Every week, 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, catalogue 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.

This week’s disc and streaming recommendations include a star-filled drama that came and went quietly earlier this year, a new drama from a French master, a fresh look at a sophomore stumble, and the usual assortment of catalogue oddities.

Continue reading The 8 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Our Friend,’ ‘Spaceballs,’ ‘Southland Tales’ & More at The Playlist.

2020 was a weird year, you’ll recall. Is 2021 going to be weirder? In the week that The Playlist talked to filmmaker Richard Kelly about “Southland Tales,” his 2006 cult film about the end of the world, a group of conspiracy theorists and militant insurrectionists tried to take over our nation’s Capitol – which seemed in a way like something Kelly had tried to warn us about 15 years ago.

Continue reading Richard Kelly Talks ‘Southland Tales’, The Time Travel Prequel & His James Cameron-Inspired ‘Donnie Darko’ Sequel [Interview] at The Playlist.

In an age where apparently any financially-disappointing film can get additional millions of dollars for a director’s cut and any cult film can get a sequel, it’s no surprise that Richard Kelly would be interested in revisiting the underrated financial disaster that was “Southland Tales.”

READ MORE: Richard Kelly Teases New ‘Southland Tales’ Film As Well As Two 4K Versions Of The Original

After his cult-hit “Donnie Darko,” Kelly made an ambitious pseudo-post-apocalyptical satire with an insane cast that included Dwayne Johnson, Mandy Moore, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Justin Timberlake.

Continue reading ‘Southland Tales’: Richard Kelly Wants Dwayne Johnson To Appear In Planned Sequel at The Playlist.

In the early 2000s, every moody teenager prided themself in being able to explain the plot of “Donnie Darko,” Richard Kelly‘s metaphysical film starring Jake Gyllenhaal about a kid who befriends a mysterious figure who tells him he has 28 days to save the world. Now, in a new oral history of the film, Kelly reveals that the notoriously confusing timeline in “Donnie Darko” was made clearer with the help of a certain Christopher Edward Nolan.

Continue reading ‘Donnie Darko’: Director Richard Kelly Says Christopher Nolan Helped Make The Film Easier To Understand at The Playlist.

There are few directors that have had a roller-coaster career such as Richard Kelly. The filmmaker burst onto the scene with the cult-classic film “Donnie Darko,” which to this day is held in high esteem by many cinephiles. He then went on to write the script for Tony Scott’s “Domino,” which isn’t the best film, but Tony Scott is great, so that’s a win for Kelly.

Continue reading Richard Kelly Teases New ‘Southland Tales’ Film As Well As Two 4K Versions Of The Original at The Playlist.

Continue reading ‘Donnie Darko’ Filmmaker Richard Kelly Reportedly Working On A Biopic About ‘Twilight Zone’ Creator Rod Serling at The Playlist.

Sometimes, it’s always great to remember that in a world of terrible, disgusting Hollywood figures, there are some good eggs out there. That’s why we’re here to remind everyone that Christopher Nolan is one of those people, as we remember when the director used his rising star power to help another filmmaker get his first film off the ground.

“Donnie Darko” is a favorite among film fans of a certain age range.

Continue reading Let’s Never Forget That Christopher Nolan Is A Good Guy & Is The Reason ‘Donnie Darko’ Was Released In Theaters at The Playlist.

On this archival episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I discuss the bizarre career (so far) of director Richard Kelly, specifically focusing on his first two features, “Donnie Darko” (recently getting a new blu-ray release from Arrow Video) and “Southland Tales.”

LISTEN TO: AYT talks about “Lost City Of Z,” “Free Fire” & “David Lynch: The Art Life”

All episodes of Adjust Your Tracking are part of The Playlist Podcast Network and can be found on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher.  

Continue reading Adjust Your Tracking Talks Richard Kelly, ‘Southland Tales’ & The New ‘Donnie Darko’ Blu-Ray [Podcast] at The Playlist.

Continue reading Richard Kelly Teases Re-Release Of “Expanded” ‘Southland Tales’ at The Playlist.

The story of director Richard Kelly is one of breakout talent, high expectations, a colossal crash and a fading away from the spotlight. Sixteen years ago this month, the filmmaker became the toast of Sundance with “Donnie Darko,” and by the end of 2001, Hollywood was his oyster. Kelly used his cachet to make “Southland Tales,” a sprawling, star-studded misfire that went into the Cannes Film Festival for its big premiere and never recovered from the reviews.

Continue reading Richard Kelly Says He’s Planning Another ‘Donnie Darko’ Movie at The Playlist.

It has been 15 years since Richard Kelly arrived with his breakout debut feature film “Donnie Darko.” Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the film about a troubled teenager, a giant rabbit, the darkness of suburbia, and the apocalypse became a near-instant cult favorite, and saw Hollywood flock to Kelly as the next great director. Unfortunately, all that goodwill would be squandered by the colossal flop “Southland Tales,” and by time he made “The Box,” another commercial failure, his career was on the skids (and indeed, he hasn’t directed a movie since).

Continue reading Jake Gyllenhaal Makes A New Friend In Re-Release Trailer For ‘Donnie Darko’ at The Playlist.

Adjust Your Tracking is back to talk about cult movies and the often tepid results from attempting to catch lightning in a bottle again. While the box-office and critical reception for “Blair Witch” was underwhelming, to say the least, we still find other aspects around the film and the franchise to dig into. All of which nicely ties into the latest edition of our special segment HOLD UP: “Donnie Darko.”

READ MORE: ‘Blair Witch’ Can’t Capture The Mystique Of The Original

My co-host Joe von Appen and myself have often championed the work of director Adam Wingard and screenwriter/producer Simon Barrett (we’re big fans of “The Guest” and “You’re Next“).

Continue reading Podcast: Adjust Your Tracking Talks Cult Franchises, ‘Blair Witch’ & Looks Back At ‘Donnie Darko’ & ‘Southland Tales’ at The Playlist.

Richard Kelly Says David Fincher's 'Gone Girl' Is A "Kindred Spirit" To Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'

Continue reading Richard Kelly Says David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’ Is A “Kindred Spirit” To Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ at The Playlist.

15 Underseen And Overlooked Dystopian Futures In Film

Continue reading 15 Underseen And Overlooked Dystopian Futures In Film at The Playlist.

25 Movies That Defined The Sundance Film Festival

Continue reading 25 Movies That Defined The Sundance Film Festival at The Playlist.

Nicolas Cage & Richard Kelly Together At Last (In True Crime Thriller 'Amicus')

Continue reading Nicolas Cage & Richard Kelly Together At Last (In True Crime Thriller ‘Amicus’) at The Playlist.

Continue reading Richard Kelly To Keep Things (Relatively) Simple For His Next Film ‘Corpus Christi’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Richard Kelly Has Written An Animated Prequel To ‘Southland Tales’ at The Playlist.

Well, it appears that Kelly still has the project on the brain.

Continue reading Will Richard Kelly Actually Make His Sci-Fi Film Next? at The Playlist.

The tendency, in some circles, arguably ours, is to hate on Kelly, call him a jocky douchebag and dismiss him outright, but last night he presented himself as a rather inquisitive and thoughtful guy, which was nice to see.

Continue reading Don’t Mention ‘The Twilight Zone’ To Richard Kelly Regarding ‘The Box’ at The Playlist.

Though it is laughable that he believes this film is a commercial effort, kudos regardless to Warner Bros.

Continue reading ‘The Box’ Review: Another Pseudo-Deep, Confused & Silly Richard Kelly Picture Though Not A Disaster Either at The Playlist.

In Wide Release: Robert Zemeckis returns to the creepy motion-capture animation of his “Polar Express” film with “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.” Jim Carrey stars as Scrooge and various other ghosts in the film in what is sure to be a virtuosic performance, hopefully Zemeckis is able to breathe life into the images on screen, as these films usually feel more artificial that straight-up animation.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘A Christmas Carol,’ ‘The Box,’ ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats,’ ‘Precious’ at The Playlist.

Kelly described it thus: the Arcade Fire is currently working on a new album and plan to “release the score at some point, when it does not conflict with their album release schedule for their record label.” No doubt sensing that there is a large contingent of people — like us — that would have nothing to do with “The Box” were it not for the prospect of a Bernard Hermann-esque score by the indie rock gods, Kelly added that, for now, he and the band hope fans will spend their money on movie tickets and hear the score in the context of the film.

Continue reading Arcade Fire Soundtrack To ‘The Box’ Is Coming… Eventually… at The Playlist.

As for “The Box” so far there’s only one screening in New York and at a very inopportune time during the day which doesnt breed a lot of confidence.

Continue reading Richard Kelly’s ‘The Box’ An Upcoming Dud? No Arcade Fire Soundtrack? at The Playlist.

The “Donnie Darko”/”Southland Tales,” director tweeted yesterday, “Just read that one actor (Armie Hammer) will play the Winklevoss twins in [David Fincher’s] ‘THE SOCIAL NETWORK.’ Cool!” So we went digging and discovered ala Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook page that several young actors have joined the cast including the aforementioned Hammer (from “Gossip Girl”), Max Minghella (“Agora” and “Artschool Confidential”), Rooney Mara (young sister of Kate Mara), Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith), Disney Channel actress Brenda Song, and model Josh Pence.

Continue reading Max Minghella, Rooney Mara, Dakota Johnson & More Join David Fincher’s ‘Social Network’ at The Playlist.