60-something-year-old Nancy has never had good sex, and she’s going to pursue it on her own terms, even if that means going to lengths she would have never considered in her younger days. And so goes the premise of Sophie Hyde’s quietly revolutionary “Good Luck To You, Leo Grande,” a mostly single-location dramedy in which a flawless Emma Thompson perceptively plays a widowed and retired school teacher who hires Daryl McCormack’s handsome sex worker Leo Grande to learn what all the fuss is about finally.

Continue reading ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’: Emma Thompson On Nudity Onscreen, Sex & Female Pleasure at The Playlist.

While we’ve already hit some massive blockbuster tent poles for the summer season with superhero releases such as “Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness” and the Memorial Day showstopper “Top Gun: Maverick,” summer starts to hit its stride with June’s lineup of eclectic releases. Right off the bat, we’ve got heavy hitters such as the latest from Andrew Ahn and the buzzed-about David Cronenberg film, “Crimes of the Future” which just premiered at Cannes.

Continue reading 15 Must-See Films To Watch In June: ‘Crimes Of The Future,’ ‘Spiderhead,’ ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ & More at The Playlist.

Sex-positive vibes for each and every age, even the 50+-year-old crowd? Yes, please. Following its terrific reception at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Searchlight Pictures is releasing “Good Luck To You, Leo Grande” this summer. This intelligent bedroom drama stars Emma Thompson, relative newcomer Daryl McCormack (known for work on “Peaky Blinders”)  and is directed by Sophie Hyde (“Animals,” “52 Tuesdays”) and written by Katy Brand (“Glued,” “Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show“).

Continue reading ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’ Trailer: Emma Thompson Leads A Sex-Positive Sundance Romance at The Playlist.

Remember when Fox was its own studio and Searchlight Pictures was this premier boutique studio that produced some of the best films of the year, often receiving tons of awards on an annual basis. This is the studio that released films like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “12 Years a Slave,” and “Birdman.” But after the purchase of Fox by Disney, Searchlight isn’t quite what it used to be.

Continue reading Searchlight Sending 3 Films Straight To Hulu This Summer Including New Ones Featuring Emma Thompson & Zoey Deutch at The Playlist.

The complexities of female sexuality are still frustratingly misrepresented in mainstream cinema. In one corner, we have the eruptive rise of a certain type of one-dimensional badass feminism, featuring often straight, go-getting women who can win a fistfight, have it their way and enjoy great, consequence-free sex. On the other, there’s been a discernible decline in overall on-screen sexuality, with everything in popular film seemingly downgraded to PG-level eroticism. In both senses, women lose.

Continue reading ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’ Review: Emma Thompson Is Terrific In Sophie Hyde’s Perceptive Look At Female Pleasure [Sundance] at The Playlist.

The unveiling of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival line-up was decidedly unique. For the first time in recent memory, acquisition films are dominating the proceedings. Sure, there are a few A24 and Amazon Studios films here and there, but for the most part, the mini-majors decided to pass on a hybrid in-person and virtual festival (for a variety of reasons). In many ways, that may benefit festival-goers who are in for more “unseen” surprises than usual.

Continue reading 22 Most Anticipated Sundance 2022 Films: ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth,’ ‘Fire of Love,’ ‘FRESH’ at The Playlist.