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Watch: First Trailer For Sci-Fi 'Ender's Game' Starring Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley & Asa Butterfield

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • May 7, 2013 4:04 PM
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  • 12 Comments
News
Sci-fi is a hard sell, generally speaking, at the box office, even if it's based off a beloved book like Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game." However, those who have actually read the novel have been wondering just how it will translate onto the big screen? It's not necessarily the most action-driven piece of writing, and the concept is pretty ambitious. Can Hollywood make it work, even while filling all the requirements of the four quadrant tentpole? Well, the first trailer is here to perhaps answer that question.
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More: Ender's Game, Film Trailers, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield

The Best & Worst Moments Of 'Iron Man 3'

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • May 6, 2013 1:29 PM
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  • 43 Comments
Best/worst Iron Man 3 feature
Features
If you were in prison, comatose or pinned to the ground by a fallen armoire this weekend, it's possible you didn't see "Iron Man 3." All the rest of us, it seems, ignored our mothers' protestations and spent a couple of hours of this fine sunny summer weekend indoors in the dark, watching Robert Downey Jr. suit up as Tony Stark/Iron Man for his third solo outing. In fact, judging by these numbers, so did Mom. The "Iron Man" threequel (read about some others here) is already in the history books as the second biggest domestic opening of all time, right behind sister film "The Avengers," and looks on track to be another billion-dollar movie for the unprecedentedly successful Marvel Universe project. But with Shane Black a new recruit for the director's chair (Iron Throne?) and expectations vertiginously high for the launch of Phase Two, the finished film could be expected to show at least a few stretch marks. Our early review is here and since then, many of The Playlist have managed to catch up with it, so here's what we thought worked and what did not. **Spoilers abound.**
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More: Iron Man 3, Features, Feature, Shane Black, Marvel, Ben Kingsley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr.

Review: 'Iron Man 3' Is A Solid, Sometimes Surprising Start To Marvel's Phase Two Movies

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • April 23, 2013 10:38 PM
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  • 16 Comments
Iron Man 3, poster header
Reviews
After just about as successful a start as you could ask for (three new franchises, and one mega-franchise that kicked off with the third biggest movie of all time), the Marvel movie machine is moving into its next phase. And with it comes the risk of dilution; we're getting at least two movies a year (plus TV series "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D"), and with countless other superheroes also in the marketplace, there's a chance that diminishing returns could set in; what was once a special chance to see much-loved characters on the big screen might simply become a bi-annual check in to see much of what we've seen before.
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More: Review, Iron Man 3, Marvel, Shane Black, Drew Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, James Badge Dale, Rebecca Hall, Don Cheadle, Reviews, Robert Downey Jr.

Michael Caine & Ben Kingsley Join Kate Beckinsale & Jim Sturgess In 'Eliza Graves'

  • By Cain Rodriguez
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  • April 12, 2013 12:14 PM
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  • 3 Comments
News
Originally announced three years ago with “Paranormal Activity” director Oren Peli at the helm, the long-brewing Edgar Allan Poe-inspired project “Eliza Graves” is now moving forward with “The Machinist” helmer Brad Anderson in the director’s chair. And he’s added two big names to appear alongside Kate Beckinsale and Jim Sturgess.
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More: Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Eliza Graves

Ben Kingsley's Mandarin Looks Bizarre & Badass On New 'Iron Man 3' Poster

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 22, 2013 7:53 AM
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  • 5 Comments
News
Let's face it, as entertaining as the "Iron Man" movies have been thus far (okay, the second one not so much), the villains haven't been all that great. The first was a game but not particularly memorable Jeff Bridges as the duplicitous Obadiah Stane, the father of Tony Stark's old partner. Shrug. Then in the sequel there was the double dose of the wildly ridiculous Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, and the pitch perfect but underused sleazebag Justin Hammer, in a part taken by Sam Rockwell. But the third in the franchise could be the charm.
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More: Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3

Laika & Focus Features Announce New Animated Feature 'The Boxtrolls' For 2014 Release

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • February 8, 2013 12:22 PM
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  • 2 Comments
News
This has been a crazy week for animation news – Henry Selick's seemingly doomed “The Shadow King” got resurrected; DreamWorks Animation’s financial troubles became very public (leading to schedule shifts and the cancellation of one film); and now here’s another bit of animation world news to get the blood going: Seattle-based stop motion studio Laika and Focus Features will reteam once again for “The Boxtrolls,” which has officially started production, for release on October 17th, 2014. This is the painstaking world of stop motion animation – get cracking boys!
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More: The Boxtrolls, Laika Animated Studios, Focus Features, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Tracy Morgan, Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley Circling 'Mary Mother Of Christ' With Julia Ormond, But Didn't Peter O'Toole Retire?

  • By Charlie Schmidlin
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  • September 28, 2012 11:04 AM
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  • 1 Comment
News
With Mel Gibson having only slightly fallen in the ranks of public perception since his $600 million-grossing “Passion of the Christ,” it's only natural that when stirrings of a quasi-prequel to the Jim Caviezel-starring film began this year at Cannes -- who else -- but the director of 3D cave thriller “Sanctum” would be the one to helm it. Alister Grierson signed on early to direct “Mary Mother of Christ,” but only lately have any new casting hints begun to trickle out, and they're a reliably fitting bunch to boot.
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More: Mary Mother Of Christ, Ben Kingsley, Julia Ormond, Peter O'Toole, Judi Dench, Hugh Bonneville

Watch: Roman Polanski's Prada-Funded Short Film 'A Therapy' With Ben Kingsley & Helena Bonham Carter

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • May 23, 2012 8:00 AM
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  • 2 Comments
News
Last year's "Carnage" might have been something of a disappointment, but it hasn't fazed Roman Polanski: the director's already gearing up for his next film "D," about the famous anti-semitic Dreyfus Affair in France in the 19th century, which will see the director reteam with his "The Ghost Writer" scribe Robert Harris. The plan is for the film to shoot at the end of the year, but Polanski's not been idle in the meantime: he's been in Cannes this week with a threefold purpose: the screening of the documentary "Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir" (read our review here), another screening, of his 1979 picture "Tess," and the unveiling of a new short film that he's directed.
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More: Roman Polanski, Ben Kingsley, Helena Bonham Carter, Alexandre Desplat

Mark Duplass, Jennifer Aniston & Ben Kingsley Head To 'Convention,' Patrick Wilson & Christina Hendricks Lead Darren Aronofsky-Produced 'Zipper'

  • By Cain Rodriguez
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  • May 21, 2012 10:40 AM
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  • 0 Comments
News
Mark Duplass has had busy couple of years, directing and writing three films with his brother, and starring in a number of projects including the raunchy FX comedy, “The League,” and in the upcoming sci-fi tinged indie dramedy “Safety Not Guaranteed” with Aubrey Plaza. He’s following up that role with one in another indie film with a sci-fi element, “Convention,” and he’s going to be acting opposite some pretty big names.
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More: Mark Duplass, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Kingsley, Stellan Skarsgard, Patrick Wilson, Christina Hendricks, Darren Aronofsky, Simon Pegg, Convention, Zipper, The Physician, Hector And The Search For Happiness

New Pics Of Sacha Baron Cohen, Megan Fox & Anna Faris In 'The Dictator'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • May 2, 2012 10:44 AM
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  • 0 Comments
News
Believe it or not, The Playlist likes nothing more than a dumb, hilarious movie. And Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the best at delivering big laughs from big broad characters, while also having some smarts riding beneath the surface. And while it didn't make our top ten list of summer blockbusters we're looking forward to, there was certainly some debate around the water cooler as a few us are definitely on board for Cohen's next, "The Dictator."
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More: The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Megan Fox, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly

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