Tag Archives: The Playlist

Martin Sheen has had his ups and downs, but throughout his career he has played the stern-but-loving father figure with grace and menace in equal dose. His Uncle Ben is no exception. Unlike the Ben in Raimi’s (superior) film, Sheen imbues the character with rough edges; he’s a man of principle who believes in the responsibilityContinueContinue reading “Ranking The Best ‘Spider-Man’ Movie Characters”

For a couple of weeks now, we’ve been living in a post-“Wonder Woman” world. A world which, you can be certain, is a better world. One where the genuine hunger for a female (super)hero has been served a tasty menu and a collective appetite has been whetted. One where doors are likely cracking open forContinueContinue reading “Fresh & Diverse ‘Signature Move’ Is Also Overly Familiar [BAMcinemaFest Review]”

“For Flint” For the general American public, the Flint, Michigan water crisis is over. The problem was identified, the public was outraged, the media coverage faded. But for those residents of Flint — a former industrial hub an hour north of Detroit — the catastrophe is far from finished: lawsuits are still ongoing, funds areContinueContinue reading “Tribeca Shorts: ‘Tokyo Project’ With Elisabeth Moss, ‘For Flint,’ & ‘Approaching A Breakthrough’ [Review]”

From time to time it’s good to remind the world (and ourselves) that we are The Playlist, and in addition to being movie lovers, we are also obsessed with music, specifically movie music. It also helps when a director gives us good reason to take a long look at their musical choices — i.e. byContinueContinue reading “The Terrence Malick Mixtape: Examining The Use Of Music In The Director’s Films”

Last month, “The White Helmets” took home a much-deserved Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It’s not the sort of film that reinvents the wheel, nor is it a particularly grand feat of filmmaking. What it is is an extraordinary glimpse at an urgent and overlooked crisis, a film that manages to find the human capacity for love amidContinueContinue reading “‘Cries From Syria’ Is A Devastating, Unflinching Look At The Syrian Civil War [Review]”

There are few tropes as deeply ingrained as those of the horror genre. More often than not, even a luddite could spot a horror film in the first minute. But in a way, this overwrought frame that we have all become so familiar with has pushed many young filmmakers to buck against the cliches andContinueContinue reading “Taut And Shocking ‘Killing Ground’ Is An Assured, Disturbing Debut Feature [Sundance Review]”

There is little quite as decisive as education. And state-side, there is certainly a weariness related to boarding schools and their outdated traditions, antiquated ideologies, and general eliteness that, at the moment, has reached a near-pariah state (at least outside of the North East). This makes it plausible that American audiences might sit down to theContinueContinue reading “Boarding School Doc ‘In Loco Parentis’ Is An Immersive Look At The Transformative Power Of Education [Sundance Review]”

For all the awful and rot the final act of 2016 has brought us, one small glimmer of cinematic hope was revealed last month with the news that Hayao Miyazaki was coming out of retirement and working on another film for Studio Ghibli. Now, following not far behind, we have the theatrical rerelease of a long overlooked effortContinueContinue reading “Studio Ghibli’s ‘Ocean Waves’ Has Aged Around The Edges, But Remains A Poignant Affair [Review]”

Few performances this year were equally as fun as they were sorrowful, and Jeff Bridges’ essential turn in the western “Hell Or High Water” managed to roll both delicate sentiments into each and every line of his dialogue. Bridges — who has made scene-stealing something of a habit of late — is nothing short of masterfulContinueContinue reading “The 25 Best Performances Of 2016”

To be fair, “The Dark Horse” is not exactly underrated by those who have seen it. James Napier Robertson’s film, which was released in 2014 in its native New Zealand, has racked up a considerable critical consensus, and for good reason. Still, the film was criminally underseen and thus criminally forgotten. Following the real-life Māori speedContinueContinue reading “The Most Overrated & Underrated Films Of 2016”