A star-studded new Western was enough to capture my attention. Having it written and directed by none other than Walter Hill makes it even more intriguing. A quick gander at Hill’s filmography reveals an eclectic blend of genre films dating back to 1972. At 80-years-old, Hill slides on his boots, puts on his Stetson, and heads back to the Wild West, joined by Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan, Hamish Linklater, and Benjamin Bratt. I love the idea and I love the cast, even if I don’t particularly love the new trailer.

Set in 1897, Waltz plays a notorious bounty hunter (a role he knows well) named Max Borlund who’s in Mexico in search of a wealthy businessman’s daughter (Brosnahan). While there, he runs into an old foe named Joe Cribbens (Dafoe). It turns out Joe is still upset that Max sent him to prison years earlier. Other players come into the mix and (as often happens in Westerns) things turn violent. While the trailer may be a touch bland, its hard not to be excited with this much talent on screen. Hopefully it delivers on its potential.

“Dead for a Dollar” opens September 30th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Netflix has dropped the teaser trailer for one of my most anticipated movies of the year. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is the latest feature film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s acclaimed 1929 novel. Directed by Edward Berger, the film is Germany’s submission for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards. Beginning with the words “This is neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure”, the trailer reveals a vision that’s dramatically different than what we’re used to seeing from ‘war movies’.

The film marks the first time the novel has been adapted in its original German language, and it offers a uniquely German perspective. While Daniel Brühl gets top billing (playing vocal World War I opponent Matthias Erzberger), it’s newcomer Felix Kammerer who looks to be the soul of the movie. But this is mostly a tone-setting trailer, and it’s extremely effective. The film is sure to be a bleak and harrowing look at war through a gritty, unvarnished, and brutally honest lens. I can’t imagine it being an easy watch. But when dealing in truth, the results aren’t always pretty.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” opens in select theaters this October and streams on Netflix October 28th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Whether you’re a fan of long-time parody musician Weird Al Yankovic or not, the new film “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” looks to be worth a gander especially after seeing the recent trailer. Co-written and produced by Weird Al himself, the film is the not-so-true story of his rise from young accordion enthusiast to parody pop star. The movie openly exaggerates Weird Al’s rise to stardom and happily makes up some details along the way. Even better, the movie is a straight-up parody of the popular music biopic which makes this even more attractive.

Daniel Radcliffe plays the titular character complete with the funky mustache and big crop of curls. In the new trailer we get clips of him hamming up and down Al Yankovic’s timeline. From Al’s homelife to his discovery by Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) to his relationship with Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood). The movie looks to cover (and fictionalize) a lot of ground. I’m not sure if it will all come together, but it looks to be a lot of fun nonetheless. I’m in.

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” releases November 4th on The Roku Channel. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

With a name as goofy as this one, it’s tempting to think you have a good sense for what this movie is going for. I know I did. But then I watched the trailer for “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”. It turns out to be a far cry from what I expected. This biographical action-comedy from director and co-writer Peter Farrelly looks quite good and it sports a terrific cast that includes Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, and Bill Murray.

Based on genuinely wild and crazy real events, “Beer Run” tells the true story of John “Chickie” Donohue (Efron). In 1967, Chickie would sneak into war-torn Vietnam on a dare and began taking cans of beer to U.S. soldiers, even those on the battlefield. His idea was to let them know that there are people back home who support them. The trailer is a hearty mix of comedy, wartime action, and feel-good drama. Now hopefully the movie ends up as good as the trailer teases.

“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” hits select theaters and AppleTV+ on September 30th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Ralph Fiennes serves up an all-star cast in the upcoming horror film “The Menu”. Set to appear at the Toronto International Film Festival this September, “The Menu” originally had Alexander Payne onboard to direct and Emma Stone set to star. But scheduling conflicts saw Payne replaced by award-winning television director and producer Mark Mylod and Stone replaced by Anya Taylor-Joy. Searchlight recently dropped a new trailer that gives us a lot to digest (see what I did there?).

A young couple (played by Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travel to a remote coastal island to dine at a lavish and extremely exclusive restaurant ran by Chef Slowik (Fiennes). The experience is set up like a extravagantly choreographed mix of gastronomy and mystery theater. But the select group of guests soon discover there is more going on with the mysterious chef than meets the eye (or stomach). The film also stars Janet McTeer, Judith Light, John Leguizamo, Hong Chau, and Reed Birney among others. It’s hard to say whether the trailer reveals too much, but there’s certainly an unexpected twist. Hopefully it all comes together in a good way.

“The Menu” lands in theaters November 18th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

The latest film to take a satirical bite out of the wealthy and privileged comes from Swedish director Ruben Östlund (“Force Majeure”, “The Square”). It’s “Triangle of Sadness”, the Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is Östlund’s first English-language feature film, and after navigating several COVID-19 delays, this biting dark comedy is all set the hit theaters. NEON has dropped the first trailer and it looks every bit as wild as advertised.

The movie stars Harry Dickinson as an aspiring model vacationing with his girlfriend played by Charlbi Dean. The couple win a trip aboard a luxury cruise captained by none other than Woody Harrelson. The other guests are a collection of snobbish one-percenters. But as the puke-soaked trailer reveals, things aboard the lavish yacht go terribly wrong, and Östlund has us sit back and watch as the privileged get some healthy doses of humility. I can’t wait to see what all Östlund has up his sleeve.

“Triangle of Sadness” hits theaters October 7th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.