Sometimes I look at a preview and find myself intrigued from the very first frame even though I have no idea what the filmmakers are going for. Such is the case with the new trailer for “The Harder They Fall”. No, this isn’t a remake of Humphrey Bogart‘s 1956 boxing drama (which was Bogie’s final film). Instead it looks to be a super stylized Western packed with a great cast. Will that translate into interesting characters and a great story? It’s hard to tell, but first-time director Jeymes Samuel looks to be brimming with confidence.
Right off the bat you can’t help but notice the cast – Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, Regina King, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, and Lakeith Stanfield (recent baggage and all). That’s some major league talent! The trailer doesn’t give us much in terms of story. We see a gang busting out Elba as he is being transported to prison and then setting out on what looks to be a mission of revenge. It’s hard to see a movie with this much talent failing and visually it looks amazing. Hopefully it doesn’t get lost in its effort to be cool and stylish.
“The Harder They Fall” releases this Fall on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Revisiting the Indiana Jones trilogy has been like hopping into a time machine and traveling back to my youth. Yes, I know there was an awful fourth movie, but what ardent Indy lover actually embraces that train wreck? But the three original films are so deeply connected to my childhood. They led to me trying my hand at cracking a whip (a toy one, but a whip nonetheless) and desperately wanted a brown fedora. For a brief time they even had me wanting to be an archeologist because everybody knows those movies were accurate depictions of archeology, right?
The third film, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, is a near perfect picture of blockbuster moviemaking done right. It’s wildly entertaining from start to finish, plump full of big action and infused with a steady stream of humor. All three Indiana Jones films have their witty and playful moments but this one has the most laughs by far. The gags are so well written and delivered through Harrison Ford and Sean Connery’s seamless chemistry and the impeccable comic timing of supporting players Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies. I had forgotten how funny this movie is.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Written by screenwriter Jeffrey Boam from a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes, “The Last Crusade” opens by introducing us to a young Indiana Jones (played by the late River Phoenix). Set in 1912, the fun high-energy prologue plays like a legend’s origin story of sorts. It reveals how Indy developed his fear of snakes; how he got his signature brown fedora, the whip, even Harrison Ford’s real-life scar on his chin. And at a young age he already has that very Indy-like conviction that every archaeological treasure belongs in a museum.
Jump ahead to 1938 and we meet Ford’s Indy, fighting off pirates near the Portuguese Coast and still teaching archaeology to starry-eyed college girls. He’s reunited with his university colleague Marcus (Elliott – hysterical throughout) who connects him with a wealthy collector named Walter Donovan (Julian Glover). Donovan has unearthed part of a sandstone tablet believed to reveal the resting place of the Holy Grail, Christ’s cup from the Last Supper. Authurian legend states that whoever drinks from the Grail is granted eternal life.
Indy agrees to help Donovan find the other half of the tablet only after hearing that his father, Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery) was part of a team that recently went missing while searching for the Grail. His adventure starts in Venice where he meets up with Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), an associate of his father’s, then it’s off to Austria, Berlin, and Hatay. Soon Nazis are hot on their heels, we meet a secret society of Holy Grail protectors, and fan-favorite Sallah (Rhys-Davies) pops up to help his friends. Toss in some great action including a boat chase, a terrific motorcycle sequence, a daring escape on a German bi-plane, and a thrilling fight in and around a moving German tank. It’s such a blast.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Following some mixed reviews for the second film “The Temple of Doom” (a really good movie but the weaker of the three) Spielberg lightened the tone of this third Indy outing and looked to recapture the spirit of the 1981 original “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. While the third installment has a feel all its own, it definitely rekindles the magic that made the first film such a delight. It’s not as good as “Raiders”, but that’s an incredibly high bar.
While rewatching the Indiana Jones films I was struck by how remarkably well the three movies hold up. There are a couple of moments in “The Last Crusade” where you can see the blemishes in the early digital effects. But overall the movie looks great thanks to the fantastic cinematography, stunt work, and Spielberg’s big-budget touch. And of course it’s led by Harrison Ford whose natural charisma and hero’s charm turned Indy into a household name. And now he’s putting on his fedora for one more Indiana Jones adventure. I pray it leans into what made the original three movies great and gives us a proper send off to one of cinema’s most fun and iconic characters.
DC and Warner Brothers dropped a new trailer for their upcoming superhero-ish action film “The Suicide Squad”. Many of us remember their last effort, the disastrous 2016 film led by Will Smith and directed by David Ayer. This is considered a direct sequel to that film but with an alleged different approach. This one is helmed by James Gunn who’s known well in superhero movie circles as the man behind Marvel’s two “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. Here he tries his hand with a new team comprised of villains brought together to save the world.
Nothing about this new film has excited me with the exception of some interesting bits of casting. I love seeing Idris Elba leading the team. And of course Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Jai Courtney return. Some new faces include John Cena, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Michael Rooker, Alice Braga, and Sean Gunn among others. We even get Sylvester Stallone voicing a talking shark! I’m still not sold on its aggressively snarky comedy angle which could be either really funny or an annoying crutch. But I’m still going to give it a look.
“The Suicide Squad” premieres August 6th in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
How can you not be drawn to a movie that’s best described as a ‘small town werewolf horror-comedy’? It’s a fitting description on “Werewolves Within”, a wacky new film directed by Jack Ruben that’s actually based on a 2016 virtual reality game of the same name. The movie isn’t all that interested in the well-worn werewolf mythologies that have been handed down through generations. Instead it’s about communities and the wild potpourri of people that often make them up.
“Werewolves Within” sounds like a horror movie and certainly borrows from the genre. But it’s just as much an uneven yet crafty whodunit with a satirical bite. It stars a terrific Sam Richardson who plays Finn, a forest ranger and all-around nice guy who arrives at the sleepy Vermont town of Beaverfield. He’s been assigned there after some mishaps at his old post. The first person he runs into is a peppy mail carrier named Cecily (TV’s infectiously charming AT&T sales rep Milana Vayntrub) who gives him an introduction to community with consists of a veritable collage of colorful zany characters.
Image Courtesy of IFC Films
The movie really is all about this wild assortment of characters and Ruben along with screenwriter Mishna Wolff unload most of the town’s drama through them, a lot of it revolving around a proposed pipeline. Comprising the small eccentric population is the town’s innkeeper Jeanine (Catherine Curtin) who mutters about her absent husband and makes a mean sandwich. There’s the aggressively weird Trish (Michaela Watkins) and her creepy husband Pete (Michael Chernus). You have the corporate pipeline pusher Parker (Wayne Duvall) and the bone-dry environmentalist Dr. Ellis (Rebecca Henderson). Add in a cartoonish gay couple (Cheyenne Jackson and Harvey Guillén) and the dimwitted redneck husband and wife (George Basil and Sarah Burns). Meanwhile the town hermit Flint (Glenn Fleshler) lives in the woods and pretty much hates them all.
This peculiar bunch is brought together when a snowstorm knocks out the power and closes the roads leading in and out of town. To make matters worse, signs suggest a razor-clawed beast of some kind is roaming around the area. Of course the film’s title lets us know that it’s not a possum as one of the oddballs hilariously suggest. The group gathers in the Beaverfield Inn to wait out the storm. But when people start dying inside suspicion and paranoia sets in. The panicking neighbors begin accusing each other while never passing on the chance to air out some old local baggage.
Image Courtesy of IFC Films
Through it all the movie never loses its sense of humor. In fact this is very much a straight comedy built upon some familiar horror movie framework. Some of the funniest bits come with watching Finn’s bewildered face as he watches and listens to this motley group of townsfolk. Wolff fills their mouths with some of the most outlandish stuff and the performances relay it with hilarious conviction. The dialogue is full of laughs that range from subtle to wildly absurd.
Unfortunately the movie doesn’t quite hold together in the final act. While attempting to bring everything to a close it loses some of its charm and originality. And as the story locks into a more predictable movie formula, some of the characters fare considerably better than others. It all culminates in an ending that doesn’t exactly satisfy. With that said, the film’s comedy element carries it through. Wolf’s script along with a cast full of game performances had me laughing more than I ever expected. “Werewolves Within” opens June 25th in theaters and July 2nd on VOD.
I love the look of IFC Midnight’s “Settlers”, a mysterious science-fiction Western that packs quite a bit into a trailer that runs just under two minutes. It’s the first feature for writer-director Wyatt Rockefeller and it had its world premiere a few days ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. The premise alone is full of potential and the film’s unique embrace of several cool genres has me intrigued.
The story follows a family of four who have settled on an isolated patch of the Martian frontier. We learn they left Earth in search of something better, but you can’t help but believe there is more to the story. One day a mysterious stranger shows up with an ominous revelation, “This place doesn’t belong to you.” He refuses to leave leading to a tense and uneasy situation. The film stars Sofia Boutella, Nell Tiger Free, Jonny Lee Miller, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Natalie Walsh, and Brooklynn Prince.
“Settlers” releases July 23rd in theaters and on VOD. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Keith & the Movies 