While watching Academy Award-nominated “The Banshees of Inisherin,” whenever I thought I would cry, I would laugh at the next scene as the film cleverly balanced comedy and melancholy. One element of the storytelling that helped guide that balance was the soundtrack composed by Carter Burwell. And soon, fans of the score will have a chance to buy it on vinyl, courtesy of the fine folks at Mondo, Searchlight, and Hollywood Records.

Continue reading Mondo To Release ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ Score On Vinyl [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

In a night where "Everything Everywhere All at Once cleaned up, there were still many talented nominees who went overlooked from Stephanie Hsu to Colin Farrell.

Continue reading Oscars 2023 Snubs & Surprise: ‘Tár,’ ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ Angela Bassett & More at The Playlist.

The Directors Guild had their award season say on Saturday night, but a little over 12 hours later the BAFTA Film Awards handed out their 2023 honors. Broadcast in the U.S. in a bizarre “we’re not live until the last four honors” set up on Britbox, the big winner of the night was Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The Netflix release stunned winning Best Film as well as six other honors including Best Director, the Film Not in the English Language honor, Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Sound, and Original Score.

Continue reading ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ Shocks At The 2023 BAFTA Film Awards [Complete List] at The Playlist.

It’s been a little over 48 hours since the Oscar nominations have been announced and we’re sort of wondering, is anyone outside of the nominees themselves actually excited about this year’s ceremony? Sure, hardcore fans of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” are thrilled the critically acclaimed indie hit is on the cusp of winning Best Picture (we’ll get to that in a minute), but the buzz overall seems, tepid? Maybe it was because everyone was still getting vaxed and semi-stuck at home in 2021, but even the “Nomadland”/“Mank”/“Promising Young Woman”/“Minari” year had more heat?

Continue reading ‘Everything Everywhere’ Takes Best Picture Lead But Where’s The Oscars Excitement? at The Playlist.

To the delight of many, the Oscar nomination announcements returned to a live setting for 2023 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. “M3GAN” star Allison Williams and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed were up bright and early to reveal the nominees to the audible reaction of the studio publicists waiting in the wings. Once the dust had settled, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” led all films with 11 nominations, followed by “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” with nine each.

Continue reading ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Lands 11 2023 Oscar Nominations [Complete List] at The Playlist.

After months of campaigning, the 95th Oscar nominations are here. And, in theory, with blockbusters such as “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (granted, a streaming blockbuster), and “Avatar: The Way of Water” in the mix for Best Picture nominations people should be excited. But are they? The online fanbase of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” certainly is, but is anyone else?

Continue reading 2023 Oscar Nominations Predictions: ‘Banshees of Inisherin,’ Andrea Riseborough, Paul Mescal at The Playlist.

All the major critics groups have had their say. All the American guilds have had their say (except the WGA, which, whatever). And now, finally, before AMPAS drops the hammer on Tuesday morning, the British Academy of Film and Television Art has jumped into the mix with the 2023 BAFTA Awards nominations. And, as expected, it didn’t hurt to be either Britsh or Irish when it came to this year’s major categories.

Continue reading 2023 BAFTA Nominations: ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’, ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Lead The Pack at The Playlist.

We’re not sure anyone was clamoring for their return, but the Golden Globe Awards are “back.” I mean, sort of. The real secret behind the appeal of the Golden Globes in the 21st Century wasn’t the nominees or the eventual winners. Those were just marketing opportunities for December theatrical releases and wins to throw into the awards ether in hopes it convinced some AMPAS members to vote one way or another (spoiler: not a lot of evidence on the latter).

Continue reading Golden Globe Awards Predictions: ‘Elvis,’ Colin Farrell, ‘Wednesday’ at The Playlist.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced their always informative Longlists early this morning and it was good and bad news for a number of Oscar contenders. While the BAFTA Awards always have their own distinctly United Kingdom-based favorites, the organization has a genuine overlap with AMPAS members. The BAFTA choices should always be looked at as the direction AMPAS members may be heading with their individual Oscar votes. This year, the good news was in the “All Quiet On the Western Front” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” camps which led all films with 15 and 14 mentions respectively.

Continue reading ‘Banshees’ & ‘All Quiet On the Western Front’ Dominate As BAFTA Longlists Give Oscar Tease 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 twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

Our last disc and streaming guide of the year includes a few good ideas for you last-minute Christmas shoppers, including catalog classics on 4K, a couple of well-received new releases, a bit of genre fun, and a must-buy box set for the film historian on your list.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin,’ ‘Call Jane’ & More at The Playlist.

Music! It is the beating soul beneath a film’s imagery, visuals, and performance. And one of the things we love most about writing about the Best Scores & Soundtracks of the year, in this case, 2022, is how it just makes us understand a film all over again on a deeper, more intuitive-level, especially when you’re just listening to a score or soundtrack on its own, without the context of a movie, and it’s just communicating so much to you.

Continue reading The Best Scores & Soundtracks Of 2022 at The Playlist.

We all love actors, directors, music, and all of it, but cinema is obviously a visual medium first and foremost, and boy, do we love a handsome, nice-to-look-at picture. Cinematography usually gets turned into “pretty pictures,” what is the most colorful, the most sun-dappled, etc. And sure, some of that is represented here (“Aftersun”), but what represents “Best Cinematography,” to us, should be as layered, complex, and meaningful as cinema itself.

Continue reading The Best Cinematography Of 2022 at The Playlist.

If you thought the Golden Globe nominations were eye-brow raising, well, just you wait, because in a “hold my beer” moment, the Critics Choice Association revealed the 28th Critics Choice Awards nominations where everyone seemingly gets a nod. Some categories have 11 nominees, others have 10, some have 7, others have 6. Was it to make sure “Babylon” got a head-scratching nine nominations? Who knows! Whatever the case, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” led with 14 nods while “The Fabelmans” had eleven.

Continue reading “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Lands 14 Critics Choice Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

2022 was a generous year for movie lovers: a new Sight and Sound list was released to stir the pot about the greatest 100 films of all time; film festivals around the world returned to in-person experiences; even the whimsical gibberish from Nicole Kidman and AMC Theaters about going to see a movie gave us something to bond over as things adjusted to a strange but safer normal. 

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023

It was a year of cinematic memoirs, with Steven Spielberg, Alejandro G.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2022 at The Playlist.

It’s that time of year when critics revisit the films they have watched over the past 11 months and determine what is worthy and what isn’t. Of the prominent critics’ groups, the New York Film Critics Circle is up first this time around and they have anointed Todd Field’s “TAR” as the Best Film of 2022. They also selected its star, Cate Blanchett, as Best Actress. She previously won in 2013 for “Blue Jasmine.”

READ MORE: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” tops 2022 Gotham Awards [Complete List]

In something of an upset, S.

Continue reading ‘TAR’ Wins New York Film Critics Circle Best Picture at The Playlist.

Two months after its TIFF world premiere, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical drama “The Fablemans” finally had a glitzy debut in Los Angeles. It was an AFI Fest gala, and, of course, the director and co-writer were there, as was likely Best Actress nominee Michelle Williams and potential Supporting Actor player Judd Hirsch, among others. But despite a paparazzi-filled red carpet and a chic after-party, the film’s real arrival occurred 24 hours earlier, at the first official Academy members screening in Beverly Hills.

Continue reading ‘The Fablemans’ Finally Lands in LA As Best Picture Buzz Grows [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

Kerry Condon has had a weekend. After a 4 AM flight from Savannah, Georgia, and a transfer no less, she’s about to participate in another post-screening Q&A for her new film, Martin McDonagh‘s already celebrated “The Banshees of Inisherin.” This conversation is in Los Angeles and the audience this time around is working (and voting) Screen Actor’s Guild members. But this is par the course for awards season and Condon is reveling in it.

Continue reading Kerry Condon Is Going “Global” In The ‘Banshees’ Spotlight [Interview] at The Playlist.

It’s been a good couple of months for acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and director Martin McDonagh. His latest film, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” won both Best Actor (Colin Farrell) and Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival in September. And, at publication, his follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri” is about to hit theaters with not only a stellar 89 on Metacritic but 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with over 80 reviews so far.

Continue reading ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’: Martin McDonagh Has A Timeline For A Third Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson Film [Interview] at The Playlist.

There are a number of categories where a worthy nominee won’t make the cut this Oscar season, but this Original Screenplay is worth keeping an eye on. Currently, there are at least three “likely” nominees. Martin McDonagh, who has been nominated twice previously in this category, is a pretty safe bet for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” as are Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner for the former’s autobiographical drama, “The Fabelemans.” Todd Field, who previously earned two Adapted Screenplay nominations, is also on solid ground for the critically acclaimed “TAR.” The last two spots?

Continue reading Best Original Screenplay Oscars 2023 Predictions & Contenders at The Playlist.

Despite being months and months away from when we should be revving up the Oscar chats, we’re officially in the season when people start them early. While September was a big month for film festivals, October continues the trend with ones such as the New York Film Festival as we continue to seek out the gems and buzzy options. This month sees the release of some of the buzziest films of the past few months, with returns from directors such as Claire Denis and David O’Russell, as well as a star-focused role for Cate Blanchett in Todd Field’s first film in over a decade. 

A lot of the upcoming releases will be seeing a theatrical run, even those produced by streaming services, though there will be some options for watches at home.

Continue reading 16 Movies To See In October: ‘Tár,’ ‘Aftersun,’ ‘Amsterdam,’ ‘Banshees’ & More at The Playlist.

More than a decade ago, Martin McDonagh wowed audiences with his black comedy, “In Bruges.” That film features incredible performances from Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and instantly made McDonagh one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. And since then, film fans have been hoping to see the filmmaker replicate that same tone and feeling in a new project. Well, it appears everyone might be in luck with the next McDonagh feature, “The Banshees of Inisherin.”

READ MORE: ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Review: Civility Dies & Friends Go To War In Martin McDonagh’s Thought-Provoking Tragicomedy [Venice]

As seen in the trailer for ‘Banshees,’ the film follows the story of two friends who are going through a breakup.

Continue reading ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ Trailer: Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson Are Squabbling In Martin McDonagh’s Dark Comedy at The Playlist.

If you told someone a year ago that a sequel to a 36-year-old action movie would not only become the biggest blockbuster of the year, but also a surefire Best Picture nominee they would have likely said you were crazy. 12 months later, Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” (or maybe that should be framed as Tom Cruise‘s “Top Gun: Maverick”) has thrown out all the (recent) rules on what a Best Picture contender can be.

Continue reading Best Picture Oscars 2023 Predictions & Contenders at The Playlist.

The mordantly comedic assault on the politics of revenge used to be the province of English/Irish playwright turned filmmaker Martin McDonagh. In more recent years, the writer/director has turned his probing eye towards compassion, forgiveness, and redemption and the unanswerable question of whether his problematic protagonists are worthy of any such goodwill. The challenge made on the spectator and the moral ambiguity continues in his latest, “The Banshee Of Inisherin,” a stark, moody, quieter, hilariously dark tragicomedy that offers no easy answers or resolutions of any kind.

Continue reading ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Review: Civility Dies & Friends Go To War In Martin McDonagh’s Thought-Provoking Tragicomedy [Venice] at The Playlist.

Some modern artists only need their names said aloud, and heads turn to attention. A successful playwright even before he broke into the world of cinema with consistent critical acclaim, Martin McDonagh is that type of head-turning talent. The Academy Award-winning writer and director, somehow, has not released a film since “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” his 2017 critical and commercial darling. Five years onward, and for those that have been missing the British-Irish writer’s snark and wit, a new work for the silver screen is just past the horizon.

Continue reading ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Trailer: Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson Reunite For Martin McDonagh’s Fall Awards Drama at The Playlist.

The Venice Film Festival kicks off next month on August 31, and it already looks like a killer year. And Netflix has a monopoly on big world premieres at the festival, as Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” was announced as the festival’s opening night film this morning. There’s other highly-anticipated picture likely to debut at the festival, too, though, and two of those are apparently from directors whose last films came out in 2017.

Continue reading Venice 2022: Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ & Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Whale’ Reported To Premiere At The Lido at The Playlist.