If the name Jharrel Jerome sounds vaguely familiar, it should. The 27-year-old actor made his debut in Barry Jenkins‘ drama film “Moonlight” (2016), and his career has been on an upward trajectory ever since. Following that performance, he appeared in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” (2019) and Boots Riley’s limited series “I’m a Virgo” (2023).  The rising star’s next role is “Unstoppable,” an underdog sports drama that had its world premiere at the recent Toronto International Film Festival in September (read our review).

Continue reading ‘Unstoppable’ Trailer: Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez & More Star In An Underdog Sports Drama at The Playlist.

Sports biopics are only as good as their subjects, and “Unstoppable” has a doozy—Anthony Robles, who, despite being born with one leg, went on to win the 2011 NCAA national wrestling championship as a senior at Arizona State University in the 125-pound weight class. It is a remarkable story and now receives an extremely traditional, by-the-numbers big-screen movie treatment in “Unstoppable” that nevertheless boasts existing scenes of wrestling and a bevy of committed stars around lead Jharrel Jerome.

Continue reading ‘Unstoppable’ Review: A Remarkable Story Gets The Familiar Sports Biopic Treatment With Jharrel Jerome & Jennifer Lopez [TIFF] at The Playlist.

A few weeks back, trailer editor Andrew Hegele got Film Twitter in a tizzy with his rundown of the great contemporary American filmmakers—and how long it’s been since they’ve made a contemporary movie. Spielberg, Tarantino, Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, the two Andersons (Wes and Paul Thomas); name after name, cinematic genius after cinematic genius, all turning out period pieces which, at best, say something about the present by saying something about the past.

Continue reading ‘Full Circle’ Review: Steven Soderbergh Orchestrates Terrific Suspension In A Multi-Layered, Intersecting Kidnapping Drama at The Playlist.

Any parent’s worst nightmare would be that something bad happens to their child. That’s why kidnapping films and TV series have always struck a chord because the tension and emotions experienced by the parents attempting to find their missing kid are universal. Everyone can relate. But what if there is more to the story than just a simple kidnapping? That’s explored in Steven Soderbergh’s new series, “Full Circle.”

READ MORE: Steven Soderbergh Doesn’t Think A.I.

Continue reading ‘Full Circle’ Trailer: Secrets Are Revealed After A Botched Kidnapping In Steven Soderbergh’s New Max Limited Series at The Playlist.

When the time comes to write about the 2020s in film, COVID will undoubtedly be viewed as the defining event of the decade. But as the pandemic becomes part of our new normal, one aspect of COVID continues to inspire filmmakers: quarantine. In many ways more than the virus itself, the collective act of hunkering down and staying put has been coming up a lot in films lately. And it’s not hard to imagine that quarantine helped give birth to “I’m A Virgo,” Boots Riley’s sophomore effort after bursting onto the scene in 2018 with his absurdist satire “Sorry To Bother You.

Continue reading ‘I’m A Virgo’ Review: Boots Riley’s Absurdist Coming-Of-Age Series Is A Giant Delight at The Playlist.

Netflix has the reputation for flooding its service with new series and movies at a breakneck pace, with many getting lost in the shuffle. But sometimes, there are genuine diamonds in the rough and there are some films that beg to be seen and not drowned out by the latest season of “Nailed It!” or a new Melissa McCarthy comedy. In May, that film might very well be “Monster.”

READ MORE: Overstylized ‘Monster’ Can’t Hide Film’s Conventional Core [Sundance Review]

As seen in the trailer for “Monster,” the drama focuses on the life of a young Black man in film school.

Continue reading ‘Monster’ Trailer: Kelvin Harrison, Jr Leads An All-Star Cast In Netflix’s Upcoming Drama at The Playlist.

At first glance, the term “urban cowboy” may come across as a contradiction in terms. Those familiar with North Philadelphia, however, know that inner-city horseback riding is a real thing. Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is one of the city’s most prized subcultures. It’s also proof that horsemanship transcends both the town/country dichotomy and racially-based assumptions of masculine identity. Ricky Staub uses Fletcher Street’s stables as the foundation for his directorial debut “Concrete Cowboy.”

READ MORE: ‘Concrete Cowboy’ Is A Lyrical Genre-Bending Western, But It Doesn’t Always Coalesce [TIFF Review]

The film follows Cole, a troubled Detroit teenager sent to Philadelphia to live with his estranged father for the summer and stumbles upon the cowboy lifestyle.

Continue reading ‘Concrete Cowboy’ Trailer: Idris Elba Helps His Wayward Son As An Urban Cowboy In Family Drama at The Playlist.

If you’ve seen the 2018 film, “Sorry to Bother You,” then you’re probably well aware that filmmaker Boots Riley is not a timid filmmaker. In his debut feature, the writer-director mixed bright colors and absurdist visuals to create a satire that is wholly unique and thoroughly entertaining. So, should we really be surprised that his next project is a TV series about a 13-foot-tall man? Probably not.

READ MORE: Armie Hammer On Why ‘Sorry To Bother You’ Got Zero Oscar Noms: “Another Example Of The Academy Keeping It In The Academy”

According to Variety, Boots Riley is set to write and direct a new half-hour Amazon TV series titled, “I’m a Virgo.” And the series is going to star Jharrel Jerome as a 13-foot-tall Black man living in Oakland, California.

Continue reading ‘I’m A Virgo’: Jharrel Jerome To Play A 13-Foot-Tall Guy In Boots Riley’s New Series Coming To Amazon at The Playlist.

No genre romanticizes America’s manifest destiny mythos more than the western. For decades, the construct featured white men conquering the frontier from Native Americans and law enforcement. In fact, no image in the American lexicon espouses freedom more than the cowboy, and from the 1860s through the 1880s, Black people accounted for 25% of cowboys. But Black folks — other than having films like “Buffalo Soldiers,” “Buck And The Preacher,” and “Bull” — have mostly been erased from the cinematic and American history of the west.

Continue reading ‘Concrete Cowboy’ Is A Lyrical Genre-Bending Urban Western, But Doesn’t Always Coalesce [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

These days, while stuck at home under Covid-19 quarantine, we spend our time scrolling through streaming services looking for something to keep us motivated. So it’s a good thing that Tayarisha Poe‘s directorial debut, “Selah and the Spades” hits Amazon Prime April 17th, and has motivational scenes in spades. Selah (Lovie Simone) is the heroine of this rite-of-passage movie, and thanks to Poe’s astonishing grasp of contemporary high school politics, a reminder that students aren’t cogs in their school’s machine.

Continue reading ‘Selah And The Spades’ Is An Accurate Representation Of Teenage Problems In An Age Of Smart Phones [Review] at The Playlist.

In a night where three awards resulted in ties and a ton of winners didn’t show up, the Critics Choice Association handed out the 2020 Critics Choice Awards top honor, Best Picture, to “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.”  “Joker’s” Joaquin Phoenix took Best Actor while Renee Zellweger won Best Actress for “Judy.”  Bong Joon Ho and Sam Mendes tied for Best Director for “Parasite” and “1917” respectfully.

Continue reading “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” Wins Best Picture At Critics Choice Awards at The Playlist.

It should go without saying that performances, films and episodic programs the Screen Actors Guild annoints as SAG Awards nominees are not always reflective of the Motion Picture Academy or the Television Academy, for that matter.  But, if you are in the acting branch of either you are 99% likely a member of, arguably, the most powerful union in Hollywood.  And, in the case of the Oscar race, their picks often suggest a direction of consensus opinion for the industry.  

Continue reading SAG Awards Snubs & Surprises: ‘Little Women,’ ‘Parasite,’ ‘Succession,’ ‘Schitt’s Creek’ at The Playlist.

There were some head-scratching surprises.  Few saw Jason Bateman winning Directing for a Drama Series for “Ozark” or “Bandersnatch” winning TV Movie over “Deadwood: The Movie,” but for the most part the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards only thrived on the euphoric surprises such as “Killing Eve’s” Jodi Comer and all those “Fleabag” wins and some truly eloquent acceptance speeches.

READ MORE: “Game of Thrones,” “Chernobyl” and “Fleabag” triumph at the 2019 Emmy Awards [Complete List of Winners]

It’s helpful to take a step back and realize it could have been a much worse production.  

Continue reading Best & Worst Of The 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards: ‘Fleabag,’ Billy Porter, ‘Masked Singer’ at The Playlist.

The 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards were handed out Sunday night in a ceremony broadcast on FOX and “Game of Thrones,” “Chernobyl,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Fleabag” took the top awards.  The host-less telecast was the final night of Emmys after two different Creative Arts shows last weekend.  The following nominees and winners were announced during the ceremony.

READ MORE: “Game of Thrones and “Chernobyl” rules the Creative Arts Emmys night one

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Barry (Episode: “ronny/lily”), Written by Alec Berg and Bill Hader (HBO)
Fleabag (Episode: “Episode 1”), Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Prime Video) – WINNER
The Good Place (Episode: “Janet(s)”), Written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan (NBC)
PEN15 (Episode: “Anna Ishii-Peters”), Written by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Hulu)
Russian Doll (Episode: “Nothing in This World Is Easy”), Written by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler (Netflix)
Russian Doll (Episode: “A Warm Body”), Written by Allison Silverman (Netflix)
Veep (Episode: “Veep”), Written by David Mandel (HBO)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Better Call Saul (Episode: “Winner”), Written by Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz (AMC)
Bodyguard (Episode: “Episode 1”), Written by Jed Mercurio (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (Episode: “The Iron Throne”), Written by David Benioff and D.

Continue reading ‘Game Of Thrones,’ ‘Fleabag’ & ‘Chernobyl’ Triumph At 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards at The Playlist.

Sometimes talent rises to the top quicker than you might expect.  Consider Jharrel Jerome.  The 21-year-old actor’s first feature role was in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” where he played the teenage version of Kevin.  That film just went on to win the Best Picture Oscar and will likely earn a mark in the top 10 on most best of the decade lists.  Now, after two seasons on the Audience network series “Mr.

Continue reading ‘When They See Us’: Jharrel Jerome Still “Speechless” Over Accolades For His Performance [Interview] at The Playlist.

Director, writer, producer, and overall filmmaking powerhouse Ava DuVernay is assembling quite a cast for her Netflix series “Central Park Five.” Based on the true events of five black teens who were wrongfully imprisoned for the rape of a white woman in New York City’s Central Park, DuVernay is adapting the story into a limited series in partnership with streaming giant Netflix.

Over the course of the last few weeks, casting announcements have been made for the filmmaker’s latest venture.

Continue reading Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome & Jovan Adepo Join Ava DuVernay’s ‘Central Park Five’ at The Playlist.

As the SXSW Film Festival wraps up, countless producers will be waiting with bated breath to see whether or not their tiny indies will make it out of the festival circuit void. Such is not the case for the team behind “First Match.” Netflix picked up the indie film before the festival and will roll it out March 30 on its streaming service.

Continue reading ‘First Match’ Starts Strong But Is Pinned Down By Overly Safe Plot [SXSW Review] at The Playlist.