One of the most underrated films of 2018, as far as awards season recognition goes, is definitely Chloé Zhao’s incredible work, “The Rider.” The film debuted early in the year (which is always a disadvantage come awards season) to universal acclaim, but never really seemed to have the staying power to really make a dent in the late-year awards conversation. Well, the National Society of Film Critics didn’t get that memo, as it awarded “The Rider” with its Best Picture award.

Continue reading ‘The Rider’ Named Best Film Of 2018 By National Society Of Film Critics at The Playlist.

The Playlist has never met a year we couldn’t exhaust with the endless examination, analysis, and decoding; it’s not that we love lists, it’s just in many banner years of cinema, there’s so much to pour over. 2018 was a stellar year for film and there were amazing movies to shout out, performances, new directors, breakout actors and actresses, documentaries, all kinds of new exciting talents and we genuinely can’t stop talking about them, honestly.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2018 You Didn’t See at The Playlist.

Former President Barack Obama has been known to share his favorite books, films, and songs throughout the years. And in 2018, Obama has done it again, and with his film list, in particular, he’s put together one of the most solid Best of 2018 groups we’ve seen so far.

LISTEN: The 20 Breakthrough Directors of 2018 [Podcast]

While he doesn’t rank the films in any specific order (other than alphabetical), the films that Obama has listed for his favorites of 2018 is full of some of the year’s most high-profile (“Black Panther” and “BlacKkKlansman”) as well as some indie favorites that have shamefully been left out of much of the awards season discussion (“Leave No Trace,” “The Rider,” and “Support the Girls”).

Continue reading Barack Obama’s Best Of 2018 Proves He’s Got A Finger On The Pulse Of Film Twitter at The Playlist.

The New York Film Critics Circle announced their 2019 year-end awards today and crowned Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” Best Picture.  The Netflix and Participant Pictures release also took Best Director (Cuarón) and Best Cinematography.  Out of all the organization’s winners, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was the biggest surprise as the Sony Pictures Animation title won Best Animated Film.

A24’s “First Reformed” won both Best Actor (Ethan Hawke) and Best Screenplay (Paul Schrader) for “First Reformed” duplicating their wins at the Gotham Awards on Monday night.  

Continue reading ‘Roma’ Wins Best Picture From The New York Film Critics Circle at The Playlist.

It’s a curious time to be a good movie. On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I dig into two smaller indie releases that use comedy for different purposes but still have some overlap in their settings amongst strip malls, cheap and depressingly cardboard-cutout-like housing, and the ever-shrinking middle class. We first dive into “Support The Girls,” the latest from director Andrew Bujalski (“Results,” “Computer Chess“) that sees lead Regina Hall—whose warmth, strong presence and ease with humor is in top form here—in charge of a ‘Hooters’-esque establishment.

Continue reading ‘Support The Girls’ & ‘Arizona’: Can Good Movies Be Good Enough These Days? [Adjust Your Tracking] at The Playlist.

Though Andrew Bujalski’s budgets have deservedly improved over the long sixteen-year span in which he has been active, his films still retain that unique and almost inexplicable sense of honest humanity present in his debut film “Funny Ha Ha.” That film wooed even the most stubborn critics and launched an entirely new subgenre of American independent filmmaking and earned the filmmaker the title of “Godfather of Mumblecore.” Bujalksi has certainly grown as a filmmaker in this time but, amazingly, never at the cost of his D.I.Y.

Continue reading Andrew Bujalski’s ‘Support The Girls’ Is A Sincere, Optimistic Film Filled With Career-Best Performances [Review] at The Playlist.

With the flood of reports concerning the films going to fall festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and the Fantastic Fest, it’s difficult to pay much attention to the August film slate when we know that the month that follows signals great offerings along with Oscar season starting.

That being said, despite some slim pickings on the big budgeted, studio films, there’s plenty to choose from as the summer winds down, especially in the independent department.

Continue reading 13 Movies To Watch In August at The Playlist.

Filmmaker Andrew Bujalski has made a name for himself as a bit of a festival darling, with his recent films “Computer Chess” and “Results” getting premieres at Sundance. His latest film, “Support the Girls,” had its premiere at this year’s South by Southwest and caught the eye of Magnolia Pictures, who are now planning to release the film later this summer.

Continue reading ‘Support The Girls’ Trailer: Regina Hall Shines In New Comedy From Filmmaker Andrew Bujalski at The Playlist.

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival announced its 2018 competition and East of the West slates and, as always, there are some intriguing titles for international film lovers.  Most notably, the competition features Peter Burner’s “To The Night” with Caleb Landry Jones, Ömür Atay’s “Brothers” and Sébastien Pilote’s “The Fireflies are Gone.”  

Barry Levinson to be honored at 2018 Karlovy Vary Film Festival

In the East of the West competition, there are new works from filmmakers in Iran, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Germany and, of course, the Czech Republic.

Continue reading ‘To The Night’ With Caleb Landry Jones Highlights 2018 Karlovy Vary Competition Films at The Playlist.