There are a multitude of reasons why the first “John Wick” movie was successful (and the “bullet-riddled blast” of a sequel, which opens this week, seems primed to do at least as well). Primarily, it was the lean, unapologetic action bona fides of stuntmen-turned-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch that took the slender B-movie premise and turned it into a sleek modern classic in the neo-noir genre.

Continue reading The Essentials: The 10 Best Keanu Reeves Movies at The Playlist.

In this next episode of the podcast, in which an overrated and underrated film within the same genre, style or tone are pitted against each other, the hosts of Over/Under Movies act like a bunch of Dick-heads who just can’t seem to get a grip on reality. (Maybe it’s all that Substance D.) Oktay Ege Kozak picked the movies this time, and decided to focus on a pair of Philip K. Dick adaptations for this episode.

Continue reading Podcast: Over/Under Movies Gets Paranoid Over Philip K. Dick Adaptations ‘Blade Runner’ & ‘A Scanner Darkly’ at The Playlist.

As kids, we looked ahead to the imminent 21st century and thought of a big bold, sci-fi future. The robot butler and trips to the drug store in hovercars version hasn’t yet arrived, but the first 15 years of this century have been extremely fruitful for big-screen science fiction.

Sci-fi is almost as old as cinema itself —1902’s Georges Méliès’ “A Trip To The Moon” is generally seen as the first example— but it became hugely popular in late 20th century filmmaking in the aftermath of “Star Wars,” if also somewhat watered down.

Continue reading The 25 Best Sci-Fi Films Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.