Call this feature “overlooked films” if you liked, and if you saw them, and yes, there’s some crossover with some of our other Best of 2020 features, like the 25 Best Films Of 2020, the 20 Best Performances Of 2020, etc. but that’s ok!

READ MORE: The Best Cinematography Of 2020

2020 was a year where movie-lovers learned how to watch movies in an entirely different way. Since theaters were shut down across much of America for most of the year and many of the year’s more anticipated offerings were either shuffled off the annual slate until 2021, or relegated to streaming services a la “Wonder Woman 1984,” our regular routine of watching, analyzing, and obsessing over films was more or less completely upended.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2020 You Didn’t See at The Playlist.

I will spare you the introduction that I am sure you knew would begin this piece. You know it all already, because we lived it together. This year just wouldn’t end. The real world was literally nightmarish for millions of people. If any movies gave you solace, I’m glad to hear it. Here are the top 10 that found their way into my heart. 

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2020

Click here to follow along with our various Best of 2020 lists.

Continue reading Roxana Hadadi’s Best Films Of 2020 at The Playlist.

The first half of 2020 has been one of the most tumultuous periods in the century-plus history of the motion picture industry, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entire activity of theatrical movie-going for the first time since… well, since the last pandemic, back in 1918. As rules have been (literally, in some cases) rewritten, high-profile releases have been delayed, rescheduled, and delayed again, in an increasingly desperate and depressing game of Kick the Can. 

Continue reading The Best Films Of 2020… So Far at The Playlist.

Heading into 2016, no director showed more promise than Justin Kurzel. After shocking audiences with his disturbing and intimate examination of the Snowtown Murders in 2011’s “Snowtown,” the filmmaker instantly became one of Australia’s exciting new voices. This excitement only amplified following his striking adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Personifying the playwright’s own words of “sound and fury” with fire and blood, Kurzel created a visual mood poem that solidified his mastery over cinematic grammar.

Continue reading Director Justin Kurzel Discusses ‘Kelly Gang,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed’ & More [The Fourth Wall Podcast] at The Playlist.

Essie Davis is no stranger to playing immensely powerful and intense characters. Best known for her profound work in the 2014 horror film “The Babadook,” she’s made a career out of taking on difficult and demanding roles. Even with an eclectic career of films, TV, and theater, her latest project, “True History of the Kelly Gang” directed by her husband Justin Kurzel, gives the actress yet another opportunity to display her inner ferocity. 

READ MORE: ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’: Justin Kurzel Celebrates Australian Outlaws In Bloodsoaked Period Thriller [TIFF Review]

Kurzel, coming off of a rather disappointing video game adaptation, “Assassins Creed,” returns with another adaptation, but this time of the 2000 novel of the same name by Peter Carey.

Continue reading ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’: Essie Davis Discusses The Punk Rock Preparation For Justin Kurzel’s Film [Interview] at The Playlist.

To put it lightly, it is a very strange time in the world right now. With many of us working from home and (hopefully) implementing social distancing, it’s left us antsy without a lot of our usual stress relief balms at the ready – things such as going to the movies. With so many of the upcoming theatrical releases moving their release dates and theaters shuttered for the foreseeable future, it’s a good time (if you’re given the time to do so) to explore options you may not have previously explored.

Continue reading 8 Movies to See in April: ‘The Other Lamb,’ ‘Sergio’ & More at The Playlist.

Despite a hiccup with “Assassin’s Creed,” Justin Kurzel is thought of as one of the better filmmakers working today, particularly with his films such as “Snowtown” and “Macbeth.” And judging by the new trailer for the upcoming film, “True History of the Kelly Gang,” it appears that Kurzel is going to rebound nicely from his oft-maligned video game adaptation.

Continue reading ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’ Trailer: George MacKay & Russell Crowe Star In Justin Kurzel’s Latest at The Playlist.

Each year, countless films premiere at festivals across the world. Filmmakers are celebrated for their artistic vision. Projects are praised for their ability to push the boundaries of what we expect from national cinemas. Then, just as quickly as these films burst on the scene, many disappear from the public eye. Some fall through the cracks of distribution. Others are snapped up by discriminating studios but languish in the vault as executives work to puzzle out the perfect date and platform for their release.

Continue reading The 25 Best Movies Of 2020 We’ve Already Seen at The Playlist.

Justin Kurzel is attempting a bit of a comeback. After the success of his “Macbeth,” the filmmaker was wooed into making “Assassin’s Creed,” following in the footsteps of so many up-and-coming filmmakers that score an indie hit and then are given the keys to a potential franchise. Well, we know how that worked out (it didn’t), and now Kurzel returns to something closer to his roots with “True History of the Kelly Gang.”

As seen in the new trailer for the film, Kurzel still has an incredible cast, but the story of ‘Kelly Gang’ is nothing like the blockbuster he directed in 2016.

Continue reading ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’ Trailer: Justin Kurzel Returns With A New Film About An Infamous Australian Outlaw at The Playlist.

Considered by many to be Australia’s version of Robin Hood, and a ruthless murder by others, Ned Kelly is one of the most famous bushrangers in Australian history. Now, the first trailer for “True History of the Kelly Gang” turns the outlaw into a punk rock star.

READ MORE: ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’: Justin Kurzel Celebrates Australian Outlaws In Bloodsoaked Period Thriller [TIFF Review]

Justin Kurzel, who previously directed “Macbeth,” directed the film, which screenwriter Shaun Grant adapted from the award-winning “True History of the Kelly Gang” novel by Peter Carey.

Continue reading First Trailer For ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’ Turns Historical Bandits Into Punk Rock Stars at The Playlist.

In his Vietnam War quasi-memoir “The Things We Carried,” writer Tim O’Brien posits the idea that a storyteller must exercise a measure of creative license to accurately capture the essence of history. He theorizes an “emotional truth,” a close relative of Werner Herzog’s so-called “ecstatic truth,” under which the account of events may be tampered with in order to more expressionistically replicate the experience of being there. Peter Carey subscribed to that very notion with his 2000 novel “True History of the Kelly Gang,” which freely rearranged the details surrounding 19th-century Australian bushranger Ned Kelly to mold his living self into the larger-than-life figure that his legacy suggests today.

Continue reading ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’: Justin Kurzel Celebrates Australian Outlaws In Bloodsoaked Period Thriller [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

You’ve heard the refrain from us a lot lately. The fall film festival season is upon us and life is nuts. The Telluride Film Festival just ended on Monday. The Venice Film Festival is still going strong, though near the end. And now it’s time for the largest festival in North America, arguably the world: the Toronto International Film Festival. Now TIFF can be seen, in some ways, as pretty broad, McDonald’s-like, featuring many, many stars and red-carpet glamor, all the things that make film festivals feel superficial from the outside.

Continue reading 2019 Toronto International Film Festival: 25 Most Anticipated Movies at The Playlist.

While films starring Scarlett Johansson (two of them, in fact), Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix, and other major stars seem to dominate the headlines coming out of this morning’s 2019 TIFF lineup announcement, there are plenty of under-the-radar films from acclaimed directors that are screening at the fest that are worthy of your attention.

READ MORE: TIFF 2019 Line-up: New Films By Rian Johnson, Steven Soderbergh, Safdie Brothers, Noah Baumbach, & The Joker Lands A North American Premiere

One of the most anticipated films comes from indie director Drake Doremus, called “Endings, Beginnings.” The film, which stars Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan, and Jamie Dornan, tells the story of a love triangle between an idealistic woman, a bad boy, and a scholar.

Continue reading Here’s Your First Look At A Bushy-Bearded Russell Crowe, Shailene Woodley, Charlie Hunnam & More From TIFF 2019 Films at The Playlist.

For those that might be ready to forget all about Russell Crowe after “The Mummy,” you might want to wait just a little bit longer before completely writing the actor off. While Crowe has made some odd career choices in the past, it looks like he’s about to star in a film that just might be worth your time.

READ MORE: ‘The Current War’: Michael Shannon Only Source Of Light In This Over-Stylized Drama [TIFF Review]

According to Deadline, Russel Crowe has signed on to star in the upcoming film “True History of the Kelly Gang.” The project, about one of the world’s greatest outlaws, is based on the award-winning novel of the same name, and tells the story of Ned, from his own perspective, as you learn his history and about his family as he rose up from the colonial badlands in Australia.

Continue reading Nicholas Hoult & Russell Crowe Join Justin Kurzel’s ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’ at The Playlist.

'Macbeth' Helmer Justin Kurzel To Direct 'True History Of The Kelly Gang'

Continue reading ‘Macbeth’ Helmer Justin Kurzel To Direct ‘True History Of The Kelly Gang’ at The Playlist.