Fans of the Sandman know it’s often feast or famine when the comedic superstar steps away from his traditional juvenile humor. The highs are high, and the lows are low. For every “The Meyerowitz Stories,” there’s “The Cobbler;” for every “Uncut Gems,” a “Reign on Me.” “Hustle,” the latest output from Adam Sandler’s longstanding deal with streaming giant Netflix, marks his rare personal project to occupy a middle ground between these two poles: fulfilling and frustrating in fits and starts.

Continue reading ‘Hustle’ Review: Adam Sandler’s Got Game In Boilerplate Basketball Flick at The Playlist.

“It’s very much a ‘Rocky’ story,” Adam Sandler told Entertainment Weekly this week about his new Netflix basketball drama, “Hustle.” “And I’m not Mickey in it — there’s never gonna be another Mickey — but I like being that kind of guy, getting to talk to a young man and getting him fired up.” The film centers on a washed-up basketball scout (Sandler) who discovers a phenomenal streetball player while in Spain and sees the prospect as his opportunity to get back into the NBA.

Continue reading ‘Hustle’ Trailer: Adam Sandler Stars In A ‘Rocky’-Esque Basketball Drama For Netflix at The Playlist.

Depending on your age, you probably have different ideas about what “The Equalizer” is. If you’re, uh, a person of a certain age, you may remember the ‘80s TV drama about a retired agent that takes it upon himself to use his skills to help innocent people in bad situations. If you’re a bit younger, you may think of Denzel Washington’s two ‘Equalizer’ films where he violently disposed of bad guys and looked badass doing it.

Continue reading ‘The Equalizer’ Trailer: Queen Latifah Takes Over For Denzel Washington As A Secret Badass Helping Innocent People at The Playlist.

Depending on your age, when you think of “The Equalizer,” you either imagine a white-haired Edward Woodward on your TV screen each week or Denzel Washington kicking ass in two big-budget action films from director Antoine Fuqua. But for a new generation, it appears that “The Equalizer” is neither an aging white man or an ass-kicking Oscar-winner. Instead, CBS is hoping that a new reboot of the crime series will succeed with Queen Latifah in the lead.

Continue reading Move Over, Denzel—Queen Latifah Is Starring In A New ‘Equalizer’ Reboot Series On CBS at The Playlist.

Last night, audiences experienced (were subjected to?) the latest primetime musical special, ABC’s “The Little Mermaid Live.” However, unlike other recent entries in this genre, such as “Grease” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the ABC production decided to go with the mixed-media approach, relying on animated bits from the classic 1989 film combined with live-action musical numbers with a new cast including Queen Latifah, Auli’i Cravalho, John Stamos, and Shaggy, among others.

Continue reading Social Media Jokes About Last Night’s ‘Little Mermaid’ Musical Special Prompted An ABC Exec To Respond at The Playlist.

The MTV Video Music Awards have earned something of a bad reputation over the years.  As we’ll discuss, the winners (let alone nominees) often seem like they were chosen for the fan appeal more than their artistic achievements and there is a major lack of real respect for the categories that don’t involve the talent.  But as much as MTV hates to hear it, the VMAs are pretty much an institution at this point and that can actually be a good thing.

Continue reading Best & Worst Of The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards: Can We Just Talk About The Performances? at The Playlist.

“Girls Trip” is like a fun vacation with a few minor hiccups. When reminiscing, you won’t remember that you didn’t pack enough pairs of socks, that the hotel coffee was terrible or the measly 15-minute flight delay. Those problems irk in the moment, but they don’t color your memory of the whole experience. Similarly, “Girls Trip” has its issues – its overlong two-hours-plus running time, unnecessary narration, excessive product placement, etc.

Continue reading ‘Girls Trip’ Is Worth Taking, Thanks To A Star-Making Performance From Tiffany Haddish [Review] at The Playlist.

It seems that it doesn’t take much to make a wacky, wild comedy these days. You just need a simple premise and some stars, and you’re off to the races, and so it goes for “Girls Trip.”

Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Larenz Tate, Kate Walsh, Mike Colter, and Kofi Siriboe star in this movie which sees the conveniently tax-break-for-movie-productions-friendly city of New Orleans as the setting for a bunch of women to let their hair down.

Continue reading Take A Wild Journey With The New Trailer For ‘Girls Trip’ at The Playlist.

I can’t imagine the pitch meeting for “Girls Trip” was very difficult. It’s the kind of movie where a screenwriter or director could walk into a studio with the name on a concept poster and walk out with a deal, which is a long way of saying, you probably know what you’re getting into with this new red band trailer for the upcoming comedy.

Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Larenz Tate, Kate Walsh, Mike Colter, and Kofi Siriboe come together in the Malcolm D.

Continue reading Party Hard In The Big Easy In New Red Band Trailer For ‘Girls Trip’ With Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith & More at The Playlist.

With “Bad Moms” once again proving last summer that women can be raunchy and wild — and have great success at the box office — just like their male counterparts, it seems Hollywood is becoming more comfortable with the idea of female-led, ensemble-driven comedy. And before “Bad Moms Christmas” arrives this fall, a whole new crew of actresses will serve your dose of raunchy comedy for the summer.

Continue reading Regina Hall, Queen Latifah & Jada Pinkett Smith Are Ready To Party In First Trailer For ‘Girls Trip’ at The Playlist.

The film stars Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly and Winona Ryder as two couples whose husbands are best friends and business partners, with an upcoming venture threatened by one husband’s (Vaughn) discovery that his best friend’s wife (Ryder) is cheating. Channing Tatum co-stars as Ryder’s lover alongside Queen Latifah as an executive at the company where Vaughn and James work.

Continue reading Watch: Trailer For ‘The Dilemma’ Is Pretty Much What You’d Expect From Vince Vaughn & Kevin James at The Playlist.

Called, “Mathilda,” the script for the sequel, is complete. Natalie Portman still wants to make the movie, in fact, everybody involved is in, everyone except the studio that controls the rights to the story.

Continue reading Is Luc Besson’s ‘Colombiana’ The Closest We’ll Ever Get To A Sequel To ‘The Professional’? at The Playlist.

The film stars Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly and Winona Ryder as two couples whose husbands are best friends and business partners, with an upcoming venture threatened by one husband’s (Vaughn) discovery that his best friend’s wife (Ryder) is cheating.

Continue reading First Look At ‘The Dilemma’ With Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly & Winona Ryder at The Playlist.

Starring Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Channing Tatum and Queen Latifah, the film centers on a man (Vaughn) who finds out his best friend’s wife (Ryder) is cheating on him (James), only to struggle with what to do with the knowledge.

Continue reading Ron Howard’s Relationship Comedy ‘Cheaters’ Switches Title To ‘What You Don’t Know’ at The Playlist.

In Wide Release: The lastest from team Scott/Crowe made its splashy, star-studded premiere on the Cannes red carpet earlier this week but despite all the glitz and glamor it remains to be seen if audiences are in the mood for a serious, epic and long (two and half hours plus) journey through Sherwood Forest.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Robin Hood,’ Just Wright,’ ‘Looking For Eric’ at The Playlist.

Director Sanaa Hamri (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2”) and producer/star Queen Latifah (“Hairspray”) wanted to make a movie about a catfight-free love triangle where the smart, sweet, ostensibly less attractive woman gets the man in the end (no apologies for spoilers here: by telling you this, we’re still revealing less than the plot-packed trailer).

Continue reading Review: ‘Just Wright’ Is Just Cheesy at The Playlist.

The film already stars Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly and now has added a fifth major name in Channing Tatum (“Stop Loss,” the upcoming Steven Soderbergh film, “Knockout”) according to an interview with MTV and the “G.I. Joe” star.

Queen Latifah has also evidently joined the cast, the actress revealed in a recent ESPN chat.

Continue reading Channing Tatum & Queen Latifah Join Ron Howard’s Infidelity Comedy, ‘Cheaters’ at The Playlist.

The modestly budgeted 20 million dollar picture raked in a whopping 29 million Easter weekend coming in second place despite being critically detested. The prolific, fat-suit prone Perry has proven to be a huge cash cow for distributer Lionsgate, occasionally churning out multiple films a year with starless, African-American casts, shot on the cheap.

Continue reading Trailer: ‘Just Wright’ Is A Tyler Perry Wannabe at The Playlist.

Continue reading ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ ‘Harry Potter’ To Preview At Oscars, Other Crazy Shit Will Happen Too at The Playlist.

But Oscar is switching it up this year, right? All of it is fresh and new and exciting? Well, yikes, this year, the Academy “in memoriam” section is going to be accompanied by a Queen Latifah sing-along.

Continue reading The Oscar “In Memoriam” Segment: Now With 100% More Queen Latifah Singing at The Playlist.

Continue reading ‘The Secret Life Of Bees’ Trailer Is Sentimental & Treacly, Just How You Like It at The Playlist.