M. Night Shyamalan’s latest venture looks to be steering away from the supernatural and otherworldly (although with MNS you can never really tell). “Trap” has more of a crime mystery look to it although it still has the kind of wild premise which Shyamalan is known to enjoy. The film stars Josh Hartnett which is nice to see and the first trailer sees him taking on a rather unexpected role. I’ll let you watch it and see for yourself.

I will say that Hartnett plays a father taking his ecstatic daughter to see her favorite singer in concert, Lady Raven (played by Shyamalan’s oldest daughter Saleka). But it turns out that the packed arena is really a trap laid by police to catch a brutal serial killer believed to be in attendance. Again, it’s a crazy idea made even crazier by a particular reveal in the trailer. I don’t know what to expect, but its wild enough to pique my interest.

“Trap” lands exclusively in theaters on August 9th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or giving it a pass.

One of the most eagerly anticipated action movies of the year is only a few weeks away. George Miller returns to the post-apocalyptic wasteland with “Furiosa”, the fifth installment in his beloved Mad Max franchise. “Furiosa” serves both as a spin-off and prequel to Miller’s extraordinary “Mad Max: Fury Road” from 2015. The trailers have been brilliant and now Warner Brothers has dropped a killer new poster to entice us even more. Check it out and tell me what you think. 

DIRECTOR – George Miller

WRITER – George Miller, Nico Lathouris

STARRING – Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Angus Sampson, Nathan Jones, Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Charlee Fraser, Daniel Webber

RELEASE – May 24, 2024

Todd Phillips’ 2019 “Joker” turned out to be a blockbuster smash, making over $1 billion at the global box office and earning Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for Best Actor. Gritty, violent, and rooted in realism, “Joker” took the legendary DC Comics villain in some dark yet captivating directions. To no surprise a sequel was eventually announced. But rather than offer your run-of-the-mill follow-up, Phillips and Phoenix return with “Joker: Folie à Deux”, a movie that has been described as a super-villain movie musical.

Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck (aka Joker) who was last seen attempting to break out of Gotham’s Arkham Asylum. Where this second installment goes from there is anyone’s guess. What we do know is that Lady Gaga takes on the role of Harley Quinn. The first trailer shows the two meeting in Arkham and eventually breaking out together. But what really has me curious is the use of music. It’s been said the movie will include a total of 15 musical numbers which both piques my interest and causes concern. The trailer does hint at how the music will be used. It has the potential to be utterly spellbinding or a major miscalculation. Either way, I’ll be there on opening night.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” dances into theaters on October 4th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

I don’t cover much television, but occasionally a must-see show comes down the pike that I can’t pass up. One of the latest is Prime Video’s upcoming “Fallout”, an eight episode series based on the extremely popular Fallout video game franchise from Bethesda Game Studios. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Nolan will also be directing several episodes), “Fallout” will premiere on Prime Video tomorrow, April 10th (a day earlier than its originally scheduled April 11th release).

For those unfamiliar, the Fallout series is set within a retrofuturistic wasteland. During the post-war 1950s, a nuclear war decimated our planet. Those who were able survived in massive bunkers across the United States known as vaults. The games follow dwellers around the country who leave their vaults for the first time only to encounter a dangerous, savage, and violent new world. The streaming series looks to follow the same formula as a young woman named Lucy (Ella Purnell) leaves her home in Vault 33 and ventures into the devastated and hostile remains of Los Angeles. Walton Goggins and Aaron Moten also star.

Prime Video’s promotion for the series has been off the charts. The trailers are filled to the brim with cool easter eggs and the production design seems plucked right of the games. They’ve also released a number of killer posters that feel right in tune with the franchise’s unique vibe. Check out the trailer and the posters below and tell me what you think. Are you excited for “Fallout”? Will you be checking it out? I know I will.

“The Strangers: Chapter 1” is set to hit theaters May 17th and Lionsgate has began their promotion with a bang. Three new character posters were released today along with some cool and creepy security camera footage highlighting the film’s titular terrors. Directed by Renny Harlin, the film is the first installment in a new horror trilogy based on the 2008 home invasion chiller “The Strangers”. The original (written and directed by Bryan Bertino) was an effectively unsettling movie and if Harlin can tap into that same sense of horror he may deliver something special.

The film’s official synopsis: After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in THE STRANGERS ― CHAPTER 1, the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.

Check out the three character posters and security footage below…

I get that this may be a bit premature, but could we be witnessing a revival of the Western genre? There have been several smaller independent Westerns that have popped up in recent years and Kevin Costner is set to release his massive two-part Western epic this summer. Now we have “The Dead Don’t Hurt” – a new film that’s directed, written, produced, and composed by Viggo Mortensen. If that wasn’t enough, Mortensen also stars in the film which just released its fantastic first trailer.

Set in the 1860s, Mortensen plays a Danish immigrant named Holger Olsen who falls in loved with a French Canadian woman named Vivienne Le Coudy (played by the always terrific Vicky Krieps). The two start a life together on Holger’s Nevada homestead. But when the headstrong Holger’s convictions drive him to enlist in the Union army, Vivienne is left alone on a frontier dominated by ruthless men. The film also stars Danny Huston, Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, Ray McKinnon, Colin Morgan, W. Earl Brown, and Atlas Green. The trailer offers a tantalizing first look for what is a clear passion project for the 65-year-old Mortensen.

“The Dead Don’t Hurt” gallops into theaters on May 31st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.