Another weekend with more evidence that Hollywood’s box office tracking system is about as accurate as throwing darts blindfolded and seeing where it lands. It was only a few days ago that pundits were excitedly predicting that “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them” would open to $90 million this weekend, but alas, the numbers are a lot smaller.

The first entry in a five film franchise, the “Harry Potter” spinoff debuted with $75 million.

Continue reading ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’ Makes Magic At The Multiplex [Box Office] at The Playlist.

This is a reprint of our review from the 2016 Telluride Film Festival.

It’s to the credit of the boxing picture “Bleed For This” that it goes nine, ten, or maybe even 11 rounds before it’s clear just which way the final decision is going to go. That’s not a reference to the outcome of the movie’s climactic 1990s match between Miles Teller’s real-life Vinny Paz character and Roberto Duran, but rather the movie’s own bout between its better instincts and the need to wrap up on the most simplistically crowd-pleasing note possible.

Continue reading ‘Bleed For This’ Starring Miles Teller Plays Like ‘Million Dollar Baby’ With A Feel Good Ending [Review] at The Playlist.

Now that the triumvirate of early fall film festivals has come to an end, we can finally sit back and look at the race for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards with a clear perspective. It may be somewhat surprising, but the biggest story isn’t Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land.” Granted, the movie musical is the undisputed and current frontrunner to win it all in February, but we have tons of time to talk about the feel-good movie musical ad nauseam.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Before ‘La La Land’ Let’s Talk About ‘Sully’ For Best Picture at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – Don’t tell me. You’ve seen a headline or two similar to this story’s over the past few days? Well, everyone must be reading the same tea leaves at this altitude because it’s simply the truth. Before we get into the awards season reactions some quick thoughts on this edition of the festival itself.

The 2016 Telluride Film Festival started off with thunderstorms and rain showers. By Sunday night though there was cool breeze and an almost quiet tranquility in town.

Continue reading ‘La La Land,’ ‘Moonlight,’ ‘Sully’ And Amy Adams Are Telluride’s Oscar Breakouts at The Playlist.

It’s to the credit of the boxing picture “Bleed For This” that it goes nine, ten, or maybe even 11 rounds before it’s clear just which way the final decision is going to go. That’s not a reference to the outcome of the movie’s climactic 1990s match between Miles Teller’s real-life Vinny Paz character and Roberto Duran, but rather the movie’s own bout between its better instincts and the need to wrap up on the most simplistically crowd-pleasing note possible.

Continue reading ‘Bleed For This’ Starring Miles Teller Fights The Strong & Shallow Instincts Within Itself [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.

The Venice Film Festival has kicked off, and now that we move into the Labor Day weekend, it’s time for the Telluride Film Festival. Quaint, peaceful and full of cinephiles — filmmakers like Alexander Payne and Werner Herzog often show up even if they’re not promoting movies — the lineup for this year’s event has been revealed.

READ MORE: The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2016 Venice Film Festival

World premieres, though they are never technically called that at Telluride include: Clint Eastwood’s flight and disaster drama, “Sully” starring Tom Hanks; Benedict Andrews’ “Una” starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn; the boxing drama, “Bleed For This” featuring Miles Teller; Barry Jenkins’ much-anticipated follow-up to “Medicine For Melancholy,” the three-decade spanning drama, “Moonlight”; Werner Herzog’s latest documentary, “Into The Inferno”; “Maudie” by Aisling Walsh; François Ozon’s “Frantz” and “Wakefield” from director Robin Swicord.

Continue reading 2016 Telluride Film Festival Lines Up ‘Arrival,’ ‘La La Land,’ ‘Sully’ And More, Plus Our Most Anticipated Movies at The Playlist.

Arriving after all the razzle dazzle of festivals in Venice, Telluride, and Toronto, the BFI London Film Festival may not have all the glitzy World Premieres, but instead, they have the cream of the crop in terms of high profile titles. And for those in the U.K. it’s a tremendous opportunity to catch up with the best movies of the year in one shot.

Continue reading 2016 BFI London Film Festival Brings ‘La La Land,’ Arrival,’ ‘Nocturnal Animals’ And More at The Playlist.

So far, 2016 has been one of most disappointing years for movies we can remember, and the fall film-festival season couldn’t come fast enough. And already, Venice opener “La La Land,” has made the cinematic landscape seem much rosier (read Jess’s rave review here if you haven’t already). The premieres will come thick and fast over the next few days, with Telluride getting in the mix on Friday, but we’re still a week away from one of the biggest events of them all, the Toronto International Film Festival.

Continue reading The 30 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival at The Playlist.

It’s six weeks away from the start of the Toronto International Film Festival, and the launch of the awards season. It surely will amount to a bounty of offerings for cinephiles, as Hollywood puts a troubling summer in the rear view and gets ready to show off prestige pictures. This morning, organizers at TIFF raised the curtain on the first wave of Gala and Special Presentation pictures.

Among the highlights of the films coming to Toronto this year in the Special Presentation slate are: Marc Forster‘s “All I See Is You” starring Blake Lively, Andrea Arnold‘s “American Honey,” Ewan McGregor‘s “American Pastoral,” Nate Parker‘s Sundance sensation “Birth Of A Nation,” Miles Teller‘s boxing flick “Bleed For This,” western “Brimstone” starring Guy Pearce, Rachel Weisz‘s “Denial,” Paul Verhoeven‘s controversial “Elle,” Park Chan-Wook‘s “The Handmaiden,” musical “La La Land” starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, Kenneth Lonergan‘s “Manchester By The Sea,” Christopher Guest‘s “Mascot,” Pablo Larrain‘s “Neruda,” Tom Ford‘s “Nocturnal Animals,” Jim Jarmusch‘s “Paterson,” Asghar Farhadi‘s “The Salesman,” Werner Herzog‘s “Salt And Fire,” “Toni Erdmann,” “Trespass Against Us” starring Michael Fassbender and “Una” starring Ben Mendelsohn and Rooney Mara.

Continue reading TIFF 2016 Brings ‘Nocturnal Animals,’ ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ ‘La La Land,’ ‘Arrival,’ ‘Deepwater Horizon’ & More To Toronto at The Playlist.

Boxing movies and the Oscars haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye over the past couple of years. The heart-swelling crowd-pleaser “Creed” was given short shrift by the Academy, while Harvey Weinstein‘s promises that “Southpaw” would net Jake Gyllenhaal some hardware failed to materialize. And while Harv’s 2016 pugilist pic “Hands Of Stone” is already pretty much a write-off, Open Road is hoping Miles Teller can punch them to Oscar success with “Bleed For This.”

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2016

Written and directed by Ben Younger (“Boiler Room“), and co-starring Aaron Eckhart, the film tells the triumphant tale of champion Vinny Pazienza, who survived a near-fatal car crash and punched his way back to glory.

Continue reading Miles Teller Punches His Way To Glory In First Trailer For ‘Bleed For This’ at The Playlist.

New Projects For Michael Shannon, Lena Dunham, Plus First Look At Miles Teller In 'Bleed For This' And More

Continue reading New Projects For Michael Shannon, Lena Dunham, Plus First Look At Miles Teller In ‘Bleed For This’ And More at The Playlist.

Interview: Miles Teller Talks ‘Whiplash,' Shooting 100 Set-Ups a Day & Training For Boxing Pic ‘Bleed For This’

Continue reading Interview: Miles Teller Talks ‘Whiplash,’ Shooting 100 Set-Ups a Day & Training For Boxing Pic ‘Bleed For This’ at The Playlist.

Casting: Former 'Doctor Who' Star Matt Smith Joins 'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies' And More

Continue reading Casting: Former ‘Doctor Who’ Star Matt Smith Joins ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’ And More at The Playlist.

Rachel Weisz Joins Yorgos Lanthimos' 'The Lobster' & Miles Teller Joins Martin Scorsese-Produced 'Bleed For This'

Continue reading Rachel Weisz Joins Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘The Lobster’ & Miles Teller Joins Martin Scorsese-Produced ‘Bleed For This’ at The Playlist.