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Jane Campion’s ‘Top of the Lake’: More Than Just a Police Procedural

By Jason Bailey on

Top of the Lake is a TV miniseries about a sexually abused 12-year-old girl who subsequently disappears, and the hard-case police detective who is trying to find her. Based on that logline, you’d think you’ve seen it before, and in the most basic, shallow, cosmetic sense, you’d be right: there are tough scenes in interrogation rooms, police strategy meetings with PowerPoint presentations, and plenty of shots of our protagonist gazing at walls covered with pictures of the missing girl. But there is much more to the series than that, which isn’t surprising considering its pedigree — this is the work of Jane Campion, the Oscar-winning writer/director of The Piano and An Angel at My Table. The idea that she would be interested in doing a mere police procedural is silly, and while she doesn’t cheat on the mystery elements, they’re also used as window dressing for themes that are far more compelling. … Read More

Film

Exclusive Supercut: 15 Thanksgiving Dos and Don’ts (From the Movies)

By Jason Bailey on

With Thanksgiving approaching, our holiday anxiety is at an all time high — after all, this is a high-stress holiday, with family member and friends gathering to eat, drink (often a lot), and judge. That combination of elements makes it awfully hard to know exactly how to act on Thursday; luckily, as in most difficult situations, the movies are here to help. So we’ve assembled clips from the Thanksgiving scenes of 17 movies, and gleaned the advice they offer in order to create 15 Dos and Don’ts for Thanksgiving. Check out this exclusive supercut after the jump. … Read More

Film

Flavorpill’s Guide to Movies You Need to Stream This Week

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to Flavorpill’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. July brought some great new titles on Netflix, and almost all of this week’s titles come from that batch — including films from Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Mark Wahlberg, Holly Hunter, and Woody Allen, plus documentaries, foreign oddities, and more. Check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

Film

This Week in Trailers: ‘Maniac,’ ‘Won’t Back Down,’ ‘Hit & Run,’ and More

By Jason Bailey on

Every Friday here at Flavorwire, we like to gather up the week’s new movie trailers, give them a look-see, and rank them from worst to best — while taking a guess or two about what they might tell us (or hide from us) about the movies they’re promoting. We’ve got new seven trailers this week, featuring Bradley Cooper, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Orlando Bloom, Kristen Bell, Elijah Wood, Zoe Saldana, and Olivia Wilde. Check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More