Writer/director Lulu Wang has simply pulled off a miracle of moviemaking with “The Farewell.” Capturing a completely honest portrait of Asian American immigrant family life through a caring battle of cultural discourse, her film weighs Eastern hospitality and tradition against Western self-sufficiency. Her film is at once joyously celebratory and authentically melancholy, painting a specific and respectfully elegant, yet sometimes deliberately unflattering and nuanced, observance of race, family, and communication.

Continue reading Dismantling The Myth Of The Model Minority: 10 Asian American Films To See Before ‘The Farewell’ at The Playlist.

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.

On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, I’m joined by Editor-in-Chief Rodrigo Perez and Managing Editor Charles Barfield, to discuss the 20 Breakthrough Directors of 2018, though it cannot be stressed enough that our topic at hand today was a collective pick from many members of our staff to which we are merely the mouthpiece for. We continue our extensive year-end coverage with our director’s conversation.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019

It’s been talked about at-length how strong the year in film was for 2018, but maybe not as much about how some of the best, most-acclaimed films of the year were from either first-time directors or filmmakers with few directorial credits who made a huge splash with a recent release.

Continue reading The 20 Breakthrough Directors of 2018 [Podcast] at The Playlist.

2018 saw the passing of a cinematography legend in Robby Müller, a regular collaborator of Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch, who with his work on “Paris, Texas,” “Down By Law,” “Dead Man” and Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves” was responsible, perhaps more than anyone, for defining and expanding the aesthetics of the 1980s and 1990s arthouse. It is a sad note in a year that has been otherwise a banner year for the craft he perfected and elevated, and so as our small tribute, we dedicate our list of the Best Cinematography of 2018 to him.

Continue reading The Best Cinematography of 2018 at The Playlist.

Karma, they say, is a bitch. Yet it must be down to some cosmic law of balance that as terrible as things have been on a daily basis in other spheres of life, 2018 has been among the most remarkable years for cinema in recent memory. Maybe it’s that the instability and uncertainty of the zeitgeist has ignited channels of creative expression that might have remained dormant in more complacent times; maybe it’s that 2-hour breaks from the constant blithering nonsense that is being alive in 2018 are precious even if you’re watching the “Overboard” remake.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2018 at The Playlist.

The 2018 Gotham Awards were honestly a bore to anyone watching the ceremony either live or streaming, but they had to be exciting for anyone sitting at A24’s tables.  The indie distributor took home five honors including Best Actor (Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”),  Best Actress (Toni Collette, “Hereditary”), Best Screenplay (Paul Schrader, “First Reformed”), Breakthrough Director (Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade”) and Breakthrough Actor (Elsie Fisher, “Eighth Grade”).  

Continue reading ‘The Rider’ Wins Best Feature As A24 Dominates The 2018 Gotham Awards at The Playlist.

At The Playlist, we’ve been raving about Chloé Zhao’s film, “The Rider,” since we saw it back at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Now, after its spring theatrical run, the incredible film is finally making its way to home video and digital VOD. And we’re lucky enough to celebrate “The Rider’s” impending home release with an exclusive clip featuring Zhao and a giveaway for our readers.

Continue reading Contest: Win A Copy Of The Acclaimed Film ‘The Rider’ And Watch An Exclusive Interview Clip at The Playlist.

2018 has been an odd year. The days churn by with grueling intensity, draining you emotionally with every single blow. Yet, you blink and suddenly, it’s June. How did that happen? Regardless of how 2018 has treated you, personally, the year has presented cinephiles with plenty to laud over, already. In a year that continues to challenge us like 2018, it’s a relief when art can continue to surprise you, impress you, move you, persuade you, gratify you or just simply entertain you.

Continue reading The Best Films Of 2018… So Far at The Playlist.

There is a movie slowly expanding across the country by the next great auteur you may not have heafd about yet.  Actually, calling her “the next” insinuates she isn’t there yet.   Based on “The Rider” it’s pretty clear Chloé Zhao has arrived and an auteur filmmaker that demands your attention.

Chloé Zhao’s deeply moving, entrancing western “The Rider” [Cannes Review]

Zhao’s second directorial effort debuted at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and impressively screened afterward at Telluride, Toronto, New York and Sundance (a rare film to hit all four major fests). 

Continue reading Chloé Zhao Dives Into How She Brought Her Moving Masterpiece ‘The Rider’ To Life [Podcast] at The Playlist.

Despite being at the tail end of the month, the conversation regarding upcoming films is likely going to be dominated by the latest Marvel entry, “Avengers: Infinity War,” and for good reason, as it’s the beginning of the culmination of a decade of unprecedented work by the studio. Luckily, for those superhero-averse (or simply fatigued) despite it carrying loudest surrounding dialogue, it’s hardly the only one worth talking about.

Continue reading 14 Movies To See In April at The Playlist.

There are some films that may not make a big noise, but in their own quiet way draw attention. That would be the best way to describe “The Rider,” which has been earning cinephile buzz ever since it premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The film spent much of 2017 accruing serious cred on the festival circuit, which has built up into four Indie Spirit Award nominations including Best Director and Best Feature.

Continue reading ‘The Rider’ Trailer: Discover Chloé Zhao’s Indie Spirit Award Contender at The Playlist.

Sundance is in the rearview, Berlin is on the horizon, and the BBQ smoke of SXSW is lays just beyond. Organizers have revealed the lineup for the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, and as per usual, there’s no shortage of movies to talk about.

The opening film will provide plenty of thrills with “A Quiet Place” starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt.

Continue reading 2018 SXSW Film Festival: John Krasinski’s ‘A Quiet Place’ To Open, Full Lineup Revealed at The Playlist.

We’ve done just about as much coverage of the 2017 year as we can and, while we’ve already managed to hit some bumps in the one week of 2018 we’ve plowed through, we’re ready to look ahead. Over the course of the year, we’re oftentimes lucky enough to attend film festivals all over the world and, while many of the of the films covered are ones that have a trajectory of sorts throughout the current year’s slate (awards buzz), there are plenty that fall by the wayside as they await distribution, release dates and more.

Continue reading The Best Films Of 2018…We’ve Already Seen at The Playlist.

How do you judge a year in movies? Is it based on the number of masterpieces you think you saw? Is it based on a wide range of films that fall in the “good” to “very good” category? Or, is it based on the difficulty of formulating a year-end top 10 list?  If only it was that easy.

The best performances of 2017 [Year-end review]

Dan Fienberg, a former colleague and currently TV critic at THR, and I were recently discussing how difficult it was to formulate our year-end lists. 

Continue reading Gregory Ellwood’s Top 10 Movies of 2017 at The Playlist.

The 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations were unveiled today, and as it always goes, there were some surprises and snubs. However, before I get too far along, here’s quick reminder about one of the official eligibility requirements for the competing movies. It will be useful information for one of the biggest snubs that people are talking about:

…we are only considering films that are made with lower budgets, ranging from microbudgets up to $20 million.

Continue reading 2018 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: Snubs & Surprises at The Playlist.

The nominations for the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards were announced on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. Tessa Thompson and Lily Collins revealed this years honorees, which were lead by “Call Me By Your Name,”  “Get Out,” “Good Time,” “The Rider” and “Lady Bird.”

A24 dominated the nominations with 17 followed by Sony Pictures Classics with 13 and upstart NEON earning 7.  

Continue reading ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ ‘Lady Bird,’ ‘Get Out’ Lead 2018 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

While other festival organizers have worried about their relationship to Netflix and Amazon, and what it means to the future of cinema, the New York Film Festival has no such qualms. Organizers have revealed the bulk of their slate, and the films — with more than a few from those streaming services — that will join Opening Night flick “Last Flag Flying” from Richard Linklater, Closing Night picture “Wonder Wheel” from Woody Allen,” and Centerpiece Gala selection “Wonderstruck” from Todd Haynes.

Continue reading New York Film Festival 2017 Slate Adds ‘Meyerowitz Stories,’ ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ ‘Zama,’ More at The Playlist.

The discussions around women filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival too often gets caught up political and gender quotas instead of celebrating the tangible achievements of the films themselves. Case in point: Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight parallel section. Recipient of the Art Cinema Award — the top prize in its section — Zhao’s breakout success is in part due to the Fortnight’s nurturing of young voices, having selected her debut, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me,” for its 2015 program.

Continue reading Chloé Zhao’s Deeply Moving, Entrancing Western ‘The Rider’ [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

The Cannes Film Festival 2017 has wrapped, and the four-strong Playlist team have all returned to their respective corners of the planet. But just before we slip entirely back into the real world and catch up on everything we missed while away (it was certainly a glorious fortnight’s respite from politics), let’s run through our festival highs and lows, our personal experiences, and the trends and tunes that will forever mark Cannes 2017 for all its attendees.

Continue reading Cannes 2017: Best & Worst Films, Trends And Tunes at The Playlist.