The Playlist

Review: 'Lay The Favorite' A Comedy That's An Empty Bet

By John Lichman
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December 5, 2012 4:19 PM
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Reviews

“You can't blame Stephen Frears for trying” seems to be the mantra for "Lay the Favorite," a mild romp through the T&A world of Las Vegas, gambling and literary adaptation. After all, "High Fidelity" is an iconic film to obsessive nerds (Need proof? See: every listicle on the Internet) and Frears is no slouch to crafting strong and/or sexy female characters (Tamara Drew, Cherí, The Queen). But what happens when he tries to mash them up and form the unholy love child of a stat geek and a bubbly idiot savant who used to be a stripper?

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New Images Of Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara, Jude Law & More In Steven Soderbergh's 'Side Effects'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 27, 2012 3:50 PM
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News

The first two months of the New Year are usually viewed as a dumping ground, but in recent years critical and box office success stories like "Shutter Island" and "Safe House" have shown that it's a quiet frame where genre fare can do tremendously well. That's why we're not worried an iota about Steven Soderbergh's forthcoming "Side Effects," which got the ball rolling a few weeks ago with a pretty fantastic first trailer. And while things are on the down low for the moment, a few more stills from the movie have popped up.

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Watch: 7 Clips From Gerard Butler's 'Playing For Keeps' Plus New Images

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 19, 2012 1:16 PM
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To say that the December film lineup is crowded would be an understatement, but one movie hoping to cut through the fray is the soccer rom-com dramedy thing, "Playing For Keeps," and seven clips are now here to try and get one through the goalposts.

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Watch: New Trailer & Pics For Stephen Frears' 'Lay The Favorite' With Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall & Catherine Zeta-Jones

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 22, 2012 5:08 PM
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Every year, many films hit Sundance packed with stars, and featuring a solid name behind the camera, but not all of them live up to expecatation. And by most accounts, "Lay The Favorite" is one of those movies. Boasting a cast that includes Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vince Vaughn, Laura Prepon, Joshua Jackson and more, with Stephen Frears at the helm, the potential was there for a better-than-average comedy, but judging from the notices out of Park City, the result was less than that.

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See The Big Picture: Trailer For 'Broken City' Starring Mark Wahlberg & Russell Crowe

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 4, 2012 12:46 PM
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6 Comments

News

So, is this another generic, urban thriller with Mark Wahlberg doing his burned out leading man thing, or something more? The January release date says one thing, the enticing lead turn by Russell Crowe says another, but see for yourself in the first trailer for "Broken City."

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First Look At Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe & Catherine Zeta-Jones in 'Broken City'

By Joe Cunningham
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September 10, 2012 10:56 AM
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3 Comments

News

Ever since he stopped being Marky Mark and became a proper actor, Mark Wahlberg has always seemed at his most comfortable on the big screen as part of a strong ensemble cast (a la breakout "Boogie Nights") or stealing scenes as a supporting player. Be it in the likes of “Planet of the Apes,” “The Italian Job,” “The Happening” or “Max Payne,” for a long time it looked like he just wasn’t going to cut it as a leading man. Of course there may be a few exceptions along the way (and feel free to point them out in the comments), but it seemed like two significant things happened in the last few years that have changed that.

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Watch: Gerard Butler Tries To Score With Jessica Biel In Trailer For 'Playing For Keeps'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 7, 2012 7:18 PM
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1 Comment

News

On the one hand, this is directed by Gabriele Muccino, who helmed the underrated "The Pursuit of Happyness" which earned Will Smith his second Oscar nomination after "Ali." On the other hand this is directed by Gabriele Muccino who helmed the sort of ridiculous "Seven Pounds," also with Will Smith. And thirdly, this is a soccer dramedy.

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Steven Soderbergh Eyes Taking 'Cleo' To Broadway, Catherine Zeta-Jones Reveals She Would Love To Star

By Charlie Schmidlin
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June 18, 2012 10:39 AM
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With a $30 million budget, a high-profile cast including Hugh Jackman and Ray Winstone, and music written by Guided By Voices' frontman Robert Pollard, Steven Soderbergh's 3D musical “Cleo” never faced an easy road to the big screen. The film was scheduled to shoot in spring of '09, but following Jackman's speedy departure, and then Soderbergh's own directorial issues with “Moneyball,” the project fall apart with faint hope of it being revived. The role of Cleopatra was always Catherine Zeta-Jones' though, and following our interview with Soderbergh about his musical's possible future onstage, the actress has recently echoed that intriguing possibility.

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Review: 'Rock of Ages' Is Anything But a Good Time

By Kimber Myers
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June 13, 2012 3:09 PM
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5 Comments

Reviews

"Rock of Ages" will make you want to raise your arms...and then immediately plunge your fingers into your eyeballs for salvation (you can go back for seconds to rescue your ears). "Hairspray" helmer Adam Shankman directs this movie that will finally kill the '80s nostalgia that continues to plague us if we're lucky and will further root karaoke performances and bar jukeboxes in that hairspray-choked decade if we're not. We've had a sub-par version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" stuck in our head since we saw it, and we wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, except perhaps the development heads at Warner Bros. As much as everyone keeps trying to make Julianne Hough a star, Steve Perry she is not (though admittedly she is cuter).

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Hold Onto Your Mullets, A Discography Of New Pics From 'Rock Of Ages' Turn It To 11

By Benjamin Wright
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May 31, 2012 9:25 AM
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1 Comment

News

If you still have Def Leppard’s Pyromania album on heavy rotation and prefer Jefferson Starship to Jefferson Airplane, then there’s a pretty good chance you’re excited for the upcoming musical adaptation, “Rock Of Ages.” An ode to the days of hair metal and tight leather pants, “Hairspray” helmer Adam Shankman has cooked up a tale of a small town girl (livin’ in a lonely world) and a city boy who fall for one another on the Sunset Strip, all while in pursuit of their Hollywood dreams. Some of us here at The Playlist have secretly been anticipating the film’s June release, and with a cast consisting of Russell Brand, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Malin Akerman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, Will Forte, and of course Tom Cruise doing his best Tim Cappelo interpretation, who can blame us?

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