“If only I had time,” I remember sighing at some point in late 2019, probably in a pub or a restaurant among a cluster of friends separated by <1 ft of space, lipstick doubtless boozily smeared across my maskless face. “If only I somehow had the time to do nothing but stay in and catch up on all the non-fiction releases I’ve missed through the year!” Little did I know that at that exact moment, the Ministry of Be Careful What You Wish For was listening in.

Continue reading The 20 Best Documentaries Of 2020 at The Playlist.

COVID-19 is over! Movies are back! And everything is… safe? Hardly. It’s been a weird 2020.5 (an adjunct year that started in March) and it’s been going on for about 2.5 years so far. Sundance and Berlin in the 1st half of 2020 were definitely a few years ago and the new normal is so normal… it’s ok to go back to theaters? We’re as dubious, nervous and hesitant as you. In fact, we’d given up on doing most kinds of film festival previews this year—we threw any ideas of a summer film preview out the window given that the summer schedule kept constantly changing and any predictions about reopening theaters turned out to be as premature and overly optimistic as we all thought.

Continue reading 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch at The Playlist.

“The Mole Agent” was a hit at festivals and will now be coming to a living room near you. Maite Alberdi’s newest film premiered at Sundance to glowing reviews and played at True/False and Nantucket. As our review of “The Mole Agent” demonstrates, this film is not one to miss.

“The Mole Agent” follows a family concerned about their mother in a retirement home. They believe their mother is being mistreated at the nursing home where she resides, so they hire a private investigator to look into it.

Continue reading ‘The Mole Agent’ Trailer: Heartwarming Spy Doc Brings Laughter & Tears at The Playlist.

While it may not have the recognition of festivals like Cannes, Venice, or Toronto, New Directors/New Films has, for the past half-century, been one of the premier events that highlights indie works from some of the most exciting filmmakers working today. And for 2020, that’s no different, as the festival has announced its full lineup for this spring.

The lineup includes 27 feature films and 10 short films from a diverse array of talent, with 15 films directed or co-directed by women and 15 works by first-time filmmakers.

Continue reading New Directors/New Films 2020 Lineup Includes ‘Boys State,’ ‘The Mole Agent’ & More at The Playlist.

No one grows up looking forward to old age. As a child, if you were fortunate enough to grow up alongside adoring grandparents, there exists a naïve notion that elderly people were just born like that. For most young adults, after exiting the socially awkward dynamic of high school—and even college for some of us—planning for the retirement, or even musing over the reality that your 20s will not last forever, could not be further from their minds.

Continue reading ‘The Mole Agent’ Is A Perfect Movie That Will Make You Laugh and Break Your Heart [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.