“A Quiet Place: Day One” hits theaters tomorrow, the third entry in Jon Krasinski‘s alien invasion franchise and the first one he doesn’t direct.  But Krasinki tapped Michael Sarnoski, who takes his place behind the camera for this one, to succeed him for one major reason: he loved Sarnoski’s debut film “Pig.”

READ MORE: ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Final Trailer: Lupita Nyong’o & Joseph Quinn Star In Horror Prequel

And Krasinski isn’t the only “Pig” fan out there.

Continue reading ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’: Michael Sarnoski Says Jon Krasinski Tapped Him To Direct Because He’s A Big Fan Of ‘Pig’ at The Playlist.

Last year, few movies threw audiences for a loop like Michael Sarnoski‘s feature debut, “Pig.”  Nicolas Cage stars in the film as a reclusive truffle hunter who returns to Portland, where he was once a renowned chef, to figure out who stole his beloved foraging pig. Many expected another unhinged Cage performance, but instead, “Pig” showcases Cage at his most understated in a quiet film about grief and loss that expertly subverts its revenge set-up.

Continue reading ‘Pig’ Director Michael Sarnoski To Helm Adaptation Of Graphic Novel ‘Sabrina’ at The Playlist.

It’s the middle of Oscar voting, “CODA’s” win at the PGA Awards has everyone buzzing and we’re exactly one week away from the big show. Sunday, March 20 features the last day of guild honors. The American Society of Cinematographers was the last to hand out their awards and, not surprisingly, the top prize went to Greig Fraser for “Dune.”

READ MORE: “CODA” takes the top prize at the 2022 PGA Awards

Fraser beat out Ari Wegner (“The Powerof the Dog”), Dan Lausten (“Nightmare Alley”), Bruno Delbonnel (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”) and Haris Zambarloukos (“Belfast”).

Continue reading Greig Fraser Takes Top 2022 ASC Award For ‘Dune’ at The Playlist.

It’s been a tradition for years now and it continues in 2021—former President of the United States, Barack Obama, has released his top films of the year. And as with previous years, it’s a healthy mix of high-profile gems and things that may have fallen under the radar that he clearly wants to put some extra shine on. 

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2021

One thing you have to understand is that Obama never ranks the movies, he just presents a list of his “favorite” films.

Continue reading Barack Obama’s Best Films Of 2021 List Includes ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Pig,’ ‘Card Counter’ & More at The Playlist.

We celebrate the movies at this time of year, and in the wild rush to praise directors and actors for all that nifty directing and acting they did over the last 365 days, we all tend to forget that cinema is about more than just two sets of people. Just read Twitter. Who’s naming anyone other than auteurs and stars? How many times has Steven Spielberg’s name come up? How many times has Janusz Kamiński’s?

Continue reading The Best Cinematography Of 2021 at The Playlist.

We certainly have not resumed full normalcy as we continue to battle this pandemic, but at least we have movies—even more than last year. With certain reservations about how they were premiered, released, and distributed, this year in film brought back more festival favorites like Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” more massive franchise golden geese like Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “No Time to Die,” more awards-friendly fare that had been held over, like Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2021 at The Playlist.

The life of a young actor can often be unpredictable, but rarely do you have the opportunity to play a child trapped in a grown man’s body and a truffle hunter’s unwitting accomplice in hunting down his lost pig in one year. And yet, that’s what Alex Wolff found himself doing in back-to-back projects.

On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, actor Alex Wolff joins us to chat about his roles in “Old” and “Pig” – both movies dropping within a week of one another this summer.

Continue reading Alex Wolff Talks ‘Old,’ ‘Pig’ & The Genius Of ‘Hereditary’ [The Playlist Podcast] at The Playlist.

Although actor Nicolas Cage has made dozens of movies over the past few years, it’s been nearly a decade since he appeared in anything that might reasonably be referred to as “mainstream.” In the intervening period, he’s become more meme than man, with his image morphing into a kind of cultural shorthand for eccentricity. Cage’s latest performance as a reclusive truffle hunter in Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig” doesn’t exactly break the trend, but it’s garnering attention as his quietest and most introspective in recent memory.    

Continue reading Nicolas Cage On Mainstream Hollywood Movies: “I Don’t Know If I’d Want To Go Back” at The Playlist.

2014 warned us all about the dangers of harming another man’s animal companion in “John Wick,” a standalone film featuring Keanu Reeves making approximately 500 kill shots in a 100-minute time frame; that film expanded into two more, plus another 500 kill shots per sequel, not including kill shots made by Reeves’ costars, a la Halle Berry. The moral of the story is that when you break into a home, don’t kill the dog.

Continue reading ‘Pig’: Nic Cage Does Sad ‘John Wick’-Style Revenge As If It Were Directed By Kelly Reichardt [Review] at The Playlist.

Nicholas Cage has done so many oddball indie projects over the past ten years, it’s hard to keep track of them all.  But the upcoming “Pig,” directed by first-timer Michael Sarnoski, has arguably generated more buzz than any Cage vehicle since 2018’s “Mandy.”  And it looks a good deal more grounded.  

READ MORE: Summer 2021 Preview: Over 50 Movies To
Watch

The story is set in Oregon, where a lone truffle hunter (Cage) is forced to confront his past in Portland after his beloved foraging pig is kidnapped.  The film has been referred to by various sources as a revenge thriller, probably due to the plot’s similarities with “John Wick.”  However, the “R” rating for “Pig” is based on “language and some violence,” which sounds less extreme than the B-movie action focus of most recent Cage movies.  Is it possible the actor has returned to doing honest-to-goodness drama?  If so, it will be his first non-thriller since 2015’s political drama “The Runner.”

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

“Pig” was one of the biggest prizes nabbed by NEON after footage was teased at last year’s Berlin Film Festival. 

Continue reading ‘Pig’ Trailer: Nicholas Cage Is A Truffle Hunter With A Pig Problem In A Bizarro New Drama at The Playlist.

The announcement of a new Nicolas Cage film project is almost a bit like Mad Libs. You start with Nicolas Cage and a film. Then to come up with the plot, co-stars, and filmmaker, you just randomly pick some nouns, adjectives, and names out of a hat. But you know what? We wouldn’t have it any other way. And with that in mind, let’s talk about the upcoming film “Pig.”

According to Deadline, Cage has been cast in the upcoming thriller, “Pig.” And if you’re sitting there thinking, “Sorry, but I’m just fully done with this Nic Cage shit, and there’s nothing you can say that will win me back.” Well what if I said that “Pig” is basically “John Wick” but with Cage and a truffle-hunting animal?

Continue reading Nicolas Cage Is A Truffle Hunter Joined By Alex Wolff In The Search For His Missing Pet In The Thriller ‘Pig’ at The Playlist.