Author: Alex Billington

Curiosity might get the best of us sometimes. Will you find your way out if you become too lost in curiosity? This fantastic, funky stop-motion animated short called Ashkasha follows a "being guided by curiosity" who loses her head. It's directed by an Argentinian stop-motion filmmaker named Lara Maltz who now works out of Barcelona. The film has been playing at festivals around the world throughout late 2022 and all of 2023 (including at Sitges and SXSW), finally ending up online for everyone to watch now. Ashkasha is a living being guided by curiosity. This causes her to lose her head and get trapped in the depths, where she is submerged on a discovery journey. The stop-motion creations in this are built from fabric, clay, beads, and other materials and they're all incredibly imaginative. Yet another intriguing metaphorical tale about being too curious and making sure you don't lose your sense of self along the way. It is entrancing to watch this person without their head encounter so many other unique creatures. Enjoy the 6 minute short in full below. Thanks ...

"I don't think people need to remember who I am, it's [more] important that they remember the images." An official trailer is available for a documentary titled Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story, made by journalist Jennifer Takaki. This film is an intimate portrait of a Chinese-American photographer named Corky Lee, whose pioneering work documented the richness and complexity of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) experience for half a century. Lee's fascinating photographs of daily life, culture, and social justice movements reveal a rare record of a community often overlooked by mainstream media – and demonstrate the power of photography as a tool for advocacy and social change. Corky Lee was born in 1947 in New York City to Chinese immigrants who owned a laundry in Queens. Lee's photographs over 50 years documented the birth & growth of the Asian American movement for social justice and he became known as "The Undisputed, Unofficial, Asian American Photographer Laureate." His passing in 2021 at the age of 73 due to Covid was mourned in the press worldwide. This fascinating doc is ...

"Humans have always deceived us." GKids has uploaded a new 30-sec US teaser trailer for the acclaimed, incredible animated sci-fi film Mars Express from France. They're gearing up to give this a full theatrical release this summer. I've been raving about this film ever since its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year - it's an awesome sci-fi sensation that is kind of a 2023 update on Ghost in the Shell. In the future, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet's capital city where they uncover a much darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threaten to change the face of the universe. "Combining 2D & 3D animation, this stylish, smart, futuristic film noir is an adrenaline-fueled, cinematic adventure, packed with humor and exhilarating action sequences." Featuring the voices of Léa Drucker, Mathieu Amalric, Daniel Njo Lobé, Marie Bouvet, and Sébastien Chassagne. ...

"Your crops, your children, your future. We make it all grow. And what do you do...?" Roadside Attractions has revealed an official trailer for an indie border drama titled The Absence of Eden, made by filmmaker Marco Perego. This premiered at a few festivals last year including the Newport Beach Film Festival and is now set for a US release in limited theaters this April. The Absence of Eden traces the sprawling romance of a man and a woman whose love for each other struggles to prevail amid the divisiveness of life on America’s southern border. The film explores the humanity of immigration and the fragility of life as an immigration agent unknowingly dooms a former lover and a woman struggles to escape her past. Zoe Saldana stars as a woman who flees across the border, and helps protect a young girl. The cast includes Garrett Hedlund, Adria Arjona, Tom Waits, and Chris Coy. As vitally important as it is to tell stories about what's really happening on the US-Mexico border, this doesn't seem like the kind of film that ...

"The final scene has to be seen to be believed." Now playing in theaters! Neon has debuted one final trailer dubbed the "Holy Hell" trailer for the nun horror movie Immaculate, made by filmmaker Michael Mohan. The religious horror stars (and is produced by) Sydney Sweeney as an American nun (first trailer here). Cecilia, a woman of devout faith, is welcomed to the picture-perfect Italian countryside where she is offered a new role at an illustrious convent. But it becomes clearer to Cecilia that her new home harbors dark and horrifying secrets. The cast also includes Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco. It was filmed mostly in and around Rome, Italy last year. "How can we trust what's inside you?" The horror movie just opened this weekend and this trailer (and the poster) are full of quotes from critics talking about the finale and that's it. Not even any footage! Go see this in theaters. Here's the final "Holy Hell" trailer (+ poster) for Michael Mohan's Immaculate, direct from YouTube: You can watch the main official trailer ...

"Look how happy it looks!" Red Water Entertainment has unveiled a new official trailer for a very weird and peculiar Japanese indie sci-fi horror film titled Extraneous Matter made by filmmaker Ken'ichi Ugana. This originally premiered back in 2021 at festivals around the world, with appearances at Screamfest and others. Now it's finally getting a VOD debut in the US as Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition, since it's based on a series of short films. "High-gloss trash at its best!" One day, a strange thing comes to a woman who is suffering from being in a sexless relationship with her boyfriend. The "extraneous matter" (strange tentacled creatures), appear out of nowhere in front of two couples who are not getting along, former lovers, and factory workers and affects their thoughts & lives. Starring Kaoru Koide, Shunsuke Tanaka, Nina Sakura, Megumi Haruno, Adone Kudo, and Rino. There's no easy way to describe this, but I like the visualization of this idea (and that they built practical monsters) - similar to The Untamed. Seems kinky and strange and unexpected! The filmmaker says it's ...

"Can you imagine to be remembered like that?" Max has unveiled the first real teaser trailer for the spin-off series The Penguin, set to debut in the fall this year. This streaming series will follow the transformation of Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot from a disfigured nobody to the noted Gotham gangster, after the events of The Batman movie. Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell returns from The Batman (loved him in it) as Oz, bringing us his full transformation into the infamous DC Comics villain who gives Batman quite a fright. The first episodes are being directed by Craig Zobel (of Compliance, Z for Zachariah, The Hunt) who seems like a perfect choice for this. We featured an early production teaser last year. The full ensemble cast also has Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Clancy Brown, Michael Zegen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Deirdre O'Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Theo Rossi, Carmen Ejogo, and François Chau. Ohhhhhhh this looks SO damn good. What a killer teaser. Perfect setup, the way it all plays out, his dialogue, it's all so dark. This ...

"Martha can you let go of my hand now, please??" Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for a dark comedy series titled Baby Reindeer, arriving for streaming on Netflix starting in early April. The series is created and written by the Scottish comedian & actor Richard Gadd, telling his own story once again. This story about his stalker and his relationship with her was already turned into a play that he debuted at Edinburgh Fringe a few years ago. Now it's being turned into a Netflix series, expanded into eight 30-minute episodes. In Baby Reindeer, when a struggling comedian shows an act of kindness to a vulnerable woman stalking him, it sparks a suffocating obsession which threatens to wreck both their lives. Starring Richard Gadd as Donny Dunn, along with Jessica Gunning as Martha, Danny Kirrane as Gino, Nava Mau as Teri, plus Hugh Coles, Tom Goodman-Hill, Jamie Michie, and Chloe Driver. Well, well, this looks damn good! An impressive dark comedy twist on a very uncomfortable, unsettling real life situation. This is worth a look. Here's the official trailer for ...

"It comes for the light! It comes for the light!" Vertical has revealed an official trailer for an indie sci-fi film from the UK titled Light, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Matt Woollard. It's set to open next week on VOD in the US & Canada if anyone wants to give it a look. "Sometimes it's better to be in the dark." Survivors from an interstellar transport ship accident have to work together after crash landing on an inhospitable planet. Woollard explains that he was inspired partially by A Quiet Place: "the idea of doing for light what they did for sound" with this crew trying to figure out what happened and how to survive on this mysterious alien planet. Light stars Christine Roche, Gia Lily, Tedroy Newell, and James Woollard as the boy, plus Anna Swan. For a super low budget sci-fi film, this actually looks good. The gigantic light creatures are crazy cool. I'm curious to see how this film plays out - yep I'll be watching. Check it out below. Here's the two official trailers (+ ...

"The juice is loose!" He's back!! Warner Bros has unveiled the first teaser trailer for the legacy sequel titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, reuniting mastermind filmmaker Tim Burton with actor Michael Keaton for a long-awaited follow-up 36 (!!) years later. Long enough? Did anyone see the original in theaters? The first Beetlejuice movie opened in 1988 (right before Burton's Batman in 1989) and ended up as a modest success and cult favorite for many fans. The sequel continues the story with the very same family. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. Michael Keaton returns as Betelgeuse again, along with Winona Ryder back as Lydia Deetz, plus a cast including Jenna Ortega as Astrid, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, Burn Gorman, and Filipe Cates; plus Willem Dafoe as a ghost detective who, in his life, was a B movie action star. Barely 60 seconds of footage in this! I'll wait to ...