Ryan Coogler reteams with his favorite muse, Michael B. Jordan in “Sinners”, a movie that has been described as a supernatural gothic action horror film (whew, that’s a mouthful). Coogler and Jordan have already worked together on a range of films that includes “Fruitvale Station”, “Creed”, and “Black Panther”. The new trailer for their latest collaboration adds another unique entry into their catalog.
Set in 1930s Louisiana, “Sinners” sees Jordan playing a young man involved in a troubling event alongside his twin brother. The two return to their hometown in hopes of making a new start. But they find a sinister force waiting on them which sends them to someplace dark and unexpected. Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, and Jayme Lawson also star. The trailer hints at a mysterious and compelling story. I can’t wait to see how it plays.
“Sinners” is set to release March 7, 2025. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
The impending death of their ailing father forces three estranged sisters back together in “His Three Daughters”, an intimate family drama written and directed by Azazel Jacobs. The movie had its world premiere over a year ago at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was picked up by Netflix for $7 million. What a bargain.
“His Three Daughters” is surprising in its simplicity. The opening line in this review is really the movie in a nutshell. But it’s that very simplicity that allows the film to set its feet and hone in on the raw, tangible emotions that drive its story. And Jacobs has just the right actresses to pull it off. Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne deliver unbridled performances of such authenticity and weight. Each help to anchor the film in their own distinct yet interconnected ways.
Image Courtesy of Netflix
As their father’s battle with late stage cancer reaches its end, his three daughters, Katie (Coon), Rachel (Lyonne), and Christina (Olsen), gather at his apartment in New York City to be with him during his final days. They meet their hospice representative Angel (Rudy Galvan) who fills them in on what to expect and informs them that their goal should be to make their father’s remaining days as painless and peaceful as possible.
But the main drama is found in the frayed relationships between the three women. Each has their own unique personalities and baggage. Some of the tensions have been packed away for years, and their overall lack of communication and connection has led all three to reach very different conclusions about the others. They try to put those conclusions aside for the sake of their father. But it’s only a matter of time before their proverbial lids blow off.
Katie is the oldest and has a hard time holding back her opinions. She’s prickly, obsessive, drinks when she gets anxious, and is always quick to criticize Rachel. It’s a reflection of her own trouble back home which she keeps bottled up. As for Rachel, she’s crass, detached, and spends the majority of her time smoking pot and betting on sports. It helps her to keep her emotions buried while avoiding the inevitable. Then there is the gentle Christina who spends the bulk of her time keeping the peace between her warring sisters. She is open-hearted and optimistic to a fault, often so aggressively looking for the bright side of things that she misses reality.
Image Courtesy of Netflix
The more time we spend with these three women, the more we learn about them. And the more we learn, the better we understand them. Jacobs’ incisive script adds layers to each woman, taking the necessary time to allow them to fully form. Emerging bitterness and resentment leads to confrontations, yet Jacobs never paints anyone as the bad guy. They don’t always earn our approval, but they do earn our empathy. It’s due to the characters being sharply written and achingly authentic in nearly every regard.
If you have experienced watching a loved one die, “His Three Daughters” will speak to you in a number of profound ways. Jacobs approaches his subject with honesty and clarity, avoiding theatrics and never hitting a false note. But even as his characters navigate the valley of death, they insightfully speak to the deeper meaning of life. It’s all anchored by the sublime performances from Coon, Lyonne, and Olsen who make us laugh and break our hearts. And they do so while giving us hope that good can come from life’s most painful events. “His Three Daughters” is now streaming on Netflix.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is set to release “Despicable Me 4” in a terrific Blu-ray and Digital combo-pack. “Despicable Me 4” was a box office hit, grossing just under $1 billion dollars. Amazingly the popular film series has earned over $5 billion and is the only animated franchise to ever do so. “Despicable Me 4” once again follows the adventures of reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) and his high-energy family. And that’s precisely what fans want.
This new Blu-ray edition of “Despicable Me 4” will be available to purchase on September 24th. It will also be releasing on 4K Ultra HD on the same date. See below for a full synopsis and release information including special features.
About the Film:
Year: 2024
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Directors: Chris Renaud
Screenwriters: Mike White and Ken Daurio
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Stephen Colbert, Sofía Vergara, Will Ferrell, Steve Coogan, John DiMaggio, Chloe Fineman, Dana Gaier, Madison Polan, Tara Strong
Rating: PG
The world’s favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain-League-agent returns for a bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination’s “DESPICABLE ME 4”, now with 2 mini-movies. Gru, Lucy and their girls welcome a new member to the family – Gru Jr. – who is intent on tormenting his dad, as a new nemesis shows up and forces the family to go on the run. This latest blockbuster chapter in the biggest global animated franchise in history is packed with nonstop action and filled with Illumination’s signature subversive humor.
Special Features:
TWO EXCLUSIVE MINION MINI MOVIES
Game Over and Over – After stumbling upon a powered-up game controller inside Gru’s lair, the mischievous Minions discover its ability to control one another, unleashing mayhem as they compete for high scores.
Benny’s Birthday – Benny finds himself trapped in a time loop of a Minion-style birthday party, encountering uproarious mischief at every turn.
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared my treasured memories of the video rental era. My memories of going to the video store every Saturday with my parents and renting four or five VHS movies to watch over the weekend. During those many video store visits there’s no telling how much time I spent perusing the horror section. The shelves were loaded with cheap B-movie chillers that I couldn’t get enough of.
The new movie “Night of the Harvest” is yet another slasher flick that would feel right at home on those video store shelves (that may sound like an insult but it’s not). It’s undoubtedly a project made with a shoestring budget and by a small crew, many of whom work in front of and behind the camera. In a way that makes these kinds of movies tough to review. The production is undoubtedly affected by its limitations. But at the same time you can’t help but appreciate the passionate creators who are trying to make every penny count.
“Night of the Harvest” comes from co-directors Christopher M. Carter and Jessica Morgan. The script was written by Carter from a story he conceived with Morgan. Adding to her duties, Morgan also stars in the film alongside Brittany Isabell. Carter, Morgan, and Isabell all serve as producers. The cinematography was handled by Carter while Isbell headed stunt choreography. As I said, it’s a small crew wearing several hats.
It was one year ago that Madison (Isabell) barely survived a horrific murder attempt. Still suffering from the trauma, she recently moved in with her protective older sister, Audrey (Morgan). On October 31st, Audrey and her friends gather together to set up their annual Halloween night party. Audrey believes it would do her sister some good so she convinces Madison to come along.
Among the partygoers is Audrey’s boyfriend Dane (Jim Cirner), his chatterbox best friend Will (Aeric Azana), the ebullient Joyce (Autumn Gubersky), and the bubbly couple Riley (Taylor Falshaw) and Jacob (Ashton Jordaan Ruiz). But things turn bloody real quick when an axe-wielding psycho in a hideous scarecrow mask starts hacking up the group of Halloween loving friends.
So far everything seems par for the course – a masked murderous maniac, a gaggle of hapless victims, and an assortment of brutal kills. But Carter and Morgan waste no time adding a twist that provides a jolt of energy to the story. I won’t dare spoil it, but it’s an unexpected turn that puts a fun spin on things and gives “Night of the Harvest” a grisly edge that helps steer the movie from the more conventional slasher movie path.
Sadly not everything works. There’s a whole angle about an ancient evil demanding a bloody harvest that’s too underdeveloped. It comes across as silly rather than chilling. And despite our best efforts, it’s hard to look past some of the performances, specifically the overacting and stilted line deliveries. But I still can’t help but admire the passion and effort behind this low-budget indie slasher. Its issues make it hard to give a ringing recommendation. But die-hard horror lovers will have a good time, as will anyone who appreciates resourceful genre filmmaking. “Night of the Harvest” releases September 24th on VOD.
The idea of the Thunderbolts has always been an intriguing one. Stories revolving around a group of reformed supervillains working for the United States government is ripe with potential. It’s Marvel’s execution of that idea that has often been suspect. Now the Marvel Cinematic Universe is preparing to release their big screen version of the antihero supergroup and so far it hasn’t looked encouraging. The lineup hasn’t sparked much enthusiasm and neither does the newly released first trailer.
The trailer for “Thunderbolts” puts most of its emphasis on Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova who finds herself lured into a web with several other antiheroes including her father, Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastain Stan), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Sentry (Lewis Pullman). Through circumstances that somehow aren’t revealed in the nearly three-and-a-half minute trailer, the group of not-so-bad seeds are forced to work together against some global threat. A few other familiar faces return in what has been and remains an underwhelming new MCU installment.
“Thunderbolts” hit theaters May 2, 2025. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Artificial Intelligence thrillers are popping up left and right, and with the current A.I. discussions intensifying, there’s no reason to believe they’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Case in point – “Subservience”, the latest film to explore the subject in genre form. Its story is built around a simple and well-worn premise (mankind creates A.I. only for A.I. to turn on mankind). But it’s the fun it has within that premise that makes “Subservience” an entertaining time-passer.
“Subservience” is directed by S.K. Dale and written by the duo of Will Honley and April Maguire. It stars Megan Fox who recently worked with Dale on 2021’s “Till Death”. Here they take on an especially hot topic, throwing in some fairly insightful commentary, while mostly sticking close to a familiar genre formula. But Dale’s crisp pacing and keen execution along with Fox’s shrewdly modulated performance gives the film a chance to become a bonafide cult classic.
Image Courtesy of XYZ Films
Michele Morrone plays Nick, a construction worker, happily married husband, and father of two. His world is turned upside down after his wife Maggie (a very good Madeline Zima) suffers a heart attack. As she remains hospitalized and in need of a transplant, Nick works hard to care for their young daughter Isla (Matilda Firth) and toddler son Max (Jude Allen Greenstein). And all while keeping the house, working a full-time job, and being supportive to his ailing wife. It doesn’t take long before he’s overwhelmed.
Needing help, Nick and the kids visit a showroom belonging to Kobol Tec, a company that manufactures and sells state-of-the-art humanoid robots. Isla picks out a home model they name Alice (Fox) who specializes in cooking, cleaning and childcare while possessing the ability to mimic human emotion. She quickly becomes an asset at home, fixing meals, cleaning, reading bedtime stories to Isla, and even making household repairs.
But things take a turn when the beautiful but creepy Alice begins bypassing certain protocols in her effort to make Nick’s life “easier”. As a result of her newly developed jealousy, Alice takes on a more maternal role with the kids in Maggie’s absence and even tries to fill her place as Nick’s wife. To no surprise this leads to some discomforting tension, especially after Maggie receives her transplant and is finally able to come home.
Image Courtesy of XYZ Films
As Alice goes from concerning to a full-blown menace, the movie’s messaging is pretty clear. But the film throws in a few other nuggets to emphasize its point. We get a storyline involving Nick’s job where his entire crew is replaced by more “cost-effective” sims. Nick is left on as their foreman but it’s a conflict he can’t get past. We also see where sims have taken other human jobs from bartending to licensed surgeons. I wish there was more world-building to potentially enhanced the commentary, but what we get is pretty effective.
I don’t want to make the mistake of overselling it. There is a lot in “Subservience” that we have seen before and its predictability kills any suspense. And much of what we see is pretty silly, nothing more than the ending which evolves into a Terminator knock-off. Yet the movie never loses your attention and remains entertaining throughout. It’s an economic and focused thriller that has just enough of a human pulse mixed in with its genre dressing. And honestly, that was a lot more than I was expecting. “Subservience” is now available on VOD.
