Nostalgia for the ’80s milieu isn’t precisely a cutting-edge trope in Hollywood and TV. Movies have parrotted and expanded upon the decade’s music, fashion, and general ambiance for decades now, well before recent examples like the third season of “Stranger Things” and “Wonder Woman 1984.” There’s a reason for that: ’80s style is so audacious, eye-catching, and versatile it’s tailor-made for visual media. Video killed the radio star, as the song goes.

Continue reading ‘Physical’ Teaser Trailer: Rose Byrne Goes From Housewife To Aerobic Fitness Guru In New AppleTV+ Show at The Playlist.

Television dramas set in the world of the restaurant industry haven’t had a great track record (remember AMC‘s “Feed The Beast“?), but Starz is going to the plate (sorry, not sorry) with “Sweetbitter.” And I have to say, this is pushing all my buttons hard enough that I’m going to give it a shot.

Based on the novel by Stephanie Danler, the show stars Ella Purnell, Caitlin FitzGerald, Tom Sturridge, Paul Sparks, Evan Jonigkeit, Daniyar, Eden Epstein and Jasmine Mathews, and follows a young woman who arrives in Manhattan, and joins the swirling restaurant scene.

Continue reading ‘Sweetbitter’ Trailer: Life Happens While You Wait at The Playlist.

Boredom, wealth, resentment, and a killer instinct — those are four qualities that can coalesce into something toxic. Or, in the hands of “Thoroughbreds” writer/director Cory Finley, a bleak and black comedy where murder is just an appetizer.

Starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin (in one of his final roles), and Paul Sparks, the premise for this one is pretty simple:Lily and Amanda, two bored teenagers, plot to kill Lily’s stepfather.

Continue reading ‘Thoroughbreds’ Trailer: So Rich, So Bored, So Savage at The Playlist.

While there are a number of historical, true crime, Americana-themed mini-series on TV right now or on the way, (“American Crime Story,” “Trust,” etc.), Paramount Network’s “Waco” is the one that is most accurately categorized as such. It’s a miniseries in the classic sense of the word: an intentionally televisual, process-oriented, overwritten, broadly characterized, loosely-factual limited series boasting an overqualified ensemble of fantastic character actors.

Continue reading ‘Waco’: Michael Shannon Shines In Otherwise Routine True Crime Drama [Review] at The Playlist.

P.T. Barnum is a complex individual. A philanthropist, entrepreneur and phenomenally successful businessman who advertised and celebrated hoaxes with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which promoted, highlighted and exploited the talents and deformities of many, he’s arguably among the most intriguing figures in American history. He’s a huckster and a crook, a future politician and a man who is transparent about what he’s selling. Remind you of anyone?

Continue reading Hugh Jackman’s ‘The Greatest Showman’ Doesn’t Live Up To Its Title [Review] at The Playlist.

‘Tis the season for family time, but it’s not always a happy time of year. And if you’re gritting your teeth returning home for the holidays, perhaps be comforted by the razor-sharp trailer for “Thoroughbreds,” which this the family dynamic deliciously shattered.

Starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, and Paul Sparks, Cory Finley‘s film follows two young women, who bond over mutual hatred and set the wheels in motion for a chilling action of violence.

Continue reading ‘Thoroughbreds’ Trailer: Feel Nothing, Feel Everything at The Playlist.

Nearly three-quarters of the way through the year, and most of the big hitters from last January’s Sundance have already hit theaters, with only a couple of the more awards-y contenders still to unspool, like “Call Me By Your Name,” “Mudbound” and “Novitiate.” Some went on to enormous success — “Get Out,” “Wind River,” “The Big Sick” — others disappointed.

Continue reading NSFW ‘Thoroughbreds’ Trailer: Killer Sundance Hit Starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy & Anton Yelchin at The Playlist.

Money, goes the saying, can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you pretty much everything else, including an infinite sense of privilege, and an evasion of the justice system. A billionaire can hoodwink millions of people into thinking he’s out to serve them despite living in a golden tower. The swamp can remain resolutely undrained as millionaire cabinet members can spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money on private jets. A movie executive can sexually harass and assault for at least two decades before facing anything vaguely resembling consequences.

Continue reading Olivia Cooke & Anya Taylor-Joy Plan A Murder In Excellent ‘Thoroughbreds’ [BFI London Film Fest Review] at The Playlist.

Given *gestures at the shitshow of America in the last 11 months*, it’s perhaps not surprising that the last time white people went truly bugnuts crazy, in the early 1990s, has been capturing the imagination of filmmakers recently. “Oklahoma City,” about the worst domestic terrorism incident in American history, is one of the best documentaries we’ve seen this year, Sam Worthington and Paul Bettany starred in a miniseries about the Unabomber, and Jaume Collet-Serra is planning a movie about the Waco siege.

Continue reading First Trailer For Miniseries ‘Waco’ Starring Michael Shannon & Taylor Kitsch at The Playlist.

The long developing musical “The Greatest Showman” is on the way, and Hugh Jackman will break out his acting, singing and dancing chops starring as the famed circus icon P.T. Barnum. Since 2009, Jackman has called ‘Showman’ a dream project and 20th Century Fox hopes to make an awards season splash this winter. This will be Jackman’s first musical since 2012’s “Les Miserables.

Continue reading First Trailer For Musical ‘The Greatest Showman’ Starring Hugh Jackman & Michelle Williams at The Playlist.

“Time heals all wounds” is an aphorism that’s handed out as a superficially soothing balm for a variety of life’s pain and disappointments. But sometimes there are situations and experiences where the intensity of feeling only increases as the months and years pass by, or festers into resentments. And it’s that territory of unresolved hurt and the lingering complex emotions that writer/director Rachel Lambert explores in her incisive feature-film directorial debut “In The Radiant City.” It’s a drama of modest scope, but one that powerfully traverses the reverberations of a single event and how they’ve irrevocably changed the lives of a single family.

Continue reading Slow-Burn Drama ‘In The Radiant City’ Marks An Impressive Debut From Writer/Director Rachel Lambert [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

Recap: 'Boardwalk Empire' Season 4, Episode 8 ‘The Old Ship Of Zion’

Continue reading Recap: ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Season 4, Episode 8 ‘The Old Ship Of Zion’ at The Playlist.

Interview: 'Sparrows Dance' Director Noah Buschel & Star Marin Ireland On Mumblecore, Low Budgets & More

Continue reading Interview: ‘Sparrows Dance’ Director Noah Buschel & Star Marin Ireland On Mumblecore, Low Budgets & More at The Playlist.