The movie season is picking up considerably as November delivers major award contenders and blockbuster fare. “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” will try to attempt a “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer-style box office boost. Festival favorites like “A Real Pain” and “Bird” arrive for their official, long-awaited premieres. Elsewhere, there are two Dwayne Johnson films, an animated sequel, the second film from Luca Guadagnino in 2024 alone, and even some holiday-inspired features to help roll us into December. 

Continue reading 17 November Films To See: ‘Blitz,’ ‘Queer,’ ‘Maria,’ ‘Gladiator II’ & More at The Playlist.

Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín is perhaps one of the most versatile filmmakers we have. His career includes the political marketing drama, “No,” the surrealist biopic, “Neruda,” the psychological horror and Stephen King adaptation, “Lisey’s Story” series, and the searing relationship drama, “Ema” to name just a few. But in his ascendence to Hollywood and working with some of the best actresses in the world, he’s also pivoted to some incredible artful films about the complicated lives of various famous female figures: Natalie Portman in “Jackie” about Jacqueline Kennedy, “Spencer” with Kristen Stewart about Princess Diana, and now his latest, “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie.

Continue reading ‘Maria’ Trailer: Angelina Jolie Leads Pablo Larraín’s Drama Of An Iconic Opera Singer at The Playlist.

The fourth major film festival of the fall season, following Telluride, Venice, and the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival is, in many ways, a greatest-hits collection of all these films and titles from Cannes and even Sundance. But that’s not a pejorative. NYFF is arguably one of the best-curated festivals out there, carefully choosing films so that its line-up looks like an artful body of work.

This year, there are no major world premieres, but that said, the festival does boast the North American premiere of Steven McQueen’s highly anticipated WWII London bombing movie “Blitz” starring Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, and more.

Continue reading 2024 New York Film Festival Preview: 15 Films To Watch at The Playlist.

The Playlist’s critic at the 2024 Venice Film Festival did not appreciate Pablo Larrain’s “Maria” as much as this pundit, but there are few awards observers who don’t believe the film’s star, Angelina Jolie, isn’t in the running for her third Best Actress nomination. The 2020 Best Supporting Actress winner portrays the legendary Opera diva Maria Callas in her final days in 1970s Paris. Netflix, who acquired the movie after Venice, released the first teaser trailer which you can find embedded in this post.

Continue reading ‘Maria’ Teaser Trailer: Angelina Jolie Is Ready To Sing In Pablo Larrain’s Latest Drama at The Playlist.

In a movie you could see happening from a mile away, it appears Netflix has assigned a release date for the forthcoming biopic, “Maria,” and put it smack dab in the middle of awards season. It looks like Netflix is hoping for some gold to come its way with the Angelina Jolie film.

READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

According to Variety, the recently debuted “Maria” is set to hit theaters for a short awards run on November 27 before it hits the streaming service on December 11.

Continue reading ‘Maria’: Pablo Larraín’s Biopic Starring Angeline Jolie Lands November Release Date at The Playlist.

Why must talented women die of a broken heart? The myth goes that it was heartbreak that killed Amy Winehouse, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, and countless more women who once vibrated with rare genius but whose emotional ache led to lonely, tragic deaths. Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” does very little to dispel this myth.

If “Jackie” and “Spencer” saw the Chilean director try his hand at vastly well-known stories about vastly well-known women, the final entry in his trilogy of biopics tackles a tale less familiar to general audiences.

Continue reading ‘Maria’ Review: Pablo Larraín’s Saccharine Biopic Starring Angelina Jolie Does Maria Callas A Disservice [Venice] at The Playlist.

Pablo Larraín is clearly not afraid of doing biopics about powerful women. After earning acclaim on smaller international films, the filmmaker really broke out in a big, big way with 2016’s “Jackie.” From there, he went on to direct 2021’s “Spencer,” and he’s now prepping the release of “Maria.” These three films will end up making a trilogy of sorts. 

READ MORE: Venice 2024 Film Festival Preview: 15 Must-See Movies To Watch

With its Venice premiere coming up, we finally get our first clip from “Maria,” starring none other than Angelina Jolie as the title character, Maria Callas.

Continue reading ‘Maria’ Clip: Here’s Our First Look At Angelina Jolie In Pablo Larraín’s Upcoming Biopic at The Playlist.

Every year, we have the push and pull of cinema, a tension that keeps the medium healthy and on its toes. The big studio blockbusters, franchises, and the like dominate summer. Then fall is primarily reserved for the adult drama, the Oscar contenders, and arthouse films (and yes, some big tentpole escapist fare is released too, generally around Thanksgiving on Christmas).  But it all kicks off every year with the Venice Film Festival, which is followed closely by the Telluride Film Festival (more on that one later this week).

Continue reading Venice 2024 Film Festival Preview: 15 Must-See Movies To Watch at The Playlist.

The New York Film Festival is right around the corner and barring some surprise additions, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has revealed the final screenings to its 2024 slate including the Spotlight and Currents selections. Over the past two days, the festival has announced that Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” Jesse Einsenberg’s “A Real Pain,” Guy Maddin’s “Rumors,” Scott McGehee, David Siegel’s “The Friend,” and Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” will screen following their Cannes, Sundance, Telluride and Venice world premieres, respectively.

Continue reading NYFF 2024 Adds ‘Emila Perez,’ ‘Little, Big, And Far,’ ‘A Real Pain,’ & More at The Playlist.

If it’s the last week in July it’s time for the Venice International Film Festival to announce its selections. This morning, La Biennale di Venezia did just that officially revealing the already known inclusion of two Warner Bros. releases, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux.” But there are other major titles now hitting the Lido including Pablo Larrain’s “Maria” with Angelina Jolie; Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” with Daniel Craig; and Pedro Almodóvar’s first feature length English language film, “The Room Next Door” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

Continue reading Venice 2024: New Films From Pedro Almodóvar, Pablo Larrain, Luca Guadagnino at The Playlist.

With the 2024 Cannes Film Festival now over, it’s time for cinephiles to look ahead to the year’s next premier festival: Venice, which runs from August 28-September 7.  Festival chief Alberto Barbera won’t announce the lineup of the Venice’s 81st edition until the last week of July, but Variety reports he already has his eyes on a few buzzy titles.  Among them? The much-anticipated sequel to the 2019 Golden Lion winner.

Continue reading Venice 2024: ‘Joker: Folie á Deux,’ Pablo Larraín’s ‘Maria,’ & More Likely To Premiere In Competition At Festival at The Playlist.

Well, here we are again. With 2023 finally coming to a close, it’s time to look to next year and the Most Anticipated Films Of 2024 (Strike Affected Edition). It’s been a very weird year with the SAG and WGA strike affecting everything, playing havoc with release date schedules in a similar way that the pandemic did. So, right off the bat, let’s discount films that are no longer on the 2024 docket.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024 at The Playlist.

Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín is in the sweetest of positions. He doesn’t really do one for them or one for him since all his films are artful and uncompromising, but he does have this kind of track going where he does dramas with American stars—most of them non-traditional biopics (“Jackie,” with Natalie Portman, “Spencer,” with Kristen Stewart) and then goes off and makes less commercial work that is more personal and without major stars (“No,” “El Conde,” but even the former starred Gael Garcia Bernal).

Continue reading First Look: Angelina Jolie As The “Original Diva” In Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas Drama ‘Maria’ at The Playlist.

With “Neruda,” “Jackie,” and “Spencer,” Pablo Larraín has explored the limits and possibilities of the biopic. Now he’ll do it again with a new female subject, and Angelina Jolie set to star.

READ MORE: ‘Without Blood’: Angelina Jolie Embraces The Western In Her Upcoming Film Although It Looks At Violence And Revenge In “Very Different Ways”

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Larraín’s next film is “Maria,” about famed opera singer Maria Callas, with Jolie starring.

Continue reading ‘Maria’: Angelina Jolie Will Play Opera Singer Maria Callas In Pablo Larraín’s Upcoming Biopic at The Playlist.