These days everything Lin-Manuel Miranda touches turns to gold. We’ll get to see if that trend continues later this year with the real ease of “Tick, Tick… Boom!”, an upcoming musical drama that will mark the 41-year-old New Yorker’s feature film directorial debut. The movie is based on the stage musical of the same name by the late Jonathan Larson. It has been called an autobiographical work about Larson’s struggle to make it in theater. Sadly he died tragically in 1996. He was only 35. The first trailer dropped today courtesy of Netflix.

“Tick, Tick… Boom!” adds some extra detail but it looks to be the same story at heart. Scripted by Steven Levenson, the film stars Andrew Garfield as Jon. He’s an aspiring theater composer who finds himself amid a midlife crisis as he nears his 30th birthday. In a clip we see Garfield singing romantically about the Bohemian lifestyle, yet deep down Jon doesn’t feel a day closer to reaching his dreams than when he first started. It makes for a potentially compelling story. The film also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesús, Alexandra Shipp, Judith Light, and Bradley Whitford. Again, will Miranda’s hot streak continue?

“Tick, Tick… Boom!” is set for a Fall release. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Younger audiences won’t remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, the hosts of the immensely popular television ‘ministry’ The PTL Club. Starting out of a small North Carolina studio, the Bakkers grew their show nationally and eventually into its own TV network. They even launched a 2500-acre theme park and resort. The couple’s lavish lifestyle was enough to rouse suspicion, but it was Jim Bakker’s sex scandals that brought the powerful hucksters to their knees.

The new film “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” sees Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain stepping into the roles of the televangelist power couple. The two stars make for a fascinating match and there is certainly plenty of material to cover. The film, directed by Michael Showalter, dropped its first trailer and looks to be taking a very sympathetic look at Tammy Faye. Jim Bakker was clearly a corrupt and contemptible charlatan but Tammy Faye’s hands weren’t exactly clean. It’ll be interesting to see if Showalter’s film sticks to their true story or has something else on its mind.

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” opens in theaters September 17th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Check out the killer new trailer for the upcoming thriller “Censor”, one of my favorite films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Director: Prano Bailey-Bond

Starring: Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley

Release: June 11, 2021

HBO Max has dropped the trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s new throwback heist film “No Sudden Move”. The movie features a packed cast that includes Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liota, Amy Seimetz, Julia Fox, and Bill Duke among others. The film is slated to premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival before landing on the streaming platform a couple weeks later. Judging by this first look, we have a lot to look forward to.

Set in 1955 Detroit, the movie follows a group of small-time hoods who are hired to swipe a lone document. Easy, right? Well of course not. Things go sideways fast leaving them searching the city for the one who hired them in hopes of getting some answers. I love the grimy look of the trailer and the all-star ensemble features names that should fit really well in the world Soderbergh is creating. As far as crime dramas go, this could be a really good one.

“No Sudden Move” premieres June 18th at Tribeca and then hits HBO Max July 1st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

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.