Bronson Archives - The Playlist

The Best & The Rest: All Nicolas Winding Refn’s Films, Ranked

Jessica Kiang — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 18:15:19 +0000

This week, just a month or so after it premiered in Cannes to a now-traditional Refn reception of mingled admiration and jeers (we were among the admirers), “The Neon Demon” comes to theaters. But though we enjoyed splashing about in its overly stylized, glossily shot shallows, where does “The Neon Demon” sit amid the Danish filmmaker’s catalogue? We figured now would be a good time to revisit his filmography, considering the last time we did so was before the release of his later-career-defining, Cannes Best Director-winning “Drive.”

READ MORE: The Best And Worst Of The 2016 Cannes Film Festival

Refn (who is colorblind, trivia fans, and can’t see mid-colors, hence the high level of contrast in all his works) was pretty much born into the business, his mother a successful photographer, his father himself a director and editor in the Danish film industry (he cut Lars von Trier‘s “Breaking the Waves” and “Antichrist,” which makes Refn’s recent trashtalking about his fellow Dane all the more, um, cutting).

Continue reading The Best & The Rest: All Nicolas Winding Refn’s Films, Ranked at The Playlist.

Albert Brooks Joins Ryan Gosling In Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’

Edward Davis — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Some of us just started reading the script to Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” penned by Hossein Amini (“Killshot,” “The Four Feathers,” and the upcoming Jack Ryan reboot “Moscow”), but we will tell you, never in a million years did we see this coming.

Comedian Albert Brooks has been cast as the villain in Refn’s neo-noir thriller about a bored and unfulfilled stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) who, for additional thrills, doubles as a getaway driver by night.

Continue reading Albert Brooks Joins Ryan Gosling In Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Nicolas Winding Refn Has Yet Another Project, The Sex-Heavy, ‘I Walk With The Dead’ In The Works

Edward Davis — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:49:00 +0000

We change underpants each day, meanwhile Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (“Bronson”) adds yet another project to his long-growing slate.

He already has the Thai-set Western “Only God Forgives” written and gestating, an Untitled Heist Project that Gore Verbinski is producing, that might star Mads Mikkelsen and this fall he shoots the neo-noir heist car picture “Drive,” starring Ryan Gosling (which he hopes will be a good calling card to direct “Wonder Woman”).

Continue reading Exclusive: Nicolas Winding Refn Has Yet Another Project, The Sex-Heavy, ‘I Walk With The Dead’ In The Works at The Playlist.

Amazing Trailer For The Haunting ‘Valhalla Rising’ By Nicholas Winding Refn

Edward Davis — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:45:00 +0000

In 1000 AD, held prisoner by a Norse chieftain, a fearless mute warrior, aided by a boy slave, kills his captors and then falls in with a group of Vikings seeking a holy land which begets a journey into the heart of darkness.

This is “Valhalla Rising,” the amazing new film by Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn; a Viking epic starring the always-captivating Mads Mikkelsen.

How cinephiles today won’t love this film is inexplicable, but the reading by this guy (who seemingly has the worst taste on the web) is brutal and completely off the mark.

Continue reading Amazing Trailer For The Haunting ‘Valhalla Rising’ By Nicholas Winding Refn at The Playlist.

Ryan Gosling To Star In ‘Drive’ By Nicolas Winding Refn; A Former Hugh Jackman/Neil Marshall Project

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:59:00 +0000

In March 2008, the trades reported that filmmaker Neil Marshall (“The Descent”) had signed on to direct an adaptation of the James Sallis novel, “Drive.”

At the time Hugh Jackman was attached to star, and it was supposed to be Marshall’s first big studio gig. The novel centered on a stuntman who’s already-exciting existence is jolted when he discovers that a contract has been put out on his life.

But it seems like there hasn’t been a lot of movement on the picture and Marshall obviously went on to direct “Centurion” with Michael Fassbender instead which comes out later this year.

Continue reading Ryan Gosling To Star In ‘Drive’ By Nicolas Winding Refn; A Former Hugh Jackman/Neil Marshall Project 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.

Channing Tatum Wants Nicolas Winding Refn To Direct Autobiographical Stripper Movie

Katie Walsh — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Well, well hunk o’ beef Channing Tatum has been watching his foreign arthouse films! Or at least has awareness of them.

Good on ya, CT. The “G.I. Joe” star is stepping up to the big leagues with the recent confirmation of his joining the illustrious cast of Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Knockout” and now it appears he wants to branch out into realms of cinema that do not include adaptations of ’80s toys or hip-hop dancing, name dropping hot Danish director du jour Nicholas Winding Refn (“Bronson,” “Valhalla Rising”) while discussing plans for an autobiographical film about his career as a stripper.

Continue reading Channing Tatum Wants Nicolas Winding Refn To Direct Autobiographical Stripper Movie at The Playlist.

In Theaters: ‘Couples Retreat,’ ‘An Education,’ ‘Bronson’

Hunter McClamrock — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:05:00 +0000

With only one film out in wide release, it’s a no-man’s land at the box office this weekend. If you don’t live in a city with a decent art-house option, maybe “The Informant” is still playing? Either way, “Couple Retreat” is going to have a hard time knocking “Zombieland,” from the top of the box-office wethinks. And with good reason, the former is fucking terrible and everyone involved should be embarrassed.

In Wide Release: Ralphie from “A Christmas Story,” Peter Billingsley, finds his way to the director’s chair this week with “Couples Retreat.” The film follows four Midwestern couples who travel to a tropical resort to get help for their troubled marriages.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Couples Retreat,’ ‘An Education,’ ‘Bronson’ at The Playlist.

Peter Sarsgaard to Play Villain in “Wichita”; Brad Anderson To Adapt ‘The Living and the Dead’

Oliver Lyttelton — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:49:00 +0000

– It’s a few days old, but we missed this story completely, and it’s a glacially slow news day — Peter Sarsgaard has announced he’s going to be appearing in the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz spy movie “Wichita.” At the end of a lengthy and excellent interview at Movieline, the actor said, “I’m going to Boston in about a week to do ‘Wichita.’ It’s a great script; I’m the foil to Tom Cruise’s character. It’s really fun and it’s got action movie stuff in it, obviously, but it’s funny.” Does ‘foil’ mean villain, or straight man?

Continue reading Peter Sarsgaard to Play Villain in “Wichita”; Brad Anderson To Adapt ‘The Living and the Dead’ at The Playlist.

Petition For The U.K. ‘Bronson’ Soundtrack To Be Released In The U.S.

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

It might not be on your radar yet, but in cinephile circles, one of the most exciting releases of 2009 is Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Bronson,” a hallucinogenically stylized and theatricalized look at real life British prisoner “Charlie Bronson,” nee Michael Peterson, one of the most notorious U.K. detainees of all time who was supposed to spend a simple seven years behind bars for an attempted robbery in 1974, but has ended up spending 35 of his 57 years incarcerated because of various prison guard attacks, instigated riots and escape attempts.

Continue reading Petition For The U.K. ‘Bronson’ Soundtrack To Be Released In The U.S. at The Playlist.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn on ‘Bronson’s Pet Shop Boys Alterna-Score; ‘Valhalla Rising’ Coming Spring 2010

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:30:00 +0000

“Bronson,” Nicolas Winding Refn’s wild biography of Britain’s most violent prisoner, finally comes out at the end of this next week in select cities (October 16). Hope and pray that you’re one of those selected cities, because this movie, one of our favorites of the year so far, is deliriously arresting. Yes, it’s “bad-ass” enough to suck in the geeks, and there’s a demented frightening quality that’s very Kubrick-ian (many have called the film this century’s “Clockwork Orange”), but it’s also an acute portrait of male psychology, and the duress endured by being alone.

Continue reading Director Nicolas Winding Refn on ‘Bronson’s Pet Shop Boys Alterna-Score; ‘Valhalla Rising’ Coming Spring 2010 at The Playlist.

TIFF ’09 Review: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Haunting Viking Film, ‘Valhalla Rising’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is proving to be quite the busy bee this year.

After his brilliant “Bronson” debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival — and is set for a limited release October 9 — Winding Refn decided to follow up the British prison psychopath film with “Valhalla Rising.”

A Viking-actioner starring go-to-regular Mads Mikkelsen, we were admittedly pretty excited to this this picture, one that we put on our 13 Most Anticipated Films at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Continue reading TIFF ’09 Review: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Haunting Viking Film, ‘Valhalla Rising’ at The Playlist.

Nicolas Winding Refn To Helm Modern Western ‘Only God Forgives,’ In Talks For Gore Verbinski-Produced Heist Film

Simon Dang — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:51:00 +0000

The time must be ripe to work out deals for talent with films in the fall festivals. Especially with a filmmaker that is rather hot at the moment.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is set to write and direct a modern Bangkok-set Western titled, “Only God Forgives.” The film will center on a Thai police lieutenant and a gangster who decide to settle their differences in the boxing ring. The director is also in talks to helm an as-of-yet titled heist film produced by Gore Verbinski.

Continue reading Nicolas Winding Refn To Helm Modern Western ‘Only God Forgives,’ In Talks For Gore Verbinski-Produced Heist Film at The Playlist.

First Look Photos: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Viking Film, ‘Valhalla Rising’

Simon Dang — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is proving to be quite the busy bee this year. After his brilliant “Bronson” debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival — and is set for a limited release September 25 — Winding Refn’s follow up is the viking-actioner “Valhalla Rising” starring go-to-regular Mads Mikelson (who was the star of the first film in his “Pusher” trilogy) is now due to play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

A teaser trailer for the film was released earlier this year and exhibits a brutal looking affair (you should watch, it’s still available).

Continue reading First Look Photos: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Viking Film, ‘Valhalla Rising’ at The Playlist.

U.S. Domestic Trailer For The Electric ‘Bronson’

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:36:00 +0000

You’ve already hopefully seen the U.K. and international trailers for Nicolas Winding Refn’s brilliant and deliriously good, “Bronson,” starring Tom Hardy; a demented, absurd and amazing portrait of one of England’s most notorious criminals.

The trailer is…

The good thing is if you haven’t seen it you’re likely going to love it and be totally sold on it. If you have seen the film, it reveals a bit too much, is much more fragmented and disjointed than the actual film and sells it a bit more rock n’ roll than it really is.

Continue reading U.S. Domestic Trailer For The Electric ‘Bronson’ at The Playlist.

MIFF 2009 Part One: ‘Bronson,’ ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ ‘The Hurt Locker’

Simon Dang — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Over the last two or so weeks the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival has hit town and lit up local theaters with a host of movies from all over the globe.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, however, with the controversial withdrawal of three Chinese films on account of the festival’s screening of “10 Conditions Of Love,” (about political activist Rebiya Kadeer, which presumably paints Chinese authorities’ reportedly poor treatment of Kadeer in a negative light); subsequent hacking of the ticketing site from China; and the withdrawal of Ken Loach’s “Looking For Eric”, in protest of the festival’s financial support from Israel through the Israeli-Australian film, “$9.99.” Nevertheless, the show must, and has, gone on to much success with seemingly more sold out sessions than ever, 154 all up.

Continue reading MIFF 2009 Part One: ‘Bronson,’ ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ ‘The Hurt Locker’ at The Playlist.

‘Bronson’ Poster & Trailer: Absurdist & Dementedly Awesome Picture Arrives September 25

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:10:00 +0000

It’s like Boston shame day today. Another great film we saw at the Independent Film Festival of Boston that we didn’t have time to spit out is the new Nicolas Winding Refn film, “Bronson.”

Theatrically expressive, mordantly operatic and with lots of deliciously absurdist and loony Kubrick-like moments (a mix of the austere ‘2001’ palette and framing with the chaos of “Clockwork Orange”), “Bronson,” is hysterical, brutal and awe-inspiring. It’s an audacious and bold picture you must see and it’s great to see filmmaking of this caliber that’s stylish, yet doesn’t live by any tricks or conceits.

Continue reading ‘Bronson’ Poster & Trailer: Absurdist & Dementedly Awesome Picture Arrives September 25 at The Playlist.

Potential Awesome: Nicolas Winding Refn May Direct Keenu Reeves In ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Wooden thespian Keanu Reeves is set to star in a modern retelling of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

The well-known story was first published as a novella in 1886 and followed the story of a doctor who scientifically develops an evil self. The book is obviously particularly famous for its portrayal of a split personality, to the point the phrase ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ has become synonymous with the disorder, and has been the inspiration for over a dozen films.

Continue reading Potential Awesome: Nicolas Winding Refn May Direct Keenu Reeves In ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’ at The Playlist.

‘Public Enemies’ To Debut At L.A. Film Festival, ‘Paper Heart,’ ‘Bronson,’ ‘Still Walking’ & ‘It Might Get Loud’ Also To Screen

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale is set for a July 1 release, but will premiere a few weeks early as the centerpiece film in the L.A. Film Fest line-up which runs June 18 – 28, according to the festival’s website.

In Narrative Competition:
“Harmony & Me” – Any film starring co-starring Kevin Corrigan is at least worth a second glance.
“Dear Lemon Lima” – produced and starring Melissa Leo from “Frozen River”
“Hollywood, je t’aime”
“Passenger Side”
“Turistas”
“Wah Do Dem”
“Zero Bridge”

In Documentary Competition:
“After the Storm”
“Bananas!*”
“Branson”
“Convention” – AJ Schnack’s new documentary (he directed the doc, “Kurt Cobain: About A Son”)
“The Last Beekeeper”
“October Country”
“Those Who Remain”

The International line-up includes the excellent and hallucinatory “Bronson,” by Nicolas Winding Refn (we still need to write our IFFBoston review; the magnetic lead star Tom Hardy just got added to Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”), Mercedes Stalenhoef’s “”Carmen Meets Borat,” which is basically about the aftermath of what happens when Hollywood comes to shoot in your Romanian village (namely Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat”), and the “Summer Showcase” features more of the names: Clair Denis’ “35 Shots of Rum” (which features a score by the Tindersticks), Sophie Barthes’s Michel Gondry-esque, “Cold Souls” which features Paul Giamatti, Lynn Shelton’s bromance mumblecore film, “Humpday,” the British political satire “In The Loop,” featuring James Gandolfini, the modern guitarists documentary “It Might Get Loud,” starring Jack White, Jimmy Page and U2’s The Edge; the quasi-documentary “Paper Heart” starring Michael Cera and real-life girlfriend Charlyne Yi, (Beirut and an an ex-Unicorn member are contributing to the soundtrack), Hirokazu Kore-eda’s incredible intimate family drama “Still Walking” (another IFFB review we have to kick-out), Jeff Levy-Hinte’s “Rumble In The Jungle Concert doc, “Soul Power,” the blaxploitation spoof, “Black Dynamite,” the concert doc “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and Ondi Timoner’s Internet doc, “We Live In Public,” just to name a few.

Continue reading ‘Public Enemies’ To Debut At L.A. Film Festival, ‘Paper Heart,’ ‘Bronson,’ ‘Still Walking’ & ‘It Might Get Loud’ Also To Screen at The Playlist.

BAMcinemaFEST To Feature ‘Big Fan,’ ‘Humpday’ ‘Beeswax’ & Many More In Festival Running June 17–July 2

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Earlier this year, we lamented the fact that Brooklyn’s BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) theater would no longer be running its excellent Sundance At Bam series. For those not in New York, Sundance at BAM took place in late May, early June and was an excellently curated greatest hits of Sundance for those that didn’t make the trip to Utah (us). It basically weeded out all the noise and then played about a dozen or more of the best Sundance films (we saw “Choke,” “American Teen,” “Anvil” and many other films way before their theatrical release last year).

Continue reading BAMcinemaFEST To Feature ‘Big Fan,’ ‘Humpday’ ‘Beeswax’ & Many More In Festival Running June 17–July 2 at The Playlist.

Sundance Report: A Hot ‘Education’ And A ‘Winning Season’ Sell

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:13:00 +0000

The hotly touted breakout film of Sundance ’09 is not one of the name films. It’s a smaller dramedy called, “An Education” that studios, buyers, bloggers, journos and audiences have been going nuts for. Naturally, the film sold, but not to Fox Searchlight, which seemed to be in close-to-final negotiations on the film. Instead Sony Pictures Classics bought the film according to Variety, which apparently came rife with drama when CAA sellers deemed Searchlight‘s bid too low.

Continue reading Sundance Report: A Hot ‘Education’ And A ‘Winning Season’ Sell at The Playlist.

‘Bronson’ Trailer Online (File Under: “Red-Band”)

The Playlist — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:01:00 +0000

As we just mentioned in our “16 Anticipated Indie & Foreign Films” piece, Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Bronson” stars Tom Hardy as the titular psychopath with delusions of fame and celebrity by way of violence and insanity. ‘Bronson’s receiving a good deal of buzz in a Sundance that’s rife with content that will assuredly receive solid R ratings upon getting picked up and eventually released to U.S. audiences.

The trailer for ‘Bronson’ is now online and while the similarities between it and “Chopper” are there, the film looks to be heavily influenced by “A Clockwork Orange” (as one pull quote attests) and, in our opinion, bear a little trace of “Trainspotting” (that may just be Hardy’s menacing grin working it’s magic, though).

Continue reading ‘Bronson’ Trailer Online (File Under: “Red-Band”) at The Playlist.