Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This biweekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

It’s the end of the year, so the streamers are pushing out their awards hopefuls, the home video distributors are hawking their holiday wares, and as a result, we have the most jam-packed edition of this column in its history – with an assortment of excellent new dramas, 4K upgrades of action classics, and catalog classics and art movies getting shiny new Blu-ray treatments.

Continue reading The 23 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Tenet,’ ‘Ma Rainey,’ ‘Sound Of Metal’ & More at The Playlist.

The picturesque landscape image that opens Milos Forman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” a beautiful image of rolling land lit by a sun setting over a distant mountain, looks like the opening of a Western – and it sounds like one too, thanks to the disturbingly evocative music (bowed saw and wine glasses) by Jack Nitzsche. The story begins in that spirit as well, with a loner and gunslinger wandering into town to shake things up.

Continue reading ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’: Grappling With The Nuances Of This Timeless Classic at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This weekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching. 

Two more early-quarantine, pulled-from-theaters titles get their proper disc and VOD releases, and both are worth a watch from those who were saving their pennies for a more reasonable price point.

Continue reading The 5 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Emma,’ ‘The Way Back’ & More at The Playlist.

We lost an icon earlier this month with the passing of Kirk Douglas, at the age of 103. An actor for over 60 years, Douglas is most remembered for his seminal roles in “Golden Age” 1950s Hollywood, for his hand in dismembering the industry’s blacklist, and through his famous son, Michael.

READ MORE: ‘The Assistant’: The Nightmare Of A #MeToo Scandal As Busy Work [Be Reel Podcast]

But what made Kirk Douglas such a star?

Continue reading The Defining Roles Of Kirk Douglas [Be Reel Podcast] at The Playlist.

As we recently noted, it’s that time of year when one awards contender after another earns notable honors that might just assist in their Oscar campaigns.  Today, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced that Hugh Jackman will receive the 2018 Kirk Douglas Award.  Jackman is a potential Best Actor nominee for his work in Jason Reitman’s “The Front Runner.”

READ MORE: Armie Hammer and Jeff Bridges toast Judi Dench for Kirk Douglas honor

Since 2006 the Kirk Douglas Award has “been awarded to a lifelong contributor to cinema through their work in front of the camera, behind, or both.” In a statement from SBIFF, the 101-year-old Douglas remarked, “I am delighted that Hugh Jackman will receive the 13th annual Kirk Douglas Award.

Continue reading Hugh Jackman To Receive 2018 Kirk Douglas Award From SBIFF at The Playlist.

When considering Best Actress contenders one name has been dropped from the conversation, “Victoria and Abdul’s” Judi Dench.  The Oscar winner and seven-time nominee hasn’t made it to the Dolby Theater since 2014 for “Philomena,” but when she has a starring role she usually has a good chance of being a fixture during the season.  So, if she ends up with a SAG Award nomination in a few weeks just remember she’s also one of the few actors who have earned three nominations in one year from her peers in the guild. 

Continue reading Jeff Bridges Can’t Stop Calling 2017 Kirk Douglas Award Honoree Judi Dench ‘James Doodie’ at The Playlist.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has announced the recipient of the 2016 Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film and it’s none other than Warren Beatty.

In a release from SBIFF, the organization revealed that Beatty will receive the honor on Dec. 1, 2016 which is just eight days from Douglas’ 100th birthday on Dec. 9.

“Warren Beatty upholds the highest artistic standards of the film industry,” Douglas says.“His choice of material has entertained us as well as made us think more deeply about the world we live in.

Continue reading Warren Beatty To Receive 2016 Kirk Douglas Award From Santa Barbara Film Festival at The Playlist.

10 Acting Partnerships That Span Multiple Films

Continue reading 10 Classic Acting Partnerships at The Playlist.

Behind the Scenes photos from “The Road.” No, they’re not zombies, they just look that way. It’s a post-apocalyptic movie and there are no showers. [Cinematical

Bill Murray wants a female ‘Ghostbuster,’ shrug, whatever. [MTV]

“A Christmas Tale,” one of the films at Cannes and NYFF, has a poster.

Continue reading Short Cuts: ‘The Road,’ The ‘Hulk’ DVD Reveals Captain America? at The Playlist.

Continue reading The ‘Metropolis’ Discovery Makes Us Take A Look At Other “Lost Cinema Classics” at The Playlist.