J.D. Dillard Talks ‘Devotion,’ The Greatness Of Jonathan Majors, Franchise Filmmaking & More [The Playlist Podcast]

When new DC Co-Chairmen and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran took their new posts last fall, there was a lot of agita in town with their swift decisions.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo explores the post-apocalyptic landscapes of HBO’s latest prestige hit, “The Last of Us.” Adapted from the popular video game series and created by Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”)and Neil Druckmann (“The Last of Us” video game series), the show follows Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor of a fungal pandemic apocalypse, who is charged with keeping a 14-year-old girl (Bella Ramsey) alive, as she may be humanity’s last hope of survival.

King Charles could soon break his silence on Prince Harry as he prepares to take part in an interview with the BBC, it has been claimed.

On different pages. Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev don’t see eye to eye on publicly discussing their sex life — but do they agree on expanding their family?

Trying to move on. Prince Harry‘s memoir, Spare, has stirred up plenty of drama, but royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti doesn’t think the palace will go so far as to strip him of his titles.

Will Forte is entering a new era of his acting career. After becoming a dad for the first time a couple of years ago, he’s not just excited about comedies such as “MacGruber” and “The Last Man on Earth.” He’s also ready to portray sweet dad characters in projects such as “Sweet Tooth” and his new film, “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out,” which we discussed on this episode of The Playlist Podcast and is celebrating its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Jonathan Majors pushed his body to its full capacity while preparing for the role of dedicated bodybuilder Killian Maddox in the upcoming movie Magazine Dreams.

In Greek mythology, it holds that for a time, gods and mortals mingled freely, creating demigods whose sole aim was to prove their worth so they might join their celestial kin. For the Greeks, the gods who ruled on mount Olympus formed the idealized version of humans—often possessing super strength to match their perfect physiques.

“Inspirations for Kang — Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar. Start there,” Jonathan Majors told us at Deadline’s Sundance studio recently about his influences for playing Marvel’s next giant villain, Kang the Conqueror.

a comprehensive examination of every factor, internal and external, that afflicts Killian, as well as their possible solutions, “Magazine Dreams” begins to feel convoluted with too many threads to rein in, all of them with relevant themes.Many of these subplots revolve around Killian expressing frustration and anger against a world that renders him invisible via self-destructive acts, which in turn confront him with police brutality and bigotry. But he also searches for affection in the arms of a sex worker (Taylour Paige) and even engages in a homosexual encounter to try to heal his intimate wounds.

In Greek mythology, it holds that for a time, gods and mortals mingled freely, creating demigods whose sole aim was to prove their worth so they might join their celestial kin. For the Greeks, the gods who ruled on mount Olympus formed the idealized version of humans—often possessing super strength to match their perfect physiques.

Magazine Dreams is a drama and second feature directed by Elijah Bynum, which stars Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylor Paige, and Harrison Page

Jonathan Majors and Magazine Dreams flexed some big muscles tonight at the drama’s Sundance Film Festival premiere with the actor drawing a standing ovation.

EXCLUSIVE: For his first interview on the edgy drama Magazine Dreams that makes its Sundance Premiere tonight, Jonathan Majors was pulling into Park City, after driving for days cross country from New York. While Majors is one of Hollywood’s fastest rising stars after turns in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Lovecraft Country, The Harder They Fall and Da 5 Bloods, he was not going to drive up a small film’s limited budget with pricey airfare. Magazine Dreams is written and directed by Elijah Bynum, and produced by Jennifer Fox and Dan Gilroy, the latter of whom made Nightcrawler. Just like the unhinged photog played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Majors has gone all in physically and emotionally to transform himself into the equally extreme Killian Maddox. An aspiring amateur bodybuilder, Maddox is socially awkward and slavishly devoted to the solitary pursuit of body culture, and the drama traces how his obsession plunges him down the proverbial rabbit hole in an effort to be noticed for his physique. It is a tour de force performance that will conjure memories of De Niro’s Travis Bickle, and the work Majors put in physically is impossible to not notice. Here, Majors talks about the truths about the invisibility and stereotyping of many people, and the darkness that creates combustible conditions that often end in tragedy.

Every now and then, a film comes along that proves word-of-mouth marketing can be a powerful tool. Even though we are just beginning 2023, we already have an example of a film that has earned so much buzz without a hint of marketing, the indie horror film, “Skinamarink.” And in this episode of The Playlist Podcast, I got the chance to speak with Kyle Edward Ball, the writer-director of what some people are calling the scariest film of all time, “Skinamarink.” READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023 For those who haven’t heard of “Skinamarink,” the most basic description is to say it’s an experimental horror film about two children who wake up to find their father is missing and all of the doors and windows in their house have disappeared.

Legendary tenor Placido Domingo is facing a new round of sexual harassment allegations, three years after he stepped down from the Los Angeles Opera over similar claims.

When people talk about fighter pilot movies from the past year, many will probably think about “Top Gun: Maverick.” And though that film is great, there’s another fighter pilot film out now that might actually be, dare I say, better? That movie is “Devotion,” directed by J.D. Dillard.

Indeed, actor Lena Waithe and her company Hillman Grad, and 271 Films have named the filmmakers chosen to participate in the third season of their program, Rising Voices.

Today, South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2023) announced the Opening Night film, Feature and Short Competitions, Midnighters, select titles from other categories, and XR Experience for the 30th edition of the SXSW Film & TV Festival. The rest of the lineup will be announced in early February.