Author: Alex Billington

"Let's go break some Camp Clover rules and kick some spy butt." Epic Family has unveiled the trailer for a goofy summer comedy called Stinky Summer, arriving to watch starting in September (on VOD) just after this year's summer is over. Join Olivia & friends plus a lovable skunk at Camp Clover as they outsmart spies from stealing her dad's secret invention in a wild summer adventure! As her parents launch their app, Olivia is sent to summer camp to discover her talents. When villains target the app and try to steal it from her dad, Olivia befriends a skunk (!!) and her cabin mates, using her tech skills to protect the project and catch the thieves. This is from Epic Family, the "all-ages division of Epic Pictures Group", so keep your expectations in check here. Stinky Summer stars Francesca Capaldi, Oakley Bull, Helen Day, and Matt Servitto. Yes this looks extremely cheesy and extra dumb, but at least it has a funny puppet skunk character. 🦨 Ha... Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Amanda Raymond's film Stinky Summer, direct ...

"You know you ask for this, right?" Magenta Light Studios has debuted a second trailer for an indie thriller titled Strange Darling, from genre filmmaker JT Mollner. The film is earning more & more rave reviews, opening in limited theaters in a few weeks. It initially premiered at Fantastic Fest last year. Everyone says to go in without knowing anything about it... The only brief synopsis says that it's "one day in the twisted love life of a serial killer." Hmmm - but what else? Starring Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr., Giovanni Ribisi, and Barbara Hershey. Ribisi is also the film's DP. One other recent rave review came from beloved author Stephen King, who watched a screener and tweeted after: "it's really terrific... Can't say more; watch the film and you'll understand what the trailer is up to." Once again, trust the buzz on this one and watch it without seeing any more. "I wish I could say more about Strange Darling, but it's one of those films that's too clever to spoil, so best to say nothing." ...

"If this goes bad, it's gonna go real bad." FX on Hulu has launched their full official trailer for Season 2 of The Old Man, a CIA thriller action series starring Jeff Bridges. The first season of this series launched on FX back in the summer of 2022 (here's the trailer) featuring an impressive cast all around. In Season 2, they bring back Alia Shawkat as Emily Chase, who gets kidnapped by an Afghan tribal leader claiming to be her father - setting in motion the events this time. "As the stakes rise and secrets are uncovered, Emily finds herself in an identity crisis with dire implications, and Zoe makes surprising moves into Dan Chase's world." Jeff Bridges stars as "The Old Man" Dan, along with John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, Alia Shawkat, Navid Negahban, Jacqueline Antaramian, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Bill Heck, & Leem Lubany. Just like the first season, there's some dogs in the footage but they don't feature as prominently this time. And that helicopter shot at the end is epically badass! Anyone out there excited for it to ...

"I remind myself I'm human. I'm able to just go forth in my life." Gravitas has revealed an official US trailer for a documentary film titled Stylebender, from New Zealand director Zoe McIntosh. This first premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival last year, and opened in New Zealand already a year ago. Now it's arriving on VOD in the US to watch. Stylebender is about the world champion acclaimed fighter Israel Adesanya - a Nigerian-New Zealand professional MMA, kickboxer, and former boxer. He currently fights in the UFC's Middleweight division, which is where most will recognize him. Following Adesanya's early life, upbringing, and his decision to pursue mixed martial arts professionally. It's about "a boy fighting to become the man he was destined to be. Will he find something to fight for, or will he become what he hates the most?" Tribeca adds: "UFC fanatics and those who have never seen a match will find Adesanya’s journey toward greatness captivating, engrossing, and illustrative of the larger-than-life personality you need to succeed." This looks like a properly inspiring and uplifting ...

"Ruthless revenge in its purest form!" "Epic emotions! Raw rage! Primal courage!" Ohh hell yes! Following up on India's RRR and Kalki 2898 AD and Brahmāstra comes yet another new heroic epic to enjoy. And it looks mega awesome! Kanguva is a new action movie bonanza from Tamil cinema's Kollywood made by the filmmaker known as Siva, and it's set to hit theaters worldwide in October this fall. Indian action hero Suriya stars as Kanga - the central hero. Not much is known about the plot (Indian movies tend to keep it all a secret until it opens in theaters) only that it spans hundreds of years and that the hero Kanga must complete "a mission left unfinished." The cast includes Bobby Deol and Disha Patani (in their first Tamil films) with Natarajan Subramaniam, Jagapathi Babu, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Kovai Sarala, and Anandaraj. The director says it's not really a fantasy movie, more of a historical action epic featuring real people - no superheroes, gods, or superpowers this time. All of this footage looks incredible! Calling this an action-packed ...

"I have a feeling that it's falling apart at the seams... And the people in the gutters recognize their means." This striking short film is worth just 7 minutes of your time. We Used to Own Houses is a mesmerizing short film made by an Australian filmmaker named David Robinson-Smith. A landlord is confronted by one of the many tenants he evicted in this unsettling film which first premiered at the 2023 Melbourne Film Fest last year. Thom, a determined renter, confronts Ben, a burdened landlord. Within the confines of their meeting, cryptic verses echo, unraveling the hidden truths of a broken system. As walls crumble and secrets are laid bare, a haunting truth emerges, shattering the illusions of home. In this unsettling invasion, power shifts and the consequences of greed unfold. Starring Anthony Phelan, Thom Green, Joshua Mehmet, Laneikka Denne, and Frazer Bull-Clark as the floating man. This is remarkably powerful - great work. Thanks to Vimeo Staff Picks for the tip on this short film / music video debuting. Here's the quick intro via Vimeo: "After breaking into his ...

Peacock has unveiled a teaser trailer for a series called Hysteria, taking us back to the days of the insane hysteria of "Satanic Panic" in the late 1980s. Written by and executive produced by Matthew Scott Kane and David Goodman, Hysteria debuts streaming in October. The original new horror-comedy series follows a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts who use the town's sudden interest in the occult to start a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a strange series of events triggers a witch hunt that leads back to them. So basically a crime thriller meets 80s dark comedy? Julie Bowen and Anna Camp star along with Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, Kezii Curtis, and Nikki Hahn. With recurring guest stars including Bruce Campbell (Ash is in town, baby!), Garret Dillahunt, Nolan North, Elijah Richardson, Milly Shapiro, Allison Scagliotti, & Jessica Treska. There's not much to this teaser - Julie Bowen dancing and a demon showing up in a microwave. You'll have to wait for more footage before this arrives in October. Here's the first teaser trailer (+ poster) ...

🐒 Neon has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a new horror movie called The Monkey, adapted from the Stephen King story of the same name, about one of those super creepy clapping monkey toys. The teaser first debuted in front of Cuckoo showings this weekend before landing online. The Monkey is the very highly anticipated follow-up to this year's massive horror hit Longlegs from mastermind horror director Osgood Perkins. Produced by James Wan, written and directed Perkins, The Monkey is a story about two brothers. The siblings decide to throw the monkey toy away after it starts killing, and try to move on with their lives, growing apart over the years... Starring Theo James as both bothers Bill & Hall, with Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy. There's no real footage in this teaser trailer, so I've included a few first look photos that hit the web recently. This is going to be creepy! This monkey is already scary - but in the hands of Oz Perkins, it's going to be ...

"Sometimes you have to do painful things for you family." Netflix has revealed the trailer for Billionaire Island, a dark comedy series streaming this fall on Netflix worldwide. It's the latest Netflix series creation from the same creators of "Lilyhammer". Julie Lange, the head of Marlax, plans a hostile takeover of a local competitor to become the world's largest salmon producer. Billionaire Island is about the rivalry between two families, pitting old traditions against new (wealth) ambitions. It's about two families in a small coastal community in Norway who are sworn enemies in the global salmon industry. The series is shot at the island of Frøya, Trøndelag, and depicts Norway's much-talked about and major fish farming industry in a new and humorous way. Trine Wiggen leads the cast as a ruthless owner of a Norwegian fish farming company who plans a hostile takeover of her local rival in order to become the world's largest salmon producer. The series also stars Bjarne Brøndbo, Ragne Grande, Svein Roger Karlsen, Kåre Conradi, Oddgeir Thune, Axel Bøyum, Manish Sharma, Frank Kjosås, and Bjørn Sundquist. ...

Peekaboo! 🍬 Laika's beloved stop-motion animation classic Coraline is playing in cinemas again this week - celebrating its 15th Anniversary with a theatrical (3D) re-release. Watch the new trailer here. Directed by Henry Selick, the story follows the young Coraline who discovers an idealized alternate universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains something dark & sinister. The Portland-based stop-motion studio recently ran a special promo contest - asking fans to create and submit their own live-action versions of any scene from Coraline. This 90-second long short film is the winner, titled Unwinding the Web - directed and produced by filmmaker Brittany Thurman. Laika also held a very similar live-action contest for ParaNorman's 10th Anniversary last year (watch those wining videos here & here). This winning live-cation Coraline scene follows the blue-haired girl into a theater where she discovers two strange hands grasping a glowing pearl. The short stars Riley Madison Fuller as the real-life Coraline. This is so much better than Disney's recent live-action adaptations - I want to see more of this footage. ...