Among the most intriguing films of the still early movie year is “Sinners”, the latest collaboration between writer-director Ryan Coogler and his favorite star Michael B. Jordan. Coogler and Warner Bros. have done a terrific job promoting this period action horror feature starting with their ferocious trailers. Now the studio has dropped yet another new poster which once again fits right in with everything they’ve shown us so far.
DIRECTOR – Ryan Coogler
WRITERS – Ryan Coogler
STARRING – Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Lola Kirk, Helena Hu
RELEASE – April 18, 2025
Check out the sizzling new poster below and let me know what you think.
It may not be the most audacious of titles, but in the case of “Gunslingers” the shoe fits. Brian Skiba directs, writes, produces, and edits this fairly action-packed Western that’s built upon the kind of premise you might see in a Corbucci or Leone feature. There is no shortage of Old West blood and carnage, and it features arguably the wackiest Nicholas Cage performance to date.
When read together, those sound like ingredients for a winning recipe. Unfortunately “Gunslingers” never quite reaches the heights of its genre potential. Nagging issues repeatedly drag the movie down, often just as it’s winning us over. Among those issues are a handful of shaky performances often for underdeveloped characters. But more frustrating, almost nothing about the movie feels the slightest bit authentic – not the characters, the relationships, or even the one-horse town where most of the story takes place.
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
Opening in 1903, Stephen Dorff plays Thomas Keller, a New York hoodlum who is forced to flee the city after killing a crooked and powerful mogul named Jess Rockefeller. During the fracas, his brother Robert (Jeremy Kent Jackson) is also killed – or so Thomas thinks. From there we jump ahead four years with Thomas in Kentucky laying low and dodging the occasional bounty hunters who are all out to collect the massive blunter put on his head by the Rockefellers.
After one particularly violent encounter leaves his horse dead, Thomas makes his way to the tiny town of Redemption, a community of outcasts and lawbreakers who have found absolution under the guidance of their leader, Jericho (Costas Mandylor). Thomas believes he has found a new home and is baptized into the ranks of the townsfolk. But his peace is short-lived following the arrival of a woman named Valerie (Heather Graham) and her young daughter Gracie (Ava Monroe Tadross).
We learn Valerie has a connection to Thomas – a connection that becomes a lot clearer when his brother Robert shows up along with a 100-man posse. It turns out Robert (obviously) survived and cut a deal with the Rockefellers to bring Thomas back. And while he’s there, he might as well grab the bounties on the other citizens of Redemption. It all eventually leads to a showdown, with the townsfolk holed up in the saloon and Robert and his men surrounding them.
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
While there are plenty of bloody shootouts, much of the film focuses on Thomas fitting in with the people of Redemption. There’s Jericho’s daughter, Bella (Scarlet Rose Stallone), the enigmatic Lin (Tzi Ma), the hunky Levi (Cooper Barnes), and so on. But to no surprise the most notable is Nicholas Cage’s Ben, the Bible-reading town photographer who refuses to even touch a gun. It’s such a weird performance with Cage bopping around with a crazed sway, funky glasses, and a wheezy voice. His acting straddles the line between sly dark comedy and just plain bad.
Sadly the movie’s treatment of the characters never gets beyond skin-deep. Few if any of the locals feel at home in Redemption, and the town lacks a lived-in feel. It makes buying into the drama more difficult than it should be. The action spices things up a bit with Skiba showing his affection for the genre. Meanwhile Dorff and Graham do what they can with the material. But “Gunslingers” relies too much on tired Western tropes and not enough on good old-fashioned character work and world-building.
Independent distributors Neon and A24 have a long history of releasing prestigious indies that are hits with critics and awards voters alike. At the same time, neither have been afraid to delve into genre, especially the diverse and blood-soaked world of horror. The latest example is Neon’s “Hell of a Summer”, a horror-comedy homage of sorts from co-directors, co-writers, co-producers, and co-stars Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk.
To the young filmmakers’ credit, Bryk and Wolfhard show off a genuine appreciation for the slasher genre. But outside of a few funny lines and some well-executed gags, they aren’t able to bring along anything fresh or unexpected. And they aren’t able to put their own stamp on what is well-worn material. Even more, they never quite commit to either the horror or the satire. So the movie ends up stuck somewhere in the middle, excelling in neither but not really floundering either.
Image Courtesy of NEON
“Hell of a Summer” embraces nearly every summer camp slasher trope, putting a playful spin on some of them and leaning a bit too heavily on others. The film’s biggest strength is found in the goofy but endearing Fred Hechinger. He plays Jason Hochberg, a 24 year-old whose low-bar dream is to one day become a camp leader. In fact he’s so determined that he chose his seventh straight summer at Camp Pineway over an internship at a law firm, much to the chagrin of his frustrated mother (Susan Coyne).
Jason arrives at Pineaway Camp to work another summer for the owners, John (Adam Pally) and Kathy (Rosebud Baker). What he doesn’t know is that the couple have been mercilessly murdered by an unseen killer in the film’s prologue. Jason takes it upon himself to take charge until John and Kathy arrive. But that’s easier said than done, especially on Counselor Weekend where his fellow camp counselors would rather party than do any of Jason’s planned activities.
Outside of Jason, the counselors are a collection of slasher movie archetypes whose purpose should come as no surprise. There’s the image-obsessed Bobby (Bryk), the lovestruck Chris (Wolfhard) and the girl he’s crushing on, Shannon (Krista Nazaire), the tough guy, Mike (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the TikTok pretty girl, Demi (Pardis Saremi), the kindly outcast, Claire (Abby Quinn), the theater brat, Ezra (Matthew Finlan), the weird girl who loves the occult, Noelle (Julia Lalonde), the moody kid with a peanut allergy, Ari (Daniel Gravelle), and the raging vegan, Miley (Julia Doyle).
Image Courtesy of NEON
In fairness, nearly everyone has at least one funny line to deliver which turns out to be one of the movie’s saving graces. But in reality they’re just fodder for the masked killer who pops back up and starts murdering the counselors in often underwhelming ways. The mystery of the killer’s identity immediately becomes a central part of the story. Unfortunately the reveal is a shallow, uninspired letdown which leaves a ton of questions and ends things on a yawn-worthy note.
Outside of several funny lines and a really good Fred Hechinger performance, “Hell of a Summer” has a hard time standing out in a memorable way. It can’t quite muster the same appeal as the blood-soaked genre movies it clearly admires. And it doesn’t have enough of its own flavor to come across as something original. But Bryk and Wolfhard show impressive flashes as young filmmakers, especially when it comes to snappy humor. And while they still have a ways to go in some areas, the pair show an energy and commitment that will only help them going forward.
Last week Hollywood lost the great Val Kilmer, a fascinating and immensely talented actor whose career spanned 40 years. Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles, California and passed away on April 1st at the age of 65. Kilmer’s lengthy battle with health issues dates back to his 2015 throat cancer diagnosis. He would undergo numerous procedures, rounds of chemotherapy, and two tracheotomies. Many of his successes and struggles are documented in his extraordinary 2021 documentary “Val”.
Kilmer’s movie career began with the raucous 1984 comedy “Top Secret!”. But he would take off two years later after appearing in one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, “Top Gun”. Kilmer would star in several other box office hits, but he also took on a number of challenging independent roles. His career hit a speed bump in the 2000s but he continued to work, making his final big screen appearance in the blockbuster hit “Top Gun: Maverick”.
Val Kilmer’s memory lives on through a number of movies loved by many. Whether he was playing Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, Doc Holliday, Bruce Wayne, or Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer brought a bit of himself to every role he played. And that made his characters and his movies better.
Finding something original in the densely populated horror genre isn’t easy. But writer, director, and co-star Vivian Kerr manages it in her compelling and character-rich horror drama “Séance”. Kerr mixes the supernatural with the psychological in framing her eerie Victorian era chamber piece. But at its core, “Séance” is a strikingly human relationship drama that lures us in with its chilling atmosphere before enthralling us in an unfolding story that would rather us think than jump out of our skin.
Kerr is no stranger to thoughtful character explorations as evident by her terrific 2022 film “Scrap”. With “Séance” she shows similar interests although with a deeper and more involving focus. Her latest centers around four complex people, each hiding their own emotional baggage behind fragile facades of happiness and contentment. But it’s not long before those thinly constructed walls start to crumble.
An extraordinary Scottie Thompson leads the film’s small but superb cast. She plays Emma Strand, a published novelist who is six months into her second marriage. She and her husband Albert (Connor Paolo) reside in Texas but have traveled to California for some vacation time on the beach. While there, the couple run into Emma’s first husband George Ford (Jilon VanOver) and his wife Lillian (played by Kerr). The rather awkward meeting leads to a dinner invitation which the Strands uncomfortably accept.
The rest of the film plays out in the Fords’ dimly lit, shadow-draped mansion which Lillian inherited from her late parents. Throughout its lean and efficient 85 minutes much is revealed about the characters, both as couples and individuals. Emma is exhausted by Albert’s constant doting and frustrated by his lack of intimacy. Albert has allowed his insecurities to impact his marriage, so much that he’s been keeping things from his wife.
As for the Fords, both are still reeling from the loss of their young daughter Hazel who tragically drowned eight months earlier. George has suppressed much of his grief, concentrating more on providing for his wife than dealing with his own sorrow. Lillian has had a much tougher time. She was with Hazel when the child died and the guilt has left her an emotional wreck. Now she’s convinced her daughter’s spirit is still present in their house and is trying to communicate with her.
Everything eventually comes to light after Emma and Albert agree to stay the night rather venture out into a torrential storm. More troubling truths are revealed and new tensions are exposed. To top it all off, Lillian convinces everyone to participate in a spooky séance complete with creaking floors, flickering lights, a shaky chandelier, and a levitating table. Though well executed, the séance seems a little out of the blue. But its importance becomes clear later on, even if everything about it isn’t fully explained.
But all in “Séance” comes back to its four flawed central characters. Kerr shrewdly unwraps them so that each manages to earn our sympathies and our reproach. But most importantly, she maintains their human pulse which enables us to understand their feelings and motivations, at least until final 15 minutes or so. Surround them with Kerr’s assured direction and you have a thematically rich, elegantly shot, and exquisitely acted dark mystery/relationship drama that’s focused more on the spirits within its characters than any haunting specter without.
The Mission: Impossible film series has spanned nearly thirty years. Now series fans are wondering if this might be the last installment in what has been one of the best action franchises of all time. Several weeks ago Paramount Pictures released the killer first trailer for “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” which only boosted the anticipation. Now they’ve dropped the final trailer and it’s fair to say it ratchets up the excitement even more.
Producer and star Tom Cruise reteams with director, writer, and producer Christopher McQuarrie in the direct sequel to 2023’s extraordinary “Dead Reckoning Part One”. Joining Hanks is a host of familiar Mission: Impossible faces including Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Haley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, an Pom Klementieff. The story follows race to control a rogue artificial intelligence called “The Entity”. We can once again expect big action and big adventure. And with marketing like “Every Choice, every mission, has all led to this“, this might be the last impossible mission we take with this group.
“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” comes to theaters May 23rd. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Keith & the Movies 