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U.S. DVD Release Of 'Pride' Called Out For Removing References To Homosexuality
37 minutes ago
Critically acclaimed, a box office success at home, and the winner of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor at the British Independent Film Awards, "Pride" had no shortage of accolades in 2014. But when it came to releasing the film, CBS Films couldn't seem to figure out what to do with it. They dropped the movie in limited release on September 26th and try as they might, they couldn't get audiences to show up. But you might think that the awards accolades and critical praise might give them another shot on home video, but it seems they've bungled that too. PinkNews have pointed out that the U.S. DVD release of "Pride," which hit stores on December 23rd, was curiously absent of any references to homosexuality. And it's a bit odd considering the movie is based on the true story of Lgbt activists and mining union groups coming »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Review: Jay & Mark Duplass' Terrific 'Togetherness' Is The Next Must See HBO Dramedy
1 hour ago
Currently on HBO, there is no shortage of high concept, top tier television. The network's most popular show is the fantasy series "Game Of Thrones," their most critically acclaimed is the brooding "True Detective," while their comedy lineup takes viewers to the White House ("Veep"), tech industry ("Silicon Valley"), hospitals ("Getting On"), and into lives of young twenty-something women ("Girls"). But what sets "Togetherness" apart is just how unspectacular or controversial it is. The series follows four regular, middle-aged adults living in Los Angeles, just trying to make ends meet, make their relationships work, and find happiness in their lives. It sounds like the synopsis that launched a thousand Sundance movies, but the most remarkable thing about the show created by Mark and Jay Duplass is how new it all feels. Brimming with heart, humor, and a depiction of adult life that feels honest and real, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Watch: First 10 Minutes Of SyFy Series '12 Monkeys' Takes You To The Year 2043
1 hour ago
Even though Terry Gilliam isn't involved, that small screen adaptation of one of his best movies, "12 Monkeys," still holds lots of potential. The premise is ripe to be explored in an episodic format, and even though it's set in the future, there is a certain timeliness to the subject matter. But can SyFy make it work? Well, here's the first ten minutes of the series, so you be the judge. And straight off, we'll just say this — the acting leaves a lot to be desired. Granted, this is SyFy, but there is something stilted and slightly too serious in the material here, and it's missing Gilliam's touch of surreality and humor. But to be fair, this is just the pilot, and if we based every series off the first episode, we'd have given up on all of our favorite shows ages ago. Here's the official synopsis: The show follows the journey of a time traveler, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Exclusive: Trailer For Retrospective Series 'In Case Of No Emergency: The Films Of Ruben Östlund'
2 hours ago
While it didn't crack our 20 Best Films Of 2014, "Force Majeure" impressed many of us here at The Playlist, and has been one of the most acclaimed pictures of the year (indeed, it has made the Oscar Foreign Film shortlist). And while director Ruben Östlund may be a new name to many, he's been making films for over a decade. That said, the spotlight has never shined brighter on the filmmaker than it is right now, and there's no better time to catch up with movies that have helped launch Östlund into an international cinematic voice that is earning big attention. The Comeback Company has put together the retrospective series, "In Case Of No Emergency: The Films Of Ruben Östlund" and today we have the exclusive trailer for traveling film event. Feating both his shorts and feature length films, the series isn't just giving audiences a chance to look back on the filmmaker's work, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Matthew Vaughn Says Audiences "Have Had Enough" Of Christopher Nolan's "Very Dark, Bleak Style Of Superhero" Films
2 hours ago
Consider the gauntlet thrown. Matthew Vaughn has spent a good portion of his press run for "Kingsman: The Secret Service" declaring that his spy movie action/comedy/parody is a brazen return to fun at the movies that has been missing. He's already described the first billion-dollar-earning Bond movie "Skyfall" as "pretty exhausting," and now he's taking aim at fanboy fave Christopher Nolan. "People want fun and escapism at the moment," Vaughn told SFX (via THR). "Look at the success of 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' I think Nolan kick-started a very dark, bleak style of superhero escapism, and I think people have had enough of it." This isn't the first Vaughn has declared his love for the Marvel movie, previously calling it "a fucking genius piece of filmmaking." But about his jab at Nolan? Well, we'd argue that audiences don't care if a movie is a bit more gritty or freewheeling and loose, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Steven Soderbergh Lists Everything He Watched And Read In 2014
3 hours ago
As you probably already know by now, Steven Soderbergh gets more done in a day that most do in a week. Even in his "retirement," he's knocking out one of the best shows on television at a mind-boggling pace ("The Knick"), and this past fall, he spent his time producing, editing, and lensing "Magic Mike Xxl." Those two jobs alone would be more than enough to fill the days of anybody, but Soderbergh also spent 2014 watching a lot of movies and TV shows, and squeezing in some reading too. And over on his website Extension 765, he's revealed everything he consumed in 2014. It's a lot to wade through, but here's some interesting highlights that jumped out at us: he watched Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" twice, and read Piers Bizony's making-of book; it doesn't look like he finished "True Detective" or "Transparent"; last month he watched a cut of »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Channing Tatum's 'Gambit' Sets Fall 2016 Release Date, 'Game Of Thrones' Heads To IMAX And More
4 hours ago
Next year, you'll have nine superhero movies to choose from, and one of them will be "Gambit." The Channing Tatum-starring picture now has an official release date slated for October 7, 2016. Fox is pitting the picture against Ben Affleck's "Live By Night" and Universal's "Monster High," making for a more crowded than usual early October weekend. And of course, the next question is whether or not "Gambit" will tie into "X-Men: Apocalypse" — both written by Josh Zetumer — and given the way every studio is chasing big cinematic universes, our guess is yes. In other Fox release date news: "Macbeth" duo Michael Fassbender and director Justin Kurzel will deliver "Assassin's Creed" on December 21, 2016, and a few days later, Hugh Jackman will be "The Greatest Showman On Earth" on December 25, 2016. Meanwhile, some movie called "Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates" takes the prime summer slot of July »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Watch: Ethan Hawke Makes A 'Good Kill' In First Trailer For Andrew Niccol's Military Thriller
4 hours ago
The last time filmmaker Andrew Niccol explored the nature of modern warfare, it was in the cult fave "Lord Of War," which detailed the wheelings and dealings of an arms dealer with a broken moral compass. But these days, why bother with guns on the ground when you can rain down bullets and missiles from the sky? And what are the consequences of targeting our enemies from thousands of miles away while sitting behind a desk, flying drones like they were in a PlayStation game? Those are the questions Niccol takes on in "Good Kill," his third movie with Ethan Hawke, and the first international trailer is here. Co-starring January Jones, Bruce Greenwood and Zoe Kravitz, the movie follows an Air Force major who now pilots drones twelve hours a day, taking on his targets from a computer screen. But the toll begins to weigh on the soldier as he »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Watch: Trailer For David O. Russell's 'Nailed' Starring Jake Gyllenhall & Jessica Biel, Now Called 'Accidental Love'
4 hours ago
When is a David O. Russell movie not a David O. Russell movie? When it's credited to some guy named Stephen Greene. And who is Stephen Greene? Well, considering he doesn't exist on IMDb, we'll wager it's an Alan Smithee-like pseudonym used by the folks behind "Nailed" — now called "Accidental Love" — who obviously couldn't put Russell's name on the picture. As you'll recall, way back in 2008 the troubled production was essentially a stop-and-start affair. Producers struggled to keep the movie financed, and filming was stopped one day before schedule, and before Russell could film the crucial scene he needed to tie it all together. But that hasn't stopped Millennium Entertainment from trying to make this work — they've put the movie back together again and are bringing it to theaters, and the first trailer is here. Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener, Tracy Morgan, James Marsden, Bill Hader and more »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Aphex Twin Says Chris Cunningham Made A Zombie Movie But Decided Not To Release It, May Collaborate With Him Again
19 hours ago
For a certain music fan, the '90s are defined by the collaborations between knob twiddler Aphex Twin and director Chris Cunningham. The pair delivered two of the most iconic videos of the decade with "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker," while Cunningham also directed the beautiful video for Bjork's "All Is Full Of Love" (which reportedly features some of the work he did for Stanley Kubrick on "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" during his brief association with the project, and obviously before Steven Spielberg became involved). But where has Cunningham been lately? He's been doing commercials and music videos here and there, while also being loosely affiliated with various big screen projects that never seem to pan out. But it seems he has one in the can...he's just not going to release it. In a feature for Groove, the electronic artist took questions from other musicians, and Gernot Bronsert of Moderat asked, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Why Aren't You Going To The Movies? 2014 Ticket Purchase Numbers The Lowest In Two Decades
20 hours ago
2014 had a lot to offer moviegoers: Blockbuster sequels, challenging dramas, adventurous indies, and out there arthouse efforts. But one thing it didn't have was the audience to see these films. According to early figures, purchased cinema tickets were at a two-decade low in 2014, with 1.26 billion sold in North America (the last time the number was that low was in 1994, when theater patrons bought 1.24 billion tickets). Granted, that's still a lot of people eager for the big screen experience, but it seems a not insignificant portion of the population didn't make the effort in 2014, and we'd reckon both studios and theater owners are concerned. Seemingly surefire blockbusters like "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (which earned over $1 billion worldwide), and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1" still raked in cash, but failed to earn as much as their predecessors at the domestic box office. Clearly, the foreign box »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Watch: Fast-Paced 4-Minute Wes Anderson Tribute Captures The Filmmaker’s Spirit In A New Way
21 hours ago
Wes Anderson is one of those modern auteurs with a laundry list of highly distinctive visual and thematic touches, so it’s no wonder that when comedians are tasked to create a parody in the style of a director, or when editors want to put together a tribute for a director’s body of work, Anderson’s name pops up more often than any other. All one has to do is to match cut a handful of his signature immaculately symmetrical frames, gently lay it down on an audio track full of melancholic '60s songs, bookend the whole thing with giant blocks of yellow text, and you got yourself a prime piece of languid hipster porn. However, even when we think we’ve seen every tonal approach from director tributes on the web, every once in a while a refreshing take presents itself. Vimeo user Ana Romao’s brisk and energetic Anderson video, »
- Oktay Ege Kozak
Armond White Says Awards Shows Lessen "The Importance Of Criticism"
21 hours ago
Well, we suppose it wouldn't be an awards season without Armond White chiming in. Last year, he was the center of minor storm of controversy after he allegedly heckled Steve McQueen during the New York Film Critics Circle awards ceremony (and while he denied he did anything of the sort, he already had a reputation for being something of a boor during the show in previous years). But in 2014 he crossed the line and was ousted from the group, and the Nyfcc also issued an apology to "12 Years A Slave" studio Fox Searchlight. But White is back in 2015 and is now worried about the state of film criticism, because if he can't heckle filmmakers, what has become of the cinematic discourse? Okay, I'm being a bit cheeky, but White's guest column at The Hollywood Reporter finds him clumsily using his own ejection from the New York Film Critics Circle as »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Scarlett Johansson Joins 'Ghost In The Shell'; Matt Damon Out, Casey Affleck In For Kenneth Lonergan's 'Manchester-By-The-Sea' & More
22 hours ago
...and here's you first piece of major casting news for 2015: Scarlett Johansson has officially signed up for the manga/anime adaptation/redo, "Ghost In The Shell." The actress was offered the role in the long-developing movie last fall, but contracts have been signed and things are moving forward. Variety reports that Rupert Sanders ("Snow White and the Huntsman") will direct the movie that follows "a member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission that specializes in fighting technology-related crime." So, if you're expecting some of the subtext of gender and sexuality to figure into this version...yeah, probably not. DreamWorks is backing the movie right now, with Paramount possibly coming on board as well. What's going on with "Margaret" director Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester-By-The-Sea"? Well, with Matt Damon's schedule tied up for the foreseeable future with Ridley Scott's "The Martian," »
- Kevin Jagernauth
The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2015 (Part 1)
22 hours ago
As we massage away the crick in our neck from all the looking backward we’ve done recently (here’s the complete rundown of all our Best of 2014 features), now we get to look forward to looking forward. And since no doubt most of you are currently suffering some form of the back-to-work horrors, we got ours out of the way early, so we could bring you the soothing balm of our Most Anticipated Films of 2015 and ease you through the official Worst Day of the Year. Avoid chit chat about soon-to-be-broken resolutions! Eschew depressing conversations about how broke you all are! Avoid hearing that joke where some wag counts how many shopping days there are till next Christmas! Instead, immerse yourself in a long, long list of the quality entertainments the movie industry will be serving up to distract you from your miserable lives throughout 2015! In fact, this is »
- The Playlist Staff
PGA Best Picture Nominees Include 'Birdman,' 'Foxcatcher,' 'American Sniper'; 'Selma' & 'Inherent Vice' Snubbed
5 January 2015 9:20 AM, PST
If you're a betting man and want to lay down the best odds on the Oscar nominations, the Producers Guild of America Awards are the best predictors of how Academy voting might shake out. Today, the organization dropped their nominees for this year's awards, and there are something things to note. While reviews were mixed and the reception wasn't quite enthusiastic, Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" has not only been doing great business in limited release, it has captured the attention of industry insiders, landing on the list for Best Motion Picture. The little movie that could — no, we're not talking "Boyhood" — "Nightcrawler" has been rewarded with a slot (same goes for "Whiplash"). Voters didn't forget about Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," released all the way back last spring, and David Fincher's "Gone Girl" — perhaps seen as too slight to have a chance — has also been nominated. »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Download Over 20 Awards Season Screenplays Including 'Gone Girl,' 'Nightcrawler,' 'Grand Budapest Hotel' & More
5 January 2015 9:05 AM, PST
'Tis the season for staying inside and reading. With much of the country set to be gripped by the first real cold spell of winter, what better time to curl up with a good...screenplay. Over the last few months studios have made the screenplays available for their awards-contending films as the campaigns rolled out, and with Oscar voting closing this week, they all make for a great pile of reading. Go Into The Story has gathered them all together, with over 20 to choose from, in almost any category you can imagine. Do you want to weep? Well, there's "The Fault In Our Stars." Do you want a wild ride? "Gone Girl" will do the trick. Do you want to spend ninety-minutes in a car? Not only do you have very specific demands, but "Locke" will fit the bill. Check 'em all out below and let us know which was »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Slamdance Exclusive: Eerie Trailer For Thriller 'Body'
5 January 2015 8:19 AM, PST
The time is now for new voices in the horror/thriller genre. Across the past year, Jennifer Kent ("The Babadook"), Adam Wingard ("The Guest"), and David Robert Mitchell ("It Follows") have unveiled distinct, acclaimed films that have proved there is still plenty of room left for original, hair-raising movies. And at the Slamdance Film Festival, co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen are hoping they too will join those filmmakers with "Body." Starring Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, and Larry Fessenden, the wintry thriller kicks off with a killing and turns the screws from there. Here's the official synopsis: After three twenty-something girls break into a mansion and inadvertently murder the groundskeeper, they slowly self-destruct as they decide what to do with the dead body in the living room. And as you'll see from this eerie teaser, "Body" promises a spine-tingling atmosphere and some carefully calibrated »
- Edward Davis
Watch/Listen: Over 2.5 Hours Of Interviews With Paul Thomas Anderson, Katherine Waterston & More For 'Inherent Vice'
5 January 2015 8:01 AM, PST
“He doesn’t meet people, I don’t know if he even exists,” Paul Thomas Anderson told The Guardian about Thomas Pynchon, author of "Inherent Vice," perhaps with tongue firmly in cheek. Ever since Josh Brolin said in early interviews that the reclusive author had visited the set of the film, Anderson has politely ducked confirming or denying the writer's involvement with the picture. "I just try to work with the book, you know, and to treat the book as a collaborator,” he elaborated. "...that’s like those stories about B Traven [the mysterious author of 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre']. No one ever knew who Traven was, and these pages would supposedly appear under [the director] John Huston’s door with notes and stuff. Or they’d be on the set and look over and there’d be a guy with a hat and sunglasses, and they’d all be going, ‘Is that B Traven? Is that him?’ So it »
- Kevin Jagernauth
'Goodbye To Language' The Surprise Best Picture Winner In The National Society Of Film Critics Awards
5 January 2015 7:50 AM, PST
While it seems that Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" has all the love and acclaim to carry it through to a plethora of Oscar nominations, and probably a handful of wins too, the National Society Of Film Critics say, "non." The group announced their winners over the weekend, and it was a film from a grumpy French legend that came out on top instead. Jean-Luc Godard's "Goodbye To Language" was the surprise Best Picture winner — by one vote — with the digital arthouse movie, featuring the 3D sequencing that everyone is talking about but no one has seen, beating the little indie that could. Elsewhere, the winners were what you might expect, with no big shakeups, and Richard Linklater took Best Director anyway. And in case you're wondering if this will have any bearing on the Oscar voting, not a chance. Check out the full list of winners below. [Vulture] Best Picture »
- Kevin Jagernauth
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