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John Slattery will join the upcoming USA Network drama “The Rainmaker” as Leo F. Drummond, the main antagonist of the story in the original John Grisham novel and its 1997 film adaptation, NBCUniversal announced Monday.

The character is described in a release as “one of Grisham’s most iconic characters … a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rudy Baylor is up against.”

It has yet to be announced who will play the lead of Baylor, portrayed in the film version by Matt Damon. The series is described in its logline as featuring the “fresh out of law school” Baylor taking on Drummond, “as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

Slattery received four Best Support Actor Emmy Award nominations for his...

USA Network has found its star for their reboot of John Grisham’s The Rainmaker.

Mad Men alum John Slattery will be leading the yet-to-be-announced cast of the drama from Lionsgate Television and Blumhouse Television that counts Grisham, along with writer Michael Seitzman (Code Black, Intelligence), Jason Richman (Stumptown, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon), David Gernert and Jason Blum as executive producers. Richman and Seitzman co-wrote the pilot.

Slattery will play Leo F. Drummond, one of Grisham’s most iconic characters, a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rainmaker protagonist Rudy Baylor is up against.

The logline reads: “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond (Slettery) as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.

I remember exactly where I was when I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman had died. I was at a revival screening of the 1979 version of Battlestar: Galactica at a Montreal theatre, waiting for the film to start when my email blew up. Here at JoBlo, whenever an icon dies, it tends to become a thread that allows us all to vent a little, and Hoffman’s death destroyed many of us.

It shook me up in a lot of ways, as I had just seen him at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks earlier, where he had two films, A Most Wanted Man and God’s Pocket. In hindsight, it’s easy to say he didn’t look quite right, but honestly, I had no clue anything was wrong with him. Of course, in the days following his death, we learned that addiction had taken its toll on perhaps the most outstanding actor of his generation,...

If his post-“Mad Men” career has taught us anything, it’s that Jon Hamm is a natural comic actor who happens to be great in dramatic roles rather than the other way around. At the risk of downplaying his exemplary work as Don Draper, the 52-year-old has seemed most in his element in the likes of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and especially last year’s criminally underseen “Confess, Fletch.” “Maggie Moore(s)” finds him somewhere in the middle of the comedy/drama spectrum as a small-town police chief investigating the murders of two women with the same name — an intriguing premise to be sure, but one that Hamm’s “Mad Men” co-star John Slattery, in his sophomore directorial effort, struggles to bring to a satisfying conclusion.

Part of the problem is that it isn’t actually a mystery. Beginning with a title card informing us that “some of this actually happened,...

It is always an occasion for celebration when Jon Hamm and Tina Fey are back together on screen — big or small — having shared credits on various 30 Rock and SNL episodes (and the upcoming film version of Fey’s Mean Girls). But their latest collaboration is a clear departure, as well as a rare chance to see Fey out of her comedic zone.

Directed by John Slattery, Hamm’s multi-Emmy-nominated Mad Men co-star, Maggie Moore(s), which world premiered Monday night as part of the Tribeca Festival Spotlight Narrative section, is on paper an extremely clever premise for a murder mystery. When one woman named Maggie Moore is found murdered, the man responsible for the hit job (who also happens to be her husband) stumbles on to yet another woman with the exact same name living just a few blocks away in the same small American town. His thinking is...

There are actors who direct films, and there are those who establish themselves as real-deal filmmakers. In the first category we find John Slattery, a fine actor who, after a respectable career as “that guy,” reached a new level at age 45 thanks to Mad Men. The AMC series was still on the air when Slattery directed his first film, God’s Pocket, in 2014, and he returns now, nearly 10 years on, with the dark comedy Maggie Moore(s). Following his on-screen reunion with Mad Men co-star Jon Hamm in last year’s Confess, Fletch, Slattery here casts the actor in the lead role as Jordan Sanders, a lonely police chief investigating the connection between the murders of two women, each named Maggie Moore.

The first Maggie to die (played by Emily Blunt) is married to Jay (Micah Stock), the owner of a restaurant franchise who plans to become the Howard Schultz of submarine sandwiches.

"I pretty clearly said 'scare her', not 'set her on fire!'" Screen Media has unveiled an official trailer for the indie film titled Maggie Moore(s), the second feature directed by actor John Slattery (his directorial debut was God's Pocket with Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2014). This is premiering at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in June before it opens in limited theaters later in June. Maggie Moore(s) takes place in a dusty desert town where nothing ever happens, as a police chief is suddenly faced with the back-to-back murders of two women with the same name. (Hence the title of the film.) Who did it and why? Jon Hamm stars as police chief Jordan Sanders, who must deal with all kinds of small town shenanigans and secrets. The cast includes Tina Fey, Micah Stock, Nick Mohammed, Happy Anderson, & Mary Holland. The trailer has a darkly comedic edge to it,...

Clockwise from top left: Downtown Owl, Bucky F*cking Dent, First Time Female Director and Eric Larue Photo: Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film line-up for this year's festival, which will run from June 7 to 18.

The programme includes 109 features from 36 countries, including 93 world premieres. There are 43 first-time directors, 41% have been directed by women and 36% are by Bipoc filmmakers.

Among the notable names this year is Mad Men star John Slattery, who will bring Maggie Moore(s) - his first feature as a director since 2014's God's Pocket. David Duchovny's Bucky F*cking Dent will also have its world premiere along with Michael Shannon's directorial debut Eric Larue. Other actors stepping behind the camera, include Parks and Recreation's Chelsea Peretti with the aptly named First Time Female Director and Jennifer Esposito, who makes her debut with organised crime-oriented Fresh Kills. Dowtown Owl,...

Exclusive: Maggie Moore(s), the film which marks the reunions of Mad Men duo Jon Hamm and John Slattery and 30 Rock couple Hamm and Tina Fey, has sold to Screen Media for North America.

Slattery directs Hamm and Fey in the true-crime-inspired thriller written by Paul Bernbaum. Pic also stars Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso), Micah Stock (Kindred), Mary Holland (Happiest Season) and Happy Anderson (Mindhunter).

Screen Media is planning a theatrical release in June, followed by a digital release later that month.

In Maggie Moore(s), when two women with the same name are murdered days apart, small-town police chief Jordan Sanders (Hamm) finds himself wading through an unlikely collection of cheating husbands, lonely hearts, nosy neighbors and contract killers in an effort to put the pieces of the case, and his life, together.

The deal was negotiated by Seth Needle, executive vice president of global acquisitions and co-productions, on behalf of Screen Media,...

Jon Hamm and Tina Fey will reunite and star in the next film from director John Slattery, a dark comedy called “Maggie Moore(s).”

Hamm and Fey have starred together on “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” while Hamm and Slattery are both veterans of “Mad Men.”

“Maggie Moore(s)”, which will be Slattery’s follow-up to “God’s Pocket” from 2014, is a dark comedy about a police chief in a small town who is suddenly faced with back-to-back murders of two women with the exact same name. Paul Bernbaum (“Hollywoodland”) wrote the screenplay.

Endeavor Content is representing the film’s international sales at the European Film Market. Contentious Media is financing. Endeavor Content, Gersh and CAA Media Finance are representing domestic sales.

Slattery will also produce “Maggie Moore(s)” along with Cary Woods. Vincent Newman, Ross Kohn and Nancy Leopardi will executive produce.

As an actor, John Slattery most recently...

Exclusive: John Slattery is setting up his second feature as a director, Maggie Moore(s), with fellow Mad Men alum Jon Hamm and Tina Fey.

The black comedy reps the reteaming of Hamm and Fey, the former who has starred on two of her series: in seven episodes of 30 Rock playing the characters of Abner, Dr. Drew Baird and David Brinkley; and as cult leader Richard Wayne Gary Wayne in 13 episodes of Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Maggie Moore(s) takes place in a dusty desert town where nothing ever happens, as a police chief is suddenly faced with the back-to-back murders of two women with the same name.

Endeavor Content is launching international sales at the European Film Market for Maggie Moore(s). Slattery’s feature directorial debut was the 2014 crime title God’s Pocket starring John Turturro, the late Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mad Men alum Christina Hendricks and Richard Jenkins.

Big Brother has been filled with drama since its inception 20 years ago.

Several people have won the grand prize, and while some may not have deserved it, they managed to scheme their way to the top spot.

With a second All-Stars season on the way, it's time to take a look back at some of the winners and where they are at today.

Eddie McGee (Season 1)

Big Brother was a very different game when it launched back in the year 2000.

McGee played a decent enough game and is the first-ever winner of the U.S. iteration.

In the years since his win, he has worked as an actor, with roles in The Human Race and God's Pocket.

Will Kirby (Season 2)

Will is one of the best players to ever enter the house. There's no doubt about that.

He subsequently returned to the game in Big Brother: All Stars, and finished in fourth place.

In April, fire up Netflix and prepare to binge-watch hit movies like "The Princess Bride" and "The Shawshank Redemption" as they're added (finally!) to Netflix streaming. Also new to streaming: Stanley Kubrick classics "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) and "A Clockwork Orange" (1971).

Also, say hello to Netflix Originals "The Ranch," starring Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, and Sam Elliott; Season 2 of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"; and Ricky Gervais's "Special Correspondents."

Here's the complete list of what's new on Netflix in April 2016. Of course, titles and release dates are always subject to change.

Available April 1, 2016

"16 Blocks" (2006)

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)

"A Clockwork Orange" (1971)

"Anthony Bourdain": Parts Unknown": Season 5

"The Ascent of Woman": A 10,000 Year Story

"Beat Bobby Flay": Season 1

"Best in Show" (2000)

"Bob's Burgers": Season 5

"Boogie Nights" (1997)

"Breathe" (2014)

"Chaplin" (1992)

"Charlie and "The Chocolate Factory" (2005)

"Codegirl" (2015)

"Colegas" (2012)

"Cujo" (1983)

"Cutthroat Kitchen": Seasons 34

"Deep Impact" (1998)

"Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang...

Christina Hendricks is one hot ticket. As "Mad Men" gets ready to fade into the television landscape, the woman who made Joan her own has been taking roles in the film world left and right: In the last few years alone, she's co-starred in fellow "Mad Men" star John Slattery's "God's Pocket," Ryan Gosling's directorial debut "Lost River," Gillian Flynn's follow-up to "Gone Girl," "Dark Places," and she's currently filming Nicolas Wynding Refn's "The Neon Demon" opposite Keanu Reeves. With all those film roles, who needs TV? Hendricks, that's who. Even after eight years on "Mad Men," Hendricks isn't ready to say goodbye to the medium that helped break her onto the scene just yet. She starred opposite Luke Wilson in the Cameron Crowe pilot, "Roadies," a hotly-anticipated dramedy at Showtime that's still awaiting a series order. With that talent involved, it's hard to imagine them saying no,...

Philip Seymour Hoffman died one year ago today at the age of 46, and celebrities have expressed their shock and sadness since the tragedy. Philip had a long career, with his parts in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and Part 2 and roles in God's Pocket and A Most Wanted Man being some of his last. During his 20-plus years in Hollywood, Philip remained relatively private when he wasn't on the big screen, though he did share some of his past struggles with drugs and alcohol and his passion for his family in interviews. Keep reading to learn more about the man who made his mark with memorable roles and left a legacy for his family.

★★★☆☆The feature debut from Mad Men actor John Slattery (who plays the wonderfully urbane Roger Sterling in the hit AMC show), God's Pocket (2013) may not share the same air of sophistication as the stylish ad industry ratings winner, but this sleazy tale of small town Joes and two-bit hustlers is easily pulled through by its impressive ensemble cast. For his first film, Slattery calls on the talents of Mad Men co-star Christina Hendricks, the sorely missed Philip Seymour Hoffman (in his penultimate role), the always excellent Richard Jenkins and John Turturro, alongside a host of other familiar faces. Though missteps are made, Slattery strikes an effective balance between black comedy and noirish morbidity.

Over the past few weeks we've celebrated the best movies of 2014 and now, inevitably, it's time to celebrate the worst. The HitFix staff has chosen 25 films that disappointed, frustrated and often found us wanting to run from the theater screaming in disbelief. And while many of the selections are from the Hollywood studio factory, a surprising number are not. The 25 on our list include two Toronto world premieres, a film in competition (!) at Cannes, two Sundance selections, a Meryl Streep flick and an epic from arguably one of the greatest directors of all-time. Notable misfires that didn't make it included "That Awkward Moment," "Need for Speed," "The November Man," "Annie," "Gimme Shelter," "God's Pocket," "The Signal" and "Non-Stop," among others. Has that piqued your interest? Check out which movies made the top 25 in the embedded gallery below. Then vote for the films you think were the worst five of the year in the poll.

Eddie Marsan has signed on to join Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel and Haley Bennett in the Untitled Patricia Highsmith Adaptation, which was formerly known as The Blunderer.

The plot is based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Blunderer, centering on a successful man (Patrick Wilson) whose life begins to come apart when his wife (Jessica Biel) is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. He keeps making mistake after mistake as his once-perfect life keeps spiraling out of control. No details were given for Eddie Marsan's character.

Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey) is directing from an adapted screenplay by Susan Boyd, with Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa and Ted Hope producing. Nick Meyer, Marc Schaberg, Kelly McCormick, Stephen Hays, Peter Graham, Alexa Seligman, Jay Taylor, John Jencks and Joe Simpson are executive producing. Shooting has already started in Cincinatti.

Eddie Marsan most recently starred in The World's End, God's Pocket and Filth,...

Disney is revisiting the classic Jack London story White Fang with a new adaptation, more than 20 years after the 1991 movie starring Ethan Hawke made its debut in theaters.

Oscar-nominated writer Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) has been tasked with writing the screenplay, which will be a modern-day adaptation based on the Jack London novel. The 1991 movie White Fang was set at the turn of the 20th Century, centering on a young Alaskan man (Ethan Hawke) who befriends a wolf dog during the Gold Rush, as they get into a number of adventures involving starving wolves, grizzly bears, dog fighters and Aboriginal settlers. That adventure spawned the 1994 sequel White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf.

The original novel was set in Canada's Yukon Territory, and told through the perspective of the wolf dog and his story of survival. The title animal's rescue from dogfighters by a young man was only...

You're the only one who knows what it's like down here in the Pocket.

People don't know their neighbors anymore. Isn't that a shame? The breakdown of society one block at a time. Crime is down but kids don't play outside. They don't know how to have fun anymore or, at least, don't know how to get out from under their paranoid parents. One or the other. Terrible. In New York, you look around and nobody knows nobody. If they do, it's probably shady. If, God forbid, you drop down dead in your apartment, it's probably a couple days before your roommates even notice. Then again, you're more likely to be killed by someone you know, so maybe this is a good thing. You see a movie like God's Pocket (2014), and the good ol' neighborhood down in Philly and you begin to understand that statistical anomaly. Because people are assholes...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier The Captain hits DVD and Blu-ray today and I wonder, do the Marvel fanatics consider this the best Marvel movie of the year or Guardians of the Galaxyc

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Complete First Season Of course, if you're going to pick up Captain America: The Winter Soldier you have to also pick up the first season of "Shield" rightc I mean, there must be an Easter Egg or two that explains that thing or hints at that other thing in there somewhere rightc

Words and Pictures Didn't hear anything all that great about this one, but I don't think I heard anything all that bad. With Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche I assume it can't be all bad, though I doubt I'll ever give it a shot.

Brick Mansions On DVD and Blu-ray is where this one is probably best left experienced.

This is the Pure Movies review of God's Pocket, directed by John Slattery and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, Eddie Marsan and John Turturro. It’s about Philip Seymour Hoffman. Like Heath Ledger films after he was gone, Hoffman films will continue to trickle out, and we will greedily and mournfully await and consume, like the last air pocket in a slowing sinking ship, or watching that last West African Black Rhino’s troubled pregnancy; we didn’t know how precious they were until they became profoundly finite. This was a fine and sturdy Philip Seymour Hoffman role, but the film is not a landmark of his career, like Synecdoche, New York or Magnolia or Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Not his fault.

Andrew Pulver and our special guest, Hollywood Reporter writer Leslie Felperin, join Henry Barnes for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. This week our team are peering through their fingers at a naked Gérard Depardieu in Abel Ferrera's 'Dsk-inspired' drama Welcome to New York; digging in the lint with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in bleak blue collar comedy God's Pocket; mooning over lost love with Ben Whishaw in Lilting; and watching director Eddie Martin pull a sweet narrative flip with his skateboarding documentary / murder mystery All This Mayhem

Want to take the pictures off? Listen to the audio-only version of this week's show Continue reading...

Director: John Slattery; Screenwriter Alex Metcalf, John Slattery; Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, Caleb Landry Jones, Jack O'Connell; Running time: 88 mins; Certificate: 15

Given how fresh the pain of Philip Seymour Hoffman's passing still feels, it's perhaps a relief that gloomy tragicomedy God's Pocket – which marks one of his final roles – never engages seriously with the reality of death. The sight of Hoffman's downtrodden Mickey lugging his stepson's corpse from the morgue, making an ill-fated attempt to prop it upright along the way, embodies both the film's notion of morbid black humour and its somewhat lacking execution.

Making his feature directing debut after cutting his teeth on several episodes of Mad Men, John Slattery smartly casts his co-star Christina Hendricks as grieving mother Jeanie, whose arc becomes the emotional touchstone in the otherwise dispassionate proceedings. She's the only one in her tight-knit blue-collar community shedding a tear...

There's now a fairly strong body of evidence to suggest that Christina Hendricks is a dream to work with. Two of her co-stars - Drive's Ryan Gosling and Mad Men's John Slattery - have now invited her to star in their directorial debuts, and the films debuted at this year's Cannes and Sundance festivals respectively.

Slattery's blackly comic God's Pocket stars Hendricks as a disillusioned single mother in a blue-collar Philadelphia neighbourhood, who sets out to uncover the truth after her widely-disliked son is killed in an apparent workplace accident.

When Digital Spy sat down with Hendricks earlier this week, we asked her about working with both Slattery and Gosling, her memories of late co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman, and her emotional final day on the set of Mad Men.

How did John Slattery approach you with God's Pocket?

He had mentioned on set that he was working on a film,...

Ryan Gosling is "really proud" of his directorial debut Lost River, according to the film's star Christina Hendricks.

The movie, which features Hendricks as a single mother struggling to survive in a ruined city, debuted to largely negative reviews at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

"People had very strong opinions about it, as they should," Hendricks told Digital Spy. "I'm really proud of it, and it is an art piece, and it is the movie that we thought we were making.

"There was no setup of the kind of movie he was making, it was just 'Ryan Gosling's making a movie', so everyone in their head imagined what they wanted Ryan Gosling to make, and Ryan Gosling made what he wanted to make. It was beautiful, and I think he's really proud of it."

Drive filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is among those who have defended the film, calling it "a beautiful,...

In one of his last roles, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a petty crook whose life in the tough Philadelphia 'hood of God's Pocket takes a series of downturns when his no-good stepson is killed in a workplace 'accident'. Suspecting foul play, the boy's mother (Christina Hendricks) demands the truth. Unfortunately, the local hack who catches the case (Richard Jenkins) is more interested in her body than her story, and her husband has enough on his hands just trying to lay the body to rest.

Christina Hendricks is best known for her role as Joan Holloway, and the Mad Men star's own experience with agencies (ad or otherwise) is about as fraught as her fictional counterpart's.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Hendricks says that her role on the hit show elicited a dearth of enthusiasm from the very people who were supposed to be in charge of her career.

"[My agency] said, 'It's a period piece, it's never going to go anywhere. We need you to make money and this isn't going to make money.' They ended up dropping me."

Hendricks and her manager...

Christina Hendricks is best known for her role as Joan Holloway, and the Mad Men star's own experience with agencies (ad or otherwise) is about as fraught as her fictional counterpart's. In a new interview with The Guardian, Hendricks says that her role on the hit show elicited a dearth of enthusiasm from the very people who were supposed to be in charge of her career. "[My agency] said, 'It's a period piece, it's never going to go anywhere. We need you to make money and this isn't going to make money.' They ended up dropping me." Hendricks and her manager...

In honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman's final film, A Most Wanted Man, hitting theaters today, we are reprinting David Browne's cover story on the actor's final days from our February 27th issue.

Slouched in the front row of the labyrinth Theater Company's performance space in New York's West Village last May, Philip Seymour Hoffman was his typical focused, superdisciplined self. In the intimate 90-seat theater, Hoffman – always dressed in one or another of his seemingly interchangeable baggy pants and sweaters – was relentlessly pushing the cast and crew of the play he was directing,...

This Friday should have been a cause for celebration: the release of "A Most Wanted Man," an adaptation of John Le Carre's novel by one of our favorite working filmmakers, Anton Corbijn ("Control," "The American"), and starring one of our finest working actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Instead, it's a bittersweet occasion: as we all know, Hoffman heartbreakingly passed away in February, only a few weeks after the film premiered at Sundance (as well as "God's Pocket," which was released a few months back). It was the last film that Hoffman saw to completion: he was in production on what will turn out to be his very final pictures, the two-part finale to "The Hunger Games" series, when he passed. It's all too easy to get choked about one of our final opportunities to see Hoffman do what he did best—Lord knows, every time we've caught a trailer or similar,...

Dendy Cinemas will launch its Video-on-Demand service on August 6, initially providing 800-1,000 films to rent or buy online.

Dendy Direct will also offer Us and Australian TV series, in some cases one day after their broadcast airing, just as iTunes does. The company announced licensing deals with ABC Commercial, Beyond Home Entertainment, Entertainment One Australia, Madman Entertainment, Pinnacle Films, Roadshow, Transmission and Umbrella Entertainment.

It will soon announce deals with the Us studios and other independents. The line-up will include Roadshow.s The Wolf of Wall Street, The Lego Movie and Red Dog,. Transmission.s Tracks, The Railway Man, Chinese Puzzle and Nymphomaniac, eOne's Divergent, Madman's The Raid 2 and God's Pocket. and Umbrella's Mr. Morgan's Last Love. Among the upcoming titles will be Roadshow.s Transcendence and Edge of Tomorrow.

The TV slate includes eOne's The Walking Dead, Peaky Blinders and Klondike, the ABC's The Time of Our Lives...

Nearly six months on, and the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman still stings enormously. In part, it's being reminded of his immense talents in movies like "God's Pocket" and next week's "A Most Wanted Man," which were completed before his passing (both premiered at Sundance in January, mere weeks ahead of the actor's death, and are subsequently hitting theaters). And in part, it's because of knowing that the 46-year-old actor could have had so much good work ahead of him, had he lived. One such project: a potential reteam with "A Most Wanted Man" helmer Anton Corbijn. Time just premiered a new featurette on the John le Carré adaptation, and alongside it, Corbijn revealed that he'd hoped that Hoffman would have taken a small role in the director's subsequent project "Life." The film, which he began filming only a few months after "A Most Wanted Man" premiered, stars Robert Pattinson as photographer Dennis Stock,...

The debut feature by everyone’s favourite Mad Man John Slattery, God’s Pocket is named after the Philadelphia neighbourhood in which it’s set. It’s a blackly comic character piece that stars Philip Seymour Hoffman in a part similar to the rumpled, feet-of-clay roles that made him great, and it has a new UK trailer to watch here. brightcove.createExperiences();God’s Pocket is based on a novel by Peter Dexter, writer of The Paperboy, and follows Mickey Scarpato (Hoffman), a blue-collar Philly con whose stepson has died in a construction accident. And when they say accident, they actually mean “accident”. Something fishy is afoot here and his wife (Christina Hendricks) is determined that he gets to the bottom of it.Richard Jenkins, John Turturro and Eddie Marsan are the fellow players in the gnarly crime caper that unfolds. The reviews from the Us have been mixed, but...

With the month almost in the books, it's time for Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers to bring out his handy scum bucket, tossing in the "10 scummiest movies of the merry month of May." It's an especially gross list this time around, so our critic brought along a special guest – monster-movie legend Godzilla – to help digest the waste.

Watch All of Peter Traver's Videos at The Travers Take

Fittingly, the creature's Bryan Cranston-starring reboot is up first at Number 10. While Travers isn't too harsh on the flick, saying...

John Slattery's directorial debut "God's Pocket" doubled as a part of Philip Seymour Hoffman's acting farewell ("A Most Wanted Man" is set for release later this summer). "God's Pocket," based on a Pete Dexter novel of the same name, premiered at Sundance this year, and is now available on VOD and in limited release.  Read More: 'Mad Men''s John Slattery Talks to Indiewire From the Set of 'God's Pocket,' His Directorial Debut Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christina Hendricks In this clip, exclusively released to The Playlist, Mickey, played brilliantly by Hoffman, pitches a sure thing bet on a horse to his friend played by John Turturro. The film, which is set in a fictional Pennsylvania suburb, winds through the experiences of an ensemble of characters after the death of a young man. Christina Hendricks plays the distraught mother who has lost her son...

The summer begins the process of saying goodbye, cinematically, to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Before his death, the actor completed work on two films — "A Most Wanted Man" and "God's Pocket" (with "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" requiring some steps to get around his absence) — and the latter drama will drop first. Directed by "Mad Men" star John Slattery, and also featuring John Turturro and Christina Hendricks, the story follows Mickey, who tries to sweep under the rug the news of the "accidental" death of his stepson on a construction site. But when a reporter smells a story, Mickey's situation goes from bad to worse. But Mickey is a good storyteller as you'll see in this clip where he explains what exactly happened to a horse at the track. "God's Pocket" is now on VOD and playing in limited release. Watch below.

Cannes - Speaking to a colleague this evening, we felt it was clear "Grace of Monaco" is on its way to being one of those highly anticipated festival films that critics viciously pounce on when it's not good. Both myself and Guy Lodge are not fans of it, but we can admit it's entertaining in a bad movie way. The general word is so negative you'd think it was "Diana" or "God's Pocket" (it's bad, but it's not unwatchable in a campy way). That being said, the reaction to "Grace" is making Harvey Weinstein's dispute with director Oliver Dahan over the final cut of the picture look more understandable by the minute. Let's be frank, 90% of the time the stories about Weinstein's tendency to want to re-edit a picture are cringe-worthy. But, that other 10%? Well, Harvey wouldn't have the track record he's established over the past 20 years if he...

Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of May's Indie Film Month. "God's Pocket" is currently available to view On Demand. Today's TWC Indie Film Month exclusive clip offers a behind the scenes look at "God's Pocket," the directorial debut of "Mad Men" star John Slattery and one of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's final projects before his tragic death. In the clip below, Slattery and star Christina Hendricks discuss what they love about independent film and offer a few glimpses into the gritty world that Slattery has created.  Indiewire has partnered with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand to kick off May's Indie Film Month. Enjoy exceptionally creative and uniquely entertaining new Indie releases ("Joe," "The Double," "Grand Piano," and more) along with classic, Throwback Thursday indie titles ("500 Days of Summer," "Pulp Fiction," and more) - all month long...

Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and own this week on the various streaming services such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical exclusives for rent, priced from $3-$10, in 24- or 48-hour periods Devil's Due (pregger horror; Allison Miller, Zach Gilford; rated R) Her (Spike Jonze-directed drama; Joaquin Phoenix, voice of Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams; rated R) I, Frankenstein (supernatural action; Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy; also available in 3D; rated PG-13) That Awkward Moment (comedy; Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan; rated R) God's Pocket (drama; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks; available 5/14 on Mod and in...

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The first surprise hit of the summer arrived this weekend as the R-rated comedy "Neighbors" partied hard for a monster $51 million opening. Actually, anyone who had seen the Nick Stoller directed flick since its debut at the SXSW Film Festival in March could have told you it would be a hit, but a $50 million plus opening? That had to be a dream scenario for distributor Universal Pictures.  Instead, Seth Rogen and Zac Efron can now credit the flick for their biggest live action openings ever.  And for Efron, in particular, "Neighbors" success proves he really does have longterm leading man potential. Universal's gain was Sony Pictures's loss as last week's champ, "Amazing Spider-Man 2," fell and it fell it hard.  The second installment in the Spidey "reboot" dropped 59.4% (it could be 60% by the time Monday's actuals come in) and earned an estimated $37.2 million for $147.9 million to date.  With "Godzilla" and...

The journey of God's Pocket from its Sundance debut in January to its quiet premiere last Friday has been marked with tragedy. Two weeks after a rollicking, fun interview I did with director John Slattery and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christina Hendricks in Utah, Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment. It's hard now to watch the movie — which is Slattery's feature-film directorial debut and which opens with Hoffman's character attending a funeral — and not be struck by sadness. Still, there are plenty of moments of comedy and joy in Hoffman's performance. He plays a blue-collar South Philly barfly and petty crook who's trying to do right by his wife (Hendricks), who's just lost a son, and keeps making a mess of it — to the point where he spends much of the movie dragging around a corpse and giant slabs of meat. Vulture spoke...

John Slattery's directorial feature film debut, "God's Pocket," arrives in theaters at an interesting time, one of mourning and new possibility. Lead actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died three months ago, shortly after the film premiered at Sundance. Christina Hendricks, the "God's Pocket" leading lady, is on the same path now as Slattery, in saying a long goodbye to "Mad Men" and embracing whatever's next. Slattery, who does not act in his film, said that he's "grateful" for having directed his friend Hoffman, that he gets rewatching Hoffman's performance and forgets "the reality" of the loss. Hendricks said that she's "still enjoying him in this, enjoying the memory of working with him," that her time with him is still in the present rather than past tense. As for whatever's next after "Mad Men" when Season 7 finishes next spring, Slattery said he knows the possibility of being pigeonholed into a kind of character,...

Paul Walker's Brick Mansions and Philip Seymour Hoffman's God's Pocket are just the latest examples of cinema's unique, and sometimes eerie, gift for resurrection

If it had come out a year ago, it would have slid by, noticed only by that portion of the cinema audience dedicated to admiring high-speed car chases and wiry blokes who run up the sides of buildings. But Brick Mansions, the latest in the conveyor-belt of French-derived trash-action films Taxi, The Transporter, Taken has got something very unusual going for it: Paul Walker, live and in the flesh.

Walker, you will recall, was the actor who appeared in the speed-freak Fast and Furious films, and who died in a car accident in November last year part-way through filming the seventh in the F&F series. His participation in Brick Mansions was no doubt originally designed to try to free him from what by...

Literally funereal from its first scene, God's Pocket is a bit of site-specific miserablism brought to life by an ensemble whose every actor — the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as a connected schlub, Christina Hendricks as his grief-stricken wife, John Turturro as Hoffman's only real friend, and Richard Jenkins as the lecherous, alcoholic reporter who serves as the community's de facto voice in a local paper — is more interesting than the part he or she is playing.

They bet on sure-thing horses that aren't, haunt the local watering hole until last call, and wax poetic about the old days, though there's little reason to believe things were ever much better; everyone is in a hole and determined to keep digging.

Theirs is a tribal mentality that's wary of...

A version of this review was published during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. "God's Pocket" opens in limited release this Friday and on VOD platforms on May 14. John Slattery, best known for his role as the debonair "Mad Men" star Roger Sterling, makes the shift from actor to director with his feature length debut "God’s Pocket," adapting (with co-writer Alex Metcalf) the novel by Peter Dexter (whose work was most recently brought to the screen as Lee Daniels’ deliriously gonzo "The Paperboy"). This isn’t Slattery's first time sitting in the director’s chair, as the silver-haired star cut his teeth by handling five episodes of “Mad Men." The results hinted at the presence of a confident storyteller capable of maintaining a delicate mood. Yet the promise shown in those entries makes it all the more disappointing that Slattery's first feature is a disjointed mixture of screwball comedy and urban...

Note: This review originally ran as part of our Sundance 2014 coverage. Plot: Mickey (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a small-time schemer married to the beautiful Jeannie (Christina Hendricks) and living in the working class neighbourhood of God's Pocket. When his adult step-son dies under mysterious circumstances, Mickey's forced to investigate. Review: Actor John Slattery is famous for his role as Roger Sterling on AMC's Mad Men. What's less known about Slattery is that he's directed...

Happy Birthday, Christina Hendricks! The Mad Men star turns 39 today. "I'm going to be working this weekend, but my husband's going to take me out for a delicious meal and I'm going to make him watch a movie that I just fell in love with," Hendricks told me earlier this week at the premiere of her new drama, God's Pocket (out May 9). "Dinner and a movie—a romantic movie!" The movie? About Time, the Richard Curtis-directed film starring Rachel McAdams. Hendricks, who looked fab at the premiere in a black Jenny Packham cocktail dress, had previously revealed on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon that she was hoping to head to the California desert for her...

Stepping out for a promotional appearance, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery and Kiernan Shipka showed up at the Los Angeles premiere of “God’s Pocket” on Thursday night (May 1).

Joined by producers Sam Bisbee and Lance Accord, the “Mad Men” costars all looked dapper as they mingled with the crowd outside Lacma prior to the screening.

“God’s Pocket” (out May 9th) marks Slattery’s directorial debut as well as one of the final films for the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Per the synopsis, “When Mickey's crazy stepson Leon is killed in a construction 'accident', nobody in the working class neighborhood of God's Pocket is sorry he's gone. Mickey tries to bury the bad news with the body, but when the boy's mother demands the truth, Mickey finds himself stuck in a life and death struggle between a body he can't bury, a wife he can't please and a debt he can't pay.

It's interesting to look at the number of upcoming films this month that I've already seen. Obviously I've already seen and reviewed The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (read my review here), which hits theaters this weekend, officially marking the start of the 2014 Summer movie season even though it seem Captain America: The Winter Soldier already did just that. I've already seen (and enjoyed), but have not reviewed Jon Favreau's Chef and the Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron comedy Neighbors, both of which hit theaters on May 9. Also opening that same weekend, only in limited theaters are Atom Egoyan's awful Devil's Knot as well as Richard Ayodae's nod to Terry Gilliam (admitted or not) The Double (read my review here) starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska. Both of those films I've seen and didn't necessarily care for either, though Devil's Knot is a true waste of time. On...