For horror fans, Robert Eggers‘ “Nosferatu” remains the final most anticipated movie of 2024. And several questions abound before it arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. How will it stack up against F.W. Murnau‘s original and subsequent remakes? Will Eggers rebound critically and commercially after the meek box office run of “The Northman“?  And is there an eager audience for an old-school gothic period-piece in the mid-2020s?

Continue reading ‘Nosferatu’: First Reactions Praise Robert Eggers’ Gothic Horror As Director’s “Most Assured Work,” “Pure Evil” & “A Fantastic Horror Tale” at The Playlist.

The original “Nosferatu,” from all the way back in 1921, is scary. The German expressionist silent film, directed by early Hollywood filmmaker F.W. Murnau, is well-paced and shot with many shadows and sharp angles, producing a menacing effect. Plus, Max Schreck, as the lead Count Orlok, is just eerie and scary in the role. Enough so that a movie, “Shadow of the Vampire,” was made as a fictitious account of Schrek’s wild behavior on set.

Continue reading ‘Nosferatu’ Trailer: Robert Eggers’ Gothic Horror Remake Arrives December 25 at The Playlist.

Are you ready for some vampiric scares this holiday season? Well, if so, you’re in luck because Robert Eggers’ highly anticipated horror film, “Nosferatu,” is getting the Christmas release. 

And since we’re about six months away from that release date, Focus Features has decided that today is the day to release a trailer and officially kick off the marketing campaign for the film. For those unaware, “Nosferatu” is a reimagining of the classic 1922 silent film of the same name.

Continue reading ‘Nosferatu’ Trailer: Robert Eggers’ Vampire Horror Arrives At Christmas at The Playlist.

Sam Levinson‘s latest series “The Idol” hit HBO two weekends ago after its world premiere at Cannes in May, and the critical response is …not good. In fact, most critics think it’s a trainwreck of a show, which isn’t surprising given the stories that leaked during its production. But “The Idol” star Abel Tesfaye, or The Weeknd, stands by the series and its sleazy, uncomfortable take on the music industry.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’: Abel Tesfaye Says “There’s Nothing Sexy” About His Character’s Sex Scenes: “You Feel Embarrassed For The Characters” at The Playlist.

After months of drama and mostly negative reviews coming from its highly-publicized Cannes debut, HBO’s newest series, “The Idol,” is finally hitting TV screens later this week. 

And in honor of the series finally making its debut, HBO has released a trailer for “The Idol,” which is definitely the buzziest show of the summer. The series follows the story of a pop star who falls under the influence of a creepy nightclub owner.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’ Trailer: HBO’s Controversial New Music Drama Debuts This Week at The Playlist.

Lord, give me strength. From the first minute of “The Idol,” the already controversial music-based television series from HBO Max (sorry, Max), it’s clear that creators Abel Tesfaye (formerly known as The Weeknd), Sam Levinson, and Reza Fahim want to incite a reaction. They hope to shock, subvert, strain, poke, and prod and subjugate the viewer to a torrent of explicit images they hope will push the boundaries of the sanitized television paradigm.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’ Review: Sam Levinson’s Crude Provocation With The Weeknd & Lily-Rose Depp Is Gross & Sexist [Cannes] at The Playlist.

On the heels of Harry Styles’ highly publicized pivot to acting and Taylor Swift’s already-infamous cameo in David O. Russell’s latest flop “Amsterdam,” another major pop star is throwing their hat in the acting ring. Abel Tesfaye, better known to his fans as The Weeknd, broke into the music scene in the early 2010s with a distinctive persona built around moody, atmospheric soul and R&B.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’ Trailer: HBO’s Drama From The Weeknd Tesfaye & ‘Euphoria’ Creator Sam Levinson Arrives In June at The Playlist.

So, uh, when is “The Idol” going to premiere on HBO? That’s a valid question to ask when you consider the first teaser was released months ago, followed fairly shortly by a second teaser. Alas, we don’t even have a release date or hint of a time frame outside of 2023. Well, if you read a new report from Rolling Stone about the behind-the-scenes drama that befell “The Idol,” it’s probably a miracle the show is even going to premiere at this point. 

Continue reading The Idol’: New Report Details Wild Spending, Problematic Script Changes & An Out Of Control Production at The Playlist.

Last Friday, news broke that Robert Eggers’ remake of “Nosferatu” was underway again, with Bill Skarsgard attached to the star. And that’s excellent news, as the film is a passion project for Eggers long in the making. But also announced was Lily-Rose Depp in talks to replace Anya Taylor-Joy as the female lead in the film; not so great news for those who loved Taylor-Joy’s previous work with the director.

Continue reading ‘Nosferatu’: Nicholas Hoult The Latest In Talks To Join The Robert Eggers Horror Remake at The Playlist.

HBO is very happy to be in business with Sam Levinson. The writer-director-producer is the mastermind behind the Emmy-winning hit drama “Euphoria.” And now, he is about to launch his latest HBO project, “The Idol.”

As seen in the teaser for “The Idol,” the new series from the creator of “Euphoria,” has all the style of the popular teen drama but with a heavy dose of sleaze.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’ Teaser: Lily-Rose Depp & The Weeknd Are In A Drug-Fueled Romance From The Creator Of ‘Euphoria’ at The Playlist.

The Weeknd and “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson have teamed up for a new HBO series, “The Idol,” which focuses on a female pop singer who starts a romance with an enigmatic L.A. club owner that happens to be the leader of a secret cult, because what else would you expect from Levinson?

Amid HBO’s announcement of a “new creative direction” on the music industry show, it has led to some prominent crew members exiting.

Continue reading ‘The Idol’: Amy Seimetz Exits HBO Series With Sam Levinson Expected To Take On A Directing Role at The Playlist.

Without question, one of the most striking and gorgeous directorial debuts of the last few years was filmmaker Joe Talbot’s Sundance-adored picture “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” starring Jonathan Majors. A24 released that picture, and given all the acclaim, it’s no surprise the indie studio is backing his follow-up sophomore effort. According to Variety, the film is based on the novel “The Governesses” by French author Anne Serre with Talbot co-writing the movie with poet-novelist Olivia Gatwood.

Continue reading ‘The Governesses’: Renate Reinsve, Lily-Rose Depp & HoYeon Jung Join New Joe Talbot A24 Film at The Playlist.

Bruno Dumont is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. Sure, not everything he releases is perfect, but he’s a risk-taker, and his films, such as “Jeanette,” “Joan of Arc,” and “France,” all take big swings and are worth watching just to see how far he’s willing to go. So, with that in mind, we’re really excited to see what he has coming next, which is apparently a star-studded sci-fi feature. 

Continue reading ‘L’Empire’: Bruno Dumont’s New Sci-Fi Film Will Star Lily-Rose Depp, Adele Haenel & Virginie Efira at The Playlist.

What would you do if you knew the world was about to end? That’s a loaded question, to be sure, with an interminable global pandemic that won’t end and a climate crisis that already started decades ago. Whether the doomsday clock has yet to tick or has already tolled remains up for debate, but the proximity of apocalypse looms large in lots of recent films and TV. In her feature film debut, “Silent Night,” writer/director Camille Griffin envisions what a group of British friends would do in the wake of imminent doom.

Continue reading ‘Silent Night’ Trailer: New Dark Christmas Comedy Starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Goode Arrives In December at The Playlist.

The premise of “Wolf” is a tale as old as time. A young woman who believes herself to be a wildcat falls in love with a young man that believes himself to be a wolf. Who hasn’t been there before?

READ MORE: Fall 2021 Movie Preview: 60+ Must-See Films

As seen in the trailer for “Wolf,” the above premise is actually the plot of the film. In a world where there exist people who suffer from “species identity disorder,” a mental illness where they feel like they’re actually an animal and not a human, two such people fall in love while seeking treatment at a mental health facility.

Continue reading ‘Wolf’ Trailer: Lily-Rose Depp & George MacKay Believe They’re Wild Animals & Fall In Love In Upcoming Drama at The Playlist.

TORONTO – “Silent Night,” which debuted at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival last week, starts off like a familiar holiday comedy. Multiple friends, along with their significant others and kids, reuniting for the Christmas holiday at a beautiful home in the English countryside. There is gossiping about one friend or another and you begin to wonder what trifle of a conflict this comfort food of a film will bring about. Except, it becomes quite clear this isn’t your typical Working Title Films knock off.

Continue reading Keira Knightley & Lily-Rose Depp Thought ‘Silent Night’ Was A Dark Comedy, It’s Not Now [TIFF Interview] at The Playlist.

Writer-director Camille Griffin’s debut feature film “Silent Night” effectively blends two seemingly disparate genres — holiday films and impending apocalyptic cinema. Both high-pressure situations that get you thinking about what really matters, Griffin’s film navigates difficult family and friend dynamics with mordant humor as they face the end of the world together on Christmas Eve. While the film works best when it’s satirizing ensemble holiday films a la “Love Actually,” it’s not afraid to go bleak as impending doom creeps ever closer.

Continue reading ‘Silent Night’: Keira Knightley & Co. Blend The Holiday Film With The End Of The World Genre [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

To say that Lionsgate’s sci-fi film “Voyagers” never honors its true nature would be overstating the case and unfair to filmmaker well-intentioned Neil Burger’s latest directorial effort. But as an initially thoughtful, would-be intelligent sci-fi morality tale that loses its way, there is something to be said about the manner in which “Voyagers” undermines its considerate Aldous Huxley-ian contemplation of human nature in the name of thrills, entertaining audiences, and simple-minded messaging.

Continue reading ‘Voyagers’: Neil Burger’s ‘Lord Of The Flies’ In Space Morality Tale Is Never Quite True To Its Nature [Review] at The Playlist.

Sci-fi films are a great way for creative folks to predict what might happen in the future, using evidence from what is going on right now. With that in mind, knowing what is evident on TikTok, let’s hope “Voyagers” is a cautionary tale for why we don’t entrust the future of the human race on a bunch of hormonal teens. (I’m only partially joking because that makes me sound incredibly old, but also, have you seen TikTok?

Continue reading ‘Voyagers’ Trailer: Tye Sheridan & Lily-Rose Depp Are Humanity’s Last Hope In Neil Burger’s Sci-Fi Thriller at The Playlist.

Whether it’s “Lord of the Flies” or the upcoming film, “Voyagers,” we’ve seen time after time in fiction that young people are terrible. If given the opportunity, they’re just going to break the rules and cause all sorts of mayhem. So, maybe the best course of action is to put them on a spaceship and send them to another planet?

READ MORE: ‘Black Flies’: Sean Penn & Tye Sheridan Set To Star In Thriller About Paramedics

That’s exactly what happens in the new film, “Voyagers.” As seen in the teaser trailer, the film tells the story of a group of young men and women that are sent on a mission to colonize a distant planet.

Continue reading ‘Voyagers’ Trailer: Tye Sheridan & Colin Farrell Star In This Sci-Fi Film About Reckless Youth In Space at The Playlist.

Well, let’s get it out of the way: Armie Hammer. The actor’s career freefall — driven on social media by cannibal kink fascination, but underscored by concerning allegations of non-consensual sex, coercion, and abuse — has likely given “Crisis” (a more apt movie title couldn’t be possible) more interest than the throwaway crime drama would’ve otherwise received. But in the event, you’re one of the few wringing your hands over the film and how to separate the art from the artist, don’t bother.

Continue reading ‘Crisis’: Armie Hammer & Gary Oldman Plod Through A ‘Traffic’-Lite Drug Thriller [Review] at The Playlist.

Is the opioid crisis finally getting a movie and perhaps getting the “Traffic” treatment from multiple perspectives on the cause and effect? That seems to be the case with Nicholas Jarecki’s upcoming dramatic-thriller “Crisis” starring Academy Award-winner Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour,” “Mank“) and Golden Globe-nominees Armie Hammer (“Call Me By Your Name,” “The Social Network“) and Evangeline Lilly (“Antman and The Wasp,” “The Hurt Locker“), to name just a few in a big ensemble cast.

Continue reading ‘Crisis’ Trailer: Nicholas Jarecki’s Opioid Crisis Thriller Stars Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Rodriguez & More at The Playlist.

You thought Gary Oldman’s only shot at an Oscar this year was for his leading role in the David Fincher film, “Mank,” didn’t you? Well, surprise, surprise, we now have a second contending drama in the works that just announced a February release date, titled “Crisis.”

READ MORE: David Fincher Admits His Directing Style Was “Exhausting” For Gary Oldman During ‘Mank’

According to distributor Quiver, “Crisis” is now scheduled for a February release date, from writer-director Nicholas Jarecki.

Continue reading ‘Crisis’ First Look: Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Armie Hammer & More Star In Drama About Opioid Crisis at The Playlist.

Director Neil Burger has already surprised many film fans in 2019 with his latest project, “The Upside.” The Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston comedy film was a bit of a departure for the filmmaker, who is probably best known for films like “Limitless” and “Divergent,” as well as the TV series “Billions.” But yet, “The Upside” became a massive hit, earning more than $108 million at the domestic box office.

Continue reading Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp & More Join Neil Burger’s Space Thriller ‘Voyagers’ at The Playlist.

Everyone’s a narrator with a story to tell in “A Faithful Man” (French: “L’homme fidèle”), a movie about love, loss, death, growing up, and the French being casual AF. Co-written, directed, and starring Louis Garrel, the film is steeped in uniquely European sensibilities, and while it doesn’t offend, the logic of the narrative, and the composition of the lead, hamstrings the effort.

READ MORE: Toronto International Film Festival: 22 Most Anticipated Movies

The picture opens in voiceover above urban Paris, where Abel (Garrel) explains that he thought he was living a good life until the day his girlfriend dumped him.

Continue reading Louis Garrel’s ‘A Faithful Man’ Starring Laetitia Casta & Lily-Rose Depp Flirts With Fun [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.