Robert Daniels, Author at The Playlist

‘Firestarter’ Review: A Remake So Loathsome & Embarrassing It Should Be Immediately Extinguished

May 13, 2022 10:31 am

Director Keith Thomas’ “Firestarter” is simply a substandard movie. What more can be said that wouldn’t belabor the point? A remake of Mark L. Lester’s kitschy film adaptation of Stephen King’s same-titled sci...

‘All The Old Knives’ Review: This Chris Pine Spy Thriller Wields A Dull Blade

Robert Daniels

April 6, 2022 12:00 pm

News, Reviews

The unmitigated boredom and lackluster unoriginality “All the Old Knives” prides itself on shouldn't shock anyone. After a long line of dreary espionage flicks — “The 355,” “Red Sparrow,” “Wasp Network,” “Beir...

‘Atlanta’ Season 3 Review: Donald Glover’s Series Finds Comfort In The Absurd

Robert Daniels

April 5, 2022 10:23 am

Features, News, Reviews, Television

The precarious maneuvering of Black folks through spaces of commerce has punctuated every episode of Donald Glover’s unflinching F.X. dramedy “Atlanta.” After all, the series finds focus in a quartet of charac...

‘Bitch Ass’ Review: Bill Posely Crafts A Hilarious Homage To Black Horror [SXSW]

Robert Daniels

March 15, 2022 12:13 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

From the moment Tony Todd, playing Titus Darq, a pencil mustache master of ceremonies hosting a “Good Horror Movie Night,” appears on the screen with a Vincent Price inspired cackle, you know Bill Posley’s hil...

‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Review: A Triumphant Comeback For Nicolas Cage, Who Also Never Left [SXSW]

Robert Daniels

March 13, 2022 1:09 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

After forty years in show business, what else is there left for Nicolas Cage to do? At his best — for thirty years, in fact — the actor nimbly toed the line between blockbuster action hero and fully ...

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’: Michelle Yeoh Carries A Bold & Boundless Multiverse Spectacle [SXSW]

Robert Daniels

March 12, 2022 9:40 am

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” carries a surprising sci-fi staidness for the loony directors behind “Swiss Army Man,” until a character, after ingesting a chock full of pink chapstick, magically becomes a...

‘The Batman’ Review: Matt Reeves Delivers A Hypnotic Piece Of Filmmaking With His Dark, Gritty Tale Of Vengeance

Robert Daniels

February 28, 2022 12:00 pm

Features, News, Reviews

Unforgettable images—the coned, fiery blue flames of the Batmobile, bodies thrashing, enveloped in shadows, the brailed scars crawling across Robert Pattinson’s muscled back—converge in Matt Reeves’ three-hour...

‘Alice’ Review: Blaxploitation-Inspired Thriller Feels Like A Lost Opportunity [Sundance]

Robert Daniels

January 23, 2022 10:50 pm

Festivals, News, Reviews

Up until the 1960s, Black folks, hoodwinked by sinister white folks, were entrapped into servitude because of debts that they owed. Southern whites took advantage of the climate of racism that dominated the ar...

‘Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.’ Review: Regina Hall Shines In A Sly, Subversive Black Megachurch Comedy [Sundance]

Robert Daniels

January 23, 2022 7:43 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

“Bless your heart,” a former congregant says to Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall), the first lady of the Atlanta-based Baptist megachurch Wander To Greater Paths. As the film crew that’s been following the first l...

‘Hatching’ Review: Unnerving, Smartly-Constructed Influencer Horror Introduces A Bold New Voice In The Genre [Sundance]

Robert Daniels

January 23, 2022 2:30 am

Festivals, News, Reviews

The family at the center of Finnish director Hanna Bergholm’s unnerving, instantly memorable horror flick “Hatching,” on first blush, are their own kind of perfect. This quartet of influencers, who sell their ...

Author Robert Daniels