If we’re to subscribe to the common belief that there’s more bad than good out there in the world, as far as cinema is concerned, then one could make the argument that many middle-of-the-road motion pictures operate as visually-driven information-delivery systems: a means by which filmmakers can bring exposition, jokes, thrills, and ultimately, a resolution to an audience. Claire Denis is not a filmmaker who subscribes to this reductive artistic philosophy. 

READ MORE: ‘Beau Travail’ 4K Restoration Trailer: Claire Denis’ Classic Film Is Getting A Re-Release In September

The word “poet” gets thrown around to describe filmmakers willy-nilly these days, but few have earned the term by virtue of their rhapsodically unconventional visual style as much as Denis has over the course of her remarkable career.

Continue reading The Essentials: The Films Of Claire Denis at The Playlist.

We’ve been having a bit of a horror-fest at The Playlist this month (terrifying Halloween party costumes of choice at Playlist Towers include: Mike Pence, the ghost of the never-made second season of “Vinyl” and Vin Diesel in the high-frame-rate sequences from “Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk”), with the last few weeks serving as something of a potted history of the last half-century or so.

Continue reading The 50 Best Horror Movies Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

It’s the beginning of the spookiest month of the year, so it’s no accident that this week will see the release of one of the best horror films of the year, Babak Anvari‘s “Under the Shadow” (our review). It was well received at Sundance and throughout the year at its various festival berths, but if you haven’t heard as much about it as you did about, say, “The Babadook” or “The Witch,” there’s a simple reason: although it’s a U.K.

Continue reading The 25 Best Foreign Language Horror Movies Of All Time at The Playlist.

By the pricking of my thumbs, a holiday-themed list feature this way comes. Yep, All Hallow’s Eve is almost upon us, and while the temptation to do some kind of “Before I Go To Sleep“-themed feature was a great one, we thought we should put together something appropriately spooky to get you in the mood for tomorrow night’s festivities.

So, during a break from making our costumes for the annual Playlist Halloween party (popular choices this year: the Babadook, Kevin Feige, Alexander from “Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” box-office receipts for “Sin City 2,” a GamerGater), we’ve been considering the state of recent horror.

Continue reading The 25 Best Horror Films Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.