Control Archives - The Playlist

Anton Corbijn Reflects On His Career, Talks ‘Control,’ Female Directors And More At The Marrakech International Film Festival

The Playlist Staff — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 21:15:21 +0000

Anton Corbijn Reflects On His Career, Talks 'Control,' Female Directors And More At The Marrakech International Film Festival

Continue reading Anton Corbijn Reflects On His Career, Talks ‘Control,’ Female Directors And More At The Marrakech International Film Festival at The Playlist.

Anton Corbijn’s ‘The American’ Is Complete, Ready For Test Screenings

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Good news for those of you — like us — who appreciate the mid-budgeted adult drama (please don’t go the way of the dodo bird). The Anton Corbijn-directed, Rowan Joffe-penned suspense thriller “The American”is locked and ready for test screenings according to Corbijn himself (via Rope of Silicon). In case you’ve forgotten this one, we’ve covered “The American” several times in the past, when it was still titled“A Very Private Gentleman.” Based on the novel by Martin Booth, the film stars George Clooney as an assassin hiding out in Italy, biding time for a final hit while taking on a false identity as a painter.

Continue reading Anton Corbijn’s ‘The American’ Is Complete, Ready For Test Screenings at The Playlist.

LFF ’09: ‘Nowhere Boy’ Is Just That; An Abject Failure

Oliver Lyttelton — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:01:00 +0000

The 53rd Times BFI London Festival has been pretty good to us, so far – we’ve seen more good movies in the past few weeks than in the rest of the year combined, with relatively few disappointments, and it’s been a much stronger year than last. It’s a shame then, that the closing night film, “Nowhere Boy,” is such a misfire. We’d been faintly concerned about the movie for a while, but director, and former artist, Sam Taylor-Wood’s debut short film “Love You More” was so good, and we’d heard such great buzz about the script, that we’d been holding out hope.

Continue reading LFF ’09: ‘Nowhere Boy’ Is Just That; An Abject Failure at The Playlist.

Trailer: The Young John Lennon Biopic, ‘Nowhere Boy’

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Alright, here’s a trailer we’re much more excited about: Sam Taylor-Wood’s young John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy.” Or were excited anyhow…

Interestingly enough, there’s no Beatles or Lennon music in this one and the first song we hear is Jay Hawkins’ classic, “I Put A Spell On You,” though it does feature voice recordings of Lennon reflecting back on his childhood. But we must say it doesn’t look great and rather much like a conventional melodrama/em0-teeny bopper coming-of-age tale (lots of teen angst in here).

Continue reading Trailer: The Young John Lennon Biopic, ‘Nowhere Boy’ at The Playlist.

New Poster & Photos Of Young John Lennon Film, ‘Nowhere Boy’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Who wants to be a gambling man and bet that Sam Taylor-Wood’s young John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy won’t come out in the U.S. in 2009?

The film was picked up for a late 2009 release by the Weinstein Company in March, but with the economic troubles they’ve been having all year and all the release date rearranging and shuffling they’ve been making — “Youth In Revolt,” and “Shanghai” pushed to 2010, the same fates seems to have befallen the long-delayed Ryan Gosling picture, “All Good Things“; “Nine”; and “The Road” switching dates — it seems like a decent bet this one is not going to arrive this year.

Continue reading New Poster & Photos Of Young John Lennon Film, ‘Nowhere Boy’ at The Playlist.

Anton Corbijn’s ‘Gentleman’ With George Clooney Changes Title To ‘The American’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:08:00 +0000

Most of this is old information, but several publications are treating this like it’s a new story for some reason. Be wary of those that fall hook line and sinker for the press release.

Back in May it was announced that Anton Corbijn, whose debut feature film was the Joy Division biopic, “Control,” would direct “A Very Private Gentleman,” for Focus Features, with George Clooney in the lead role.

This is still the case, only now the film, a Rowan Joffe adaptation of a Martin Booth novel, is now imaginatively called, “The American.”

It’s essentially a “creepy psychological suspense” story that follows an assassin (Clooney) “to a rural village in southern Italy where he poses as… a quiet artist who paints miniatures of butterflies and has traveled to the area to capture a unique native specimen.” He has one more assignment to carry out, but of course romantic entanglements and local friendships complicate his task.

Continue reading Anton Corbijn’s ‘Gentleman’ With George Clooney Changes Title To ‘The American’ at The Playlist.

Anton Corbijn To Direct George Clooney In ‘Gentleman’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Meanwhile, speaking of George Clooney, the actor is set to star in “A Very Private Gentleman,” for Focus Features, an adaptation of a Martin Booth novel to be directed by Anton Corbijn whose debut feature film was the Joy Division biopic, “Control.” Corbijn made his name as a inner-circle confidante photographer for U2 and Depeche Mode, before going on to direct many iconic videos for both bands plus groups like Nirvana, Coldplay, Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and many, many more.

Continue reading Anton Corbijn To Direct George Clooney In ‘Gentleman’ at The Playlist.

Beatleologist Wants Sam Taylor Wood’s ‘Nowhere Boy’ Stopped; Or At Least His Cut Of The Action…

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:46:00 +0000

The writer behind, “John Lennon, My Brother,” Geoffrey Giluiano, a Beatleologist who co-wrote the book with the help of Lennon’s maternal half-sister, Julia Baird, wants the young-Lennon biopic, “Nowhere Boy,” stopped, even thought the picture is already a month into shooting in the U.K.

Why? Because Baird went off on her own three years later and wrote, “Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon,” which is what “Control,” writer, Matt Greenhalgh‘s screenplay is based from.

Continue reading Beatleologist Wants Sam Taylor Wood’s ‘Nowhere Boy’ Stopped; Or At Least His Cut Of The Action… at The Playlist.

The Weinsteins Pick Up John Lennon Biopic, ‘Nowhere Boy,’ Both McCartney And Lennon Roles Cast

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:44:00 +0000

The Weinstien Company picked up the rights to “Nowhere Boy,” the young John Lennon biopic directed by first-time feature filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood, that already stars Kristen Scott Thomas as his Aunt Mimi, the woman who was strongly opposed to Lennon’s mother lifestyle and ended up raising the lad for the majority of his youth.

The film also stars Aaron Johnson,Thomas Sangster, David Morrissey and Anne-Marie Duff and starts out with Lennon at 15-years of age and ends around the time he meets the Beatles.

Continue reading The Weinsteins Pick Up John Lennon Biopic, ‘Nowhere Boy,’ Both McCartney And Lennon Roles Cast at The Playlist.

Air Composing Score To French Adaptation Of Japanese Manga Comic With Alexandra Maria Lara

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Moody French synth rockers Air are going to be scoring the Belgian film, “Quartier Lointain” that stars the rather beautiful Alexandra Maria Lara (“Youth Without Youth,” she also played Annik Honore in the Joy Division film, “Control”) Leo Legrand and Jonathan Zaccai.

Here’s the synopis: “A 50-year-old man is transported back into the body of his adolescent self, perhaps allowing him to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance.

The film is being directed by Sam Garbarski (the English-language sex dramedy “Irina Palm,” he also acted in the great 2008 French film, “Un Secret,”) and is an adaptation of Jiro Taniguchi‘s titular 1998 manga comic brought to 1960s France.

Continue reading Air Composing Score To French Adaptation Of Japanese Manga Comic With Alexandra Maria Lara at The Playlist.

Young John Lennon Film, “Nowhere Boy” Comes Together

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:11:00 +0000

Remember the “young John Lennon” film written by Matt Greenhalgh, the first-time feature-length screenwriter who penned the Ian Curtis/Joy Division biopic, “Control”?

Well apparently it’s actually moving forward (almost a year to the day it was announced). Once titled “Lennon,” and now called “Nowhere Boy,” now has a director attached, visual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, according to the Hollywood reporter.

Produced by U.K. company Ecosse Film, the film will focus on Lennon’s lonely childhood/teenage years and then ensuing journey to becoming a young rock icon.

Continue reading Young John Lennon Film, “Nowhere Boy” Comes Together at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott’s ‘Robin Hood’ Remake Is Indefinitely Postponed

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:48:00 +0000

Russell Crowe won’t be punching out a guerrilla archer in green tights anytime soon. Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” adaptation with Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sienna Miller as Maid Marion was supposed to start shooting this fall, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, the film has been indefinitely postponed.

“Script concerns, location logistics and the current labor unrest all played a role in the decision,” writes the trade.

No one had been announced as Robin Hood, but Sam Riley from “Control” and Christian Bale’s names were tossed around at one point.

Continue reading Ridley Scott’s ‘Robin Hood’ Remake Is Indefinitely Postponed at The Playlist.

‘Control’ DVD Coming March 25; Engaging, Exciting Film Not Included

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:19:00 +0000

“Control,”Anton Corbijn tedious mournful kitchen-sink drama debut, about the life and untimely death of Joy Division’s misanthropist Ian Curtis is coming to DVD via the Weinstein Company on March 25.

While no details on the North American version are out yet, the British version which comes out Feb 11 – and which we can cavalierly assume contains the same features – includes the 25-minute featurette “Making of Control” (interviews with Corbijn, star Sam Riley and writer Matt Greenhalgh), directory commentary – covering the Dutch director’s experiences making “Control” -, extended scenes, full performances by the Joy Division actors performing the songs “Transmission,” “Leaders of Men” and “Candidate,” plus JD’s “Atmosphere” ’88 video also famously lensed by Corbijn.

Continue reading ‘Control’ DVD Coming March 25; Engaging, Exciting Film Not Included at The Playlist.

‘Joy Division’ Trailer Looks To Make Up For Bust That Was ‘Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Remember that the Weinstein’s bought up the documentary, “Joy Division” to complement their faithful, but dour and tedious dramatization of the dour Manchester post-punkers in “Control”? [ed. and presumably to boost sales of the dvd, bundling the two films together] Here’s the trailer for the doc which features the late Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson in what is presumably one of his last few recorded interviews. It has some great unseen footage and generally looks a lot more interesting that the Anton Corbijn version, which wasn’t terrible per se, just meek as a mouse.

Continue reading ‘Joy Division’ Trailer Looks To Make Up For Bust That Was ‘Control’ at The Playlist.

London Critics Loving ‘Blood,’ ‘Atonement,’ ‘Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:14:00 +0000

“Atonement” continues its critical domination this week by picking up eight nominations from the just released London Critics Circle awards. Tied for eight nominations also includes the grainy, kitchen-sink rock drama “Control” about the live of departed Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

However, despite their critical hegemony, neither film was nominated for Best Picture. Instead Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” picked up four important nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

Continue reading London Critics Loving ‘Blood,’ ‘Atonement,’ ‘Control’ at The Playlist.

‘Control’ Film Cleans Up At British Indie Awards Ceremony; Ian Curtis Still Not Mad For It

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:10:00 +0000

Remember the “Control” movie about Joy Division that basically came and went and had solid performances in a boring narrative, left you emotionally removed and overall was just meh?

Well, director Anton Corbijn’s well-intentioned, but snoozy paean to Ian Curtis swept the British Independent Film Awards last night. The film nabbed five trophies, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Newcomer (Sam Riley who played Curtis) and Best Supporting Actor (Toby Kebbell; the only award here we can fully support, he was outstanding – see our Breakout Performances piece).

Continue reading ‘Control’ Film Cleans Up At British Indie Awards Ceremony; Ian Curtis Still Not Mad For It at The Playlist.

Most Overrated Film Of The Year Earns 10 British Film Indie Award Nominations – Control

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:31:00 +0000

Anton Corbijn‘s paean to Joy Division and its deceased singer Ian Curtis, “Control,” is set to clean up at the upcoming British Independent Film Awards.

The grainy, black and white drama has gained tons of accolades BIFA has given the film 10 nominations for it’s upcoming award ceremony including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and nods for lead actors Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and the real highlight of the film, Toby Kebbell (he steals almost every scene he’s in as JD’s hilarious manager Rob Gretton).

Continue reading Most Overrated Film Of The Year Earns 10 British Film Indie Award Nominations – Control at The Playlist.

Samantha Morton Uses Boards Of Canada To Emote; Loves Spiritualized, The Smiths, Nick Cave, Squarepusher; More (Hurray For Music!)

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:07:00 +0000

If you want to file this under a mocking Stereogum-like: “Hey, Movie Stars Like Music Too!” we won’t blame you (maybe file it under: light and fluffy for Friday).

But for better or worse, this is what we do. Entertainment Weekly has an interview with “Control” actress Samantha Morton (“Morvern Callar,” “In America”) and she reveals in the piece that her taste is not unlike the enthusiasts at Pitchfork or Stereogum.

The actress said when preparing for roles she’ll listen to certain music to help her get inspired.

Continue reading Samantha Morton Uses Boards Of Canada To Emote; Loves Spiritualized, The Smiths, Nick Cave, Squarepusher; More (Hurray For Music!) at The Playlist.

Short Cuts: Jay-Z, Control, Michel Gondry, Lou Reed, Simon Pegg; More

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:14:00 +0000

– Another track from Jay-Z’s American Gangster album has leaked. It’s called, “Roc Boys,” it was produced by P.Diddy’s hitmaker stable (though Diddy likes to take all the credit), and sounds like early J with lots of punctuated horns, and ’70s soul inflections and black Jewish toasting. Hov has also regretted announcing his retirement. “I was watching “Fade to Black” on VH1, and I was cringing, because I kept saying, ‘It may be the last album’ — I’ve made two albums already!” [Mixtape Maestro] The video for “Blue Magic” is out too (see below)

– ‘The last I heard, the lead singer was dead but I’ll give them a ring and see if anything has changed’,” Some ignoramus jackass film distributor asked Peter Hook if Joy Division would play the New York premiere of “Control.”[Spinner]

– Michel Gondry is going to co-direct an animated film with his 16-year-old son Paul.

Continue reading Short Cuts: Jay-Z, Control, Michel Gondry, Lou Reed, Simon Pegg; More at The Playlist.

“[Working With Actors] Was The Scary Part Of Filmmaking” – ‘Control”s Anton Corbijn

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:45:00 +0000

“In the end it went quite smoothly maybe because I had a really great cast,” the Dutch director said. “According to New Order, their reaction to the film was that it was really accurate.”

As for the silly Reeler question asking why Harvey Weinstein would be interested in a film about Joy Division, Corbijn drops the wry, “I think [Harvey’s] been seen dancing to Joy Division.” We were fairly disappointed by “Control,” but you should probably still see for yourself [ed.

Continue reading “[Working With Actors] Was The Scary Part Of Filmmaking” – ‘Control”s Anton Corbijn at The Playlist.

The Fall Preview – Everyone’s Doing So Why Can’t We PT 1

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Oscar-bait prestige season is upon us: no more CGI, no more Michael Bay-esque titantic explosions, no more fart jokes. You can either look at it as where the year ends for films or where it begins and let’s face it, we enjoy a cock n’ balls joke as much as the next guy, but we’re ready for, ahem…*cough* the cinema to do its thing.

I’m Not There (dir Todd Haynes. Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale)
We think this is a film about Bob Dylan with a bunch of actors, but we’re not totally sure.

Continue reading The Fall Preview – Everyone’s Doing So Why Can’t We PT 1 at The Playlist.

Review: Don’t Believe The Hype – Corbijn’s Not So In ‘Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:27:00 +0000

Our Toronto Film Fest report:

While we were greatly anticipating the Joy Division film “Control” and have much admiration for the photographic work of director Anton Corbijn, his directorial debut was nothing short of disappointment.

No disrespect to Ian Curtis, but “Control” wasn’t really a story worth telling – at least not the one in this script. Let’s face it, if this band didn’t happen to be famous and cherished, their story would be pretty unexceptional (again if we’re going by this story).

Continue reading Review: Don’t Believe The Hype – Corbijn’s Not So In ‘Control’ at The Playlist.

“Control” Writer Working On Young John Lennon Film

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:19:00 +0000

Matt Greenhalgh, the first-time feature-length screenwriter who penned the Ian Curtis/Joy Division biopic, “Control,” has been tapped to write “Lennon,” a film about the inimitable Beatle, John (maybe you heard of him). However, the film will follow the life of the young Liverpudlian before his Beatles days according to the Manchester Evening
News.

Greenhalgh was brought on board by ‘Lennon’ producers impressed with his “Control” script. The Mancunian told the paper, “The film is called Lennon and details John’s adolescent years, pre-Beatlemania.

Continue reading “Control” Writer Working On Young John Lennon Film at The Playlist.

Control Soundtrack Tracklist Leaks Via Fansite

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:39:00 +0000

Tracklists are springing crazy leaks today. First it was the ‘Darjeeling Limited‘ and now Anton Corbijn’s “Control.”

The soundtrack tracklist for the Joy Division biopic has been leaked via a fan made Myspace page. Though what’s making it to this movie isn’t a huge revelation, the songs used in the movie have been floating around for sometime (though it was an impartial list).

As we noted, the list off songs originally posted by the fan Joy Division site was missing David Bowie’s “Warsawa”, and the tracklist reveals what we knew, but had failed to yet post (stupid, we’ve seen the movie and were saving it for our review.

Continue reading Control Soundtrack Tracklist Leaks Via Fansite at The Playlist.

New Control Trailer & Extended Scenes Are Out

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:03:00 +0000

New trailers and scenes for the Joy Division/Ian Curtis biopic “Control” keep popping up on our beloved interweb, but of course they’re still French subtitled versions and the official U.S. trailer hasn’t been unveiled yet, but for JD fans eagerly-awaiting something, these clips should more than satiate you. The extended scene is interesting if just for watching the Stephen Morris (Harry Treadaway) recording the percussion track for “Control” in the studio with a small egg-shaker and a spray-paint can.

Continue reading New Control Trailer & Extended Scenes Are Out at The Playlist.