The Playlist

Review: Steven Spielberg's 'The Adventures Of Tintin' Is A Gloriously Enjoyable Mo-Cap Marvel

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 24, 2011 4:05 AM
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5 Comments

Across his 40 year career as Hollywood's most beloved filmmaker, Steven Spielberg has tried his hand at many different things -- the blockbuster thrill ride, the family film, the comedy, the war film, hardcore science-fiction, serious dramas and whatever it was that "The Terminal" was, a diverse range of pictures united by that certain Spielberg je-ne-sais-quoi. But there's something he's never tackled directly himself; the animated film. Sure, he's produced TV cartoons like "Animaniacs," and even the occasional big-screen one, like "An American Tail" and "We're Back," but for the most part, the Bearded One has always preferred live action to ink and pixels.

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'Kill List' Director Ben Wheatley Working On "Cops Versus Monsters" Sci-Fi 'Freak Shift' For 2013

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 22, 2011 2:21 AM
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1 Comment

Five Things We Learned From The Fast-Rising British HelmerAfter claiming awards at Fantastic Fest, Raindance, and IFF Boston for his debut feature, “Down Terrace,” U.K. director Ben Wheatley premiered his follow-up at this year’s SXFantastic to similar adulation, and rave reviews. (Read ours here.) Called “Kill List,” the film takes cues from the “kitchen sink crime drama” framework of “Down Terrace,” but ups the ante considerably, particularly in its deeply deranged third act. The Warp Films production was duly acquired by genre label IFC Midnight for a North American release in early 2012.

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Empire Big Screen '11: 'Kill List' Helmer Ben Wheatley's Next Is Edgar Wright-Produced 'Sightseers'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 15, 2011 2:41 AM
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0 Comments

Comedy 'I, Macrobane' With Nick Frost Will Follow In 2012Perhaps the biggest homegrown hit of Empire Big Screen over the weekend was Ben Wheatley's "Kill List," a low-budget hitman/horror flick from the director of the excellent, terminally underseen crime film "Down Terrace." More than perhaps any other British film that had footage shown, the clips had people talking for much of the weekend, and director Ben Wheatley hit the event on Saturday, along with stars Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring, to get the buzz going. If you've read our review from SXSW, you'll know that it's a film worth getting very excited about (it even made one member of The Playlist team physically ill -- in a good way), and it crystallizes Wheatley as a real talent to watch.

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Nicki Minaj Will Terrify Your Children By Voicing A Character In 'Ice Age: Continental Drift'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 5, 2011 2:48 AM
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4 Comments

Nick Frost, JB Smoove, Joy Behar, Heather Morris, Josh Gad, Alan Tudyk, Kunal Nayyar & Alain Chabat Also Join The CastHere's the deal with Nicki Minaj. We don't get it. Her whole cartoony/sexpot image combined with tepid musical output makes us wonder why she's as popular as is. The other side of the coin is that she absolutely kills it on Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with her memorable intro on "Dark Fantasy" and arguably one of the best verses on the whole album in "Monster" (next to Pusha T's turn on "Runaway). Regardless, Minaj voicing a character in an animated film? Yeah, it sort of makes sense even if her delivery may give your children nightmares.

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Nick Frost The Final Dwarf In Universal's Suddenly Awesome 'Snow White And The Huntsman'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 13, 2011 8:03 AM
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22 Comments

While Universal may have lost the release date battle against Relativity for their competing Snow White films, they may have very well won the war. Time will tell, but while Tarsem is currently very, very busy filming his movie and hoping to make it in time for its spring release, Universal has calmly cast up "Snow White and the Huntsman" and fuck, if we didn't care before, we're definitely on board now.

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Watch: Jamie Bell IS Tilda Swinton In First Trailer For 'The Adventures Of Tintin'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 17, 2011 12:28 PM
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20 Comments

One of the biggest question marks of the year has been Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin." The director's coming off the worst film of his career, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," and tackling a comic book that few in the U.S. have heard of, in the performance capture manner that's seen the undoing of Robert Zemeckis in recent years, seemed like a fairly risky move, all things considered. And it doesn't help that the film's been mostly shrouded in mystery.

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Nifty Teaser Posters Debut For Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson's 'The Adventures Of Tintin'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 16, 2011 5:22 AM
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2 Comments

First Trailer To Arrive Tomorrow MorningFor one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, at least everywhere except the U.S, word's been strangely quiet on "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn." Uniting blockbuster giants Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson for the first time (the former's directing, the latter producing), on an adaptation of the massively successful graphic novel series about a Belgian boy detective, his dog Snowy, his best friend, a drunken sea captain, and the adventures they go on, we had a glimpse of a handful of images before Christmas, but little since then. We guess because the film's being realized in performance-capture computer animation, and so Sony and Paramount have presumably had to wait until the polish has been put on properly.

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SXSW: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost Reveal Bad Weather Was The Inspiration To Make 'Paul'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 18, 2011 6:21 AM
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0 Comments

Yes, it's Friday. SXSW Film is over, SXSW Music is in full boozy swing and "Paul" -- after running a helluva pace through the press gauntlet at the festival and in the preceding weeks -- is finally hitting theaters. And while it seems that the chatter and buzz around "Paul" has been non-stop, this is the rare case of the film that actually deserves it. Directed by Greg Mottola, the film is much more than it what appears to be combining the breeziness of a '70s road trip film, the magic of early Amblin entertainments and of course, the distinct humor of the film's leads Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who are joined by Seth Rogen who voices the titular creature. It's a winning combination in a unique film that brings together a tremendous ensemble cast to play along including Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Jane Lynch, Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Tambor, Joe Lo Truglio and Bill Hader.

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Watch: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost Recreate 'Star Wars'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 16, 2011 6:40 AM
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0 Comments

'Paul' Soundtrack Gets U.S. Release; Comic Duo Reveal Early Drafts Of Film Were Quentin Tarantino-esqueYes, you're going to be seeing a lot of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in the lead up to "Paul" but frankly, better them than Adam Sandler. And when they're doing goofy, very funny riffs like their recent "remake" of "Star Wars," we're glad they're getting the attention. So yeah, like we just mentioned, the duo recently teamed on a riveting shot-by-shot homage to George Lucas' classic -- only for things to not go so well between the oil and water team. You can watch it below.

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