The Limits of Control Archives - The Playlist

The Best Soundtrack, Scores & Music Moments of 2009

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:40:00 +0000

Are you sick of 2009? Well, you know what? We at The Playlist definitely are. But god, we take on comprehensive assignments and then for better or worse finish them. Argggh. This is our last 2009 feature for the year, and if you’re peeved about us discussing 2009 in the last week of January 2010, welcome to the party, but man did these exhaustive features take a long time to put together.

Waah, regardless, 2009 was a pretty good year for soundtracks and scores and arguably a much better one than 2008 which was overall, pretty bland and uninspired when it came to the use of music in film.

Continue reading The Best Soundtrack, Scores & Music Moments of 2009 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.

The Playlist’s Best Films Of 2009 (*Editor’s Picks Only)

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Getting a definitive top 10 out of the Playlist team is hard.

There’s a lot of differing opinions and some writers, due to their locations (we’ve got people in the U.K., Australia, Canada and U.S. places other than NY/LA), don’t get to see most of the year’s films until January 2010. And yes, we’re deep in January now, but some are still making their way through everything (example, “The Lovely Bones” just hit wide this past weekend).

Continue reading The Playlist’s Best Films Of 2009 (*Editor’s Picks Only) at The Playlist.

Criterion To Put Out Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Mystery Train’ In The Summer of 2010

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:04:00 +0000

When Jim Jarmusch showed his 1989 film, “Mystery Train” at the Criterion Collection curated screening room at the All Tomorrow’s Parties indie-rock festival in New York earlier this year, we assumed this was a good sign.

And it turns out it was more than just wishful thinking on our side. Criterion has announced via Facebook that “Mystery Train” will indeed come to the collection next summer.

When we released Jim Jarmusch’s films Down by Law and Night on Earth, the supplement Ask Jim, in which he answered questions viewers wrote in about his films, was so popular that we’ve decided to do it again.

Continue reading Criterion To Put Out Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Mystery Train’ In The Summer of 2010 at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Will ‘Star Trek’ Live Long And Prosper? First Weekend Suggests It’s Not Illogical

Gabe Toro — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:02:00 +0000

Did this happen? Did nerd stuff automatically become cool stuff? Hot babes are wearing Vulcan ears, frat boys are whistling the theme, and now people are showing up in droves for “Star Trek.” The eleventh film in the series scored by far the biggest opening, bringing in $72.5 million ($76.5 million if Thursday counts), topping the $30.7 million haul of ’96’s “Star Trek: First Contact.” It didn’t match the opening of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” but credit where credit’s due, the second weekend of May has typically been a weak period to debut, with the summer’s usually-big kickoff movie enjoying a fruitful second weekend- witness “Speed Racer” stalling at the starting line last year.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Will ‘Star Trek’ Live Long And Prosper? First Weekend Suggests It’s Not Illogical at The Playlist.

Jarmusch, Schwartzman, HBO: Set Your Tivo Now Alert

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:10:00 +0000

“I [appeared] in an HBO TV show, a new show called Bored To Death, with Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson. It’s a comedy show. I think they’re going to start running it in September. — Narrative-bending (challenged?) filmmaker Jim Jarsmuch will make a guest spot on HBO in the fall.

Will this be his most mainstream move ever? Perhaps a concession made to those fans who were wrongly under the impression that his nubilous new picture was going to be hip, cool, enjoyable and comprehensible, or perhaps even about the band Joy Division?

Continue reading Jarmusch, Schwartzman, HBO: Set Your Tivo Now Alert at The Playlist.

Does Jim Jarmusch Have Another Free-Form Project Like ‘Limits Of Control’ In The Works?

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:47:00 +0000

The A/V Club has done one of the most uncongenial things a website can possibly do by not putting their recent Jim Jarmusch interview online therefore forcing us to do one of the most unattractive tasks imaginable: transcribing, blech.

Anyhow, the online/print mag spoke to the director of the polarizing surrealist noir, “The Limits of Control” (many hate it, eggheads like us fully enjoyed its hypnotically woozy qualities and European art film sensibilities) and his atypical approach this time out.

Continue reading Does Jim Jarmusch Have Another Free-Form Project Like ‘Limits Of Control’ In The Works? at The Playlist.

First Listen: Jim Jarmusch’s Bad Rabbit Band From The ‘Limits of Control’ Soundtrack

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:29:00 +0000

We’ve gone on a ton about the music to Jim Jarmusch’s psychedelic noir, “The Limits of Control,” which features a soundtrack of ambient metal soundscape artists, Boris, Sunn O))) and Earth (featuring Bill Frisell), Austin psychedelic rockers Black Angels, LCD Soundsystem, and more (here’s all the music featured in the film; here’s the full CD tracklist which came out last week).

We were also the first to reveal the members of the band Bad Rabbit, Jarmusch’s own soundscapey group featuring Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback; the trio who wrote additional music to the film (the defacto score as it were), some of which was figured prominently in the movie’s trailer.

Continue reading First Listen: Jim Jarmusch’s Bad Rabbit Band From The ‘Limits of Control’ Soundtrack at The Playlist.

SNIKT! To Piracy- ‘Wolverine’ Scores Year’s Biggest Opening

Gabe Toro — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:25:00 +0000

All that gloom-and-doom shit over whether “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” would be affected by the biggest blockbuster leak in film history can be put to rest. The mutant-powered spinoff, which was advertised to look nearly as unwatchable and embarrassing as it actually was, still managed $87 million to register the year’s biggest opening. We guess some might make points regarding how the box office might have been bigger sans piracy- the first weekend of May is usually home to a knockout debut that kickstarts the season, but “Wolverine”‘s bow is lower than last year’s near-$100 million opening for “Iron Man” and ’07’s then-best-ever $151 mil.

Continue reading SNIKT! To Piracy- ‘Wolverine’ Scores Year’s Biggest Opening at The Playlist.

Box Office Options May 1st-3rd: ‘Wolverine’ (Don’t Do It), The Limits Of Control,’ ‘Revanche’ & More…

Seth Valentine — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Hooray! Box office Friday is here again! And not just any box office Friday–this weekend signals the opening of the summer blockbuster season. Somehow (probably Beyonce’ related), “Obsessed” took the crown for last weekend but there’s little question as to what will pull down the big bucks this time around. So let’s take a look at the pictures!

Of course, the heavy hitter this weekend is the Fox tentpole “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which is expected to totally clean up.

Continue reading Box Office Options May 1st-3rd: ‘Wolverine’ (Don’t Do It), The Limits Of Control,’ ‘Revanche’ & More… at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s Summer Preview – 24 Films From MAY

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Summer’s upon us any moment now, which means temperatures rise, IQ levels drop and the worst of the worst (ok, admittedly not as bad as the January-Feb season), or at least the halfwit mainstream bullshit rises to the top. However, there’s always something to be enjoyed amongst the clutter and hell, maybe even an enjoyable tentpole film with a brain. Hey, don’t laugh, “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” pulled it off last year. Can Gavin Hood (no), Michael Bay, McG or J.J.

Continue reading The Playlist’s Summer Preview – 24 Films From MAY at The Playlist.

Beyond Limited: ‘The Limits Of Control’ Expansion Release Plan

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:40:00 +0000

One thing most film companies do is promote their release schedule beyond it’s opening week much (hint, hint), so when something opens on a certain date in limited release, it’s generally up to audiences in smaller markets to look to their alt-weeklies (like the Village Voice in NY for example) to tell them what’s hitting when.

Jim Jarmusch’s heady, existentialist noir, “The Limits Of Control,” hits theaters this Friday, May 1, but it’s only in limited release in New York and L.A.

Continue reading Beyond Limited: ‘The Limits Of Control’ Expansion Release Plan at The Playlist.

‘The Limits Of Control’: A Somnolent, Surreal Dream Or A Metaphysical Noir

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Hypnotic, elliptically opaque and dream-like, “The Limits of Control,” may test the limits in which Jarmusch fans call themselves card-carrying Jarmusch fans. If “Broken Flowers” was his most accessible (and financially it was), ‘Limits’ might be his most willfully esoteric or at least a nod towards the past (though really it’s the auteur doing whatever he pleases at any given moment).

A moody tone-poem, all one needs to do to become basically acclimated with the atmospheric tenor of the film is to recall William Blake, Johnny Depp’s character in the existentialist Western, “Dead Man,” which carries similarly languorous and evocatively pensive qualities (both also begin with quotes by French writers; Arthur Rimbaud for ‘Limits’ and Henri Michaux for the austere Western).

Continue reading ‘The Limits Of Control’: A Somnolent, Surreal Dream Or A Metaphysical Noir at The Playlist.

2nd ‘Limits Of Control’ Soundtrack/Bad Rabbit EP Hits May 12

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:44:00 +0000

We’ve already unveiled to you all the music of Jim Jarmusch’s “The Limits Of Control,” given the soundtrack details (April 28 on Lakeshore Records) and revealed the fact that a separate ITunes disc is coming out from the band Bad Rabbit, whose membership includes Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback and the director himself.

Bad Rabbit wrote some additional music to the film that’s also been featured in the trailer which sounds like a mix of instrumental Yo La Tengo, with more expansive psych-rock tendencies and droney feedback.

Continue reading 2nd ‘Limits Of Control’ Soundtrack/Bad Rabbit EP Hits May 12 at The Playlist.

Exclusive Details: ‘The Limits Of Control’ Soundtrack Hits April 28; Extended ITunes EP On The Way Of Jarmusch’s Band Bad Rabbit

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

At this point you’re probably sick of it, because we’ve been all over the soundtrack details to Jim Jarmusch’s near-psychedelic noir, “The Limits of Control,” but we have our hands on the final, 17-song tracklist. As previously reported, the soundtrack features tracks by ambient metal soundscape artists Boris, Sunn O))) and Earth (featuring Bill Frisell), Austin psychedelic rockers Black Angels, LCD Soundsystem, and more (here’s all the music featured in the film).

Wait, who’s the group Bad Rabbit?

Continue reading Exclusive Details: ‘The Limits Of Control’ Soundtrack Hits April 28; Extended ITunes EP On The Way Of Jarmusch’s Band Bad Rabbit at The Playlist.

All The Music Of ‘The Limits Of Control’; LCD Soundsystem Too

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:25:00 +0000

We’ve already posted most of the ambient drone music featured in Jim Jarmusch’s excellent existentialist thriller/ psychological noir, “The Limits of Control” — feedback-laden soundscapes by Boris, Sunn 0))) (both acts separately and together), Earth & The Black Angels.

But we figured we’d be completists and list out all the music you can expect to see in the hypnotic, slow-burning film. Look out for that quick LCD Soundsystem track, ’30s jazz and R&B pianist Bill Doggett, a Schubert track used like a mantra and traditional Spanish music (much of the film is set in Madrid and Seville in Spain).

Continue reading All The Music Of ‘The Limits Of Control’; LCD Soundsystem Too at The Playlist.

‘The Limits of Control’ Soundtrack Details Partly Revealed

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:13:00 +0000

We already know that much of Jim Jarmusch’s “The Limits of Control,” is going to feature the droney metal soundscapes of Boris, Sunn 0))) (both acts separately and together), Earth & The Black Angels (and Jarmusch acted as his own music supervisor and even wrote some of the music featured in the trailer).

According to a press release sent by Southern Lord records, who puts out albums by all the aforementioned acts (minus The Black Angels), the soundtrack is coming out on Lakeshore Records and they’ve provided all the details on what songs the bands on their label are providing.

Continue reading ‘The Limits of Control’ Soundtrack Details Partly Revealed at The Playlist.

Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Limits Of Control’ Bumped Up To May 1

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Good news for fans of indie stalwart Jim Jarmusch and his existential hitman drama, “The Limits of Control,” has been bumped up by almost a month.

Originally due May 22 in limited release via Focus Features, the film will now bow out twenty one days earlier on May 1.

This will mean the film will certainly not get a world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival as was rumored as the French fete begins March 13-24.

Continue reading Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Limits Of Control’ Bumped Up To May 1 at The Playlist.

Jim Jarmusch Is His Own Soundtrack Supervisor For ‘Limits Of Control’; Black Angels In The Film Too

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:54:00 +0000

How cool is Jim Jarmusch? So cool that he doesn’t even need to hire a music soundtrack supervisor. Why would he do that? He know exactly what he wants (and sometimes he just writes the damn music for himself). This is basically what he did for his new movie, “The Limits of Control.” Oh and and on top of all the experimental soundscape metal he’s curated for the film, he’s also going to be using songs by Austin, psychedelic rockers The Black Angels.

Continue reading Jim Jarmusch Is His Own Soundtrack Supervisor For ‘Limits Of Control’; Black Angels In The Film Too at The Playlist.

The Trailer Music Of ‘The Limits Of Control’? Written By Jim Jarmusch Himself

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:02:00 +0000

We hate to sound bitter or anything, but it’s pretty much proven scientific fact that movie studios could give a fuck to promote their soundtracks or related music in their films (Lakeshore being one strong exception) and the record labels don’t move a lot of earths either.

We digress. We wrote Focus Features, we didn’t hear back, so we went ahead and wrote an extensive piece about Jim Jarmusch’s “The Limits Of Control,” which features music by ambient and experimental noise metal bands Boris, Sunn O))) and Earth.

Continue reading The Trailer Music Of ‘The Limits Of Control’? Written By Jim Jarmusch Himself at The Playlist.

Retro Poster: ‘The Limits Of Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Jim Jarmusch’s mysterious loner hitman in Spain film, “The Limits Of Control” has a retro poster. It’s a’ight. Not what we imagined, but still more creative than 90% of most banal film one-sheets. There’s not a lot else to say other than what we’ve already judiciously covered. Issach De Bankole stars as hitman whose activities remain meticulously outside the law. What else.

– The film stars also stars Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Gael García Bernal, John Hurt, Paz De La Huerta and lots of international names likeAlex Descas, Youki Kudoh, Hiam Abbass, , Jean-François Stevenín, and Luis Tosar.

Continue reading Retro Poster: ‘The Limits Of Control’ at The Playlist.

Drone Metal Soundscape Bands SUNN O))), Boris & Earth Featured In Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Limits Of Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:37:00 +0000

Jim Jarmusch has pretty sharp and discerning taste and his soundtracks over the years have used innovative music and been exquisitely curated:

— “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” had an incredibly groundbreaking instrumental hip-hop score by the Wu Tan Clan’s RZA.
— “Dead Man” featured an amazingly evocative score based on guitar feedback by Neil Young
— “Night on Earth” utilized a whimsical, carnival-like score by the inimitable Tom Waits
— “Broken Flowers” had an eclectic soundtrack that included Holly Golightly, the Greenhornes, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the achingly cool use of Ethiopian composer and musician Mulatu Astatke.

Continue reading Drone Metal Soundscape Bands SUNN O))), Boris & Earth Featured In Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Limits Of Control’ at The Playlist.

‘The Limits of Control’ Trailer Has An Awesome Slow-Burn Ominousness

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:40:00 +0000

“A professional is never distracted, but every man has his limits.”

The trailer for Jim Jarmucsh’s “The Limits of Control” is finally here and of course it gives us a few more clues into the secretive story of a mysterious loner (played by Issach De Bankole), a stranger (hitman?) whose activities remain meticulously outside the law.

His character is decidedly methodical and lives within certain ascetic guidelines and codes and his possible vice appears to be the sexy Paz De La Huerta who coos with temptations, “No guns, no sex, how can you stand it?” Plus the synopsis says ambiguously, “His journey, paradoxically both intently focused and dreamlike, takes him not only across Spain but also through his own consciousness.” Hmm, a mindbender in here somewhere?

Continue reading ‘The Limits of Control’ Trailer Has An Awesome Slow-Burn Ominousness at The Playlist.

First Look: Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Limits of Control’

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:23:00 +0000

While there has been a handful of fan-snapped photos on the Spanish set of Jim Jarmuch’s “The Limits of Control,” the first real press photos from the picture have made their way online. We get our first true glimpses of the cast including, Isaach De Bankolé, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton (above), Gael Garcia Bernal and Paz de la Huerta (below). The picture’s details has been mostly kept under and all we really know is this vague synopsis:

“The Limits of Control” is the story of a mysterious loner (De Bankolé), a stranger, whose activities remain meticulously outside the law.

Continue reading First Look: Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Limits of Control’ at The Playlist.

Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodovar, Lars Von Trier, ‘Terminator 4’ For Cannes? THR Does Guesswork

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:34:00 +0000

The Hollywood Reporter has just published a semi dubious piece about what films might play at Cannes Film Festival this year (which runs May 13-24). Most of it is speculation, frankly. It basically breaks down into a) what they’ve already heard rumblings about/what seems poised to appear and b) guess work that any of us could do, c) something in the middle that sounds like “maybe” with not enough info behind it to be 100% legit, but is more than just a guess.

Continue reading Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodovar, Lars Von Trier, ‘Terminator 4’ For Cannes? THR Does Guesswork at The Playlist.