Continue reading 1-Hour Producers Roundtable Talk With Matt Damon, Frank Marshall, Darren Aronofsky & More at The Playlist.

After a brief hiatus for self-care, spending the holidays with family, and catching up with the glut of titles that were released at the end of 2016, Over/Under Movies is back to ring in the new year.

For those new listeners who have come around the podcast since finding our home at The Playlist, we typically end the year (or, in this case, begin the new year) with a two-part episode of each host compiling their list for the most overrated and most underrated films of the film year, as opposed to our usual format of pitting two films against each other.

Continue reading Podcast: Over/Under Movies Discuss The Most Overrated Movies Of 2016 at The Playlist.

The Cinema Audio Society revealed the nominees for the 53rd Annual CES Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing today. This honor is equivalent to the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing, but also includes separate Animated and Documentary categories.

READ MORE: The 30 Best Film Scores & Soundtracks Of 2016

The nominees, including television honorees, are as follows:

MOTION PICTURE — LIVE ACTION

“Doctor Strange”
Production Mixer – John Midgley, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Johnson
Re-recording Mixer – Juan Peralta
Scoring Mixer – Peter Cobbin
ADR Mixer – Doc Kane, CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis

“Hacksaw Ridge”
Production Mixer – Peter Grace
Re-recording Mixer – Kevin O’Connell, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Andy Wright
Re-recording Mixer – Robert Mackenzie
Scoring Mixer – Daniel Kresco
ADR Mixer – Diego Ruiz
Foley Mixer – Alex Francis

“La La Land”
Production Mixer – Steven Morrow, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Andy Nelson, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Ai-Ling Lee
Scoring Mixer – Nicholai Baxter
ADR Mixer – David Betancourt
Foley Mixer – James Ashwill

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
Production Mixer – Stuart Wilson
Re-recording Mixer – Christopher Scarabosio
Re-recording Mixer – David Parker
Scoring Mixer – Joel Iwataki
ADR Mixer – Nick Cray
Foley Mixer – Frank Rinella

“Sully”
Production Mixer – Jose Antonio Garcia
Re-recording Mixer – John Reitz
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Ozanich
Scoring Mixer – Bobby Fernandez
ADR Mixer – Thomas J.

Continue reading ‘Rogue One,’ ‘La La Land,’ ‘Westworld’ Earn Sound Mixing CAS Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

It’s January, which means Armond White is here for his annual bit for momentary, contrarian relevancy before he disappears for the rest of the year. The cranky critic has long stood proudly outside of the critical consensus; essentially, whatever most people like, he’ll hate. And so it goes for 2016, and at National Review, he once again unleashes his yearly better-than list, which offers a string of hot takes which are simultaneously hilarious and eye-rolling.

Continue reading Armond White Says ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ Is Better Than ‘La La Land’ Plus More Cinematic Hot Takes at The Playlist.

Hollywood has returned from its annual 10 day break (which is really more like two weeks) and those in the awards season game are wondering who’s in and who’s really out. The problem is, in the Best Picture race, outside of three contenders we might be down to a pick ’em for the rest of the field.

Make no mistake, “La La Land” (your winner), “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight” are all in.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Only Three Locks For A Best Picture Nod So Who Else Has A Shot? at The Playlist.

As the year of our lord 2016 comes to a close we here at the Playlist have taken the time to compile our various lists of the best of all things cinema. And through that lens, 2016 certainly didn’t disappoint. But we’ve also thrown together our picks for the worst the year had to offer, which could basically be simplified by saying it was a shit year for studio fare. In truth, though, such a black and white breakdown of the year does little to represent the wide variety of the cinematic landscape of the past 365 days.

Continue reading Explore ‘The Epidemic Of Passable Movies’ at The Playlist.

There’s an old saying at the Playlist Mansion: you do not truly know a person until you’ve asked them to chose the one film they feel was most overrated and the one they feel was most underrated in any given year. It’s not very catchy. But it is a credo with a surprising amount of wisdom in it, as well as the welcome potential for our beloved, esteemed and generally faultless contributors to make complete public fools of themselves.

Continue reading The Most Overrated & Underrated Films Of 2016 at The Playlist.

A few weeks into our annual year-end binge of the Best and Worst of the movies in 2016, and we’ve looked at the finest trailers and posters, the best movies and TV shows, the breakthrough directors and actors, the best scores and soundtracks, the worst films, and the most anticipated films and television series. There’s plenty more to come, but with the weekend here, and a weekend where a new “Star Wars” movie is opening, no less, we wanted to loosen up a bit and talk about the Best Action Sequences of 2016.

Continue reading The 25 Best Action Sequences Of 2016 at The Playlist.

The American Film Institute released their yearly top 10 list for both film and television today and there were few true surprises.

Before discussing, here are the sections themselves.

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”
“Sully”
“Zootopia”

AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
“The Americans”
“Atlanta”
“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Night of”
“The People vs.

Continue reading ‘La La Land,’ ‘Moonlight’ And ‘Game Of Thrones’ Make AFI’s Top 10 Of 2016 Lists at The Playlist.

Hey everybody, I know it’s just the first week in December and we’ve still got over a month before Academy Award nomination ballots are due, but I’ve got news for you. The race for Best Picture is over. The nail is in the coffin. You can start engraving the statue. Lionsgate can even start mocking up the digital and home entertainment release advertising with “Best Picture Winner” emblazoned across the top of the artwork. “La La Land” is your next Oscar superstar.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Guys, Not Sure If You Heard But ‘La La Land’ Is Winning Best Picture at The Playlist.

While the awards season is geared specifically to honor the more artistic achievements of the medium across the last year, for those who like their entertainment with a little more spectacle, there’s always the VFX categories. And this year, the Oscar race is not short on blockbusters to choose from.

READ MORE: The 20 Best Movie Trailers Of 2016

The Academy released their shortlist of the 20 films that have made it to the next round of consideration for Oscar VFX nominations, and there are some heavyweights in here.

Continue reading 20 Contenders In VFX Oscar Race Include ‘Batman v Superman,’ ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ ‘Rogue One,’ More at The Playlist.

The clock has rolled over to December, and the awards season isn’t wasting a hot minute. The Broadcast Film Critics Association have revealed their nominations for the 22nd Annual Critics’ Choice Awards, and one of the year’s major frontrunners for Oscar glory remains on top.

“La La Land” leads the pack with twelve nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Song, with “Arrival” and “Moonlight” coming in close behind with ten nods each.

Continue reading ‘La La Land’ Leads Critics’ Choice Awards Nominations, ‘Arrival’ & ‘Moonlight’ Close Behind at The Playlist.

This is not the column I was expecting to write today. I thought this would be an energetic kick off to award season’s post-election sprint. Instead, like much of the country (well, 52% of it) Hollywood is stunned to discover Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. When you consider Hillary Clinton won 71.5% of Los Angeles County it’s not an understatement to say this town is in shock. Frankly, it’s hard to even write this at all today.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Election Aftermath Leaves Hollywood Dazed at The Playlist.

If there is one thing you should know about this writer its that I’m unabashedly an Ang Lee super fan. In my opinion, Lee has three legitimate masterpieces on his resume (“The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain”) and even with two Best Director Oscars still doesn’t get the credit from the media and the industry that he deserves. It’s in that context and with a heavy heart that I report the version of “Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk” that screened in LA is a gutsy experiment in high frame rate and 3D filmmaking that ultimately doesn’t work.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: What To Make Of Ang Lee’s ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Why Are Robert De Niro And Jeremy Irons In The Best Actor Race? at The Playlist.

Well that took long enough. After weeks of silence, Warner Bros. finally announced that Ben Affleck’s “Live By Night” is set for an Oscar qualifying run beginning Christmas Day in New York and Los Angeles. The dramatic thriller’s wide release is still scheduled for Jan. 13 as WB follows the same release strategy that resulted in tremendous box office and six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, for Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” just two years ago.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Finally Enters The Oscar Race at The Playlist.

After the triple play of Venice, Telluride and Toronto the film festival world has collected itself and is ready for its second wind.

On Friday, the 54th New York Film Festival will get underway with Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary “13th” before closing over two weeks later (whew) on Oct. 16. Next Friday, Oct. 6, the five-day Hamptons International Film Festival will kick off with Jeff Nichols’ “Loving.” Both events are major opportunities for contenders to screen in a prestige setting for guild and, most importantly, Academy members.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Oscar Contenders Get Ready For The NYFF Spotlight at The Playlist.

Prediction used on nominations Feb. 5]

NOMINEES
1. “La La Land”
2. “Hidden Figures”
3. “Moonlight”
4. “Lion”
5. “Hacksaw Ridge”
6. “Manchester By The Sea”
7. “Arrival”
8. “Hell or High Water”
9. “Fences”

PREVIOUS CONTENDERS (for historical context)
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“Loving”
“Nocturnal Animals”
“Patriots Day”
“20th Century Women”
“Sully”
“Silence
“Allied”
“A Monster Calls”
“The Jungle Book”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“The Lobster”
“Love & Friendship”
“Zootopia”

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 Picture Predictions at The Playlist.

Now that the triumvirate of early fall film festivals has come to an end, we can finally sit back and look at the race for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards with a clear perspective. It may be somewhat surprising, but the biggest story isn’t Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land.” Granted, the movie musical is the undisputed and current frontrunner to win it all in February, but we have tons of time to talk about the feel-good movie musical ad nauseam.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Before ‘La La Land’ Let’s Talk About ‘Sully’ For Best Picture at The Playlist.

This summer, audiences didn’t always come running when Hollywood served up sequels and movies built on brands, and that trend continues into the fall. This weekend saw two franchises return to cinemas after years-long absences, but time didn’t make the heart grow any fonder as moviegoers instead kept the tale of an American hero at the top of the box office.

Clint Eastwood‘s “Sully” took the top spot for the second straight weekend, with the Tom Hanks-starring picture only seeing a 37% drop from week one, and hauling in $22 million.

Continue reading ‘Sully’ Flies Over ‘Blair Witch,’ ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby,’ & ‘Snowden’ To Win Second Straight Weekend [Box Office] at The Playlist.

This weekend saw the release of “Sully,” Clint Eastwood’s biopic of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the airline captain who heroically managed to land a stricken plane on the Hudson despite both engines giving out when they were hit by a flock of birds, starring Tom Hanks as the title character. The film had Eastwood’s best reviews in a while and has proved to be a box office triumph, taking over $35 million in three days, an impressive result for an adult-skewing movie like this one.

Continue reading Watch A Biopic Of Tom Hanks Starring Sully Sullenberger (Thanks To Jimmy Kimmel) at The Playlist.

Think of someone you know in their 80s. A grandparent, or parent perhaps. Think of the most impressive thing they’ve done — swum, or climbed, or even run. Well, Clint Eastwood is 86, and just opened his second unlikely smash-hit movie in a row, after a career lasting over 50 years as both an actor and a director.

Buzz on “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks as Captain Sully Sullenberger, who landed a stricken plane on the Hudson, was quiet over the summer, but the film debuted to strong reviews (including our own), and it came in a full $10 million over early tracking, with an estimated $35.58m over three days.

Continue reading ‘Sully’ Sticks Landing With One Of Best September Openings Ever, ‘Suicide Squad’ Crosses $700m Mark Worldwide [Box Office] at The Playlist.

Normally, the first week of September is a quiet one in theaters, but this year, something sort of special is happening. For the first time, two true American icons, among the biggest movie stars we’ve ever had, are brought together, with two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (who was the first person to win back-to-back awards since Spencer Tracy) uniting with director/screen legend Clint Eastwood for “Sully,” a biopic of the pilot who landed a stricken plane on the Hudson on January 15, 2009.

Continue reading The 10 Best Tom Hanks Performances Ever at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – Don’t tell me. You’ve seen a headline or two similar to this story’s over the past few days? Well, everyone must be reading the same tea leaves at this altitude because it’s simply the truth. Before we get into the awards season reactions some quick thoughts on this edition of the festival itself.

The 2016 Telluride Film Festival started off with thunderstorms and rain showers. By Sunday night though there was cool breeze and an almost quiet tranquility in town.

Continue reading ‘La La Land,’ ‘Moonlight,’ ‘Sully’ And Amy Adams Are Telluride’s Oscar Breakouts at The Playlist.

TELLURIDE – When Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made an emergency landing of the US Airways Airbus A320 he was piloting in the Hudson River he was declared a national hero. It was Jan. 15, 2009 and Flight 1549 had just taken off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport when a flock of birds knocked both engines out. Unable to make it back to LaGuardia or the other nearby landing strips he picked the best option at his disposal saving all 155 passengers and crew on board.

Continue reading Tom Hanks And Clint Eastwood Stir Miracle On The Hudson Emotions In ‘Sully’ [Telluride Review] at The Playlist.