Indie News

It’s hard to find a TV series that still generates as much excitement after a decade as “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Most series begin to sputter out well before Season 11, but the HBO comedy series is seemingly more popular than ever before, as it prepares for its latest batch of episodes that arrive next month.

Read More: Fall 2021 TV Preview: 38 Series To Watch

As seen in the teaser for Season 11 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” HBO is proud to note that even though the world has changed since Season 10 ended its run in early 2020, Larry David still hasn’t.

Continue reading ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Season 11 Teaser: The World Has Changed Over The Past Year But Larry David Hasn’t at The Playlist.

It’s been more than five years since Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” reboot hit theaters in 2016. And since then, there have been a number of bad remakes, reboots, and sequels, but you’d be hard-pressed to think of any of them that received the backlash that the aforementioned reboot did when it was released. Honestly, it was over-the-top how much the fandom seemingly not only hated the film but also hated everyone involved in making that version of “Ghostbusters.” And for Melissa McCarthy, the star of the film, even after all this time, she’s still confused by the insane reaction the film received.

Continue reading Melissa McCarthy Still Doesn’t Understand The “Hate-Filled” Reaction To The ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot at The Playlist.

Two filmmakers uniquely fascinated with mapping and navigating moments in time, Mia Hansen-Løve and Joachim Trier, know how to pass an hour. And, in fact, their free talk on Monday evening — part of this year’s New York Film Festival, where Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” and Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” are both Main Slate selections — ran about 20 minutes over its scheduled 60, though attendees packed into the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center’s 75-capacity Amphitheater didn’t seem to mind.

Continue reading Mia Hansen-Løve & Joachim Trier Talk Ingmar Bergman, Growing As A Filmmaker & More [NYFF] at The Playlist.

The process of making “The Guilty” was both “the thrill and terror” for producer-actor Jake Gyllenhaal. He was able to push the unusual solo-player movie forward because one) he’s a producer-star with strong director relationships, and two) he’s a seasoned stage performer attracted to acting challenges. He discovered the Danish original, Gustav Möller’s 2018 Oscar submission, when his New York Nine Stories producing partner Riva Marker suggested he’d like the Sundance entry. He did.

Both movies focus on an isolated 911 police dispatcher on the phone with a possible kidnapping victim whose children are left home alone. We see the dispatcher but only hear the people he’s talking to as he gets more and more stressed about what’s happening beyond his control, miles away.

Gyllenhaal happened to be prepping a Broadway monologue at the time he first saw the original — he went on to earn his

While the reviews for “The Many Saints of Newark” haven’t been as glowing as the reviews for “The Sopranos” TV series, most people can agree that Michael Gandolfini is good in his role as a young Tony Soprano in the film. So, perhaps there’s room for yet another ‘Sopranos’ prequel in the future? The actor is open to the idea, but he thinks the clock is definitely ticking on when it’s appropriate.

Continue reading Michael Gandolfini Is Interested In Playing Tony Soprano Again But There’s A Natural “Cutoff” Point at The Playlist.

After launching an ambitious — and quite popular — hybrid festival for its 2021 edition, the Sundance Film Festival is preparing for a slightly more traditional event in 2022. As announced earlier this year, online screenings will still take place in 2022 — the festival is running January 20 through 30 — but Park City is readying to mount a larger in-person event as well. The Sundance Institute announced today several key aspects of how the 2022 festival will take place, both in-person and online, including further details on Satellite Screen partners and locations, ticket package details and on-sale dates, plus further elaboration of its earlier health and safety guidelines.

“Our programming team, led by the fearless Kim Yutani, is deep into screening the mountain of submissions we have already received this year,” said Festival Director Tabitha Jackson in an official statement. “As our press and industry offices open in preparation for the next edition of our festival we are

It’s not controversial to say “Stranger Things” is one of the most popular TV series currently being produced, streaming or otherwise. And it’s also not a hot take to say Millie Bobby Brown is one of the most popular young actors working today. So, is it really all that surprising that Netflix is looking to expand the “Stranger Things” universe by focusing a new series on Millie Bobby Brown’s character?

Continue reading Millie Bobby Brown Might Lead One Of Netflix’s Potential ‘Stranger Things’ Spinoffs at The Playlist.

According to “The Many Saints of Newark” director Alan Taylor, screenwriter and “The Sopranos” creator David Chase has hinted about keeping the door open for a sequel or follow-up project. If it happens, Michael Gandolfini is more than ready to return as young Tony Soprano. “Many Saints” takes place during Tony’s childhood and high school years, which is why Gandolfini is so eager to see the character through his twenties. But that’s all the Tony Soprano the actor wants. Gandolfini wants to reprise Tony, but probably just one more time and that’s it.

“This is such an incredible character and incredible group of actors and incredible filmmakers that I learned so much,” Gandolfini said in an Uproxx interview. “This is going to jump to the priority to get to work with David or anyone again. But I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony. I

When you talk to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and you ask them to name the worst film in the 25 that have been released, the second “Thor” film, ‘The Dark World,’ is always going to be in the conversation. And the filmmaker behind that feature understands that there are problems with the film and would love to have a Snyder Cut-esque second chance if Marvel Studios wants to give him millions of dollars to see his original vision through.

Continue reading ‘Thor: The Dark World’ Director Is Ready For His Snyder Cut Moment But Knows It’s Not Going To Happen at The Playlist.

Adam Driver parked himself at the forefront of Hollywood almost a decade ago with breakout roles in “Frances Ha” and “Girls,” both released in 2012, but his career has been far from idle since then. After two Academy Award nominations, three Emmy nods, and one “Star Wars” trilogy, Driver is one of the most in-demand actors working today.

The former Marine has collaborated with auteurs like Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Noah Baumbach, and Jim Jarmusch, even bringing his talent to Broadway with a Tony-nominated turn in “Burn This.” Driver’s unrivaled dedication to his craft makes it almost impossible to pick a favorite performance of his; his transformation into his characters is so flawless that each role feels like we’re meeting him for the first time. And what a lovely introduction it is.

“Part of my job is being anonymous and I think being able to live, to observe more than to be observed,

When a network/streaming service finds an unexpected hit series, you better believe it’s going to explore expanding the franchise with sequels and spinoffs. And for Amazon and “The Boys,” not only is the series still going strong, with Season 3 expected soon, but the streaming platform is officially greenlighting the first spinoff.

According to THR, Amazon has given a season order for the untitled spinoff of “The Boys.” The series was previously reported as getting a pilot order, but apparently, Amazon was enthused with what it saw in that episode and has given the series a full season to spread its superhero cape.

Continue reading Amazon Orders A Full Season Of ‘The Boys’ College Spinoff But With New Showrunners at The Playlist.

The list of names of those who have had a greater impact on television than David Chase is exceedingly short, if such a list exists at all. Chase made his debut in the medium in 1971, as a one-off writer for “The Lawyers,” penning the episode “In Defense of Ellen McKay.” Chase went on to work as the story editor for the influential horror-thriller series “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” and then as a writer and producer for four seasons of “The Rockford Files,” where he won his first Emmy.

Continue reading David Chase Talks ‘Many Saints Of Newark,’ ‘Sopranos’ & The Secret To Good Gangster Films [Fourth Wall Podcast] at The Playlist.

Netflix, over the course of its history, has been incredibly secretive when it comes to statistics. This has caught the film and TV industry off guard, as people grew accustomed to box office and ratings data for projects. But since Netflix controls all of the data, it picks and chooses what is public and what isn’t. This makes the most recent data dump by Netflix the most interesting yet, as it finally breaks down the service’s most popular TV series and films of all time.

Continue reading Netflix Details Most Popular Films & TV Shows In The Streamer’s History at The Playlist.

Lucasfilm sure does love its cameos, right? Especially in the Disney era of the “Star Wars” franchise, it’s pretty common to see fan-favorite characters show up in films and TV series just to get that momentary squee reaction from viewers. Well, you’d probably be shocked to know that is likely going to continue with the upcoming “Andor” Disney+ series.

Read More: ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Feels Like A Collection Of Anime Cover Songs With Only A Few Hits [Review]

Speaking to Deadline, Diego Luna, the star of the upcoming “Andor,” didn’t talk too much about what fans can expect with his upcoming live-action “Star Wars” series.

Continue reading ‘Andor’: Diego Luna Teases “Familiar Faces” Showing Up In His ‘Star Wars’ Series at The Playlist.

Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos expressed surprise at Vox Media’s Code Conference this week (via Variety) when revealing the Korean survival drama “Squid Game” is becoming such a blockbuster for the streaming giant that it could soon dethrone “Bridgerton” as the biggest Netflix television series of all time. The first season of Shonda Rhimes’ Regency romance stands atop Netflix’s list of most popular series by household (82 million) and most popular series by hours spent viewing (625 million). As always, it’s important to note the streamer counts 2 minutes of streaming as a view.

As reported by Variety: “Sarandos said that high-concept Korean survival drama ‘Squid Game,’ which premiered Sept. 17, has a very [big] chance of becoming the biggest Netflix show ever, and currently ranks as the No. 1 show worldwide on the service. ‘We did not see that coming, in terms of its global popularity,’ Sarandos said.”

“Squid Game” comes from writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk,

Sister Maria, a.k.a. La SexorcistaMovie-lovers!Welcome back to The Deuce Notebook—a collaboration between Mubi's Notebook and The Deuce Film Series, our monthly event at Nitehawk Williamsburg that excavates the facts and fantasies of cinema's most infamous block in the world: 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. For each screening, my co-hosts and I pick a title that we think embodies the era of 24-hour genre-hopping, and present the venue at which it premiered...This month, we welcome one of our favorite Deuce-regulars, Screen Slate contributor Madelyn Sutton, who’s taken the helm and commandeered us down a merciless spiral of nunsploitation… Check out her piece below for your fill of nuns gone wild!—The Deuce JockeysVanessa Redgrave in Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971)Naughty nuns: the appeal is obvious. Cloaked in the magnetic mystery of her thick twill tunic, the solid walls of the cloister,

Quentin Tarantino has claimed in several interviews that Westerns, more than any other genre, reflect the “values and problems” of the era in which they were made. If that’s true, audiences are in for a vivid temperature check with “The Harder They Fall,” an upcoming neo-Western from Netflix.

Read More: BFI London Film Festival 2021 Lineup Includes ‘The Harder They Fall’ World Premiere, ‘Spencer,’ ‘Last Night In Soho’ & More

The film was produced by Jay-Z, longtime Tarantino collaborator Lawrence Bender, and Will Smith’s business partner James Lassiter.

Continue reading ‘The Harder They Fall’ Trailer: Idris Elba, Jonathan Major & Zazie Beetz Shoot It Out In A Netflix Neo-Western at The Playlist.

Netflix has premiered the official trailer for its upcoming Western film “The Harder They Fall,” which might just be one of the most star-studded titles of the fall movie season. Take a deep breath and check out this roster of actors: Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, Regina King, Idris Elba, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, R.J. Cyler, Damon Wayans Jr., and Deon Cole. If “The Harder They Fall” wasn’t one of your most anticipated films of 2021, it certainly just become one. Netflix is billing the film as “a new school Western.”

“The Harder They Fall” is the latest directorial effort from writer-director Jeymes Samuel. The filmmaker was behind the 2013 short film “They Die by Dawn,” a Western starring Rosario Dawson and Giancarlo Esposito. Samuel wrote “The Harder They Fall” with Boaz Yakin, best known as the director of “Remember the Titans” and screenwriter of “Now You See Me.

Tom Skerritt is the very definition of a veteran actor. Mash, Alien, Steel Magnolias, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, and countless other supporting credits in films and television grace his esteemed resume, plus an Emmy for Picket Fences. But never a lead role in a feature film! Until now. East Of The Mountains just might be 88-year-old Tom Skerritt’s best work on the screen. It’s an assured, vulnerable, simple yet extremely powerful performance, utilizing, as he describes in this episode, his “less is more” approach to acting. He talks about what he learned mentoring with Robert Altman and […]

The post Back to One, Episode 171: Tom Skerritt first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Above: Qui rido io (The King of Laughter).Ever so slowly, at least in good parts of Europe, life is returning more and more to a semblance of what we once knew as normal—setbacks and snags included, of course.The 2021 Venice Film Festival was a curious example of that on the organizational level: The same security measures as last year plus vaccination or recovery certificates on top; the same ticketing system, but much more attendees. Which ended in a bit of a massive mess as getting access to screenings became an ordeal. The festival probably hoped that if they just offered enough possibilities to watch a film then everything would even out somehow, but that was not the case, for myriads of reasons, some too mathematical to get into here and others too tediously defined by circumstances. These things happen when a team has to deal with dozens and