The Art Director’s Guild of America announced their 2019 ADG Awards nominees and thanks to multipe categories across film and television almost every possible movie or program that could get nominated did.  On the film side that meant potential Oscar nominees such as “Black Panther,” “The Favourite,” “First Man,” “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Roma.”  The TV nominees saw acclaimed work for “Homecoming,” “The Good Place,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Sharp Objects” and “Maniac” earn recognition from the guild.

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When we think of guaranteed box office hitmaking stars, the talk revolves around people like Robert Downey, Jr., Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Chris Pratt, Tom Cruise, etc… However, while everyone has been looking the other way, Jack Black has turned into a bit of a box office goldmine. And with his latest, “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” the comedic actor has turned another film that critics and pundits were doubting and created a bit of a surprise hit.

Continue reading Jack Black & Cate Blanchett Lead ‘House With A Clock’ To Magical Debut At The Box Office at The Playlist.

There’s a storied history of horror directors making their way into family entertainment. The most apparent contemporary examples include Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, two low-rent schlock masters who worked their way up the ranks via into the blockbuster scene — both to wonderful results, with the “Spider-Man” trilogy and “The Lord of the Rings” films, respectively. And since Eli Roth was indebted to the influences of his very well-established predecessors, Jackson and Raimi (perhaps even to a fault), it was only a matter of time before he followed in their footsteps and made his own family-friendly motion picture, one that was divorced from the shock and maybe even the cruelty of his early work.

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After experiencing years of bad YA dystopian future films after the success of “The Hunger Games,” it appears that long tradition of studios using previous box office hits as templates for their future films is alive and well. And with “The House with a Clock in the Walls,” we see Universal try to mimic their own ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, but this time with Jack Black and Cate Blanchett leading the way.

Continue reading ‘The House With A Clock In Its Walls’ Trailer: Jack Black And Cate Blanchett Train A Boy In The Magical Arts at The Playlist.

Reading the synopsis of “The House With A Clock In Its Walls,” it’s easy to see why Eli Roth is involved in this project. The film is based on the gothic-fantasy novel of the same name, written by John Bellairs, and the story follows a young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt who moves in with his uncle, who just so happens to be a warlock. Lewis finds himself in a world full of magic and danger when he discovers a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world.

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We’re living through weird times, and while on an ordinary day the news of Cate Blanchett working with Eli Roth might surprise us, there are bigger concerns out there. Still, it raises an eyebrow, but the schlock master’s next movie is a step away from his usual R-rated genre fare.

“The House With A Clock In Its Walls” is based on the 1973 book by John Bellairs, illustrated by Edward Gorey, that follows a young boy who discovers his Uncle’s house is filled with secrets.

Continue reading Cate Blanchett Joins Eli Roth’s ‘The House With A Clock In Its Walls’ at The Playlist.

Eli Roth has staked his cinematic reputation on horror that isn’t afraid to go for broke, serve up plenty of blood, and offer serious thrills, but his films have generally played to his niche audience, and that’s about it. Now, the filmmaker is taking another turn toward to the mainstream (don’t forget, he’s behind the camera on the upcoming “Death Wish” remake starring Bruce Willis), without letting go of his genre leanings.

Continue reading Eli Roth To Direct Jack Black In ‘The House With A Clock In Its Walls’ at The Playlist.