Robert Daniels, Author at The Playlist

‘Lovecraft Country’: A Powerful & Terrifying Genre Odyssey Led By An Incredible Cast [Review]

August 7, 2020 10:52 am

Atticus (Jonathan Majors) loves pulp fiction. He loves that "the heroes get to go on adventures on other worlds… defeat the monsters, save the day.” A trimmed Korean war veteran, usually dressed in a t-shirt a...

‘Da 5 Bloods’: Spike Lee Finally Makes A Worthy, If Bloated, War Epic [Review]

Robert Daniels

June 10, 2020 9:33 am

Features, News, Reviews

Few comebacks have been as satisfying as what 2018’s “BlacKkKlansman” wrought. The film netted the esteemed and oft-misunderstood director Spike Lee a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, reminding many of his poten...

Shane Carruth Talks Ambitions Beyond Film, ‘Ad Astra,’ Frustrations With Hollywood, Tribalism & More [Interview]

Robert Daniels

May 23, 2020 1:56 pm

Features, Interviews, News

Shane Carruth remains a rare figure in the cinematic landscape. His major achievements: “Primer” and “Upstream Color”—are idiosyncratic and unique in their execution and deconstruction of the sci-fi genre. He ...

Shane Carruth Discusses The World-Building In The New Indie Fable, ‘The Wanting Mare’ [Interview]

Robert Daniels

May 21, 2020 2:45 pm

Interviews, News

Shane Carruth rarely plays it safe. An actor, director, screenwriter, composer, and producer, his major achievements—“Primer” and “Upstream Color”—remain idiosyncratic and unique in their execution and deconst...

‘The Lovebirds’: The Dynamic Chemistry Between Kumail Nanjiani & Issa Rae Saves A Subpar Story [Review]

Robert Daniels

May 20, 2020 10:16 am

News

How soon is now, is now, and the neon painted landscape strokes to the club beat. That night was more than a sweaty crowded dance floor your friends dragged you to—criminally packed bodies bumping, tossed toge...

Hulu’s ‘Ramy’ Remains Funny & Wildly Unique In Season 2 [Review]

Robert Daniels

May 18, 2020 12:06 pm

Features, News, Reviews, Television

Last year, Ramy Youssef’s eponymous Egyptian-American comedy debuted to rapturous reviews—even netting Youssef a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy). During his acceptance sp...

‘Bamboozled’ Is Spike Lee’s Regrettably Timeless Masterpiece

Robert Daniels

April 20, 2020 12:42 pm

Essays, News

I first watched Mantan Moreland when I was a teenager. My father (born in 1941) grew up on the Charlie Chan series in which Moreland played a Black, nervous, jumpy, and bulging eye assistant to the fortune-coo...

Spike Lee’s ‘Jackie Robinson’ Is A Complex Biopic That Needs To Be Made

Robert Daniels

March 31, 2020 11:08 am

News

In 1992, Spike Lee released the Denzel Washington-fronted masterpiece “Malcolm X.” By 1996, the famed-director knew his next subject. “Jackie Robinson, 53 years old, hair completely white, sits back in his eas...

‘Falling’: Viggo Mortensen’s Directorial Debut Is An Exhausting Mess [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

February 1, 2020 1:36 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

In 1984, Viggo Mortensen debuted as a Lieutenant in a George Washington miniseries. Since then, he’s portrayed a once and future king in the Tolkein universe, a father navigating the apocalypse, a Russian hitm...

‘Sergio’: Wagner Moura & Ana De Armas Elevate An Otherwise Messy, Sluggish Biopic [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 29, 2020 11:23 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

On 19 August 2003, a car bomb exploded outside the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad. As a result, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sérgio Vieira de Mello and Gil Loescher were pinned under tons of r...

‘Charm City Kings’: An Outstanding, Unabashedly Black Coming Of Age Tale Made One Mile Of Road At A Time [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 28, 2020 12:28 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

In Baltimore, among the city’s Black community, the sounds of dirt bikes echo down the streets, through the alleys, backyards, and by bedroom windows. Baltimore is more than riots and more than extralegal oppr...

‘Palm Springs’: Andy Samberg Delights In This Surprisingly Introspective Comedy [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 27, 2020 11:27 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

In the end, we all die alone. However, the people who usually stand by that statement have already decided they’ll die alone. They’ve yet to question what objects inhabit the tomorrows, yesterdays, and todays ...

‘Black Bear’ With Aubrey Plaza & Christopher Abbott Is Splintered, Madly Hysterical & Intoxicating [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 26, 2020 1:07 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

A woman in a red swimsuit sits on a wooden pier in the murky fog, only to later walk into a room, sit at a table, and write in her notebook. Lawrence Michael Levine uses the same sequence three separate times ...

‘Wander Darkly’: Love Disintegrates For Sienna Miller & Diego Luna In A Surrealist Romance [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 26, 2020 10:34 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

Adrienne (Sienna Miller) and Matteo (Diego Luna) are a couple whose relationship is disintegrating. Even with the inclusion of a new baby girl Ellie, mistrust pervades their relationship. Like many soon-to-be...

Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Possessor’ Is A Wild, Tech-Fueled Fever Dream [Sundance Review]

Robert Daniels

January 26, 2020 1:00 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a deadly contract killer, who works for a secretive biotech company run by a former hired gun Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The organization carries out their kills by kidnap...

Author Robert Daniels