Welcome to the arrested world of Nick Hornby. In the movie adaptations of his books, you’ll find man-children of all stripes: from John Cusack‘s iconic role in “High Fidelity” (2000) to Hugh Grant‘s lovable cad in “About a Boy” (2002), to Ethan Hawke‘s loser indie rocker in “Juliet, Naked” (2018).

Continue reading ‘High Fidelity’ 20 Years Later: Music, Misery & The Man-Children Of Nick Hornby [Be Reel Podcast] at The Playlist.

Welcome to the 2018 edition of bad takes! Some traditions are noble and entertaining, and some, like this annual feature where we poll individual writers and ask them about their subjective picks for the most overrated and underrated films of the year, are neither. This feature is the one that we call internally, the Give ‘Em Enough Rope piece and let me tell you that many make ample use of the cord and noose. Sometimes there are wildly wrong hot takes, but other times just a fundamentally misguided understanding of what constitutes an overrated or underrated film, no matter how much possible editorial guidance you can give.

Continue reading The Most Underrated & Overrated Films Of 2018 at The Playlist.

PARK CITY – In theory, Nick Hornby’s 2009 novel “Juliet, Naked” would seem like a slam-dunk romantic comedy that any studio or financier would have jumped at the chance to make.  Annie (Rose Byrne), a woman living in a small town in England engages in an email correspondence with a once famous American rock musician, Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who disappeared twenty years prior, leaving only the positively reviewed album Juliet as his legacy.

Continue reading ‘Juliet, Naked’ With Ethan Hawke & Rose Byrne Isn’t Even A One Hit Wonder [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.

It’s the new year which means, there’s no rest for the wicked and the Sundance Film Festival is upon us. It’s funny how January is known as a dead time for movies — and it is for mainstream films — but in the realm of independent cinema, the first month of the year is that time when filmmakers are cramming to finish their Sundance-bound pictures.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2018

And the diverse, eclectic Sundance lineup runs the gamut.

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The Sundance Institute announced the initial slate for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival today and it was chock full of familiar faces to Park City (Kristen Stewart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nick Offerman, Tessa Tompson, Jason Mitchell) and some highly acclaimed filmmakers (Debra Granik, Gus Van Sant, Joshua Marston). The festival announced a majority of its world premieres, but we’ve heard there will be a second round of premieres coming in December, but for now the U.S.

Continue reading 15 Most Anticipated New Films From The 2018 Sundance Film Festival at The Playlist.

Nick Hornby has had quite a prolific career in Hollywood over the span of the last 15 years. His novels “About A Boy” and “High Fidelity” were both adapted into big screen productions, allowing Hugh Grant and John Cusack to both deliver some respective career-best performances. He penned the screenplay for the Carey Mulligan breakout film “An Education,” the 2014 Reese Witherspoon drama “Wild” and was nominated for his screenplay in last years sleeper hit and weepy romance “Brooklyn” starring Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen.

Continue reading Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne & Chris O’Dowd Team For Nick Hornby Adaptation ‘Juliet, Naked’ at The Playlist.