Nick Allen, Author at The Playlist

‘Jungle Cruise’: Dwayne Johnson & Emily Blunt Have Ample Charms, But This Is A Shallow, CGI-Muck Adventure [Review]

July 27, 2021 12:19 pm

Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” has many sights that awe its adventurers—a cove of towering waterfalls that empties from below, a spindly mega tree that sprouts luminescent red flowers in the moonlight, a violent set...

‘Old’: M. Night Shyamalan Crafts A Weird, Self-Aware Horror About How Time Comes For Us All [Review]

Nick Allen

July 22, 2021 12:00 pm

News, Reviews

One of M. Night Shyamalan’s greatest mysteries will always concern “The Happening”: Was his 2008 killer trees thriller intentionally so ridiculous and unhinged? Or namely, was it aware of how funny it was? No ...

‘Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions’: A Well-Crafted Sequel That Doesn’t Think Outside Of The Box [Review]

Nick Allen

July 16, 2021 10:32 am

News, Reviews

“Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” is a tricky sequel, starting with gauging just how successful it truly is. Like with the 2019 original, “Escape Room,” its hand-holding horror can be nifty and surprising...

‘The Tomorrow War’: Chris Pratt Saves The Future In Chris McKay’s Creative, Captivating Action Film [Review]

Nick Allen

July 1, 2021 11:41 am

Features, News, Reviews

Chris McKay’s thrilling “The Tomorrow War” drops you right into its wartime hell, literally, with an opening sequence that shows Chris Pratt falling from a smoke-filled sky as if he were in an apocalyptic roun...

‘The Forever Purge’: The Once Scary Inhumanity Of The Franchise Curdles Into Cheap, Exploitative Gruel [Review]

Nick Allen

June 30, 2021 3:08 pm

News, Reviews

There’s a great deal of power to financially successful franchise that can lower its own bar: look no further than the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies and their squeakquels. Also, see the “Purge” series. Thei...

Josh Ruben Talks ‘Werewolves Within’ & The Amblin Influence On His Filmmaking [Interview]

Nick Allen

June 23, 2021 1:24 pm

Interviews, News

Just two films into his filmmaking career and Josh Ruben has fashioned his own brand of indie horror-comedy, with a little help from his friends. His debut “Scare Me” largely featured Aya Cash (“The Boys”) and...

‘Dave’ Continues Being A Fascinating Triumph In Heartfelt & Hilarious Season 2 [Review]

Nick Allen

June 16, 2021 10:35 am

News, Reviews, Television

The first season of “Dave” made rapper Lil Dicky—real name Dave Burd—more powerful than his non-believers could have ever imagined. In the crowded landscape of TV, the series that riffs on Burd’s dreams of bei...

‘Italian Studies’: Adam Leon Talks Experimenting And Collaborating With Vanessa Kirby [Interview]

Nick Allen

June 15, 2021 1:18 pm

Features, Festivals, Interviews, News

In the span of only three films, writer/director Adam Leon has proven to have a significant feel for New York City and those who populate its streets. His debut film “Gimme the Loot” premiered at SXSW and then...

‘Italian Studies’: Vanessa Kirby Is Fascinating To Watch In Adam Leon’s Dreamy & Compelling Mood Piece [Tribeca Review]

Nick Allen

June 12, 2021 9:30 pm

Features, Festivals, News, Reviews

Vanessa Kirby is fascinating to watch and follow in writer/director Adam Leon’s “Italian Studies,” a purposefully hazy but compelling survey of New York City and its young minds. The Academy Award nominee of “...

‘Awake’: The Apocalypse Has Rarely Been This Abysmal In Netflix’s Lazy Thriller [Review]

Nick Allen

June 10, 2021 11:36 am

News, Reviews

Given the success of movies like “A Quiet Place” (and “A Quiet Place Part II”) and “Bird Box,” there’s undeniably a big market for movies that play with an audience’s daily reliance on senses or shared experie...

‘Blindspotting’: Starz Series Expansion Of The Beloved Indie Recaptures The Buzzy Energy & Experience [Review]

Nick Allen

June 7, 2021 4:11 pm

News, Reviews, Television

2018’s “Blindspotting” was the kind of movie that created its own viewing experience. That’s about all you need to remember before watching the new “Blindspotting,” the new series premiering on Starz on Saturd...

‘Lisey’s Story’: Pablo Larrain, Julianne Moore & Clive Owen Try To Sift Through The Fog Of Stephen King’s Surreal Nightmare [Review]

Nick Allen

May 25, 2021 10:26 am

Features, News, Reviews, Television

“Lisey’s Story” is unmistakably a writer’s miniseries, so much that it romances a rough draft. It has immense range, touching upon every shade of darkness within the human spirit. But it has little tact in how...

‘Spiral: From The Book of Saw’: An Intricately Bad Soap-Copera Spin-Off About Police Accountability [Review]

Nick Allen

May 12, 2021 9:24 am

Features, News, Reviews

Somewhere between 2004’s “Saw” and 2017’s “Jigsaw,” the torture in the “Saw” franchise became a punchline. Their mechanics stopped working—the elaborate devices by Jigsaw and his disciples were no longer belie...

Author Nick Allen