Catching up on some things we missed over the holidays. Following Kelly Reichardt’s criticism of “Barbie” (“They are part of a huge marketing machine, but they are sold as art. And all this is just celebrated. As a filmmaker, I wonder what this will do to people’s expectations for future films,” she said), two-time Palme d’Or Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund (“The Square,” “Triangle Of Sadness”) gave the film a sharp ding over the December break.

Continue reading ‘Barbie’: Ruben Östlund Says “Mattel Bought Off An American Auteur” & Updates Next ‘Entertainment Down’ Satire at The Playlist.

Eight years ago, Ruben Östlund made history, it just wasn’t the history he was hoping for at the time. After earning massive critical acclaim, his breakout black comedy, “Force Majeure,” was snubbed as Sweden’s submission for the International Film Academy Award. His reaction to the nominations was recorded and is forever available on YouTube (and other social media options) as “Swedish director freaks out when he misses out on Oscar nomination.” Happily, history did not repeat itself when the 2023 Oscar nominations were announced last month.

Continue reading Ruben Östlund Recorded His ‘Triangle’ Oscar Nomination Reaction But… [Interview] at The Playlist.

One film that has been surprisingly absent from many of the U.S. year-end awards lists is Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness.” The social media skewing farce took the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival but fizzled with critics in the U.S. and audiences around the globe earning just $15 million to date. Östlund and his colleagues have something to celebrate after “Sadness” took four wins at the 2022 European Film Awards including the top prize, European Film.

Continue reading ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ Takes Top Prizes At 2022 European Film Awards at The Playlist.

The 35th European Film Awards nominations were announced Tuesday morning and, for the first time in recent memory, they may influence the upcoming 2023 Oscar season. International Film contenders Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider” as well as Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness” taking four nominations each. They were joined in the prestigious European Film category by Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs” and Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage.”

READ MORE: “The Fablemans” finally lands in LA as Best Picture buzz grows [Contender Countdown]

This year’s ceremony will occur on December 10, in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Continue reading ‘Close,’ ‘Holy Spider’ & ‘Triangle of Sadness’ Dominate 2022 European Film Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

When Ruben Östlund jumped on a Zoom call to discuss his new film we weren’t interested in talking to him about the buzzed-about sea sickness sequence in “Triangle of Sadness.” That wasn’t a surprise. Östlund knows how to conceive universally funny scenes. No, it’s what his Palme d’Or-winning black comedy has to say about today’s social media-obsessed society, the haves and the have-nots, and the prevalence of sexism in the global culture that’s truly noteworthy.

Continue reading Ruben Östlund On Keeping ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ Social Media Critiques Timeless [Interview] at The Playlist.

“It’s only downhill, for me isn’t?” That was Harris Dickinson’s cheeky response when asked about what it was like to star in a Palme d’Or winning film so early in his career. That film, Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” has been something of a lightning rod since its Cannes premiere and, frankly, is likely another stepping stone for the increasingly in-demand British actor.

READ MORE: Cannes 2022: “Triangle of Sadness” wins the Palme d’Or [Full Winners List]

Östlund’s dark political satire finds Dickinson playing Carl, a male model whose career is quickly fading in the ultra-competitive fashion world.

Continue reading Harris Dickinson Navigates The ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

The 75th Cannes Film Festival is coming to a close on Saturday afternoon, and after much speculation as to what would take home the top prize, it was a familiar winner striking gold again. For the second time in five years, director Ruben Östlund won the coveted Palme d’Or for his English-language debut film, “Triangle of Sadness.” Östlund first won the prize back in 2017 for “The Square” and beat out eighteen other films to win this year’s top prize.

Continue reading Cannes 2022: ‘Triangle of Sadness’ Wins The Palme d’Or [Full Winners List] at The Playlist.

Swedish director Ruben Östlund‘s already won one Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; in 2017 for “The Square.” And while he’s back in Cannes again this year with “Triangle Of Sadness” to try and win another, he already has his next film in mind, with Woody Harrelson set to star for him again.

READ MORE: ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ Review: Ruben Östland’s Falters In This Broad Class Satire [Cannes]

In an interview with Variety, Östlund gave details about the new project, including its title and premise.

Continue reading Ruben Östlund Says His Next “Air Rage” Film Stars Woody Harrelson & Is Called, ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’ at The Playlist.

It’s one of modern life’s most beguiling paradoxes that social media influencers are, of course, the scum of the earth, and yet the pop culture skewering them always plays so uncharitably that a viewer feels compelled to defend the indefensible. Ruben Östlund comes out swinging against Instagrammers in the first third of his new film “Triangle of Sadness,” which joins a pair of logged-on models after a casting-call prologue introducing us to the chiseled Carl (Harris Dickinson, cementing his place in the next generation of movie stars).

Continue reading ‘Triangle of Sadness’ Review: Ruben Östlund Falters In This Broad Class Satire [Cannes] at The Playlist.

Swedish director Ruben Östlund is returning to the Cannes Film Festival with “Triangle of Sadness,” a new fashion world social satire starring Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, and Woody Harrelson. Last week, the film was among those announced as part of the competition entries in the 75th-anniversary edition of the festival. The film marks Östlund’s fifth Cannes entry and he’s already a Palme d’Or winner for his 2017 art world satire, “The Square.

Continue reading Ruben Östlund Says Next Film Takes Place On Long-Haul Flight As Passengers Deal Without Entertainment Options at The Playlist.

Putting together the 100 Most Anticipated Films list is a beast in any year. Still, in the new accelerated age of streaming with HBO Max, Apple TV+, Amazon, Netflix, and all the new players popping up every single day, it seems, the task becomes more and more daunting and nearly impossible (we could have easily gone to 200 this year).

So we’re post-COVID, but oops, not-yet post-COVID, but somehow movies have survived, even if the theatrical market becomes a more challenging and riskier gambit.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2022 at The Playlist.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. Aside from the election result, Trashfire 2020™ was a shitty year. And a weird and disorienting year thanks to COVID-19 and having to shelter-in-place, quarantine, and social distance from one another blah, blah, blah coronavirus f*cked us hard. Movies certainly took it in the teeth this year, and especially the theatrical industrial complex, which feels like it’s on its last legs. But regardless of what happens next for theaters, people are going to continue making and releasing movies.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021 at The Playlist.

It’s been an incredible nine months for Ruben Östlund.  The Swedish filmmaker took home the Palme d’Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for his thought provoking satire “The Square.”  The Claes Bang, Elisabeth Olsen and Dominic West film then took seven awards at the 2017 European Film Awards including Best Film.  And, unlike Östlund’s critically acclaimed “Force Majeure,” “The Square” earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film last month.

Continue reading ‘The Square’s’ Ruben Ostlund On Oscar Night And Jumping Into ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ at The Playlist.

While Ruben Ostlund‘s “The Square” might not have been buzziest film to emerge at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, his picture did walk away, somewhat surprisingly, with the Palme d’Or. It’s another feat under the belt of the fast-rising filmmaker behind “Play” and “Force Majeure,” and now he has a new project cooking.

READ MORE: Ruben Ostlund’s Smart, Sharp, Deliciously Uncomfortable ‘The Square’ [Cannes Review]

Variety reports that Ostlund will helm “Triangle Of Sadness.” The filmmaker will tackle the world of modeling, but unlike Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “The Neon Demon,” a lurid take on women trying to break into the industry, Ostlund will look at models trying to get out.

Continue reading Palme d’Or Winner Ruben Ostlund To Direct ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ at The Playlist.