Jared Weiss, Author at The Playlist

Five Directors Who Could Take Over ‘Moneyball’

Jared Weiss — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:22:00 +0000

So yes, we’re bordering on “Moneyball,” overkill [ed. “bordering, hmm, yes…]. And when we said if Steven Soderbergh’s off the baseball drama “we no longer care,” we lied. We thought about it a bit amongst ourselves and thought, “OK, if this thing’s going to possibly go forward. Who would be a good choice or fit?” After all there is still a good and workable Steve Zaillian screenplay that can be presumably reworked to mollify the MLB and various parties, no?

Continue reading Five Directors Who Could Take Over ‘Moneyball’ at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s July Summer Preview

Jared Weiss — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:47:00 +0000

You know the drill here. We here at The Playlist did a summer preview of the films arriving in May and June, so here’s July. There’s a lot of interesting pictures dropping this month. Take a look.

JULY 3
“The Girl from Monaco”
This is the first of writer-director Anne Fontaine’s two films to hit the U.S. this year (the other is “Coco Before Chanel,” starring Audrey Tatou), the movie will likely appeal to anyone excited by the phrase “French sex comedy.” It appears to have a relatively standard romcom love triangle: a lawyer, a bodyguard, and a bimbo of a girl with a history.

Continue reading The Playlist’s July Summer Preview at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s June Summer Preview

Jared Weiss — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:05:00 +0000

Yeah, we could give you a summer preview that has “Land of The Lost,” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” but isn’t that for other sites to do? Plus you could everything you needed to know about them in this dubious 2009 anticipated piece, and hell, we’re lazy. Plus the way the world of diminishing returns is turning, those film surely aren’t going to need any help. Plot? Characters? Who gives a shit unless they’re fun, right?

Continue reading The Playlist’s June Summer Preview at The Playlist.

2009 Anticipated: What You Need to Know About ‘Mister Nobody’

Jared Weiss — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

We’ve done some exhaustively compressive (if we do say so ourselves) Most Anticipated 2009 film features, but lots of other movies still interest us, What You Need To Know, will be a semi-regular feature with down and dirty info on upcoming 2009 films we’re potentially looking forward to.

“Mister Nobody” – TBA – Dir. Jaco van Dormael
Synopsis: A man wakes up in the future as a 120 year old man, and the last mortal on earth.

Continue reading 2009 Anticipated: What You Need to Know About ‘Mister Nobody’ at The Playlist.

2009 Anticipated: What You Need to Know About ‘(Untitled)’

Jared Weiss — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:29:00 +0000

We’ve done some exhaustively compressive (if we do say so ourselves) Most Anticipated 2009 film features, but lots of other movies still interest us, What You Need To Know, will be an semi-regular feature with down and dirty info on other upcoming 2009 films we’re looking forward to.

“Untitled” – TBD – Dir. Jonathan Parker
Synopsis: An intellectual relationship comedy with the New York modern art world serving as a backdrop for a commentary on what counts art.

Continue reading 2009 Anticipated: What You Need to Know About ‘(Untitled)’ at The Playlist.

2009 Anticipated: What You Need To Know About ‘Adam’

Jared Weiss — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:47:00 +0000

We’ve done some exhaustively compressive (if we do say so ourselves) Most Anticipated 2009 film features, but lots of other movies still interest us, What You Need To Know, will be an semi-regular feature with down and dirty info on upcoming 2009 films we’re looking forward to.

“Adam” – Fox Searchlight – Dir. Max Mayer
Synopsis: A boy meets girl story with a twist: boy has Asperger’s syndrome.
What You Need To Know: “Adam” debuted at Sundance last month to positive reviews and was snatched up almost immediately by Fox Searchlight (whose recent collection of successes alone should be enough to recommend this film).

Continue reading 2009 Anticipated: What You Need To Know About ‘Adam’ at The Playlist.

‘Traffic’s’ Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Stephen Gaghan Adapting ‘Dead Spy’

Jared Weiss — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Screenwriter Stephen Gaghan won an Oscar for “Traffic” and picked up a nomination for “Syriana,” both times receiving the sole writing credit. In between, he worked on the scripts for “The Alamo” and “Havoc” as a collaborator. So it is perhaps best for all concerned if he flies solo on the adaptation of Jon Stock’s soon-to-be-published spy thriller, “Dead Spy Running.” Of course, THR also reports McG is attached to direct the film, so perhaps the script won’t end up mattering quite so much.

Continue reading ‘Traffic’s’ Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Stephen Gaghan Adapting ‘Dead Spy’ at The Playlist.

‘Men in Black’ Writer to Adapt ‘Hardy Boys’

Jared Weiss — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:42:00 +0000

The pinnacle, arguably*, of YA mysteries is the Hardy Boys series, written by a number of different authors under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon. Spanning hundreds of novels, teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy have solved mysteries over the past eighty years to the delight of millions of adolescents.

So, naturally, Ben Stiller is aiming to produce and co-star in an updated comic adaptation, entitled “The Hardy Men.” Tom Cruise is slated to round out the duo, and Shawn Levy (director of “The Pink Panther” and “Night at the Museum”) will helm the film and co-produce.

Continue reading ‘Men in Black’ Writer to Adapt ‘Hardy Boys’ at The Playlist.

Will Young MC Bust A Comeback In Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In The Air’?

Jared Weiss — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Jason Reitman’s script for “Up in the Air” (which we just recently read) doesn’t have a lot of musical cues in its script, but there are a few connections here and there. There’s a reference to “that great hip hop song from 2003” and elsewhere a character sings Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.”

But then which ’90s rapper makes an appearance as himself? Well, none other than Young MC who busts out the first few lines of his hit “Bust a Move,” of course.

Continue reading Will Young MC Bust A Comeback In Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In The Air’? at The Playlist.

Inside Baseball: Making Sense Of Brad Pitt As A Oakland A’s Coach

Jared Weiss — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:01:00 +0000

Yesterday we told you about how Steven Soderbergh is in talks to direct an adaptation of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball,” with Brad Pitt set to play the lead, Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane. As a die-hard baseball fan with the book sitting rather prominently on my shelf, I thought I’d take a second to explain how this all makes sense.

A former major leaguer with an undistinguished career, Beane is the General Manager of the A’s.

Continue reading Inside Baseball: Making Sense Of Brad Pitt As A Oakland A’s Coach at The Playlist.

The Name’s Fleming. Ian Fleming.

Jared Weiss — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Most guys want to be James Bond. But is it possible that Bond wanted to be just like his creator, Ian Fleming? Like his superspy, Fleming went to Eton, rose to the rank of Commander (in Naval Intelligence), was a bit of a cad with the ladies, had a proclivity for the finest liquor and went a number of globetrotting adventures (though mostly as a journalist). Fleming participated in and helped engineer many intelligence operations in service of his country during WWII, experience which would serve as a foundation for Bond’s missions, even submitting plans for a complex mission meant for a team of elite Bond-like spies with the goal of ending the war.

Continue reading The Name’s Fleming. Ian Fleming. at The Playlist.

GeekBeat: ‘Ghost Rider 2,’ ‘Chronicles of Narnia 3,’ And ‘The Thing’ Return

Jared Weiss — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:24:00 +0000

At long last, the mildly successful and wildly ignored “Ghost Rider” will have a sequel of its very own. Bloody Disgusting is reporting that writers are being sought, not that the script is going to be terribly important to this one. More (or is it less?) importantly, Nicolas Cage has apparently signed on to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle daredevil who sells his soul to set the world on fire.

A month ago, Disney said “Chronicles of Narnia?

Continue reading GeekBeat: ‘Ghost Rider 2,’ ‘Chronicles of Narnia 3,’ And ‘The Thing’ Return at The Playlist.

Will the Apatow Crew Crash the Muppets’ Party?

Jared Weiss — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:18:00 +0000

While we may have been skeptical when we first heard of Jason Segel’s plans to revive the Muppet franchise, his turn in the underrated “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” assuaged many of our fears. He proved his adroitness in many things Muppet: working with puppets, fitting musical sequences into a movie, delivering broad humor, heck, he even banged out a few bars of the famous theme song. Now he’s dropping hints of continuing another Muppet tradition, that of the celebrity cameo.

Continue reading Will the Apatow Crew Crash the Muppets’ Party? at The Playlist.

Van Damme Kicks Love All By Himself In ‘Eagle Path’

Jared Weiss — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:46:00 +0000

In 2008, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in the refreshingly original “JCVD.” Film School Rejects points us to his next film, recently renamed to “The Eagle Path,” which seems on the surface to be a return to the norm: an action flick probably appreciated by his dwindling legion of fans and completely ignored by everyone else. In the movie, Van Damme is an ex-GI (of course) who is now a taxi driver in southeast Asia. There’s a mysterious girl (Claudia Bassols) who draws him into her mysterious world, and soon he realizes must protect her from myriad henchman no doubt marginally-versed in martial arts.

Continue reading Van Damme Kicks Love All By Himself In ‘Eagle Path’ at The Playlist.

2009 DGA Nominations Announced

Jared Weiss — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:42:00 +0000

The Directors Guild of America has announced their nominees:

Danny Boyle – “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Fincher – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard – “Frost/Nixon”
Christopher Nolan – “The Dark Knight”
Gus Van Sant – “Milk”

If you are looking for snubs, you could count John Patrick Shanley’s work on “Doubt,” Sam Mendes for “Revolutionary Road,” or Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Other possible contenders were Darren Aronofsky for “The Wrestler” and Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader.”

Really, though, the expected five were nominated, and since the DGA’s are such a strong predictor of the Academy, it sure seems a safe bet that this will be the same group receiving Oscar nominations in a few weeks.

Continue reading 2009 DGA Nominations Announced at The Playlist.