Ben Affleck has had one of the more interesting careers in Hollywood. After breaking out in a huge way as the writer and star of “Good Will Hunting,” landing him an Oscar trophy at a really young age, he becomes one of the biggest actors in the world. Of course, after a few miscalculations and bombs at the box office, he sorta faded into the background, turning to filmmaking.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Is Only After “Personally Rewarding” Roles Now: “My ‘Armageddon’ Days Are Behind Me” at The Playlist.

While many people might think of Ben Affleck as the A-list actor in massive blockbusters such as “Justice League,” “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Gigli” (okay, maybe not the last one), he’s also a filmmaker that loves to dabble in features that are much more dramatic and feature somewhat lower stakes, such as “The Town,” “Gone Baby Gone,” and, of course, “Argo.” And it’s that filmmaker side of Affleck that sees the future of the film industry in a different way than his blockbuster acting side.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Thinks “Mid-Budget Movies” Will Have A “Very Difficult” Time Getting Theatrical Release Post-COVID 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 weekly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching. 

Two more early-quarantine, pulled-from-theaters titles get their proper disc and VOD releases, and both are worth a watch from those who were saving their pennies for a more reasonable price point.

Continue reading The 5 Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Emma,’ ‘The Way Back’ & More at The Playlist.

The box office is non-existent. Thanks to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the majority of the world’s cinemas are now shuttered, and in the US, at least, it appears this is going to last through the months of April and May. And without box office numbers, how are we supposed to come up with a ranking of how well a film does and if it’s actually as popular as a studio hopes? Well, thankfully, the studios have decided to use this pandemic to test the waters on a straight-to-VOD market.

Continue reading Without Theaters, Are ‘Bloodshot,’ ‘Onward,’ ‘The Hunt’ & Others Succeeding On VOD? at The Playlist.

As far as the world’s population goes, coronavirus has been on people’s minds for weeks now. But over the last two weeks, in particular, it’s felt that the outbreak of the illness has gained more headlines in the world of film and TV due to cancellations of festivals (RIP SXSW) and the threat of cinemas shutting down around the world (obviously, this has already happened en masse in China). So, with the debut of Pixar’s “Onward,” the first major worldwide tentpole debut since coronavirus has really become headline news, how would the illness affect the box office?

Continue reading ‘Onward’ Stalls At The Box Office But Coronavirus Probably Isn’t To Blame at The Playlist.

Movies
and basketball aren’t all that different. Both need a competent coach
(director), competitive players (actors) and capital funding (producers) to
succeed. In other words: teamwork makes the dream work. In Ben Affleck’s “The Way
Back,” all of this necessary synergy coalesces to create an indelibly
inspiring comeback story for the actor and his leading character.

READ
MORE: 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020

The actor and his character, it turns out, aren’t dissimilar.

Continue reading ‘The Way Back’: Ben Affleck Clinches The Win With A Terrifically Honest Comeback [Review] at The Playlist.

It is, without a doubt, an odd month for movies. Even though Disney has taken steps to spread out their films over the course of 12 months, to help completely dominate the box office (and soon, the world), the studio has two big releases bookending March, making it feel as if all the films that fall in between the Mouse House’s two movies will be doing their all to simply stay afloat.

READ MORE: 10 TV Shows To Watch In March: ‘Devs,’ ‘Westworld’ & More

Other than Disney’s offerings, new films from filmmakers such as Kelly Reichardt and Julia Hart will be worth seeking out as well as some oddities that might’ve fallen through the cracks elsewhere but are still worth checking out, if you’re looking to divert your attention from the regular blockbuster fare. 

Continue reading 10 Films To See In March: ‘The Hunt,’ ‘Mulan,’ ‘Quiet Place’ & More at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck and director Gavin O’Connor’s upcoming film “The Way Back” seems to have been brushed aside, already, by many film fans. What was originally thought to be a contender for the 2019 awards season was delayed by Warner Bros. until March of this year and, in the eyes of many, has effectively been erased from the conversation. But as seen in the new trailer for the drama, just because “The Way Back” isn’t contending for Oscars this year doesn’t mean you should write it off completely.

Continue reading ‘The Way Back’ Trailer: Ben Affleck Gets Sober & Coaches Basketball For A Second Chance at The Playlist.

Everybody loves a good comeback narrative because there’s something intrinsically satisfying about the result. It’s something that may be best exemplified by the life cycle of the mythical phoenix. Burning itself signifies the decision to put all the mistakes of one’s life behind. Then—just when it might seem too late for such a move—a beautiful being rises from the brink of destruction to soar and face life anew. The new film “The Way Back” showcases Ben Affleck spreading his own wings, not just in terms of his acting.

Continue reading ‘The Way Back’ Trailer: Ben Affleck Seek Redemption In New Sports & Road To Recovery Drama at The Playlist.

Other than affecting when you get to see a film, the way a studio shifts its release date for a film tends to say a lot about how the company views its upcoming product. And in the case of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” adaptation and the Ben Affleck film “The Way Back,” it would appear that the studio involved is pretty confident it has some crowd-pleasers, as both films find new release dates.

Continue reading Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Gets Delayed A Month As Ben Affleck’s ‘The Way Back’ Retreats From Fall To Spring 2020 at The Playlist.

Continue reading Exclusive: Peter Weir Talks Trying To Crack ‘Pattern Recognition,’ Stanley Kubrick & ‘The Way Back’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Sorry Cowpokes, Ed Harris Tells Us That Viggo Mortensen Has Killed An ‘Appaloosa’ Sequel at The Playlist.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘No Strings Attached,’ ‘The Company Men,’ ‘The Way Back’ and more at The Playlist.

Continue reading Peter Weir Shunned Stanley Kubrick, Made ‘Green Card’ Out Of Depression & 10 Things Learned… at The Playlist.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Blue Valentine,’ ‘Another Year,’ ‘Biutiful,’ ‘The Way Back’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Review: ‘The Way Back’ Is A Stride Of Pride at The Playlist.

Continue reading Watch: Colin Farrell Prepares For A Close Shave In Clip From Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’ at The Playlist.

Continue reading Watch: New Trailer For Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’ With Colin Farrell, Ed Harris & Jim Sturgess at The Playlist.

Continue reading New Poster For Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’ at The Playlist.

Producer Joni Levin had noted that a one-week qualifying run was in the cards but, when Newmarket Films were announced as the distributors, nothing of that nature was unveiled. We presumed that backers might simply be waiting on the reception it garnered at Telluride; so now that the film has been met with critical approval, will they come out and reveal an award-season tilt?

Continue reading Will ‘The Way Back’ Get An Oscar Push?; Peter Weir Says Film Was Ready For Cannes This Year at The Playlist.

It’s not an altogether surprising move considering the film’s inability to find a home and the fact that Newmarket is owned by the Exclusive Media Group, who actually financed the picture under its Exclusive Films umbrella.

Does the move say anything about the film’s prospects though?

Continue reading Newmarket Films To Distribute Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back,’ January 21st Release Confirmed at The Playlist.

With the film now scheduled for a limited Oscar-qualifying release this December before going wide on January 21st, a festival appearance certainly seems likely and, with no other Australian directors who’d be considered “major” having films on the cusp of release, Weir’s pic does seem be the main suspect.

Continue reading Peter Weir’s Prison-Escape Epic ‘The Way Back’ Headed To Telluride? at The Playlist.

The film stars Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Mark Strong and Saoirse Ronan, and centers on a group of seven prisoners who escape a Siberian labor camp in 1940 and attempt to trek thousands of miles across hostile terrain to India and their freedom.

Continue reading Peter Weir’s ‘The Way Back’ To See Limited Oscar-Qualifying December Release Before Going Wide January 21 at The Playlist.

Starring the likes of Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronan, the film is based on a true story and centers on a group of seven prisoners who escape a Siberian labor camp in 1940 and attempt to trek thousands of miles across hostile terrain to India and their freedom. The script reportedly draws from “The Long Walk,” a book telling the real story of one of the trek’s survivors, Slavomir Rawicz.

Continue reading First Look: Peter Weir’s WWII-Prison-Escape Epic ‘The Way Back’ at The Playlist.