News

Series from Atresmedia TV, Rtve, Movistar Plus+, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (“La Mesías”), Zeta Studios (“Elite”) and director Carlota Pereda and Morena Films (behind Sundance hit “Piggy”) will unspool or be unveiled at the Berlinale. They underscore the breadth and depth of Spanish TV output:

“Death to Love,”

Carlota Pereda dazzled at Sundance with first feature, “Piggy.” Now, Pereda’s at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series on Feb. 20 with her debut series, “Death to Love,” in which afemale vampire struggles over centuries to end a toxic relationship with her vampire female lover and culminates in a modern-day climax. “A visceral and romantic proposition,” Pereda says.

“Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2,”

The Sundance world premiere “La Mesías” sealed the standing of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi as most probably the coolest creative duo in Spain. This time around, they produce, with Mikel Rueda, a director on “Veneno,” and Claudia Costafreda and Ian de la Rosa,...

Apple TV+ series “Masters of the Air” is the third collaboration from the team behind HBO’s “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” Trio Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Steven Spielberg produced the nine-part World War II epic series, which spotlights the men who fought in the 8th Air Force, specifically the men of the 100th Bomb Group. The vivid and vital story finds roots in the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller.

The crew of a typical Eighth Air Force heavy bomber plane included ten men — a pilot and his co-pilot flying the B17, the navigator and the bombardier in the machine’s nose, the flight engineer behind the pilot, the radio operator, two waist gunners, a ball turret gunner and a tail gunner. Not to mention the men who strategized from the bases, the plane engineers and Tuskegee airmen or Royal Airforce pilots who feature in this story.

Martin Scorsese is going down as one of the most consistent directors ever, for no matter how you receive a movie of his, he still maintains his vision and his passion for the craft. The director has cemented himself in film culture with movies like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, etc. At 81 years old, Scorsese is still garnering acclaim and accolades for his latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is also featuring a breakout performance by Golden Globe-winner Lily Gladstone. Scorsese would recently receive a special Best Director Award from the National Board of Review, which would bring his former Gangs of New York star, Daniel Day-Lewis, into the public spotlight.

Variety is reporting that Scorsese is set to be honored at the Berlin Film Festival next month with a Golden Bear Award. His ceremony will also be screening his film The Departed. Interestingly, The Departed is also...

Audiovisual from Spain, an umbrella brand created to support Spanish content producers and distributors, is organizing the first Brand New Spanish Content Breakfast, an invitation-only sales event for international buyers,

It’s unclear what’s being served but if it’s a typical Spanish breakfast, then expect some pinchos de tortilla, café con leche and some bollos (buns), at least. What is guaranteed is a widely diverse range of shows, from period dramas to thrillers, romcoms and children’s fare.

The Oct 17 event at the Seaview Producers Hub in Cannes will showcase the latest content from the most prominent Spanish distributors, led by such heavy hitters as Rtve, Moviestar +, Filmax, Atresmedia, Plano a Plano and Onza.

Acquisition execs attending will have pre-scheduled meetings based on their selections.

Audiovisual from Spain’s Mipcom participation is coordinated by Spanish trade institute Icex, with the support of the Spain Audiovisual Hub of the...

Puppy Love is a romantic comedy film directed by Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan Reid from a screenplay by Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, and Kristen Guenther. The rom-com film stars Grant Gustin and Lucy Hale in the lead roles of Max and Nicole. Puppy Love follows the two after a horrible first date but Max’s dog gets pregnant by Nicole’s dog and this starts a cutesy and anxiety-filled love story. So, if you loved Puppy Love here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Rescued by Ruby (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: State trooper Dan (Grant Gustin) dreams of joining the K-9 Search & Rescue team, but no one will give him the chance. Shelter dog Ruby dreams of having a home, but is running out of hope. When fate brings Dan and Ruby together, it’s their unshakable bond that helps them face their toughest challenge yet. Based on a true story.

The last time Fred Hechinger was in Toronto, he came to see a film that left his acting on the cutting room floor. Six years later, in one of several full-circle moments, the breakout star of HBO’s “The White Lotus” and Sony/Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man Universe entry “Kraven the Hunter” returns with the Sept. 9 Gala premiere of “Butcher’s Crossing,” his first lead role in a feature.

“It was my first time going to a festival to see something that I was a part of,” the actor recalls. “I was working behind the scenes on [the romantic drama] ‘Tramps,’ they put me in one scene and I got cut, but it was technically the first thing I’ve ever acted in.” Yet that trip ignited a bizarre series of events that helped launch his career. “To connect a lot of crazy dots, the next morning I saw the first [TIFF] screening of ‘Moonlight...

Tramps!

They called them the New Romantics, though it wasn’t a name they would have chosen for themselves. You may think of them first and foremost in terms of the music they inspired, but behind all that was a collection of artists who congregated around the Blitz club in London’s Covent Garden and collaborated in many different ways for years before they really gained public recognition. Contrary to popular expectations at the time, may of them are still working as artists today. Kevin Hegge’s documentary, Tramps!, sets out to tell their story. I met up with Kevin when it was screening as part of Inside Out 2022 and asked how he, as a Canadian, came to be interested in the subject.

Tramps!

“There was a movie called Hail The New Puritan, which is by an artist called Charlie Atlas,” he begins. “It's my favourite movie, basically, profiling a sort.

Festival

The 36th edition of BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival will open with Alli Haapasalo’s “Girl Picture” and close with Kevin Hegge‘s documentary “Tramps!” “Girl Picture,” which won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance in January and will screen at the Berlinale next week, follows three girls at the cusp of womanhood. Over three consecutive Fridays, two of them experience the effects of falling in love, while the third goes on a quest to find something she’s never experienced – pleasure.

Feature documentary “Tramps,” world premiering at the festival, looks at how in London in the 1980’s, an onslaught of art students arriving in the city resulted in a unique cross-fertilization of British art, fashion, music and film culminating in a group known as The New Romantics.

The 2022 edition will take place as an in-person event March 16-27 at London’s BFI Southbank. The 2020 physical...

Alli Haapasalo’s Girl Picture and Kevin Hegge’s Tramps! to bookend BFI Flare festival.

The 36th BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 16-27) is to open with the UK premiere of Alli Haapasalo’s coming-of-age drama Girl Picture and to close with the world premiere of Kevin Hegge’s feature doc Tramps!.

Finnish director Haapasalo’s Girl Picture won the World Cinema Dramatic audience award at last month’s Sundance Film Festival and will screen in the Berlinale next week.

The story of three girls at the cusp of womanhood, it follows them over three consecutive Fridays as...

“Italian Studies” begins on that most minor, familiar but nonetheless disorienting of social embarrassments: You run into a person who knows you, but you cannot for the life of you remember them. For most of us, it’s a simple slip of the memory. For London-based writer Alina, confronted with a blank space in her brain after bumming a cigarette off an apparent stranger, it’s a callback to a longer, more damaging period of dissociation — when, while living in Manhattan, she suddenly forgot who she was for several days. Adam Leon’s minor-key, jaggedly structured indie isn’t concerned with the specific whens, hows and whys of Alina’s out-of-nowhere amnesia, but with the hazy in-the-moment sensation of being struck with it, the sensation of stumbling for the lightswitch in your own mind. That’s a nebulous-sounding dramatic proposition, though as performed by a nervy, live-wire Vanessa Kirby, it becomes a tensely compelling one.

In “Italian Studies,” Vanessa Kirby gets lost in New York. This shimmering wisp of a drama — in theaters and on VOD this Friday — offers a breezy pre-pandemic portrait of the city, following an author who wanders its crowded sidewalks and falls in with its young minds after inexplicably losing her memory. As hazily directed and ever so slightly written by Adam Leon, “Italian Studies” is less about solving the mystery of Alina’s sudden amnesia than asking how her surroundings might fill the wiped-clean slate of her identity in with vivid details (read our review here).

Continue reading Vanessa Kirby On ‘Italian Studies,’ Memory Plays & Ridley Scott [Interview] at The Playlist.

Adam Leon’s films look at New York City with a street-side view. His characters, through his first three features, wander the neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, or the Bronx, or the West Village with little cash and minor control of their situation. From the SXSW Grand Jury Winner Gimme the Loot (2012) to Netflix’s hangout romantic dramedy Tramps (2016), Leon makes films depicting different parts of the city he grew up in, the interactions that go unnoticed and overlooked, the people that get passed and immediately forgotten.

Often, there’s an initial manic energy to Leon’s low-budget films, now commonly associated with another New Yorker directorial team, the Safdie brothers. A sense of confusion or difficulty overwhelms Leon’s characters, putting them in less-than-ideal positions. In his previous two films, Leon put together two younger lightweight criminals, people living on the periphery of most films about New York City,...

As we wrap up the year in film, it’s time to set sights on 2022. While we’ll share a few looks at what’s in store over the next 12 months, first we have an overview of January’s most notable films. Unsurprisingly, the top offerings solely consist of 2021 festival premieres (and one from 2020) that are finally arriving.

10. Sundown (Michel Franco; Jan. 28 in theaters)

After last year’s wildly divisive New Order, Michel Franco returns this month with a drama of a much different stripe. As Jared Mobarak said in his review, “Writer-director Michel Franco throws the first curveball early during his latest film Sundown. We’ve already spent a bit of time with his quartet of European characters vacationing in Acapulco to make a few assumptions before workaholic Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) leans over to the quietly satisfied Neil (Tim Roth) and thanks him for coming along. Why wouldn’t he have?...

American indie director Adam Leon makes street-wise, visceral films that feel of the moment, electric, alive, and often pounding the pavement in pursuit of some goal. His latest film, “Italian Studies,” starring Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces Of A Woman”), is of the same ilk but slightly different. Set on the streets of New York again, “Italian Studies” centers on an author who temporarily and inexplicably loses her memory.

Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’ Trailer: Vanessa Kirby Wanders New York In A Hazy Lapse Of Memory at The Playlist.

In the span of only three films, writer/director Adam Leon has proven to have a significant feel for New York City and those who populate its streets. His debut film “Gimme the Loot” premiered at SXSW and then the Cannes Film Festival; his follow-up “Tramps” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up by Netflix. Both films focus on teenagers blitzing through the city, captured by Leon’s on-the-ground filmmaking.

Continue reading ‘Italian Studies’: Adam Leon Talks Experimenting And Collaborating With Vanessa Kirby [Interview] at The Playlist.

shot piecemeal between July 2018 and April of the following year, Adam Leon’s “Italian Studies” may be set along (and expertly stolen from) the crowded sidewalks of London and New York, but it’s unmistakably suffused with the woozy dislocation and “we have to make something” life-force of a Covid film. No one is wearing masks or social distancing in the heat of lower Manhattan on a summer afternoon, yet Leon’s heroine — a successful author played by Vanessa Kirby at a time just before people on the street would recognize her as one of the gutsiest actresses of her generation, or as anyone at all — is lost in a fugue state that vividly reflects the isolation and uncertainty of the last 18 months.

Alina Reynolds (Kirby) can’t tell if she’s in crisis, or if she’s just confused. She can’t tell if she remembers the world around...

One of our most anticipated films of the year? “Italian Studies,” the collaboration between Academy Award-nominated actress Vanessa Kirby “Pieces of A Woman“) and Adam Leon, the indie filmmaker behind the American indie writer/director behind acclaimed films like “Gimmie The Loot” and “Tramps.” And we’re fortunate enough to unveil the exclusive first-look image from the film.

Continue reading First Look: Vanessa Kirby Stars In Adam Leon’s ‘Italian Studies, Premiering At The Tribeca Film Festival [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

A selection at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and Deauville American Film Festival, the drama The Violent Heart will be debuting this month, and we’re pleased to premiere the poster and a new clip. Set for a February 19 release via Gravitas Ventures, The Young Kieslowski director Kerem Sanga’s latest feature stars Grace Van Patten and Jovan Adepo in a southern gothic-inspired Romeo & Juliet story set in the American heartland as we follow the relationship between Daniel, whose sister was murdered fifteen years prior, and high school senior Cassie.

“The main character in this movie has had some violent experiences in his life,” writer-director Kerem Sanga tells us. “He’s witnessed a murder, he’s gotten into fights, and as a teen he went to prison. But intrinsically he’s a non-violent guy who’s been more of a victim of fate. So my intention was to...

“Ready or Not” star Samara Weaving has been cast in “Liz,” a biopic about one of America’s forgotten founding mothers Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte.

Described as a U.S.-set “Bridgerton” or “The Great,” “Liz” tells the story of the country’s first modern celebrity. Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte gained prominence as the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest brother, Jerome, and revolutionized America’s social scene in the time of Jefferson’s presidency. Elizabeth, who has been called one of America’s first international celebrities, was known for her fashion, wit and independence.

Adam Leon is directing the film, which is based on a script by Gabriel Neustadt. 3311 Productions is producing “Liz.”

Weaving previously starred in the Showtime comedy “Smilf” and appeared in films such as “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Mayhem” and “The Babysitter.” Her film “Ready or Not,” a well-reviewed dark comedy, became a commercial success...

When 2021 kicks off, Vanessa Kirby will be in Poland working on Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist while in the streaming world (and whatever arthouses that do remain open) we’ll be taking in the Lido offerings of Pieces of a Woman and The World to Come. One title that might pop up at Sundance is a project the actress filmed before the Venice Film Festival comp pair. Adam Leon broke out big with his debut, the rare SXSW followed by Cannes (Un Certain Regard) Gimme the Loot (2012) and then 2016’s Tramps (we got to interview him at TIFF) before lassoing this third project which the plotline has been kept away from the curious public.…...

Untitled Adam Leon Project

Gimme the Loot (2012) and Tramps (2016) filmmaker Adam Leon hasn’t made a jump to Sundance yet, but that could very well change with a project that is being kept under wraps. Closely worked on with actress Vanessa Kirby, production took place in March this year. Brett Jutkiewicz who worked on Safdie bros.’ early works is the cinematographer and Andrea Roa is among the producers.

Prediction: U.S. Dramatic Competition

Untitled St. Vincent Project

An editor on Portlandia who made his first solo outing as a filmmaker, Bill Benz worked from a music themed drama co-written by Carrie Brownstein and Annie Clark in May.…...

Cher and Tina Turner are your top choices for induction into the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Those results from over 1,000 people worldwide are from our recent poll offering you 12 female artists that have been overlooked by voters in recent years. See the full results below.

Lady rockers have had a hard time getting inducted many years, but the 2019 ceremony had both Janet Jackson and Stevie Nicks finally getting in. In fact, Nicks became the first woman to be inducted twice (along with her band Fleetwood Mac) even though many men have had multiple inductions. If Turner gets the call for induction, it would be her second time as well after a selection with ex-husband Ike Turner in 1991.

And here are the results for our recent poll about overlooked bands, which was won by The Doobie Brothers. Look for a male artist poll in the near future.

SEEKennedy Center...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters finally got it right for 2019 with inductions of both Janet Jackson and Stevie Nicks. Both ladies had been snubbed for years and finally got their due at this year’s ceremony. In fact, Nicks became the first woman to be inducted twice (along with her band Fleetwood Mac) even though many men have had multiple inductions.

During their speeches, both Jackson and Nicks mentioned that voters should be selecting even more female artists for 2020 and beyond. So let’s give them some great suggestions in our new poll below, where you can vote for your favorite among 12 women singers.

And here are the results for our recent poll about overlooked bands, which was won by The Doobie Brothers. Look for a male artist poll in the near future.

SEEKennedy Center Honors: 50 Entertainers Who Deserve To Be Selected

Pat Benatar

Eligible since 2004. Top songs include “Heartbreaker,...

Cinereach announced the four recipients of 2019’s Producer Award, a $50,000 filmmaking prize as part of the Cinereach Producers Initiative, on Friday.

The indie film company has selected Jessica Devaney (“Always in Season”), Alexandra Lazarowich (“Fast Horse”), Kishori Rajan (“Random Acts of Flyness”) and Jamund Washington (“Tramps”) as independent producers that have demonstrated vision and integrity, contributed to the film community as mentors and leaders, and enriched the culture through their films.

“This year’s group of recipients is particularly exciting because Jessica, Alexandra, Kishori and Jamund have each created poignant, culturally thoughtful work that breaks down barriers on a multitude of platforms. Their commitment to this type of work is shifting our industry in meaningful ways,” Merrill Sterritt, head of partnerships and creative initiatives at Cinereach, said in a statement.

Also Read: How to Be a 'Real' Producer: Know Your Audience and 'Fight for Your Life'

“We are proud to...

A sketchy comedic drama about two very different (yet oddly similar) women who harness the mystical powers of passive-aggressiveness in order to straighten each other out, Dolly Wells’ “Good Posture” struggles to find a central focus even as lived-in characters and an excellent cast help this debut capture life’s transitional phases with the kind of toothpaste-on-the-bathroom-mirror messiness they sometimes demand.

It helps that Wells is as humane behind the camera as she tends to be in front of it. A warm and casually brilliant actress whose performance in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” is starting to merit her the attention she’s long deserved, the London native has always had a way of mining empathy from exasperation, and — even though she never appears onscreen — that’s still perhaps the greatest strength of her otherwise patchy first effort. Sure, the screenplay hinges on an entitled brat who constantly dares the...

Exclusive: Production has just wrapped in New York City on an untitled film that Adam Leon wrote and directed, and which Vanessa Kirby starred in. Kirby won the BAFTA for The Crown, and co-starred in Mission Impossible: Fallout, and wrapped Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw. Leon’s recent films are Gimme the Loot and Tramps.

The story is being kept under wraps. It was developed by Leon in close consultation with Kirby for many months in advance of shooting. Kirby is also an executive producer on the film.

Animal Kingdom, which teamed with Leon on Tramps, produced alongside Topic Studios and Tango Entertainment.

Individual producers include Jamund Washington and Animal Kingdom’s Brad Becker-Parton, Andrea Roa and Joshua Astrachan.

Washington, D.C. — It was a celebration of a broad spectrum of American music — from country and jazz to musical theater and modern minimalism — at the 41 annual Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday.

That’s when the nation’s capital paused from its political concerns to toast eight showbiz titans for excellence: Superstar multi-hyphenates Cher and Reba McEntire, along with composer/pianist Philip Glass, and jazz saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter. Tapped for a special honor was the creative quartet behind the musical “Hamilton” – writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and music director Alex Lacamoire.

President Donald Trump declined to attend the event for the second straight year or host the traditional pre-gala reception for honorees at the White House. The decision, while breaking with longstanding tradition, was announced earlier and was met without visible dissent since Trump’s presence would have overshadowed the event, if not impacted it directly.

The Wizarding World has continued to expand with the installation of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and this time, J.K. Rowling introduces us to Newt Scamander's brave but rule-abiding Auror brother Theseus. He's a bit of a proto-Percy Weasley type with a sinewy build, head of curly hair, and (mostly) fierce devotion to his job at the Ministry of Magic. Alongside new big names in the magical universe such as Zoë Kravitz and Jude Law, English actor Callum Turner brings the stern wizard to life in the Harry Potter prequel.

Turner has been a creative powerhouse in the entertainment industry, as he's tried out his hand in modeling, television, theater, and film. A London native, he grew up as an only child in a single mother family in Chelsea. His desire to learn about the world beyond the structure of school whisked him outside his hometown and into the...

Aaron L. Gilbert’s Bron has launched Bron Ventures, a division that will make strategic equity investments in content-driven production companies and leaders in the film, TV, digital and animation spaces.

The new unit will be led by Jennifer Arceneaux — a former exec at Acorns, the Sundance Institute and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles — who joins the company as Svp Venture Partnerships. She will report to Chief Strategy Officer Ashley Levinson, who joined the company earlier this year.

Bron Ventures already has its first deal in place, recently completing an investment and a strategic partnership with Brooklyn-based Animal Kingdom. The production company headed by Joshua Astrachan and David Kaplan is behind films including Short Term 12, It Follows, Paterson, Tramps, Beach Rats and It Comes at Night.

Bron Ventures will function as a creative and strategic advisor to its joint-venture partners and offers back-office support in all aspects of production,...

The late George Michael is your top choice for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The former Wham! star and solo singer received 48% in our recent poll about which snubbed artist deserves to be inducted for 2019. He clobbered The Monkees with 30% and Cher with 22% in our final poll results of this year. The poll had a whopping 3,000 people voting over the past week.

To determine these three finalists, Gold Derby offered you three polls in the weeks before about overlooked bands, female artists and male artists. For our female artist poll results, Cher was the top choice with 50%. On the male artist poll, Michael was best with 24%. And on the rock group poll, The Monkees were the favorites with 46%. We then brought these three legends together on the most recent poll.

Hall of Fame committee members will be voting soon. They will offer a short list of...

Gold Derby has offered you three polls in recent weeks about snubbed artists still waiting for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For our female artist poll results, Cher was the top choice with 50%. On the male artist poll, George Michael was best with 24%. And on the rock group poll, The Monkees were the favorites with 46%.

Will one of these artists make the final cut with Hall of Fame committee members later this year? Vote in our brand new poll below where we provide you with these same three artists, now up against each other for the first time.

SEECher steals scenes in ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’: Will Golden Globes reward her?

Cher has been eligible since 1990. Top songs include “Bang Bang,” “Believe,” “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves,” “Half-Breed.” Nominated for six solo Grammy Awards with one win. In her poll results, she defeated Cyndi Lauper,...

When we suggested 12 female rockers late last summer to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voters, not one of them was chosen for induction. It’s still one of the biggest hot button issues for this group that they continue to insanely overlook some of the greatest ladies in this genre, almost always choosing male groups and solo men instead.

The only female artist inducted this year was the late Nina Simone, known more in her career for soul, R&B and blues than rock. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was recognized at the 2018 ceremony for her early influence. In fact, some of the only female artists inducted in recent years have been Joan Baez (2017), Darlene Love (2011), Linda Ronstadt (2014) and Donna Summer (2013).

So we provide you with the same dozen ladies below for consideration to be inducted in 2019 because we feel like they all eventually deserve to join the Hof. Vote now...

Company adds The Cleaning Lady, Central Park, and Framed.

UK genre specialists Jinga Films has added three titles to its Cannes slate ahead of next month’s market.

The Cleaning Lady stars Alexis Kendra (Valentine’s Day) in the story of a lonely woman who finds companionship with her cleaning lady who was disfigured in a childhood accident. As the relationship develops, she learns the tragic truth behind the scars and becomes embroiled in an act of revenge. The film was directed by Jon Knautz (Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer).

Central Park stars Justin A Davis (Catfight), Grace Van Patten (Tramps...

Cannes and Netflix could be a perfect match: the highest-profile film festival in the world and the film industry’s biggest disruptor, joining forces to sustain the future of the art form. For now, however, the two institutions are in a standoff that has no end in sight, leaving filmmakers and producers in a state of frustration.

After facing pressure from French exhibitors, Cannes added a rule in 2017 that required official competition entries to plan a French theatrical release. That’s a nonstarter for Netflix, since France mandates a three-year window before theatrical releases can be seen on streaming platforms. When Netflix and Cannes couldn’t come to terms, Netflix pulled all of its films.

The five titles included Alfonso Cuaron’s long-awaited return to Mexico with the 70mm “Roma” (which Cannes offered to play in competition if Netflix released the film in France) and the restoration of Orson Welles’ final feature,...

To those who worried that Martin Scorsese‘s “The Irishman” might suffer the fate of so many Netflix movies, where they are barely promoted before being dumped on the service (please see terrific “Tramps,” or Duncan Jones‘ “Mute” which arrives next month as is still without a trailer), the streaming giant offers a counterpoint.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2018

Somewhat surprisingly, the first poster for “The Irishman” has arrived.

Continue reading First Poster For Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ at The Playlist.

Five films into his feature directing career, it’s growing increasingly clear that Marc Webb loves telling stories about very special boys and girls. If “(500) Days of Summer” and the two “Amazing” Spider-Man movies didn’t make that obvious enough, Webb’s most recent movie prior to this month was “Gifted,” a schmaltzy (but reasonably satisfying) drama about a brilliant child who’s capable of doing college-level math. Still, as the only thing he’s ever made that doesn’t revolve around a super privileged (or super-powered) white guy who expects the world to fall at his feet, it was something of an anomaly in his body of work.

Unfortunately, “The Only Living Boy in New York” gets Webb back on track in such a big way that it borders on self-parody. Song reference or not, the title alone should be a major red flag, but there’s no way...

Coming to theaters August 11 is The Only Living Boy In New York, starring Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan, Kiersey Clemons, Cynthia Nixon, Callum Turner and Jeff Bridges.

Adrift in New York City, a recent college graduate seeks the guidance of an eccentric neighbor as his life is upended by his father’s mistress.

Check out the brand new trailer now from Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions.

Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), the son of a publisher and his artistic wife, has just graduated from college and is trying to find his place in the world. Moving from his parents’ Upper West Side apartment to the Lower East Side, he befriends his neighbor W.F. (Jeff Bridges), a shambling alcoholic writer who dispenses worldly wisdom alongside healthy shots of whiskey.

Thomas’ world begins to shift when he discovers that his long-married father (Pierce Brosnan) is having an affair with a seductive younger woman...

The legendary Kane Hodder, whose film contributions are many, but is most known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th Part VII, Friday the 13th Part VIII, Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X), has a documentary coming out about his intriguing life called To Hell and Back, and a new clip from the film has been released. Also: details on the Sdcc 2017 exclusive Twin Peaks sign, Central Park and Inheritance Dances with Films screening info, release details on the Camera Obscura soundtrack and White Raven release.

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story: "In a candid moment, Robert Englund reveals that horror films used to not garner much respect among the film industry, but is now “a go-to, popcorn ingredient in the soul of Hollywood.” Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) describes stories of Kane’s strong relationship with his fans, while Ted White (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter...

A noticeable improvement over Adam Sandler’s previous three Netflix originals — in much the same way that a glass of Manischewitz is a noticeable improvement over drinking one of those ominous puddles that forms in the groove of a New York City subway seat — “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” isn’t the wittiest or most exciting movie that Noah Baumbach has ever made, but it might just be the most humane.

Too familiar to stand out from Baumbach’s career, but too funny and textured and true to not be one of its highlights, “The Meyerowitz Stories” harkens back to the more savage and sprawling comedies that Baumbach made before he teamed up with Greta Gerwig (whose ebullient influence is noticeably absent from this material, if not always missing from it). Still, this even-handed, mutually destructively, and inextricably Jewish-American family saga marks a major departure for Baumbach in one...

Last week, in response to the news that Netflix had finally cracked the Cannes competition lineup (a breakthrough that inspired the Federation of French Cinemas to question if a movie that skips theaters should even be considered “a cinematographic work”), I wrote about the streaming giant and how they’ve performed as a distributor. My conclusions were, uh, not super favorable. Criticizing the company’s penchant for pricing out the competition, hoarding the hottest indies on the festival circuit, and burying them on their site without the benefit of a proper release, I argued that Netflix isn’t a distributor so much as “a graveyard with unlimited viewing hours,” and that “it doesn’t release movies, it inters them.” It’s a problem that extends to the well-funded features that Netflix produces themselves, a problem that’s only going to get worse as those titles continue to get better.

See MoreNetflix Keeps Buying Great Movies,...

‘Straight to Netflix’ needn’t be a derogatory term – there are still gems to be found on the streaming platform

“If a movie premieres on Netflix, is it still even a movie?” asked the American film critic David Ehrlich last week, stoking an ongoing, still-heated industry debate over the streaming giant’s handling of the new films it exclusively acquires, making them skip the cinema circuit entirely. For more tradition-bound cinephiles, “straight to Netflix” has the same stigma “straight to video” once did, though in the case of so-called Netflix Originals such as Adam Leon’s Tramps, it really shouldn’t.

Leon turned heads at Cannes a few years ago with his sparky urban caper Gimme the Loot; his equally bright-eyed but more woozily romantic follow-up confirms that promise. Like Leon’s debut, it’s a lively run around the fringes of New York City. Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten,...

Assassin's Creed and Tramps star Callum Turner is in negotiations to play Newt Scamander's (Eddie Redmayne) brother in the Warner Bros. sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

David Yates is directing the follow-up to last year's Harry Potter spinoff, which is slated to hit theaters Nov. 16, 2018. Turner is set to appear opposite Jude Law and Johnny Depp, who were earlier announced to appear in the sequel.

Turner most recently starred in the indie romance-heist film Tramps, for which Netflix picked up the the worldwide rights in Toronto. Adam Leon directed...

With only two feature films under his belt to date, writer/director Adam Leon has made a big noise by using very little. His breakout film, “Gimme The Loot,” was fresh, exciting, and low-key caper film that captured the attention of SXSW, Cannes, and beyond. For his followup, Leon tells another intimate, authentic New York City story with “Tramps.” Premiering last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, it may not have had glitzy A-list stars, but the crowd-pleasing charmer sparked a small bidding war, with streaming titans Netflix coming out on top.

Continue reading The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘Tramps’ Director Adam Leon at The Playlist.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Antichrist (Lars von Trier)

Like the majority of Lars von Trier films, from the first moments of Antichrist, one will be able to discern if it’s an experience they want to proceed with. For those will to endure its specific unpleasantness, there’s a poetic, affecting exploration of despair at its center. Chaos reigns, indeed. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: FilmStruck

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly)

Last year marked...

Ah, to be young, restless, maybe in love, and beholden to criminals. Therein lies the rascally appeal of Adam Leon’s second feature “Tramps,” which, coming after his similarly endearing (and similarly New York-set) debut “Gimme the Loot,” quickly establishes Leon as indie cinema’s most fleet-of-foot urban romantic. The echoes of fast-talking, flirty couples from screwball through French New Wave, from Woody Allen through every promising Woody wannabe, reverberate through this zippy, well-acted tale of a guileless aspiring chef (Callum Turner, “Queen & Country”) and a tart-tongued sharpie (Grace Van Patten) thrown together on a two-day adventure through the hubs and.

A heist movie and romance that manages to defy the expectations of both genres, “Tramps” is a low-key charmer that quietly gains your affection. The latest from “Gimme The Loot” director Adam Leon may not have grabbed the biggest headlines at Tiff last fall where it premiered, but it says something that Netflix snapped it up. And it’s one you’ll want to add to your queue.

Continue reading Romance & Crime Collide In First Trailer For Netflix’s ‘Tramps’ at The Playlist.

Please allow a moment of silence for “Tramps,” Adam Leon’s warm and winsome follow-up to SXSW 2013 winner “Gimme the Loot.” Anchored by a ridiculously charismatic performance from actress Grace Van Patten, Leon’s sweltering, casually modern riff on classic Hollywood comedies like “It Happened One Night” tells the story of two kids who fall in love during a wild goose chase around the outer edges of New York City. It’s delightful stuff, diverting by design but told with the confidence of someone who can endow even the lightest fare with a real sense of weight. It was hardly the most significant thing I saw at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, but watching it on a hot summer day with the lights off and the AC on full blast was one of the most purely enjoyable experiences I had there.

Of course, you’re going to have...

After earning acclaim with his debut feature Gimme the Loot, director Adam Leon is back with Tramps, which was one of our favorite films coming out of Toronto International Film Festival last year. Arriving in less than a week on Netflix, they’ve now released the first trailer for the rom-com-meets-crime-film starring Green Room‘s Callum Turner and Grace Van Patten (The Meyerowitz Stories, Under the Silver Lake) and featuring a score from Moonlight‘s Nicholas Britell.

“Whereas countless criminal endeavors of this ilk quickly turn into a race against time with someone kidnapped as collateral under threat of being maimed or killed, Leon really isn’t interested in such cliche,” we said in our review. “As it is, Tramps was born out of his and co-writer Jamund Washington’s desire to simply deliver fun romance at the movies. The dead-drop concept was created afterwards to provide a means for connection.

"We gotta get that briefcase." Netflix has debuted a trailer for indie romantic comedy Tramps, from writer & director Adam Leon, of the NYC film Gimme the Loot previously. The story follows an aspiring chef in NYC who gets caught up in a crazy adventure when he has to help his brother finish a drug deal. But when the briefcase exchange goes wrong, he ends up running all over the city trying to figure out how to get things back in order. Callum Turner stars, along with Grace Van Patten, Michal Vondel, Mike Birbiglia, Margaret Colin, Louis Cancelmi, and Rachel Zeiger-Haag. I guess the unique twist in this is that he falls for the driver girl, which is kind of nice to see. It definitely feels like an indie, but has lots of heart, too. Here's the first official trailer for Adam Leon's Tramps, direct from Netflix's YouTube: In Tramps,...

Exclusive: Netflix has acquired global rights from Iac Films to The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), the new film written and directed by Noah Baumbach.

The film, which has been mentioned on the shortlist of potential Cannes titles, will premiere in select theaters and on Netflix later this year. It stars Adam Sandler (who just reupped with Netflix for four more comedy star vehicles), Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel, Grace Van Patten and Emma Thompson. It’s described as an intergenerational tale of adult siblings contending with the influence of their aging father. Scott Rudin, Baumbach, Lila Yacoub and Eli Bush produced.

It gives Netflix a film with an important filmmaker in the grownup film space with a star cast that once would have gone the prestige theatrical route. Instead, it will bolster the streaming service’s growing feature slate.

“Noah Baumbach...