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.

Every column has felt overloaded as of late, as if home video distributors know we’re all planning on finally leaving the house soon, and want to sell us a few more things while they can.

Continue reading The 14 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘News Of The World,’ ‘Collective,’ ‘World Of Wong Kar-Wai’ & More at The Playlist.

The last guild awards announcement for 2021 was reserved for the American Society of Cinematographers which, in truth, isn’t a guild, but represents the most important creative aspect of a movie, the image itself. More than any other guild honor, the Oscar for Best Cinematography rarely deviates from the Feature Film nominees from the ASC Awards. So, that should make the Directors of Photography behind “Mank,” “Nomadland,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “News of the World” and “Cherry” quite happy today.

Continue reading ‘Mank,’ ‘Nomadland’ & ‘The Great’ Among 2021 ASC Awards Nominees at The Playlist.

The Writers Guild of America announced their film nominees for the delayed 2021 WGA Awards and, once again, the films that didn’t qualify shaped the list of honorees more than those who did. Awards season players “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Promising Young Woman” made the cut as expected in the Original Screenplay category. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami” earned Adapted Screenplay nominations, also as expected.

Continue reading ‘Trial of the Chicago 7,’ ‘One Night In Miami’ Lead WGA Awards Film Noms at The Playlist.

Just 36 films were eligible for the Original Score Academy Award this year for a variety of reasons. That means your chances of landing on the shortlist were not so bad at almost 50/50. And for the composers of “Ammonite,” “The Invisible Man,” “Soul” and “The Little Things,” the odds were definitely in your favor.

READ MORE: “Minari” and “The Crown” rule 2021 SAG Awards nominations

There were few snubs among the selected scores although Hans Zimmer (“Wonder Woman 1984”), Mark Isham and Craig Harris (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), and Bruno Coulais (“Wolfwalkers”) might have a case.

Continue reading ‘Soul,’ ‘Minari’ & ‘Tenet’ Make The 2021 Original Score Oscars Shortlist at The Playlist.

As awards season settles into its extended 2021 schedule the one organization there is no cure for, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are ready for their spotlight. Yes, the Golden Globe Awards will reveal their nominees on Wednesday morning and, as usual, every studio, network, and streamer is quaking in their boots. Pandemic, shandemic, it’s the same old racket.

READ MORE: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Nomadland” and “I May Destroy You” top 2021 Independent Spirit Awards nominations

Every year, Hollywood spends thousands of dollars with consultants who quiz the HFPA members about what they like and what they don’t for months on end.

Continue reading Golden Globes Nominations Predictions 2021: ‘Trial Of The Chicago 7,’ Zendaya, ‘Hamilton’ at The Playlist.

When you watch the latest trailer for “News of the World,” does it give off those “Star Wars” vibes to you? Probably not. But according to the film’s star, Tom Hanks, his upcoming Western is pretty much just “‘The Mandalorian’ without lightsabers.” And yes, that’s a direct quote. Though it does require quite a bit of context.

READ MORE: ‘News Of The World’: An Old-Fashioned Western With A Contemporary Heart [Review]

Speaking to CinemaBlend, Hanks was tasked with describing his upcoming Western, “News of the World,” directed by Paul Greengrass.

Continue reading Tom Hanks Describes ‘News Of The World’ As “‘The Mandalorian’ Without Lightsabers” at The Playlist.

Directors who have reached a certain stature always find a way to add a Western to their resume. Or, at least a Western of some ilk. Clint Eastwood (“Unforgiven”), Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”), the Coen Brothers (“True Grit,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and, now, Paul Greengrass.

READ MORE: ‘News Of The World’: An Old-Fashioned Western With A Contemporary Heart [Review]

Reuniting with his “Captain Phillips” star, Tom Hanks, Greengrass has gone down a markedly different road with “News of the World.” Set in the 1870s, the film centers on a newsreader (Hanks) who is given the mission of returning a young girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel), back to her relatives after she was taken by the Kiowa people years before.

Continue reading Paul Greengrass On “Getting To A Better Place” With ‘News Of The World’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

Texas, 1870. The splendidly named Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) travels from town to town as a “newsreader,” which is exactly what it sounds like – he selects the most interesting recent items from newspapers and magazines, and reads them aloud to locals for a dime, so that they may hear “the great changes that are happening out there.” He’s a mixture of reporter and storyteller, and something like a folklorist as well; Kidd was also a preacher once upon a time, and that’s not too surprising either.

Continue reading ‘News Of The World’: An Old-Fashioned Western With A Contemporary Heart [Review] at The Playlist.

We’re living in the middle of a pandemic, nearly every theatrical release has vacated the 2020 hellscape, but somehow, as the year comes to a close, we’re offered, an overwhelming number of films worth exploring (isn’t film over?). Some have been celebrated since January of this year at Sundance, while others made their festival arrivals later but stunned nonetheless. Others, such as “Soul” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” will experiment with just how much success a typical tentpole film can have at home.

Continue reading 16 Films To See In December: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘Pieces Of A Woman,’ ‘Mank’ & More at The Playlist.

If you’re a theater owner in the United States, there are fewer and fewer films sticking around in 2020 to get excited about as we enter the final weeks of the year. But one of those movies is the Tom Hanks drama, “News of the World.” And it appears that theater owners in the US might have dodged a bullet, as Universal is likely going to send the feature to streaming everywhere except America.

Continue reading Universal To Release ‘News Of The World’ On Netflix Outside The U.S. at The Playlist.

It’s a sign of the times that the incredibly prolific Clint Eastwood will not release a film that qualifies for the current 2021 Oscar season. His spirit, however, is present in Ron Howard’s disappointing “Hillbilly Elegy,” which pulled the curtain back on reviews and reactions today. To be blunt, “Elegy,” which is based on J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir, would likely disappear as an award movie any other year.

Continue reading ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Enters The Oscar Chat, But How Long Will It Stick Around? [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

OK, so we’re going with this thing that instead of a teaser trailer or official trailer, we’re jumping straight to a short TV spot, ok sure, but the first official teaser or footage of Paul Greengrass‘ Western, “News Of The World” is here. Reuniting Tom Hanks with his “Captain Phillips” director, “News Of The World” is set in 1870 and follows a Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople.

Continue reading ‘News Of The World’ Teaser Trailer: Tom Hanks Rescues A Kidnapped Girl In Paul Greengrass’ New Western at The Playlist.

Tom Hanks is hoping to position himself, once again, in the heart of the coming awards season with his new film, “News of the World.” And while we have been hit with an onslaught of delays from other major films being released in 2020, it appears that the new drama is still on its way to theaters this holiday season, as we are given new pictures from the film.

Continue reading ‘News Of The World’ First Look: Tom Hanks Goes On A Journalistic, Old West Adventure In Paul Greengrass’ New Film at The Playlist.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the class of Adapted Screenplay contenders is how wonderfully diverse it is. In theory, this category could have four women nominees and four PoCs in a very competitive year. Of course, things can change dramatically this far out, but it’s potentially a silver lining to what is already the most unexpected and unnerving Oscar season in history.

Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of the nonfiction novel “Nomadland” and Kemp Powers reshaping of his play “One Night in Miami” are likely the safest bets so far (Note: Powers could be a rare double screenplay nominee if “Soul” can sneak into the Original Screenplay five).

Continue reading Oscars 2021: Best Adapted Screenplay Contenders & Predictions at The Playlist.

A funny thing happened on the way to a COVID-delayed Oscar qualification deadline. Real Best Picture contenders showed up. That’s right, anyone who thinks they are putting an asterisk on this upcoming 2021 Academy Awards ceremony like the ongoing NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup playoffs, or severely shortened MLB season are in for a surprise.

READ MORE: Awards Season Verdicts: “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “On the Rocks”

Granted, we have a long, long way to go.

Continue reading Oh My, We Actually Have A Legit Best Picture Race [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

COVID-19 is over! Movies are back! And everything is… safe? Hardly. It’s been a weird 2020.5 (an adjunct year that started in March) and it’s been going on for about 2.5 years so far. Sundance and Berlin in the 1st half of 2020 were definitely a few years ago and the new normal is so normal… it’s ok to go back to theaters? We’re as dubious, nervous and hesitant as you. In fact, we’d given up on doing most kinds of film festival previews this year—we threw any ideas of a summer film preview out the window given that the summer schedule kept constantly changing and any predictions about reopening theaters turned out to be as premature and overly optimistic as we all thought.

Continue reading 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch at The Playlist.

With “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” it appears that Tom Hanks is very much in the conversation for some Best Actor love during this year’s awards season. His portrayal of Fred Rogers in the film has already wowed critics during the festival appearances and seems to point to the Oscar-winning actor getting some more awards love in 2019. However, it appears that this time next year, we’ll be talking about Hanks and potential trophies, also, as his new film “News of the World” is getting a prime 2020 release date.

Continue reading ‘News Of The World’: Tom Hanks & Paul Greengrass Take Aim At 2020 Awards Season With Christmas Release Of New Film at The Playlist.

The last time filmmaker Paul Greengrass and actor Tom Hanks collaborated, it was for the 2013 film “Captain Phillips.” And their teamwork resulted in six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Now, the duo is in talks to get back together for a new film, which judging by the source material, seems ripe for more Oscar love in the future.

READ MORE: Paul Greengrass Explains Why ’22 July’ Was Released By Netflix: “Young People Sadly Don’t Go To See Art House Movies”

According to a new report from Variety, Greengrass and Hanks are in negotiations to team up for a new film titled “News of the World.” Based on the bestselling novel from author Paulette Jiles, with a script from “Lion” writer Luke Davies, the film follows a man, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, who travels around the country in post-Civil War America.

Continue reading ‘Captain Phillips’ Team Of Director Paul Greengrass & Tom Hanks To Reunite For ‘News Of The World’ at The Playlist.

We don’t talk about books a whole lot around here, but many on The Playlist are avid readers, and one novel that I’ve been telling everyone to read immediately is Paulette Jiles‘ “News Of The World.” A point of comparison might broadly be “True Grit,” as the book tells the story of Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a war veteran who earns money in 1870 by traveling town to town in the South, reading headlines and news stories of the day from newspapers around the globe.

Continue reading Tom Hanks Will Spread ‘News Of The World’ at The Playlist.