State Of Play Archives - The Playlist

The Essentials: The 5 Best Rachel McAdams Performances

The Playlist Staff — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:57:33 +0000

The Essentials: The 5 Best Rachel McAdams Performances

Continue reading The Essentials: The 5 Best Rachel McAdams Performances at The Playlist.

25 Must-See Movies About The Media

The Playlist Staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 18:07:42 +0000

25 Must-See Movies About The Media

Continue reading 25 Must-See Movies About The Media at The Playlist.

Brad Pitt Developing A Pair Of Acclaimed Novels: ‘The Imperfectionists’ & ‘Fortress of Solitude’

Oliver Lyttelton — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:04:00 +0000

Maybe we’re blinded by our romantic affection for a dying trade, but The Playlist loves nothing more than a good newspaper movie; “All The President’s Men” and “His Girl Friday” are clearly some of the greatest movies ever made, while we can even find a little something to enjoy in the half-baked likes of “Shattered Glass” and Ron Howard’s “The Paper.” Brad Pitt clearly shares some of our taste, as he came close to starring in last year’s “State of Play” (which was much better at the newsroom stuff than at the thriller elements), and his company Plan B has now picked up the rights to Tom Rachman’s novel “The Imperfectionists.”

The book, which was published this spring to some outstanding reviews, focuses on the eccentric staff of an international newspaper based in Rome, including a lazy obituaries writer, an egotistical war reporter and a publisher more interested in his dog than in his paper.

Continue reading Brad Pitt Developing A Pair Of Acclaimed Novels: ‘The Imperfectionists’ & ‘Fortress of Solitude’ at The Playlist.

Kevin Macdonald To Direct James Vanderbilt’s ‘Murder Mystery’

Oliver Lyttelton — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:43:00 +0000

British director Kevin Macdonald has made some truly extraordinary documentary films, (“One Day In September,” “Touching The Void”) but his two fictional films to date, “The Last King of Scotland” and “State of Play,” haven’t quite hit those heights, despite being well-crafted and featuring some excellent performances: Forrest Whitaker obviously picked up the Oscar for the former, while the latter featured Russell Crowe’s best performance in nearly a decade.

The helmer’s currently putting the finishing touches on Roman centurion adventure “The Eagle of the Ninth,” set for release in September, and he’s just lined up his next project; he’ll direct the Hitchcockian thriller “Murder Mystery,” from a script by “Zodiac” scribe James Vanderbilt.

Continue reading Kevin Macdonald To Direct James Vanderbilt’s ‘Murder Mystery’ at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott to Pointlessly Remake ‘Red Riding’; Steve Zaillan To Write.

Oliver Lyttelton — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:58:00 +0000

Sometimes, words fail us.

A little while back, we caught, and loved, “Red Riding,” the trilogy of crime thrillers made for Channel 4 in the UK, which will be released theatrically in the US next month through IFC. You can find our original review here, but it was pretty much a flat rave – the films are dense, impossibly dark, beautifully made and brilliantly acted. Now, according to Variety, Ridley Scott and his “American Gangster” scribe Steven Zaillan are reteaming to remake the original trilogy.

Continue reading Ridley Scott to Pointlessly Remake ‘Red Riding’; Steve Zaillan To Write. at The Playlist.

Facing The Firing Squad At Universal Studios- Two Troubled Execs Give Last Words

Gabe Toro — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:06:00 +0000

The LA Times recently posted an intriguing interview with Universal Pictures chairmen Mark Shmuger and David Linde where the two candidly threw themselves under the bus for the studio’s recent unwise decisions and lackluster summer. In addition to not getting the heat they had hoped for with “Bruno” and “Public Enemies,” they lost quite a bit of money on “Land of the Lost” and their latest, “Funny People,” spent only two weeks in the box office top ten.

Continue reading Facing The Firing Squad At Universal Studios- Two Troubled Execs Give Last Words at The Playlist.

Is Russell Crowe The Next Direct-To-DVD Star? ‘Tenderness’ Languishes In Limbo

Gabe Toro — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Ridley Scott. Ron Howard. Kevin McDonald. James Mangold. Peter Weir. Michael Mann. John Polson. That’s the list of directors Russell Crowe has worked with in the last ten years. Is one of those names not like the others?

In 2006, Crowe completed nine days of filming in New York on a psychological thriller called “Tenderness.” Since then, the film has remained absent from all Lionsgate release schedules, and three years later, there is no release date in sight.

Continue reading Is Russell Crowe The Next Direct-To-DVD Star? ‘Tenderness’ Languishes In Limbo at The Playlist.

‘The Soloist’ Is Not The Newspaper/Print Valentine Some Would Have You Believe

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Jeffrey Wells, writes, “In a 4.20 column, Marshall Fine notes how two semi-major studio movies released within a week of each other — “State of Play” and “The Soloist” — are (a) about print journalists and (b) are naturally including glimpses of the downsizing and death of the newspaper business.”

But “glimpses” is absolutely right and Fine is overstating things. The original ‘Soloist’ script had an abundance of the downsizing pains and death of print/journo motifs that featured in “State Of Play” that yes, would have really made it a an extremely loud theme in mainstream movies — it was almost as front and center as the Russell Crowe film originally — but in the version that comes out in theaters this weekend, that idea is barely there, just small glimpses.

Continue reading ‘The Soloist’ Is Not The Newspaper/Print Valentine Some Would Have You Believe at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Tweens Show Up For Further Substandard Programming In ’17 Again’

Gabe Toro — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:56:00 +0000

A week after the boffo “Hannah Montana: The Movie” bow, Disney spawn Zac Efron courted the same audience and won with the insipid body-jumping comedy “17 Again.” The laffer, from formerly respectable “Igby Goes Down” director Burt Steers brought in $24.1 million, outdistancing its closest competitor, the much older-skewing “State of Play.” For comparison’s sake “17 Again”‘s $24 million pales in comparison to “Montana”‘s $34 million take and doesn’t approach “High School Musical 3″‘s $42 million take, but hey, it’s the biggest opening of Matthew Perry’s career, topping the $13.7 million bow of “The Whole Nine Yards.” Hey Matt, send Zefron a fruit basket or something.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Tweens Show Up For Further Substandard Programming In ’17 Again’ at The Playlist.

Box Office Options for April 17-19: 'State Of Play,' 'Lemon Tree' & Not A Lot More More

Seth Valentine — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Back to the weekend box office! As usual, there’s seemingly not much to get excited about in wide release this weekend, but there is one political thriller with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck that surprisingly really outdid all expectations.

Even limited release films are a little quiet this weekend. If you live in a larger city, your best bet is without question the aforementioned “State Of Play.” It’s not perfect, but it’s sadly representing something we hardly ever see anymore: the smart Hollywood film.

Continue reading Box Office Options for April 17-19: 'State Of Play,' 'Lemon Tree' & Not A Lot More More at The Playlist.

‘State Of Play’ Brings The Newsroom Rush; Navigates The Political Thriller Arcs

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:10:00 +0000

Kevin MacDonald’s political thriller “State Of Play” comes out this weekend and we have to hand it to the filmmaker (who also directed “The Last King of Scotland”), the picture was a commendable and serviceable thriller that really outpaced our expectations. Part of that, frankly, is because our expectations weren’t high. We were expecting a stock thriller or a wannabe “Parallex View” meets “All The President’s Men,” and there were standard-issue elements to the film, though they worked in a workman’s-like nature — the picture doesn’t try to be flashy and bares down for good ol’ intrigue-based storytelling.

Continue reading ‘State Of Play’ Brings The Newsroom Rush; Navigates The Political Thriller Arcs at The Playlist.

Duncan Jones Set For ‘Blade Runner’-Esque Film, ‘Man On Wire’s’ Philippe Petit Set For Fall Performance, Nicole Kidman’s Pregnancy Kills ‘Need’?

Simon Dang — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:23:00 +0000

Duncan Jones, the U.K. filmmaker with a penchant for regurgitating re-imagining genre films (the very “Solaris” and Kubrick-ian “Moon”) has revealed that his next project will be a… sci-fi story that will ape hark back to “Blade Runner,” gee who woulda saw that coming? “No one’s really tried to make a film which was set in the same kind of world or had that same kind of field [as ‘Blade Runner’],” he said. “So that’s what I’m doing, a big-city mystery that takes place in a future Berlin.” [ed.

Continue reading Duncan Jones Set For ‘Blade Runner’-Esque Film, ‘Man On Wire’s’ Philippe Petit Set For Fall Performance, Nicole Kidman’s Pregnancy Kills ‘Need’? at The Playlist.

First Look At ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Teaser- A Megablockbuster “Bromance”? Shudder

Gabe Toro — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:32:00 +0000

To the left is the brand new teaser poster for this winter’s “Sherlock Holmes.” Peered at during ShoWest, it seems to do an excellent job of conveying the idea, “Hey, Robert Downey Jr. is in this movie!” LatinoReview first revealed the poster, as well as shots from “500 Days Of Summer,” “The Hangover” and “Easy Virtue,” though the cleaned up “Holmes” found here is courtesy of Rope Of Silicon.

In other “Holmes” news, during the press tour for “State of Play,” Rachel McAdams took time out of her busy schedule answering questions about Russell Crowe’s awful hair to discuss the Guy Ritchie tentpole.

Continue reading First Look At ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Teaser- A Megablockbuster “Bromance”? Shudder at The Playlist.

New Posters: ‘State Of Play’ & ‘Gomorrah’

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:16:00 +0000

The Oscar-snubbed/ Scorsese endorsed, “Gomorrah” hits theaters in limited release (NY/LA) on February 13 and the political thriller “State Of Play” starring bff’s Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams comes out April 14. [via Empire and Joblo]

Continue reading New Posters: ‘State Of Play’ & ‘Gomorrah’ at The Playlist.

Political Intrigue, Ben Affleck And Russell Crowe, It’s The ‘State Of Play’ Trailer

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:21:00 +0000

Last we heard about “State Of Play,” the Washington D.C., political thriller/journo expose, reports had surfaced that the two leads, Russell Crowe (the journalist) and Ben Affleck (the political figure) didn’t really gel on the set. Since the characters were supposed to be best friends, some had wondered how this would effect the film.

Frankly, by the look of the trailer they have bigger issues, number one being: why does this look like a typical Hollywood political intrigue flick?

Continue reading Political Intrigue, Ben Affleck And Russell Crowe, It’s The ‘State Of Play’ Trailer at The Playlist.

Is ‘State Of Play’ In Trouble? Ben Affleck & Russell Crowe Mixed Like Oil And Water Apparently

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:07:00 +0000

Yeah, Ben Affleck is getting back into directing according to Variety this morning.

It’s a Miramax, “fact-based” drama called, “Arizona” that might be used as a starring and directing vehicle for the 36-year-old star. The story is about an investigative reporter killed in a 1976 car bomb explosion as he was investigating the infiltration of organized crime into state government.

OK, great, but even juicier and something everyone seemed to miss was the Anne Thompson story about Affleck and Russell Crowe mixing like oil and vinegar on the set of “State Of Play,” a political thriller set to come out in April 2009.

Continue reading Is ‘State Of Play’ In Trouble? Ben Affleck & Russell Crowe Mixed Like Oil And Water Apparently at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck Joins The Cast Of Mike Judge’s ‘Extract’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:34:00 +0000

Ben Affleck has joined the cast of Mike Judge’s “Extract,” a workin’ for-the-man comedy that already stars Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and Mila Kunis. Well-recognizable character actor Clifton Collins Jr. has also joined the cast.

The story is about the professional problems at a flower extracting plant and focuses on the factory owner (Bateman) who’s dealing with a streak of bad luck and accidents on the job (including his wife’s affair with a gigolo).

Continue reading Ben Affleck Joins The Cast Of Mike Judge’s ‘Extract’ at The Playlist.