This weekend at the box office was full of surprises. Some of them were good, as with the two big holdovers from last weekend. However, as with “First Man,” many of the surprises over this three-day period are not exactly what people were expecting.

First, we have to talk about the two films that topped the box office last weekend and repeated again this weekend. “Venom,” which shattered the three-day weekend record in its opening frame, held on better than many anticipated in its second weekend and earned an estimated $35.7 million.

Continue reading ‘Venom’ & ‘A Star Is Born’ Hold Strong Against A Soft Debut From ‘First Man’ [Box Office] at The Playlist.

Where you are, and when you are, make you who you are, in Drew Goddard‘s deliriously over-designed, entertainingly inventive, surprisingly sprawling “Bad Times at the El Royale” which has its fixation with location and period right there in the title. The place is the El Royale — a bifurcated motel half in California, half in Nevada with a divider line running down the middle of the cavernous lobby.

Continue reading ‘Bad Times At The El Royale’ Is A Tasty Genre Mashup Throwback [San Sebastian Review] at The Playlist.

As expected, the final wave of films announced for the 2018 Fantastic Fest features a few surprises, including some highly-anticipated films finally making their way to the US.

The big news, however, is that Fantastic Fest announced its closing night film, which happens to be the upcoming Drew Goddard-directed “Bad Times at the El Royale,” which has an all-star cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, and Dakota Johnson.

Continue reading ‘Don Quixote,’ ‘Under The Silver Lake’ & ‘Bad Times At The El Royale’ Headline The Final Wave Of Fantastic Fest at The Playlist.

It’s time to check-in, but be on your toes because you’re not ready for what the night has in store. Drew Goddard is back, but this time with a 1960’s crime-noir “Bad Times at the El Royale,” which he has set up in a similar fashion to “Cabin in the Woods.” This time, however, instead of five college friends spending a little vacation time at a remote forest cabin not expecting the horrors that await them, we have seven strangers, who all seem very willing to deceive others for the secrets they’re trying to keep.

Continue reading ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ Trailer: Director Drew Goddard Traps Chris Hemsworth & 6 Strangers On One Fateful Night at The Playlist.

Whenever Drew Goddard announces a new original work, audiences can expect something that is subversive, innovative and thought-provoking in anticipation of its release. Goddard has built a steady name for himself in the science-fiction, action, and horror genres. The filmmaker has worked prominently in both film and television, having acted as a writer on the classic franchise “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the mind-bending series “LOST,” and the successful superhero show “Daredevil,” as well as writing such films as the meta-horror comedy “Cabin in the Woods” and the Oscar-nominated “The Martian.”

The trailer for Goddard’s latest film, “Bad Times at the El Royale,” debuted at Cinemacon.

Continue reading ‘Bad Times At The El Royale’ Trailer: Chris Hemsworth Enters A Night Of Hell at The Playlist.

LAS VEGAS –  The CinemaCon presentation for 20th Century Fox got off to a rousing start on Thursday morning.  An intricate musical number to the song “One” from “A Chorus Line” featured dancers in red and black costumes as the “Deadpool” logo slowly came into view overhead.  There was a male dancer with a Deadpool mask on (or one similar to it), but it wasn’t star Ryan Reynolds.

Continue reading Rami Malek, ‘Deadpool 2’ And ‘Widows’ Shine As 20th Century Fox Says Goodbye(?) At CinemaCon at The Playlist.

We’re just getting started with our look at the best in film and TV of 2017, but before we really got sucked into the retrospective, we wanted to take a minute to look forward to what’s to come in the next twelve months or so. Lord knows we need things to keep us going in the shitshow that has been the second half of the 2010s, and fortunately, cinema has provided.

After a slow start, 2017 turned out to be a pretty great year for movies, and 2018 looks to keep that up in a big way.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2018 at The Playlist.