Welcome back to Deep Focus. In this week’s episode, host Rodrigo Perez, also the Editor-in-Chief of The Playlist, talks to Michael Sarnoski, the writer and director of “A Quiet Place: Day One,” which is now available to rent or buy digitally from Paramount Home Entertainment. The film will also hit Paramount+ on August 27.

READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

As you probably know, Sarnoski launched his career with the quiet and delicate indie “Pig,” which featured a beautifully nuanced performance from Nicolas Cage.

Continue reading ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’: Michael Sarnoski Talks Subverting Blockbusters, Potential Sequels & His ‘Robin Hood’ Movie With Hugh Jackman at The Playlist.

Five years after season three, HBO’s blockbuster crime series franchise “True Detective” has belatedly returned. It’s back and better than ever but returned in a much different form. For one, the series creator Nic Pizzolatto parted ways with HBO several years ago, unable to come to terms on a new creative direction. While some thought that could mean the death of the series, HBO’s Casey Bloys was intent on keeping the series going.

Continue reading Issa López Talks ‘True Detective: Night Country,’ The Crooked Carcosa Spiral, Horror Influences & More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

Welcome back to my very irregularly scheduled podcast Deep Focus, where I, Playlist.net Editor-in-Chief Rodrigo Perez, talk long or long-ish with different filmmakers, directors, writers, and actors. Today, my guest is none other than comedian/actor and podcaster extraordinaire Marc Maron. Maron has a new HBO special out, available now on HBO Max, called “Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark.”

I’ve been deeply under the weather, so let me apologize upfront for this pod being so delayed.

Continue reading Marc Maron Talks HBO Special From ‘Bleak To Dark,’ Lynn Shelton & “The Evolving Capacity For Empathy” at The Playlist.

On this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, host and Playlist Editor-In-Chief Rodrigo Perez talks to writer/director Colin Trevorrow & writer Emily Carmichael (“Pacific Rim: Uprising”) about “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which is the sixth and potentially final chapter in the dino-action series that began with Steven Spielberg’s beloved, “Jurassic Park.”

“Jurassic World: Dominion” picks up four years after the events of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” in which Isla Nublar was destroyed in a volcanic explosion.

Continue reading ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’: Colin Trevorrow & Emily Carmichael On Real-World Considerations In Blockbusters, Legacy Cast Members & Much More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

On this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, host and Playlist EIC, Rodrigo Perez talks to Reid Carolin, the co-director and co-writer of “Dog,” which he made with co-writer/co-director and star Channing Tatum. Tatum’s been absent from the live-action big screen for nearly four years— the actor needed a break after his divorce and was feeling disillusioned with the industry. But part of the reason he was gone for so long, in addition to his personal life, was trying to write, direct, produce and star in the 20th Century Fox, “X-Men” spin-off “Gambit.” The film was a big passion project to Tatum but eventually fell apart after Disney bought Fox and absorbed it into the greater Marvel brand.

Continue reading Writer/Director Reid Carolin Talks ‘Dog’ With Channing Tatum, ‘Gambit,’ & ‘Magic Mike 3’ [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

On this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, my guest is none other than Alana Haim from the rock group Haim, but more appropriate for this conversation, she is the star of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, “Licorice Pizza.” Anderson’s latest film is a nostalgic, shaggy return to his San Fernando Valley roots, but it’s really nothing like “Boogie Nights” or “Magnolia” and actually is more in line with George Lucas’ “American Graffiti”—a hangout movie— as if it were made by Lucas, Hal Ashby, and PTA’s beloved Robert Altman.

Continue reading ‘Licorice Pizza’: Alana Haim On The Secretive Mysteriousness Of Director Paul Thomas Anderson [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

The Deep Focus podcast is back, and this week, we have filmmaker Neill Blomkamp,  known for “District 9,” “Elysium,” and blending sci-fi with socio-political commentary and envelope-pushing technology. Blomkamp’s latest film, “Demonic,” does all that with a little bit of a twist. It’s his first supernatural horror film that takes him outside of his comfort zone of sci-fi, and it’s seemingly less heavy on the socio-political observation.

Continue reading Neill Blomkamp Talks ‘Demonic,’ ‘Alien 5,’ New Volumetric Tech & More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

Abel Ferrara’s latest film, “Siberia,” finds his constant muse, Willem Dafoe, in an icy, isolated wasteland not explicitly meant to be the Russian tundra but rather an abstract plane of solitude. His character Clint, an English-speaking bartender out of place in this far-off land populated by indigenous peoples, follows the ambient energy of the area on a metaphysical journey through his own past.

READ MORE: Willem Dafoe: The Essential Films & Performances

Haunted by the apparitions of his father, brother, ex-wife, and son, he reflects on his mistakes and regrets in a last-ditch effort to find some salvation of the soul.

Continue reading Abel Ferrara Talks ‘Siberia,’ Working With Dennis Hopper, Staying Sober & Much More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

On this episode of the Deep Focus Podcast, my guest is writer/director Aaron Sorkin known for writing “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” “A Few Good Men,” “The West Wing,” and dozens of more screenwriting classics. The legendary screenwriter has shifted his focus to directing and returns with his second feature-length film following “Molly’s Game,” the politically charged and now-hyper-relevant “The Trial of The Chicago 7,” which is now on Netflix.  

Continue reading Aaron Sorkin Talks The ‘Trial Of The Chicago 7,’ Democratic Party Splintering & His Ideas For A ‘Social Network’ Sequel [Interview] at The Playlist.

You know Rebecca Hall from her celebrated acting career, Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Frost/Nixon,” Nicole Holofcener’s “Please Give,” Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” Joel Edgerton’s “The Gift,” Antonio Campos’ striking indie “Christine,” Amazon’s “Tales From The Loop” and many more.

Continue reading Rebecca Hall Talks Her Sundance Directorial Debut ‘Passing,’ Her Family’s Bi-Racial Ancestry, Questions Of Identity & More [Interview] at The Playlist.

Actress Kathryn Hahn has had a fascinating career. “I think I was the best friend first, then the randy crazy lady,” she told the Guardian in 2015. And perhaps in another alternate universe, Hahn is still the go-to girl gal pal bestie in romantic comedies (2003’s “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” 2004’s “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!,”) or the outrageous supporting character, in breakthrough comedy roles in Adam McKay films like “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Step Brothers,” or David Wain’s “Wanderlust.

Continue reading Kathryn Hahn On Muse Of Female Desire & Identity, Working With Jill Soloway, Derek Cianfrance & More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

Actor Rebecca Hall comes from a unique and interesting pedigree and lineage. There’s the surface element of that pedigree which could be seen as aristocratic privilege in the world of the arts. She is the daughter of the famous theatre director Sir Peter Hall (who passed away in 2017) and her mother is the legendary opera singer and stage actress Maria Ewing. Hall attended Cambridge University’s constitute school, St Catharine’s College, studied English, and eventually found her way back to acting after some time briefly spent as an actor during childhood.

Continue reading Rebecca Hall Talks Complicated Notions Of Bi-Racial Identity In Directorial Debut ‘Passing,’ ‘Tales From The Loop’ & More [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

You may have heard a little bit about the troubles of filmmaker Josh Trank in the last few years. And or, you may have seen his near-career-ending controversy and self-destruction relitigated in that amazingly in-depth, recent Polygon profile, documented over the last four years, telling the tale of the disastrous making of 20th Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four” (2015) and its painful aftermath which nearly turned him into a film industry pariah.

Continue reading Josh Trank Talks ‘Capone,’ ‘Fantastic Four’ Failures & Tom Hardy Saving His Life [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.