For the past 18 years, superheroes have dominated Hollywood storytelling, quickly becoming a pervasive genre, complete with singular tropes and themes. So ubiquitous and sometimes all too familiar, these clearly defined storytelling conventions make the superhero genre ripe fodder for satire. So, right on cue, from Armando Iannucci, a contemporary master of satire, the voice behind “Veep,” “In the Thick of It” and “Death of Stalin,” and Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes comes “The Franchise,” a half-hour comedy looking at the inside of the superhero factory-making machine.

Continue reading ‘The Franchise’ Teaser: Armando Iannucci & Sam Mendes’ New HBO Satire Pokes Fun At Superhero Filmmaking  at The Playlist.

In his best performances, Mark Wahlberg acts as a sort of 21st-century Bruce Willis, combining comic and action chops as a beleaguered regular Joe battling forces above his pay grade, armed with a scowl and ready quip. No matter how idealized and saintly the characterization, Wahlberg always plays a human being pulled into extraordinary situations, not a superhero. “The Union,” directed by Julian Farino for the Netflix streaming service, uses Wahlberg in such a way.

Continue reading ‘The Union’ Trailer: Halle Berry Drags Mark Wahlberg Into The World Of Espionage For Netflix In August at The Playlist.

You don’t want your professional life with your personal life, and you certainly don’t want your mom involved, or worse, sleeping with your boss. And that’s the wild and basic premise of “A Family Affair,” an outrageous new Netflix sex comedy, love story, and family dramedy that stars Nicole Kidman, Joey King, and Zac Efron.

READ MORE: Summer Movie Preview: 50 Must-See Films To Watch

Directed by Richard LaGravenese (“P.S.

Continue reading ‘A Family Affair’ Trailer: Nicole Kidman Hooks Up With Zac Efron In An Awkward New Sex Comedy at The Playlist.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “All great literature is one of two stories: a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.” The action genre is particularly suited for the latter plot line and the premise forms the backbone of “Trigger Warning,” a new action thriller set to premiere on the Netflix streaming service.

READ MORE: Summer Movie Preview: 50 Must-See Films To Watch

Directed by Mouly Surya, the director of the Cannes Film Festival premiering thriller “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts,” “Trigger Warning” is led by Jessica Alba (“Sin City” “Fantastic Four”) in her first acting role in nearly four years.

Continue reading ‘Trigger Warning’ Trailer: Jessica Alba Cleans Up Her Hometown In New Netflix Action Thriller at The Playlist.

Projects centered around the left-wing revolutionary group, the Black Panther Party, continue to fascinate popular culture. In 2022, Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar for portraying the betrayed deputy chairman, Fred Hampton, in the bio-crime drama, “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Now, a new limited series, “The Big Cigar,” based on a Playboy Article by Joshuah Bearman (known for the Wired Article that inspired “Argo”), tells the too-good-to-be-true story of Black Panther co-founder Huey Percy Newton’s escape to Cuba with the assistance of a famous film producer.

Continue reading ‘The Big Cigar’ Trailer: André Holland Stars As Black Panther Huey Newton For Apple Series In May at The Playlist.

Getting into a rideshare is a gamble. To begin with, you are getting into a car with a complete stranger and then spending an extended amount of time with this stranger in an enclosed space that isn’t easy to exit. It’s a situation ripe for the horror movie treatment. Over the past several years, as Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare companies have taken off, we have seen several movies utilize the scenario, namely “Spree” (2021) and “Ride” (2018). 

Continue reading ‘The Stranger’ Trailer: A Rideshare Trip Goes Terrifyingly Awry In Maika Monroe’s Hulu Horror Movie at The Playlist.

Music has a way of worming its way into the listener’s heart. Without any effort on the listener’s part, a song can become inextricably linked to an emotion, place, person, or period. This incredibly potent and special aspect of music forms the basis of the new romantic comedy, “The Greatest Hits.”

READ MORE: SXSW 2024 Preview: 21 Films & Shows To Watch

From writer/director Ned Benson (“The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”), the movie stars Lucy Boynton (“Barbie,” “Bohemian Rhapsody”) as Harriet, a young woman mourning the end of a relationship.

Continue reading ‘The Greatest Hits’ Trailer: Lucy Boynton & David Corenswet Star In A Musical Time Travel Rom-Com at The Playlist.

The hitman has proven a consistent source of inspiration for movies, from 1942’s “This Gun For Hire” to 1967’s “Le Samourai” to the recent “Hitman.” With so many movies centered around a hitman, it’s hard not to feel derivative. One of the ways that filmmakers make their take on the hitman feels fresh and unique is to give the contract killer a quirk, an easily distinguishable characteristic. Some examples include Alain Delon’s love of birds in “Le Samourai,” Michael Fassbender’s The Smith’s playlist in “The Killer,” or Tom Cruise’s use of taxis in his murder method in “Collateral.” “Knox Goes Away,” directed by and starring Michael Keaton (“Batman” “Birdman”), tells the story of John Knox, a hitman dealing with a degenerative brain disorder, Cretuszfeldt-Jakob Disease, similar to Alzheimer’s. 

Continue reading ‘Knox Goes Away’ Trailer: Michael Keaton Directs & Stars In A Crime Noir About Dementia- Afflicted Hitman at The Playlist.

John Krasinski pulled off quite the feat with 2018’s “A Quiet Place” alien invasion horror movie. Not only did the actor and leading man introduce a viable new Hollywood franchise, but he also launched himself into the stratosphere of new filmmakers that could make suspenseful and emotional dramas that thrilled audiences, put asses in seats, and pleased critics and moviegoers alike.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024

Featuring himself, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe, the original film focused on the journey of one family living on an isolated country farm, raising questions about other people’s experiences dealing with the aliens.

Continue reading ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Trailer: Lupita N’yongo Stars In Michael Sarnoski’s New Alien Invasion Spin-Off at The Playlist.

On April 14, 1865, while watching a production of the play “Our American Friend,” President of the United States Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln would die from his wounds the following day. Breaking his leg during his escape from the theater, Booth fled. He hid out in a Rural Virginia farmhouse until it was surrounded by a New York Calvary and burned. While trying to sneak out of the farmhouse, Booth was shot by a member of the cavalry.

Continue reading ‘Manhunt’ Trailer:  Tobias Menzies & Anthony Boyle Star In The Hunt For President Lincoln’s Assassin Mini-Series at The Playlist.

It seems that being afraid of no ghosts can literally save your life in the fifth and latest entry in the Ghostbusters franchise, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” The movie is a direct sequel to 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” which very famously handed the series “back to the fans,”   and is helmed by Gil Kenan, co-writer of  ‘Afterlife’ and director of “Monster House,” with a script from Kenan and Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”).  

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024

“Frozen Empire” catches up with the descendants of deceased original Ghostbuster, Egon Spengler, his daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon, “The Leftovers,” “The Gilded Age”), and her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, “Stranger Things”) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace, Captain Marvel) have relocated to New York City alongside Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd).

Continue reading ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Trailer: All The Classic Ghostbusters Assemble at The Playlist.

There’s a strong case to be made that the reporter is an underutilized protagonist in the thriller genre. They do much of the same job as a law enforcement officer, such as interviewing witnesses and suspects and attempting to find a perpetrator, but with perhaps an approach that is less dynamic and glamorous. The job of a reporter and the ethics of journalism are front and center in the new movie “Cold Copy,” helmed by first-time director Roxine Helberg from her own script.  

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024

Helberg describes the story as one about “the personal cost of the manipulation of the truth.”  

Bel Powley (“The Morning Show”) stars as Mia Scott, a green journalism student struggling to show herself to advantage in a class taught by established news reporter Diane Heger (Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”) By serendipity, Mia meets Igor Nowak (Jacob Tremblay, “Room”), the son of a writer who died under suspicious circumstances.

Continue reading ‘Cold Copy’ Trailer: Tracee Ellis Ross & Bel Powley Star In A Drama About Journalism, Ethics & The Truth at The Playlist.

It always piques the curiosity when an entertainer makes the leap to behind the camera. The latest to do so is Nicola Peltz Beckham, best known for her performance in M. Night Shyamalan’s ill-fated adaptation of “The Last Airbender” and her tabloid presence as a member of footballer David Beckham’s extended family. With the soon-to-be-released film, “Lola,” Peltz Beckham pulls triple duty, playing the titular character in the movie, which she also directs and wrote the screenplay for. 

Continue reading ‘Lola’ Trailer: Nicola Peltz Beckham Stars In Her Directorial Debut; A Gritty New Drama  at The Playlist.

In the current media landscape, every pre-existing piece of IP with any semblance of brand awareness can take to updating. The latest is a new television series expansion of 2005’s “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” starring  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. While this new television show, created by Donald Glover (the brains behind “Atlanta”) and Francesca Sloane (“Atlanta” “Fargo”), follows a globe-trotting super-spy couple, it finds different rooms within the concept to play in from the 2005 original. 

READ MORE: The 67 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Series Of 2024

The most glaring departure, the television show, starts at the very beginning of a romantic relationship rather than following a long-established relationship that has fallen into a rut, as in the original.

Continue reading ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ Trailer: Donald Glover & Maya Erskine Update The Married Assassins Movie Franchise As Prime Video Series at The Playlist.

In 2020, musician and composer Jon Batiste won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, and a BAFTA Film Award for co-composing Pixar’s “Soul.” Not to rest on his laurels in 2022, he dominated the Grammy Awards entirely with 11 nominations, the most of the year. The day the nominations were announced, however, Batiste’s partner, writer Suleika Jaoaud, went through her first round of chemotherapy.

Continue reading ‘American Symphony’: Documentarian Matthew Heineman Tackles The Glories & Struggles Of Grammy-Winner Jon Batiste at The Playlist.

The plays of William Shakespeare are arguably the most frequently adapted in the world. But one of his most famous plays, “Much Ado About Nothing,” hasn’t been adapted for the big screen since 1993’s version by Kenneth Branagh. As one of the progenitors of the modern romantic comedy, it’s nearly shameful that ‘Much Ado’ has gone untouched for so long. But this mistake gets rectified with the upcoming romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” starring “Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney and “Top Gun: Maverick” breakout actor Glen Powell.

Continue reading ‘Anyone But You’ Trailer: Sydney Sweeney &  Glen Powell Modernize Shakespeare In Sexy New Rom-Com at The Playlist.

Jonathan Glazer’s first feature film since 2013’s “Under the Skin” is the long-awaited and much anticipated “The Zone of Interest.” The drama premiered to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the second-biggest award, the Grand Jury Prix prize. “Zone of Interest” features Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel in the lead roles, and the drama follows a young family setting out to build their dream house.

Continue reading ‘The Zone Of Interest’ Trailer: Jonathan Glazer Depicts The Horrifying Banality Of Evil With New Holocaust Drama at The Playlist.

“American Fiction” has quickly become the movie to watch in the awards season after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim, garnering the festival’s People’s Choice Award. The award has come to be seen as a precursor for Academy Award nominations. Since its inception in 1978, 42 TIFF People’s Choice Award winners have gone on to be nominated for a Best Picture or Best International Picture Academy Award, with 17 taking home a statue.

Continue reading ‘American Fiction’ Trailer: TIFF’s Audience Winner & Cultural Satire With Jeffrey Wright Arrives December 15 at The Playlist.

“What sort of father would I be if I put my young fowl in harm’s way for no reason except a chance at a Caribbean vacation?” From Benjamin Renner, the co-director of the charming Academy Award-nominated “Ernest and Celestine,” comes the animated family comedy “Migration.” Produced by the computer animation studio Illumination (“Despicable Me,” “Sing,” “The Super Mario Bros.

Continue reading ‘Migration’ Trailer: ‘Despicable Me’ Studio Illumination Takes You Along For A Family Of Ducks Vacation at The Playlist.

“Leave the World Behind,” the new movie from Sam Esmail, creator of “Mr. Robot,” will receive its world premiere at the opening of the American Film Festival. Esmail is an alumnus of the AFI Festival, graduating from the Conservatory in 2004. While this is not Esmail’s feature film debut, he has certainly been more acclaimed for his television work.

“Leave the World Behind” marks a shift in his career.

Continue reading ‘Leave The World Behind’ Teaser:  Julia Robert, Ethan Hawke & Mahershala Ali Star In  Sam Esmail’s Apocalyptic Thriller at The Playlist.

“Nothing has changed in education in 100 years. But it turns out these kids are really smart.” Based on a 2013 Wired Magazine article, “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses,” and the true story of educator Sergio Juárez Correa, “Radical” stars Eugenio Derbez (“CODA,” “Overboard”) as a teacher who sets out to inspire his students and change the modes of education in a small violence-ridden Mexican border town.

Continue reading ‘Radical’ Trailer: Eugenio Derbez Stars As An Inspiring Teacher In Heartwarming Based-On-A-True-Story Dramedy at The Playlist.

Godfrey Reggio, the filmmaker behind the landmark experimental documentary “Koyaanisqatsi,” returns with his first film in nine years, the surreal and visually striking fantasy “Once Within A Time.” The movie has no narrative but instead charts a journey through the imaginative subconscious of children. Drawing on the aesthetic of fairy tales, “Once Within A Time” is made out of the visuals, with the collection of images and filmic techniques creating a whimsical dreamscape.

Continue reading ‘Once Within A Time’ Trailer: Godfrey Reggio, Director Of ‘Koyaanisqatsi,’ Returns With A Psychedelic, Dreamlike Fairy Tale at The Playlist.

After 2018’s “Aquaman” grossed nearly $1.2 billion dollars, becoming the highest-earning entry in the DC Extended Universe, there was little surprise at the announcement of a sequel. It was a given, an expectation. What makes the prospect of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is the fact that it may very well see James Wan draw on his roots as a horror director. 

READ MORE: Fall Film Preview: 60+ Most Anticipated Movies To Watch

In an interview with Total Film, Wan, the master behind the “Saw” and “Conjuring” franchises, revealed that he was looking to “Planet of the Vampires,” a 1965 space horror directed by Mario Bava for inspiration.

Continue reading ‘Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom’ Trailer: James Wan Adds A Pinch Of Horror To His December-Bound Superhero Film at The Playlist.