The Playlist

Matt Damon Frontrunner To Star In Tom McCarthy's Catholic Church Sex Scandal Drama

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 14, 2013 2:13 PM
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News

Matt Damon has always kept his hometown of Boston close to heart, whether in the breakout "Good Will Hunting," taking a role in "The Departed" or developing a movie with Ben Affleck about the city's most famous criminal figure, Whitey Bulger. And should it all work out, Damon will once again help tell a story about his hometown, one that shook the city to its core.

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Watch: New 3-Minute Trailer For Neill Blomkamp's 'Elysium' Starring Matt Damon & Jodie Foster

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 13, 2013 6:55 PM
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13 Comments

News

The battle to keep surprises in store for an audience versus the need for mass marketing a major tentpole can be a tricky balance, but so far this year it seems studios are wising up. "Iron Man 3" and "Man Of Steel" both had extensive campaigns, yet kept big twists and plot developments under firm lock and key while stoking excitement for these franchise movies. And while we wait to see if Fox pulls a "Prometheus" and eventually ruins "The Wolverine," Sony is showing off a bit more of Neill Blomkamp's original tentpole (a rarity) "Elysium" with a brand new trailer.

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New Images & First TV Spot For Neill Blomkamp's 'Elysium' Starring Matt Damon & Jodie Foster

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 11, 2013 2:49 PM
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1 Comment

News

So, we're at the midway point of the summer blockbuster season, with "Man Of Steel" set to hit theaters this weekend. But there is plenty more spectacle to come with Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" stomping into theaters next month, "The Lone Ranger" galloping into cinemas, "World War Z" ready to unleash holy hell, and "The Wolverine" bearing his claws soon. And one more hoping to bring the sizzle to the multiplex BBQ is Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium."

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Matt Damon’s Brazilian Tan Line & 9 Other Highlights From Cannes 'Behind The Candelabra' Press Conference

By Jessica Kiang
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May 21, 2013 2:59 PM
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Festivals

It was hard to envisage as positive a Cannes response to a U.S. competition film as that which greeted the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” the other day, but if such a thing is possible, it may well have happened today, for Steven Soderbergh’s wonderful Liberace biopic “Behind the Candelabra” (our review here). Immediately after the press screening stars Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, writer Richard LaGravanese, Producer Jerry Weintraub and director Steven Soderbergh spoke to press, turning up some choice anecdotes and opinions in the process. Here are our 10 favorite moments.

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Cannes Review: Steven Soderbergh's 'Behind The Candelabra' Puts Dazzling Entertainment On Top Of Toxic Relationship

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 21, 2013 7:17 AM
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Reviews

It's almost unfair how easy Steven Soderbergh makes it look. As the filmmaker heads into his hiatus from movie-making, he's spent the few last years dipping between high grade entertainment ("Magic Mike") and accomplished genre films ("Side Effects," "Haywire") and for his goodbye, he's more or less combined the two. "Behind The Candelabra" is a cinematic bauble, that coats typical biopic fare with some real panache and heart. And while this does indeed mark Soderbergh's last hurrah for now, it's likely that a different narrative will soon form around the film. That narrative will surround Michael Douglas, with the 68 year-old actor delivering his best performance in a least a decade if not longer.

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Watch: Michael Douglas Is Fabulous In New Trailer For 'Behind The Candelabra'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 14, 2013 11:19 AM
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4 Comments

News

If any of the major studios had the brass balls to take on "Behind The Candelabra," we think Michael Douglas probably would've been a no brainer as an Oscar contender, particularly judging by this new trailer unveiled over at The Guardian. It's a totally transformative performance and it looks like a total blast. While Douglas stuck with the project -- put on hold as he battled cancer and revived once he recovered -- and was open to all challenges the script brought with it, he did have his limits.

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Two New 'Elysium' Photos Feature Matt Damon, Flaming Wreckage

By Drew Taylor
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April 29, 2013 1:40 PM
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1 Comment

News

As we mentioned earlier today in our giant summer movie preview, "Elysium," Neil Blomkamp's eagerly awaited follow-up to his groundbreaking "District 9," is one of the movies we're most looking forward to this summer. Pitched between social commentary and sci-fi spectacle, the movie envisions a futuristic earth that's ruined and toxic, with the most powerful and wealthy humans living on an orbiting space station called Elysium. As two new photos from the movie show, Earth really has gone to hell.

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New Pic From 'Behind The Candelabra' Plus Featurette, Prison Visit With Scott Thorson & More

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 28, 2013 10:25 AM
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News

As Steven Soderbergh prepares to take what he now describes as an extended break from filmmaking, he's leaving us with one last piece of film work, the glitzy "Behind the Candelabra." Tracking the tragic relationship between Liberace and his young lover Scott Thorson, it's another challenge for the filmmaker, one that finds him again in distinct territory, allowing him to draw on cinematic and pop cultural history, while creating something new or interesting within that context.

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‘Elysium’: 5 Key Moments In The New Trailer

By The Playlist Staff
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April 10, 2013 1:00 PM
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18 Comments

Features

In case you missed it, yesterday evening Sony finally unveiled the long-awaited trailer for "Elysium," Neill Blomkamp's rather ambitious sci-fi follow-up to the dazzling and creative, "District 9." Starring Matt Damon and set in 2154, "Elysium" looks like a direct commentary on "the haves and have-nots." It's set in a future where the ruling class are on Elysium, an elite luxury space station above the planet, while the 99% are stuck on a ravaged and resource-drained Earth, both brutally overpopulated and polluted. And we've got to say: the trailer looks tantalizing and incredible, with some spectacular effects that point to some potential next-level shit.

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New Images From Neill Blomkamp's 'Elyisum' Bring You To The Future With Matt Damon, Jodie Foster & More

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 10, 2013 9:23 AM
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5 Comments

News

"Elysium," the latest from "District 9" writer/director Neill Blomkamp, has finally been brought kicking and screaming into the public view, with the first trailer dropping last night. And the result? Looks pretty damn epic, no? But don't get too confident you've seen everything yet. Blomkamp likely still wants to keep some surprises in store, but a few more new images have arrived to give another peek at the sci-fi world being put together.

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