Author: Alex Billington

"For the first time in his life he's about to meet his match." This enduring 90s classic is almost always a wholesome, invigorating watch anytime and anyplace. Good Will Hunting originally opened in theaters in December of 1997, some 27 years ago. It was the film that gave Ben Affleck & Matt Damon their first Oscar. And Robin Williams won a much deserved Oscar as well for his performance as Dr. Sean Maguire. Starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting shows the most brilliant mind at America's top university isn’t a student, he is the kid who cleans the floors... Will is a headstrong, working-class genius who is failing the lessons of life. After one too many run-ins with the law, Will’s last chance is a psychology professor, who might be the only man who can reach him. Finally forced to deal with his past, Will discovers that the only one holding him back is himself. For a long time, I kept confusing this film with Dead Poets Society - both uplifting stories set at universities ...

"You sneaky bastard." "Let's kill him." Another sneaky look at this. Tokyo Theater Nikkatsu has debuted a "full" 60-second official trailer for the Japanese film titled Cloud, which is getting a grand premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Fesitval in a week. It's one of three (!!) brand new films from prolific Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa due out in 2024. He also has another one Chime and yet another French one called Le chemin du serpent (or Path of the Snake) in post already. The tile Cloud is a reference to the digital space known as the cloud, as it's a peculiar horror story about how hatred spreads online. Yoshii, a young man who resells goods online by flipping cheap products for high prices, finds himself at the center of a series of mysterious events that put his life at risk. Online threats against him start to become real. The film stars Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Daikan Okudaira, Okayama Amane, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Masataka Kubota. The film is less of a horror, more of an action thriller, with some mysterious elements ...

"They really changed the game." "That is what rock n' roll is about!" Big hair? Paramount+ has revealed an official trailer for a documentary series called Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal, which almost sounds like a title for a fake documentary like Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The 3-part doc is a look back at the all-out hair metal era of the 1980s from Jackass director Jeff Tremaine. Follow the wild, excessive '80s hard rock scene's insanity & ambition that enthralled generations. Uncensored behind-the-scenes look at an iconic musical era's influence on culture through candid insights from renowned rock journalists. Featuring Bret Michaels, Stephen Pearcy, Nuno Bettencourt, Dave "Snake" Sabo and Riki Rachtman, along with Corey Taylor and Steve-O, among many others. Bands mentioned also include 🎸 Poison, Dokken, Def Leppard, Vixen, Quiet Riot, Skid Row, Guns n' Roses, Great White, Kix, and others. Nöthin' But a Good Time will be streaming on Paramount+ this fall. This looks like an entertaining blast from the past taking a closer look at a crazy time ...

"I think the people that really matter in your life are far more willing to forgive than you might expect." Falling Forward Films has revealed an official US trailer for an indie boxing movie titled Day of the Fight, written and directed by British actor Jack Huston - directing his first ever feature film. This first premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival last year in the Orizzonti Extra section, and it also played at the Mill Valley Film Festival and SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Written and directed by Jack Huston, Day of the Fight is an incredibly powerful and emotionally charged love story featuring delicate performances from the actors Michael C. Pitt, Nicolette Robinson, Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, John Magaro, Steve Buscemi, and Anatol Yusef. The B&W film follows a once renowned boxer as he takes a redemptive journey through his past and present, on the day of his first fight since he left prison. This is a really beautiful trailer, showing the more tender and emotional side of this story of an aging boxer figuring out who his ...

"It's like – I'm being called... Please don't go looking for me." Out into the forest we go. 🌲🌲🌲 Netflix has revealed the official trailer for an indie streaming series called Penelope, created by producer / filmmaker Mel Eslyn (director of Biosphere previously). This series is a Duplass Brothers Production, created entirely independently by them. Megan Stott (from Little Fires Everywhere, Yes Day, Aftermath) plays the title character, a 16-year-old who feels out of place in modern society and is drawn into the unknown wilderness (in Cascade National Park in Northern Washington), where she begins to form a new life for herself. Austin Abrams also co-stars as Sam, with Krisha Fairchild as Helena, Rhenzy Feliz as Peter, plus Cynthia Geary & Barry O'Neil as her parents. It's clearly a passion project for Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn, a nice little adventure about trying to escape from the chaos of modern life. This looks wonderful - worth a watch. Here's the main official trailer (+ poster) for Mel Eslyn's series Penelope, direct from YouTube: A sixteen-year-old girl named Penelope (starring Megan Stott) who ...

"Slingshot is similar to Event Horizon because the ship is a character as well." Bleecker Street has unveiled a fascinating behind-the-scenes featurette for the sci-fi thriller Slingshot launching into theaters next week. It's set on a ship traveling to Saturn's moon Titan. Laurence Fishburne stars as Captain Franks, along with Casey Affleck as John, plus a supporting cast including Tomer Capone, David Morrissey, Emily Beecham, Charlotta Lövgren, Mark Ebulué, and Nikolett Barabas as the voice of "Odyssey" the spaceship system. An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality aboard a possibly compromised mission to Titan near Saturn (past Jupiter). The title refers to a space travel maneuver (using gravity to "slingshot" them) that will either catapult them to Titan or send them into deep space forever. This promo video digs a bit more into the concept and what it's dealing with - human minds struggling with space travel & hibernation, and a spaceship computer that might be deceiving them. In all honesty, this featurette got me more excited to watch this film than the original trailer. Will be watching ...

"You guys wanna stay?" Music Box Films has unveiled an official trailer for a film titled In the Summers, an indie drama from filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza that originally premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film won the festival's top prize at the end, dubbed the U.S. Grand Jury Prize, along with the Directing Award - two big awards for this thoughtful, authentic indie drama. Siblings Violeta and Eva live with their mother, but every summer they travel to New Mexico to spend time with their loving but unpredictable father in this moving that drama follows them from adolescence to adulthood. The story is set only "in the summers" whenever they arrive in NM to spend time with their estranged father, played by René "Residente" Pérez Joglar in an unforgettable role. On a journey that spans the formative years of their lives, two sisters navigate their loving but volatile father during their annual visits to his home in Las Cruces. Starring Sasha Calle and Lío Mehiel, with Sharlene Cruz, Leslie Grace, Emma Ramos, Kimaya Thais Limon, ...

"The boy I knew would never wish for war." Warner Bros has unveiled the first epic trailer for the animated movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the first big LOTR animated movie to be made. This is set for a theatrical release in December right around Christmas - they're still sticking with the plan to open this on the big screen. Set 183 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings. Helm goes on to be the namesake for the stronghold Helm's Deep. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever & ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand. The cast includes Brian Cox as Helm, Gaia Wise as Hèra, Luke Pasqualino as Wulf, Laurence Ubong Williams as Fréaláf, Shaun Dooley as Freca, ...

"I put it on canvas so that I can hold it by the throat!" Roadside has revealed the official trailer for an indie film titled Exhibiting Forgiveness, marking the feature directorial debut of real life artist Titus Kaphar. This originally premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and it also played at MoMA's New Directors/New Films series, and a few other fests. It earned mostly positive reviews and plenty of buzz during the fest, especially for some of the performances and the artwork in it. André Holland stars in a powerful lead role as Tarrell, a Black artist on the path to success. His progress is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, named La'Ron, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they'll struggle & learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving. The cast includes Andra Day, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, John Earl Jelks, Matthew Elam, and Ian Foreman. Reviews state the film "tackles the ghosts of the past, the scars of the present, and the promises of the future with nuance & grace." ...

"A strange odyssey with plenty of riches." Oscilloscope Labs has revealed the first trailer for an acclaimed, one-of-a-kind film from Canada titled Universal Language, the second feature from Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin (after the icy The Twentieth Century). It premiered to rave reviews at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight sidebars - one of the best discoveries of Cannes 2024. Two kids find frozen cash, and try to retrieve it. A tour guide leads confused tourists around Winnipeg sites. A man quits his job, visits his mother. Storylines intertwine surreally as identities blur in a disorienting comedy. Starring Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, Rojina Esmaeili, Danielle Fichaud, and Sobhan Javadi. Rankin adds: "think of it as cinematic Venn diagramme between Winnipeg, Tehran, Montréal. It’s like a confluence of rivers. Or a Hawaiian pizza. It’s a crazy duck-billed platypus of a movie: one part lonesome Québécois cinéma gris, one part surreal Winnipeg puzzle film, one part Kanoon-style Iranian poetic realism, all three of which reflect and refract through the prism of each other." Haven't stopped thinking about it - ...