Waltz With Bashir Archives - The Playlist

The 50 Best Animated Films Of The 21st Century So Far

Oliver Lyttelton — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 17:37:42 +0000

It’s sort of remarkable, the ways that animation on the big screen has changed in the past two decades or so. In the early ’90s, the game was pretty much entirely owned by Disney’s hand-drawn animated fairy tales, which were hugely successful but almost entirely seen as kids’ stuff, with the occasional Don Bluth or Ralph Bakshi effort winning some eyes but not really competing; and the beginning of an interesting scene in Japan that largely failed to crossover to mainstream audiences stateside.

Continue reading The 50 Best Animated Films Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

First Look: Ari Folman’s ‘The Congress’ Based On Stanislaw Lem Story Starring Robin Wright

Kevin Jagernauth — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:55:00 +0000

We have to admit, Ari Folman’s follow-up to “Waltz With Bashir,” completely fell off our radar but due to some nice work at over /Film, we’ve got a first look at forthcoming film “The Congress,” and it’s beautiful.

Based on the short story “The Futurological Congress” by Stanislaw Lem (best known as the author of “Solaris,” which was obviously made into a movie, twice: once by the great Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and once by Steven Soderbergh in 2002 ) about a man ” “who is propelled into a world where hallucinogenic drugs have replaced reality,” the actual film seems to have taken a kernel of that idea and expanded it into a story about “the world of an actress (Robin Wright).

Continue reading First Look: Ari Folman’s ‘The Congress’ Based On Stanislaw Lem Story Starring Robin Wright at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s Best Documentaries Of The Decade

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Reading our Best of the Decade film lists, you’ve been asking us, “uhh, where in the hell are all the documentaries?”

Well, we didn’t want to ghettoize them in a lesser category, but we did want to give them their full due, so therefore here we are. This list is slightly different than our best of Decade list and tends to favor our favorite documentaries, rather than the ones we think are definitively the best, though we endorse every single doc here as well (perhaps a few in our last spots could be switched out for some of our honorable mention if we really thought about it; “To Be And To Have,” “49 Up” and “Lake Of Fire” being three docs we really admire).

Continue reading The Playlist’s Best Documentaries Of The Decade at The Playlist.

Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up Venice Winner, ‘Lebanon’ And ‘Get Low’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Sony Pictures Classics has continued its domination of the indie, foreign prestige-circuit this year (read: Cannes films) and has picked up the U.S. rights to “Lebanon,” the big winner of this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Winner of the Golden Lion, the top prize in Venice, the Samuel Maoz directed film is evidently a harrowing military drama, and much like Ari Folman’s “Waltz with Bashir,” it’s based on his personal experiences serving in the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon war (SPC put out ‘Bashir’ stateside as well).

Continue reading Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up Venice Winner, ‘Lebanon’ And ‘Get Low’ at The Playlist.

Composer Max Richter Talks The “Haunted” Music Of ‘Waltz With Bashir’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Composer Max Richter wrote one of our favorite film scores in 2008 for the deeply haunting Israeli film, “Waltz With Bashir.” The Ari Folman-directed documentary, which uses animation to discuss its dream-like subjects is about the 1983 Beirut massacre. Why animation to depict a well-known atrocity? The film is told and “remembered” through the hazy and submerged recollections of Folman’s first hand memories as a member of the Israeli army. The film is the frontrunner in the Best Foreign Film race and is poised to win the Oscar this weekend.

Continue reading Composer Max Richter Talks The “Haunted” Music Of ‘Waltz With Bashir’ at The Playlist.

Danny Boyle Wins The Top DGA Prize

Rodrigo Perez — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 06:19:00 +0000

DGA’s are being announced as we speak. We’re betting on Danny Boyle and yup, he took it alright. Man, the “Slumdog Millionaire” domination continues. Will this repeat at Oscar? It’s very likely.

This quote from the AP is priceless: “I should start by curiously thanking Warner Bros. for actually having the grace to do the right thing, when I think it would have been a lot easier to do the wrong thing, and pass the film on to Fox Searchlight, who are an extraordinary bunch of people,” Boyle said.

Continue reading Danny Boyle Wins The Top DGA Prize at The Playlist.

‘Gomorrah’ Snubbed By Foreign Oscar Shortlist; ‘The Class,’ & ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Make The Cut

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:57:00 +0000

It seems like every year the the foreign-language committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences piss us all off with some major snub. Despite winning the Palmed’Or in 2007, Cristian Mungiu’s amazing Romanian abortion drama, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” was snubbed by the AMPAS Oscar Foreign shortlist as was the brilliant animated French film, “Persepolis” (in 2007 it was Carlos Reygadas’ “Silent Light” and Fatih Akin’s “Edge of Heaven” that were criminally overlooked).

Continue reading ‘Gomorrah’ Snubbed By Foreign Oscar Shortlist; ‘The Class,’ & ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Make The Cut at The Playlist.

Free Scripts: Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Synecdoche, NY,’ Jenny Lumet’s ‘Rachel Getting Married’ And More From Sony Pictures Classics

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:21:00 +0000

Ah, it’s that time of year again. Free script season! When studios want Oscar consideration for their screenplays, they put up all that stuff for free so voters can easily access the materials and vote.

So, following suit, Sony Pictures Classics has put up seven scripts up for consideration including Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” (a great read, nowhere near as dour as the film), Jenny Lumet’s lauded, “Rachel Getting Married” script (she’s the daughter of the great Sydney Lumet, btw), Philippe Claudel’s original, “I’ve Loved You So Long” screenplay (one of our fave films of the year), plus scripts of “The Class,” “Waltz With Bashir,” “Frozen River” and “O’Horten.” Get ’em while they’re hot.

Continue reading Free Scripts: Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Synecdoche, NY,’ Jenny Lumet’s ‘Rachel Getting Married’ And More From Sony Pictures Classics at The Playlist.

The Golden Globes Announce Their Best Foreign Films Nominees List

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:58:00 +0000

It’s a lot of what you’d expect, but that’s ok. Foreign Films nominated by the Golden Globes include Cannes-lauded fare like, “The Class” (France), “Waltz With Bashir (Israel),” “Gomorrah,” “Il Divo,” (both from Italy), “Three Monkeys” (Turkey), “Tokyo Sonata” (Japan), and other foreign stand-outs of 2008 like the notorious “Baader Meinhof Complex” (Germany), “I’ve Loved You So Long” (France), “Let The Right One In” (Sweden),

Indiewire points out: Captain Abu Raed” (Jordan),”Everlasting Moments” (Sweden/Denmark) “Last Stop 174” (Brazil), “O’Horten” (Norway), and “The Secret of the Grain“(France).

Continue reading The Golden Globes Announce Their Best Foreign Films Nominees List at The Playlist.

Soundtrack: ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Also Hits Early

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:42:00 +0000

Soundtracks keep coming out quietly on the sly. Add Ari Folman’s soundtrack to the excellent animated film about the 1983 Beirut massacre, “Waltz With Bashir.”

We failed to write a proper review of this documentary based on Folman’s personal nightmarish-dreams about the tragedy (he was an soldier in the Israeli Army in the war with Lebanon), but we did note its commanding effect and its examination of the staying-power of guilt.

We also wrote about the music.

Continue reading Soundtrack: ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Also Hits Early at The Playlist.

‘The Wrestler’ Gets A Poster, ‘Zack & Miri’ Gets A New Cuddly One

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:31:00 +0000

In Contention brings us a look at new posters for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” and Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” respectively both of which I love especially the latter’s red carpet poster (pity Rourke looks so odd standing next to it, poor guy, I guess he looks as good as he possibly can), also noting that on the WB FYC webpage, an original song (written by Jamie Callum) ‘Gran Torino’ bid has popped up. It better be good because there is nothing worse on Oscar night than having to sit through a bunch of lame ass performances of lame ass songs.

Continue reading ‘The Wrestler’ Gets A Poster, ‘Zack & Miri’ Gets A New Cuddly One at The Playlist.

‘Man on Wire’ Among The Five IDA Documentary Finalists

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:38:00 +0000

The IDA documentary finalists were announced yesterday as well, making it two for two in one day for James Marsh’s apparently amazing documentary “Man on Wire,” about Philippe Petit who walked between the Twin Towers back in the 70’s with nothing but his strength of spirit and a tightrope keeping him from falling. Gonzalo Arijon’s beguiling “Stranded,” which only got a U.S. release last week, which documents the incidents before, during and after the 1972 Andes plan crash as reiterated by the survivors, “Young@Heart,” about a chorus of golden oldies performing pop hits on the daily to take their mind of stuff like their future which is not eligible for the Best Doc award at the Oscars, “Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman’s animated doc chronicling his wartime memories of the Israel/Lebanon conflict of 1982 which isn’t eligible for the Oscar either, and finally “Kassim the Dream,” which tells the story of a Ugandan child soldier who defied the odds and became a world champion boxer, all received spots on the IDA finalist list.

Continue reading ‘Man on Wire’ Among The Five IDA Documentary Finalists at The Playlist.

Lame: ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Not Eligible For Best Documentary Film At Oscars

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:24:00 +0000

A change in already Arcane Academy Awards rules and politics have made it so Ari Folman’s animated look at the 1983 Beirut massacre, “Waltz With Bashir,” won’t be eligible to run in the Best Documentary Film Oscar category according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Evidently the change stipulates that a documentary “requires a one-week qualifying run in New York by Aug. 31,” which has rendered Folman’s much-buzzed about (and excellent) documentary ineligible.

This is a shame.

Continue reading Lame: ‘Waltz With Bashir’ Not Eligible For Best Documentary Film At Oscars at The Playlist.

Cut-Off Day Was Yesterday, Rounding Up This Years Best Foreign Language Film Submissions

Nick Plowman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Wednesday saw the foreign language film selectors taking off their thinking caps and resting on the hope that their official submissions for Best Foreign Language Film appeal to the temperamental Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Cinematical notes that this year 51 countries submitted what they consider their finest products, from the usuals such as Italy and France, and others like Jordan who submitted a film, “Captain Abu Raed,” for the first time ever.

Continue reading Cut-Off Day Was Yesterday, Rounding Up This Years Best Foreign Language Film Submissions at The Playlist.

Foreign Oscar Race Heats Up: ‘Three Monkeys,’ ‘Waltz With Bashir’ And ‘Gomorrah’ Selected

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:31:00 +0000

As per usual, Cannes favorites are dominating this year’s Foreign Oscar picks. Italy has picked the crime-mafia film, “Gomorrah,”to represent their cinema, Turkey has selected “Three Monkeys” to epitomize the best of their films, and Israel has chosen the lauded and animated Beirut war reminiscence, “Waltz With Bashir,” to stand for their country, which also has a shot at getting a nomination for Best Animated Picture as well says Variety (man, that would be great to see something that’s not a kid’s film get nominated in this category for once).

Continue reading Foreign Oscar Race Heats Up: ‘Three Monkeys,’ ‘Waltz With Bashir’ And ‘Gomorrah’ Selected at The Playlist.

Trailer: ‘Waltz With Bashir,’ Plus The Music Of The Film

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:29:00 +0000

We haven’t had a chance to spit out a proper review of Ari Folman’s frank animated film, “Waltz With Bashir,” about the 1982 Beirut massacre, but it is playing at the New York Film Festival which starts proper for the public this Friday. So hopefully we’ll have a chance to spit out a review before we take off for vacation this week, but until then we can say the film is candid, powerful, but not entirely mirthless film about a little-discussed atrocity from the war with Lebanon and the brutal staying-power of guilt.

Continue reading Trailer: ‘Waltz With Bashir,’ Plus The Music Of The Film at The Playlist.

Telluride Film Festival Will Screen First (Small) Peek At Fincher’s ‘Benjamin Button’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:42:00 +0000

We’ve never been to the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (you’d have to send us), but it’s an amazing film festival if you consider this insanely quirky aspect of the fest: passes are sold out waaay in advance, like completely sold out. And when do they announce the line-up? What films will actually be playing? Umm, the day of, basically. Telluride starts proper tomorrow morning, but some films have been screened today and the final line-up just went out.

Continue reading Telluride Film Festival Will Screen First (Small) Peek At Fincher’s ‘Benjamin Button’ at The Playlist.

Cannes: Music Edition – Oldham In Reichardt’s ‘Wendy & Lucy,’ Santaolalla For Salles’ ‘Lina’; More

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:07:00 +0000

The Cannes Film Festival is in full swing and they’ve been kind enough to post all their film press information online which has made our job that much easier (thanks!). Yes, Indiana Jones is plastering it’s shit all over the place, but it’s not even in competition and there’s a lot of more interesting films there worth mentioning.

It’s been two years since Kelly Reichardt directed Will “Bonnie Prince Billy” Oldham in the understated indie classic, “Old Joy,” but the two will work together again her latest film, “Wendy & Lucy.” The mostly hirsute indie rocker will play the so-far nebulous character of “Icky.” Yo La Tengo wrote the serene score to “Old Joy,” but it’s unknown so far if she’ll be tapping any indie-friendly bands to goose her scenes so far (plus YLT will be busy with Greg Mototalla).

Continue reading Cannes: Music Edition – Oldham In Reichardt’s ‘Wendy & Lucy,’ Santaolalla For Salles’ ‘Lina’; More at The Playlist.