Filmmaker James Gray (“The Lost City of Z”), who was most recently behind the Brad Pitt-led sci-fi film “Ad Astra,” is turning his sights toward a more grounded dramatic series for his next effort. Gray will be writing and directing a show based on the life of famed writer Norman Mailer, the celebrated and controversial author of such books as “The Executioner’s Song” and “The White Negro: Superficial Reflections On The Hipster.”

Deadline reports that Gray’s series will be called “Mailer,” adding that the new project is based on the author J.

Continue reading ‘Mailer’: James Gray To Write/Direct Series Based On Life Of Writer Norman Mailer at The Playlist.

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 bi-weekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

After that last, marathon column, we have a much lighter new release slate to share this week, with two more Vincent Price classics, a couple of genre treats, an overdue Criterion Collection upgrade, and more: 

PICK OF THE WEEK:

“Mona Lisa”: Bob Hoskins turns in one of his finest performances – wounded, vulnerable, but powerful – as an ex-con who falls for the high-priced call girl (Cathy Tyson) he’s assigned to chauffeur to her appointments.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Worth,’ ‘Mona Lisa’ & More at The Playlist.

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. 

Two potentially major productions caught in the wheels of the lockdown hit disc and (reasonable) VOD this week, alongside a Sundance doc on Apple TV+,  a lovely new musical bio-doc, and the usual bushel of marvelous catalog titles from Criterion, Warner Archive, and Kino-Lorber.

Continue reading The 13 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The King of Staten Island,’ ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ & More at The Playlist.

This weekend sees the final episode of “Feud,” which stars Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange as Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, respectively, as they scheme and catfight their way through the filming of “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?” It also sees the second weekend of “The Fate Of The Furious,” the eighth ‘Fast And The Furious‘ film which stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, who reportedly fell out on set due to Diesel being a “candy ass” (Johnson’s words).

Continue reading 20 Great Movie Star Feuds & The Films That Spawned Them at The Playlist.

Maybe there was a reason for that and maybe that whoever produced the segment was asleep at the wheel? (or perhaps didn’t start working on the segment until after the writers’ strike and was therefore indeed, rushed?)

Vulture reminded us that the Oscars made three omissions of dead actors and filmmakers last night, some glaring and some less so.

Continue reading Brad Renfro, Roy Scheider & Norman Mailer Excluded From Oscar ‘In Memoriam’ Tribute at The Playlist.

Mailer and Rip Torn got into a full-on brawl in the 1970 Mailer directed film, “Maidstone.”

From “The Lives of Norman Mailer” by Carl Rollyson:

“Outraged by the way Mailer had tricked everyone into thinking a film of novel significance was in the offing, Torn refused to accept the ending of MAIDSTONE and attacked Mailer during the filming of him with his family the day after the director had declared the movie over.

Continue reading RIP Norman Mailer: 1923-2007 at The Playlist.