A lot of people only think of Jake Johnson as the comedic actor who has shown up in a number of big projects over the years. But before all of that, he got his start as a writer in New York City. It’s just his time as a writer got overshadowed by his growing acting career. But for “Self Reliance,” his new Hulu film arriving this week, Johnson is not only returning to writing, but he also directed the film, as well. And in this episode of The Playlist Podcast, I spoke with Johnson about stepping behind the camera for "Self Reliance."

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Jake Johnson Talks ‘Self Reliance,’ Not Directing Again & Being Overshadowed By The Masterful Biff Wiff [The Playlist Podcast]

Home to The Playlist Podcast Network and all its affiliated shows, including The Playlist Podcast, The Discourse, Be Reel, The Fourth Wall, and more. The Playlist is the obsessive's guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, and more. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theplaylist/support

TV & Film





Pixar Reportedly
Considering Reboots Including ‘The Incredibles’ & ‘Finding Nemo’
 
How times change. There once
was an era when Pixar just didn’t think it needed sequels and could just go
from original story to original story. In fact in 2016, Pixar’s president
Jim Morris said there were no Pixar sequel plans after Brad Bird’s “The
Incredibles 2,” something of a response to the underwhelming reception to “Cars
2” and to a lesser degree, “Toy Story 3.”
 
“Most studios jump on
doing a sequel as soon as they have a successful film, but our business model
is a filmmaker model, and we don’t make a sequel unless the director of the
original film has an idea that they like and are willing to go forward on,”
Morris said at the time. 
 
While Pixar has certainly
tried to stick to that—six of the ten movies they’ve released since the summer
of 2016 have been original— since Morris’ remarks, they’ve released “Toy
Story 4” (even when they said ‘3’ was the finale), the spin-off “Lightyear,”
and this summer’s upcoming “Inside Out 2.”
 
A “Toy Story 5” is
in the works, and now a new report from Bloomberg— discussing many of Pixar’s
recent layoffs and woes— says not only are sequels still game, but Pixar is
considering rebooting some of its classic films. 
 
According to the Bloomberg
piece, “Every hit of yesteryear is being considered for a reboot,
with Finding Nemo and The
Incredibles regarded as particularly strong candidates
for new titles.”
 
 
Pixar’s new strategy to turn around their financial
problems” involves balancing original movie ideas with sequels and spinoffs,
the better to remind audiences what they once loved about Pixar.”
 
The new aim is apparently to make three new
movies every two years, which is historically much less frequent to their
usual, one film a year cadence, “with every other title a sequel or spinoff and
the rest standalone concepts or potential seeds for new franchises.”
 
This also sounds a lot like Bob Iger and Disney’s
less is more approach and their dialing back at Marvel and Lucasfilm.
 
On May 21, Pixar announced the company’s largest
restructuring, cutting 175 jobs as the studio refocuses on big-screen films
instead of Disney+ projects—also not dissimilar to the way Marvel and Lucasfilm
are heading, back to the big screen with a deemphasis on Disney+ programming. 
 
It's a sign of the times, unfortunately, and
financially they are not great at the moment, a trend that is affecting the
entire industry.  Will they follow
through? This industry is fickle, so we shall see, but if the box office of
2024 is any indication, these alarming trends may just continue to dominate for
the foreseeable future.









































In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo roams the forest in search of his next victim while discussing “In A Violent Nature.” The movie follows a resurrected killer through the woods as he stalks his victims, all while searching for his stolen necklace. The film is written and directed by Chris Nash and stars Ry Barrett, Josh Lucas, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, and more. 
READ MORE: ‘In a Violent Nature’ Review: Chris Nash’s Debut Heralds a Major New Voice in Horror [Sundance]
During the interview, Chris Nash discusses not only the obvious homages to '80s slashers like “Friday the 13th” but also the less-expected influences that just as heavily influenced the tone and approach to his first feature film.







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‘In A Violent Nature’: Director Chris Nash Talks His Buzzy Slasher Hit, Unexpected Inspirations, Extensive Reshoots & More [The Discourse Podcast]

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo delves into the underworld to wrestle with the emotions of “Eric.” The Abi Morgan-written Netflix series follows Vincent, a neurotic puppeteer whose son goes missing, leading him to attempt to solve the case with his son’s imaginary friend - a monster named Eric. The show stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Dan Fogler, Ivan Morris Howe, and more.


Joining Bingeworthy to discuss their harrowing mini-series are Benedict Cumberbatch (“Doctor Strange,” “The Power of the Dog”) and Gaby Hoffmann (“Girls,” “Now & Then”). During the interview, both described what brought them to the show; however, Hoffmann noted feeling conflicted at first for a very understandable reason.

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'Eric’: Benedict Cumberbatch and Gaby Hoffmann On Their Thrilling Netflix Series, ‘Doctor Strange,’& More [Bingeworthy Podcast]

In this week's episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast, host Mike DeAngelo dives headfirst into “Outer Range.” The mysterious and compelling Prime Video series follows a rancher who discovers a mysterious hole in his pasture, leading to land wars, family drama, and time-jumping mysteries. The show stars Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Lewis Pullman, Tom Pelphrey, Will Patton, and more (read our review here).


READ MORE: ‘Outer Range’ Review: Time Is A River For Josh Brolin In Still Weird, Existentially Compelling Season 2


Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the second season of the metaphysical Western sci-fi drama are two stars of the series, Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men,” “Avengers: Endgame”) and Imogen Poots (“Green Room,” “Vivarium”), as well as new showrunner Charles Murray (“Luke Cage,” “Sons of Anarchy”). 


During the interviews, much was discussed about the showrunner change from creator Brian Watkins to Charles Murray. Some, including Imogen Poots, are close friends with Watkins, which could have potentially created an awkward situation, but it seems like Murray pulled the transition off with a great amount of class. 

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‘Outer Range’: Josh Brolin, Imogen Boots, & Charles Murray Discuss Their Sci-Fi Western Series, ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’& More [Bingeworthy Podcast]

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo ventures into another universe to discuss “Dark Matter.” The Apple TV+ series is based on the Blake Crouch book of the same name and follows a college professor who is abducted into an alternate universe and has to fight his way back to his old life and real family. The show stars Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, and more.


READ MORE: ‘Dark Matter’ Review: Joel Edgerton & Jennifer Connelly Traverse The Multiverse For Adults & Consider Existential Regrets


Joining BingeworthyBothto discuss the mind-bending sci-fi thriller are two stars of the series, Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. During the interviews, both actors discussed "Dark Matter" and many aspects of their careers during the interviews. For Edgerton, it was his directorial career. For Connelly, it was "The Rocketeer" and films like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Only The Brave," both made by filmmaker Joseph Kosinski.



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'Dark Matter’: Joel Edgerton & Jennifer Connelly Discuss Multiversal Sci-Fi Series, ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ Marvel & More [Bingeworthy Podcast]

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo gets swept up in the whirlwind romance at the heart of “The Idea of You” with writer/director Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Wet Hot American Summer”). The movie is based on the book of the same name and follows a forty-year-old woman reeling from a divorce who stumbles into a romance with a twenty-something singer from the world’s biggest boy band. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Reid Scott, Ella Rubin, and more.

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Jake Johnson Talks ‘Self Reliance,’ Not Directing Again & Being Overshadowed By The Masterful Biff Wiff [The Playlist Podcast]

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