Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi wowed international audiences and critics with his drama “Drive My Car,” which earned the Best International Feature Film Oscar in 2022. The venerated director is back with “Evil Does Not Exist,” an ecological fable with genre elements about a father and daughter living in the wilderness outside Tokyo. The domestic distributors Sideshow and Janus Films have released a trailer, and the movie will open in limited release in May.

Continue reading ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Trailer: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Follow-Up To Acclaimed Oscar-Winning ‘Drive My Car’ at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

This week’s new release shelf includes more 4K essentials from The Criterion Collection, a stellar slate of catalogue titles from the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Alan Parker, Barry Sonenfeld, and Michel Gondry, and some genuine obscurities that are worth a shot. 

PICK OF THE WEEK: 

“Devil in a Blue Dress”: One of the gravest injustices of late-20th century cinema was the commercial failure of Carl Franklin’s adaptation of Walter Mosley’s first Easy Rawlins novel – an origin story, basically, of how the Black WWII veteran became a private detective, learning how it’s done and what to do (and what not to do).

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Lost City,’ ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Devil In A Blue Dress,’ & More at The Playlist.

Someone on Film Twitter was recently asking, what’s all the fuss about the upcoming Criterion Collection July announcement, and why are they building it up to be such a thing? Well, it’s because we’re all going broke in July and the Criterion Collection is going to make it rain with cinephile classics this summer, both modern masterpieces, and good ol’ legendary goats.  The Collection is really going for it in July. The crown jewel in their new releases is, of course, Martin Scorsese’s searing 1980 black and white boxing drama, “Raging Bull” which is as much a look at toxic male self-destruction and spiritual immolation as it is boxing.

Continue reading Criterion’s July Releases Include ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘Okja,’ ‘Drive My Car,’ & More at The Playlist.

Not surprisingly, the most celebrated film of the year took one of the most coveted Oscars in the world. No, this isn’t about “Power of the Dog” or the Best Picture race. We’re referring to Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s “Drive My Car” winning the 2022 Oscar for International Film (read our review).

READ MORE: Hidetoshi Nishijima Carried The Pain Of “Drive My Car” On and Off the Set [Interview]

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe) and Best Director, the adaptation of a number of Haruki Murakami’s short stories became the fifth Japanese film to take the honor.

Continue reading ‘Drive My Car’ Wins Best International Film Oscar Becoming 5th Japanese Film To Claim Award at The Playlist.

There is one thing we know for sure about the winners of the 94th Academy Awards. Many of them will have contributed to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” (when do we start referring to it as “Dune: Part One”?). We’re predicting six Oscars will be awarded to the Warner Bros. release. Barring some gigantic surprise, Best Picture will not be one of them.

READ MORE: Oscars 2022: Everything We Now Know About The Telecast So Far

In any other year, the mantra for an Oscars consultant is “You win in phase one.” That is, most voters decide their Best Picture pick when they vote on the nominated field itself, not after the nominations are announced.

Continue reading Oscars Predictions 2022: ‘CODA,’ Jessica Chastain & Lots Of ‘Dune’ at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalog titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

Some of this month’s big Oscar contenders make their way to disc and streaming in this week’s round-up, alongside a couple of splashy fall star vehicles, a cornucopia of Romanian cinema, and some juicy genre cinema.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘House Of Gucci,’ ‘Belfast’ & More at The Playlist.

Perhaps the Best Picture race is truly over. When the 2022 Oscar nominations were announced Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” landed 12 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, four acting nominations, and Editing. The only contender with nods in the five key categories. It also earned Original Score, Sound, Cinematography, and Production Design nods. In fact, the only qualifying branches that didn’t recognize it were Costumes and Makeup and Hair.

Continue reading Is ‘Power Of The Dog’ Your Oscar Winner For Best Picture? at The Playlist.

Somewhere, in an alternate timeline, Hidetoshi Nishijima is on the verge of an Oscar nomination. The veteran Japanese actor has earned career kudos for his role in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” including taking Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics. Unfortunately, maybe it’s due to pandemic affected campaigning or being when it comes to FYC media spends, but Nishijima is unlikely to breakthrough. In a conversation conducted through a translator earlier this month, he was well aware of his underdog status and, frankly, didn’t seem to mind.

Continue reading Hidetoshi Nishijima Carried The Pain Of ‘Drive My Car’ On & Off The Set [Interview] at The Playlist.

Yes, we should be entirely way done with 2021, but permit us to close the books on this difficult year with one last belated feature whose title is not meant to be a backhanded compliment to the films, nor scolding and yes, generally relative as many people did see them, but not most (and yes, there will be some overlap with our Best of 2021 coverage, though it’s minor)

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2021

While most of us remain inside with far too many streaming options dangled in front of our eyes,  it doesn’t appear general audiences will be returning to theaters for movies that contain anything less than three Peter Parkers uniting on screen anytime soon.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2021 You Didn’t See at The Playlist.

Oscar season giveth and Oscar season taketh away. You can truly never make anyone happy during awards season and that was the case this morning with the revelation of both the 2022 BAFTA Awards longlists and the 2022 SAG Awards nominations. Two influential indicators for a wide range of potential Academy Awards nominees.

READ MORE: SAG Awards Reactions: Andrew Garfield, Will Smith, Ariana DeBose & More

Here are some quick takeaways after both the longlists and SAG noms dropped this morning.

Continue reading Key Oscars Takeaways After SAG Noms & BAFTA Longlists at The Playlist.

Do the Golden Globes even exist if there isn’t a ceremony televised to the world? Or a red carpet? Or those fabulous parties that were spread out around the Beverly Hilton Hotel? Do these awards mean anything if the winners are not promoted in FYC ads for weeks to come? Well, we’re about to find out.

READ MORE: “West Side Story” and “Belfast” top 2022 Critics Choice Awards nominations [Full List]

The 2022 Golden Globe Awards were handed out in a private ceremony that focused on the changes the organization has made since coming under fire for its lack of African American or Black members, among other issues, last year.

Continue reading ‘West Side Story,’ ‘Power of the Dog’ & ‘Succession’ Top 2022 Golden Globe Awards Winners at The Playlist.

The adulation for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” continues. After winning Best Film from both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle, Japan’s submission for the International Film Oscar dominated the winner’s list from the National Society of Critics. “Drive My Car” took Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe), and Best Actor (Hidetoshi Nishijima).

READ MORE: LA Film Critics select “Drive My Car” as Best Film of 2021

Outside of Best Actress, which went to “Parallel Mothers'” Penelope Cruz, most of the organization’s other winners were somewhat surprising.

Continue reading ‘Drive My Car’ Takes Best Picture From National Society Of Film Critics at The Playlist.

If you want to get in the International Film Oscar race get your ass to the Cannes Film Festival. This year, eight titles that made the 15 films cut debuted on la Croisette including Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s NYFCC and LAFCA Best Film winner, “Drive My Car.” This year’s Palme d’Or winner and the French submission, “Titane,” was snubbed.

Continue reading ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Flee,’ ‘A Hero’ Make Oscars 2022 International Film Shortlist at The Playlist.

The New York Film Critics Circle anointed “Drive My Car” as the Best Film of 2021 and now the West Coast critics have had their say. After almost six hours of overall deliberations, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association also selected “Drive My Car” as their Best Film of the year with “The Power of the Dog” as runner-up. “Drive’s” Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe also won Best Screenplay.

Continue reading LA Film Critics Select ‘Drive My Car’ As Best Film Of 2021 at The Playlist.

It’s been a tradition for years now and it continues in 2021—former President of the United States, Barack Obama, has released his top films of the year. And as with previous years, it’s a healthy mix of high-profile gems and things that may have fallen under the radar that he clearly wants to put some extra shine on. 

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2021

One thing you have to understand is that Obama never ranks the movies, he just presents a list of his “favorite” films.

Continue reading Barack Obama’s Best Films Of 2021 List Includes ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Pig,’ ‘Card Counter’ & More at The Playlist.

When it comes to content, 2021 was a year of massive highs and disappointing lows. As vaccinations began being implemented around the world, in-person festivals returned providing a euphoric celebration of cinema. And a rush into pandemic production by studios and networks in 2020 provided some unexpected standouts this calendar year (“Belfast,” “Squid Game”). Unfortunately, that content push also led to some films and television programs that resonated like a PTSD reaction to the aftermath of the 2007 WGA writer’s strike.

Continue reading Gregory Ellwood’s Top 10 Films and Top 10 Television Programs of 2021 at The Playlist.

We certainly have not resumed full normalcy as we continue to battle this pandemic, but at least we have movies—even more than last year. With certain reservations about how they were premiered, released, and distributed, this year in film brought back more festival favorites like Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” more massive franchise golden geese like Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “No Time to Die,” more awards-friendly fare that had been held over, like Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2021 at The Playlist.

Awards season got into gear on Monday night as the Gotham Awards returned to an in-person ceremony for the first time in two years. And it was a massive night for Netflix as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” took Best Feature, Breakthrough Director, Best Screenplay and tied for Outstanding Performance (Olivia Colman). That’s a big award season win for the streamer as only one Gotham’s Best Feature winner over the previous seven years hasn’t been Oscar-nominated for Best Picture (“The RIder”).

Continue reading ‘The Lost Daughter’ Dominates the Gotham Awards Taking Best Feature at The Playlist.

Of all the major films to debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, you might be surprised to know that one of the most beloved is the Japanese drama, “Drive My Car.” And later this month, audiences are going to finally get the chance to watch Japan’s official Oscars entry on the big screen.

READ MORE: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ Is A Masterful Drama You Can’t Turn Away From [Cannes Review]

As seen in the trailer for “Drive My Car,” the film tells the story of a stage actor and director who develops a surprising bond with his chauffeur after the unexpected death of his wife.

Continue reading ‘Drive My Car’ Trailer: Japan’s Official Oscar Entry Debuts In Theaters Later This Month at The Playlist.

Well, there are always going to be snubs when it comes to the International Film Oscar race and the first two casualties were Julia Docournau’s “Titane” and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” as neither film made the shortlist cut. The latter was expected, but the former? Many thought it would at least make the shortlist. Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s “Drive My Car,” Paolo Sorrentino‘s “The Hand of God,”
Jonas Poher Rasmussen‘s “Flee,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” all made the list of 15 contenders, but not all of them will be among the final five nominees.

Continue reading International Film Oscars 2022 Predictions & Contenders at The Playlist.

After taking a peek at what’s to come this November, there’s no denying that we’re fully in “the thick of it” when it comes to prestige film releases. Many festival darlings such as “Spencer” and “The Power of the Dog” are making their debut this month, while other slightly under the radar but still celebrated titles will be premiering as well.

Alongside the heavy lifting of some of these awards-friendly titles, there’s also plenty by way of blockbuster releases and easy escapism, from the latest Marvel release “Eternals” to the Netflix/Dwayne Johnson action film “Red Notice.” There will always be gems found in any month (and certainly films to almost always catch up on).

Continue reading 18 Films To See In November: ‘Eternals,’ ‘House Of Gucci,’ ‘Spencer’ & More at The Playlist.

One of the few positive things the pandemic has done for movie buffs is left us with an onslaught of leftover 2020 titles held for this year’s fall festival circuit. Case in point: the 59th Annual New York Film Festival. 

READ MORE: NYFF 2021 Exclusive Trailer: Take A Peek At The Acclaimed Films Coming To The Upcoming Event

Most all of the major works by revered world cinema directors—many of which have premiered at other fests already— have some kind of presence at NYFF.

Continue reading New York Film Festival 2021: The 17 Most Anticipated Films at The Playlist.

Well, that’s a wrap on the 2021 Cannes Film Festival; 56 reviews and counting (there might be one or two more stragglers to come, but we are basically done). It was a pretty great festival and strong year despite the COVID-19 protocol confusion, those changing rules, and Spike Lee spoiling the Palme d’Or prize early (Spike!!).

READ MORE: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch

2021 was a strong year, and perhaps that’s not a surprise since films like Wes Anderson‘s “The French Dispatch,” Paul Verhoven‘s “Benedetta,” and other movies basically waited an entire year waiting for the global pandemic to subside so they could premiere under optimal conditions.

Continue reading Best Of Cannes 2021: 15 Must-See Movies From The Festival at The Playlist.

Unconventionally, the title credits for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film, “Drive My Car,” appear on screen an incredible 41 minutes into what is an almost 3-hour long film. What transpires beforehand is so captivating it’s almost a jolt to see them, but Hamaguch’s choice is a necessary demarcation. A chapter moving enough to succeed as a stand-alone film in and of itself has closed. It’s also a mark of Hamaguchi’s grand ambitions in adapting Haruki Murakami’s short story to the screen.

Continue reading Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ Is A Masterful Drama You Can’t Turn Away From [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.