Check out the wickedly cool poster for the upcoming horror-thriller “Old”

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Thomasin McKenzie, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung

Release: July 23, 2021

I’m always up for a good old-school gangster flick. “Lansky” from writer-director Eytan Rockaway is a biographical drama about Meyer Lansky, a notorious Jewish mobster and close associate to Italian mob boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Vertical Entertainment has released the first trailer and it gives us a good look at Oscar-nominated screen veteran Harvey Keitel in the movie’s titular character.

“Lansky” is told from an interesting perspective. Down-on-his-luck writer David Stone (played by Sam Worthington) is contacted by none other than Meyer Lansky and given the opportunity to tell the gangster’s story. At the same time FBI agents, frustrated by their inability to put the gangster away, begin squeezing Stone to secretly get information from Lansky that they can use to build their case. The trailer has a very classic crime story vibe and there is certainly enough untapped material about Lansky’s fascinating criminal life to make for a good movie. It’ll all come down to Rockaway’s execution.

“Lansky” arrives in theaters and on VOD June 25th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson? SOLD! That’s all I needed to be onboard with the new sci-fi thriller “Reminiscence”. The film is written and directed by Lisa Joy, the co-creator of television’s “Westworld”. It also stars Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis, Daniel Wu, Natalie Martinez, and Angela Sarafyan. After a number of delays (for a wide variety of reasons) “Reminiscence” final gets a solid release date and its very first trailer. It’s looking really good.

While watching this first full look at the film you can’t help but notice its variety of genre flavors – action, romance, classic noir, science-fiction, mystery. It’s all here. In a flooded near-future Miami, Jackman runs a business where he takes people on “a journey through memory“. He falls for a mysterious yet alluring new client (Ferguson) who suddenly vanishes. Unwilling to accept her disappearance, Jackman ignores the warnings of his colleagues and begins digging into the woman’s complex and dangerous past. The film looks fascinating and the idea of retracing one’s memories is ripe with suspenseful potential. This definitely has my attention.

“Reminiscence” opens August 20th in theaters and on HBO Max. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Check out the stunning new French poster for the upcoming musical drama “Annette”.

Director: Leos Carax

Starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg

Release: July 6th, 2021 (Cannes Film Festival)

Disney continues to warm us up for their summer movie lineup, this time by releasing a new trailer for “Jungle Cruise”. Our new look at this big-budgeted blockbuster that’s based on a popular Disneyland theme park ride looks like it wants to be this generation’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The trailer looks, feels, and plays like those Jerry Bruckheimer produced flicks. And just like “Pirates”, it puts a lot on the massive shoulders of a wildly charismatic lead.

“Jungle Cruise” sees Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a beefy riverboat captain and Emily Blunt as a scientist traveling down the treacherous Amazon in search of the Tree of Life. The tree is believed to have healing powers which could revolutionize modern medicine. But as we see in the trailer, there are countless dangers awaiting including a hilariously devious Jesse Plemons playing the villain. Johnson is a big personality but Blunt can match him step-for-step. Together they make a fascinating and fun pair. Hopefully there’s enough originality to the story to make it more than just “Pirates” in a new setting.

“Jungle Cruise” releases July 30th in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Now here’s a movie title that grabs your attention! “Gunpowder Milkshake” is an upcoming action-thriller-comedy from Israeli filmmaker Navot Papushado. It has a tantalizing cast that includes Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and more. The film was snatched up by Netflix and has all the feel of a John Wick inspired shoot-em-up but with a few very noticeable twists. Hopefully those twists are enough to make this feel like it’s own thing.

I love seeing Karen Gillan getting starring roles and here she plays an assassin who killed “the wrong people” in order to save an 8-year-old girl. Soon there is an open contract out on her so she seeks the help of her mother (Headey), a fellow assassin who hasn’t seen her daughter in 15 years. The bullet-riddled first trailer shows action aplenty and a cracking sense of humor. You can’t help but recognize the movies it’s imitating, but the fun female led cast will hopefully give the film some extra spark. I’ll certainly be giving it a go.

“Gunpowder Milkshake” premieres July 14th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.