Maybe it’s time to let the old ways of this almost-finished decade die, yeah? But it wouldn’t be complete without our deep dive into the best soundtracks and scores of the 2010s. It’s admittedly somewhat weird and difficult to do. Scores and soundtracks are different beasts; one original musical written for a film that gives it its emotional shape—often the secret MVP of a movie—and the other more of a mixtape, but when well-curated and used next to picture, can be just as deadly and help craft what we know as the visual and aural transcendence that’s known as cinema when it’s at its best.

Continue reading The Best Soundtracks & Scores Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

Look, making a Best of Decade list is an impossibility. As the 2010s come to a close, we’ve been agonizing over this (long-delayed) list for half a year now and even had to take a break and put it away this summer when things got too contentious and overwhelming. And then there’s the notion of resonance and what really lasts and is released too late (Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” is phenomenal, for example, but it’s not even released yet, and it’s just going to have to sit this one out).

Continue reading The 100 Best Films Of The Decade [2010s] at The Playlist.

To dust off a tried-and-true turn of phrase that’s been employed since the early days of Hollywood: goddamnit, there’s just something special about Joaquin Phoenix. Since the beginning of his career, Phoenix has graduated from playing scumbags, bad guys, and memorable bit players to veritable leading-man status. He’s also been nominated three times for an Oscar (for “Gladiator,” “Walk the Line,” and “The Master”) and, somehow, never won.

Continue reading The Essentials: Joaquin Phoenix’s 12 Best Performances at The Playlist.

The 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out in a ceremony in Santa Monica this afternoon hosted by Aubrey Plaza.  Annapurna Films’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” ruled the afternoon taking three awards including Best Film, Best Director (Barry Jenkins) and Best Supporting Actress (Regina King).  For the most part, however, Film Independent voters spread the love.

READ MORE: Barry Jenkins discusses his transcendent “If Beale Street Could Talk” [Interview]

Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” took Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Male (Richard E.

Continue reading ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ Takes Best Film & Rules 2019 Spirit Awards at The Playlist.

Welcome to another edition of Over/Under Movies, the podcast where we discuss films that we feel are undervalued in some way, shape, or form.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2019 We’ve Already Seen

On our year-end extravaganza, I’m joined by Oktay Ege Kozak and Erik McClanahan to reflect on 2018. Not much else can be said about how strong the cinematic output was for the year, so we’ll avoid it entirely and tell you about the films that we thought flew under-the-radar, whether it was critics it didn’t connect with them, or went unnoticed by the public at large.

Continue reading Over/Under Movies Puts 2018 To Bed With The Year’s Best Underseen Films [Podcast] at The Playlist.

On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I look back at another strong year for cinema and compile our lists for the best films of 2018. We go through them rather quickly, as we’ve discussed most these films on previous episodes already. (Check the AYT back catalog here!) We also find time to highlight some of our favorite and/or most memorable moments in movies near the end. In between, we discuss a new release in theaters that made both our lists: Barry Jenkins‘ “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2018

Needless to say, we adore the film and think you should definitely see in theaters this year.

Continue reading Favorite 2018 Moments, Top 10 Films & Plenty Of Time To Gush Over ‘Beale Street’ [AYT Podcast] at The Playlist.

Though I don’t rival Chidi (reminder to all reading, you should watch “The Good Place” on NBC) in my indecision, the biggest stress for me recently – other than “Black Mirror“‘s panic-inducing interactive “Bandersnatch” episode – was attempting to narrow down 2018’s best films into just 10 favorites. I was tempted to go the route of The New Yorker, making a list of 40 of the year’s top movies, but that seems like cheating – and far too much writing.

Continue reading Kimber Myers’ Top 10 Films of 2018 at The Playlist.

2018 left audiences with moments that will never be forgotten. Though this is the case most years, this one, in particular, left me with a swarming amount of images, sounds, and pieces of dialogue that have struck a chord within me unlike any other time before.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2018

From scenes that made my spine tingle and my skin crawl to those that made my heart float and my eyes swell with tears, there were so many striking moments to choose from, but not enough room to write.

Continue reading Kyle Kohner’s Top 10 Film Moments Of 2018 at The Playlist.

The season for top 10s is almost up—though you’ll forgive us if any of our best of 2018 picks bleed into 2019, because hell, we’ve been working non-stop—but there is no real clock, and the top 10s are still rolling in as people catch up with films.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2018

In a really, long extensive list, Indiewire has reached out to and garnered picks (though sometimes just thoughts, see Alfonso Cuaron), and amassed some top 10 personal lists from many filmmakers.

Continue reading Guillermo Del Toro & Edgar Wright’s 2018 Top 10 Films Includes ‘Roma,’ ‘Mandy,’ ‘First Reformed’ & More at The Playlist.

Making a Top 10 list at the end of the year is difficult. It’s also superfluous. So much time is spent cramming in last-minute films that you’ve missed throughout the year for the chance to put it on your list, when there are already many great films that you’ve spent at least half the year reflecting on and digesting. Tastes are fluid and ever-changing, and you may bump something off your list that you just watched, only to find that six months down the road that the shine on that film has worn off.

Continue reading Ryan Oliver’s Top 25 Films Of 2018 [Video] at The Playlist.

As the year races to a close, we’re all on the verge of killing each other, at least on Film Twitter. Everyone’s ornery as we sprint to make those deadlines, but before we declare war on one another, remember we still have inspiring and movie music to celebrate and soothe us. In crafting this piece over the years – Best Soundtracks and Scores – we’ve discovered it’s one of the most soothing, one of the best balms of the end of the year.

Continue reading The 20 Best Film Soundtracks & Scores Of 2018 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.

Now it’s time to get our action yah-yahs out. 2018 is coming to a close so as is our usual wont to do, we’re running down many of the particulars of the year in cinema; Best Films, Posters, Trailers, Breakthrough Performances, and much more to come. Action is an art, but it’s not always artfully crafted, sometimes placing a premium on noise, loudness, chaos, and all the things Michael Bay values. But the best action sequences we always tend to love always put a focus on staging, crafty editing, tension, and orchestration.

Continue reading The 20 Best Action Movies 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.

Movie marketing can be a weird thing to celebrate, no doubt. Posters, trailer and all kinds of promotional materials are selling tools explicitly designed to captivate (dupe?) the broadest, biggest audiences into attending your movie. These materials are created to attract the most mouth-breathing-friendly flies which usually means, big, dumb, loud and in the case of many posters, a healthy dose of criminal Photoshop abuse. Sometimes that means an overwrought collage-diarrhea on a superhero poster where it appears that one character is inevitably flatulating out an explosion, or the designer is just visually impaired, and sometimes it’s just the most egregious concept of all time.

Continue reading The 20 Best Movie Posters Of 2018 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.

Since her evocative “Ratcatcher” in 1999, director Lynne Ramsay has delivered nothing short of oblique masterpieces each time up at bat. Ramsay’s recent film, the visceral and gripping, “You Were Never Really Here” with Joaquin Phoenix, continues the tradition of crafting sensory experiences that leave an audience bowled over.  The film also points to the constant preoccupations of Ramsay’s stories. Often fusing trauma and death, Ramsay’s films are quiet and melancholy, involving the impermanence of mortality in various ways.

Continue reading In Lynne Ramsay’s Films, Death Is Never The End at The Playlist.

Here lies another of our director-centric episodes… The incomparable Lynne Ramsay.

On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I gush about a longtime podcast favorite. Back in our early days, even before the podcast started, we bonded fast over Ramsay’s work, having a shared affection for this still underappreciated filmmaker. And so today we dive into all four of her features, with a heavy focus on her latest, the Joaquin Phoenix-led arthouse thriller “You Were Never Really Here,” rolling out to cinemas the next few weeks.

Continue reading We Adore Lynne Ramsay & Her New Film ‘You Were Never Really Here’ And You Should Too [Adjust Your Tracking Podcast] at The Playlist.

If you’ve been following The Playlist recently, you know that we’re incredibly excited that Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” is finally hitting theaters. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a veteran and ex-FBI agent who is contracted to locate missing girls suspected of being victims of trafficking. It’s brutal, beautiful, and raw. And if you’re familiar with Ramsay’s style of directing, then none of that should be surprising.

Continue reading Ezra Miller Hopes Hollywood Doesn’t Make Director Lynne Ramsay Wait Years Until Her Next Movie at The Playlist.

Lynne Ramsay’s latest film, “You Were Never Really Here,” packs a whole can of worms in its thin 89-minute running time. In the film, Joaquin Phoenix plays a war veteran who now works as a hitman. His attempt to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring becomes very complicated once he uncovers a political conspiracy lurking beneath it. The directing and editing (courtesy of Joe Bini) are the real selling points here, as Ramsay tries an experimental approach.

Continue reading Lynne Ramsay On ‘You Were Never Really Here’; How Joaquin Phoenix Might Be Her “Soulmate” 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.

Without a doubt, Joaquin Phoenix’s new film “You Were Never Really Here” is one of the most anticipated of the year. With only a few short weeks until its theatrical release, Amazon Studios has just released a new clip from the film, and it’s a great tease of what’s to come.

With barely any dialogue, the newest clip from “You Were Never Really Here” gives viewers a quick peek at what they can expect from the film directed by Lynne Ramsay. 

Continue reading ‘You Were Never Really Here’ Clip Shows Joaquin Phoenix Make A Trip To The Hardware Store at The Playlist.

No, Jonny Greenwood’s amazing score for “The Phantom Thread” didn’t win the Oscar last weekend, but that doesn’t diminish the incredible work he did for that film. After a string of successful pairings with Paul Thomas Anderson, the musician is back at work with another collaborator, Lynne Ramsay, for her next film, “You Were Never Really Here.”

For those that can’t wait to hear what Greenwood has cooked up for that film, the entire score is now available to stream, and it’s well worth a listen.

Continue reading Listen: Jonny Greenwood’s Score To Lynne Ramsay’s ‘You Were Never Really Here’ at The Playlist.

Director Lynne Ramsay had a bit of a rough ride with “Jane Got A Gun,” with the kind of contentious exit from the western that made many question how long it would take for producers to work with her again. Well, the filmmaker dusted herself off and recruited Joaquin Phoenix for the lean, mean “You Were Never Really Here.” The film set off fireworks at the Cannes Film Festival last spring, and it’s on the way to cinemas soon.

Continue reading ‘You Were Never Really Here’ Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Brings The Pain 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.