Fresh on the heels of Emma Stone wining Best Actress at the Oscars “Poor Things,” Yorgos Lanthimos‘ next picture now has an official release date.  Searchlight Pictures announced today that “Kinds Of Kindness” will hit theaters this summer on June 21. Yup, that’s about half a year between two Lanthimos films (with possibly something else coming swiftly after this).

Continue reading ‘Kinds Of Kindness’: Searchlight Pictures Dates Yorgos Lanthimos’ Next Film For June 21 at The Playlist.

Deadline reports that Brady Corbet‘s “The Brutalist” is finally in production in Hungary after a couple of years of delays. That’s great news, but Corbet had to overhaul his starring cast due to scheduling conflicts with original cast members. So while it’s not an entirely new ensemble for Corbet’s follow-up to 2018’s “Vox Lux,” four new actors are in the film’s central roles.

READ MORE: ‘The Brutalist’: Marion Cotillard, Joel Edgerton, Vanessa Kirby, Sebastian Stan & More Join Brady Corbert’s New Film

And who might they be?  Adrian Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn are the new main stars of “The Brutalist.” The foursome replaces Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard, Mark Rylance, and Sebastian Stan in the film, who were originally announced as cast members in September 2020.  Vanessa Kirby is also no longer part of the cast.

Continue reading ‘The Brutalist’: Brady Corbet’s Ambitious Drama Overhauls Cast With Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones & Joe Alwyn Joining at The Playlist.

Last month, news broke that Yorgos Lanthimos already has his next movie after “Poor Things” lined up with “And.” And several “Poor Things” cast members return for the newly announced film, including Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe, with Lanthimos newcomer Jesse Plemons also on board. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, another actor from Lanthimos’ backlog returns for “And” too: Joe Alwyn, who starred in the director’s 2018 film “The Favourite.”

READ MORE: ‘AND’: Yorgos Lanthimos Has New Movie Coming With Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe & Margaret Qualley To Star

 “And” heads into production in New Orleans later this month, but its plot remains a mystery.

Continue reading ‘And’: Joe Alwyn The Latest To Join Yorgos Lanthimos’ Upcoming Film at The Playlist.

The centerpiece of Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” plays out in a stilled, near-empty nightclub suffused with violet light, where two strangers in a strange land share a moment of swooning intimacy. We glimpse Trish (Margaret Qualley) first adrift in the dark before two hands, belonging to the Englishman (Joe Alwyn) she’s become entangled with, materialize at her waist. She grips a sleeve of his white linen suit, clutching its fabric, as he leans close enough to breathe her scent; they sway, eyes shut, before she throws her arms around him. 

Awash in the languid, discarnate grooves of a title track crooned by Stuart Staples, of long-time Denis collaborators Tindersticks, the two cling together as if drowning, their slow dance slipping out of time and space into a realm of overpowering emotional and physical sensation, if only for a few minutes.

Continue reading ‘Stars At Noon’: Claire Denis & Margaret Qualley On Slow-Dancing, Getting Lost & Staying ”Inside The Frame” [NYFF] at The Playlist.

What a year 2022 has been for French director Claire Denis. Back in February, her film “Both Sides of the Blade” (formerly known as “Fire”) premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Then in May, her romantic thriller “Stars At Noon” premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prix award—her first entry in 34 years.

Continue reading ‘Stars At Noon’ Trailer: Margaret Qualley & Joe Alwyn Star In Claire Denis’ Erotic Political Thriller On October 14 at The Playlist.

“The Stars at Noon” finds the French filmmaker Claire Denis shooting in Panama doubling for Nicaragua; directing a cast of Yanks, Brits, and assorted Central Americans; and working from a script switching between Spanish and English. Internationally coproduced Towers of Babel such as this aren’t at all uncommon at the Cannes Film Festival, but the errors in translation all over this disappointing foreign-relations drama run deeper than simple differences of ethnicity or language.

Continue reading ‘The Stars At Noon’ Review: Margaret Qualley & Joe Alwyn Sweat It Out In Claire Denis’ Seductive Misfire [Cannes] at The Playlist.

A new film by Claire Denis is always a cause for excitement. And fans of the French director are in for a treat in 2022, with two new films from Denis premiering this year. “Both Sides Of The Blade” already had its world premiere at Berlinale, where Denis won a Silver Bear for best director, but “The Stars At Noon” has people on notice.

Continue reading Joe Alwyn On ‘The Stars At Noon’: “I Was Never Going To Say No To Working With Claire Denis” at The Playlist.

Sally Rooney’s stories of deconstructed yearnings and anxious young adulthoods have been the talk of the literary scene since 2017, when the author’s debut, “Conversations With Friends,” was published to acclaim. Her second novel, “Normal People,” was promptly turned into an angsty but well-acted Hulu miniseries led by captivating then-up-and-comers Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Now, “Conversations With Friends” is finally getting the Hulu treatment, with the same “Normal People” writer/director, Oscar-nominee Lenny Abrahamson (“Room“), operating the ship as well, bringing Rooney’s characters’ beautiful longings to life on screen once again.

Continue reading ‘Conversations With Friends’ Review: This ‘Normal People’ Follow-Up Is Muted, Frustrating & Bloodless at The Playlist.

The Irish romantic psychological drama “Normal People” from BBC Three, Hulu, author Sally Rooney, and Academy Award-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson (“Frank,” “Room“) was a huge hit in the spring of 2020, distracting many through the pandemic and creating a word of mouth buzz that continued all summer long. The series also made big, breakout stars out of its leads Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, who have gone on to become very in-demand actors.

Continue reading ‘Conversations With Friends’ Trailer: Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane & More Star In Lenny Abrahamson’s New Hulu Mini-Series at The Playlist.

Remember Hulu’s “Normal People” that took the world of TV by storm in 2020, made colossal breakthrough stars of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, and provided a massive boost for Oscar-nominated “Room” filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson and author Sally Rooney? Well, Abrahamson and Jones, seemingly being a match made in heaven, the duo has reunited for yet another adaptation of her work, this time the novel “Conversations With Friends.

Continue reading ‘Conversations With Friends’ First Look: Joe Alwyn, Jemima Kirke, Sasha Lane Star In Lenny Abrahamson’s New Series at The Playlist.

Joanna Hogg’s 2019 film “The Souvenir” made a big splash at its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival that year. The film went on to win the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the festival that year and was a critic’s favorite, ending up on several Top 10 lists at year’s end. Now, Hogg’s follow-up “The Souvenir Part II” gets its New York premiere with a screening at the New York Film Festival this week, after its world premiere earlier this year in Cannes.

Continue reading ‘The Souvenir Part II’ Trailer: Joanna Hogg’s Memory Tribute Is A Meta-Filmmaking Impression at The Playlist.

Based on Jojo Moyes‘ 2012 novel of the same name, Augustine Frizzell’s sophomore directorial effort, “The Last Lover From Your Lover,” is a cozy romance encased in a labyrinthine epistolary mystery. Rotating between a rainy modern-day London and the sun-drenched French Riviera in the 1960s, the film follows two sets of would-be lovers. The film features a hopelessly romantic tone as it opens with an epitaph from Hemingway’s “A Farewell To Arms”: “Why darling, I don’t live at all when I’m not with you.” 

READ MORE: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To Watch

In 1965 London, a dazed socialite Jennifer Stirling (Shailene Woodley) returns to her impossibly large townhome, scars on her face.

Continue reading ‘The Last Letter From Your Lover’ With Shailene Woodley & Felicity Jones Is Like A Lavish, Breezy Beach Read [Review] at The Playlist.

Filmmaker Augustine Frizzell made her directorial debut with the 2018 indie film “Never Goin’ Back,” which was beloved at Sundance and eventually got picked up by A24. She’s quickly graduated to a bigger canvas in the sweeping romantic love story for Netflix, “Last Letter From Your Lover,” her first movie with stars and a big cast.

READ MORE: 52 Films Directed By Women
To Watch In 2021

The movie stars Felicity Jones, Callum Turner, Joe Alwyn, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Shailene Woodley.

Continue reading ‘Last Letter From Your Lover’ Trailer: Shailene Woodley & Felicity Jones Star In A Sweeping Romance Set In Present & Past at The Playlist.

Last year, Hulu’s “Normal People” became a massive hit for the streaming service, thanks in part to the best-selling source material from author Sally Rooney already having a ton of fans and also the two leads, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, turning in showstopping performances. So, as you might expect, Hulu would love to replicate that success by bringing together a new incredible cast for another Rooney-inspired project, “Conversations with Friends.”

READ MORE: The 25 Best TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2020

According to Hulu, “Conversations with Friends” is set to be directed by “Normal People” filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”) and writer Alice Birch.

Continue reading Hulu Lands Sasha Lane, Joe Alwyn, Jemima Kirke & More For Sally Rooney’s ‘Conversations With Friends’ Series at The Playlist.

Luca Guadagnino took a break from his busy feature filmmaking career to take a stab at a prestige TV miniseries with the recently-ended “We Are Who We Are.” And it appears that the middling reviews of the HBO show didn’t scare him off from the idea of doing another, as a report claims that Guadagnino is set to take on the literary classic, “Brideshead Revisited,” as his next TV gig.

Continue reading ‘Brideshead Revisited’: Andrew Garfield, Cate Blanchett & More Eyed To Star In New Luca Gudagnino Series at The Playlist.

Based on her own recollections as a shy film student growing up in the 1980s of Margaret Thatcher’s U.K., Joanna Hogg’s coming-of-age drama “The Souvenir” starring Honor Swinton Byrne and her mother Tilda Swinton, quickly became one of our favorite films of 2019 so far, when it was released earlier this year. The filmmaker’s stunning and intimate drama lived up to the immense buzz coming out of Sundance and struck a chord with all cineastes.

Continue reading Harris Dickinson, Charlie Heaton & Joe Alwyn Cast In Joanna Hogg’s Upcoming ‘Souvenir’ Sequel [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

We now know that Christian Bale will campaign for Lead Actor for James Mangold’s “Ford v. Ferrari,” but that doesn’t mean the field got any easier. The rest of the field is still wide open with Brad Pitt (“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”) Willem Dafoe (“The Lighthouse”), Joe Pesci and Al Pacino (“The Irishman”), Rob Morgan and Jamie Foxx (“Just Mercy”), Kevin Harrison, Jr., Sterling K.

Continue reading 2020 Best Supporting Actor Contenders & Predictions at The Playlist.

Despite its ruff collars and Elizabethan English, “Mary Queen of Scots” is no staid, stuffy period drama, as restrained as the breathing of corseted women. Instead, this a vital film, whose lace-trimmed bosom heaves with life. Theater director’s Josie Rourke‘s film debut about the rivalry between Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) is unlikely to win over your picky high school history teacher’s heart, but it does bring a sense of immediacy to the lives of these monarchs who died centuries ago.

Continue reading ‘Mary Queen Of Scots’: Saoirse Ronan & Margot Robbie Are Both Royalty In This Gleefully Feminist Drama [Review] at The Playlist.

You didn’t forget about Joe Alwyn, did you? Yeah, we’re pretty sure you did.  Well, get ready for a surprise as the 27-year-old Brit is set to appear in three highly anticipated releases over the next two months with roles in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased” and Josie Rourke’s “Mary Queen of Scots.” And if you’re so inclined you may be aware he’s currently dating none other than Taylor Swift which, well…sure.

Continue reading Joe Alwyn Is Almost Unrecognizable Playing ‘Favourite’ In Three New Movies [Interview] at The Playlist.

In his latest effort, Yorgos Lanthimos takes on 18th-century royalty with “The Favourite,” a dark comedy loosely based on the story of Queen Anne of England and her closest confidants: the Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and newcomer Abigail (Emma Stone) who battle for the monarch’s love. In what could be considered one of the best roles of Stone’s career to date, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz stun in this unique period drama with contemporary flair.  

Continue reading ‘The Favourite’: Emma Stone, Olivia Colman & Yorgos Lanthimos Talk “Bizarre” Rehearsals, CGI Rabbits & More [NYFF] at The Playlist.

While perhaps best remembered for emotional dramas like “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Ice Storm,” filmmaker Ang Lee has constantly been pushing and testing the limits of cinema through technology. The director adopted early (perhaps too early) motion capture techniques for “Hulk,” brought the visual dynamism and wire work of wuxia films to mainstream audiences with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and enveloped moviegoers with the expansive 3D of “Life Of Pi.” We may think of Peter Jackson and James Cameron as the forerunners of modern day movie technology, but Lee is arguably running at pace.

Continue reading Ang Lee Makes A Major Miscalculation With High Frame Rates In ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ [Review] at The Playlist.

While Ang Lee has thrown 3D shot at 120 frames-per-second with 4K HD quality at “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” trying to bring as much realism to the drama as possible, the emotional impact of a story doesn’t need all those bells and whistles. Since the dawn of cinema, film has sufficiently moved us with performances and terrific storytelling, but luckily for Lee, he seems to be bringing those qualities into his new movie with just as much power.

Continue reading New Trailer For Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ Tells America’s Story at The Playlist.

While perhaps best remembered for emotional dramas like “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Ice Storm,” filmmaker Ang Lee has constantly been pushing and testing the limits of cinema through technology. The director adopted early (perhaps too early) motion capture techniques for “Hulk,” brought the visual dynamism and wire work of wuxia films to mainstream audiences with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and enveloped moviegoers with the expansive 3D of “Life Of Pi.” We may think of Peter Jackson and James Cameron as the forerunners of modern day movie technology, but Lee is arguably running at pace.

Continue reading Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ Emotionally Distances Rather Than Enhances [NYFF Review] at The Playlist.

After pushing the technological envelope and nabbing an Oscar with “Life Of Pi,” Ang Lee is back and once again ready to bring cinema another step forward into the future. This time around he’s going for mega-realism, shooting his forthcoming “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” at 120 frames-per-second. But as always, none of this matters unless the movie is good, and we now have our first taste.

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer For Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ With Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel & Steve Martin at The Playlist.