Last week, news broke that “Industry” star Marisa Abela would play Amy Winehouse in Samuel Taylor-Johnson‘s upcoming biopic “Back To Black.” And now there’s the first bit of additional casting news. Deadline reports that Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville join the cast of the upcoming film, with production currently underway in London.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’: Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan & Lesley Manville Join Cast Of Upcoming Amy Winehouse Biopic at The Playlist.

What best describes Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper‘s latest film, “Vesper“? Earth is no longer sustainable; society has collapsed, and humanity is forced to rely on its survival skills. Add in a father-daughter dynamic and an outside chance of an alternative future, and that’s the gist.

READ MORE: ‘Vesper’ Trailer: Survival Is Everything For New Drama Premiering At Karlovy Vary Starring Eddie Marsan & Raffiella Chapman

“Vesper” follows a 13-year-old girl played by “His Dark Materials” actress Raffiella Chapman, who, along with her father played by “The Mandalorian” star Richard Brake, uncover remnants of a strange and dangerous world.

Continue reading ‘Vesper’ Trailer: Humanity’s Future Hangs In The Balance In Post-Collapse Adventure Coming September 30 at The Playlist.

What will you do to survive? The new film “Vesper” presents a scenario steeped in survival at all costs. Vesper, a 13-year-old girl navigating an uncertain future, is at the story’s center. This adventure — taking place on Earth post-ecosystem collapse — sees the heroine defying the odds to keep her ill father safe. Everything changes thanks to a mysterious stranger, their devious neighbor, and a thrilling search for the truth.

Continue reading ‘Vesper’ Trailer: Survival Is Everything For New Drama Premiering At Karlovy Vary Starring Eddie Marsan & Raffiella Chapman at The Playlist.

Do you know who Netflix likes? Asa Butterfield. He’s the star of Netflix’s “Sex Education” series, and if there’s one thing Netflix does, it’s listening to their algorithm. It’s clearly told them the audience likes Asa Butterfield, and thus, he’s been cast as the star of their new nostalgic ’80s horror movie “Choose Or Die.”

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2022

From director Toby Meakins (2013’s “Breathe”) and written by Simon Allen (“The Watch,” “Strike Back”), “Choose Or Die” centers on a broke student who, in pursuit of an unclaimed $100,000 prize, plays an obscure 1980s survival computer game.

Continue reading ‘Choose Or Die’ Trailer: Asa Butterfield, Eddie Marsan & Robert Englund Star In A Netflix 80s Survival Horror at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – What happened to Richard Wershe Jr. isn’t great. As a 14-year-old he somehow found himself working as an informant for the FBI. Within three years he was making significant money as a low-level drug dealer in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. And after that? Well, feel free to Google it to find out or you can catch a version of Rick’s life in Yann Demange’s “White Boy Rick” which debuted at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival this past weekend.

Continue reading ‘White Boy Rick’ Can’t Quite Connect The Dots [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.

An opening slate informs us that the globetrotting thriller “7 Days in Entebbe” takes some creative license with the real-life event it portrays. Every time the location shifts — Athens, Tel Aviv, Entebbe — we’re notified by massive on-screen text that would fit comfortably in a James Bond film. Despite these promising overtures and the pedigree of director José Padilha — best known for the “Elite Squad” films and his contributions to Netflix series “Narcos” — “7 Days in Entebbe” never quite finds its rock ’n’ roll swagger.

Continue reading ‘7 Days In Entebbe’ Lights A Fuse, But Never Catches Fire [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

Jose Padilha earned his reputation for his gritty, intense urban action dramas like “Elite Squad” and “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within.” Now he’s back with “7 Days In Entebbe” starring Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl in the true story of four hijackers, who in 1976, diverted a plane to Uganda, and demanded the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.

Continue reading ‘7 Days In Entebbe’ Trailer: Daniel Brühl & Rosamund Pike Fly High In Hijacking Drama at The Playlist.

It’s 1972 and the United States is facing challenges both at home and abroad. The Vietnam War is still raging but public opinion has turned strongly against it, while on home soil, groups like The Weather Underground are becoming increasingly violent in their anti-government action. Meanwhile, Richard Nixon is preparing for a looming election, and then, roughly four months before ballots are cast, the Watergate Hotel is broken into with the aim of wiretapping the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.

Continue reading Liam Neeson’s ‘Mark Felt’ Attempts To Bring Down The White House [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

This summer has seen audiences turn away from tired franchise fare (with a couple of exceptions), and embrace movies that are saying something new. That, coupled with strong buzz out of SXSW, must have Universal feeling pretty good about the prospects for “Atomic Blonde.”

Starring Charlize Theron, directed by David Leitch (“John Wick“), and based on the graphic novel “The Coldest City” written by Antony Johnson and illustrated by Sam Hart, the actress plays an MI-6 agent dispatched to Berlin to find a double agent.

Continue reading New Trailer For ‘Atomic Blonde’ Takes Charlize Theron To Berlin 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.

Charlize Theron is no stranger to kicking ass on the big screen, but for “Atomic Blonde,” the actress had a particularly arduous regimen to get into shape. “I worked for three hours a day for three months and there were some days that I could not get out of bed,” she revealed at last month’s CinemaCon (via Variety). Well, the effort paid off, as she more than meets the challenge of “John Wick” co-director David Leitch‘s film.

Continue reading Charlize Theron Goes Nuclear In New Trailer For ‘Atomic Blonde’ at The Playlist.

Someone once said to me that they wished James Cameron would do other people’s action scenes for them. This was back in the heyday when the one-time “King of the World” was the preeminent action filmmaker of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “True Lies.” While there have been notable action films in the 20+ years since those pictures, few have grabbed the guts of hardcore aficionados.

Continue reading ‘Atomic Blonde’ Delivers Great Action In Too Minimal A Capacity [SXSW Review] at The Playlist.

Following the smash success of “John Wick,” co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch each took their own path. Stahelski stuck with the franchise, and is currently basking in the critical and box office success of “John Wick: Chapter 2.” Meanwhile, Leitch went off and helmed an adaptation of the graphic novel “The Coldest City” starring Charlize Theron.

Continue reading Charlize Theron Plays An Action-Packed Spy Game In First NSFW Trailer For ‘Atomic Blonde’ at The Playlist.

Almost exactly a year ago, a minor controversy erupted when it was revealed that Joseph Fiennes had been hired to play the late King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, in an episode of Sky Arts‘ “Urban Myths.” As the title suggests, the series brings to life probably-not-true stories about major celebrities, and the episode “Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon” chronicles the legend that after the 9/11 attacks, Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor left New York City and took a road trip.

Continue reading First Footage Of Joseph Fiennes As Michael Jackson In ‘Urban Myths’ Revealed at The Playlist.

At first glance, this melodramatic noir is a gorgeous period picture, echoing the vintage visuals of Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” and Todd Haynes’ “Far From Heaven” and “Carol.” Given this movie’s origins as a Patricia Highsmith novel like Haynes’ most recent work, that early impression initially seems merited. Unfortunately, as “A Kind of Murder” progresses, it becomes clear that it resembles those films in look only.

Continue reading ‘A Kind Of Murder’ Starring Patrick Wilson & Jessica Biel Never Fulfills Its ‘Strangers On A Train’-Esque Promise [Review] at The Playlist.

You can thank Patricia Highsmith for providing the source material for thrillers such as “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Strangers On A Train,” and the author’s work is once again serving as inspiration, this time for “A Kind Of Murder.” And it’s the kind of thorny thriller you’d expect from the masterful Highsmith.

Starring Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Haley Bennett, Eddie Marsan and Vincent Kartheiser, the film follows an architect obsessed with murder and having an affair, who gets mixed up with a killer and an intensely curious detective.

Continue reading Jessica Biel & Patrick Wilson Are Involved In ‘A Kind Of Murder’ In New Trailer For The Thriller at The Playlist.

One film that’s been running under the radar at TIFF, but has been picking up good notices from those who’ve seen it, is “The Limehouse Golem.” Hailing from acclaimed Spanish director Juan Carlos Medina, produced by the legendary Stephen Woolley, and written by Jane Goldman of “Kick-Ass” and “Kingsman” fame, the film is an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s novel “Dan Leno And The Limehouse Golem,” and is a period thriller set in the theater world in Victorian London.

Continue reading First Clip From Acclaimed Period Thriller ‘The Limehouse Golem’ Starring Olivia Cooke & Bill Nighy at The Playlist.

Alfred Hitchcock long had a fascination with the fine line between wishing someone dead and doing the deed (“Rope,” “Strangers On A Train“) and that vibe gets a workout in the ’50s-set “A Kind Of Murder.”

Directed by Andy Goddard, starring Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Haley Bennett, Vincent Kartheiser, and Eddie Marsan, and based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (no slouch when it comes to moral complexity), the story follows a man stuck in an unhappy marriage, who embarks on an affair, and wishes his wife were gone.

Continue reading Patrick Wilson Wishes Jessica Biel Were Dead In Trailer For ‘A Kind Of Murder’ at The Playlist.

Tribeca Review: 'A Kind Of Murder' Starring Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Eddie Marsan And Vincent Kartheiser

Continue reading Tribeca Review: ‘A Kind Of Murder’ Starring Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Eddie Marsan And Vincent Kartheiser at The Playlist.

Review: Charming 'A Brilliant Young Mind' Starring Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins & Eddie Marsan

Continue reading Review: Charming ‘A Brilliant Young Mind’ Starring Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins & Eddie Marsan at The Playlist.

Watch: First Trailer For Mini-Series Adaptation Of The Best Selling Fantasy Epic 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell'

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer For Mini-Series Adaptation Of The Best Selling Fantasy Epic ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’ at The Playlist.

Review: Melancholic 'Still Life' Starring Eddie Marsan Trades In Pity But Not Truth

Continue reading Review: Melancholic ‘Still Life’ Starring Eddie Marsan Trades In Pity But Not Truth at The Playlist.

Review: 'Southcliffe' May Be The Best New Series On Netflix You Haven't Yet Watched

Continue reading Review: ‘Southcliffe’ May Be The Best New Series On Netflix You Haven’t Yet Watched at The Playlist.

TIFF Trailer: Math Drama 'X+Y' Starring Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan And Rafe Spall

Continue reading TIFF Trailer: Math Drama ‘X+Y’ Starring Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan And Rafe Spall at The Playlist.

Karlovy Vary Review: Multiple Venice Winner ‘Still Life’ Starring Eddie Marsan

Continue reading Karlovy Vary Review: Multiple Venice Winner ‘Still Life’ Starring Eddie Marsan at The Playlist.