There’s lots of Oscars drama recently, with Andrea Riseborough‘s surprise nomination for “To Leslie” having Hollywood and everyone else question the campaign tactics for the Academy Awards. But Lil Rel Howery is up in arms about a different nom altogether. In his mind, Ana De Armas‘ nomination for “Blonde” “doesn’t make sense,” especially since Andrew Dominik‘s film has eight Razzies noms this year, including Worst Picture.

Continue reading Lil Rel Howery Raises Eyebrows At His ‘Deep Water’ Co-Star Ana de Armas’ Best Actress Nom For ‘Blonde’: “For Real?” at The Playlist.

With the Oscar nominations coming soon enough, you know it’s time for the Razzie Awards to announce the (un)lucky nominees for 2023. Most years, you can pretty much guess which films will get the (dis)honor of being picked on by the Razzies. And though we all expected “Morbius” to get its fair share of noms, we can’t help but be surprised to see “Blonde” as the most nominated film of the year at the Razzies.

Continue reading Razzies 2023: Andrew Dominik’s ‘Blonde’ Leads The Pack With 8 Noms, Well Ahead Of ‘Morbius’ at The Playlist.

Music! It is the beating soul beneath a film’s imagery, visuals, and performance. And one of the things we love most about writing about the Best Scores & Soundtracks of the year, in this case, 2022, is how it just makes us understand a film all over again on a deeper, more intuitive-level, especially when you’re just listening to a score or soundtrack on its own, without the context of a movie, and it’s just communicating so much to you.

Continue reading The Best Scores & Soundtracks Of 2022 at The Playlist.

Andrew Dominik is a smart filmmaker. He knows the industry, and he’s well aware of what might happen to his career after the release of his latest film, “Blonde.” The audacious not-so-true biopic about Marilyn Monroe has been getting polarized reviews since its debut at film festivals earlier this year. And now, while he continues to promote the film, Dominik knows that he might have just put himself in “director jail”… again.

Continue reading Andrew Dominik Says Brad Pitt Is Responsible For Breaking Him Out Of “Director Jail” But Thinks ‘Blonde’ Might Put Him There Again at The Playlist.

There might not be a more polarizing film this awards season than “Blonde.” Andrew Dominik’s not-so-true biopic about Marilyn Monroe has been hailed as one of the best films of 2022 by some, while others think it’s one of the worst. Even with an acclaimed performance by Ana de Armas as Monroe, the film is yet another feature from Dominik that is met with a very mixed reaction.

Continue reading Andrew Dominik Says Americans “Hated” ‘Blonde’ Because It Didn’t Show An Empowered Marilyn Monroe at The Playlist.

It’s been a fun year for posters, hasn’t it? From the major marketing fail of the poster for “The Northman” that simply forgot the title to the optical illusions of “Nope” and the inexplicable vintage flair of “Confess Fletch,” those fearing that the art of poster design as exactly that, an art, can and should rest easy. 

There is, as always, a war between contractual obligations that demand certain actors to have a certain amount of pixel space and the desires of innovative artists to do more than just get bums on seats.

Continue reading The Best Movie Posters Of 2022 at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

You can tell spooky season is on the horizon, since we’re getting shiny new 4K editions of two ‘80s horror classics this week.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Blonde,’ ‘Murina,’ ‘Poltergeist’ & More at The Playlist.

To say there’s a discourse on social media about Andrew Dominik’s latest film, “Blonde,” is a huge understatement. For years, since the film was announced, especially after the reports of Ana de Armas being cast in the lead, people have been speculating about the Marilyn Monroe biopic, based on the fictionalized history of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name. And when the film started to screen, and its release on Netflix coming tomorrow, the discussion surrounded the film’s rating (NC-17), the frank depiction of sexual assault, and various other aspects of the film.

Continue reading Andrew Dominik Defends The Visual Style Of ‘Blonde’: ‘I’m Not Interested In Reality, I’m Interested In The Images’ at The Playlist.

Andrew Dominik‘s “Blonde” is one of the Fall’s biggest movies for several reasons. For one, it’s Dominik’s first feature film since 2012’s “Killing Them Softly.” “Blonde” is also a project long in the making, taking fourteen years of development to reach audiences finally. It’s also a huge role for Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, one of the most famous movie stars ever.  

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Andrew Dominik Says Netflix Still Supported The Movie After NC-17 Rating Even Though He Promised An R-Rated Film at The Playlist.

The world premiere of “Blonde” at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month confirmed that Andrew Dominik‘s film is everything critics expected it to be, and maybe more. After all, the film did receive a 14-minute standing ovation, the longest at the festival. But star Ana de Armas doesn’t expect the film’s transition to audiences at theaters and on Netflix to be smooth sailing, especially given her nude scenes in the movie.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Ana de Armas Thinks It’s “Disgusting” That Her Nude Scenes In The Film Will Circulate The Internet at The Playlist.

When it comes to biopics, they don’t get much more intensely intimate than Andrew Dominik‘s “Blonde.” And the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month confirmed that Ana de Armas expertly channels Marilyn Monroe in her performance. In fact, de Armas got so close to Monroe during the film’s production the actress attempted to contact the deceased starlet, in a way.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Ana de Armas Left A Card On Marilyn Monroe’s Grave “Asking For Permission” To Make The Film at The Playlist.

If anything, since its inception, cinema has been an art of apparitions. There’s a ghostly quality to the medium, no pun intended. As celluloid flickers through a projector, images cast themselves upon a screen, showing actors and people trapped in a moment of time, depicting what has once and never been. In many respects, that sense of hauntedness, of time lost and now regained, of phantoms of actors dead but returned to life onscreen, is the spirit of the art form.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Andrew Dominik, Ana De Armas & Adrien Brody Agree Their Film “Took On Some Elements Of Being A Seance” at The Playlist.

No film at the Venice Film Festival not called “Don’t Worry Darling” has attracted such morbid fascination as Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe not-a-biopic, “Blonde.” Turns out that “morbid” qualifier is soft, to say the least: to call “Blonde” relentless would be about as immense an understatement as one can conjure of a movie that subjects its lead, Ana de Armas’ fictionalized Monroe, to two hours and forty-seven minutes of unending sexual torture, leering voyeurism, and devastating dehumanization. 

READ MORE: Venice Film Festival Preview: 16 Must-See Films To Watch

Much has already been made about the X-ratedness of it all, but god, this is — by design — soul-sapping stuff, leaving you bloodied and brutalized.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’ Review: Andrew Dominik’s Fictionalized Biopic Of Marilyn Monroe Is A Relentless, Brutal Statement On Celebrity [Venice] at The Playlist.

After an uneven summer of new releases, we’re back in the fall season with two festivals either happening currently or right around the corner, with the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival debuting some of the buzziest upcoming releases. Along with some of the festival carryover – both from current fests as well as fests such as Cannes and Sundance from earlier in the year – there’s plenty more to seek out arriving on the big screens. 

The first of two “Pinocchio” adaptations premieres this month, along with two of the scariest movies you’re likely to see this year, alongside a documentary about the legendary singer David Bowie.

Continue reading 11 Films Must-Watch Films In September: ‘The Woman King,’ ‘Blonde,’ ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ & More at The Playlist.

This year’s Venice Film Festival has several highly anticipated films in competition for the Golden Lion. But the festival’s most anticipated movie may arguably be Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde.” Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name, “Blonde” may be the biopic to end all biopics. It’s an intimate, unflinching look at the life and career of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe – so unflinching that the MPAA gave the film an NC-17 rating in March for “some sexual content.”

READ MORE: ‘Blonde’: Marilyn Monroe’s Estate & Brad Pitt Praise Ana De Armas Casting Amid Backlash

An NC-17 rating usually spells box-office doom for any film that receives it, but “Blonde” avoids that issue thanks to Netflix.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Ana De Armas “Doesn’t Understand” Film’s NC-17 Rating, But Says Movie Had To Go To “Uncomfortable Places” at The Playlist.

Typically, when a high-profile film is being released, the lead actor (though important) isn’t the sole focus of all the attention and skepticism. But in the case of Netflix’s upcoming “Blonde,” all eyes are on Ana de Armas. It doesn’t matter that Andrew Dominik is directing. It doesn’t matter that there’s a great supporting cast, and its source material is written by a respected author. Nope. All anyone wants to talk about is Ana de Armas, a Colombian actress playing the American Marilyn Monroe.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Ana De Armas Explains How Her Anxiety About Being Cast As Marilyn Monroe Helped Her Performance at The Playlist.

Nature seems to be healing—relatively speaking—and the movies are celebrating in a big way by giving dozens and dozens of exciting new ones over the next four months. In what we can hope continues to be the safest and most productive year of moviegoing since 2019, festivals have returned to in-person gatherings (including in Toronto, Venice, and New York, where we’ll see many below titles premiere), blockbusters are taking up real estate at the multiplex again, and upcoming award ceremonies are preparing to go without the Zoom red carpets.

Continue reading Fall 2022 Preview: 60+ Must-See Films To Watch at The Playlist.

With the Fall Film Festival upon us, the Venice Film Festival, and Telluride Film Festival launching this week, streamers like Netflix are about to premiere some of their biggest titles of the year. Namely, Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise,” Alejandro Innaritu’s “Bardo,” Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” and Sebastian Lilo’s “The Wonder.” Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, was recently dated for December 23 for a Netflix release, and while Netflix has revealed its entire fall slate today, December looks like it’ll be the month for most of its Oscar contenders.

Continue reading Netflix Fall Film Calendar: ‘White Noise,’ ‘Bardo’ & ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ With Christian Bale Dated For December at The Playlist.

And just like that, summer is over, and the festival season is about to start. That’s right, blockbuster season is essentially over, and now it’s time for the fall film festival circuit to produce and premiere the film titles that will be vying for Oscars later this year. As always, the Venice Film Festival kicks off the season first, and the 79th edition is as strong as ever, proving that the festival is just as important as France’s Cannes Film Festival, if not more so.

Continue reading Venice Film Festival Preview: 16 Must-See Films To Watch at The Playlist.

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding Andrew Dominik’s upcoming Netflix feature, “Blonde.” First, is it really a biopic? The answer to that one is simple, as the film is based on Joyce Carol Oates‘ novel of the same name that was written as a historical fiction novel about Marilyn Monroe. So, no, it’s not a biopic. Second, why is it NC-17?

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Marilyn Monroe’s Estate & Brad Pitt Praise Ana De Armas Casting Amid Backlash at The Playlist.

It feels like we’ve been waiting years and years for “Blonde,” director Andrew Dominik’s long-gestating, long-awaited Marilyn Monroe biopic, based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates. Starring Ana de Armas as the blonde bombshell and Hollywood icon, “Blonde” boldly reimagines the life of Marilyn Monroe, exploring the split between her public and private selves. And it’s almost here. “Blonde” will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in late August/early September before releasing globally on Netflix on September 28.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’ Trailer: Ana De Armas’ Marilyn Monroe Biopic Premieres At Venice & Debuts September 28 On Netflix at The Playlist.

Is any other 2022 film as highly anticipated as Andrew Dominik‘s “Blonde“? After 15 years of development, and its production announced in 2016, the film premieres at the Venice Film Festival in September. And audiences won’t wait much longer to see it, too, as it hits Netflix on September 23.

READ MORE: ‘Blonde’ First Look Teaser: Ana de Armas Is Marilyn Monroe For Director Andrew Dominik Coming In September

Vanity Fair has some new exclusive behind-the-scenes photos to help drum up further hype for the film as it approaches its premiere.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Check Out New Behind The Scene Photos From Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe Biopic at The Playlist.

Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera won’t announce the Lido line-up until next week, but certain films are all but locked in for premieres at the festival. And which movies lead that pack? Well, it’s a bevy of titles from U.S. studios and streamers, with Netflix leading the charge (as per usual for the last few years).

READ MORE: Netflix Likely To Debut New Films From Andrew Dominik, Noah Baumbach & More At This Year’s Venice Film Festival

Variety reports that the popular U.S.

Continue reading Venice 2022: New Films From Alejandro Iñárritu, Noah Baumbach, Luca Guadagnino, & More Expected To Premiere At Festival at The Playlist.

With “The Gray Man” on the way later this month and Andrew Dominik‘s “Blonde” out in September, it’s a big year for Ana de Armas on Netflix. But the actress’s star has been rising for some time now. She arguably broke out in Hollywood back in Eli Roth‘s 2015 house-invasion film “Knock Knock,” but her role as Joie in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” solidified her stardom.

Continue reading Jamie Lee Curtis Assumed Ana de Armas Was An “Unsophisticated Young Woman” On ‘Knives Out’ Set at The Playlist.

Well, it seems like it’s been an eternity and in the works for ages, but our first official look at Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in director Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” is here, with a first-look teaser trailer and new images.

READ MORE: Andrew Dominik Says ‘Blonde’ Is About “All The Unloved Children Of The World,” Doesn’t Deserve Its NC-17 Rating & More

Based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, “Blonde” boldly reimagines the life of Marilyn Monroe, exploring the split between her public and private selves.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’ First Look Teaser: Ana de Armas Is Marilyn Monroe For Director Andrew Dominik Coming In September at The Playlist.