While lesser known than her contemporary Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari has played a large part in shaping the so-called “weird wave” that swept the country’s cinematic exports. Her international breakthroughs “Attenberg” and “Chevalier” highlighted the absurdity of social structures by having intrepid individuals flout taboos. Tsangari’s latest work, “Harvest,” approaches her central concern from the reverse angle, showing how the imposition of an artificial order fertilizes the soil to reap chaos.

Continue reading ‘Harvest’ Review: Caleb Landry Jones Tries To Expand Borders In Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Allegorical Drama [Venice] at The Playlist.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so fraught and thorny most filmmakers these days who are not of Israeli or Palestinian heritage or from somewhere nearby the region generally tend to steer clear of all the loaded burdens and pitfalls. Versatile filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, however, is braver and/or has less compunction about that—for better and perhaps for worse. He has found another lesser-known entry point into the story, which is Mandatory Palestine, a period in history between WWI and WWII (1920-1948) when the British were in control of Palestine, and their intercession and mistakes arguably led to many of the problems that still linger in the regions today.

Continue reading ‘Shoshana’ Review: Michael Winterbottom Examines Love, Violence & Extremism In The British Ruling Years Of Palestine [TIFF] at The Playlist.

Edgar Allan Poe turns detective in “The Pale Blue Eye,” an 1830s-set Gothic mystery that explores the writer’s formative years at the West Point military academy in upstate New York. 

Written and directed by Scott Cooper, who adapted Louis Bayard’s novel of the same name, the Netflix film (streaming on January 6) stars Christian Bale as Augustus Landor, a hard-bitten detective haunted by a past tragedy.

Continue reading ‘The Pale Blue Eye’: Scott Cooper & Harry Melling Discuss Crafting A Mystery Worthy of Edgar Allan Poe [Interview] at The Playlist.

If you believe Christian Bale is one of our finest working actors, then you must make sense of his continued collaboration with writer/director Scott Cooper. Their latest joint, Netflix’s “The Pale Blue Eye,” marks a trinity of team-ups for Bale and Cooper. The only directors he’s worked with this much are marquee names like Christopher Nolan and David O. Russell.

The nature of Bale’s interest comes into more precise focus in this Romantic-era mystery, where he headlines as Augustus Landor, a detective tasked with finding the culprit of some gruesome murders plaguing the nascent U.S.

Continue reading ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ Review: Another Sturdy Collaboration Between Christian Bale & Director Scott Cooper at The Playlist.

Who would’ve thought that ten years removed from the “Harry Potter” franchise, the most interesting and consistent actor to come out of that young ensemble would be the kid who played Dudley Dursley, of all people? Yet with “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Harry Melling has accumulated a pretty impressive CV.

Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Review: Amanda Kramer’s ’50s Musical Is Visually Spectacular But Narratively Muddled at The Playlist.

Camp’s an acquired taste, but when it’s good, it is oh so good. Case in point: Amanda Kramer‘s “Please Baby Please,” fresh off its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year.

The new film stars Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling as a couple in 1950s Manhattan who witness a murder and become the obsession of a local greaser gang.

Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Trailer: Get Camp With Director Amanda Kramer On October 28 at The Playlist.

One of the most anticipated films of the year was already seen earlier this year: “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by writer/director Joel Coen (going solo for the first time without Ethan Coen), made its world premiere at the New York Film Festival to much acclaim (read our review). Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Harry Melling, the film is a stark, but fierce black and white adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play about murder, ambition, madness, wrathful cunning, greed and guilt; a cautionary tale about the lust for power.

Continue reading ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’ Trailer: Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand Retell Shakespeare’s Darkest Moment For Joel Coen at The Playlist.

Whenever Frances McDormand brought up the notion of her husband and frequent collaborator Joel Coendirecting her in her dream role of Lady Macbeth, he demurred – bluntly. “He said absolutely not,” she recalled; “I had no interested in theater,” he explained, and that was that. 

READ MORE: ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’: Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand Are Fearless In Joel Coen’s Bleak, But Thrilling Adaptation [NYFF Review]

“Doing something on the stage where there’s one sort of visual metaphor for the whole thing, which is a stage set, and that’s what you’re looking at – that’s not the way my brain works,” Coen said.

Continue reading Joel Coen & The ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ Cast On Adapting Shakespeare, Streaming Services, & More [NYFF] at The Playlist.

The plot for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” adapted from William Shakespeare’s classic play, is almost too familiar to waste space for explanation. Even so, the basic premise sees Lord Macbeth (Denzel Washington), a well-respected soldier, spurred by three witches’ prophecy and the aspirations of his wife, the Machiavellian Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand), transfixed by an ambition for the Scottish crown.

Continue reading ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’: Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand Are Fearless In Joel Coen’s Bleak, But Thrilling Adaptation [NYFF Review] at The Playlist.

He might not be a household name yet, at least in terms of where mainstream filmmaking and fandom is concerned, but writer/director Antonio Campos has been slowly building an impressive body of auteur-driven work that has dazzled the arthouse for years (2012’s deeply underrated “Simon Killer” and 2017’s “Christine” starring Rebecca Hall). Hollywood has taken notice, his next film “The Devil All the Time” is a scorcher coming to Netflix in September, and one of our most anticipated films of the year.

Continue reading ‘The Devil All The Time’ Trailer: Robert Pattinson Is A Sinister Preacher Out To Get Tom Holland at The Playlist.

Almost exactly a year ago, it was reported that Joel Coen was branching off on his own to write and direct a new version of the William Shakespeare drama, “Macbeth,” for A24. And as if that wasn’t intriguing enough, we learned that the cast would be led by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. However, since then, things have been fairly quiet.

Continue reading Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins & More Join Denzel Washington In Joel Coen’s ‘Macbeth’ at The Playlist.