There is so much going on in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 novel “The Sympathizer” that it would take a team of true craftsmen even to attempt to unpack it in episodic form. HBO is lucky they hired one of the best in Park Chan-Wook, a supremely and undeniably talented director. The South Korean auteur filmmaker behind “Decision to Leave,” “Oldboy,” and many more brings his remarkable tonal confidence to the first three episodes of “The Sympathizer,” which almost plays like a three-hour new film by the award-winning director.

Continue reading ‘The Sympathizer’ Review: Park Chan-Wook, Robert Downey Jr. Are in Inspired Pairing for HBO’s Ambitious Adaptation at The Playlist.

With award season in full swing, coming off of some surprising wins at last night’s Golden Globes, The Hollywood Reporter has released the full video in their award seasons roundtable series. This week focuses on the directors, with Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”), Todd Phillips (“Joker“), Fernando Meirelles (“The Two Popes”), and Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”) getting together to discuss a number of topics, including the importance of pre-production, streaming versus theatrical, and *sigh* Scorsese’s comments about Marvel films. 

Continue reading Watch Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Todd Phillips & More Discuss Nightmare Film Shoots, As Well As Streaming Vs. Theatrical at The Playlist.

As everyone looks back at the past decade, Fernando Meirelles must surely recognize he’s had quite a journey the past 10 years.  It kicked off with the disappointing drama “360” in 2011, segued to the unique pressure of directing the Opening Ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and has now wrapped up with the critical crowd pleaser, “The Two Popes.” Sitting down to talk to the Four Quandrant podcast a few weeks ago, Meirelles admitted the success of the film at festivals (it’s won five audience awards) surprised him.

Continue reading Fernando Meirelles Thought ‘The Two Popes’ Might Be Niche But It’s ‘For Everyone’ [Podcast] at The Playlist.

The papacy is upon us, and you’d be excused if you were getting a little disordered with your supreme pontiffs. It’s definitely Vatican season in pop culture right now. First, yesterday we had the trailer for “The New Pope,” Paolo Sorrentino’s HBO series (a continuation of “The Young Pope“) starring Jude Law and John Malkovich and today we have not-at-all-confusing “The Two Popes,” a Netflix film from Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles (“City Of God“) starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce (“Game Of Thrones,” “Brazil“).

Continue reading ‘The Two Popes’: Anthony Hopkins & Jonathan Pryce Face A Difficult Transition Of Power Behind Vatican Walls at The Playlist.

“There was an idea…The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles we never could.”

Sure, when Samuel L Jackson said it as Nick Fury, about the group that would become the Avengers, it was inspirational and would give goosebumps to fans all over the world.

Continue reading Auteurs Assemble! Ken Loach & Fernando Meirelles Join Scorsese In Dragging Marvel at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – Is change also compromise? Can there be compromise without change? Are these actions tied to one another or are they completely different philosophical constructs? That debate is the underlying theme of Fernando Meirelles’ “The Two Popes,” which screened at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival the past weekend after debuting at the Venice Film Festival late last week. And, surprise, there is no easy answer.

READ MORE: Matt Damon And Christian Bale Thrill in ‘Ford v.

Continue reading ‘The Two Popes’: Jonathan Pryce & Anthony Hopkins Turn Delicious Banter Into High Art [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.

The transition between Pope Benedict to Pope Francis was unusual, to say the least. Normally, the Catholic Church brings on a new leader when the previous one passes, as was the case when Pope Benedict was chosen. However, in the case of Pope Francis’ rise to power, it came not the time of Benedict’s passing, but instead upon his retirement, which is something that Pope’s don’t normally get the opportunity to do.

Continue reading ‘The Two Popes’ Trailer: Anthony Hopkins & Jonathan Pryce Star Opposite Each Other In This Netflix Awards Contender at The Playlist.

This morning’s lineup announcement for the Toronto International Film Festival featured a ton of high-profile films that will be screened at the fall event. So many that we couldn’t really give them all the spotlight they deserve in the announcement article. That being said, we’d like to take the time to highlight several first looks from some of the early standout films from this year’s TIFF.

READ MORE: TIFF 2019 Line-up: New Films By Rian Johnson, Steven Soderbergh, Safdie Brothers, Noah Baumbach, & The Joker Lands A North American Premiere

If you’re a fan of films, you’re likely always down to watch the latest film from acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.

Continue reading TIFF 2019 First Looks: Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman & Antonio Banderas Lead ‘The Laundromat,’ Eddie Murphy Is ‘Dolemite’ & More at The Playlist.

Watch: First Trailer For 'Rio, I Love You' With Segments Directed By Paolo Sorrentino, Fernando Meirelles, José Padilha, More

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer For ‘Rio, I Love You’ With Segments Directed By Paolo Sorrentino, Fernando Meirelles, José Padilha, More at The Playlist.

Watch: Visit Brazil With 2 International Trailers For Onmnibus 'Rio, I Love You' With Vincent Cassel, Harvey Keitel & More

Continue reading Watch: Visit Brazil With 2 International Trailers For Onmnibus ‘Rio, I Love You’ With Vincent Cassel, Harvey Keitel & More at The Playlist.

Continue reading Jack Black Takes ‘The D-Train,’ Chloe Sevigny Feels ‘#Horror’ And John Turturro & Vanessa Paradis Say ‘Rio, I Love You’ at The Playlist.

Fire Your Agent? 5 Directors Who May Need To Rethink Their Career Choices

Continue reading Fire Your Agent? 5 Directors Who May Need To Rethink Their Career Choices at The Playlist.

Jose Padilha, Director Of 'RoboCop' Remake, Says Despite Rumors That He's "Happy" With Film

Continue reading Jose Padilha, Director Of ‘RoboCop’ Remake, Says Despite Rumors That He’s “Happy” With Film at The Playlist.

Review: Fernando Meirelles' International Love Story '360' May Leave His Fans Heartbroken

Continue reading Review: Fernando Meirelles’ International Love Story ‘360’ May Leave His Fans Heartbroken at The Playlist.

Watch: New Clips For Fernando Meirelles' Relationship Drama '360' Starring Jude Law & Rachel Weisz

Continue reading Watch: New Clips For Fernando Meirelles’ Relationship Drama ‘360’ Starring Jude Law & Rachel Weisz at The Playlist.

Continue reading Fernando Meirelles Starts Work On Onassis Biopic ‘Nemesis,’ Teases Michael Fassbender For Role Of Bobby Kennedy at The Playlist.

Continue reading Look Out Camelot, Fernando Meirelles Developing Biopic ‘Onassis’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Jude Law Joins The Cast Of Fernando Meirelles’ Relationship Drama ‘360’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Ben Foster Joins Rachel Weisz & Anthony Hopkins In Fernando Meirelles’ ‘360’ at The Playlist.

But with his latest record, Recovery proving to be something of a return to form, commercially at least, it looks like Marshall Mathers is set to return to acting, as Production Weekly have reported that the actor is in negotiations to join the cast of Fernando Meirelles’ sex drama “360,” which Rachel Weisz signed on to a few weeks back.

Continue reading Anthony Hopkins Joins Rachel Weisz In Fernando Meirelles’ ‘360’: Frances McDormand & Eminem In Talks at The Playlist.

Deadline reports that Rachel Weisz has joined the Peter Morgan (“The Queen,” “Hereafter”)-scribed film, marking the actress’ second outing with Meirelles following “The Constant Gardener.” The drama, set up at BBC Films and Austria’s ORF Fernsehfilm, is a retelling of the classic Arthur Schnitzler play “Reigen.” The play, perhaps the best known work by Schnitzler (who also wrote the short story that served as the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”) has been adapted a number of times, from Max Ophuls’ 1950 film “La Ronde” to David Hare’s 1998 play “The Blue Room,” which starred Nicole Kidman and Iain Glen.

Continue reading Rachel Weisz To Star In Fernando Meirelles ‘360’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Fernando Meirelles Working On Godard-Styled Adaptation Of ‘Devil To Pay In The Backlands’; ‘360’ & ‘Rio In Love’ Segment Shooting This Year at The Playlist.

“Twilight” producer Wyck Godfrey, in an interview with FearNet, has revealed that one of the films on his company’s production slate is “a Fernando Meirelles Janis Joplin movie with Amy Adams playing Janis Joplin.” As far as we know, this is a different project than the “Gospel According to Janis” and we have to say we’re a bit surprised.

Continue reading ‘Twilight’ Producer Says Janis Joplin Biopic Directed By Fernando Meirelles & Starring Amy Adams On The Way at The Playlist.

Using that quote as a launching pad, telecom company Vivo has put together what is easily the best World Cup spot of this year. In cased you missed them, Adidas and Nike both went with celebrity-heavy, high-concept commercials but this spot goes right to the heart of what makes soccer futbol the world’s most beloved game.

Continue reading Watch: ‘1,284’ A Touching Short Film Tribute To Pelé, Executive Produced By Fernando Meirelles at The Playlist.

Unfortunately, he’s never quite delivered; “The Constant Gardener” was very strong, but a little too earnest and bland, and the less about 2008’s “Blindness” the better.

Continue reading Fernando Mereilles To Direct Peter Morgan’s ‘360’ at The Playlist.