Oliver Assayas‘ 2002 thriller, “Demonlover” is dense, hypnotic, and out there, and out there. Starring Connie Nielson, Gina Gershon, Chloë Sevigny, and Charles Berling, the byzantine plot centers on a French corporation that goes head-to-head with an American web media company for the rights to a 3D manga pornography studio, resulting in a power struggle that culminates in bloody violence and espionage. But the film, while a thriller, is not a typical espionage film, much more surreal, and nightmarish.

Continue reading ‘Demonlover’ Restoration Trailer: Oliver Assayas’ Paranoid Post-Modern Thriller Returns In A Unrated Director’s Cut In February at The Playlist.

Oliver Assayas’ “Wasp Network“ is an intriguing caper-style political drama, featuring a starry ensemble cast and some compelling material, which, unfortunately, outstays its welcome in a major way. Focusing on a contentious era of Cuban espionage during the 1990s, its main characters are several real-life members of the Cuban Five, who infiltrated anti-Castro groups to take down terrorists in the name of Fidel. The US government looked the other way, for the most part—until it suited them not to.

Continue reading ‘Wasp Network’: The Cuban Five Spy For Castro In Filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ Uneven Espionage Thriller [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

What do ghost stories, 3D pornography, and insecure actresses all have in common? Well, if you’re well-versed in the work of French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, you should already know the answer.

It is difficult to find a singular aspect of Assayas’ films that sets him above his contemporaries — apart from his status as a critically acclaimed festival favorite — though the director’s talent for storytelling as well as his ability to capture fantastic performances from his actors are two factors that certainly lend themselves to supporting this argument.

Continue reading ‘Non-Fiction’ Trailer: Juliette Binoche, Authors, & Celebrity Affairs Collide In Olivier Assayas’ Latest at The Playlist.

It’s almost impossible to quantify how much technology has taken over our lives. And we’re not even talking the physical devices that never leave our side, but also just how information is shared, processed, and investigated. The digitization of the world has taken many by surprise. And it’s that topic that is at the heart of French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ highly-anticipated new film, “Non-Fiction.”

And because the film is poised to have its world premiere this week at the Venice Film Festival, we have our hands on the first couple clips from the film, featuring acclaimed actress Juliette Binoche.

Continue reading ‘Non-Fiction’: Juliette Binoche Plays A Minor TV Celebrity For Olivier Assayas [Watch First 2 Clips] at The Playlist.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the main selections for the 2018 New York Film Festival, and it won’t disappoint the city’s cinephile community.  It also confirms that barring a last minute addition or secret screening there are no world premieres at this year’s NYFF.  Then again, the fest is programming a significant number of Foreign Language Film contenders even if the homegrown selections are slight.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” Alfonso Cuarón‘s “Roma“ and Julian Schabel‘s “At Eternity’s Gate“ were previously announced as the opening, centerpiece and closing night films for this year’s fest.

Continue reading ‘If Beale Street,’ ‘Cold War’ & ‘Ballad Of Buster Scruggs’ Among Main NYFF 2018 Selections at The Playlist.

After Cannes surprised many with a selection of newer or less familiar names over the A-list auteurs that often make up the line-up, it’s been keenly anticipated by festival watchers that Venice was due for a big one. The early-fall festival, which has traditionally been a kick-off to awards season, has gained serious cred in recent years by premiering awards heavyweights like “Gravity,” “Birdman,” “Spotlight,” “La La Land” and “The Shape Of Water,” but even aside from that it’s long been one of our highlights of the calendar, with a line-up that often proves more interesting and satisfying than that of the Croisette.

Continue reading Coens, Cuaron, Lanthimos, Orson Welles Lead Insane 2018 Venice Film Festival Line-Up at The Playlist.

The spring at Cannes, that battle between streaming and theatrical erupted, and became one of the central talking points on the Croisette. Netflix, who brought “The Meyerowitz Stories” and “Okja” to the festival, became the target of French distributors, angered at how the company skirts laws in the country regarding theatrical releases and streaming, by just dropping their original movies directing on their service, and not in cinemas.

Continue reading Olivier Assayas Says Cannes Pulled ‘Carlos’ From Competition Because Of “Political Pressure” at The Playlist.

On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I discuss the importance of going out to the movies and preserving the theatrical experience (especially as streaming outlets are seemingly devaluing it). Then it’s onto the main discussion of new genre mashup films “Personal Shopper” (the ghost story and mystery starring Kristen Stewart from director Oliver Assayas) and “Raw” (the cannibal coming-of-age horror), with the latter film already an early AYT favorite for 2017.

Continue reading Podcast: Adjust Your Tracking Talks Preserving Theatrical Experience, Poly-Genre Films ‘Personal Shopper’ & ‘Raw’ at The Playlist.

There’s a friendly family fight over Oliver Assayas’ “Personal Shopper” at The Playlist. Jessica Kiang kind of hated it, Gregory Ellwood kinda loved it (it made his top 10 of 2016), and I would say I’m somewhere in the middle but leaning positive, warts and all. Yes, Assayas’ film has its problems and can be borderline ridiculous at times, but that ridiculousness can be fun. It’s also on our Best Films Of 2017 We’ve Already Seen list and yes, there was some squabbling over that, too.

Continue reading New Images & International Poster For ‘Personal Shopper’ Starring Kristen Stewart at The Playlist.

Anyone who still thinks of Kristen Stewart as “that girl from ‘Twilight,'” is clearly putting blinders on to one of the more interesting actresses currently working in Hollywood. Stewart has stepped out of the blockbuster franchise that made her name, and parlayed it into a string of interesting indie projects, working with a handful of acclaimed auteurs. However, Olivier Assayas has made her a muse of sorts, directing Stewart in two straight projects — “Clouds Of Sils Maria” (for which Stewart won the César award for her performance) and “Personal Shopper.” And while he might be slightly biased, he’s unequivocal in assessing the talent of his recent collaborator.

Continue reading Olivier Assayas Declares Kristen Stewart “The Best Actress Of Her Generation,” Says ‘Idol’s Eye’ Might Be Back On at The Playlist.

It is, how shall we put this, not a huge week for new releases, and the movie news cycle seems to be taking a little bit of a breather in between TIFF and the New York Film Festival. So we thought we’d take this opportunity to attempt a more ambitious, wide-ranging week-long feature, and one that we’ve been batting around internally for a while now — our official and definitive and unimpeachably correct (!!) ranking of the 100 currently working filmmakers we’re most excited about.

Continue reading The 100 Best And Most Exciting Directors Working Today at The Playlist.

Lining up movies with one auteur after another — Drake Doremus, Kelly Reichardt, Woody Allen, Ang Lee — Kristen Stewart has become the particular muse of Olivier Assayas. The filmmaker directed her to a celebrated, César award winning performance in “The Clouds Of Sils Maria,” and has immediately reteamed with the actress for “Personal Shopper.” And the film, which finds Stewart playing a twin who seeks to communicate with her deceased sibling, looks to be one that sees the actress making the most of her latest collaboration with Assayas.

Continue reading Cannes: 2 Clips From Olivier Assayas’ ‘Personal Shopper’ Starring Kristen Stewart at The Playlist.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Red,’ ‘Jackass 3D,’ ‘Hereafter’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Exclusive: Olivier Assayas Says ‘Carlos’ Was “Hell,” Is Planning New “Small Scale” Film With Juliette Binoche at The Playlist.

Continue reading BAMcinématek’s Post-Punk Auteur: The Films Of Olivier Assayas (Oct. 9-28) at The Playlist.

“Carlos”
Oliver Assayas hopes you like your counter-revolutionary rebels naked and set to post-punk. The seductive “Carlos,” opening this weekend in truncated form, is a three-part epic detailing the life and affiliations of terrorist networker Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known to many as Carlos the Jackal.

Continue reading NYFF ’10 Reviews: ‘Carlos,’ ‘Oki’s Movie,’ ‘Film Socialisme’ at The Playlist.

Anyway, we now have a beautiful, fresh, very 1970s poster for the film and brand new trailer for the film as well.

Continue reading Olivier Assayas’ Gangster Epic ‘Carlos’ Gets Fantastic Poster & New Trailer; Theatrical Cut Will Run 2 Hr 20 Min at The Playlist.

As previously hinted, Peter Weir’s highly anticipated “The Way Back” will be making its world premiere at the festival. Starring Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Mark Strong and Saoirse Ronan, the film centers on a group of seven prisoners who escape a Siberian labor camp in 1940 and attempt to trek thousands of miles across hostile terrain to India and their freedom.

Continue reading Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back,’ ‘Never Let Me Go,’ ‘127 Hours,’ ‘Biutiful’ & More Make Their Way To Telluride at The Playlist.

NYFF has already announced its opening night film, David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” and its centerpiece film, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” and under some new creative management, the festival is really flexing its muscles this year. The move is not a total surprise in that it has an existing relationship with Eastwood and premiered “Changeling” in 2008.

Continue reading Clint Eastwood’s ‘Hereafter’ Will Close The 2010 New York Film Festival; Fest Adds ‘Meeks Cutoff,’ ‘Carlos,’ Certified Copy’ & More at The Playlist.

This year’s line-up is a typically eclectic mix, including a healthy number of 2010 festival darlings that has us in revelry even if an apparent budget cut in guest recruitment has resulted in a significant drop in the caliber of guests from last year that included the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Carey Mulligan and Nicolas Winding Refn.

Continue reading MIFF 2010: ‘Carlos,’ ‘Winter’s Bone,’ ‘HaHaHa’ & More at The Playlist.

Kicking things off, Wes Anderson’s “The Darjeeling Limited” (no artwork yet) will finally get the extras-laden treatment it deserves after an initial bow on home video via Fox Searchlight.

Continue reading Criterion October Slate Includes ‘The Darjeeling Limited,’ ‘Paths Of Glory,’ ‘The Magician’ & More at The Playlist.

Set to be released later this fall on the Sundance Channel in three parts and then thankfully by IFC Films for the full experience (save the date now), Jeff Wells has dug up a French-language teaser trailer for the film that features some English in it as well — the star of the picture Édgar Ramírez speaks fluent English, German, French, Spanish and phonetic Arabic in the picture.

Continue reading First Look Footage: Mixed-Language Teaser Trailer For Oliver Assayas’ Cannes Opus, ‘Carlos’ at The Playlist.

Arguably, that’s always been the case, but it’s even more pronounced this year.

Continue reading IFC Films Acquires Gregg Araki’s Sex Comedy Thriller ‘Kaboom’; SPC Picks Up Xavier Beauvois’ ‘Of Gods And Men’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Cannes 2010: Oliver Assayas’ ‘Carlos’ Is A Different Beast Than ‘Che,’ Dense, Great, & Then Dry & Unfocused at The Playlist.

We pinged our man Kevin Jagernauth on the ground in Cannes and asked, “McCarthy is saying it’s everything ‘Che’ should have been and hoped to be, thoughts?”

Our man says: “In short, McCarthy is wrong — but I also think ‘Che’ was really underrated by critics — ‘Carlos’ is 2/3 great, 1/3 pretty dry/unfocused.

Continue reading Cannes: ‘Carlos’ Is The Shit, But Not All The Way Through at The Playlist.