For a long time, Robert Pattinson was known to most as moody, sparkly vampire Edward Cullen from the enduringly lucrative“Twilight” series. Since his initial ascent, the prodigiously talented London-born actor has gone on to work with directors as challenging and interesting as James Gray, Claire Denis, Werner Herzog, and the Safdie Brothers – which is not to mention collaborations with the likes of Ciro Guerra, Antonio Campos, and none other than Christopher Nolan looming on the horizon.

Continue reading The Essentials: Robert Pattinson’s 10 Best Performances at The Playlist.

This weekend, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s elegantly weird and gorgeously strange “Phantom Thread” goes into wide release and it truly cannot be missed. It’s another completely singular work from the filmmaker, with a story that has plenty going on beneath its refined stitching. The release of the movie means that the director is doing some final press rounds, and perhaps chattier than ever, he’s got plenty to say.

We’ve known for a little while know that Anderson wants to work with “Girls Trip” breakout star Tiffany Haddish, however, on the Nerdist podcast, he’s reveals just how much he admires the actress’ talent.

Continue reading Paul Thomas Anderson Reveals Fave Films Of 2017, Praises Tiffany Haddish, Wants To Work With Tom Hanks, More at The Playlist.

As much as we evidently love you, our glorious readers (why else would we toil so hard over such a breathtaking array of year-end features, for one thing), there is perhaps a group of people we love even more. And that is our contributors, who throughout the year give The Playlist its inimitable, sometimes cacophonous but always lively voice, and who help us to deliver the goods to you every day in the manner of a vigilant cat laying the eviscerated mouse of the day’s hot movie topics at your feet.

Continue reading The Most Underrated & Overrated Films Of 2017 at The Playlist.

Everyone needs a bit of distraction from staying away from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” spoilers. One way you can do that is by going through our Best Films Of 2017, and once you’ve done that,  you might want to see how it stacks up against the selections from the venerable Film Comment.

The votes from contributors to the terrific movie magazine lean arthouse, but we have (mostly) no fault with their selections.

Continue reading Film Comment’s Best Movies Of 2017 Includes ‘Good Time,’ ‘Get Out,’ ‘Lady Bird’ & More at The Playlist.

As we drag ourselves, bloodied and limping across the finish line of 2017, there’s little to celebrate at year’s end in the world outside the movie theater, except for Fyre Festival which is still the greatest and funniest thing ever. But inside the popcorny passageways of our local multiplexes and the hallowed halls of our local arthouses, it’s been a different story — one that may not have led to the kind of clear consensus winners of previous years (even awards season seems unusually open) but that points to a general breadth of quality that is, we believe, reflected here in our Best Films of the Year poll.

Continue reading The Best Films Of 2017 at The Playlist.

On a heath, a startled hare looks up. In its eyes are reflected the lights of a ferris wheel, in whose neon glow Armie Hammer dances to an 80s tune. A little girl with ice-cream sticky fingers runs past and nearly collides with a bottle-blonde Robert Pattinson as he dodges into a house of mirrors where a young guy in a loose t-shirt is arranging his selfie to show off his biceps.

Continue reading The Best Cinematography Of 2017 at The Playlist.

We’re firmly into June now, and fast bearing down on the midpoint of 2017, a year that’s shaping up to be the longest goddamn year in history (fun fact: at the start of 2017, Barack Obama was President of the United States!). Fortunately, in between the insanity of the news, it’s been a pretty strong film year on the whole.

Sure, not all of the blockbusters have been great (*side eye to “The Mummy”*), but some have been terrific, and we’ve also seen several great and unexpected movies get their due at the box office.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2017 So Far at The Playlist.

The fastest film to reach $1 billion ever? That distinction goes to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which hit the mark in all of 12 days. “The Fate Of The Furious” isn’t quite there yet, but revving to a $908 million haul in 10 days is still super-impressive. So yes, in case you were wondering, “The Fate Of The Furious” is the number one movie in the country yet again, but the real story is being told overseas.

Continue reading ‘Fast & Furious 8’ Hits $900 Million Worldwide In Just Two Week, Repeats #1 Spot [Box Office] at The Playlist.

On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I open with more talk of repertory cinema, in this case the recent 4K restoration of “Donnie Darko” currently playing in some arthouses around the country (and also getting a gorgeous new blu-ray release from Arrow Video). From there, I recommend you see “The Lost City Of Z” in a theater, and soon (also check out Rodrigo’s great interview with director James Gray on his new podcast).

Continue reading Adjust Your Tracking Has A Blast With ‘Free Fire,’ Talks New David Lynch Doc ‘The Art Life’ [Podcast] at The Playlist.

Sorry, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” you are now no longer the record holder for the biggest worldwide opening weekend ever. That distinction goes to “The Fate Of The Furious,” which exploded with a massive $532.4 million opening, cracking ‘The Force Awakens’’ record by about $3 million. ‘Furious 8’ also decimated the international opening weekend record previously held by “Jurassic World.” Universal’s dinosaur movie smashed open with $316.7 million in 2015, and “Fate Of The Furious” destroyed that figure by over $100 million, landing with a tremendous $432.3 million overseas opening thanks to an insane $190 million debut in China — the largest three-day opening weekend of all time there.

Continue reading ‘Fate Of The Furious’ Explodes With $530 Million, Breaks Record For Biggest Worldwide Opening Ever at The Playlist.

To be a filmmaker, one needs to be possessed with a bit of an obsessive nature. Projects can take dozens of years to get off the ground and generally, only those truly committed to bringing a vision to screen are the ones that stick around. It’s a little fitting, then, that American auteur James Gray’s latest film, the simmering and epic Amazonian jungle drama “The Lost City Of Z,” centers on a similar protagonist willing to risk it all in the name of his singular pursuit.

Continue reading James Gray Talks ‘The Lost City Of Z,’ Isabelle Huppert & The Disruptive World Of Streaming [Deep Focus Podcast] at The Playlist.

Every serious director has his or her distinct storytelling panache: Quentin Tarantino and his jukebox of unapologetic homages, Christopher Nolan and his massive scales, Terrence Malick and his plotless streams-of-consciousness, etc. James Gray is far less flamboyant, perhaps because he’s also enjoyed half the success and fame so many of the better-known directors have had, but that’s a big reason why we’ve been so in love with his work for all these years.

Continue reading The Essentials: The Films of James Gray at The Playlist.

In these increasingly heated political times, when our world is marked by confusion, division and dissent, it’s vital to stay engaged. It’s gnarly out there. But, as per usual, the cinema is a place for escape from and high engagement with this world we live in.

Perhaps this month’s column can serve as a clearheaded, evenhanded guide to remind you, dear readers and moviegoers, that there’s certainly something opening at a movie theater worth your time.

Continue reading 10 Films To See In April at The Playlist.

James Gray’s “The Lost City Of Z” opens up in the U.K. this weekend, and the cast has been doing the press rounds overseas. The epic Amazonian jungle movie stars Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller and Robert Pattison, and the latter was on the recent Kermode and Mayo podcast and revealed some intriguing nuggets about some of his future projects.

Pattison stressed his post-“Twilight” direction of working with auteurs (David Cronenberg, David Michod, Anton Corbijn, Werner Herzog) to the podcast hosts.

Continue reading Robert Pattinson Says He’s Making A “100% Improvised Movie” & Creating Music For A Slapstick Comedy at The Playlist.

After some struggles to get his passion projects off the ground, James Gray had a solid 2016, and this year is looking even brighter. Amazon Studios stepped in to finance “The Lost City Of Z” last year, and now it looks like longtime ally Brad Pitt (his Plan B company produced ‘Z’) may star in Gray’s upcoming sci-fi film, “Ad Astra.” And while Gray is looking ahead, there’s still the aforementioned “Lost City Of Z.” An epic tale into the jungles of the Bolivian jungle, ‘Z’ debuted at the New York Film Festival to much critical acclaim last year and Amazon will release the film later this year.

Continue reading Charlie Hunnam Charts A Perilous Journey In The First Clip From ‘The Lost City Of Z’ [Watch] at The Playlist.

Adventures on the big screen these days tend to solely be the domain of superheroes, but James Gray goes straight into the heart of the jungle in the upcoming “The Lost City Of Z.” And it’s there where destiny and madness will be found.

Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland and Sienna Miller star in the adaptation of David Grann‘s book about British explorer Percy Fawcett’s voyage into the Amazon that turned into an obsession.

Continue reading Charlie Hunnam Finds His Destiny In New Trailer For ‘The Lost City Of Z’ With Robert Pattinson at The Playlist.

Update: Sources close to the film have let us know that an effect was changed in 14 frames of the film during a war/battle sequence, amounting to less than one second of running time. James Gray feels this edit doesn’t compromise his artistic vision for “The Lost City Of Z.”

Despite the Oscars showing love yesterday for movies like “Moonlight” and “Manchester By The Sea,” the fact remains that the industry remains wary of mid-budget dramas as they represent a financial risk in a landscape dominated by blockbusters and IP filmmaking.

Continue reading James Gray’s ‘The Lost City Of Z’ Has Been Re-Edited To Avoid R-Rating at The Playlist.

Why was James Gray’s “The Lost City Of Z” missing from our definitive guide to The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2017, you ask? Because it was one of the 20 Best Films Of 2017 we’ve already seen. An epic, almost Herzogian adventure (albeit with, as our NYFF review said, “a continuation of the quieter mood” of his previous film, “The Immigrant,”) ‘Z’ puts his themes of familial tragedy front and center once again.

Continue reading ‘The Lost City Of Z’: Go Missing In The Latest Trailer For James Gray’s Jungle Epic at The Playlist.

The heartening theme of recent years? Actors trapped in sub-par material elevating their game by working with top-shelf directors. Kristen Stewart has gone along this path, as has Robert Pattinson, and another actor attempting to course-correct his overall narrative is Charlie Hunnam. The “Sons Of Anarchy” star has struggled to make an impression on the big screen, and even in “Pacific Rim,” he never seemed comfortable in action-leading-man skin.

Continue reading ‘Lost City Of Z’: Dive Into The Jungle With New Photos Of The Charlie Hunnam & Robert Pattinson-Led Drama at The Playlist.

Well, here we are, in the brave (terrifying) new (still terrifying) world of 2017. Whatever else we have to expect in the 363 days to come (and actually, the first 48 hours have been pretty good on the whole), it promises to be a good year for the movies, as you might have seen from our 100 Most Anticipated Movies piece a month or so back. But somehow, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Continue reading The 20 Best Movies Of 2017 That We’ve Already Seen at The Playlist.

Director James Gray has spent most of his career thus far telling stories from the intimate depths of his native New York City, but for his upcoming “The Lost City Of Z,” he literally left the country and ventured into the depths of the jungle, bringing his cast led by Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland along with him.

Based on the book by David Grann, the film chronicles what happens when British explorer Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett’s search for a lost city deep in the Amazon grows into a decades-long obsession that costs him his reputation, his home life with his wife and children, and much more.

Continue reading Charlie Hunnam & Robert Pattinson Take A Dangerous Journey In New Trailer For James Gray’s ‘The Lost City Of Z’ at The Playlist.

“I don’t miss the jungle. It was pretty but I don’t miss it,” Tom Holland said this fall about the making of “The Lost City Of Z.” The young actor was part of the ensemble, led by Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattison, who joined James Gray‘s movie about British explorer Percy Fawcett’s journey into the South American jungle. And the director himself backs up Holland for not wanting to go back.

Continue reading Go Into The Jungle With New Images From James Gray’s ‘The Lost City Of Z’ at The Playlist.

Debuting more than six months before its scheduled release with an extremely minimal amount of information present, the press screening for “The Lost City Of Z” was one of the New York Film Festival’s most anticipated. The film is based on the true story of Percy Fawcett, the legendary British explorer who disappeared with his son without a trace while in search of an ancient, El Dorado-esque city in the Amazon, and is adapted from David Grann‘s non-fiction book of the same name.

Continue reading James Gray & The Cast Of ‘Lost City Z’ Talk Jungles, 35mm & The Future Of Film at The Playlist.

Obsession has long been synonymous with filmmaking and the fundamentals of drama, from Shakespeare and beyond, and is often the tragic undoing of its characters. Directors, in particular, can recurrently lose the plot with tunnel vision and wait several years to bring their passion project to the screen — it is often dutiful dedication and obsession that sees the final product through to completion. And so these qualities are deeply consequential to James Gray’s “Lost City Of Z,” a narrative about an obsession several painstaking years in the making.

Continue reading James Gray Explores Jungles, Obsession & The Path To Glory In The ‘Lost City Of Z’ [NYFF Review] at The Playlist.

With its World Premiere at the New York Film Festival unfolding tomorrow night, Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street have finally locked down when the rest of us will get to see the new film by James Gray.

“The Lost City Of Z” will open on April 21, 2017. That’s actually a pretty good weekend for the movie, that will likely open in limited release and expand from there.

Continue reading James Gray’s ‘The Lost City Of Z’ Sets April 2017 Release Date at The Playlist.