The Playlist

What’s In The Box? ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Takes A Page From The ‘Se7en’ Playbook In Episode #10, ‘A Man, A Plan...’

By Rodrigo Perez
|
November 19, 2012 12:21 AM
|
2 Comments

Television

Bookended by images of whiskey bottles washing up on the shoreline like dead soldiers, perhaps this poetic image was fitting for the antepenultimate episode of “Boardwalk Empire” number ten, “A Man, A Plan...” where all contrivances went astray.

More:

Review & Recap: 'Boardwalk Empire' Season 3 Opening Episode 'Resolution'

By Edward Davis
|
September 17, 2012 1:35 PM
|
6 Comments

Television

Season 2 of the Terence Winter (“The Sopranos”) created, Martin Scorsese-exec-produced "Boardwalk Empire" ended in a spectacularly bloody and vengeful fashion that left many viewers in mourning (spoilers will follow for those who have not seen the show).

More:

Watch: New Footage In Featurette For 'Anna Karenina' With Keira Knightley, Jude Law & Aaron Johnson

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
July 27, 2012 5:45 PM
|
12 Comments

News

It seems folks are still divided on Joe Wright's undeniably audacious take on Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." After a trailer and a generous six minute clip, some haven't cottoned to Wright's approach, while this writer, at least, has fallen for what has been on display so far, something that at least looks like a fresh approach to literary drama tropes. And with the film just over a month away from its U.K. release and festival bow on this side of the ocean, another peek at the movie has arrived.

More:

Review: Pixar's 'Brave' Is A Powerful But Wobbly Feminist Fairy Tale

By Drew Taylor
|
June 11, 2012 12:00 PM
|
33 Comments

Reviews

There are a lot of firsts associated with "Brave," Disney/Pixar's new feature, set in the misty Scottish highlands. It's the studio's first period piece ("The Incredibles'" captivating retro-futurism doesn't count, it seems), their first fairy tale, and their first film led by a female character (in this case Princess Merida, voiced with strength and conviction by Kelly Macdonald). It was, at one point, also the studio's first movie directed by a woman (Brenda Chapman). And it's these firsts, combined with a charming atmosphere and layers of genuine heart, that make you want to love "Brave" more than you actually do. Because for all these breakthroughs, "Brave" feels hopelessly safe, less a Pixar trailblazer than yet another entry in the Disney princess line of films and products. Brave it is not.

More:

Watch: Latest Trailer For Pixar's 'Brave' Is The Most Promising Yet

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
April 24, 2012 8:16 AM
|
6 Comments

News

With "The Hunger Games" now sitting pretty among the top twenty domestic grossers of all time (it's about to overtake "Jurassic Park"), the fallacy that wide audiences won't go to action-oriented films starring a female lead seems to have been disproven. And we're about to get more helpings of this combination, with "Prometheus" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" both looking to be among the biggest likely hits of the summer, and both led by women. And yet the doubters still prevail. While box office prognosticators sniffed in the past that films starring rats, wordless robots and an old man could be monster hits for Pixar, the studio's latest, "Brave," is being downgraded by many due it to being the first of the company's films led by a female character.

More:

Watch: New 'Brave' Featurette Reveals New Footage, Plot Specifics

By Drew Taylor
|
April 10, 2012 1:40 PM
|
0 Comments

News

Disney's French YouTube channel (via Bleeding Cool) has debuted a new, minute-long featurette for their upcoming Disney/Pixar fairy tale "Brave." The piece seems to be part of a larger marketing scheme called "Brave Stories" that we'll probably see in America on the Disney Channel or ABC's Saturday morning programming (and, of course, online). Despite its brief running time, the featurette offers some new footage and some plot specifics.

More:

Four New Character Posters for 'Brave' Revealed

By Drew Taylor
|
April 3, 2012 12:58 PM
|
0 Comments

News

Over at Entertainment Weekly, four new posters for Disney/Pixar's "Brave" have appeared, in anticipation of the film's fast-approaching June 22nd release. Additionally, director Mark Andrews, who infamously took over the project after the film's original co-writer/director Brenda Chapman was fired, offered commentary on the new posters, which feature selected characters from the off-kilter fairy tale, delivering tidbits of plot information that have yet to leak.

More:

Are Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio & Vanessa Redgrave Headed For The Oscars? Predicting Best Supporting Actor & Actress 2013

By Oliver Lyttelton
|
March 2, 2012 12:59 PM
|
49 Comments

Features

When it came to our super-early Oscar predictions last year, we weren't too far off when it came to Best Picture, or even the lead acting categories. But Supporting Actor & Actress? That was something of a disaster. Ok, so we called Christopher Plummer's victory, but aside from that, we were way off.

More:

Guy Pearce, Ben Foster & Kelly Macdonald To Star In Steve Buscemi’s Adaptation of 'Queer'

By Edward Davis
|
November 2, 2011 9:34 AM
|
0 Comments

In early 2010 we reported that writer/director Oren Moverman — who directed "The Messenger" and the upcoming police drama "Rampart" starring Woody Harrelson — was working on an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' "Queer" and staged a test-drive reading of the screenplay at the Sarasota Film Festival that spring. Evidently he was doing a solid for his friend Steve Buscemi (who cameos in both of Moverman's pictures) who would direct and produce the adaptation.

More:

Exclusive: Joe Wright "Waiting On" Saoirse Ronan & James McAvoy To Confirm For 'Anna Karenina'

By Kevin Jagernauth
|
April 6, 2011 9:26 AM
|
16 Comments

'Hanna' Director Says Benedict Cumberbatch & Kelly Macdonald Have Joined The CastWhile director Joe Wright has his teenage-assassin flick "Hanna" ready to kick some ass in theaters this weekend, he's already got his eye on his next project, an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic "Anna Karenina." There has been plenty of movement in recent weeks on the project. He’s already got longtime collaborator Keira Knightley on board, and Aaron Johnson and Jude Law are also vying for roles. In addition, Saoirse Ronan was also rumored and we had been hearing about the possibility of James McAvoy as well. And it looks like they weren't just idle whispers.

More: