We Live In Public Archives - The Playlist

James Toback Pissed At ‘Tyson’ Oscar Doc Snub; Suggests Irregularity In Selection Process Akin To “Extortion”

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Who wee, James Toback is pissed about his documentary, “Tyson” getting the snub from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who announced their Oscar documentary short-list earlier this week and left off his raw portrait of once-boxing great Mike Tyson.

15 docs were picked on the shortlist (“Anvil! The Story Of Anvil” was another very-deserving doc that got shafted as was R.J Cutler’s Anna Wintour doc, “The September Issue”) and “Tyson” didn’t make the cut so the New York Times called up Toback to get his reaction and he’s hopping mad.

Continue reading James Toback Pissed At ‘Tyson’ Oscar Doc Snub; Suggests Irregularity In Selection Process Akin To “Extortion” at The Playlist.

Review: ‘We Live In Public’ A Fascinating Portrait Of A Man Ahead Of His Time

Kevin Jagernauth — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Some of our younger readers may not remember a time when the Internet wasn’t delivered with blazing broadband speed, or offered the kinds of services we now take for granted. For us oldtimers, when we first logged onto the Internet, it was largely BBS groups and Freenets and as a whole, the online world was more or less like a giant message board. Back in those days, 56k dialup speeds were coveted, and we logged in to check our email to the glorious squall of connection noise and blinking lights on our modems.

Continue reading Review: ‘We Live In Public’ A Fascinating Portrait Of A Man Ahead Of His Time at The Playlist.

In Theaters: ‘Taking Woodstock,’ Halloween 2,’ ‘Big Fan’

Hunter McClamrock — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Oof. the summer that could ends with a whimper. And in a summer filled with largely shitty and disappointing tent-poles, which were maligned by critics and fans alike and, despite all this, still one of the highest grossing on record.

Hollywood gets a head start on Halloween season this weekend, literally, with two new entries in long standing franchises and both of them look dreadful. Still, there are some quite interesting choices in limited release, so spend your art-house dollar wisely as we head into the typical late August/early September blues at the box-office (next weekend will be dismal too).

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Taking Woodstock,’ Halloween 2,’ ‘Big Fan’ at The Playlist.

IFFBoston Review: ‘We Live in Public’: A Disturbing Look At The Early Days Of The Internet

Grace Brodie Cruz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Ondi Timoner ( the Brian Jonestown vs. Dandy Warhols doc, “Dig!”) is no doubt a freak magnet and god bless her for that. “We Live In Public” is her latest documentary of Josh Harris, “the greatest internet pioneer you’ve never heard of …” who rose quickly to fame and fortune through his internet breakthroughs in the early days of dial-up and eventually lost his mind and his millions when the dotcom bubble burst.

Harris was the youngest of 7 children who moved to NYC in the mid 80s to make a dent in the tech world with his visions of the future of the Internet.

Continue reading IFFBoston Review: ‘We Live in Public’: A Disturbing Look At The Early Days Of The Internet at The Playlist.

The Independent Film Festival of Boston Scores ‘Brothers Bloom,’ ‘500 Days Of Summer,’ ‘Big Fan’ ‘The Burning Plain’ And More For Cine-Fete Apr 22-28

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Boston is stepping up it’s game. No we don’t mean the city or its baseball team, we mean the The Independent Film Festival of Boston. Admittedly, we don’t know what the festival was like in 2008, but regardless, this year IFFBoston has firmly put itself on the map with a rather excellent line-up that runs April 22 through 28.

Highlights of the festival include Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” “500 Days of Summer” which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel and a killer soundtrack, the writer of “The Wrestler”s (Rob Seigel) directorial debut, “Big Fan,” starring comedian Patton Oswalt in a dramatic role, Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain” (he used to pen all the Alejandro González Iñárritu films, “Babel,” “21 Grams”), Olivier Assayas’ beautiful and profoundly affecting meditation on the loss of parents in “Summer Hours,” Bruce McDonald’s subversion of the zombie genre with “Pontypool,” and Sundance acclaimded films like, Nicolas Winding Refn’s psychopath flick “Bronson” and Bobcat Goldthwait’s “The World’s Greatest Dad.” It’s like a mini SXSW and Sundance right inside Boston which is pretty impressive.

Continue reading The Independent Film Festival of Boston Scores ‘Brothers Bloom,’ ‘500 Days Of Summer,’ ‘Big Fan’ ‘The Burning Plain’ And More For Cine-Fete Apr 22-28 at The Playlist.

‘Push’ Tops The Sundance Film Festival’s Biggest Prizes

Rodrigo Perez — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:11:00 +0000

If you haven’t noticed already, the Sundance Film Festival is a wrap. “An Education” might have been the film attracting all the buzz and headlines at Sundance, but it’s the drama “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire,” starring actress Mo’Nique (no seriously), that topped the Festival’s big prizes.

Not only did the film win the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Dramatic Audience Award, Mo’nique’s performance as a horrendously cruel mother to an obese, illiterate girl struggling in Harlem earned her a Special Jury Prize (our Sundance contributors called this one immediately too – they loved it).

Continue reading ‘Push’ Tops The Sundance Film Festival’s Biggest Prizes at The Playlist.