Juno Archives - The Playlist

J.K. Simmons Says He Was “Flabbergasted” To Return As Jim Gordon & Credits Jason Reitman For Landing ‘Whiplash’ Role

Christopher Marc — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 18:49:19 +0000

Next month, J.K. Simmons is returning to the big screen in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” reprising his iconic role of J. Jonah Jameson as part of the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe. He will also be back as Jim Gordon soon in the HBO Max movie “Batgirl” after briefly playing the DCEU character in “Justice League.” However, Simmons is still doing non-genre work with Aaron Sorkin’s “Being The Ricardos” on the horizon and is reflecting on how his career got a second wind thanks to a young filmmaker taking a chance on him.

Continue reading J.K. Simmons Says He Was “Flabbergasted” To Return As Jim Gordon & Credits Jason Reitman For Landing ‘Whiplash’ Role at The Playlist.

‘Lady Killer’: Oscar-Winner Diablo Cody & Blake Lively Team For Dark Horse Comics Adaptation At Netflix

Christopher Marc — Wed, 05 May 2021 23:00:34 +0000

Last year, actress Blake Lively took a crack at the action genre for Eon Productions with the revenge flick “The Rhythm Section” for director Reed Morano. Now, she is seemingly jumping back into the world of genre films with an adaptation of the Dark Horse Comics property “Lady Killer” for streaming giant Netflix, which she will star in, and produce, according to Deadline.

Continue reading ‘Lady Killer’: Oscar-Winner Diablo Cody & Blake Lively Team For Dark Horse Comics Adaptation At Netflix at The Playlist.

Diablo Cody Talks ‘Tully,’ Feminist Filmmaking, And The Underrated ‘Jennifer’s Body’ [Interview]

Lena Wilson — Tue, 01 May 2018 15:06:53 +0000

If you’re hungry for more (and better) roles for women, you’re probably already obsessed with Diablo Cody. The same screenwriter who gave us iconic lines like Juno MacGuff’s “I’m calling to procure a hasty abortion” and Mavis Gary’s “Life, here I come,” is back with yet another ingenious and uniquely feminist narrative. “Tully,” her third collaboration with director Jason Reitman and second with lead Charlize Theron, follows mother Marlo as she embarks on a new and unusual friendship with her night nanny, Tully (Mackenzie Davis).

Continue reading Diablo Cody Talks ‘Tully,’ Feminist Filmmaking, And The Underrated ‘Jennifer’s Body’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

The 50 Best Teen Movies Of All Time

Oliver Lyttelton — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 18:59:43 +0000

It seems that every year another fresh crop of filmmakers make their debut movies, and a high proportion are coming-of-age stories. A sadly low percentage, however, are any good, which is why this week brings us significant reason to rejoice: First-time filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig brings us the adorable, sprightly “The Edge Of Seventeen.” In many ways this year’s “The Diary Of A Teenage Girl” in being both the debut of an exciting new female filmmaker and a funny, fresh, newly insightful take on the teen-movie genre, ‘Seventeen’ perhaps does not reinvent the wheel in the way that Marielle Heller‘s film did, but it’s such a bouncy picture, centered around such a tremendously relatable turn from Hailee Steinfeld, that to disparage it as a result would be a little like critiquing a puppy.

Continue reading The 50 Best Teen Movies Of All Time at The Playlist.

Watch: Fall For The 20 Best Romance Films Of The 21st Century With This Video Tribute

The Playlist Staff — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 20:26:10 +0000

Watch: Fall For The 20 Best Romance Films Of The 21st Century With This Video Tribute

Continue reading Watch: Fall For The 20 Best Romance Films Of The 21st Century With This Video Tribute at The Playlist.

Ellen Page To Star In Lesbian Relationship Drama ‘Freeheld’

Edward Davis — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:45:00 +0000

Circa “Juno” time, Ellen Page became a star and since she wasn’t throwing her vajayjay around at parties a la Lohan, she instantly was demarcated with the “lesbian” tag which often happens to young, attractive teen stars that aren’t seen in public doing rails in toilets or making out with XYZ young actor.

In many ways, she’s done little to disprove this notion, performing a mock, self-deprecating gay skit on SNL, wearing boys’ underwear, smooching with her “Whip It” director Drew Barrymore, attaching herself to the lesbian werewolf drama, “Jack & Diane” (she dropped out months ago), and generally going about her business in a boring, straight, non-young Hollywood A-list way (lesbian!).

Continue reading Ellen Page To Star In Lesbian Relationship Drama ‘Freeheld’ at The Playlist.

We’ve Read It: Is Diablo Cody’s ‘Young Adult’ Her Most Mature Effort To Date?

Edward Davis — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:17:00 +0000

Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody (“Juno” and “Jennifer’s Body”) recently announced her third project, a female anti-hero film titled, “Young Adult,” a story about a divorced author of teen fiction who returns to her hometown to chase her ex-high school boyfriend, who’s now married with a kid. Mandate Pictures recently acquired the rights to the project, which has been described as a story about a woman who is “stalking her high-school sweetheart. It has elements of humor, but it’s pretty serious and fucked up.”

And well, that pretty much nails it all.

Continue reading We’ve Read It: Is Diablo Cody’s ‘Young Adult’ Her Most Mature Effort To Date? at The Playlist.

U.K. Poster, Trailer, & New Images From Jordan Scott’s ‘Cracks’ Starring Eva Green

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:12:00 +0000

A flurry of movement on Jordan Scott’s directorial debut, “Cracks,” today which must mean it’s coming out in the U.K. soon (looks like the date is December 4, 2009).

The daughter of Ridley Scott (whom you may have heard of), “Cracks” is a British, all-girl boarding school drama set in 1934 that stars Eva Green as a bewitching teacher who has her elite boarding-school girls — played by Juno Temple (“Year One”) Imogen Poots (“28 Weeks Later”), Maria Valverde and Sinead Cusack — under a kind of spell or sway with her rebellious ways and encouraging tales of free thinking individualism.

Continue reading U.K. Poster, Trailer, & New Images From Jordan Scott’s ‘Cracks’ Starring Eva Green at The Playlist.

TIFF ’09: Day Four

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Ok, we’re beginning to wind down. This debacle is almost over. Last year we somehow cranked out reviews two-three hours after every screening like clockwork. That’s kind of insane and it’s no wonder we didn’t do it again.

Today was only three pictures. The day started out with Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut “Whip It” which turned out to be enjoyable after a very dull and rough start that almost forced a walk out on our part.

Continue reading TIFF ’09: Day Four at The Playlist.

Jason Reitman Adapting Joyce Maynard’s Coming-Of-Age/ Strange Mentor Story, ‘Labor Day’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Jason Reitman (director of “Juno”) loooves adaptations. But you know what? He’s really great at them. “Thank You For Smoking” was a promising start and a decent movie and his script adaptation of Walter Kirn’s downsizing/ frequent-flyer dramedy, “Up In The Air,” which is premiering soon at TIFF and Telluride, is excellent.

So what’s next? Reitman recently set-up Right of Way Films, his new production company and is developing a ton of new projects including a new script by Jenny Lumet (the writer of “Rachel Getting Married”), the Duplass brothers (mumblecore mavens behind things like “Baghead” and the upcoming, “Center of Attention” with Jonah Hill) and a ninja comedy called “Bonzai Shadowhands” and a football film called, “Whispers in Bedlam.” That’s a lot of projects to juggle.

Continue reading Jason Reitman Adapting Joyce Maynard’s Coming-Of-Age/ Strange Mentor Story, ‘Labor Day’ at The Playlist.

New ‘Up In The Air’ Photos; Reitman Says Satirical Scenes Took On Dramatic Edge After The Economy Tanked

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:27:00 +0000

MTV scored big yesterday with a collection of photos from the fall film season. They had an exclusive new image from Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air,” starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick, (pictured here) and now a few more images have begun to surface (the film also co-stars Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman).

IESB has a few more including a larger version of an image first revealed by EW.

The film is essentially about a man (Clooney) who fires people for a living, but the tone of the film started to shift from comedy to drama once the recession began to hit shortly before the film shot last December.

Continue reading New ‘Up In The Air’ Photos; Reitman Says Satirical Scenes Took On Dramatic Edge After The Economy Tanked at The Playlist.

Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In the Air’: A Sure-Fire Oscar Contender For 10 Best Pix?

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:51:00 +0000

No one’s really heard too much about Jason Reitman’s corporate downsizing dramedy, “Up In The Air,” other than the fairly informative Twitter posts that Reitman produces a few times a week.

Sure, we did an in-depth script review that gave you the details — yes, it’s good, well-written, has heart, soul and laughs, it’s a strong serio-com — but no one’s really seen it until now. A tipster who saw a rough cut in Toronto emailed Jeff Wells with his thoughts and the comments are incredibly enthusiastic.

Continue reading Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In the Air’: A Sure-Fire Oscar Contender For 10 Best Pix? at The Playlist.

Ellen Page & ‘Arrested Development’s Maeby Ruin Journey One More Time… For ‘Whip It’ Viral Promo?

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:23:00 +0000

So this “music video” is making the rounds of Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat aka Maeby Fünke from “Arrested Development” is making the rounds. Everyone’s asking for a moratorium on this song which is reasonable, but we’re simply sayin’: is it too much for Page to hit the melodies in time with the rhythm? Seriously, Ellen, you like music and gave Jason Reitman the musical “Juno” idea to use the Moldy Peach… oh, right, we get it, nevermind.

Continue reading Ellen Page & ‘Arrested Development’s Maeby Ruin Journey One More Time… For ‘Whip It’ Viral Promo? at The Playlist.

Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In The Air’ Coming Out In December

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:27:00 +0000

When we placed Jason Reitman’s “Juno” follow-up, the satirical downsizing film — which should resonate with cash-strapped audiences these days — “Up In The Air,” in our 60+ most anticipated films of 2009, we did so optimistically, fully well knowing there was a strong chance the dramedy wouldn’t hit theater in 2010, but it looks like Paramount is releasing is just under the wire of 2010. According to Variety, the studio will release the picture, which stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, “at Christmas.” Either that’s specifically December 25 or in and around Christmas time, similar to ‘Juno’s release, which started out limited on December 5 and then expanded fully at Xmas.

Continue reading Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In The Air’ Coming Out In December at The Playlist.

‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Wall-E’ & ‘Juno’ The Big Movie-Related Grammy Winners

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:11:00 +0000

The Grammy Awards— that mostly inessential and ineffectual music awards ceremony and show — were given out tonight and movie fans will want to take note of the three film-related categories.

Perhaps to right the wrong of the Academy Awards snub, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s “The Dark Knight” score won Best Soundtrack Score. Peter Gabriel’s “Down To Earth” song from “Wall-E,” bested both Amy Adams, John C. Reilly, and John Mayer for the Best Song award and the twee mix of Moldy Peaches/Kimya Dawson songs from “Juno” took the Best Compilation Soundtrack prize.

Continue reading ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Wall-E’ & ‘Juno’ The Big Movie-Related Grammy Winners at The Playlist.

Why Indie-Twee, 20-Something Movies Can Be Totally Ghey – Is ‘500 Days Of Summer’ The Shins Of Indie Movies?

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:19:00 +0000

“Juno,” “The Wackness,” “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “Garden State” even “The Go-Getter,” one of our friends calls these indie-friendly flicks, “The Shins of Indie Movies,” i.e., the pleasant, but completely toothless and innocuous indie-rock band on Sub Pop records that many of us enjoy, but all are completely aware aren’t exactly high art or life-changing.

These are the “offbeat” and “quirky” romance movies places like Stereogum, Pitchfork and the younger movie crowd tend to adore and we must admit we anticipate and even enjoy many of them too (of the above, “The Go-Getter” is our fave and the least indie offensive), but it’s undeniable that some of these “indie hipster” films can be obnoxious, sickeningly twee and cringe-inducing in their emo-ness.

Continue reading Why Indie-Twee, 20-Something Movies Can Be Totally Ghey – Is ‘500 Days Of Summer’ The Shins Of Indie Movies? at The Playlist.

Vera Farmiga And George Clooney To Fly In Jason Reitman’s ‘Air’

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:02:00 +0000

Remember Jason Reitman’s follow-up to “Juno”? Well, its leads are cast and the film looks to be moving forward, but “Juno”-ers should take note, this sounds way more, “Thank You For Smoking” rather than Diablo Cody-esque blogspeak.

George Clooney was once in-talks to star and now he’s officially signed on for Reitman’s adaptation of “Up in the Air,” as has “The Departed” star, Vera Farmiga. The story centers on a ruthless human resources exec (Clooney) in zealous pursuit of his millionth frequent flyer mile because his life otherwise sucks.

Continue reading Vera Farmiga And George Clooney To Fly In Jason Reitman’s ‘Air’ at The Playlist.

‘Twilight’ Soundtrack Launches To #1 Spot On Billboard Charts

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:45:00 +0000

What does this teach us? Make fun of it all you want, but don’t underestimate “Twilight.” The vampire-tween cultural phenomenon just exhibited its zeitgeist power and influence once again by capturing the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts today, debuting on the top (and knocking off AC/DC) with 164,700 copies sold in its first week on store shelves.

Those numbers help it become the the year’s third soundtrack to top the chart, following “Mama Mia” and the uber-successful, “Juno” soundtrack.

Continue reading ‘Twilight’ Soundtrack Launches To #1 Spot On Billboard Charts at The Playlist.

How You Know You’re Lame: Predictable Halloween Costume Ideas, The Movie Edition!

Seth Valentine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:00:00 +0000

A happy All Hallow’s Eve to you all. You have all likely already planned your costume for this evening’s festivities/partying but a few of you might still be trying to think up that perfect disguise. Thus, as a part of our unflagging dedication to public service and staunch belief that you always avoid being a predictable twat whenever possible, we have decided to warn you away from what will likely be the most played-out Halloween costumes this year.

Continue reading How You Know You’re Lame: Predictable Halloween Costume Ideas, The Movie Edition! at The Playlist.

Why? Carla Bruni & Julien Doré Cover The Moldy Peaches’ ‘Juno’ Song

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:43:00 +0000

The ghost of “Juno” won’t ever die or stop haunting pop culture for the rest of eternity. Even the French have finally caught on. Watch Carla Bruni and Julien Doré sing “Anyone Else But You” by the Moldy Peaches. You know you’re dying to hear it. We ask, why lord, why?

Continue reading Why? Carla Bruni & Julien Doré Cover The Moldy Peaches’ ‘Juno’ Song at The Playlist.

There Will Never Be Enough ‘Juno’ To Go Around, This Time A “Deluxe” Soundtrack On Nov 18

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Does “Juno” keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny? Rhino records seems to think so. But then again, the original “Juno” soundtrack disc sold, 889,000 copies, so you too might want to stretch that out.

The reissues-heavy label will release, the original disc Juno: Original Soundtrack and the Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted Songs extras collection into one deluxe edition of the album on November 18. The entire shebang, creatively titled Juno: Deluxe Edition will contain 34 tracks.

Continue reading There Will Never Be Enough ‘Juno’ To Go Around, This Time A “Deluxe” Soundtrack On Nov 18 at The Playlist.

Diablo Cody Talks ‘Jennifer’s Body,’ Says Sarcastic Teen Horror May Not Appeal To ‘Juno’ Fans

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:25:00 +0000

Is it only a matter of time before Diablo Cody directs her own film? From the sounds of this L.A. Times interview, Cody was on the set of her new film “Jennifer’s Body,” starring Megan Fox, a shit-ton which sometimes can isn’t allowed as pesky writers can get in the way if they’re following the letter of the law to a T.

But apparently director Karyn Kusama (“The L Word”) had no problem with Cody being around so much on the horror teen comedy.

Continue reading Diablo Cody Talks ‘Jennifer’s Body,’ Says Sarcastic Teen Horror May Not Appeal To ‘Juno’ Fans at The Playlist.

People Too Lazy (Or Young) To Vote Use Movie Posters To Lampoon McCain/Palin Ticket

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Amusing. But will these people actually get off their butts and be at the polls on election day? Color us not convinced. These posters should hopefully speak for themselves, cause they’re not really funny enough for us to give detailed context.

Continue reading People Too Lazy (Or Young) To Vote Use Movie Posters To Lampoon McCain/Palin Ticket at The Playlist.

She & Him: Spielberg Taps Diablo Cody For New Untitled Dreamworks Comedy

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:51:00 +0000

Is Diablo Cody becoming Steven Spielberg’s new muse? Does Spielberg have a crush on the “Juno” scribe? Aww, kinda cute, right? It seems like she might be the new vessel for his ideas. The director has already tapped her to write the pilot episode (and exec produce) the Showtime series “The United States of Tara,” also based on one of his original ideas.

And now he’s hired her once more to pen an untitled comedy for Dreamworks, though all details on the project are under wraps currently.

Continue reading She & Him: Spielberg Taps Diablo Cody For New Untitled Dreamworks Comedy at The Playlist.

Ellen Page Ruined Yo La Tengo’s Chance To Be Moldy Peaches-Like Mainstream Stars

Spencer Martin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:46:00 +0000

Last month Jason Reitman (he recently directed a little indie flick called “Juno,” you might have heard of it) sat down with KCRW’s Jason Bentley to discuss how the “creative process is influenced by music” (cue chinstoke) Mid-way through the interview Bentley mentioned “Juno” and how its soundtrack has become a hit unto itself. Reitman commented on this by saying that the music of “Juno” was not originally meant to be from the now incredibly popular The Moldy Peaches but from the indie group Yo La Tengo.

Continue reading Ellen Page Ruined Yo La Tengo’s Chance To Be Moldy Peaches-Like Mainstream Stars at The Playlist.