M. P., Author at The Playlist

Trailer Alert: ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

M. P. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:52:00 +0000

It’s about damn time! The trailer for Wes Anderson‘s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s children’s book “Fantastic Mr. Fox” has finally been released online.

We’re not exactly sure what to make of it. It looks cute and offers a few light chuckles, but we’re not sure if this trailer was made for the Wes Anderson fans or for the people that plan on seeing “Aliens in the Attic” this Friday.

Continue reading Trailer Alert: ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at The Playlist.

‘Eastbound & Down’ Up for Season Two?

M. P. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 +0000

We don’t usually talk about TV, (excluding “The Wire”) but some of us have an apparent chubby for comedian Danny McBride and his recent HBO series, “Eastbound & Down.” McBride plays the exact same character as in everything else he’s been in. Seriously, the only thing diverse about this guy now is his fucking amazing hair. ‘Down’ is about Kenny Powers, (McBride) a former pro baseball player known for his foul mouth and reckless behavior.

Continue reading ‘Eastbound & Down’ Up for Season Two? at The Playlist.

‘No Country’ Double Dip DVD Finally Hits Stores This April

M. P. — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:27:00 +0000

It’s been a long year since the standard DVD and Blu-Ray Disc of the Coen Brothers’ mechanically crafted “No Country for Old Men” came out, and fans of the film who bought the DVD right away are slamming their fists while jumping for joy, because the much deserved special edition is going to be released on April seventh.

The shitty cover boldly states that a digital copy is included, above the words “a Coen Brothers film” mind you, not to mention the back is solely devoted to demonstrating for the POHIs how to receive your digital copy of the film.

Continue reading ‘No Country’ Double Dip DVD Finally Hits Stores This April at The Playlist.

Mickey Pagels’ Top 10 For 2008

M. P. — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:43:00 +0000

I would like to start off by sort of introducing myself a little bit. My name is Mickey Pagels and I am a 17 year-old dance student from Chicago who also loves movies [ed. blatant lies]. The Playlist gives me more than ample opportunity to write about current cinema, which is great for when I have spare time.

10. “Hamlet 2”
For me, “Hamlet 2” was a surprise comedy hit for me, just because I thought it looked terrible.

Continue reading Mickey Pagels’ Top 10 For 2008 at The Playlist.

Stephen Chow No Longer Helming ‘Green Hornet’ For Seth Rogen

M. P. — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Over the summer, it was announced that the “Kung Fu Hustle” star/director, Stephen Chow, would be directing and co-starring along side Seth Rogen in the upcoming ‘Green Hornet’ film. However, Variety has the scoop that Columbia Pictures has dropped Chow as director in order to keep the film on schedule for a summer 2010 release.

According to Variety, Chow got up from the director’s chair due to creative differences. A new director will likely be brought on before the new year, but Chow will still be playing Kato in the film.

Continue reading Stephen Chow No Longer Helming ‘Green Hornet’ For Seth Rogen at The Playlist.

Tom Cruise Wants to Don Fat Suit Again

M. P. — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:01:00 +0000

It’s been a big week for Tom Cruise, first a Golden Globe nomination for his role as potty mouthed studio executive, Les Grossman in “Tropic Thunder” and now talk of bringing the character to back to the big screen for more foul mouthed misadventures and rump shaking. Nothing is set in stone yet, but Cruise seems to be down with the project. “I’ve talked about doing different videos with the character. I’ve started working with Ben [Stiller] on it, and we’ve kind of talked about different things to do,” said Cruise.

Continue reading Tom Cruise Wants to Don Fat Suit Again at The Playlist.

‘Dark Knight’ Director Blacked-Out Out on WGA-Sent DVDs

M. P. — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:45:00 +0000

More snubs for “The Dark Knight” yesterday. First it was the Golden Globes, now this. As DVDs of ‘TDK’ ship off to critics to help boost its Oscar chances, some people are getting copies with the words “A Christopher Nolan Film” blanked out with black marker. Those with the marked DVDs are members of the Writers Guild of America.

This graffiti comes as a result of the WGA taking offense to a “possessory credit for a director.” At least that’s what Warner Brothers had to say about it.

Continue reading ‘Dark Knight’ Director Blacked-Out Out on WGA-Sent DVDs at The Playlist.

Blaxploitation Spoof ‘Black Dynamite’ Apes Dolemite Without Paying Credit

M. P. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:32:00 +0000

You probably haven’t heard of “Black Dynamite” (we didn’t until today) but the film is a send up of 70’s blaxploitation films like “Shaft,” “Superfly,” or “Foxy Brown.” The trailer even references by name some of them too, but the film that gets visually referenced throughout the trailer alone is “Dolemite.” Made on a low budget, “Dolemite” is a perfect example of a “so bad its good” movie. The film’s unintentional hilarity makes it ripe for parody, which is what ‘Dynamite’ has done to “Dolemite.” The trailer uses the same sort of rhyming scheme used in both the trailer for “Dolemite” and its over the top sequel, “The Human Tornado.” At least one of the phrases from the ‘Dynamite’ trailer is taken verbatim from the “Dolemite” trailer.

Continue reading Blaxploitation Spoof ‘Black Dynamite’ Apes Dolemite Without Paying Credit at The Playlist.

Pictures of Larry David in Woody Allen’s ‘Whatever Works’

M. P. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:44:00 +0000

The first images of Woody Allen’s new comedy, “Whatever Works” have popped up over at /Film. The films stars Larry David as an eccentric who meets a southern bell played by Evan Rachel Wood. The duo joined by Wood’s parents “get into a series of highly improbable, far out, romantic entanglements.” Judging by the photographs, Patricia Clarkson plays the mother of Evan Rachel Wood that looks nearly identical to Zooey Deschanel.

At this point, eccentric could mean anything, and since Larry David hasn’t done much acting besides “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” (which he is great in) we’re curious as to what he will be like.

Continue reading Pictures of Larry David in Woody Allen’s ‘Whatever Works’ at The Playlist.

‘Assassination of a High School President’ Clips Have Been Treading Water for Some Time Now

M. P. — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:07:00 +0000

Clips for the upcoming 2008 film, “Assassination of a High School President” surfaced online a long time ago, but we haven’t posted about it yet. This could be due to the fact that the film’s trailer has yet to be released, or maybe, we just forgot about it. Four clips from the film are on Youtube and many other sites now and have been for a while now.

Based on the four clips, we can sum up that Reece Thompson (“Rocket Science”) is a new kid at a catholic high school who thinks that he is some hot-shit reporter.

Continue reading ‘Assassination of a High School President’ Clips Have Been Treading Water for Some Time Now at The Playlist.

‘Repo’ Director, Bousman, Nearly Disowned After Casting Paris Hilton

M. P. — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:04:00 +0000

Darren Lynn Bousman, director of “Repo! The Genetic Opera” was almost put in time-out by his moms upon her hearing of the casting of hotel heiress, Paris Hilton, in his new film. Bousman admits that he struggled with the idea of having the paparazzi pimple in his film: “I was adamantly opposed to casting Paris because the first thing people said to me was, ‘Think of the press you’ll get if you put Paris in it.’ I thought, ‘Whatever horror cred I have is about to go down the toilet.”

Primarily, he should have been concerned about his dear mother’s feelings, because she seemed like the person hurt most by the decision.

Continue reading ‘Repo’ Director, Bousman, Nearly Disowned After Casting Paris Hilton at The Playlist.

Kill Me Now! ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Sequel Green Lit Based Solely On Title

M. P. — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:07:00 +0000

We didn’t bother to see the first “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movie, (who did?) but a sequel, due Christmas 2009, is already in the works. The main cast is returning including David Cross, who has taken flack from fellow stand-up comedians for selling out by appearing in the first one. The sequel, that has no writer or director, will be called, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.” Right now, we are contemplating adding squeakuel to our computer’s dictionary to save us from the annoying red underline that pops down beneath words that aren’t real.

Continue reading Kill Me Now! ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ Sequel Green Lit Based Solely On Title at The Playlist.

Rising Star of ‘Twilight’ Dons Mustache As Salvador Dali, But Will Fans Accept?

M. P. — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:57:00 +0000

We know this is super lame and that we shouldn’t encourage it, but images of “Twilight” star, Robert Pattinson, as Salvador Dalí have popped up over at MTV. Pattinson will play the famous surrealist artist in the upcoming film, “Little Ashes.”

Pattinson will sport the mustache made famous by Dalí as he chums around with Federico Garcia Lorca (Javier Beltran) and filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty)in his late teen years at a Madrid university.

Continue reading Rising Star of ‘Twilight’ Dons Mustache As Salvador Dali, But Will Fans Accept? at The Playlist.

Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘Haunted’ Coming Soon…

M. P. — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:21:00 +0000

Chuck Palahniuk, who wrote the novel’s “Fight Club”and “Choke,” is up for another feature film adaptation based on one of his books. This time, the collection of disgusting short stories surrounding a bigger picture, “Haunted.” New School Media will be producing the film which will be written and directed by Koen Mortier, a commercial director who made his feature debut last year at the Toronto Film Festival with “Ex Drummer.”

“Haunted,” was just optioned to Mortier, so it might be a while before we see this.

Continue reading Chuck Palahniuk’s ‘Haunted’ Coming Soon… at The Playlist.

50 Cent Adds Up For French Remake, ’13’

M. P. — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:06:00 +0000

“Rapper?” Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Jason Statham, and Mickey Rourke have joined Sam Riley (“Control”) in “13,” the upcoming remake of Gela Babluani’s own original French film, “13 Tzameti.”

The film, written and directed by Babluani, is about a young man (Riley) who steals a dead man’s identity and gets caught up in an underground world of violence, power, and chance , in order to get rich (or die trying?). Paramount Vantage is producing the film which will shoot come mid november in New York City.

Continue reading 50 Cent Adds Up For French Remake, ’13’ at The Playlist.

Hulk to Be Villain in ‘Avengers’ Movie?

M. P. — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Following the success of “Iron Man” and the mediocre returns of “The Incredible Hulk,” Marvel Studios has set the ‘Avengers’ movie in motion.

The film won’t come out until the summer of 2011, after the upcoming Marvel projects, “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America” are released. None of this is new, but what is relatively new, is that the Hulk character himself could be the villain in the ‘Avengers’ movie.

Louis Leterrier, the director of the recent ‘Hulk’ suggested the same earlier this year.

Continue reading Hulk to Be Villain in ‘Avengers’ Movie? at The Playlist.

‘The Unborn’ Trailer: Funniest Unintentional Thing Since ‘Passengers’ Trailer

M. P. — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:13:00 +0000

If you haven’t heard of “The Unborn,” don’t get discouraged, because you’re in the majority as are we, because we didn’t have a clue that this film existed until today. From the trailer, all that we could get was that a sexy but reserved babysitter gets hit in the eye with a tea cup by the kid from the “Hancock” trailer. The attack causes her to go to an eye doctor who tells her that her irises are two different colors.

Continue reading ‘The Unborn’ Trailer: Funniest Unintentional Thing Since ‘Passengers’ Trailer at The Playlist.

Review: Shock Value Can Only Go So Far for ‘Sex Drive’

M. P. — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:34:00 +0000

We caught an early sneak peak of the post-“Superbad” teen comedy, “Sex Drive.” The movie had its moments, but some of it was terrible. While funny in parts, but the prime majority of the jokes were based solely on how sexually vulgar, crude, or gratuitous it could be. Rarely was the film clever. It’s like the writers thought, “Hey, dildos are funny and so are condoms! Especially when they are flung on to some one’s face!”

The film is about an 18 year-old mall employee, Josh Zuckerman, who, under false pretenses, meets an attractive girl on the Internet and they decide to meet so he can finally have sex.

Continue reading Review: Shock Value Can Only Go So Far for ‘Sex Drive’ at The Playlist.

Clint Eastwood Plays a ‘Weirdo Racist’ in ‘Gran Torino’

M. P. — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:52:00 +0000

Press conferences for Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” have brought up questions of Eastwood’s end of the year release, “Gran Torino” (very odd that he’d release “Changeling” in October with Angelina Jolie and then the latter in December, but that still appears to be the plan so far).

Clint didn’t give too much away, but he did dish some more about his character,but he did dish some details.

Eastwood directs the film and stars as a racist Korean War veteran who reluctantly bonds with his Asian immigrant neighbor over his 1972 Gran Torino automobile.

Continue reading Clint Eastwood Plays a ‘Weirdo Racist’ in ‘Gran Torino’ at The Playlist.

Judd Apatow Taps YouTube Youth Scribe Bo Burnham To Write An Anti-‘High School Musical’ Movie

M. P. — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:16:00 +0000

You may not have heard of Bo Burnham yet, but the 18 year-old (virgin?) Youtube comedian/songwriter is soon to hit it big. Unlike most people his age, who are worrying about their college classes and trying to hit 5th base, Burnham is soon to work with comedy’s best friend, Judd Apatow.

Burnham earned a decent following on Youtube and has taken the initiative to write a screenplay that utilizes his creative/offensiv lyrics.

Continue reading Judd Apatow Taps YouTube Youth Scribe Bo Burnham To Write An Anti-‘High School Musical’ Movie at The Playlist.

Review: ‘Blindless’ Is Like ‘Children Of Men’ Without The Bite Or Threat

M. P. — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:26:00 +0000

We just got back from our “day before the release” screening of “Blindness.” Having received mixed reviews, Fernando Meirelles’s latest (“City of God”) isn’t as terrible as some say, but it’s not very good either. The positive aspects of the film aren’t enough to outweigh the unfavorable second half of the film. The main thing going against the picture are its similarities to superior post-apocalyptic films such as “28 Days Later” and “Children of Men.” When comparing the three films (which one can’t help but do here), “Blindness” can’t help but fall short.

Continue reading Review: ‘Blindless’ Is Like ‘Children Of Men’ Without The Bite Or Threat at The Playlist.

Rumor Mill: Clooney As ‘The Lone Ranger’ With Tonto Depp At His Side?

M. P. — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:47:00 +0000

We can see it now…

INT. STABLE – NIGHT

“The Lone Ranger” and Tonto hustle into the stable to man their respective animals. Both men suit up into their crime fighting costumes. Lone Ranger’s horse rises up from a secret elevator hidden below the barn’s floor. Both men close in on the trusty steed. Lone Ranger looks docile as hell and Tonto, exclaims, with his saucy jealousness, “I want a horse, chicks dig the horse.” Then, without any emotion, the Lone Ranger retorts, “This is why ‘Superman’ works alone.”

Flash back to reality.

Continue reading Rumor Mill: Clooney As ‘The Lone Ranger’ With Tonto Depp At His Side? at The Playlist.

Another ‘Benjamin Button’ Trailer Hits the Web

M. P. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:16:00 +0000

The full trailer for David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has finally been released. slashfilm got a hold of it, and Apple.com has the exclusive HD version. This time around, we get a much larger look at Tilda Swinton’s character as well as all of the others, but hers is the most significant addition.

Eric Roth wrote the screenplay, and it shows. The dialogue heard in the trailer sounds like it was scraped off of “Forrest Gump’s” dinner plate and has been stored in the refrigerator as leftovers for the last 14 years.

Continue reading Another ‘Benjamin Button’ Trailer Hits the Web at The Playlist.

Mark Ruffalo Talks ‘Shutter Island’

M. P. — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:52:00 +0000

Mark Ruffalo recently spoke with MTV about the new Martin Scorsese movie, “Shutter Island.” (Or is it “Ashecliffe?”) Ruffalo is singing praises about Scorsese, but do we expect any less? “It is Martin Scorsese’s playground with this movie. He gets to do everything he loves about film,” Ruffalo said, “He does noir, fantasy sequences, dream sequences, madness, suspense, tough urban stuff. It’s absolute madness and twist upon twist. This could be one of his great films.”

The film is based on Dennis Lehane’s (“Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone”) 2003 novel, “Shutter Island.” Scorsese’s golden boy, Leonardo DiCaprio, plays U.S.

Continue reading Mark Ruffalo Talks ‘Shutter Island’ at The Playlist.

Ang Lee’s ‘Woodstock’ Will Change Your Life!

M. P. — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:40:00 +0000

Academy Award winning Director, Ang Lee, is filming his new film “Taking Woodstock.” Lee’s close friend and writing /producing partner, James Schamus, spoke with MTV about the film and its director.

“Demetri Martin is the main character,” Schamus said, explaining who is really going to steal the show, “This is his ‘Hello world, this is Demetri Martin [moment].” Martin is one of our favorite stand-up comics, and we are super excited for him.

Continue reading Ang Lee’s ‘Woodstock’ Will Change Your Life! at The Playlist.