The Playlist

Sundance Review: 'Red Lights' Invites You to Stop, Look & Listen

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:53:36 GMT

What you see, you can’t believe. What you can’t understand, though, can ultimately be explained. This is the modus operandi for Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and assistant Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy), parapsychologists primarily interested in debunking supernatural phenomena. “When I see hoof prints,” she says, “I think of horses, not unicorns.” They work out of the Scientific Paranormal Research Center, a budget-strained department of an anonymous university, luring in curious students like Sally (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ben (Craig Roberts) while butting heads with the well-supported likes of Dr. Paul Shackleton (Toby Jones). These...

Sundance Review: 'Save The Date' Is Light & Endearing Without Being Insubstantial; What Other Rom-Coms Should Aspire For

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:12:55 GMT

With the countless number of romantic comedies focused on how difficult it is for a woman to find a good man, it’s incredibly refreshing to see one where the tables are turned. In “Save The Date,” Lizzy Caplan stars as Sarah, a struggling illustrator who keeps herself afloat by managing a local book store. After dating her boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend) for two years, she has hesitantly agreed to move in with him to take their relationship to the next level. Kevin is the singer in a two-man indie band called Wolf Bird -- because all indie bands have Wolf in their name -- whose drummer Andrew (Martin Starr) is engaged to Sarah’s sister Beth (Alison Brie)....

Review: Michael Mann & David Milch's 'Luck' Is Slow Out Of The Gate, But Eventually Builds Into A Gallop

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:32:27 GMT

"What's fascinating about David's screenplay with all these different groups and stories, people's whole life histories and ambitions -- there are so many of them. And to not have preludes, not have contexts, to just parachute into these lives...The challenge is, how do you evoke that in ways that the viewer doesn't need Dramamine after 20 minutes?" said Michael Mann in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. This quote illustrates one of the fundamental frustrations in watching "Luck," the new horse-racing-world drama on HBO. Birthed by Michael Mann and David Milch ("Deadwood," "NYPD Blue"), their creative clashes during...

Sundance: Dennis Quaid & Writer/Director Lee Sternthal Talk Shooting Digitally & Making 'The Words'

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:49:56 GMT

Dennis Quaid is as talented as he is willing to tackle of variety of films. From big special effects blockbusters (“G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra”) to acclaimed dramas (“Far From Heaven,” “Traffic”) to carefully pitched dramedies (“In Good Company”), he’s shown a knack for moving skillfully from project to project, whatever it may be. 2012 finds Quaid on the slopes of the Sundance Film Festival where his latest effort “The Words” has made its world premiere. The film, a long-developing dream project from writer/directors Lee Sternthal and Brian Klugman, finds audiences traversing three intersecting narratives in a...

Sundance: Joe Berlinger Talks Going 'Under African Skies' With Paul Simon, His Academy Award Nomination & Changes To Oscar Voting Rules

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:56:11 GMT

If there was a shortlist of the best documentarians in cinema history, Joe Berlinger would definitely be on it. His first theatrical project was “Brother’s Keeper,” an award-winning portrait of a rural family that found a context in the divide between country and city life; his second was “Paradise Lost,” a film that exposed the vagaries of the American justice system, spawned two follow-ups, and was ultimately instrumental in helping the West Memphis Three prevail over the injustices they suffered. Since then, he’s continued to dominate the landscape of documentary filmmaking with projects on both film and TV. However, hot on the heels of his...

Sundance Review: 'Hello I Must Be Going' A Smart, Smutty & Sweet Tale About Love, Divorce & Growing Up In Your Mid-30s

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:53:51 GMT

If there's a trend in the fiction narratives at Sundance in 2012, it's the series of smart(-ish), sweet(-er) and smutty(-styled) comedies in the mix here in Park City, some of which have been remarkably well-received ("For a Good Time Call") and some of which are not ("Bachelorette"). Think of it as the aftershocks and propagation wave of Judd Apatow's success, demonstrating that audiences can, and will, like characters who talk about their lives and lusts in blunt terms, make mistakes, and spend part of the time fucking and the rest of it fucking up. Directed by actor-turned-director Todd Louiso and written by Louiso's wife Sarah Koskoff,...

Review: Katherine Heigl's 'One For The Money' Isn't Worth A Dime

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:41:30 GMT

"One for the Money" brings Janet Evanovich’s beloved heroine Stephanie Plum to life on screen, a ditzy would-be bounty hunter who succeeds only in endangering the lives of anyone near her and dismissing the intelligence of audiences. Adapted from the 1994 novel of the same name, the story finds the down-on-her-luck Stephanie (Katherine Heigl) in desperate need of money. Out of options, she turns to her sleazeball cousin Vinnie (Patrick Fischler), who runs a bail bond business unoriginally named Vincent Plum’s Bail Bonds. He reluctantly sets her up as a bail recovery agent, figuring she’ll soon tire of the endeavor and find herself a more appropriate line of...

Charlie Kaufman's 'Frank Or Francis' Adds Elizabeth Banks & Paul Reubens

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:37:32 GMT

It just keeps getting better and better. Only a day after Charlie Kaufman's wildly ambitious "Frank Or Francis" landed its first female leads in Kate Winslet and Catherine Keener, another exceptionally talented thesp is coming on board. THR reports that Elizabeth Banks has joined the crazed musical satire, adding another strong voice to the already first rate cast. She'll join Steve Carell, Jack Black, Nicolas Cage and Kevin Kline in the film that will follow three characters -- pretentious screenwriter Frank Arder (Carell); an online film blogger (Black) and major comedian on the decline (Cage) -- through an elaborate plot that will find their...

'The Blind Side' Director John Lee Hancock To Direct John Grisham's 'The Partner'

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:04:47 GMT

There was a time (the early '90s) when adapting a John Grisham novel for the big screen was essentially like printing money. The run of "The Firm," "The Pelican Brief," "The Client" and "A Time To Kill" arguably marked the high point of those years, while nowadays, NBC is struggling to get anyone to care about their TV take on that Tom Cruise movie. But New Regency, whose honcho Arnon Milchan was behind 'Kill,' 'Client' and "Runaway Jury," is going to give it another go with "The Partner." "The Blind Side" director John Lee Hancock has been tapped to write and direct the movie, but it still might...

In Theaters: Step Out With The 'Man On A Ledge,' Get Lost In 'The Grey' But Don't Spend 'One For The Money'

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:35:57 GMT

Sundance, #sundance, SUNDANCE! 15 of your friends posted about Sundance! Retweet blah blah SUNDANCE! It's all anyone has on the brain this week. A welcome distraction from the travesty they call the Oscar nominations. Just when you think it's going to be a merry Oscar nominations morning, the Academy goes and rewards all the sappy sentimental crap and snubs its nose at anything remotely interesting and original. Too dark and icky! Showing your squareness, Academy.... Anyway, I don't want to talk about it, I'm still processing. Good thing we have all the shiny and new Sundance films to think about. Next year, next year my pretties. So what do we have in theaters this...

Sarah Jessica Parker To Make Amends For 'Sex And The City,' Takes Role Of Gloria Steinem In 'Lovelace'

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:21:24 GMT

We'll say this; in its first couple of seasons, "Sex and the City" was a breath of fresh air. A witty, bawdy comedy about women in New York City, it initially presented four very complex characters as they navigated their careers and love lives in the big city. But pretty soon they all became one dimensional harpies on a never-ending hunt for sex, shoes and shopping and as they moved up into higher tax brackets, their problems became the stuff most of us could only dream of having. And let's not even talk about those bloated movies. All this to say, Sarah Jessica Parker will be making it up to women (and men) everywhere by taking on the role of trailblazing feminist...

Sundance: 'The Words' Star Bradley Cooper Says He Wants To Direct & Talks Working Relationship With Co-Director Brian Klugman

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:59:01 GMT

“The Words” is a film divided between three stories, each one offering a possible reality to a situation that may or may not be the actual story and wrapped up in a tale about an author who steals another writer's work and gains fame. Writer/directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal didn't need to lift their material from anyone else, and spent the last ten years with their script trying to get it made until their longtime pal, Bradley Cooper, worked his way up the ladder in his career to help them get it in front of cameras. It's exactly the kind journey that makes for a Sundance success story. The Playlist caught up with Cooper and Klugman in Park City to talk...

Watch: Trailer For The Academy Award Nominated Football Documentary 'Undefeated'

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:47:11 GMT

16 Oscar nominations. That's how many nods Harvey Weinstein conjured up for The Weinstein Company this year, another testament to the mega-producer's grip on the awards season and further evidence that nobody can rep a movie quite like Harv. And while his stable of "The Artist," "My Week With Marilyn" and "The Iron Lady" make up the bulk of the nominations, he also snuck into the documentary category with "Undefeated." And this inspirational doc might just take the award. The film now has a trailer and introduces us to the tough but caring coach Bill Courtney, who has the uneviable task of leading the The Manassas Tigers, an...

First Look: Kenneth Branagh In Sci-Fi Short 'Prodigal'

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:21:02 GMT

Moving up from P.A., assistant or lower-rung pleeb is a long tradition in Hollywood. Say what you will about the industry (and we surely have), but those with ambition and talent generally rise above their station because almost everyone is willing to hear a good idea (especially in a place that's bereft of creative ideas; new concepts always have currency). Case in point with Benjamin Grayson. He's the former assistant of five-time Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh-turned-filmmaker and he's directed his sophomore short film that includes a bevy of well-known stars. The short features Branagh and it's called, "Prodigal," a sci-fi thriller that revolves around a...

Sam Worthington Reveals Why He Chose 'Man On A Ledge' & Says Early FX Footage Of 'Thunder Run' Looks "Spectacular"

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:13:40 GMT

It’s hard to believe that a little more than two years ago, Sam Worthington was a virtual unknown in Hollywood. Although the actor established a comfortable career for himself in his native Australia, until “Avatar” and “Clash of the Titans” came out, he was best known for being the guy that James Cameron entrusted to star in his $400 million vanity project, and everyone consequently wanted to work with. Since then, he’s become a Hollywood mainstay, jumping from blockbusters to independent projects, and remaining one of the most in-demand actors in the industry. And this week, he stars in “Man on a Ledge,” a film in which he plays a desperate,...

Mookie Once More: Spike Lee Discusses His Own Film Universe & Its Recurring Characters & Locales

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:45:01 GMT

Filmmakers like to revisit their own creative worlds so much that sometimes characters from older films reappear in newer films. This is deeper than simple sequels or prequels, they are a cinematic universe that the same characters inhabit and occasionally cross over within. Sometimes the reappearance of a character occurs as an artfully subtle, self-referential nod on a director's part, while other times it's pretty obvious, not meant to be a hidden treat for fans to notice. Kevin Smith has the View Askew universe, Todd Solondz has his cast of recurring characters ("Happiness," "Welcome To The Dollhouse" and "Life During Wartime") and so too does...

Sundance: Ben Barnes Says He Was Initially Advised Not To Make 'The Words'; Reveals 'Seventh Son' With Jeff Bridges Starts In March

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:15:06 GMT

Depending on your point of view, in “The Words,” Ben Barnes is either a much younger Jeremy Irons, or Jeremy Irons is what Ben Barnes will become over time. The British actor that's captured the hearts of C.S. Lewis fans as Prince Caspian throughout the 'Narnia' series plays one of three central characters in the closing night film of the Sundance Film Festival. He pairs up with Nora Arnezeder playing a couple in one strain of the multi-level plot of the film (that had many tossing around comparisons to "Inception"), which also stars Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saladana and Olivia Wilde in the story of a writer who achieves success after passing off another...

Clip & Batch Of New Pics From 'Safe House' Starring Ryan Reynolds & Denzel Washington

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:34:55 GMT

While 2011 might have been a bit bumpy for Universal, 2012 is looking much better ("Five Year Engagement," "Snow White And The Huntsmen," "47 Ronin," "This Is 40" and "The Bourne Legacy" are just some of the movies they have on the calendar), and the year is already off to a strong start with Mark Wahlberg's "Contraband" opening very strong a couple of weeks ago. Well, the studio is hoping another mid-budgeted action movie will bring them repeat success next month when "Safe House," starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, hits the big screen. While any other day this would just be a rote actioner, we're...

Nicolas Cage Wants To Make A Japan-Set 'Wicker Man' Sequel Where He's A Ghost

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:21:30 GMT

What is it about Nicolas Cage that with each increasingly shitacular movie, we still want to see the next one? Could it be his growing collection of wigs that fascinates us? Or perhaps our ongoing curiosity to see just how far back his hairline receded now? Or maybe it's the pure, unfiltered crazy that still makes him so watchable in even the most worthless of thrown-together movies? No matter how you slice it, even when Cage is at his worst he's at his best, and he's got an idea for what could be the greatest terrible movie ever. During a recent webchat with readers at Empire (via FilmDrunk) Nic Cage was asked if there are any characters he'd like to revist, and deftly...

Bradley Cooper Says 'Paradise Lost' Is On Track To Start Shooting In June

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:00:13 GMT

Bradley Cooper seems to making all the right moves of late. He wasn't an instant A-lister; his career saw him working away on TV shows like "Alias" and "Kitchen Confidential" before a supporting performance in "Wedding Crashers" put him on track to bigger things, with the smash comedy hit "The Hangover" finally providing him with the right stuff. Since that film, other than a blip with "The A-Team" (which can't really be blamed on him), he's been making sound choices; a giant sequel to "The Hangover," and a surprise hit, "Limitless," sold entirely on his name. 2012 sees him moving into more dramatic...

Ray Winstone Says John Hillcoat & Nick Cave's 'The Death Of Bunny Munro' "Will Make 'Shame' Look Like Teletubbies"

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:50:23 GMT

It has been a long time since we heard anything about Nick Cave's "The Death Of Bunny Munro," so we'll bring you back up to speed. First conceived as a script, when Cave couldn't get it produced he turned the story into a novel that is on bookshelves now. But in a little bit of an ironic twist, in 2009 it was reported that Cave's regular collaborator John Hillcoat ("The Road," "The Proposition," "The Wettest County") was going to adapt it for British televison. Then in the summer of 2010 Cave revealed that Ray Winstone was interested in the lead role, and then...nothing since. But the hope is still alive. The Mail Online...

Nicolas Winding Refn Offered To Direct An Episode Of 'Doctor Who' But Was Turned Down

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:54:32 GMT

While Nicolas Winding Refn hasn't fall down the rabbit hole of working on premium cable like many of his Hollywood colleagues have, he's not exactly a stranger to television either. He penned the Danish series "The Chosen 7" and also wrote and directed the little seen (and pretty middling) "Miss Marple: Nemesis" for ITV. But it seems over at BBC, Refn's skills were less appreciated. In a recent interview with Shortlist (via What Culture!) Refn reveals, "I would have loved to direct 'Doctor Who' but they didn’t want me — they turned me down last year. Maybe if they revive [1970s sci-fi series] 'Blakes 7' I could do that. I...

'The Vow' Soundtrack Features The National, Lykke Li, OK Go, The Cure & More

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:15:04 GMT

Don't let the indie-centric headline fool you. While "The Vow" soundtrack will make iPod toting hipsters happy with its tracklist, it reaches all the way for one of the biggest love songs of all time to kick things off. That's right, we're talking about Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)." But once that song is out of the way (mercifully delivered in a single edit), the tunes brought together for the Channing Tatum/Rachel McAdams romantic drama are a pretty decent bunch. Everyone's favorite sadsacks The National provide "England," though they try keep their cool factor intact by only making it available...

Director Nicholas Jarecki Reveals How Being Kicked Off 'The Informers' Helped Fund Sundance Hit 'Arbitrage' & Casting Brit Marling Over Skype

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:01:25 GMT

Last year at Sundance, “Margin Call” premiered to an unprepared audience who were greeted by a fantastic ensemble in a gripping drama that gave an insight to the 2008 financial crisis and resulting recession. That film went on to become something of a sleeper hit, and last week, picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, but there's certainly much more to be said about the subject matter. Nicholas Jarecki tackles the other angle of the crisis with “Arbitrage.” Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a self-made hedge fund titan about to see his entire world crumble around him because of his own hubris and a bad investment. He tries to juggle his...

'Wish You Were Here,' 'The Pact,' 'Simon Killer' & 'Chasing Ice' Latest Movies To Find Distribution At Sundance

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:44:00 GMT

Sundance ends this weekend and before everyone hops on a plane back home there are some last-minute deals to be done with distributions acquiring those titles that have made people sit up and take notice over the past week or so. Entertainment One have picked up the North-American distribution rights to Kieran Darcy-Smith’s directorial debut “Wish You Were Here” and aim to have the Australian film in theatres for around fall this year. The psychological thriller boasts two recognisable names in Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer, and follows four friends who set off on a holiday in Cambodia but only three make it back. We weren’t particularly impressed by the film,...