At this point, it’s common knowledge that Julianne Moore was the original star of the Oscar-nominated film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” We also know that before original director Nicole Holofcener left the production, she fired Moore from the role of Lee Israel. Of course, Melissa McCarthy would go on to take the role and join new director Marielle Heller for the film, with the actress earning an Oscar nomination.

Continue reading Richard E. Grant Says Julianne Moore Was Fired From ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ For Wanting To Wear A Fat Suit at The Playlist.

If you’re a film fan that reads all the news surrounding the industry, you probably are aware that Melissa McCarthy was not the first woman attached to star in the Oscar-nominated film “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” In fact, the film originally had Julianne Moore attached, with writer-director Nicole Holofcener on board. However, all we knew up until now was that both Moore and Holofcener dropped out, with Marielle Heller and McCarthy picking up the pieces and creating the film.

Continue reading Julianne Moore Reveals “Painful” Situation Surrounding Her Firing From ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ at The Playlist.

Every year, GLAAD likes to shine a light on films and TV series that are going above and beyond to present fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. These awards aren’t there to mirror the Academy Awards or Golden Globes, but for the LGBTQ community, these are the films and TV series that GLAAD feels are the best of 2018.

However, with that being said, there’s one major omission from this year’s awards – “Bohemian Rhapsody.” While your mileage may vary on how well you think the film presented the LGBTQ community, it’s hard to ignore a film that grossed $800 million worldwide and featured a queer character at its core.

Continue reading ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Pulled From GLAAD Awards After Singer Accusations As Group Announces Full List Of Nominees at The Playlist.

After countless screenings, Q&A’s, red carpets, screeners, hand holding, for your consideration ads, talk show appearances and cocktail parties, between 160 and 190 contenders are going to be rewarded with Oscar nominations bright and oh, so unnecessarily early on Tuesday morning.  And almost just as many who didn’t hear their name called will try to get back to sleep knowing they no longer have to starve themselves for the February telecast.  Granted, this season hasn’t had the distraction of a historic presidential election or an industry-changing #MeToo movement, but have been controversies late in the game.

Continue reading Final 2018 Oscar Nominations Predictions: ‘Roma,’ ‘Burning,’ ‘A Star Is Born’ at The Playlist.

Presumably, you’re still reeling from last night’s Golden Globes Awards winners, chosen by aliens, errr, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Yes, it was a strange night with the musical, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” somehow not entered into the Musical Or Drama category winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Drama for Rami Malek over the presumed winner “A Star Is Born.

Continue reading Writers Guild Awards Nominees Include ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Green Book,’ ‘Eighth Grade’ & More at The Playlist.

The Playlist has never met a year we couldn’t exhaust with the endless examination, analysis, and decoding; it’s not that we love lists, it’s just in many banner years of cinema, there’s so much to pour over. 2018 was a stellar year for film and there were amazing movies to shout out, performances, new directors, breakout actors and actresses, documentaries, all kinds of new exciting talents and we genuinely can’t stop talking about them, honestly.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2018 You Didn’t See at The Playlist.

Though I don’t rival Chidi (reminder to all reading, you should watch “The Good Place” on NBC) in my indecision, the biggest stress for me recently – other than “Black Mirror“‘s panic-inducing interactive “Bandersnatch” episode – was attempting to narrow down 2018’s best films into just 10 favorites. I was tempted to go the route of The New Yorker, making a list of 40 of the year’s top movies, but that seems like cheating – and far too much writing.

Continue reading Kimber Myers’ Top 10 Films of 2018 at The Playlist.

The New York Film Critics Circle announced their 2019 year-end awards today and crowned Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” Best Picture.  The Netflix and Participant Pictures release also took Best Director (Cuarón) and Best Cinematography.  Out of all the organization’s winners, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was the biggest surprise as the Sony Pictures Animation title won Best Animated Film.

A24’s “First Reformed” won both Best Actor (Ethan Hawke) and Best Screenplay (Paul Schrader) for “First Reformed” duplicating their wins at the Gotham Awards on Monday night.  

Continue reading ‘Roma’ Wins Best Picture From The New York Film Critics Circle at The Playlist.

And then there were four.  As we begin this second full week of November there are just four potential Best Picture contenders left to screen: “Mary, Queen of Scots,” “Vice,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “The Mule.”  And you will likely hear reaction to all four in that order.  Last Thursday, however, another film found its way into the awards season spotlight after opening AFI Fest 2019, Mimi Leder’s “On the Basis of Sex.”

We’d been skeptical of “Basis” as an awards player since footage screened at CinemaCon last April for a number of reasons.  

Continue reading ‘On The Basis Of Sex’ Isn’t An Overall Oscar Player But Felicity Jones Is [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

Michael Myers is back, and 40 years after the John Carpenter classic hit theaters, David Gordon Green’s “Halloween” not only ruled the weekend but already is the highest grossing film in the series after only three days.

According to estimates, “Halloween” debuted at #1, quite easily, with a massive $77.5 million in its first frame. To say this is a big opening is a complete understatement.

Continue reading Michael Myers Kills The Competition As ‘Halloween’ Earns Massive $77.5 Million Opening Weekend at The Playlist.

We’ve made it halfway through October and, thankfully, awards season has so far avoided any major scandals. That’s not something you could say at this point in the season over the past two years (and, trust, we’re more than happy the #MeToo movement happened). Instead, we’re back to the old school Oscar scuttlebutt where a movie is anointed the Best Picture frontrunner, the (social) media get bored and everyone immediately tries to tear it down because, hey, why not?

Continue reading Is ‘Green Book’ The Not-So Secret Best Picture Sleeper? [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

After earning an Oscar nomination for her breakout big-screen role in “Bridesmaids” most cynical members of the media likely presumed Melissa McCarthy would be on the hunt for a dramatic role to find her way back to the Dolby Theater. I mean, once you get that close to Oscar’s glory it’s all about getting back, right? Now, if you were to take that decidedly negative perspective, that’s what you’d assume happened when McCarthy took the role of Lee Israel in Marielle Heller’s wonderful “Can You Ever Forgive Me?.” Of course, that’s absolutely not the case and there are two prominent reasons why.

Continue reading Melissa McCarthy “Couldn’t Let Go” Of Lee Israel’s Story In ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

Nicole Holofcener is having a great year already. Her recent film for Netflix, “The Land of Steady Habits,” is a return to form for the filmmaker, who last directed a film in 2013. However, the five-year gap between “Enough Said” and her next feature film might have been a lot shorter if she was able to make “Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Continue reading Nicole Holofcener Talks “Traumatic” & “Terrible” Experience Leaving The Production Of ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ at The Playlist.

Word leaked this morning that two films that many considered slam dunks for the Golden Globes Musical or Comedy categories were submitting as Dramas instead.  And, no surprise, even in a competitive season such as this, some of the overreaction on social media was a bit much.

As of Wednesday, October 10th, Warner Bros.’ box office and critical hit “A Star Is Born” and 20th Century Fox and New Regency’s potential crowdpleaser “Bohemian Rhapsody” appear to be submitting in the Drama category.  

Continue reading ‘A Star Is Born’ Says Its A Golden Globes Drama But HFPA Will Decide at The Playlist.

Just when you thought the Best Picture race was settled two new players enter the game.  Granted, Adam McKay’s “Vice” and Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” weren’t really off the radar.  Anytime the legendary Eastwood makes a new film it’s considered Oscar bait whether it’s warranted or not and McKay’s last feature, “The Big Short,” won Best Adapted Screenplay with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.  Still, we had to see something before going there.  

Continue reading ‘Vice’ And ‘The Mule’ Join The Best Picture Fray [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

Spike Lee should win his first non-honorary Oscar for co-writing the screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” If that sadly doesn’t occur than either Barry Jenkins will win for “Beale Street” or Bradley Cooper and Eric Roth will sneak in with the third adaptation of “A Star is Born” [Updated Feb. 12]

Predictions
1. “BlacKkKlansman” – Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, based on the memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth
2.

Continue reading 2019 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars Predictions at The Playlist.

Well, that’s finally a wrap on the Toronto International Film Festival. We ran, fifty, count ’em, fifty reviews from the festival including world premieres of David Gordon Green‘s “Halloween” sequel, Barry Jenkins‘ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Claire Denis‘ insane-sounding sci-fi film “High Life,” Steve McQueen’s arty thriller “Widows,” “Beautiful Boy” with Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell, Jeremy Saulnier‘s “Hold The Dark,” Sebastian Lelio‘s “Gloria Bell” with Julianne Moore, and the winner of the coveted Audience Award Prize—which often goes on to win the Oscar for Best Picture—Peter Farrelly‘s “Green Book” with Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen and dozens more (you can read all of our coverage and 50 reviews here).

Continue reading 2018 Toronto International Film Festival: The Good, The Great, & Only A Little Ugly at The Playlist.

TORONTO – Yes, it’s that time again.  The Contender Countdown, your semi-weekly rundown for tracking the race for Best Picture, has returned.  And, somewhat like last year, we’ve finished the first three fall festivals without a major frontrunner breaking from the pack to take the crown.

This year there are, arguably, four films that have screened so far that could easily take the Best Picture Oscar: Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” Damien Chazelle’s “First Man,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma.” Each have positives and negatives that help and hurt their cause, but at this point Warner Bros.’ “Star is Born” may have the most positives and the least negatives.  

Continue reading ‘A Star Is Born’ Is Your Best Picture Frontrunner…Maybe [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

The 2019 Toronto International Film Festival begins tomorrow, but the impact of last weekend’s Telluride Film Festival is still being felt for those playing the awards season game.  As noted numerous times over the years, there are many more voting Academy members that attend Telluride than Venice, Toronto or NYFF and it’s one of the few festivals in the world where someone screening their own movie can see other films (emphasis on more than one) while they are in town.  

Continue reading ‘Roma,’ ‘First Man,’ ‘Favourite’ & Nicole Kidman Find An Oscar Spark At Telluride at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – We’re not going to ignore the fact that you’ll likely wince if we refer to Marielle Heller’s sophomore effort,”Can You Ever Forgive Me?” as “a little gem of a movie.” While that looks great as a pull quote on a movie ad (perish the thought) in this case it honestly may be more apropos than you might think. And considering Heller’s talents that not out of bounds.

Continue reading ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ Is An Unexpected Little Gem Of A Movie [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.

There is only one film festival that has screened nine of the last 10 Best Picture winners. It’s not TIFF. It’s not Venice. No, it’s that tiny little institution in the Colorado mountains, the Telluride Film Festival.

READ MORE: ‘Front Runner,’ ‘The Favourite’ & ‘First Man’ Among Official 2018 Telluride Selections

Founded in 1974, Telluride is a unique mix of cinephiles, wealthy patrons (usually over 50) and a smattering of college students.

Continue reading 9 Must-See Premieres At Telluride 2018: ‘Destroyer,’ ‘Boy Erased,’ ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me,’ at The Playlist.

The Telluride Film Festival announced it’s official line up for 2018 and, if you’ve been paying attention or doing your due diligence there were few surprises.

The big narrative premieres are Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased,” Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner,” David Lowery’s “The Old Man & The Gun,” Karyn Kusama’s “Destroyer,” Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Yann Demange’s “White Boy Rick.”  Ralph Fiennes also returns to the director’s chair with “The White Crow” while Ed Zwick’s “Trial By Fire” will make its only festival appearance in Colorado.

Continue reading ‘Front Runner,’ ‘The Favourite’ & ‘First Man’ Among Official 2018 Telluride Selections at The Playlist.

“Diary of a Teenage Girl” filmmaker Marielle Heller is back with her next film, and this time she’s enlisting an A-list star for the lead role. In a trailer that premiered as part of Entertainment Weekly’s “Female Filmmaker Friday,” Heller introduces her newest film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” And this time, Heller has comedic actress Melissa McCarthy as the lead, in what is sure to be McCarthy’s darkest, and most dramatic role yet.

Continue reading ‘Diary Of A Teenage Girl’ Helmer Is Back With ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ With Melissa McCarthy 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.

Had things gone differently, Nicole Holofcener, who has criminally not made a feature since 2013’s “Enough Said,” would have underway or have possibly even completed “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” starring Julianne Moore and Chris O’Dowd. Unfortunately, Moore wound up leaving over creative differences, and not much was heard about the project since last year. But an A-list comedienne is bringing it back to life.

Continue reading Melissa McCarthy Replaces Julianne Moore In ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ at The Playlist.