Lots of excellent movies premiered at the Venice Film Festival this year, like “Poor Things,” “Maestro,” and “Priscilla.” But while those films already have awards buzz swirling around them, don’t forget about Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” a complex drama about a journalist grappling with tremendous tragedies in her life and the global journey she embarks on.

Continue reading ‘Origin’ Trailer: Ava DuVernay’s Acclaimed Drama With Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Starts Expanding January 19 at The Playlist.

It’s crazy to think that it’s been nine years since the release of Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated film, “Selma.” And over that time, while she has produced quite a bit and even directed an acclaimed limited series, DuVernay has only released one feature film, the underwhelming “A Wrinkle in Time.” However, it would appear the filmmaker is returning in a big, big way with her new film, “Origin.”

READ MORE: ‘Origin’ First Look: Ava DuVernay’s Adaptation Of ‘Caste’ With Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal & Vera Farmiga Premieres At Venice On September 6

As seen in the new teaser for “Origin,” the film is inspired by the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson as she writes the book, “Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents.” The journey to bring that book to life finds Wilkerson traveling all over the world and experiencing various cultures. 

Continue reading ‘Origin’ Teaser: Ava DuVernay’s New Drama Is Picked Up By NEON & Will Hit Theaters Later This Year at The Playlist.

When it comes to the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival, there’s any number of in-competition titles that could win the coveted Golden Lion. But a top sleeper pick may be Ava DuVernay‘s “Origin,” which has its world premiere on the Lido on September 6. Based on Isabel Wilkerson‘s 2020 bestseller “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” the film isn’t an adaptation so much as a fictionalized account of how Wilkerson prepared to write a book that examines American racism as a caste system.  

Continue reading ‘Origin’ First Look: Ava DuVernay’s Adaptation Of ‘Caste’ With Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal & Vera Farmiga Premieres At Venice On September 6 at The Playlist.

It’s been eight years since U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) packed up his Stetson hat and moved down to Miami in the series finale of FX’s consistently excellent “Justified.” (Although it’s 15 years in the world of the show.) As if he’s never left, he glides back into the television landscape this month with “Justified: City Primeval,” an eight-episode limited series that adapts Elmore Leonard’s 1980 book, “City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit,” into a new standalone story.

Continue reading ‘Justified: City Primeval’ Review: Raylan Givens Returns In FX’s Fantastic Limited Series at The Playlist.

Filming begins this month on FX‘s revival of the acclaimed Timothy Olyphant series “Justified.” “Justified: City Primeval” is directly inspired by Elmore Leonard’s “City Primeval: High Noon In Detroit.” The author is responsible for creating the sharp-witted, gunslinging U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in a string of novels and has seen his other novels adapted into feature films.

Continue reading ‘Justified: City Primeval’: Aunjanue Ellis, Boyd Holbrook & More Join Cast Of FX Revival Series at The Playlist.

From BAFTA-Winner Peter Moffat, J. David Shanks, and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society productions AMC Networks’ “61st Street” looks like a series worth paying attention to. Set in the Chicago criminal justice system, this propulsive thriller series stars Emmy-winner Courtney B. Vance, known for “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” and “Lovecraft Country,” Aunjanue Ellis (“When They See Us,” “King Richard”), Mark O’Brien (“City on a Hill,” “Blue Bayou”) and Holt McCallany (“Mindhunter,” “Lights Out”), Tosin Cole (“Doctor Who”), Andrene Ward-Hammond (“Your Honor”), and Bentley Green (“Snowfall”).

Continue reading ‘61st Street’ Trailer: Courtney B. Vance & Aunjanue Ellis Star In A New AMC Criminal Judicial Thriller at The Playlist.

On Oscar nominations morning, Aunjanue Ellis did her best not to pay attention. The “King Richard” star didn’t watch the nominations announcement and she turned off her phone. Despite earning two Emmy nominations, for “When They See Us” and “Lovecraft Country,” and both BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards nominations for “Richard,” this was something else. So, in case it was bad news, she waited.

READ MORE: Will Smith chronicles tennis history as “King Richard” [Telluride Review]

“I didn’t know about them until about 11:00 that night.

Continue reading ‘King Richard’ Has Been “Miracles All Along The Way” For Aunjanue Ellis [Interview] at The Playlist.

The National Board of Review is traditionally the first “awards group” (we use that term lightly with them) to announce their honorees for the season. This year, the organization somewhat surprised by selecting Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” for Best Film and Best Director. And, in a move that will raise some eyebrows, completely snubbed Jane Campion‘s highly lauded “The Power of the Dog.”

READ MORE: ‘Licorice Pizza’ Review: Paul Thomas Anderson Nostalgically Just Vibes In The Summery Cali ’70s Again

It should be noted, however, that NBR has a very spotty record picking Best Picture with only its 2018 winner, “Green Book,” taking Oscar’s top prize in 2019.

Continue reading ‘Licorice Pizza’ Named Best Film Of 2021 By National Board of Review at The Playlist.

A year ago, Youn Yuh-jung was a presumed frontrunner or the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The “Minari” star eventually took the honor after dominating the precursor awards. 2022 is shaping up to be a significantly different beast, with only four likely nominees so far, “Belfast’s” Caitriona Balfe, “The Power of the Dog’s” Kirsten Dunst, “West Side Story’s” Ariana DeBose, and “King Richard’s” Aunjanue Ellis, and no clear winner.

Continue reading Best Supporting Actress Oscars 2022 Predictions & Contenders at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – To say that Richard Williams was a controversial figure in the world of tennis would be something of an understatement. The father and coach of legendary players Venus and Serena Williams was known to bicker with reporters and tournament officials. Often, especially with his daughters were younger, Williams would put himself front and center in a manner that appeared more to his own personal benefit. Some of that is chronicled with frank honesty in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s new film “King Richard.” The fact that many in the family were painted with racial prejudice, especially from the Tennis world, less so.

Continue reading Will Smith Chronicles Tennis History As ‘King Richard’ [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.

Actor Will Smith has returned to the genre of sports biopics with “King Richard,” after earning an Oscar nomination for Michael Mann‘s “Ali,” and the studio has officially released a first-look trailer.

READ MORE: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To
Watch

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (“Monster and Men“) and based on the true story that will inspire the world, Warner Bros.

Continue reading ‘King Richard’ Trailer: A Determined Will Smith Trains Future Tennis Stars Serena & Venus Williams at The Playlist.

From the first clapping boom bap beats of Special Ed and then Public Enemy (“Fight The Power“), director Ava DuVernay‘s four-part Netflix mini-series “When They See Us” surges with a propulsive urgency and harrowing sense of rage, indignation, and heartache that rarely breaks. The series is centered on the infamous Central Park Five case, one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s, in which five black and Latino teenage boys were wrongly convicted and sent to prison for the alleged gang rape of a white female jogger.

Continue reading ‘When They See Us’: Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five Story Is A Harrowing Tale Of American Injustice, Racism, Sorrow & Pain [Review] at The Playlist.

Patricia Arquette has already won the Golden Globe and the SAG Award for her performance in “Escape at Dannemora,” but is her time up? She’s already beaten “Sharp Objects'” Amy Adams twice, but the one major contender she hasn’t faced is “Fosse/Verdon’s” Michelle Williams. Arquette could easily win, but Williams’ performance is the most celebrated aspect of “Fosse” which ended up earning more love from the Television Academy than many expected.

Continue reading 2019 Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie Emmy Predictions at The Playlist.

[TORONTO] “This is not the Nate Parker story, this is the Nat Turner story,” so said “The Birth Of A Nation” actress Penelope Ann Miller at the Toronto International Film Festival to a packed house at the Fairmount Hotel. That was the theme of the “Birth Of A Nation” press conference throughout its hour-long discussion on the film, but also the political climate in America.

Continue reading Nate Parker Avoids Controversy Questions At ‘Birth Of A Nation’ Press Conference [TIFF] at The Playlist.