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, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This weekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching. 

They’re starting to schedule film festivals again, for some reason, so it’s a fine week to check out some festival selections from home, including the latest from Olivier Assayas (Venice, TIFF, and NYFF 2019) and Céline Sciamma (Cannes, TIFF, NYFF 2019), the Audience Award winner from Sundance 2018, and a music documentary from Slamdance 2019.

Continue reading The 8 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Wasp Network,’ ‘Tommy Boy’ & More at The Playlist.

The Vietnam War is not the most shining example of how great America is over the course of the country’s relatively short life. Unlike other wars with clear goals, victories, and missions, the conflict in Vietnam was a messy affair that led to massive casualties and a country divided. And in the new film “The Last Full Measure,” that idea is shown by the way one heroic act can be overshadowed by layers of government cover-ups.

Continue reading ‘The Last Full Measure’ Trailer: Sebastian Stan & Samuel L. Jackson Uncover Vietnam War Secrets at The Playlist.

No matter what your critical or fanatical consensus maybe on “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” one who admires potentially-good cinema must have a sliver of excitement for whatever Rian Johnson has next. It seems “Star Wars” was so divisive for Johnson that his next film is now viewed as either continuing his success or redeeming himself. Plus, Twitter is not the best place for a filmmaker to express themselves.

Continue reading ‘Knives Out’ Trailer: Rian Johnson Crafts A Lacerating New Murder Mystery at The Playlist.

After the action and adventure blockbusters of the summer, get ready to cool down with the chilling murder mystery of the fall: “Knives Out.” The high-stakes story is led by American director Rian Johnson (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Looper,” “Brick“) and will be released this November. We’ve named it #1 on the 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019.

Continue reading ‘Knives Out’ Trailer: Rian Johnson Plots A Whodunnit Murder With An All-Star Cast at The Playlist.

You don’t get to choose your family. Some of us get lucky and get along with who the universe has chosen for us, but others aren’t so lucky. Take Laura Jaconi (Vera Farmiga) in the trailer for “Boundaries,” talking about her father in her therapist’s office. She clearly has issues to spare.

Laura’s family is a highly-functional, dysfunctional family. She’s a struggling single mother in her thirties whose maladjusted, yet exceptionally talented, 14-year-old son Henry (Lewis MacDougall) just got kicked out of school.

Continue reading ‘Boundaries’ Trailer: Christopher Plummer Is A Charismatic Pot Dealer at The Playlist.

The biggest takeaway from this year’s Oscar nominations was a trend that began since the Academy began to diversify and expand its membership even before the #OscarsSoWhite controversy a few years ago.  More films with cinephile and diverse subject matter are making the cut.  There will always be room for a “Dunkirk,” “Darkest Hour” or “The Post” to get in, but that’s based on their prestige credentials more than anything else. 

Continue reading Best And Worst Of The 2018 Oscar Nominations at The Playlist.

That’s it.  A hurricane of an Oscar season takes a significant pause as nomination voting has officially ended for the 90th Academy Awards.  And after the past four and a half months there are a ton of Oscar contenders , consultants, publicists, studio heads and members of the press who need a breather.  Thank god for Sundance, right?

Oh, wait. That’s not a breather.

And there’s SAG and PGA voting going on too. 

Continue reading 11 Big Questions To Ponder As Oscar Nomination Voting Is Now Over at The Playlist.

The Mark Wahlberg defenders and apologists have been taking the line that he shouldn’t be taken to task for getting a big day for the “All The Money In The World” reshoots, while Michelle Williams got peanuts. In case you’re playing catchup, Marky Mark demanded $1.5 million for the ten days of work, while Williams received approximately $1,000 (nope, there’s not a zero missing — one thousand).

Continue reading Mark Wahlberg Basically Held Christopher Plummer For Ransom Over ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

As we ponder the Hollywood Foreign Press Association‘s potential votes for the illustrious Golden Globes let us not forget there are three, um, golden rules to follow when predicting the winners.

Shape of Water, The Crown and The Post lead 2018 Golden Globe Nominations

First, they don’t like to be wrong when it comes to film winners.  HFPA members do not like the idea of selecting a film, director or actor and then having their selections losing the eventual Oscar. 

Continue reading 2018 Golden Globes Awards Predictions: ‘Three Billboards,’ ‘Lady Bird’ And ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ at The Playlist.

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have now officially received every screener they need before voting for the 90th Academy Awards nominations.  After a remarkable and historic reshoot schedule over Thanksgiving thanks to Kevin Spacey‘s downfall — just 5 weeks ago — Ridley Scott’s “All The Money In The World” arrived in the mailboxes of Oscar voters on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 26th and 27th.  Awards consultants prefer to get the screeners in the hands of voters before Christmas, but considering the circumstances the “All The Money” team is more than happy to get there before New Year’s Eve weekend.

Continue reading ‘All The Money In The World’ Screeners Amazingly In The Hands Of Academy Members at The Playlist.

Two of the best stories of the year came from Patty Jenkins bringing fresh feminist vitality to “Wonder Woman” and Ridley Scott quickly replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in “All the Money in the World,” the latter completed in just 10 days of reshoots, just six weeks before the movie’s release.

READ MORE: Ridley Scott Holds The Audience Hostage In The Bleak & Searing ‘All The Money In The World’ [Review]

“All the Money in the World” writer, David Scarpa, spoke to THR about the stressful, and secretive, transition that had to be made once they knew Spacey would have to be replaced.

Continue reading Patty Jenkins Helped Ridley Scott Cast Christopher Plummer For ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

It’s a message that gets lost at this time of year, but the old saying goes that money doesn’t buy happiness. That’s true, but it can provide comfort and stability, and for some folks like the insanely wealthy John Paul Getty Sr., stacking dollars becomes a cold-blooded obsession. That’s the engine that drives Ridley Scott‘s “All The Money In The World.”

Much of the press surrounding the movie has centered on the director’s last-minute decision swap in Christopher Plummer for Kevin Spacey, and still get the thriller out on schedule.

Continue reading ‘All The Money In The World’ Trailer: Everything Has A Price at The Playlist.

So, how on Earth did Ridley Scott reshoot 22 scenes in “All The Money In The World,” with Christopher Plummer replacing disgraced actor Kevin Spacey, a mere six weeks before the film was scheduled to open? You simply get it done.

“I move like lightning. I’m already two scenes ahead. It’s simple! If you know what you’re doing, you don’t need 19 takes,” the director boldly said last month.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Explains The Difference Between Christopher Plummer & Kevin Spacey’s Performance In ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Holds The Audience Hostage In The Bleak & Searing ‘All The Money In The World’ [Review] at The Playlist.

The strange journey of Ridley Scott’s “All The Money In The World” is one for the history books. The Sony Pictures release screened late Friday afternoon for invited members of the press and, remarkably, in the span of five weeks it somehow became one of the most anticipated films of the year. That’s what happens when a member of your cast, in this case Kevin Spacey, becomes a catalyst for the growing #MeToo movement which has not only taken the entertainment industry, but Washington and the world by storm.

Continue reading It’s Sir Ridley Scott To You As Legendary Director Holds Court On ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott is a man on a mission. When it was announced on Nov. 9 that the legendary director was cutting Kevin Spacey from his new film “All The Money In The World” and replacing him with the filmmaker’s original choice, Christopher Plummer, the news was greeted by some with skepticism and amusement. How could Scott get his production team back together quickly enough to shoot the 10 days necessary and still make the film’s Dec.

Continue reading Christopher Plummer Replaces Kevin Spacey In New ‘All The Money In The World’ TV Spot at The Playlist.

Movies that center around writers tend to vary. The process of writing is so inherently introspective that trying to make that narratively interesting can be tricky. There are exceptions, of course. There are great movies, like Spike Jonze‘s “Adaptation,” that found ingenious, heartbreaking ways to depict what it means to be a writer without overdoing the showmanship. There are films, like “Barton Fink” and “The Shining,” that use different genres and dark comedy to translate the madness that comes in trying to jot down your thoughts.

Continue reading ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ Gives Dan Stevens A Charming Yet Formulaic Holiday Biopic [Review] at The Playlist.

Christopher Plummer is currently the internet’s new hero, stepping in to replace Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott‘s “All The Money In The World.” The memes have already started, with Plummer being Photoshopped in place of Kevin Spacey in countless movie stills, but as far as the 87-year-old actor is concerned, ‘Money’ is an opportunity to bite into a juicy part, and work with a legendary director.

Continue reading Christopher Plummer Talks Replacing Kevin Spacey In ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

In a stunning and, frankly, historical development, Ridley Scott has decided to drop Kevin Spacey completely from the final cut of his December release “All The Money In The World.” Instead, Oscar winner Christopher Plummer will film new scenes as the legendary Oil tycoon John Paul Getty excising Spacey from the film.

According to Deadline, Plummer will film the scenes with co-stars Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Replacing Kevin Spacey With Christopher Plummer In ‘All The Money In The World’ at The Playlist.

Summer is barely over, and we’re not even at Halloween, but get ready because Christmas is going to come at you hard. There’s only four months to go until Santa Claus slides down the chimney, and naturally, Hollywood will have a least a few movies ready for the season. And one of them will the true story about how the classic “A Christmas Carol” came to be.

“The Man Who Invented Christman” sees Dan Stevens take on the role of Charles Dickens, in this movie which both serves as what looks to be a pretty loose telling of how he was inspired to write the classic story, along with actually seeing the tale unfold before his eyes.

Continue reading ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ Trailer: Dan Stevens Is Charles Dickens at The Playlist.

If the career of Sam Worthington — bland and boring in leading man roles, much more interesting when he gets to play character parts in indies like “Somersault” or “The Keeping Room” — was anything to go by, people maybe shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss his fellow Australian Jai Courtney. Yes, Courtney was a bit of a charisma vacuum in films like “Terminator: Genisys,” but he was a lot more fun when he got to ugly-up in “Suicide Squad” — indeed, he was probably the best thing in the movie.

Continue reading Jai Courtney Is A Nazi In First Trailer For A24’s ‘The Exception’ With Lily James & Christopher Plummer at The Playlist.

At the end of each year, audiences are introduced to films that studios believe will be their big awards season favorites. This is also the time of year when studios buy up the rights and begin producing their films for next year’s awards. And thus, Deadline reports that Bleecker Street has acquired the rights to the film “The Man Who Invented Christmas,” and the studio is hoping that this film will be awards bait in 2017.

Continue reading Dan Stevens Is Young Charles Dickens In ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ at The Playlist.

Review: Atom Egoyan's Frustrating 'Remember' Starring Christopher Plummer, Bruno Ganz, Dean Norris And Martin Landau

Continue reading Review: Atom Egoyan’s Frustrating ‘Remember’ Starring Christopher Plummer, Bruno Ganz, Dean Norris And Martin Landau at The Playlist.

Watch: New U.S. Trailer For Atom Egoyan's 'Remember' Starring Christopher Plummer And Martin Landau

Continue reading Watch: New U.S. Trailer For Atom Egoyan’s ‘Remember’ Starring Christopher Plummer And Martin Landau at The Playlist.

Review: 'The Forger' Starring John Travolta Is A Tiresomely Average Thriller

Continue reading Review: ‘The Forger’ Starring John Travolta Is A Tiresomely Average Thriller at The Playlist.