This weekend, moviegoers helped launch the directorial career of already tremendously talented and successful actor, who delivered a film that’s definitely worth all the praise it has been receiving.

Jordan Peele‘s audacious “Get Out” opened huge, earning $30 million off a slim $4.5 million budget. Horror movies tend to drop off faster than most on their second weekend, and with “Logan” arriving on Friday, that will probably be the case here.

Continue reading ‘Get Out’ Scares Up Huge Debut [Box Office] at The Playlist.

The weekend of big awards being handed started last night in France with the César Awards, and likely setting the tone for the next two nights, politics stepped into the spotlight. But first, lets get the business part of the equation out of the way.

Winning Best Film was Paul Verhoeven‘s button-pushing “Elle,” and while it only won one other award, it was Best Actress for Isabelle Huppert.

Continue reading ‘Elle’ Wins Best Film At César Awards, Plus Watch George Clooney’s Anti-Trump Speech at The Playlist.

On the whole, 2016 was a banner year for animated films — be it on the massive scale with Disney’s “Zootopia,” the critical darling in Laika’s “Kubo And The Two Strings,” or small independent fare such as Studio Ghibli’s silent wonder “The Red Turtle,” it seemed that everywhere filmgoers looked, they could find an animated film worthy of their time investment.

Continue reading Heartwarming Trailer For Animated Golden Globe Nominee & Oscar Contender ‘My Life As A Zucchini’ at The Playlist.

In one of the biggest snubs in Oscar history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nine-short listed films for the 2017 Foreign Language Film Oscar and Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” was not on the list.

The French submitted drama stars Isabelle Huppert in an Oscar-worthy performance and has earned raves since it debuted at Cannes in May. It’s also one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year (89 on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic) and a staple of year-end top ten lists (including The Playlist’s own).

Continue reading Shocker: ‘Elle’ Becomes One Of Greatest Oscar Foreign Language Film Snubs Of All-Time at The Playlist.

The past few weeks have been pretty damn good for “Toni Erdmann.” Maren Ade‘s film topped the list of Best Films Of 2016 from the choosy Cahiers Du Cinéma, and also did the same for the folks over at Sight & Sound. Now it’s adding more hardware to the shelf with a sweep at the European Film Awards last night.

READ MORE: Cannes Review: Maren Ade’s ‘Toni Erdmann’ Details The Greatest, Weirdest, Truest Love Of All

The film won Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay, and Best Film — the first time a movie directed by a woman has ever won that latter honor.

Continue reading ‘Toni Erdmann’ Sweeps European Film Awards at The Playlist.

A few days into October, and we’ve already been spoiled by a fine festival season, from one of the best Venice line-ups ever to a stacked Telluride and TIFF to an NYFF that’s started strong with Ava DuVernay’s tremendous “The 13th.” And across the pond, things are gearing up too: the 60th BFI London Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday.

The festival doesn’t always have the big world premieres that some of the U.S fests do, but the last few years have seen it unfold some of its strongest line-ups ever, and this year might just top them all.

Continue reading 10 Films To Look Out For At The 2016 BFI London Film Festival at The Playlist.

One of the unequivocal delights of this year’s 69th Cannes Film Festival was discovering director Claude Barras‘ “My Life as a Courgette,” a 66-minute stop-motion animation treat. The film, depicting a few months in the life of an orphan named Courgette who still feels responsible for the death of his alcoholic mother cuts to the heart in the most non-manipulative kind of way. It’s a keeper.

Continue reading Cannes Review: Claude Barras’ Animated Drama ‘My Life As A Courgette’ Is A Simple Beauty at The Playlist.