Marvel Studios had quite a showing at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, revealing their cramped release schedule all the way to 2025. While some of their trailer reveals were kept behind closed doors and shown exclusively to those in attendance (conventions have long loved doing that), they did release a tease for one of their most anticipated films of the year, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

Obviously with the heartbreaking passing of star Chadwick Boseman, the sequel to 2018’s “Black Panther” was going to be a challenge. The new trailer gives us a little insight into how the MCU plans on handling things. Despite Boseman’s family saying Chadwick would want T’Challa recast and the character’s story continued, Marvel has chosen to write off T’Challa and instead follow his family’s quest to cope with their loss and protect Wakanda. The trailer leans heavy into the emotion which is sure to be felt throughout the film. It also gives us first look at Namor. While all of these things are obvious crowdpleasers, there are still some big question marks. Hopefully director Ryan Coogler can pull it all together.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hits theaters November 11th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Without a doubt, my most anticipated movie of 2023 is Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”, a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer who became known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb” due to his work on the Manhattan Project. Seeing Nolan tackle a period biopic with this type of subject matter is really exciting, and I’m anxious to see what he brings to a movie like this. We still have a while to wait, but we did get a nice treat earlier today – the film’s latest poster. It’s a simple yet great design and very fitting. I can’t wait to see and learn more from “Oppenheimer” leading up to its release next year. So what do you think of the new poster?

DIRECTOR – Christopher Nolan

WRITER – Christopher Nolan

STARRING – Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Kenneth Branagh, Gary Oldman, Scott Grimes, Casey Affleck, James D’Arcy

RELEASE – July 21, 2023

A rather cryptic yet unnerving brief teaser for “Smile” hit theaters a few weeks ago. A few days later, Paramount gave us the first full trailer for this creepy looking horror movie from writer-director Parker Finn. This is the feature film debut for Finn who is adapting his own 2020 film short titled “Laura Hasn’t Slept”. His new trailer is an interesting mix of the familiar and the fresh. I’m anxious to see how the movie actually turns out.

Built around a still mysterious premise, this New Jersey-set chiller looks to center around a doctor named Rose (Sosie Bacon) who begins witnessing eerie behavior from her patients. Before long, she begins to wonder if it’s her own mind that’s playing tricks on her. The trailer features lots of creepy laughing and a few unexpected angles that could make this a surprising little horror film. Oh and that jolt at the end…well done!

“Smile” hits theaters September 30th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

As I lay here mending from COVID-19 that I was unlucky enough to pick up during our Disney World trip, I received a really nice surprise via email. Rotten Tomatoes sent me a message telling me I’m now individually approved as a Tomatometer critic. All of my reviews for our newspaper were already included on RT. But individual certification means that even reviews from this little old website we be part of the Rotten Tomatoes meter. It was a nice bit of news.

Thanks Rotten Tomatoes!

I enjoy doing this ‘First Glance’ feature. It’s a chance to inform folks about upcoming movies on the horizon by showcasing new trailers. But this is the first installment where I’ve highlighted a movie while issuing this warning – You may not wan’t to watch the attached trailer! I say that because it’s an unfortunate case of the studios revealing waaaaay too much (at least I think so). In it we see a seemingly noteworthy reveal that (I’m guessing) plays a significant part in the movie. I’ll let you decide for yourself.

I’ll dance around the plot, but without spoiling things the story revolves around a young woman named Evie (Nathalee Emmanuel) who learns she has some extended family she’s never met. She travels to England to meet her newfound second cousin, Oliver (Thomas Doherty) who invites her to attend a family wedding. Evie is hesitant at first but agrees and that’s where the movie takes its sinister turn. The movie is directed by Jessica M. Thompson who co-wrote the script with Blair Butler. They certainly seem to have a knack for atmosphere and tension. I’m interested to see how this one turns out.

“The Invitation” drops exclusively in theaters on August 26. Check out the trailer below (at your own risk) and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Cinema legend James Caan has passed away. He was 82. The incredibly versatile and charismatic actor’s career has spanned nearly 60 years. His filmography is filled with memorable appearances from early performances in movies like Howard Hawks’ “El Dorado” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Rain People” to his most well-known performance playing Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather”. He continued to do great work in the 70’s all the way through last year – “A Bridge Too Far”, “Thief”, “Misery”, “The Program” (an underrated performance), and of course the perennial Christmas classic “Elf” among many others.

Caan always had a magnetic screen presence and an inherent toughness that really came out in a number of eccentric yet entertaining movies. But he wasn’t restricted to tough-guy roles. He also had a sly sense of humor and was more than capable of handling more dramatic roles.

James Caan leaves behind quite a legacy and is sure to be missed by fans around the world.

RIP