The Playlist

Sam Mendes' James Bond Film Officially Titled 'Skyfall,' Movie Is A Stand-Alone Story

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 3, 2011 12:33 PM
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2 Comments

First Synopsis Suggest That Judi Dench's M Will Be Front-And-CenterUpdate: The official Bond twitter account, @007, have revealed the first synopsis for the project, which reads: "Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost." It certainly backs up the idea that it's a stand-alone tale, and suggests a bigger role for Dench, as Bond's superior M, than ever before. Intriguing stuff...

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Judi Dench Heads To India In New 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' Stills

By Sam Price
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August 30, 2011 2:26 AM
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8 Comments

If the film “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” has thus far escaped your attention, it’s probably because you don’t spend your afternoons unironically knitting wool hats for your eight grandchildren, nor do you pine for five o’clock to roll around so you can hit the bingo lounge and kick back with a six-pack of prune juice. If you think that’s a patronizing caricature of what happens after you hit sixty-five, wait until you set your peepers on the production stills for the actual film, which have cropped up on Fox Searchlight's site. The plot, which will be invariably be described as “feel-good” and “heart-warming” when the film's released, appears to involve a group of senior citizens who are hoodwinked into checking into an apparently plush luxury retirement home in India, but all is not what it appears to be. What hilarious high-jinks will ensue for the film’s fresh-faced stars (Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton and Celia Imrie) we can only speculate. It does vaguely resemble “The Darjeeling Limited” with its theme of self-discovery in one of the most culturally rich countries on the planet, except with a combined age of 236.

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Ian McKellen & Judi Dench To Star In Period Zombie Comedy 'The Curse of The Buxom Strumpet'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 18, 2011 1:49 AM
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1 Comment

Gillian Anderson and Mark Williams Also In CastOne of the hottest properties around Hollywood in the last few years has been Seth Grahame-Smith's "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies," a revisionist take on Jane Austen's classic romance that chucks the undead into the mix. But despite being in development for a couple of years now, the film's made slow progress, burning through two directors, David O. Russell and Mike White, before landing its current helmer, "Lars and The Real Girl"'s Craig Gillespie, and it's yet to officially attach any cast members, despite the rumored interest of Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper and others. Backers Lionsgate had better get a move on, because it looks like their zombies-in-corset shtick may get beaten to the box office by a low-budget rival, one that seems to have assembled an extremely prestigious cast.

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Cary Fukunaga Talks His Horror/Romance Take On 'Jane Eyre' With Michael Fassbender & Mia Wasikoska

By Kimber Myers
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March 8, 2011 7:39 AM
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0 Comments

Indie Filmmaker Also Discusses His Gestating Musical With Owen Pallett, His African Civil War Drama 'Beasts Of No Nation,' & His Good Filmmaking Fortune So FarExclusive: Delighting fans of period romance everywhere -- and kids who can't be bothered with even the Cliffs Notes of the classic Charlotte Brontë novel --"Jane Eyre" is making another appearance on screen. But rather than coming from a predictably English pedigree, the 2011 Focus Features version arrives from the seemingly unlikely source of Cary Fukunaga, a young American director with a single feature to his name, 2009's gritty immigration thriller "Sin Nombre." Fukunaga went young with his casting, opting for Mia Wasikoska ("The Kids Are All Right") to play to the title role, while Michael Fassbender ("Hunger," the dreams of many a female Playlister) takes on the brooding part of Edward Rochester.

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Judi Dench & Michelle Monaghan Join 'Better Living Through Chemistry'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 12, 2011 6:16 AM
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2 Comments

Cast Already Includes Jeremy Renner & Jennifer GarnerThe European Film Market in Berlin is in full swing this weekend and film deals are happening left, right and center. A lot of times these attachments and or pre-attachments are made to attract and or entice financiers and don't always come to fruition, but we'll give this one the benefit of the doubt.

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No Brainer: Judi Dench Confirms She'll Be Back For 'James Bond 23'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 27, 2011 9:02 AM
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0 Comments

With Daniel Craig back, Sam Mendes confirmed to direct, an official release date set and production moving forward, we'll soon be hearing lots more about casting. But for now, a familiar face from the last six James Bond films will be back.

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New Photos: Cary Fukunaga's 'Jane Eyre' Starring Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender

By Simon Dang
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January 24, 2011 2:59 AM
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1 Comment

With its release just around the corner, "Sin Nombre" director Cary Fukunaga's adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel "Jane Eyre" has now unveiled a host of new images featuring a first look at the majority of the supporting cast members.

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Clint Eastwood Reveals Judi Dench Cast In 'J. Edgar'; Charlize Theron Looking Likely

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 28, 2010 8:50 AM
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0 Comments

The cast for Clint Eastwood's forthcoming biopic "J. Edgar" continues to build in fits and starts. Leonardo DiCaprio is already on board, and he'll be joined by Armie Hammer and as we exclusively revealed Aussie actor Damon Herriman and now, the director himself has confirmed a very big name for the cast.

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New Look At Michelle Williams As Marilyn Monroe In 'My Week With Marilyn'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 26, 2010 2:05 AM
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2 Comments

Actress Talks Taking On Iconic Role For whatever reason (perhaps a sudden influx of late-night cable repeats of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"...), Marilyn Monroe is somewhat in vogue. For instance, Andrew Dominik is working on an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' Monroe-centric novel "Blonde," with Naomi Watts. That's a few years off yet, as the director's first heading for crime thriller "Cogan's Trade," but another take on the legendary star has just wrapped in the UK -- "My Week With Marilyn."

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Judi Dench To Make Out With Johnny Depp In 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 5, 2010 12:44 PM
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1 Comment

The Playlist's Second Weirdest Sexual Fantasy Fulfilled The fourth film in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, the Rob Marshall-helmed "On Stranger Tides," is about six months away from release, and has virtually, but not quite, wrapped. But that doesn't mean that it's above adding another high-profile cast member, albeit in a tiny role.

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