The Playlist

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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HBO Picks Up Series From 'Weekend' Director Andrew Haigh, Watch The Trailer For Rebel Wilson's Show 'Super Fun Night'

By Kristen Lopez
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May 15, 2013 10:25 AM
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1 Comment

News

You might well have missed it (though hopefully its Criterion release helped you catch up), but gay love story "Weekend" was one of the best films of 2011. So we're cracking open the champagne at the news that its director, Andrew Haigh, is heading to HBO, as the cable network has picked up a new show to series directed and executive produced by the helmer. Written by Michael Lannan (the short film "Lorimer"), it's about a trio of young gay man in San Francisco (led by "Glee" star Jonathan Groff), and their lives and loves. A sort of gay, West Coast version of "Girls," then? Sounds good to us.

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New Pics From Alec Baldwin & James Toback's Cannes Doc 'Seduced And Abandoned' Plus Story Details

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 13, 2013 1:40 PM
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1 Comment

News

Last year, Alec Baldwin and director James Toback hit the Croisette, not to premiere a movie, but to try and raise financing for one. They brought along some cameras to help document the effort for what would ultimately become the documentary, "Seduced And Abandoned," an insider's inside look at the fickle game of film financing and the movie biz in general. Now they're back a year later in Cannes with the finished product, set to unveil in a special screening next weekend, but what is this whole thing all about?

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Recap: Christopher Guest's 'Family Tree' Gets Off To A Promising Start & Shows He Hasn't Lost His Touch

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 12, 2013 7:00 PM
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Reviews

It's been seven far-too-long years since the last feature effort from Christopher Guest, and besides a failed pilot for the U.S. adaptation of the U.K. hit "The Thick Of It" and appearing alongside his regular roster players in a sketch for the 2012 Oscars, not much as been heard from him. But the writer/director is back at HBO with "Family Tree," a new comedy series that finds him back within the faux-doc aesthetic (which seemingly every sitcom uses now) and best of all, still retaining his touch for beautifully deadpan humor, rich wordplay and characters as odd as they are lovable too. In short, Guest hasn't lost a step.

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The Rock Is Now Cooking An HBO Dramedy Series Which Has A Greenlight, Peter Berg To Direct

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 3, 2013 2:21 PM
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Television

Having conquered the world of sports as a wrestler, and proving his presence will uplift any franchise ("Fast Five," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation"), Dwayne Johnson is ready to bring his swagger to the small screen, in a project produced by his good buddy and "Pain & Gain" co-star, Mark Wahlberg.

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Lisa Cholodenko To Direct HBO Miniseries 'Olive Kitteridge' Starring Frances McDormand & Richard Jenkins

By Ken Guidry
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May 2, 2013 1:37 PM
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Television

Well, once again, HBO proves that they are the masters at attracting top talent to come to their network. Just this year, their roster includes filmmakers such as David Mamet and Steven Soderbergh, the latter finally being able to make "Behind the Candelabra," his long-gestating Liberace film with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon (coming out later this month). They also have the Duplass Brothers, Cary Fukunaga, and Guillermo del Toro, to name a few, with projects on the horizion. And now you can add Lisa Cholodenko to the mix.

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Alex Gibney To Direct 4-Hour Documentary On Frank Sinatra For HBO

By Kieran McMahon
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May 1, 2013 6:29 PM
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News

It is no overstatement to describe documentary-maker Alex Gibney as one of the pre-eminent filmmakers in America, a blotless 30-year career has seen him accumulate a back catalogue striking not only for the consistently outstanding quality of his work, but also for the boldness and incisiveness of his subject matter. Highlights include “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” “Taxi to the Dark Side” (which won him an Oscar) and “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” and we await his upcoming “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” and his forthcoming documentary on legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, “Finding Fela!” Thus it is with no little excitement that we greet the announcement of his next subject, one Frank Sinatra.

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Exclusive: Lynn Shelton To Direct Adaptation Of Mishna Wolff's Memoir 'I'm Down'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 29, 2013 12:33 PM
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News

Lynn Shelton is nothing if not prolific. Since her 2006 feature debut "We Go Way Back," she's made five films, and since "Humpday" became a crossover hit, she's only gotten busier; that film was followed by "Your Sister's Sister" in 2011, and barely a year later, she was back with another feature, "Touchy Feely," which premiered at Sundance back in January. And in between all of that (plus occasional cameos in the likes of "Safety Not Guaranteed" and "Prince Avalanche"), she's become an in-demand TV director, with her work including episodes of "Mad Men," "Ben & Kate" and "New Girl."

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Review & Recap: 'Game of Thrones' Episode 3 'Walk of Punishment' Lends A Hand In Kickstarting The Action Of Season 3

By Katie Walsh
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April 14, 2013 9:00 PM
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17 Comments

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Game of Thrones, Season 3, Jamie Lannister

Television

What up Gamers! Things are finally starting to get funny/sexy/crazy on ye olde "Games of Thrones." Blood 'n boobs, that's why we're here, that's what we were promised, and that's what we're going to get. This episode finally hits the gas on this season, and off we go. Thankfully, we get a bit of humor and levity to offset the gore and blood, which always helps.

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Peter Berg Goes HBO With Damon Lindelof Penned 'The Leftovers' & Olivier Megaton Hits 'Brooklyn South'

By Charlie Schmidlin
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April 10, 2013 3:18 PM
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1 Comment

Television

When news that an adaptation of "Election" and "Little Children" author Tom Perotta's book, "The Leftovers," would be hitting TV screens, it was also accompanied by a foreseeable showrunner: “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof. Acclimated to high-concept central mysteries for his entire career, he's now picked his return from film to TV, and it seems he's brought some notable company along for the ride.

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