Since his nearly half-decade-old, internationally co-produced “Nowhere Special,” Uberto Pasolini has returned to the director’s chair with “The Return.” Retelling the Greek epic Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the story tells of Odysseus, who, upon returning, realizes things are not the same as when he left twenty years ago for the Trojan War. Now, both his wife and son are in danger, and it is up to him to confront it all and save his family.

Continue reading ‘The Return’ Trailer: Ralph Fiennes All-Star Historical Film Hits Theaters December 2024 at The Playlist.

Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey are foundational works of Western literature, yet they are seldom adapted for the screen today. The Iliad was last made into a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster in 2004’s “Troy.” But you must go back to 1954 to find an equivalent for The Odyssey in “Ulysses” starring Kirk Douglas. Since then, The Odyssey has had some notable television adaptations: 1968’s Italian production “Odissea” (with Bekim Fehmiu and Irene Papas), 1997’s American production “The Odyssey” (with Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, and Isabella Rossellini) and 2013’s French production “Odysseus” (with Alessio Boni, Caterina Murino and Niels Schneider).

Continue reading ‘The Return’ Review: Ralph Fiennes & Juliette Binoche Lead Deeply Satisfying Retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey [TIFF] at The Playlist.

The idea of a film about queer rodeo performers is pretty powerful stuff. Rodeos are typically seen in film as these hyper masculine events where real cowboys prove their mettle. But in “National Anthem,” we see a completely different side of the rodeo.

READ MORE: Summer Movie Preview: 50 Must-See Films To Watch

As seen in the trailer, “National Anthem” follows the story of a young man who finds himself in a community of queer rodeo performers.

Continue reading ‘National Anthem’ Trailer: Charlie Plummer Stars In Film About Queer Rodeo Performers at The Playlist.

At the beginning of the new trailer for the upcoming drama, “Gully,” the film presents itself as a fairly typical coming-of-age story about three friends growing up in Los Angeles. However, that idea gets thrown out of the window pretty quickly when you see what the film really has up its sleeve, as it evolves into a thriller with obvious video game imagery and violence, as the life of the three leads gets thrown into chaos.

Continue reading ‘Gully’ Trailer: Three Friends Try To Survive Their Violent Neighborhood In Nabil Elderkin’s Drama at The Playlist.

Being a teen in high school is tough business. Hormones are going wild. Drama between friends is earth-shattering. Picking out the clothes you’re going to wear is a decision that would make Calvin Klein melt into a puddle of anxiety and fear. And the worst part? Your parents, they just don’t understand. Now, if you were to add a threat of your whole body randomly popping like a bloody pimple, you can understand why Mara just can’t take it anymore in the new film, “Spontaneous,” a surprisingly sweet, funny, and horrifically timely teen rom-com.

Continue reading ‘Spontaneous’ Is A Surprisingly Funny, Touching, Bloodsoaked Rom-Com [Review] at The Playlist.

You know what would be funny? A film about teens who go to school and then find out that there’s some mysterious illness that is causing them all to spontaneously combust. Well, at least the filmmakers behind “Spontaneous” think that’s the premise for a hilarious teen comedy, even if it does sound a bit horrific at first glance.

READ MORE: ‘Get Duked’ Exclusive Clip: DJ Beatroot Doesn’t Have Time For Warnings In Amazon’s New Comedy

In the new trailer for “Spontaneous,” a teen girl meets a teen boy and flirtation ensues.

Continue reading ‘Spontaneous’: Katherine Langford Stars In A Teen Comedy Where Kids Are Literally Blowing Up at The Playlist.

Author John Green is someone you may not know by name (unless you happen to be under the age of 20), but you probably know his work pretty well. You see, Green has carved this niche for himself in the publishing world as the go-to guy for quality, YA romance. And in Hollywood, he’s known as the guy who gave the world “The Fault in Our Stars.” So, basically, much like Nicolas Sparks had a run a decade ago as the author of romance novels that get instantly turned into film/TV adaptations, Green is that guy for the Millenials.

Continue reading ‘Looking For Alaska’ Trailer: New Hulu YA Romance Series Is From Author Behind ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ at The Playlist.

The sound and looming shadows of L.A.P.D. helicopters oppressively hover over a South L.A. neighborhood, as three teens come of age in the relentlessly bleak drama “Gully.” The feature is billed as set in a dystopian Los Angeles, but there’s little indication of a true grim dystopy here. Instead, the setting seems more like an amplified version of a real-world crime-ridden neighborhood that you’d see on a Fox news broadcast, where troubled young men live lives of violence and mayhem with little thought for consequence.

Continue reading ‘Gully’ Features Gritty South L.A. Style, But Little Substance [Tribeca Review] at The Playlist.

At one point or another, many teenagers might believe their parents are somehow evil. Mostly, it’s a hyperbolic thought that springs to mind after your parents take away your phone privileges or deny you the right to go to a party. But in the case of Tyler and his dad in the film “The Clovehitch Killer,” there might be something more sinister below the surface.

In the trailer for the IFC Midnight film, we meet teenager Tyler and his new girlfriend.

Continue reading ‘The Clovehitch Killer’ Trailer: Dylan McDermott Plays A Boy Scout Dad That Is Hiding A Deadly Secret at The Playlist.

Ever since their integration into pop culture during the ‘70s, America’s morbid obsession with the deranged inner-demons and manifested violence of serial killers has only grown over the decades. Directors like David Fincher have obsessively carried the torch of this fascination for years (“Zodiac” and more recently, “Mindhunter”) and independent entities and filmmakers alike have followed suit. This texture brings us to director Duncan Skiles’ latest project, the seemingly Fincher-inspired “The Clovehitch Killer.” A concept which emerged from Skiles’ brief but intense obsession with serial killers a few years back, “The Clovehitch Killer” is a chilling and conflicting portrait of a mid-America tragedy enhanced by familial dramatics.

Continue reading ‘The Clovehitch Killer’ Imbues The Serial Killer Storyline With Irony And Family Confrontation [LAFF Review] at The Playlist.

Andrew Haigh, fresh off the wonderful reception for “45 Years,” which among many honors, netted an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for Charlotte Rampling, is using the momentum to gear up a passion project. And he’s found his lead actor.

Deadline reports that Charlie Plummer, fresh off his role in the critically acclaimed “King Jack,” is set to star in “Lean on Pete.” In the adaptation of Willy Valutin‘s novel, Plummer will play Charley Thompson, a young teen on a journey to find his long-lost aunt after his father passes away from sepsis.

Continue reading Charlie Plummer To Lead Andrew Haigh’s ‘Lean On Pete’ at The Playlist.