Robert Daniels, Author at The Playlist

‘No Time To Die’: Daniel Craig’s Final Bow As James Bond Is Worth Toasting [Review]

September 28, 2021 8:45 pm

Since Daniel Craig nearly left the iconic 007 role, following the disaster of “Spectre,” the title of his final Bond film, director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “No Time To Die,” has carried a cruelly ironic tone. Cra...

‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’: Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand Are Fearless In Joel Coen’s Bleak, But Thrilling Adaptation [NYFF Review]

Robert Daniels

September 24, 2021 3:11 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

The plot for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” adapted from William Shakespeare’s classic play, is almost too familiar to waste space for explanation. Even so, the basic premise sees Lord Macbeth (Denzel Washington), ...

‘The Humans:’ Steven Yeun, Beanie Feldstein, & Richard Jenkins, Only Partially Save This Dark Horror Comedy [TIFF Review]

Robert Daniels

September 12, 2021 7:20 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

In writer-director Stephen Karam’s feature debut, the dark horror-comedy “The Humans,” it’s not so much a bump in the night or the creak in the door that can rupture an untapped fear. Those are merely the exte...

‘Unclenching the Fists:’ A Bleak, Unflinching Russian Coming-of-Age Tale [TIFF Review]

Robert Daniels

September 12, 2021 1:03 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

To open: Ada (Milana Aguzarova), a young woman living in North Ossetia, is planted against the cement wall by the freeway. As the tumult of cars rushes by, a young man — the seemingly lovesick Tamik (Arsen Khe...

‘Mogul Mowgli:’ Riz Ahmed Stuns In His Most Vulnerable Performance Yet [Review]

Robert Daniels

August 31, 2021 11:33 am

News, Reviews

Zed (Riz Ahmed) is a British-Pakistani rapper on the brink of stardom. After plugging away for years, bouncing from venue to venue across Europe, he’s finally given the opportunity to be an opener for what cou...

Jonathan Majors Talks The End Of ‘Lovecraft Country’: “It Feels Like You Lost A Friend” [Interview]

Robert Daniels

August 17, 2021 11:24 am

Features, Interviews, News

It would be inaccurate to call Jonathan Majors a rising star. Since his breakout role as Mont, a tender San Francisco playwright subverting the stereotypes of Black masculinity, in the Sundance darling, “The L...

‘Free Guy:’ Ryan Reynolds Excels In This Heartfelt, Hilarious Action-Comedy [Review]

Robert Daniels

August 5, 2021 12:00 pm

News, Reviews

Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is the last character you’d play in a video game. A teller at a bank that’s consistently robbed, he gets the same coffee every day (a medium, cream, and two sugars), wears the same clothes ...

‘Lingui, The Sacred Bonds’: A Rich Pro-Choice Meditation [Cannes Review]

Robert Daniels

July 9, 2021 9:40 am

News

Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds,” a slow burn from the Chadian filmmaker, operates through a deceptively simple premise: A single mother living on the modest outskirts of N'djamena, C...

‘Rehana Maryam Noor’: Obsession And Sexism Make For A Sharp Character Study [Cannes Review]

Robert Daniels

July 8, 2021 9:17 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

“Rehana Maryam Noor,” the second feature film from director Abdullah Mohammad Saad, the first Bangladesh film featured in Cannes, is both a dogged pursuit for justice and a sturdy character study. The titular ...

‘A Choice Of Weapons: Inspired By Gordon Parks’: Is Slightly Out Of Focus [Tribeca Review]

Robert Daniels

June 21, 2021 10:48 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

Acclaimed photojournalist Gordon Parks was something of a renaissance man. A photographer, writer, composer, film director, and activist—he imbued the American Black experience with a sense of gravitas, esteem...

‘Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James’: An Uneven Look At The Super Freak Hitmaker [Tribeca Review]

Robert Daniels

June 15, 2021 4:31 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

For most adults under the age of forty, “I’m Rick James, bitch” was a statement of intent. The artefactual pop-culture catchphrase stems from The Chappelle Show sketch “Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories,...

‘Catch The Fair One’: Josef Wladyka Delivers A Cathartic, Bloody Knock-Out & Instantly Becomes One To Watch [Tribeca Review]

Robert Daniels

June 15, 2021 12:34 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Out of the darkness, some voices rise above the others. At the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, director Josef Wladyka is that voice. The creator first made waves in 2014 when his debut “Manos Sucias” (Dirty Hands)...

“Like A Rolling Stone: The Life & Times Of Ben Fong-Torres”: Is A Must-See For Music Lovers [Tribeca Review]

Robert Daniels

June 14, 2021 3:06 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

You might know him best from Cameron Crowe’s seminal teenage road trip movie “Almost Famous.” Dressed replete in John Lennon glasses, long ink-black shaggy hair, and loud-open collar shirt, he is the editor fr...

‘All These Sons’: A Fitting Follow-up to Bing Liu’s ‘Minding the Gap’ [Tribeca Review]

Robert Daniels

June 14, 2021 11:32 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

Coming off their acclaimed documentary “Minding the Gap,” Joshua Altman and Bing Liu co-direct the searing, bracingly honest “All These Sons.”

‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ Commits The Horror Cardinal Sin Of Being Boring [Review]

Robert Daniels

June 1, 2021 12:33 pm

Features, News, Reviews

If asked to name successful non-comic book movie franchises, you’d probably think of “Mission: Impossible,” “Saw,” or “Jurassic Park.” It’d take a while before you landed on “The Conjuring.” Having spawned spi...

Author Robert Daniels