When Kate Winslet works with HBO on a limited series, magic happens. Don’t believe us? Look at the actress’ last two series for the network and all the awards and critical acclaim they pulled in. Winslet won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series for both Todd Haynes‘ “Mildred Pierce” and “Mare Of Easttown.” Will she make it three in a row with Stephen Frears‘ “The Regime“?

Continue reading ‘The Regime’ Trailer: Kate Winslet Stars in Stephen Frears’ HBO Limited Series On March 3 at The Playlist.

Maya Hawke is a young actress on the rise, but is she a leading lady yet? “Wildcat” will change that, as Hawke plays novelist Flannery O’Connor. But “Wilder & Me” will solidify the position for the actress, arguably her biggest role yet. As Hanway Films starts sales for the picture, the package for “Wilder & Me” should get people’s attention fast.

Continue reading Christoph Waltz, Maya Hawke & More Join Billy Wilder Film ‘Wilder & Me’ From Director Stephen Frears at The Playlist.

After the success of “Mare of Easttown” and all its Emmy success—16 Emmy nominations and four key wins, including most of the main cast—it became clear that HBO loved Kate Winslet and Winslet loved HBO. While a season two of ‘Easttown’ never materialized—series writer/creator Brad Ingelsby thought the story had been told—that did not deter Winslet from chasing down other projects on the premiere cable channel.

Continue reading ‘The Regime’ Teaser Trailer: Kate Winslet Stars In Stephen Frears’ New HBO Drama Coming In 2024 at The Playlist.

Leave it to Stephen Frears to make another project about recent British history. But in fairness, “The Lost King” looks like a lighter romp than the likes of “A Very English Scandal” and “The Queen.” It’s not like every film has Sally Potter hallucinating a long-deceased monarch, right?

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023

Based on Phillippa Langley‘s 2013 book “The King’s Grave: The Search For Richard III,” “The Lost King” traces the discovery of Richard III’s grave under a car park in Leceister, and how the Langley’s amateur research led up to it.

Continue reading ‘The Lost King’ Trailer: Sally Potter Stars In Stephen Frears’ Film About The Discovery Of King Richard III’s Grave On March 24 at The Playlist.

When Kate Winslet and HBO team up, great things happen. Don’t believe it? Well, there’s “Mildred Pierce” and “Mare Of Easttown” as evidence, which won five and three Emmys respectively, with Winslet winning Best Lead Actress for both. So, it’s fair to say there are great expectations for “The Palace,” HBO’s latest limited series starring Winslet.

READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2023

Is one first-look photo enough to remeasure expectations?

Continue reading ‘The Palace’ First Look: Kate Winslet Stars In Upcoming HBO Limited Series About An Authoritarian Regime In Its Twilight at The Playlist.

There once was a noble King whose reputation was slandered following his death. His enemies made sure that his name was equated with the worst rulers of his land. Over the centuries, these falsehoods became fact and even one of the greatest playwrights of the time was complicit in badmouthing him. For Philippa Langley, a marketing professional in the early 21st Century, the more she read about this particular British Monarch the more she began to believe his reputation had been sullied.

Continue reading ‘The Lost King’ Review: Richard III’s Redemption Story Needs More Stephen Frears Magic [TIFF] at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, 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, catalog 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. 

Since we last met, a flurry of prestige new releases have hit the streaming services – awards season in full swing, it seems, even this peculiar, couch-bound version of it.

Continue reading The 11 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Trial Of The Chicago 7,’ ‘American Utopia’ & More at The Playlist.

Sometimes the Sundance Film Festival takes a few weeks to take shape. This year, the festival has taken off like a rocket with its announcements and has already unveiled the bulk of its lineup. Still, that said, there’s always more to come. Today, the festival unveiled works selected across the Indie Episodic, Shorts, and Special Events sections of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Highlights include new projects from filmmakers like Stephen Frears, Amy Berg and Gregg Araki’s new work with executive-producer Steven Soderbergh.

Continue reading New 2019 Sundance Announcements Include Projects By Stephen Frears, Gregg Araki, Amy Berg & Wu-Tang Clan at The Playlist.

As is the case with many films, “Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t have the smoothest road to the big screen. However, well before the highly-publicized drama surrounding star Rami Malek and director Bryan Singer, ‘Rhapsody’ was an entirely different film, with a totally different star and director attached. Almost five years ago, Sacha Baron Cohen was signed to portray Freddie Mercury on the big screen and director Stephen Frears was on board to direct.

Continue reading Sacha Baron Cohen Met With Directors Tom Hooper And David Fincher About His “Outrageous” ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at The Playlist.

For all the gentility and good natured humor in the work of filmmaker Stephen Frears the 76-year-old director was a bit more reserved in our interview during the Toronto International Film Festival for the debut of his new movie “Victoria And Abdul.” Set in the late 1800s “Victoria & Abdul,” centers on the untold story of the hush-hushed relationship and special bond between an aged Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) and her Indian servant, Abdul Kareem (Ali Fazal).

Continue reading Stephen Frears Talks ‘Victoria & Abdul,’ Working With The “Brilliant” Judi Dench at The Playlist.

If you wanted to be glib and coarse, not to mention antithetical to the film’s convivial tone, you could describe “Victoria & Abdul” as the movie that finally lets a constipated Queen Victoria take a shit. It’s about a doodie dislodged that brings joy and liberation. Hear me out.

In Stephen Frears’ agreeable period costume drama— which is engaging and charming thanks to Judi Dench, if too nonthreatening and ingratiating otherwise— the bowels are the window to the soul.

Continue reading ‘Victoria & Abdul’: Judi Dench Elevates Stephen Frears’ Feel-Good Dramedy [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

You don’t have to look hard to find programming about the royalty on the small screen, with “The Crown” and “Victoria” leaving you more than covered. But if you want all that regal pomp and circumstance on the big screen, “Victoria and Abdul” will fit the bill.

The constantly busy Stephen Frears directs the film, which sees Judi Dench playing Queen again (she did before in the 1997 film “Mrs.

Continue reading Judi Dench Is The Queen In First Trailer For ‘Victoria And Abdul’ at The Playlist.

One by-product of the streaming revolution is that TV has become more international. The demand for content has led to foreign-language shows like “The Killing” or “Borgen” becoming international phenomena, as well as an increasing tolerance for subtitled drama in series like “Narcos” or “Sense8.” But English-language shows are always going to be the easiest to catch on, and the British TV industry has been the biggest beneficiary of that.

Continue reading First Look At Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘Howard’s End’ Miniseries With Hayley Atwell at The Playlist.

Prediction based on nominations [Feb. 5]

NOMINEES
1. Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
2. Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
3. Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
4. Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival”
5. Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”

PREVIOUS CONTENDERS (for historical context)
Garth Davis, “Lion”
Clint Eastwood, “Sully”
Pablo Larrain, “Jackie”
David Mackenzie, “Hell or High Water”
Stephen Frears, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Martin Scorsese, “Silence”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
Ben Affleck, “Live By Night”
Jon Favreau, “The Jungle Book”
Tom Ford, “Nocturnal Animals”
Theodore Melfi, “Hidden Figures”
Jeff Nichols, “Loving”
Morten Tyldum, “Passengers”
Robert Zemekis, “Allied”

Gregory Ellwood’s Current Oscar Predictions:
Best Picture
Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Original Screenplay
Adapted Screenplay
Editing
Cinematography 
Production Design
Animated Feature Film
Foreign Language Film
Documentary Feature
Original Score
Original Song
Costume Design
Makeup and Hairstyling
Visual Effects
Sound Mixing
Sound Editing

Continue reading 2017 Best Director Oscar Predictions at The Playlist.

“Every artist was first an amateur,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said. However, if an artist remains an amateur in perpetuity, can that artist still inspire many, even if they never find their true voice? “The Room” filmmaker Tommy Wiseau and musician Wesley Willis, for instance, have possibly inspired more open-hearted discussions than some of the greatest artists of our time. Does that technically make such outsider artists more successful than ostensibly talented performers, even if they’re completely incompetent at their craft?

Continue reading Meryl Streep & Hugh Grant Sing In Stephen Frears’ Surprisingly Tender ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ [Review] at The Playlist.

This week, Stephen Frears‘ affectionate, lightweight Meryl Streep vehicle “Florence Foster Jenkins” comes caterwauling into theaters. It marks another notch on Streep’s “irrepressible matron” belt, and another solid crowdpleaser from Frears, who here, as so often in the past, seems content to serve his stars and his story before necessarily putting a particularly recognizable authorial stamp on the material. That could seem like a damning observation, but actually it’s central to what makes Frears such an interesting director: We’re firmly on the record as loving a cinematic polyglot, and Frears’ flexible aesthetic and seemingly vast field of interests has contributed to one of the most richly eclectic filmographies among modern mainstream directors.

Continue reading The Essentials: Stephen Frears’ 10 Best Films at The Playlist.

Review: Lance Armstrong Drama 'The Program' Starring Ben Foster Lacks Insight

Continue reading Review: Lance Armstrong Drama ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster Lacks Insight at The Playlist.

Watch: Meryl Streep Can't Sing In New Trailer For 'Florence Foster Jenkins'

Continue reading Watch: Meryl Streep Can’t Sing In New Trailer For ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ at The Playlist.

Watch: First Trailer For 'Florence Foster Jenkins' Starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, And Simon Helberg

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer For ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ Starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, And Simon Helberg at The Playlist.

Watch: New U.S. Trailer For Lance Armstrong Drama 'The Program' Starring Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman, More

Continue reading Watch: New U.S. Trailer For Lance Armstrong Drama ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman, More at The Playlist.

TIFF Review: Stephen Frears’ Lance Armstrong Scandal Drama ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster

Continue reading TIFF Review: Stephen Frears’ Lance Armstrong Scandal Drama ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster at The Playlist.

Watch: First English Trailer For Stephen Frears' 'The Program' Starring Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd, And More

Continue reading Watch: First English Trailer For Stephen Frears’ ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, And More at The Playlist.

Watch: First International Trailer For Stephen Frear's Lance Armstrong Pic 'The Program' Starring Ben Foster

Continue reading Watch: First International Trailer For Stephen Frear’s Lance Armstrong Pic ‘The Program’ Starring Ben Foster at The Playlist.

Continue reading Watch: Full 90-Minute Documentary ‘Great Directors’ With David Lynch, Richard Linklater, Todd Haynes And More at The Playlist.

Casting: Meryl Streep & Hugh Grant Line Up Opera Film With Stephen Frears & More

Continue reading Casting: Meryl Streep & Hugh Grant Line Up Opera Film With Stephen Frears & More at The Playlist.