Author: Alex Billington

Strap in, folks, there's a new Joel Potrykus film premiering. Potrykus is the indie filmmaker behind such peculiar, unsettling cult classics as Ape, Buzzard, and The Alchemist Cookbook. This is his latest feature, the first since Relaxer in 2018. The original logline for Vulcanizadora is intriguing though fairly vague: "Two friends take a trip through a Michigan forest, intent on carrying out a disturbing pact. When their plan fails, one confronts unsettling repercussions at home." Starring Joel Potrykus, Joshua Burge, Bill Vincent, and Solo Potrykus. It's premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival this month, still seeking distribution. The festival adds: "the film expertly navigates multiple tones, striking a balance between the bizarre and the emotionally resonant." Hmmmm... There's not much to this teaser either, barely any footage, only another close-up look at this strange metal contraption going on this guy's head. What is it? Who wants to find out? Here's the first look teaser trailer (+ poster) for Joel Potrykus' film Vulcanizadora, direct from YouTube: "To me, Vulcanizadora is my most personal and my bleakest work. It has a weird tone ...

There's a fantastic set of animated shorts from China now available to watch online with English subtitles on YouTube. These eight unique Yao-Chinese Folktale Animated Short Films originally debuted last year on the Chinese social media site Bilibili. They're all made by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, with different style including stop motion, 2D & 3D, and even a beautiful papercraft one. They're lovely to watch but let's be honest - they're essentially just Chinese propaganda. This description explains: "The stories look back to the past, and looks forward to the future, from nostalgia for the countryside to technological fantasy, from the theme of life to thinking about human nature, showing Chinese imagination and carrying Chinese national culture & philosophy." The titles are: Nobody aka Little Monster's Summer, Goose Mountain, She Wolf, Fool and God, Ship Down the Well, Null Island, Old Man Yang, and Fly to the Earth. You can view all 8 of them below. There's some mesmerizing animation in each one, even if you aren't into the stories much. Thanks to Catsuka for the tip on these shorts ...

"Only blood redeems blood. Magnolia Pictures has debuted the US trailer for a film called The Convert from New Zealand, made by Kiwi filmmaker Lee Tamahori. He used to make big Hollywood action movies for years, then went back to New Zealand to make more intimate dramas about his homeland - I loved his last one The Patriarch from 2016. Tamahori’s new action-filled historical epic stars Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand who finds himself at the center of a long-standing battle between two Māori tribes. A lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830s. His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes. In addition to Pearce, this also stars Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne as Rangimai, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Lawrence Makoare. This looks legit and entertaining, despite hearing absolutely no buzz about it after its premiere at TIFF last year. Here's the official US trailer ...

"The feel everything movie arrives in theaters." What an odd voiceover tagline - in theaters "soon" perhaps? Pixar has debuted their final official trailer for the sequel Inside Out 2, opening in theaters next week. It's finally time for the new Pixar movie! The first look teaser dropped in November last year, introducing us to what'll be going on in this one - with more "emotions" crowding in Riley's mind. "Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, might be new to the crew, but she's not really the type to take a back seat." The full Inside Out 2 voice cast also includes Amy Poehler returning as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Tony Hale as Fear, and Liza Lapira as Disgust. The other newcomers in Riley's mind include envy (voiced by Ayo Edebiri), ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos), and embarrassment (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser). Plus nostalgia, voiced by the great June Squibb, who makes an appearance in here. This looks like it should be tons of fun! Not the best trailer but I'm hoping the movie turns ...

"Please don't cast me into hell!" Shudder has unveiled the official trailer for the Austrian horror drama film titled The Devil's Bath, which originally premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. Des Teufels Bad, in German, is the latest film from acclaimed genre filmmakers Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz from Austria, directors of horror hits Goodnight Mommy and The Lodge previously. Journey back to 18th century Austria, where a woman faces a grim fate for a horrifying crime. As Agnes prepares for her wedding, sinister forces stir, plunging her into darkness and despair. Starring Anja Plaschg, Maria Hofstätter, and David Scheid. This earned mostly positive reviews out of Berlinale: while "punishingly grim and has some pacing issues, this is a gripping psychological study by directors operating with formidable command." Here's the official trailer (+ two posters) for Fiala & Franz's The Devil's Bath, direct from YouTube: Austria - 18th century. Forests surround villages. Killing a baby gets a woman sentenced to death. Agnes (Anja Plaschg) readies for married life with her beloved. But her mind and heart grow heavy. ...

"We're family. And families stick together." Apple TV has unveiled an official trailer for a series titled Land of Women, inspired by Sandra Barneda’s best selling novel "La tierra de las mujeres." No better place to hide from your missing husband's loan sharks than a charming vineyard in Spain. Streaming later in June this summer. Land of Women is a dramedy starring Eva Longoria as Gala, a well-to-do New Yorker, who has her life turned upside down when her husband fails to repay a debt to the wrong people. With dangerous criminals searching for her family and now vanished husband, Gala is forced to leave the city with her aging mother Julia (Carmen Maura) and teenage daughter Kate (Victoria Bazúa) to her mother's hometown in northern Spain called La Muga — a place that Julia fled 50 years ago and vowed never to return — to start life anew & keep their identities hidden. But gossip in the charming town quickly spreads, unraveling their deepest family secrets & truths. Produced by Longoria's company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. Also with Santiago Cabrera, Gloria ...

"Everything was fine here before you arrived." Oscilloscope Labs in the US has revealed the official trailer for a very peculiar French film called The Vourdalak, described as "an acclaimed 18th Century vampire tale." This initially premiered in the Critics' Week sidebar of the 2023 Venice Film Festival last year, and it will get a limited art house theatrical opening it the US this summer. For any who dare venture in to explore its darkness. Lost in a hostile forest, the Marquis d'Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France, finds refuge in the home of a strange family... "Adapted from a novella (Aleksei K. Tolstoï's "La famille du Vourdalak") that predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by over half a century, The Vourdalak is an atmospheric, unexpected, sensorial experience that will leave you reeling and giddy in equal measure." Starring Kacey Mottet Klein as Marquis d'Urfé, along with Ariane Labed, Grégoire Colin, Vassili Schneider, Claire Duburcq, and Gabriel Pavie as Vlad. This has some spooky scenes in it, along with one creepy looking vampire dude. Here's the official US trailer (+ ...

"Things have got to change, things have got to evolve." Yes they definitely do – then and now. Netflix has debuted the full official trailer for an enlivening new stand up comedy documentary called Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, directed by acclaimed filmmaker / producer Page Hurwitz. This will be premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival this month in their Spotlight section, before arriving on Netflix right after. The compelling feature-length documentary explores the history of LGBTQ+ stand up comedy, examining & defining its vital importance as an instrument for social change over the past five decades. Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution combines interviews, memorable stand up performances, archival materials, and verité footage featuring top LGBTQ+ comics including Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Eddie Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, Rosie O'Donnell, Margaret Cho, Bob The Drag Queen, and Trixie Mattel, with others. Glad to see this doc dipping into the past to talk about the pioneering comics who first blazed trails. Here's the main official trailer for Hurwitz's doc Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, from YouTube: "The history of LGBTQ+ stand up is ultimately about ...

"Are you sure she wants to be found?" A very good question. Mubi has revealed the official trailer for an indie drama titled Crossing, set for release this summer in select US theaters (and eventually streaming on Mubi for everyone else). This first premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and stopped by the BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival in March. From acclaimed director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), this is a moving & tender tale of identity, acceptance and unlikely connection that transcends borders. Lia, a retired teacher, has promised to find her long-lost niece, Tekla – a trans woman she hasn't seen in a long time. Her search takes her to Istanbul where she meets Evrim, a lawyer fighting for trans rights, and Tekla starts to feel closer than ever. This looks especially beautiful & heartwarming, with some positive reviews out of the fests. Starring Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, and Deniz Dumanlı. Opening in the US and in more countries including the UK + Europe this summer if anyone wants to give this ...

"There has to be a reason they're after us..." Sony Pictures has unveiled the first official trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, the third Venom movie in Sony's series starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock AND also as the Marvel symbiote villain in both Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) before this. "Till death do they part" is the tagline this time. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on both of them. The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. This full-on 3 minute trailer reveals that the symbiote's alien home-world has found him and is coming for him, with a mysterious military task force also out to get them. Looks like more ridiculous fun! With some freaky alien ...