The Playlist

Tina Fey Joins Jason Bateman In Dramedy 'This Is Where I Leave You'

By Ken Guidry
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March 1, 2013 11:22 AM
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1 Comment

News

Tina Fey has certainly been keeping herself busy now that “30 Rock” is officially over. She stars in the upcoming rom-com “Admission” with Paul Rudd, her first starring role since 2010’s “Date Night,” and she’s currently filming “Muppets...Again!” sequel alongside Ricky Gervais. And now, she’s entering negotiations to join Jason Bateman in the comedy/drama “This Is Where I Leave You,” an adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Johnathan Tropper, who wrote the script himself.

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Sundance Review: Wise & Mature 'The Spectacular Now' Marked By Strong Performances From Miles Teller & Shailene Woodley

By Rodrigo Perez
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January 19, 2013 1:13 PM
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2 Comments

Reviews

Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is the charming, good time guy who lives in the moment. Self-assured, he’s the life of the party, popular and he and his girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson) breeze through their high school experience. Sutter and Cassidy are like a teenage power couple that rule parties thanks to their appeal and all the social lubricants at hand. But, writing an admission letter to the Dean of a university, Sutter reveals his life is at a crossroads. Thinking she's caught him with another girl, Cassidy has dumped him, when the truth is that Sutter was using his good-time skills to help get his timid friend Ricky (Masam Holden) laid. But Cassidy isn’t having it and Sutter can’t see why this is the straw that broke the camel’s back with her.

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The Breakout Performances Of 2012

By The Playlist Staff
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December 11, 2012 1:56 PM
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12 Comments

Features

One of the great thrills of being a movie fan is discovery. In a few weeks, we'll be rolling out our lists of the films we're looking forward to in 2013, many of which come from established names. And yet invariably, many of the best movies that will surprise us over the next twelve months will be ones that are, as yet, barely on our radar, from directors with no track record, and featuring actors who you wouldn't have been able to pick from a line up a few months earlier.

Oscars: Can Mary Elizabeth Winstead Sneak Into The Best Actress Field For 'Smashed'?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 15, 2012 11:59 AM
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19 Comments

Awards

We've been looking in detail at the acting categories in recent weeks, and this week, we figured it made sense to examine Best Actress, given that one potential contender has her film arriving in theaters. Today sees the release of "Smashed," which sees "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" star Mary Elizabeth Winstead play a schoolteacher who comes to realize that she has a serious drinking problem, and sets about kicking the habit, even as it puts her marriage to her equally sozzled husband (Aaron Paul) at risk.

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Rumor: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Tops Contenders For Female Lead In 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 12, 2012 3:31 PM
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News

The usual caveats are in place -- take it with a grain of salt, don't have heart palpitations and just chill. It's a rumor, but nontheless an intriguing one, so here we are, so let's toss the old ball around and see what to make of it.

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Review: Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Aaron Paul Hit the Bottle, And It Hits Back, In Strong, Stirring 'Smashed'

By James Rocchi
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October 11, 2012 5:59 PM
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Reviews

There is a sub-canon of films about alcohol as deep and as dark as a barrel of bourbon, from "Lost Weekend" to "Days of Wine and Roses" to "Trees Lounge." "Smashed" casts Aaron Paul and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Charlie and Kate, a married couple in L.A. whose love is strong, full and, more to the point, well-saturated. Charlie and Kate like to drink, and it shows; Kate's mortified to have a hung-over vomiting fit while teaching, apologizing to her 1st graders and answering, falsely, yes when her kids ask if she's pregnant. When Kate is busted by her vice-Principal Mr. Davies (Nick Offerman, in a performance that in a just world would be an Oscar contender), she confesses her lies and he simply notes "That's… not good."

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'Smashed' Star Mary Elizabeth Winstead On How She Learned To Play Drunk, The Emotional Rollercoaster Of The Role & More

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 11, 2012 9:57 AM
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News

Hitting rock bottom isn't always the climax of a grand calamity. For Kate in "Smashed," it's an evening that starts in a bar, continues with offering someone a ride home, and ends with her smoking crack and sleeping outside that awakens her to the fact that she might have a problem. When she arrives home, she doesn't have any physical scars, and the night otherwise seemed enjoyable, but it's the shame and fear of where her life could go that shakes her up.

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'Smashed' Soundtrack Features Smog, Richard and Linda Thompson, Cass McCombs & Score by Vetiver & Fruit Bats Members

By Edward Davis
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September 26, 2012 1:37 PM
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0 Comments

News

Every couple of years, a musician will either want to stretch his or her wings creatively and or realize that there's good money in composing soundtracks that beats slugging it out on the road. Recent converts that come to mind are Nick Urrata of DeVotchKa (soundtracks include "Little Miss Sunshine" and the terrifically underrated "Ruby Sparks," both as a movie and score) and Nebraskan producer/engineer, multi-instrumentalist and Bright Eyes member Mike Mogis, who's recorded and performed with The Faint, Rilo Kiley, Cursive, The Good Life, Jenny Lewis, and many more ("Lovely, Still," and "Writers" are two recent soundtracks he's scored with fellow Bright Eyes member Nate Walcott).

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Watch: All 6 Episodes Of Drake Doremus Directed Web Series 'The Beauty Inside' With Mary Elizabeth Winstead

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 21, 2012 2:50 PM
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1 Comment

News

As far as advertising campaigns go for computer products, Intel/Toshiba has really raised the bar. And while executive will wonder whether the investment will lead to more sales/awareness of their brand and products, cinephiles can just be happy it's another avenue for rising "Like Crazy" director Drake Doremus to show off his talents. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Topher Grace are along for the ride.

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'Smashed' Star Mary Elizabeth Winstead Says Album With Dan The Automator Will Be '60s-Style French Pop

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 13, 2012 12:29 PM
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2 Comments

Interviews

Already a geek idol thanks to her role as Ramona Flowers in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead is having a pretty good 2012, thanks to her starring role in "Smashed," a drama about a young alcoholic married couple (completed by "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul), which won rave reviews at Sundance this year -- read our own here -- and continued when the film played the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

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