If you ask me, using Abba‘s already great songs for a musical is kind of cheat. But Universal didn’t ask me, and they did just fine with “Mamma Mia,” which earned $609 million worldwide a decade ago. Incidentally, that’s nearly $200 million more globally than the Best Picture nominated “La La Land.” But then again, that movie didn’t have Abba songs. Anyway, the sequel, “Mamma Mia!

Continue reading ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ Trailer: Return To Greece For Another Abba Inspired Musical at The Playlist.

The parent company of Rolling Stone magazine, Wenner Media, will receive a $100 million investment from Penske Media Corporation, IndieWire’s publisher. Transaction details were announced today, three months after publisher Jann Wenner revealed plans to sell the controlling stake of the music and literary institution he co-founded half a century ago. Per the transaction, Wenner will become editorial director of Rolling Stone, and his son, Gus, will remain its president and chief operating officer, while also joining Pmc’s advisory board.

“Our interest in Rolling Stone is driven by its people, its cultural significance, and the globally-recognized brand that has no peer in its areas of influence”, said Pmc chairman and CEO Jay Penske. “We believe that Penske Media is uniquely qualified to partner with the Wenners to ensure the brand continues to ascend for decades across multiple media platforms — we’re eager to get started.”

Wenner Media will maintain

If director David Ayer isn’t making an action thriller movie about cops—writing “Training Day,” “Dark Blue” and “S.W.A.T.” and directing “Harsh Times,” “Street Kings” and “End Of Watch” — nearly always centered around the Lapd, gangbangers and crime in South Central La where he lived for some time, the filmmaker is crafting ultramasculine movies about men with guns (“Sabotage”) and the bonds and battles that bind brotherhood (“Fury”).

Continue reading ‘Bright’ Is An Abysmal Mash-Up Of ‘Legend Of Zelda’ & ‘Training Day’ [Review] at The Playlist.

There’s boring, there’s bad, and then there’s “Bright,” a movie so profoundly awful that Republicans will probably try to pass it into law over Christmas break. From the director of “Suicide Squad” and the writer of “Victor Frankenstein” comes a fresh slice of hell that somehow represents new lows for them both — a dull and painfully derivative ordeal that often feels like it was made just to put those earlier misfires into perspective. The only thing more predictable than this high-concept police story is the idea that a year as punishing as 2017 would save the worst for last. At least “The Emoji Movie” owned up to the fact that it was just putting shit on screen; at least “The Emoji Movie” had the courtesy to dress it up in a bowtie.

A $90 million blockbuster that boasts all the production value of an episode of “Charmed,” Netflix’s

Paul Thomas Anderson served as his own cinematographer on the “Phantom Thread,” which meant he collaborated closely with – and relied upon – his long-time gaffer Michael Bauman and camera/steadicam operator Colin Anderson more than on his previous seven films. Anderson has been reluctant to take the director of photography title – having given Bauman a lighting cameraman credit, a nod to the credit Stanley Kubrick gave John Alcott on “Barry Lyndon” – and views the film’s photography as having been a collaboration, with him being the final decision-maker.

In talking to Anderson’s collaborators, it’s clear there is a duality, or maybe more specifically a contradiction, to the way he works. He’s a filmmaker who knows exactly what he wants in terms of lighting, the cinematic style and look of his films, but he needs to see it before knowing what it is that he wants. It’s a

After five films together, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are close friends. However, Hanks also serves in another essential, unpaid role on Spielberg’s sets: acting coach.

Spielberg is infamous for not rehearsing his cast, expecting them to turn up on set fully prepared to step in front of his camera. This was especially true on “The Post,” which was on a fast track, even for the efficient filmmaker: Production began May 1, less than eight months before its December 22 release date. Hanks decided to take the newsroom gang aside for some much-needed prep.

“I knew how Steve worked,” Hanks said. “I had to figure out in different circumstances how this guy made movies. So just a little forwarding could go a long way. ‘Look, let’s get together off the books over pie and coffee and read through the stuff we have. I will try to explain to you the

A breakthrough performance can mean different things to different people. For some, it means this actor has broken through to the big time; that they’re the next big thing; that they’re a big deal now and should be treated accordingly because they delivered a big ol’ ass-kicking performance in 2017.

For others, it means this actor has broken through creatively; that they’ve reached a new level of professional accomplishment; that they’re worth taking note of, no matter what they’re in, from this point forward because the collective artistic culture witnessed the amazing things they did in 2017.

Read More:The Top 10 TV Shows of 2017

The list below represents a little bit of both. These performances are all incredible, stand-out turns made by people who are going to go on to do more great things in the future — you know, assuming Hollywood producers takes proper note. These aren’t

With its debut feature, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower,” Studio Ponoc in Japan offered a new kind of anime fantasy drawn from the DNA of Studio Ghibli. And for founder and former Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (“The Tale of The Princess Kaguya,” “When Marnie Was There”) and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi (“The Secret World of Arrietty, “When Marnie Was There”), the experience of making it was a new adventure.

“‘When Marnie Was There’ was a very quiet film about a little girl set in a small village without much action,” said Nishimura. “I wanted a story with a very active, energetic girl with lots of emotion and dynamic action.” And in speaking of his director, who drew dynamic animation for Hayao Miyazaki, “I saw that as a very large weapon to be able to feature in a new film.”

Starting From Scratch

Based on Mary Stewart’s novel, “The Little Broomstick,

You don’t know Gilbert Gottfried. You think you do, but you don’t. He’s been called the ‘comic’s comic,” and has been a staple of TV and film for years. His signature voice and crinked eyes have been imitated by thousands. But the new documentary “Gilbert, A Gilbert Gottfried Story” shows an entirely different side of the comedian who’s been entertaining audiences for four decades.

“It was uncomfortable from beginning to end,” cracked Gottfried, who spoke to IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast (along with filmmaker Neil Berkeley) about making the documentary, fame, and the state of comedy. Listen below!

Berkeley’s “Gilbert,” which premieres Dec. 29 on Hulu, came out of a desire by Gilbert’s wife Dara to showcase an unexpected side to the iconic comedian. The film peeks behind the larger-than-life persona at a more personal story about growing up in Brooklyn and becoming

With a global reach, and over 100 million subscribers tuning in, the Netflix footprint is as historic as it is staggering. No other movie studio in town can claim having simultaneous, instant access into homes all around the world. The industry is still figuring out the ramifications of what all this means, but on a fundamental level, it changes the landscape of what it means for a show or movie to succeed. Reviews are less important than sheer numbers; it’s why something like “Fuller House” can share the same space as “Mindhunter.”

This week, the streaming service goes blockbuster with “Bright.” It’s a fairly dumb looking movie, directed by David Ayer (“Suicide Squad,” “End Of Watch“), and penned by Max Landis (“American Ultra,” “Victor Frankenstein“) that basically presents a buddy cop movie in a world populated by humans, orcs, and fairies.

Continue reading ‘Bright’ Sequel In The Works At Netflix at The Playlist.

A sense of optimism flowed through the 37th edition of the Hawaii International Film Festival, held over ten days in Honolulu this past November. Last year’s version may have been sucker-punched midway through thanks to the election of Donald Trump, which knocked the wind out of many audience members and staffers here in this deep-blue, Obama-proud state. A year later the crowds and the energy were back, along with an even-stronger determination to not only hear new stories, but to committedly tell and help preserve their own. While the amount of made-in-Hawaii documentary and narrative features was only slightly over […]

“All the Money in the World” screenwriter David Scarpa calls it “the day of infamy:” On October 29, actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of “making a sexual advance” 31 years ago, when Rapp was 14. Soon, others came forward with similar claims, and director Sir Ridley Scott went into action. “I didn’t exactly go, ‘Yipee!,'” he said. “I go into battle mode.”

Self described as “born competitive,” Scott recently told a Q&A audience: “Within hours, I said, ‘Right, I’m going to recast this.'” And with that he added an estimated 25 percent (about $10 million) to the film’s budget and made a kind of cinematic history, replacing the scandal-plagued Spacey with acting veteran Christopher Plummer.

Read More: ‘All the Money in the World’ Review: Ridley Scott Proves an Expert Surgeon, but the Results Are Less Impressive

Time was of the essence: Not only did the December release date

From a distance, it might be easy to look at the films in the latter half of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s career (“Inherent Vice” aside) and believe the filmmaker to be a Very Serious Person. Certainly, pictures like “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” and his latest, “Phantom Thread,” come from a filmmaker who cares deeply about his craft.

Continue reading ‘Phantom Thread’: Paul Thomas Anderson Says “Reynolds Woodcock” Was A Joke Name That Stuck at The Playlist.

Imagine Frederick Wiseman and Wes Anderson having a Skype chat about film genres and designations, how they structure their features, and what it means to be a filmmaker. And now imagine that you’re allowed to watch that conversation. Have we got a treat for you.

Earlier this year, the pair had that exact chat (and more), and the result, a full 20-minute conversation, was only shown at select theaters on Art House Theater Day on September 24, 2017, following a fiftieth anniversary screening of Wiseman’s first film, “Titicut Follies.” The full discussion will be available next month as a bonus feature on the newly remastered Blu-ray release of the film.

Read More:‘Ex Libris – The New York Public Library’ Trailer: Frederick Wiseman’s Newest Opus Is a Love Letter to Another Beloved Institution

Check out our exclusive clip from Anderson and Wiseman’s chat below.

Wiseman’s current film “Ex

So far in his career, S. Craig Zahler has made movies with terrific titles that lived up to every vowel and consonant they contained. “Bone Tomahawk” delivered on the raw-nerved promise of its name, while “Brawl In Cell Block 99” was all that suggested and so much more (it’s awesome). Zahler’s next film is titled “Dragged Across Concrete,” and while I could look up the premise and tell you what it is, honestly, if you’re not thrilled by the title, maybe just stay away.

Continue reading ‘Bone Tomahawk’ & ‘Brawn In Cell Block 99’ Director S. Craig Zahler To Helm ‘Hug Chickenpenny’ at The Playlist.

A record 341 movies were just deemed eligible for Best Picture by the Academy. Here are 38 we’d like to see nominated — even if almost none of them have a chance.

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In terms of the scope of ideas, “The Big Sick” is a big movie: Impeccably crafted, bitingly funny, and touting a grounded kind of love rarely championed in Hollywood. Writers Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon dramatized their real-life romance to deliver one of the timeliest and most delightful romantic comedies to come out in years. “The Big Sick” tells the story of a mysterious illness that left Gordon (played by Zoe Kazan) in a coma, an experience that forever bonded Nanjiani to her parents, who are played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter.

“Three years ago I started prepping my parents,” Gordon told IndieWire in an interview for our Spotlight Awards series. She was referring to the delicate process of pouring one’s life into a narrative screenplay, especially when her mother asked for her character to “just be nice.” “That can’t happen,” Gordon reportedly told her mother.

As fans continue to squabble over “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and what it has done for the legacy of the franchise, there’s no better time to head back to 1977, just after the original “Star Wars” had landed in cinemas. The creator and eventual godfather of the series for decades to come, it’s easy to forget that George Lucas was a mere 33 years old when the first film came out.

Continue reading George Lucas, 1977: Passing ‘Star Wars’ On To “Good Directors,” Merchandising & More at The Playlist.

As fall transitions into winter, TV seasons change with the weather. It feels like just yesterday, the internet was abuzz with anticipation for a slew of new fall shows. “The Orville,” “Young Sheldon,” “The Good Doctor,” and more are all shows that feel like they just started, and in a way, they did; September wasn’t that long ago. But after seeing anywhere from seven to 12 total episodes of each series, opinions change and decisions have to be made.

Winter is coming: More new shows are on the way, and keeping up with everything isn’t an option. So it’s time to make cuts, starting with the new broadcast series that have aired enough episodes to be assessed properly. We know what they are now. Here’s what we think.

Keep It “Young Sheldon”

Original Review (One Episode): The pilot eliminates the guffawing studio audience for a surprisingly melancholic new tone,

You don’t need great performances for a great movie, we suppose — Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s mesmerizing 2016 documentary/art piece “Homo Sapiens,” for instance, doesn’t feature as single human being on screen and is still excellent. But on the whole, the two things go hand in hand: it’s impossible to imagine “Lawrence Of Arabia” without Peter O’Toole, “Star Wars” without Harrison Ford, “Cabaret” without Liza Minnelli, or “Tokyo Story” without Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama, to name but a few.

Continue reading The Best Performances Of 2017 at The Playlist.