If he hasn’t already made it abundantly clear, Ben Affleck is mincing no words about his unhappiness with the “Justice League” experience and his desire to step away from superhero and franchise films for a long time. And in a new interview with EW, where he’s discussing things with his pal, Matt Damon, Affleck continues to explain why he doesn’t think he’ll return to that sort of big-budget, franchise filmmaking in the future.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Says Matt Damon Was “Principle Influence” In Helping To Decide To Step Away From Superhero Films at The Playlist.

At some point over the Christmas and New Year holidays, an AMPAS member will open up the Academy’s screener app and begin watching Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.” The movie has significant buzz among members, but there is one great performance that has somewhat gotten lost in the zeitgeist, Jodie Comer’s impressive turn as the woman at the center of the historical drama, Marguerite de Carrouges. And if enough members of the Academy’s Oscar branch catch the epic (we know the Director’s branch has its fans) Comer could be an Oscar nomination morning surprise.

Continue reading Jodie Comer Revisits Ridley Scott’s Mastery Of ‘The Last Duel’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

“The movies are back, baby!” went the refrain this summer, up to, during, and continuously after the heavenly 10-day stretch around June where everything looked like it might really go back to normal, actual normal and not “new” normal; “new” normal is in no way preferable to “normal” normal, just like “new recipe” Butterfingers are trash compared to the genuine article. Be that as it may, enough folks insisted on the pandemic’s subsiding that the movies did indeed come back, and they brought with them another detail missing and longed-for in the sacred big-screen experience: Soundtracks.

Continue reading The Best Scores & Soundtracks of 2021 at The Playlist.

As we approach the end of the year, we can safely look back at 2021 and see which films ended up being the biggest box office bombs. Sure, the pandemic is affecting the industry and perhaps some of the stats are skewed quite a bit, but when you see something like “The Last Duel” fail so spectacularly, there’s obviously something more going on than just people afraid to go back to the theater.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Has A Nuanced Explanation For The Box Office Failure Of ‘The Last Duel’ & It’s Not Blaming Cellphones 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.

It’s the last month of the year, and the last couple of weeks before Christmas, so the new release shelves are loaded up this week with fall prestige pictures, family favorites on 4K, and catalog favorites from the recent and distant past. 

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Power Of The Dog,’ ‘The Last Duel,’ ‘The Card Counter’ & More at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott is no stranger to films that underperform at the box office. Hell, one of his most famous films, “Blade Runner,” is often thought of as a box office bomb. But rarely does one of Scott’s features do as poorly as this year’s “The Last Duel,” which carried a reported $100 million budget and has only earned $27.5 million worldwide. And the filmmaker doesn’t think it has anything to do with the film itself.

Continue reading ‘The Last Duel’: Ridley Scott Blames Millennials & “F*cking Cellphones” For The Bad Box Office at The Playlist.

Earlier this year, Ridley Scott released the big-budget, period drama, “The Last Duel.” The reviews were generally solid, with many predicting some awards contention in the future. However, when the film hit cinemas, the box office results were terrible, with “The Last Duel” likely becoming one of the biggest bombs of 2021. And if this sounds like the situation surrounding one of Scott’s previous films, “Blade Runner,” you’re not alone thinking about that comparison.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Compares The “Exceedingly Disappointing” ‘Last Duel’ Box Office To His ‘Blade Runner’ Experience at The Playlist.

We’ve seen seasoned filmmakers weigh in on superhero/comic book films with Denis Villeneuve and Martin Scorsese, expressing how they’re not exactly for them for various reasons. British director Ridley Scott (“House of Gucci,” “The Last Duel“) hasn’t been shy about sharing his thoughts about superhero movies either, despite trying to make a feature adaptation of the comic book “Queen & Country“ for 20th Century Studios.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Slams Superhero Movies: “They’re F*cking Boring As Sh*t” at The Playlist.

There is a common refrain being heard around Hollywood these days and it’s not one that will make the Academy happy (and, no, it’s not about an Academy Museum which has only three floors of exhibits). As more and more AMPAS members screen this year’s crop of Best Picture contenders – and, granted, they are barely getting started – many are verbalizing their concern over the Academy’s decision to stick with 10 nominees this year.

Continue reading The Great Hunt For 10 Best Picture Nominees Continues [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

When Joe Russo recently predicted the arthouse independent box office wouldn’t be coming back, following the damage the pandemic did to the theatrical industry, we didn’t think his prediction would come correct so soon. But when you think about it, his prediction is off. Because Ridley Scott‘s “The Last Duel,” isn’t an indie arthouse film. It’s a $100 million dollar epic from 20th Century Studios with a huge cast, but the film crashed and burned at the box office this weekend, and it’s the latest sign that perhaps only certain parts of the filmgoing audience is willing to return to theaters.

Continue reading Ridley Scott’s Star-Studded ‘The Last Duel’ Crashes At The Box Office With Dismal Debut at The Playlist.

At 83-years-old, there isn’t much that Ridley Scott has left to accomplish in his career. Even now, at an age where many filmmakers are content to collect their lifetime achievement awards, Scott continues to produce some of his most ambitious and far-reaching work. So when Scott recently admitted that he has his eye on directing a musical, one has to figure even the most jaded Las Vegas bettors would err heavily in his favor.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Wants to Direct a Musical, Names ‘All That Jazz’ and ‘Cabaret’ His Favorites at The Playlist.

In shades of the gunmetal gray that has become the grading palette of choice for Serious Historical Epics — possible because arterial blood spray shows up so nice and red against it —Ridley Scott‘s starry, surprisingly engaging “Rashomon“-inflected “The Last Duel” opens on the wintry December day of the duel in question. Battle-scarred knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), granite-faced despite an obscene mullet haircut that can only have been the result of a lost bet, is being helped into his armor.

Continue reading Ridley Scott’s ‘The Last Duel’: An Enjoyably Ripe Slab Of Historical Hokum That Proves Men Have Been Awful For At Least 7 Centuries [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

Trust us when we say we hope there’s a day when the words pandemic and COVID-19 are never written on the pages of this website again, specifically in any intros to any features. However, the reality is that the collective disruption of 2020 was difficult, and it made 2021’s release schedule something of a log-jammed shitshow. That Delta variant could play havoc with things too, but we’re all starting to learn to live with a world that’s in flux. 

READ MORE: The Best Films Of 2021, So Far

All that said, the delays of 2021 have had their pluses.

Continue reading Fall 2021 Movie Preview: 60+ Must-See Films at The Playlist.

It’s late August, and while the leaves aren’t falling just quite yet, the Fall Film Festival season is upon us. As usual, the Venice Film Festival always starts with the Telluride Film Festival following on its heels just a day or two later. Venice’s line-up has been stellar the last few years—in part due to Netflix’s ongoing battle with Cannes and their French theatrical rules—and this year is mostly no different.

Continue reading Venice Film Festival 2021 Preview: 12 Must-See Films To Watch at The Playlist.

After Matt Damon‘s Oscar-nominated performance for Ridley Scott‘s “The Martian,” the actor has reunited with Scott for the period thriller “The Last Duel.” The script has penned by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener. It’s the first time the fellas have penned a script together since winning their Oscar for “Good Will Hunting.” 

READ MORE: ‘Stillwater’: Matt Damon Thriller From Tom McCarthy Never Quite Changes the Tide [Cannes Review]

While speaking with Entertainment Tonight (and Marc Maron, where he told the same story), Damon explained how the film’s narrative is told from the viewpoints of Damon’s Jean de Carrouges, Adam Driver’s Jacques Le Gris), and Jodie Comer‘s Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), the three film’s main character.

Continue reading ‘The Last Duel’: Matt Damon Says He & Ben Affleck Wrote The Male Parts, Nicole Holofcener Wrote The Female POV at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott continues to defy his age. Now 83, the director’s latest film hits theaters this Fall after a COVID-related delay. It’s Scott’s first film since 2017’s “All The Money In The World” (one that he reshot in record time thanks to the ongoing Kevin Spacey scandal at the time), but “The Last Duel” fits nicely in his wheelhouse of historical dramas like 2005’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and his debut film from 1977, “The Duellists.”  

READ MORE: Ultimate 2022 Oscars Best Picture Contenders Guide

“The Last Duel” is based on the 2004 book “The Last Duel: A True Story Of Trial By Combat In Medieval France” by Eric Jager.

Continue reading ‘The Last Duel’ Trailer: Ridley Scott’s Latest Pits Matt Damon Against Adam Driver In A Fight To The Death at The Playlist.

Yes, it’s that time again. Before you can even take a moment (or two months) to smell the roses, it’s Oscar season again and the race for that elusive Best Picture win. Granted, in a “traditional” year we’d be in a post-Cannes period looking forward to the deluge of fall festival world premieres. However, this year the pandemic pushed the annual French cinematic lovefest to July. With the Venice, Telluride, and TIFF trifecta beginning just six weeks later, the 2022 season is in for a fast and furious start.

Continue reading Ultimate 2022 Oscars Best Picture Contenders Guide at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott is back, baby! After a brief break following his one-two punch of “Alien: Covenant” and “All the Money in the World,” the filmmaker is returning with two back-to-back features this year, “The Last Duel,” and “House of Gucci,” and we finally know a bit more about the latter. According to cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, the film is a “kitschy, funny, tragic tragedy” that he even compares to “The Godfather.”

READ MORE: ‘Roads To Freedom’: Ridley Scott & ‘Peaky Blinders’ Creator Team For 10-Episode WWII Series Featuring Multiple International Perspectives

In an interview with The Film Stage’s The B-Side podcast, Wolski talked about his recent work with Sir Ridley Scott, and how he’s still trying to find the appropriate look for “House of Gucci,” which he describes as very different than “The Last Duel” since it’s “high fashion 80s and 90s” as he calls it.

Continue reading ‘House Of Gucci’: Ridley Scott’s Next Film Is “A Kitschy, Funny, Tragic Tragedy,” Says Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski at The Playlist.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. Aside from the election result, Trashfire 2020™ was a shitty year. And a weird and disorienting year thanks to COVID-19 and having to shelter-in-place, quarantine, and social distance from one another blah, blah, blah coronavirus f*cked us hard. Movies certainly took it in the teeth this year, and especially the theatrical industrial complex, which feels like it’s on its last legs. But regardless of what happens next for theaters, people are going to continue making and releasing movies.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021 at The Playlist.

Prepare for a major release date shake-up at Disney, ok? It likely would have happened regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lucasfilm is pushing their “Star Wars” films back a year. Is that because plans have changed, and new ones have been made? That seems to be the case. Disney and Bob Iger have talked about “Star Wars” taking a break from cinemas for a minute and that was going to be the case anyhow.

Continue reading 3 New ‘Star Wars’ Movies Dated Starting 2023; ‘Avatar’ Franchise Moves Back One Year In Massive Disney Release Shift at The Playlist.

I once posited there’s no Greta Gerwig and “Ladybird” without writer/director Nicole Holofcener, and I still believe that to be true. For three decades, Holofcener, the indie filmmaker behind cult feminist comedic indies like 1996’s breakthrough film “Walking And Talking,” 2001’s “Lovely & Amazing, 2006’s “Friends With Money”—featuring a semi-rare indie acting turn for Jennifer Aniston— and many more, has been delivering sharply observed, bitingly hilarious, empathic, complex comedies about the human condition, family, and life’s ordinary struggles.

Continue reading Nicole Holofcener Talks The Struggle Of Selfishness Vs. Selflessness In Her Hilarious, Humane Comedies [Interview] at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott, like many of us around the world, has recently gone back to painting. Why? Well, the filmmaker is doing his best to avoid social interaction and wait around for the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic to run its course. And that means the filmmaker has to do things that don’t involve large sets and a huge film crew. So, painting.

He talked about his love of painting, as well as the current production delay of his new period film, “The Last Duel,” in a new interview with Variety.

Continue reading Ridley Scott Promotes Food Rationing During This Pandemic & Isn’t A Fan Of “Nutcase” Trump at The Playlist.

As we already know, Disney owns just about everything. It’s just a fact of life when you talk about the film and TV industry. So, when a studio like Disney makes a drastic decision about the production of its film slate in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, you better believe that some of your most anticipated films of the next year or two will be affected.

And according to THR, that’s exactly what happened, as Disney has halted production on its film slate.

Continue reading Disney Halts Filming On Most Of Its Slate: ‘Nightmare Alley,’ ‘Little Mermaid,’ ‘Last Duel’ & More at The Playlist.

Continue reading The Knights Of Ben: ‘Last Duel’ Set Photos Of Affleck, Adam Driver & Matt Damon Are The Best Things You’ll See All Day at The Playlist.

Did you think Disney’s dominance of the box office and our collective consciousness ended with the launch of Disney+? You were wrong, fool. The Walt Disney Company is just getting started getting a piece of everything you hold dear, and will do so for the conceivable future, as the studio just announced an updated release schedule containing all the movies you won’t shut up about until 2023.

READ MORE: Disney+ Touts 10 Million Sign-Ups On Its First Day Of Streaming

Deadline reports that the company has announced a bunch of release dates for untitled movies, just in time for the holidays!

Continue reading Disney Announces A Whole Lot Of New Release Dates, Including New Marvel And Star Wars Movies Through 2023 at The Playlist.