Author: Alex Billington

"When she sets her mind to something, there's no stopping her. She doesn't eat, she doesn't sleep, she just keeps that laser focus until the task is done." Magnolia has unveiled one more teaser trailer for Thelma, from writer / director Josh Margolin. It didn't win any awards, but did win over the hearts of Sundance 2024 viewers as one of the best of the fest (I wrote a glowing review). Inspired by a real-life experience of Margolin's actual grandmother, Thelma puts a clever spin on movies like Mission: Impossible, shining the spotlight on an elderly grandmother as an unlikely action hero. Yes, she kicks all kinds of butt in this. With infectious humor, Margolin employs the familiar tropes of the action genre in hilarious, age-appropriate ways to tackle aging with agency. In the first leading film role of her 70-year career, June Squibb plays Thelma with grit and determination, demonstrating that she is more than capable of taking care of business. Also featuring Fred Hechinger, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Malcolm McDowell, along with the late Richard Roundtree (RIP) as ...

"She's going to have to explain herself to the Lord." Hope Runs High Films. has revealed an official trailer for an indie film from Argentina titled Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, which will be getting a limited theatrical release in the US soon. It premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival last year, and also played at other fests including Vancouver & Philadelphia. In a tiny Argentinian town, a pious yet competitive woman decides that staging a miracle could be her ticket to sainthood. Before the unveiling, an event illuminates the hidden magic of her world, forcing her to reevaluate everything she once took for granted. Described as "beautifully crafted, playful, and poignant, [the film] is an exploration of love, community, transcendence that finds reverence in the ordinary. In his feature debut, Buenos Aires-born, AFI-trained director Tomás Gómez Bustillo combines religion, magic, & folklore, along with a luminous performance by Monica Villa, to celebrate the absurdity of being human." Co-starring Horacio Anibal Marassi. It was also nominated for 3 Indie Spirit Awards, and won an award at SXSW as well. ...

"Watch me. I'll keep going." HBO has revealed an official trailer for Here to Climb, a documentary film profiling the rise of professional climber Sasha DiGiulian. This HBO Original Documentary from Red Bull Media House following professional climber Sasha DiGiulian as she faces obstacles in her ascent to the top and redefines success on her own terms. The film is made by two acclaimed filmmakers who also made the docs Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Knuckleball!, In My Father's House, Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing, Reversing Roe, and My So-Called High School Rank before. Here to Climb is a thrilling portrait of a record-breaking female athlete who relentlessly pushes her boundaries. As Sasha takes on summit after summit, inspired and mentored by female climbing icon Lynn Hill, she faces a variety of hurdles. With appearances from Cedar Wright, Alex Honnold, Lynn Hill, Angela VanWiemeersch & Vian Charbonneau; cinematographer Pablo Durana; plus Sasha's mother Andrea DiGiulian & Sasha's husband Erik Osterholm. It's pretty awesome to see her succeeding in a sport usually dominated by men - check out the trailer ...

"Human beings are compelled to create..." Vertical has unveiled an official trailer for the film titled Widow Clicquot, a US project even though it's about a French woman and the art of making champagne in France. This initially premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival last year, and it also played at the 2024 Sonoma Film Festival earlier this year, because of course a wine movie played there. The film tells the story behind the Veuve Clicquot champagne family and business that began in the late 18th century, focusing on Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, known as the "Grande Dame of Champagne." Haley Bennett stars as Barbe-Nicole, who married into a winemaking family and became Madame Clicquot and took over the fledgling business when she became a widow at age 27. Under her (controversial) ownership, and her skill with wine, the company developed early champagne using a novel technique called riddling. The film focuses on her relationships in addition to her winemaking skills and legacy crafting French champagne. Along with Bennett, this also stars Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley, Anson Boon, Leo Suter, Paul ...

"Artist. Activist. Renegade." HBO has revealed an official trailer for a rock doc music biopic titled Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, made by filmmaker Bill Teck. This is premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival this month, before it arrives for streaming on Max later in June. Also referred to as Little Steven or Miami Steve, this new film traces Van Zandt's career as a musician, activist and actor from New Jersey to stadiums around the world. Stevie Van Zandt, known as New Jersey's most famous consigliere to Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano, takes center stage in this feature documentary. Featuring a wealth of never-before-seen footage, plus tons of interviews with other famous rockers, the film traces Van Zandt's career as a producer, musician, songwriter, activist, actor, and more, from the clubs of Asbury Park, N.J. to arenas and stadiums, to the Bada Bing Club and the Underground Garage. The film tells the story of the galvanizing role he played in uniting 50 of the biggest names in music in 1985, across rock, hip hop, reggae, Latin, and soul genres, to ...

"No money, no home... What would you do?" Lightbulb Film Distr. int he UK has revealed another official trailer for the film The G, an indie revenge thriller made by filmmaker Karl R. Hearne. This premiered at the 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival last year and has been touring to other fests earlier in 2024. A mysterious older woman seeks revenge on the corrupt legal guardian who destroyed her life, by putting her in a prison-like "eldercare facility" and stealing everything from her. It's described as a "winter-noir" based on real events / inspired by the filmmaker's own family. An "atmospheric blend of suspense, dark humour, moving human relationships that confronts age-related issues head on, The G is driven by one astonishing main character, rivetingly portrayed by Dale Dickey." She last starred in indie charmer A Love Song. The G's cast also includes Romane Denis, Roc Lafortune, Bruce Ramsay, Jonathan Koensgen. I really wish this film was as exciting as this new poster below, but alas it's not unfortunately. Have a look anyway. Here's the official UK trailer (+ UK ...

"How are you so sure this is gonna work?" Level 33 Ent. has revealed the official trailer for a peculiar indie comedy called The Secret Art of Human Flight, the newest film directed by filmmaker H.P. Mendoza. This initially premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival last year, screening at many fests. The film is a magical realist comedy-drama about a New England widower (starring / produced by Grant Rosenmeyer) who attempts to overcome his grief by embarking on an absurd but personal journey with an eccentric guru who claims to have unlocked the power to fly. He stumbles upon a self-help book titled "The Secret Art of Human Flight" written by an enigmatic guru named "Mealworm" – who also shows up at his door when he orders the book. This also stars Paul Raci, Lucy DeVito, Nican Robinson, Rosa Arredondo, Reina Hardesty, Maggie Grace, Sendhil Ramamurthy. This is a very nice trailer, eschewing the usual generic editing style for something more creative and endearing. I'm definitely curious, this trailer got my attention. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for H.P. ...

"All animals deserve to go back home, no matter where they come from." An in-production promo trailer has debuted online for a stop-motion animation film titled Brave Cat, the very first feature film made by the Chilean animation group called Punkrobot Studio. Punkrobot is already a renowned animation studio - they won Chile's first Oscar in 2016 for the short film Bear Story (watch here) then went on to work for Lucasfilm making one of the Star Wars Visions: Vol. 2 shorts that debuted last year. Their new feature film follows Kona, a teenage forest cat who decides to face her fears and search for her missing mother, who was kidnapped by the circus dogs long ago. She's joined by Colin, an abandoned guard dog puppy, and Bernard, a runaway old circus bear. Director Gabriel Osorio explains that this is "a successor to Bear Story in a way... while [that film] told a story from the point of view of someone exiled, Brave Cat tells the story of someone searching for their missing loved one." It's still in the works ...

Look at all these cute lil' buggers! Crawling around and being adorable. But wait, what happens next? This amusing 4-minute animated short film called Zoon is now online for everyone to watch. It first premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and has been screening at tons of other festivals for the past two years. Zoon is created and directed by German animation filmmaker Jonatan Schwenk, who really loves hybrid animation and always cooks up clever concepts in his funky stop-motion shorts. (He also did sound design for this short Rules of Play with his friend Merlin Flügel.) Residing in a swamp at the bottom of a nocturnal forest, a group of gleaming axolotls pursue lustful games. The creatures relish nuzzling one another & also nibbling their companions' limbs. One review says this is about "the beauty and cruelty of nature." Though I'd argue that what happens in the second half is more about the idiocy and careless of humanity, messing around with things they have no understanding of. As usual. Maybe you have another interpretation of this? Thanks to Vimeo ...

"By protecting others you save yourself." Janus Films in the US has revealed their own trailer for the 4K re-release of Seven Samurai honoring the 70th Anniversary of this iconic B&W action classic from Japan. Kurosawa's Seven Samurai first opened in Japan in 1954 and also played at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. To celebrate this year's 70th anniversary, the 2024 Cannes Film Festival just hosted a screening of this fresh 4K restoration (here's the French trailer from last week). Seven Samurai is "one of the most renowned films in the history of Japanese cinema. We decided to restore this film in 4K using the latest technology at TOHO Archives Co., Ltd. [for the] 70th anniversary of its initial theatrical release in Japan." The tranquility of a small Japanese village is disturbed by repeated attacks by a band of looters. Seven masterless samurai agree to defend the helpless peasants in this seminal classic. With Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, and Keiko Tsushima. The film is already available on Criterion Blu-ray and will also be getting a proper theatrical re-release in US ...