Author: Alex Billington

"I don't want to try to control the trauma, okay, I want to kill it." Raven Banner has revealed a very early promo trailer for an indie sci-fi film titled Raptus, the latest from filmmaker Bennet De Brabandere. This project doesn't have a release set because it's still being shopped by Raven Banner at the European Film Market this month, and this promo trailer will hopefully give it some extra attention. In the wake of a savage attack, Sarah Mathis orders a new form of android therapy called Raptus, and reveals a path to recovery with twisted surprises. It's about a "therapy" android robot that gets pushed too far in her recovery and their relationship starts to spiral out of control. This footage gives a few major teases as to where she'll go with it (him?). Raptus stars Ksenia Solo as Sarah, and Nolan Gerard Funk as the android, with Zion Forrest Lee, Christina Cox, & Kerry Ann James. It does look a bit TV quality but it still seems fairly enjoyable. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Bennet De ...

"Good job, Alan! Now come on, enough mucking about, back to work." It is go time for an amusing sci-fi misadventure with Alan! And his co-workers. There's a fun sci-fi stop-motion animation available to watch online now titled Alan The Infinite. The film is made by an animation writing and directing duo based at Aardman Animation named Michael Please & Daniel Ojari - together they run Parabella Studio, and they also made the film Robin Robin previously for Aardman. "Rescued from what the filmmakers describe as 'internet cold storage,'" Alan The Infinite is out now - after first debuting as a proof-of-concept project in 2019. On his first day on the job (at some boring lamination company), Alan mistakenly unleashes a cosmic, supernatural force in the office. Unfortunately he realizes that fitting in at "Lamin’8" is going to be infinitely trickier than he ever could have dreamed. Featuring the voice of Daniel Ojari as Alan. The characters may be rudimentary, but this is an enjoyable little short with a nifty multiverse sci-fi trick floating around in it. Thanks to Short of ...

"Everyone needs to go home - there's something out there on the loose and dangerous." Dark Sky Pictures has revealed an official trailer for an indie horror thriller titled Blackout, the latest genre creation from horror regular actor / filmmaker Larry Fessenden. This premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival last year, with additional festival appearances at Sitges, Woodstock, and the Brooklyn Horror Festival. In a small town in upstate New York, Charley, a werewolf who's been infected with the curse and is responsible for a series of brutal murders, confronts the most corrupt person in the area – a real estate tycoon named Hammond. At the same time, he will try to win back his ex-girlfriend Sharon, the tycoon's daughter. Described as a "new twist on the lycanthrope myth." Starring Alex Hurt as Charley, with Addison Timlin, James LeGros, Kevin Corrigan, Barbara Crampton, and indie regular Joe Swanberg. This actually looks pretty cool - not as cheap & cheesy as expected, with a few thrilling werewolf moments in this trailer. Check it out below. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for ...

"Fearless. Fierce. First." Netflix has revealed the official trailer for their upoming biopic film titled Shirley, from filmmaker John Ridley following his NOLA hospital thriller series Five Days at Memorial just before this. The film is now set for streaming in March on Netflix, and based on early test screening reviews, it's not going to make much of an impact (which is why it didn't open in last year's awards season). Shirley tells the story of the first Black congresswoman in America's history and a political icon, Shirley Chisholm, and her trailblazing run for President of the United States years ago. It chronicles her audacious, boundary-breaking 1972 presidential campaign. The film stars Regina King in the lead role as Shirley Chisholm, with Lance Reddick (RIP), Terrence Howard, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Michael Cherrie, Christina Jackson, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Amirah Vann, and André Holland. This looks like a by-the-numbers biopic in every way. Yet still empowering: "I just want to remind people what's possible." Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for John Ridley's Shirley, direct from Netflix's YouTube: "Shirley Chisholm’s fearless ...

"Five pounds of trigger pressure – so your aim, never off." Lionsgate has revealed an official trailer for the film 5lbs of Pressure, an action thriller by filmmaker Phil Allocco. Filmed mostly in the UK even though this is an American production. Yet another generic crime thriller with the same characters and plot we've seen often recently. Trying to start over, Adam searches for redemption returning to his old neighborhood to put to rest his demons, though he comes under new pressure when the brother of the man he killed seeks revenge on him. Meanwhile, Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle Leff. The movie stars Luke Evans as Adam, Rory Culkin as Mike, Zac Adams, Rudy Pankow, Stephanie Leonidas, Savannah Steyn, Lorraine Burroughs, and Alex Pettyfer as Leff. This is not a bad trailer, it just doesn't really convince me this is worth watching. Maybe others might be more into this? Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Phil Allocco's 5lbs of Pressure, direct from Lionsgate's YouTube: In this gripping action-thriller, ...

"It's hard to be a Texan right now." HBO has revealed an official trailer for a fascinating new docu series titled God Save Texas, a three part look into the lives of Texans living in three different cities. This brand new HBO Original Documentary Trilogy is inspired by Lawrence Wright's book that's also called "God Save Texas", and follows three filmmakers' distinct perspectives on their own Texas hometowns. The three Texan filmmakers who direct the films in this series are Richard Linklater, Alex Stapleton, and Iliana Sosa – a personal and panoramic journey through one of the most controversial states in the union. Returning to their hometowns to shed light on an underrepresented story, the filmmakers chronicle the complex history of each city, exploring how it intertwines with their own provenance and evolution, and placing it in the larger picture of America today. Linklater's film God Save Texas: Hometown Prison is set in Huntsville. Stapleton's film God Save Texas: The Price of Oil is set in Houston. And Sosa's film God Save Texas: La Frontera is set in El Paso. All ...

There's yet another interesting set of twin films in 2024 - two films that are remarkably similar in so many ways even though they're entirely independent, unrelated productions. The first film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January titled A Real Pain, written, directed by, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, and it won the Screenwriting Award at that festival (here's my full review). The second film is premiering now at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival in February titled Treasure, directed by German filmmaker Julia von Heinz, and starring actors Stephen Fry & Lena Dunham as father & daughter. Both films involve Americans traveling to Poland, flying into Warsaw, from where they embark upon a "heritage" road trip tour around Poland to find an old home where someone they know once lived in many years ago before fleeing Poland. Both also feature annoying characters, jokes about tourists visiting Poland, and trips to a Jewish graveyard as well as a Nazi concentration camp. They're both so similar it's hard to not talk about both, even though this review is supposed to ...

"It will only be a matter of time before he is made to pay the ultimate price for dabbling in the dark side of his own desire." Dark Star has revealed an official trailer for a freaky, twisted, disquieting horror anthology feature titled Midnight Peepshow, made in the UK. This premiered at FrightFest 2022 and is only now getting a direct-to-video release over here. An unnamed madame operates a unique peep show that caters to its customers deepest desires, fears, and sins. Tonight, it welcomes a businessman with a unique connection to an extreme fantasy website. Soon he will become a witness to three stories of victims that found the dark web site. It's only a matter of time before he's made to pay the ultimate price for dabbling in the dark side of desire. Starring Zach Galligan, Chiara D'Anna, Richard Cotton, Sarah Diamond, Jamie Bacon, and Derek Nelson. Another online streaming voyeurs torture horror concept, if this is your jam. This looks like something that used to be only show on HBO in the 1990s after midnight. Meet the ...

"The prize for aging is wisdom." Prime Video has revealed the full trailer for a documentary titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a behind-the-scenes companion to JLo's new film AND album called This Is Me...Now (watch the trailer). The "cinematic event", a fantastical sci-fi fairy tale adventure, is also a companion to the album, visualizing her songs in a spectacular way. "Her story. In her own words." Directed by Jason Bergh, The Greatest Love Story Never Told follows Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love. It is a unique behind-the-scenes experience with Lopez and her many collaborators as she produces a new album & movie. This isn't the first JLo making of doc, as she also released Halftime a few years ago. The reviews for the This Is Me...Now film are fantastic - these two films should be enjoyable. Official trailer (+ poster) for Jason Bergh's doc The Greatest Love Story Never Told, from YouTube: The Greatest Love Story Never Told follows Jennifer ...

It's only February and two of the best horror films of 2024 have already premiered. The first is the Sundance Midnight horror hit It's What's Inside (my review) which many other critics listed as one of the best films from the Sundance Film Festival. The second is the German horror film Cuckoo, which just premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival. This one honestly should've been playing in the usually impressive Sundance Midnight line-up as well, but as a German production from a German filmmaker, it's obvious why the film ended up premiering at Berlinale instead. Cuckoo is another super fresh, wholly original, entirely engaging, suspenseful, highly entertaining, decidedly campy horror creation that is likely to go on to become an iconic film in the horror genre. The confident filmmaking choices, the villain(s), the lead character, the mountain resort setting, all of it is so unique & exciting in this excellent genre creation from filmmaker Tilman Singer. Cuckoo is the second feature film written and directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer, following his feature debut Luz from a few years back ...