story, “Bright Star” starring a truly outstanding Abbie Cornish and strong performances from Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider and Kerry Fox (Campion’s “An Angel At My Table”).

Continue reading Poster: Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’ at The Playlist.

‘The Informant,’ ‘Bright Star,’ ‘Precious,’ Ricky Gervais’ ‘The Invention of Lying’ Added To TIFF ’09 Line-up.

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:29:00 +0000

Sweet. The Toronto International Film Festival has announced more of its 2009 line-up including opening and closing night films.

The opening night film is Jon Amiel’s “Creation” starring Paul Bettany and his wife Jennifer Connelly and its essentially a biopic about Charles Darwin. The move is a little strange as TIFF usually opens up with a Canadian-made movie, but as its head programmer said today, “it has been a tradition, but it is not a law.” We honestly have little interest in that picture, but maybe TIFF could change our minds.

Continue reading ‘The Informant,’ ‘Bright Star,’ ‘Precious,’ Ricky Gervais’ ‘The Invention of Lying’ Added To TIFF ’09 Line-up. at The Playlist.

TIFF ’09 Announces Its Initial Slate; The Playlist Makes Our TIFF ’09 Predix

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:20:00 +0000

We’ve been cooking up a Toronto International Film Festival predix piece and lo and behold, some of the initial line-up has been announced. It’s mostly an international affair so far.

Twenty six films in total, As per usual, many films from Cannes 2009 have been announced: Alain Resnais’ romantic folly, “Les Herbes Folles,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s cooly received “Air Doll,” Un Certain Regard section award winner Corneliu Porumboiu’s “Police, Adjective,” Tsai Ming-Liang’s uber-arty “Face,” Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s “Nymph” (one of our greatly anticipated Cannes films we missed), Joao Pedro Rodrigues’ “To Die Like a Man,” Andrea Arnold’s Jury Prize winner, “Fish Tank,” and Camera D’or winner Warwick Thornton’s “Samson and Delilah.” Here’s a whole wack of Cannes-related trailers for these films including, “Air Doll,” “Face,” and the aforementioned Thornton, Australian outback film, ‘S&D.’ Here’s the list of the rest from Variety.

Continue reading TIFF ’09 Announces Its Initial Slate; The Playlist Makes Our TIFF ’09 Predix at The Playlist.

Post-Cannes: Why The Prizes Don’t Really Mean Jack For Oscar

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:32:00 +0000

If you’ve read our blog enough you probably know that super early Oscar prognosticating gets on our nerves since it’s just wildly speculative and usually, making mountains out of molehills. But this is what some sites are dedicated to — and as much as the Oscars mean little in the scope of things, they’ve become more and more relevant over the years (relatively, anyhow).

When we read that some had rushed to adjust their Oscar predix after Cannes, we couldn’t help but laugh, however, this is a super weird Oscar/film year and perhaps even more than last year, any thing’s possible.

Continue reading Post-Cannes: Why The Prizes Don’t Really Mean Jack For Oscar at The Playlist.

5 Must-See Films From The 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival (Plus 5 More Recommended Films)

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:47:00 +0000

Yeah, yeah, you’re getting sick of hearing about the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival.

Though, even if it was a weak year – which it unquestionably was – it’s still the cinematic Olympics and it sets the tone for the rest of the year. What does that mean given the festival’s relative mediocrity this year? Well, that 2009 is probably going to be a potentially crappy year for film. The writers strike crippled the American output (how many Oscar hopefuls can you count on one hand?

Continue reading 5 Must-See Films From The 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival (Plus 5 More Recommended Films) at The Playlist.

‘Bright Star’ To Open On September 18, Looks Set For The Toronto Int. Film Festival

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Jane Campion’s much buzzed-about “Bright Star” starring an excellent Abbie Cornish, might have ended-up empty-handed award-wise at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, but the distributors of the film still feel the 18th century, period-piece romance has awards legs.

Bill Pohlad (formerly of River Road Entertainment) and Bob Berney’s (founder of IFC Films) new North American distribution venture bought the film before the festival began and haven’t come up with a name for their company, but they’re sounding secure the film could do well during awards season.

Continue reading ‘Bright Star’ To Open On September 18, Looks Set For The Toronto Int. Film Festival at The Playlist.