As we noted and suggested in our Best TV & Mini-Series of The Decade feature, it was a pretty nutty decade for television. The advent of streaming, peak TV, prestige TV, and now, in late 2019, the new 2nd age of the Streaming Wars— thanks to the arrival of Disney+, Apple TV+, and soon, HBO Max—is going to make the content deluge even more difficult to navigate for audiences and TV critics, trying to discern what’s what and keeping up.

Continue reading The Best TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2019 at The Playlist.

Christian Papierniak’s “Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town,” is a periodically inspired film with a wonderful central performance and a stacked supporting cast. It suffers, at times, from the overconfidence of a bold first-time filmmaker, but Papierniak’s risk-taking instincts pay off more often than not. The film, which is as aggressively episodic as “Pulp Fiction,” is too derivative of Tarantino and his ilk to successfully establish Papierniak’s own directorial voice, but the filmmaker does a more-than-serviceable job while playing in that sandbox.

Continue reading ‘Izzy Gets the F Across Town’ Is A Brilliant Showcase For Mackenzie Davis [Review] at The Playlist.

Another day, another reboot of a B-movie from the ’80s that may or may not be a sequel but also they don’t want you to worry about it too much. This one, however, stands out by virtue of its director, Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” “The Nice Guys.”), who has yet to make a bad movie — though I would personally argue that “Iron Man 3” is severely overrated — and thus deserves some level of trust, even as he’s unnecessarily breathing life into yet another dead franchise at the behest of 20th Century Fox. 

Continue reading First Trailer For Shane Black’s ‘The Predator’ Can See The Heat Map Of Your Fear at The Playlist.

We can’t be friends if you aren’t excited for “The Meg,” i.e: that new movie where Jason Statham fights a monster shark.

Originally set to be Eli Roth’s next directorial project (that honor was ultimately bestowed unto “Death Wish,”) “The Meg” was, in fact, directed by Jon Turteltaub of “Last Vegas” and “National Treasure” fame.

Continue reading ‘The Meg’ Trailer Is The Jason Statham Battles A Prehistoric Supershark Movie You’ve Always Wanted at The Playlist.

BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL: “Revenge” is the first feature from French director Coralie Fargeat. It’s an impressive film in many ways, but the fact that this is Fargeat’s first movie is truly staggering. The confidence and self-assuredness on display in every frame of “Revenge” speaks to Fargeat’s explosive competence; “Revenge” is a blockbuster debut, and if all is right in the world, Fargeat will be making movies for a very long time to come.

Continue reading ‘Revenge’ Is A Blood-Soaked, Beautiful Horror Film [Review + Red Band Trailer Goodness] at The Playlist.

The ideal audience for “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling” is someone who’s never heard of comedian Garry Shandling, but is predisposed to liking him. If you’re already a fan of Shandling’s, it’s unlikely that director Judd Apatow’s ludicrously long HBO documentary will shed much additional light on the comedian’s life and legacy. If you’re not attuned to Shandling’s brand of deadpan comedy, ‘The Zen Diaries,’ which often takes the humorist’s genius for granted, is decidedly not for you.

Continue reading Judd Apatow’s ‘The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling’ Is A Lovingly Indulgent Tribute at The Playlist.

Deborah Haywood’s “Pin Cushion” is a decidedly hateful movie. And it’s indiscriminating in its hatred; it loathes everyone. “Pin Cushion” is full of viciously mean-spirited characters and ambivalent pedestrians; whenever you think a character is about to do the right thing, they go ahead and do something far worse than you could have imagined. Everyone aside from the two lead characters is evil; people go about their daily lives looking to inflict as much pain and damage unto others as is humanly possible.

Continue reading ‘Pin Cushion’s Misanthropy Makes Todd Solondz Look Soft [Boston Underground Film Festival Review] at The Playlist.

It may not be the hottest of takes, but “Barry” is just as good as you’ve heard.

The new HBO series stars Bill Hader as Barry Berkman, an assassin stationed in the Midwest. When Barry becomes depressed, his boss, Fuches (Stephen Root), sends him to Los Angeles to decompress (and execute a hit for the Chechen mob). Once in LA, Barry follows his unwitting target to an acting class taught by Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), where he comes to the realization that his passion in life might not be killing after all.

Continue reading HBO’s ‘Barry’ Series Premiere Is A Great Start For Writer/Director/Star Bill Hader [Review] at The Playlist.

Netflix‘s upcoming “Troy: Fall of a City” is a co-production with BBC One, and as such, it has already premiered in Britain. It received largely positive reviews ahead of its British debut, landing at a healthy 70% on the all-important Tomatometer before airing internationally on Netflix on April 6. Here’s the official series description from Netflix:

An epic story of love and war, intrigue and betrayal.

Continue reading New Trailer For Netflix’s ‘Troy: Fall Of A City’ Aims For ‘Game Of Thrones’ Appeal at The Playlist.

“The Rain” is an upcoming Netflix original series about a group of kids facing the post-apocalypse in Denmark. From the looks of its trailer, it’s part “Walking Dead,” part “Stranger Things,” and part any given CW show. Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix:

The world as we know it has ended. In Netflix’s post-apocalyptic YA thriller, two Danish siblings emerge from the safety of their bunker six years after a brutal virus carried by the rain wipes out almost all humans in Scandinavia.

Continue reading Netflix’s ‘The Rain’ Teaser: Stay Dry, Stay Alive In This Danish Post-Apocalyptic Series at The Playlist.

Toward the end of Arnaud Desplechin’s “Ismael’s Ghosts,” an actress character declares that a film director is “all over the film,” and that certainly seems to be the case for Desplechin himself. The personal nature of “Ismael’s Ghosts” is tangible in every frame: Ismael, the film’s protagonist played by Mathieu Amalric, shares Desplechin’s obsessions with death, women, and obsession itself. And like Desplechin, Ismael is a filmmaker.

Continue reading Marion Cotillard And Charlotte Gainsbourg Elevate ‘Ismael’s Ghosts’ [New Cut Review] at The Playlist.

Interspersed throughout Susan Walter’s “All I Wish” are a series of wildly jarring, totally inexplicable straight-to-camera monologues from the film’s various characters. One moment Sharon Stone’s Senna is flirting with Tony Goldwyn’s Adam, the next Ellen Burstyn is sitting in front of a black background talking about how every woman wishes for “better boobs.” These interstitials are demonstrative of an insecure filmmaker; rather than allow the film’s narrative to speak for itself, Walter has her characters simply state their feelings, philosophies, and theses.

Continue reading ‘All I Wish’ With Sharon Stone Is A Derivative Romantic Comedy [Review] at The Playlist.

Following an unfortunate encounter with the police, a group of punks hides out in a cabin in the woods, where an inexplicably murderous park ranger hunts them down one by one.  If ever a movie had a generic logline, Jenn Wexler’s “The Ranger” is it. However, while Wexler’s film is weighed down by its overly-generic (in the truest sense of the word “generic”) second act, it is distinguished from the slasher pack by a splendidly punk-rock opening and a satisfying conclusion, not to mention great performances through and through.

Continue reading ‘The Ranger’ Is A Generic, But Well-Crafted, Punk Rock Slasher Film [SXSW Review] at The Playlist.

There’s no getting around the fact that Danny Boyle’s “Trust“ will be evaluated in contrast to Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World“ — or that the contrast is extremely favorable to the new FX series. While the “twin films” phenomenon is prominent enough to have a well-researched and maintained Wikipedia page, what we have here is possibly the most astounding example of twin films in cinema history: two iconic auteurs coincidentally and simultaneously decide to make a film about the same true story (a television series, in Boyle’s case, although the distinction has become far less defined in recent months); the two projects go forward independently with hugely talented, big-name ensemble casts — and are eventually released within months of one another?

Continue reading Brendan Fraser Sticks Out Like A Sore Thumb In Danny Boyle’s Terrific ‘Trust’ [Review] at The Playlist.

Some icons are so enduring, so ubiquitous, so larger than life, they take on an air of invulnerability. Some renowned figures seem to last forever and it’s possible to take them for granted. Take Alfredo James Pacino, who has been around for on screen for five decades in every role imaginable and somehow is just two years away from turning 80 years old (he turns 78 next month). The thought blows our mind, frankly.

Continue reading The Essentials: Al Pacino’s Best Performances at The Playlist.

“Josie,” the incomprehensibly stupid new movie from director Eric England (“Contracted”), features a scene wherein Dylan McDermott asks a turtle how it’s doin’. Later, beloved character actor Kurt Fuller calls a turtle a “goddamned idiot” and further exclaims, “you stupid fucking turtle!” Sophie Turner’s titular character, on the other hand, thinks turtles are “so cute.” “Josie” is at its best when its characters are voicing their opinions on turtles.

Continue reading Sophie Turner Can’t Save The Objectionable ‘Josie’ [Review] at The Playlist.

Billed as “a feature documentary about the Instagram generation,” Jonathan Ignatius Green’s “Social Animals,” from the outside, sounds like the least appealing elevator pitch ever. It conjures up images of interchangeable teenager talking-heads discussing the evils of Instagram, an inappropriately somber narrator, and a preachy third-act lesson about how capitalism is corrupting our children through their smart-devices and how we must all of us abandon our technology in favor of a more humble existence.

Continue reading Incisive Instagram Doc ‘Social Animals’ Is Essential Viewing [SXSW Review] at The Playlist.

Netflix is famous for withholding its viewing data, but it’s probably not a big stretch to say that “Love“ isn’t bringing in huge numbers, like say “Stranger Things.” For one thing, the Judd Apatow-produced series has quietly been on for three seasons, with very little fanfare. Which is unfortunate, because “Love” is an endearing, romantic modern sitcom that deserves better.

Over the course of the first two seasons of “Love,” Mickey and Gus (Gillian Jacobs and Paul Rust) will-they-or-won’t-they’d around each other while simultaneously navigating their work lives, and, in Mickey’s case, alcoholism and sobriety.

Continue reading Netflix’s ‘Love’ Is As Endearing As Ever In Its Final Season [Review] at The Playlist.

In the first clip from Netflix‘s upcoming “The Rachel Divide” documentary Rachel Dolezal‘s son begs her to “just let it go away.” He’s referring, of course, to the time his mother made national news back in 2015 when it was discovered that Dolezal, the ostensibly black leader of NAACP’s Spokane, Washington branch, was in fact Caucasian. For years, Dolezal had been mischaracterizing herself as “black” so as to further her career as an NAACP activist.

Continue reading Rachel Dolezal’s Son Begs His Mother To Let Her Story Die In The First Clip From ‘The Rachel Divide’ at The Playlist.

Hulu‘s “The Handmaid’s Tale” made waves last year upon its first season release. What could possibly be more timely than a female-led show, based on Margaret Atwood‘s classic feminist text about the evils of a theocratic, patriarchal society? It would have spawned thousands of think-pieces even if it wasn’t any good—which, thankfully, it was. From its get-go, “The Handmaid’s Tale” contained some of the very best acting, cinematography, and direction on all of TV.

Continue reading ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 2 Trailer: What The Actual F*** at The Playlist.

The Bingeworthy™ Breakdown is an occasional look at new TV shows. Over 500 scripted seasons of TV are expected to air in 2018, and to help you sort the wheat from the chaff, we’re going to give you the lowdown to help you work out whether it’s worth tuning in every week for them or waiting to binge later. Today we look at “Heathers.”

“Heathers,” huh?

Continue reading Subversive ‘Heathers’ Attempts To Make Waves With Mixed Results [Bingeworthy Breakdown] at The Playlist.

When I was young(er), my Boston-based family would occasionally shlep out to Connecticut to visit my great-grandmother in her old age home. These excursions were annoying and generally unremarkable, but I do have one very specific memory of those trips: watching whatever soap opera happened to be playing on the big TV in the old folks’ communal dining center.

My parents are Ultra-Orthodox Jews who very rarely allowed my siblings and I to watch movies or TV of any sort, so whenever an opportunity would arise to take in a few minutes of precious #content, I would jump at the chance — no matter what it was.

Continue reading Overly Earnest ‘Nostalgia’ Wallows In Sadness [Review] at The Playlist.

Fairly simple premise here: about a half-decade after a zombie outbreak fails to do much damage to Europe (but somehow does a number on Ireland), a cure for the zombie virus is discovered and former-zombies begin to be rehabilitated and brought back into society. Our hero is Senan (Sam Keeley), who once was a zombie but now is cured, and is made to live with his sister-in-law, Abbie (Ellen Page), as he reintegrates into society.

Continue reading ‘The Cured’ Is A Zombie Movie With An Overly Familiar Bite [Review] at The Playlist.

Vegans are very excited for Louie Psihoyos’s “The Game Changers.” They have high hopes for its reach and impact. You might go so far as to say that they want it to change the game. And vegans may just get their wish: “The Game Changers” is executive produced by James Cameron and features a cameo by the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom lend it a degree of high-profile celebrity that would be otherwise foreign to a fairly dull — if importantish —documentary about the evils of meat.

Continue reading ‘The Game Changers’ Is A Dull Warning About The Myth Of Meat [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

I’ve never been asked to review an app before. My area of (questionable) expertise is film and television, and while Steven Soderbergh’s “Mosaic” probably qualifies as both, in its purest form it’s simply an app. Henceforth: my first app review.

When “Mosaic” was first announced, there was talk of it being the first mainstream “choose-your-own-adventure” television series; “choose-your-own-adventure” implying that the viewer could arrive at one of several distinct endings based on decisions that they would make as they watched the show.

Continue reading Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Mosaic’ Is An Immersive Television Experience [Review] at The Playlist.