Oscilloscope Films Archives - The Playlist

SXSW Teams With MailChimp & Oscilloscope To Stream 70+ Festival Short Films For Free

Charles Barfield — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:05:45 +0000

With the cancellation of SXSW 2020 earlier this month (obviously due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the Austin-based festival had to figure out how to honor the films that were originally selected but wouldn’t have the glitz and glam of an official world premiere event. And we’re not even talking about the special event premieres, such as “The Lovebirds” and “The King of Staten Island.” Those films will be fine.

Continue reading SXSW Teams With MailChimp & Oscilloscope To Stream 70+ Festival Short Films For Free at The Playlist.

Oscilloscope Announces ‘Quarantine’ Deal For A Film Bundle That Benefits Furloughed Cinema Workers

Charles Barfield — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 17:41:33 +0000

Much like other independent distributors, such as Kino Lorber, Oscilloscope is attempting to figure out how to continue to make money during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, while also ensuring that the theaters that showcase indie films can survive the extended shutdown. However, Oscilloscope is offering something a bit different than the competition, as the distributor aims to attract all film fans to a new deal that provides some of the best indie films at a ridiculously low price, while also benefiting the struggling cinemas.

Continue reading Oscilloscope Announces ‘Quarantine’ Deal For A Film Bundle That Benefits Furloughed Cinema Workers at The Playlist.

‘Run This Town’ Trailer: Ben Platt Stars In This Political Thriller From SXSW That Will Stream On Twitter

Charles Barfield — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:09:52 +0000

One of the standouts from last year’s SXSW, the new film “Run This Town” is perhaps most notable, not for its awesome cast or the film’s content, but for the recent deal between film studio Oscilloscope and Twitter. For the first time ever, Twitter will now stream films, and the social media platform is beginning this quest with this new political thriller.

READ MORE: Damian Lewis’ Transformation Into Disgraced Mayor Rob Ford Is The Most Interesting Thing You’ll See All Day

Back in 2018, we were shocked when set pictures dropped of actor Damian Lewis under all sorts of prosthetics to play controversial Canadian political figure Rob Ford.

Continue reading ‘Run This Town’ Trailer: Ben Platt Stars In This Political Thriller From SXSW That Will Stream On Twitter at The Playlist.

Podcast: The Playlist Interviews ‘The Fits’ Director Anna Rose Holmer & Talks About The Career of ‘Cosmos’ Director Andrzej Zulwaski

Erik McClanahan — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 19:45:51 +0000

The Playlist Podcast returns for an auteur-centric episode, in two parts. On the first half, my interview with Anna Rose Holmer about her debut feature “The Fits,” an idiosyncratic and deeply cinematic indie film about a young girl’s coming of age transition from tomboy boxer to competitive dancer. The second half of the show is devoted to “Cosmos,” the final film from Polish auteur Andrzej Zulwaski.

Continue reading Podcast: The Playlist Interviews ‘The Fits’ Director Anna Rose Holmer & Talks About The Career of ‘Cosmos’ Director Andrzej Zulwaski at The Playlist.

TIFF Acquisitions: ‘Beginners,’ ‘Passion Play’ & ‘Rare Exports’ All Get Distribution

Oliver Lyttelton — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:27:00 +0000

While it was a somewhat mixed bag, quality wise, at the Toronto International Film Festival this time around, the good news, after a shaky few years in the independent film sector, is that acquisitions have been very busy this year, with the likes of “Meek’s Cutoff,” “Everything Must Go,” “Insidious,” “Super,” “The Conspirator,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Submarine,” “Dirty Girl” and “Incendies” all finding homes after their festival debuts. The festival wrapped up last night, but there are still a few films being picked up, from a critical favorite to one of the more reviled films shown.

Continue reading TIFF Acquisitions: ‘Beginners,’ ‘Passion Play’ & ‘Rare Exports’ All Get Distribution at The Playlist.

Review: ‘A Film Unfinished’

Christopher Bell — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:21:00 +0000

Year after year we are given at least one film that deals with the atrocities of the Nazi regime. Unfortunately, not only do film-makers and studios milk the topic to their advantage (awards purposes, narrative purposes, yes, we’re looking at you, “The Reader”), but film-goers themselves are tired of the overload. What are we to do when a horrific event is not taken seriously because of Hollywood’s insistence to milk it to their advantage? Not to be entirely negative, as it’s clear that some film-makers absolutely have a connection to this travesty and feel that it is their duty to commit it to celluloid, but there’s always the other side of the coin.

Continue reading Review: ‘A Film Unfinished’ at The Playlist.

The MPAA Is Afraid To Educate The Kids: ‘The Tillman Story’ & ‘A Film Unfinished’ Lose Appeals For R-Rating

Kevin Jagernauth — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:19:00 +0000

It appears that violence and lots of skin is more healthy for the youth of America than educating them. The MPAA has officially rejected appeals by Oscilloscope Laboratories and The Weinstein Company for “A Film Unfinished” and “The Tillman Story” for the R-ratings both films have received.

“A Film Unfinished” is an award winning documentary by Yael Hersonski that is an exploration of the infamous Nazi propaganda film “Ghetto” and the recently uncovered missing reel of footage that casts life for Jews in the Warsaw ghetto in a whole new light.” As such it’s been slapped with an R for “disturbing images of Holocaust atrocities including graphic nudity.”

While we can sort of (but not really) understand the MPAA’s decision for “A Film Unfinished,” the reasoning behind “The Tillman Story” is confounding at best.

Continue reading The MPAA Is Afraid To Educate The Kids: ‘The Tillman Story’ & ‘A Film Unfinished’ Lose Appeals For R-Rating at The Playlist.

Beastie Boy & Oscilloscope Laboratories Founder Adam Yauch Calls Out MPAA For “Bullshit” R-Rating For ‘A Film Unfinished’

Kevin Jagernauth — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:32:00 +0000

It’s not the first or last time the MPAA will run afoul of a studio or filmmaker, but it’s one of the rare times when someone on the receiving end of one of their decisions has been this vocal. The MPAA recently handed the Holocaust documentary “A Film Unfinished” an R for “disturbing images of holocaust atrocities including graphic nudity.”

In a bluntly worded press release, Beastie Boy and Oscilloscope Laboratories founder Adam Yauch responded to the rating saying, “This is too important of a historical document to ban from classrooms.

Continue reading Beastie Boy & Oscilloscope Laboratories Founder Adam Yauch Calls Out MPAA For “Bullshit” R-Rating For ‘A Film Unfinished’ at The Playlist.

William S. Burroughs Doc Soundtracked By Sonic Youth & Patti Smith, Gets Fall Release

Jon Davies — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:40:00 +0000

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up first time filmmaker Yony Leyser’s documentary “William S. Burroughs: A Man Within” for distribution, indieWIRE reports.

The documentary, which follows the life of the life of the legendary beat author and features previously unseen archival footage, will also be soundtracked by iconic noise rockers Sonic Youth and Patti Smith. It is unclear whether the soundtrack will be comprised of previously recorded pieces or new collaborations between the two artists.

Continue reading William S. Burroughs Doc Soundtracked By Sonic Youth & Patti Smith, Gets Fall Release at The Playlist.

Oscilloscope To Release ‘Howl’ With James Franco In September

Edward Davis — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:08:00 +0000

Oscilloscope Laboratories, the company forever to be known as the one Beastie Boy Adam Yauch co-owns, has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the Sundance 2010 film, “Howl.”

Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (their narrative feature debut), the film stars James Franco as young, beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the film centers on the obscenity trial faced after the publication of his poem, Howl.

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival mixes color, black and white and animated sequences to spin its true life story.

Continue reading Oscilloscope To Release ‘Howl’ With James Franco In September at The Playlist.

Spike Jonze’s ‘Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak’ Arrives On DVD Mar. 2

Kevin Jagernauth — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:11:00 +0000

If you’re a Spike Jonze fan, better start saving some money or looking through couch cushions for change, because March just might break the bank.

As we reported awhile back, Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up “Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak,” the Jonze and Lance Bangs’ documentary that aired on HBO last fall. They will be releasing the forty-minute doc on DVD March 2nd, the same day as the DVD/BluRay release of “Where The Wild Things Are.” “Tell Them Anything”, which we called bracingly “honest and melancholy” in our review, while acting as a tribute to the author and featuring the likes of James Gandolfini, Meryl Streep, Catherine Keener and Tony Kushner, is also a frank and almost brutally naked portrait of Sendak, told by the man himself.

Continue reading Spike Jonze’s ‘Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak’ Arrives On DVD Mar. 2 at The Playlist.

Adam Yauch’s Oscillioscope Pictures To Release Spike Jonze’s Maurice Sendak Doc On DVD Next Year

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:21:00 +0000

OK, it didn’t make our Best Documentaries of the Decade — though we probably should have made an honorable mention for it — but Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs co-directed’ film about “Where The Wild Things Are” creator, Maurice Sendak, titled, “Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak,” is a beautiful, spare and raw piece of work. We called it a melancholy and perfect companion piece to Jonze’s “Where The Wild Things Are” live-action adaptation just before it aired on HBO earlier this fall.

Continue reading Adam Yauch’s Oscillioscope Pictures To Release Spike Jonze’s Maurice Sendak Doc On DVD Next Year at The Playlist.

Don’t Be Stunned That Mariah Carey Won An Acting Award For ‘Precious’

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Did you ever believe you’d hear these words aloud? Mariah Carey is now an award-winning actress. Yes the same woman who was eviscerated to pieces by critics for her turn in the universally reviled “Glitter” has been giving an acting achievement award. Carey will receive the breakthrough performance award at the 21st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival for her uglification turn in Lee Daniel’s urban horror drama, “Precious.”

If you haven’t already heard— or read our semi-disdainful review — Carey plays a tough, but compassionate social worker in the film and what’s more?

Continue reading Don’t Be Stunned That Mariah Carey Won An Acting Award For ‘Precious’ at The Playlist.

Michel Gondry’s Documentary, ‘The Thorn In The Heart’ Bought By Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Pictures

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:35:00 +0000

Michel Gondry’s documentary about his schoolteacher aunt, Suzette Gondry, “The Thorn In The Heart, (“L’Epine dans le Coeur”) has been bought by Oscilloscope Pictures, the company co-founded by the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch.

We didn’t hear too much about this film during the festival as it played the day we arrived (while we were stuck at the airport), but Mike D’Angelo of the A/V Club said, “I have no idea why he or the Cannes selection committee imagined that ‘Thorn In The Heart’ would be of interest to anyone outside of Gondry’s immediate family,” and this was a sentiment echoed by Alex Billington of FirstShowing, in his video blog.

Continue reading Michel Gondry’s Documentary, ‘The Thorn In The Heart’ Bought By Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Pictures at The Playlist.

Scott Walker’s ’30 Century Man’ Coming Back To Theaters Via Oscilloscope

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:27:00 +0000

What’s up with Plexifilm ? We hear some weird rumblings, but we don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, nor do we wish ill will.

Regardless, a film and DVD that was supposed to be coming out on Plexi in the spring, the excellent music documentary, “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man,” is now apparently coming out on Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s Oscilloscope Films.

According to ScreenDaily, the company will “take over” the theatrical self-release that was orchestrated by the film’s director Stephen Kijak and its producers and expand the run.

Continue reading Scott Walker’s ’30 Century Man’ Coming Back To Theaters Via Oscilloscope at The Playlist.