It never gets old reading about famous actors that turned down major roles that would have altered film history. Most of the time, they’re interesting footnotes and “What if?” situations that are fun to imagine. However, perhaps none of those stories hold a candle to Matt Damon’s experience almost acting in “Avatar,” when it comes to the sheer amount of money he ended up turning down.

READ MORE: ‘Stillwater’: Matt Damon Thriller From Tom McCarthy Never Quite Changes the Tide [Cannes Review]

Speaking at a Cannes Masterclass (via Deadline), Matt Damon talked about one of the biggest roles that he has ever been offered and why he turned it down.

Continue reading Matt Damon Turned Down ‘Avatar’ Lead Even After Being Offered 10% Of The Film’s Profits at The Playlist.

Maybe it’s time to let the old ways of this almost-finished decade die, yeah? But it wouldn’t be complete without our deep dive into the best soundtracks and scores of the 2010s. It’s admittedly somewhat weird and difficult to do. Scores and soundtracks are different beasts; one original musical written for a film that gives it its emotional shape—often the secret MVP of a movie—and the other more of a mixtape, but when well-curated and used next to picture, can be just as deadly and help craft what we know as the visual and aural transcendence that’s known as cinema when it’s at its best.

Continue reading The Best Soundtracks & Scores Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

Look, making a Best of Decade list is an impossibility. As the 2010s come to a close, we’ve been agonizing over this (long-delayed) list for half a year now and even had to take a break and put it away this summer when things got too contentious and overwhelming. And then there’s the notion of resonance and what really lasts and is released too late (Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” is phenomenal, for example, but it’s not even released yet, and it’s just going to have to sit this one out).

Continue reading The 100 Best Films Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

Let’s just jump right in and call this part two of my interview with writer/director/actor John Krasinski about his third directorial effort, the well-crafted, suspenseful and emotionally engaging horror/thriller and post-apocalyptic drama “A Quiet Place.”

READ MORE: The 20 Best Horror Films Of 2018

Up until this point in his career, Krasinski had only helmed smaller, character-driven indie films (“The Hollars,” “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men“), until mounting the more-ambitious and expansive “A Quiet Place” creature movie (which was a monster hit and made nearly $350 million worldwide). 

Continue reading John Krasinski Says He Could Still Direct A Very Different ‘Quiet Place 2’ Sequel [Interview] at The Playlist.

“Manchester by the Sea” was easily one of the best films of 2016. The drama about a man coming to terms with the loss of his family, as he attempts to become a caretaker of his young nephew features an incredible cast, with an Oscar-winning performance from Casey Affleck. But according to one of the producers on the film, Matt Damon, ‘Manchester’ almost had a different, perhaps more emotional, ending.

Continue reading Matt Damon Reveals Alternate ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Ending That Was Cut Due To Budget at The Playlist.

The envelope imbroglio wasn’t the only controversy on Oscar night. Casey Affleck‘s win for Best Actor was a sour note for many who haven’t forgotten his sexual harassment lawsuits from 2010, cases which were both settled out of court with the producer and cinematographer of the faux-doc “I’m Still Here.” Affleck has addressed the charges against him a handful of times across the awards season, most recently with the Boston Globe, but it’s done little to quell those who believe he’s managed to avoid any serious career fallout from the allegations.

Continue reading Kenneth Lonergan Defends Casey Affleck In Letter To The Wesleyan Argus at The Playlist.

Yes, we know the Oscars were three very long days ago, but there is much to unpack beyond the whole Best Picture envelope fiasco. The awards season in general was not short on controversy, most of it landing on “The Birth Of A Nation” director Nate Parker, who saw the frontrunner status of his film implode when details surrounding his 2001 trial for rape resurfaced (he was acquitted), and it was learned that his accuser later committed suicide.

Continue reading Best Actor Oscar Winner Casey Affleck Addresses Sexual Harassment Allegations at The Playlist.

Sunday night’s Oscars ended in one seismic Hollywood event that largely obliterated the memory of any earlier tremors. But some of those lesser quakes may actually turn out to have more lasting consequences than the Best Picture announcement omnishambles (our costly, impractical, left-field suggestion for how to avoid a similar cock-up in future? Color-coded envelopes). Among the less sexy but potentially more game-changing records broken at the 89th ceremony was this little nugget: 2017 saw the first Academy Awards at which movies financed by streaming services gained the industry’s highest honor.

Continue reading Netflix, Amazon, ‘The Irishman’ & The Academy: Oscars In The Age Of Streaming at The Playlist.

The film world is still recovering from Best Picture blunder unlike anything the Oscars has seen, but let’s not let that overshadow the rest of the night.

The evening was not short on inspirational speeches, one of the most powerful coming from someone who wasn’t even there: Asghar Farhadi. The Iranian filmmaker won Best Foreign Film for “The Salesman,” and engineer and the first female space tourist Anousheh Ansari, accepted the Oscar from his behalf, read from a prepared statement from the director who spoke about against Trump’s “inhumane law” regarding the Muslim ban.

Continue reading Oscars 2017: All The Acceptance Speech Highlights & Best Picture Blunder at The Playlist.

Well, that was something. As per usual, the Oscars were a marathon, and it was the very last category that provided the biggest spark the show has seen in decades, and maybe the most embarrassing moment in Warren Beatty‘s life.

The show trudged along into Best Picture to cap off the night, with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of “Bonnie & Clyde,” coming out to present the winner.

Continue reading Oscars 2017: ‘Moonlight’ Surprise Best Picture Winner, ‘La La Land’ Wins 6 at The Playlist.

The 2017 Independent Spirit Awards kicked off with a hilarious opening monologue from “Oh, Hello” duo Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, and from there the evening was handed over to “Moonlight.”

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2016

Barry Jenkins‘ celebrated film dominated the show, taking some six prizes, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and the Robert Altman award for best ensemble.

Continue reading ‘Moonlight’ Wins Big At The 2017 Independent Spirit Awards at The Playlist.

The 2017 Independent Spirit Awards are upon us and beyond the anticipation of Nick Kroll and John Mulaney hosting the 32nd annual indie film shindig, there is actual suspense over who will take home the top prizes.

Over the past decade or so, the casual chic Spirits have featured many of the nominated films battling for the glamorous Academy Awards just the next day. This year there is some obvious duplication with “Moonlight,” “Manchester by the Sea” and “Hell or High Water” all earning key nods, but there is a lot more variation in the nominees than many would have expected.

Continue reading Predicting The 2017 Independent Spirit Awards Winners Because Why Not? at The Playlist.

It’s Oscar week, and all week long we’ll be running features to amp you up before Sunday’s ceremony brings awards season to a close and we learn whether “La La Land” sweeps or if “Moonlight” can be a spoiler to the party. And having ranked all the Best Picture winners a few years back, we thought, how else to kick off Oscar week but to rank all the Best Picture nominees?

Continue reading Ranking Every Best Picture Oscar Nominee Of The 21st Century at The Playlist.

Hollywood’s annual celebration of themselves arrives on Sunday with the Oscars, which will undoubtedly be a star-studded, glitzy, evening of hardware being handed out, braced by an array of political speeches. You might want to get the laughs in now, and luckily Screen Junkies takes an amusing overview of the Best Picture field in their latest Honest Trailers.

READ MORE: How The Oscars Fail Movies

From suggesting that Mel Gibson will inevitably torpedo his return to the spotlight to calling out “Arrival” for that scene with the Chinese general, this is a light-hearted look at the contenders.

Continue reading Honest Trailers Takes On The 2017 Best Picture Oscar Nominees at The Playlist.

We’re less than a week away from the big show. On February 26, first-time host Jimmy Kimmel will lead us into another night of surprises, upsets, disappointment, elation, fancy suits, lovely dresses, golden statues, cheers and jeers. We can practically smell the microwave cooked popcorn and homemade chili dip as we speak. The Oscars are nothing without ferocious opinions, hard-wrought cynicism and reformed faith in the (supposedly) “dying” art of cinema.

Continue reading Where To Watch All The 2017 Oscar Nominees at The Playlist.

Continue reading 72-Minute Screenwriters Roundtable With Kenneth Lonergan, Tom Ford, Pedro Almodovar, And More at The Playlist.

We are entering the late fall of the awards season, with only a handful of major precursor awards left to unveil their winners before the Oscars in two weeks time. Tonight brings one of the biggest, in the shape of the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts Awards, or the 2017 EE BAFTA Awards. With a large British contingent, and the date having been moved up so it comes before the Oscars, the British Academy have become more and more important to awards season in recent years, with six of the last eight Best Film winners going on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards (though it split in the last two years, interestingly).

Continue reading ‘La La Land’ Wins 5 BAFTA Awards Including Best Film, ‘Moonlight’ Snubbed at The Playlist.

It’s a pretty amazing two years for Kimberly Steward. At this time in 2015 Steward was on the set of Kenneth Lonergan‘s “Manchester by the Sea” as the production battled blizzards and snow to get finished on time.  12 months ago Steward just returned from Sundance where “Manchester” wowed crowds and was acquired for a pretty penny by Amazon Studios.

Continue reading 4 Quadrant Podcast Ep 8: ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Producer Kimberly Steward On Her Oscar Nod And Indie Filmmaking at The Playlist.

Over the weekend, the Directors Guild of America invited the five feature film nominees to a theater to discuss their nominated work. DGA winner Damien Chazelle (“La La Land“), Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival“), Garth Davis (“Lion“), Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight“), and Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester By The Sea“) all sat with moderator Jeremy Kagan to talk about the process of making their respective films.

Continue reading Massive 2 Hour 40 Minute Talk With DGA Nominees Damien Chazelle, Denis Villeneuve, Garth Davis, Barry Jenkins & Kenneth Lonergan at The Playlist.

Continue reading 1-Hour Producers Roundtable Talk With Matt Damon, Frank Marshall, Darren Aronofsky & More at The Playlist.

The Screen Actors Guild held the 23izd SAG Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017. Here is a complete list of all the winners and nominees.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
CASEY AFFLECK / Lee Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA” (Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
ANDREW GARFIELD / Desmond Doss – “HACKSAW RIDGE” (Lionsgate)
RYAN GOSLING / Sebastian –“LA LA LAND” (Lionsgate)
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Ben – “CAPTAIN FANTASTIC” (Bleecker Street)
DENZEL WASHINGTON / Troy Maxson – “FENCES” (Paramount Pictures) – WINNER

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
AMY ADAMS / Louise Banks – “ARRIVAL” (Paramount Pictures)
EMILY BLUNT / Rachel – “THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN” (Universal Pictures)
NATALIE PORTMAN / Jackie Kennedy – “JACKIE” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
EMMA STONE / Mia – “LA LA LAND” (Lionsgate) – WINNER
MERYL STREEP / Florence Foster Jenkins – “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS” (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
MAHERSHALA ALI / Juan – “MOONLIGHT” (A24) – WINNER
JEFF BRIDGES / Marcus Hamilton – “HELL OR HIGH WATER” (CBS Films)
HUGH GRANT / St Clair Bayfield – “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS” (Paramount Pictures)
LUCAS HEDGES / Patrick Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA” (Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
DEV PATEL / Saroo Brierley – “LION” (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
VIOLA DAVIS / Rose Maxson – “FENCES” (Paramount Pictures) – WINNER
NAOMIE HARRIS / Paula – “MOONLIGHT” (A24)
NICOLE KIDMAN / Sue Brierley – “LION” (The Weinstein Company)
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Dorothy Vaughan – “HIDDEN FIGURES” (20th Century Fox)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Randi Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA” (Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (Bleecker Street)
ANNALISE BASSO / Vespyr
SHREE CROOKS / Zaja
ANN DOWD / Abigail
KATHRYN HAHN / Harper
NICHOLAS HAMILTON / Rellian
SAMANTHA ISLER / Kielyr
FRANK LANGELLA / Jack
GEORGE MacKAY / Bo
ERIN MORIARTY / Claire
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Ben
MISSI PYLE / Ellen
CHARLIE SHOTWELL / Nai
STEVE ZAHN / Dave

FENCES (Paramount Pictures)
JOVAN ADEPO / Cory
VIOLA DAVIS / Rose Maxson
STEPHEN McKINLEY HENDERSON / Jim Bono
RUSSELL HORNSBY / Lyons
SANIYYA SIDNEY / Raynell
DENZEL WASHINGTON / Troy Maxson
MYKELTI WILLIAMSON / Gabriel

HIDDEN FIGURES (20th Century Fox) – WINNER
MAHERSHALA ALI / Col.

Continue reading 2017 SAG Awards Winners and Nominees – Complete List at The Playlist.

The Oscar nominations are in, and now begins the road to the ceremony next month, and the conversation tends to turn toward which movies deserve to win. There will be backlash against contenders (“La La Land“) and controversies about those nominated (Mel Gibson, Casey Affleck), and it can be easy to forget that the nine nominees for Best Picture are, mostly, pretty damn good.

Continue reading Oscars: Supercut Celebrates The 2017 Best Picture Nominees at The Playlist.

Netflix and Amazon Studios are the dominant forces changing the game in the movie industry (sorry, Hulu, Crackle, and everyone else — you’ve still got a way to go). The prime disrupter, Netflix, recently spent $60 million on two Chris Rock comedy specials, and Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter recently speculated that the shows and specials that Jerry Seinfeld brought to the streaming service earned the comedian somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million.

Continue reading Amazon’s Multiple Oscar Nominations For ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Is A Huge Validation For The Streaming Service at The Playlist.

It’s awards-nerd Christmas today, with the reveal of the 89th Academy Award nominations this morning. We’ve already gone through the snubs and surprises of this morning’s announcement, as well as some analysis, reactions and a discussion of how it completes Mel Gibson’s comeback, but there’s plenty more to be unpacked, especially if you’re a stats fan.

As we do every year, we’ve broken this morning’s nods down to the numbers, from awards trivia to box office of the nominated films.

Continue reading The 2017 Oscar Nominations By The Numbers at The Playlist.

It’s time for the Oscar nominations, or as they’re known this year, “La La Land” Day. The musical was expected to scoop up a slew of nominations, but it really did a number on the Academy Awards this year (sorry).

The Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone starring musical earned a staggering 14 nominations, tying “Titanic” and “All About Eve” for most nods. Coming in strong behind were the sci-fi “Arrival” and “Moonlight,” each earning 8 nominations, with “Manchester By The Sea” landing 6 nods.

Continue reading ‘La La Land’ Ties Record With 14 Oscar Nominations at The Playlist.