The Playlist

Cannes Review: The Coens Brothers' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Is A Funny, Melancholy Look At A Wayfaring Stranger

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 18, 2013 5:03 PM
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13 Comments

Reviews

Long hours on the road, sleeping on sofas, eating very little, playing shows for little money; it's a wonder why anyone struggles to make it as a musician. But for Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) there really isn't any other option to playing music. "...And what, just exist?" he counters, when his sister suggests he stops couch surfing, borrowing money and barely getting by, and re-enter the Merchant Marine. While Llewyn can't quite put into words the passion that sustains an existence perpetually on the fringes, hustling for the next dollar, it's that weary energy that drives the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis."

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Justin Timberlake Offered A Starring Role In The Coen Brothers' 'Inside Llewyn Davis'

By Simon Dang
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October 29, 2011 2:56 AM
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16 Comments

If you were gearing up to make a film based on the '60s folk scene, or any music-based film for that matter, why not recruit one of the most popular musician-turned-actors of recent times?

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Justin Timberlake To Play Record Mogul Neil Bogart In Biopic 'Spinning Gold'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 26, 2011 5:32 AM
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5 Comments

From singer to actor to now playing a record executive in a forthcoming biopic, things are coming back full circle -- sort of -- for Justin Timberlake in a film that should be packed wall-to-wall with some great music.

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Who Were The Winners And Losers Of The Summer Of 2011?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 30, 2011 4:08 AM
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24 Comments

As the summer winds die down with a flat and uninspired whimper, the realization sets in: the summer of 2011 was for the birds. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was the last major tent-pole to open, followed by sleeper hits like "The Help" and the not-so-successful R-rated action comedy, "30 Minutes or Less." Many had forecast that the overstuffed summer would prove disastrous, with Jon Favreau predicting that, "There’s not a weekend where there won’t be teeth on the floor," but ironically it's Favreau's film that proved to be one of the biggest box-office disappointments. Financially, films did very well with three billion-dollar blockbusters – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”-- helping the industry set a summer box-office record and nearly rebound from a horrible start to 2011 (Currently, 2011 revenue is running only 4 percent behind 2010, but in March, things were looking grim – 19% lower than the year previous).

New 'In Time' Posters & Footage: Justin Timberlake Says Andrew Niccol Creates "Thrill Rides"

By Edward Davis
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July 21, 2011 12:06 PM
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10 Comments

Comic-Con, full swing, check. 20th Century Fox's "In Time," the new sci-fi film by "Gattaca" director Andrew Niccol just released an official first look photo of its stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried earlier this week, and with the picture doing the hawk-and-sell rounds at the Con, it's only natural that more assets are hitting.

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Justin Timberlake Gets 'Fully Automatic' For Warner Bros.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 15, 2011 3:49 AM
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0 Comments

Who would have thought when Justin Timberlake was little more than that curly haired dude in *NSync that he would graduate to a hugely successful solo career that would help launch an acting career that would see him show considerable acting and dramatic chops. And while he's proven his mettle in "The Social Network" and showed that his charm translates easily in "Bad Teacher," Timberlake is ready to shake things up a bit. Later this year, he'll be starring in his first bonafide genre flick, Andrew Niccol's thriller "In Time" and it looks like Timberlake is still looking to dirty up his good looks.

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Lucy Punch Says Her Character In 'Bad Teacher' Was Inspired By Sarah Palin

By Drew Taylor
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June 25, 2011 1:19 AM
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8 Comments

Dry Humping, Vomit, Boobs & More We Things Learned About From The Cast Of The FilmWhen you get a group of people together who are as funny as the motley crew in "Bad Teacher," things not only get outrageous onscreen but offscreen as well. Such was the case a few days ago in Manhattan, when we joined the press to visit Lucy Punch, Thomas Lennon, Phyllis Smith and the radiant Cameron Diaz to talk about the film.

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Review: 'Bad Teacher' Only Deserves A Mildly Passable Grade

By Drew Taylor
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June 23, 2011 2:56 AM
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2 Comments

After the critical and commercial success of "Bridesmaids," and an escalation in the discussion of women's place in comedy both in the more niche-y blogosphere and in mainstream popular culture (illuminated most wonderfully earlier this year in a gonzo episode of "30 Rock"), "Bad Teacher," about a foul-mouthed, irresponsible, self-centered, drug-addled teacher (who also happens to be a woman) seems particularly well-timed. And while the comedy is periodically laugh-out-loud, shoot-soda-out-of-your-nose funny, it also ultimately feels like a missed opportunity; like a substitute that breezes out of your life a semester too soon without ever making much of an impact.

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Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender & More Sought For 'Akira'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 22, 2011 3:48 AM
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39 Comments

Garrett Hedlund, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake & Joaquin Phoenix Also In The MixThe long-gestating "Akira" remake seems to have been knocking around for awhile now and to Warner Bros' credit, they are trying to get it as right as possible before moving this thing forward. With most fans outright skeptical of how the studio is going to change the wild, decidedly not mainstream manga into a broadly appealing, PG-13 two-film franchise, last month the studio brought in the big guns which -- for better or worse -- point in the direction they're headed. Steve Kloves, who has penned seven of the eight ‘Harry Potter’ movies, was tasked with polishing the script for the gestating project and WB appear to be very happy with his work.

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Watch: New Trailer For 'Friends With Benefits' Gives Up Emma Stone Cameo, Owned By Patricia Clarkson

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 16, 2011 5:09 AM
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5 Comments

A new trailer has landed for "Easy A" director Will Gluck's follow-up to his fantastic comedy vehicle that made launched Emma Stone's career into the stratosphere, and it wastes no time in giving up/ruining the goods. Cameos by Emma Stone and Andy Samberg are out of the way in the first 10 seconds, and hey, Woody Harrelson plays a gay dude! While we would've liked those surprises to have remained until we saw the film, we have to say, that we were still pretty charmed by this one and our optimism remains intact.

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