Mark this down as another movie that looks right up my alley. Danish filmmaker Peter Flinth teams with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to give us one of those “based on an unbelievable true story” movies. In addition to its compelling historical bend, the movie also looks to be a gripping and possibly terrifying survival story. The first trailer looks great and gives us plenty to chew one.

Coster-Waldau plays Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, a polar explorer who is tasked with retrieving the findings of a Danish expedition lost in the frozen tundra of North-Eastern Greenland. Only one man volunteers to accompany Mikkelsen on his treacherous journey – a young mechanic played by Joe Cole. Shot on location in Iceland and Greenland, the movie looks to fully embrace the dangers of its setting. I love the look of this.

“Against the Ice” premieres on Netflix March 2nd. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

The Foo Fighters, rock-n-roll, a new album, a bloodthirsty demon-possessed David Grohl decapitating someone with a cymbal. What’s unusual about that? All of those things and more are thrown into the new trailer for “Studio 666”, a horror comedy written by Grohl and starring the members of the rock band Foo Fights. Talk about a wacky but undeniably catchy combination!

“Studio 666” sees the Foo Fighters preparing to record their 10th album. “We gotta break the mold with this one.” They pick an old country mansion to start writing and recording. But frustrations grow after each member of the band are hit with writer’s block. Even worse, the creepy old house has some pretty terrifying history. It’s all completely absurd and the movie looks to be borrowing from about ten different horror classics. But I love its self-awareness and I’m anxious to give it a shot.

“Studio 666” hits theaters February 25th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

When I first started this feature my intent was to highlight classic movie posters just as much as new ones. But end of the year movies and awards season got me off track. What better way to get back on track than this beauty? When released in 1985, William Friedkin’s neo-noir thriller received mixed reviews from critics (one big exception was Roger Ebert who loved it). But since then the film has gained a hearty following. Either way, the movie’s poster is one of my favorites from the 80s. Tell me what you think.

DIRECTOR – William Friedkin

WRITER – William Friedkin, Gerald Petievich

STARRING – William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Dean Stockwell, Robert Downey, Sr., Darlanne Fluegel, Steve James

RELEASE – November 1, 1985

It’s that time of the year again. February is the usual landing ground for new Liam Neeson PG-13 action thrillers. This year the 69-year-old Irishman is giving us “Blacklight”, a shoot-em-up that looks to check every box Neeson fans will be expecting. This is the third film he has made with director Mark Williams, and it doesn’t look like the duo are straying too far away from their previous collaborations. To be honest, I’m kinda ok with that.

This time around Neeson plays a fixer working for the FBI. He’s ready to step away from his “work”, determined to be a better grandfather than he was a father. But wouldn’t you know it, the powers that be have no interest in him hanging up his Beretta. It’s made even worse when he discovers that the people he’s been working for are actually responsible for some pretty horrific crimes. Of course our hero pushes back, his family is put in danger, and Neeson is forced to unleash his “particular set of skills”. I’m game.

“Blacklight” is set to open in theaters February 11th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

(CLICK HERE to read my full article/essay in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

I’m not sure the movie business has ever been in a weirder place than it is right now. Watching movies has never been easier than it is today. Streaming services have literally put entire catalogs of feature films right at our finger tips. We can watch them on our big screen televisions, on our tablets, or on our cell phones. We can watch them in the comfort of our living room, on an airplane, or in a hospital waiting room. Streaming has forever changed the way movie lovers consume content.

But what about the way we once watched movies? What about the movie theaters? It goes without saying that streaming has cut into the movie theaters’ business. Just how much is hard to say and it usually swings on a variety of factors (ticket pricing, size of markets, etc.). Yet while many movie houses and theater chains are feeling the impact, they are kept afloat by a select group of movies that fans will flock to no matter what. And while this steady trend helps theaters, it highlights a bigger concern – one that could have a far-reaching impact on the kind of films being made.

A couple weeks back Steven Spielberg’s sparkling and critically acclaimed musical adaptation “West Side Story” opened to a paltry $10 million at the box office. As of now it has only managed $50 million. Considering the lackluster returns on other 2021 movie musicals like “In the Heights” and “Dear Evan Hansen”, no one was expecting record-breaking numbers from “West Side Story”. But for a movie needing an estimated $300 million to break even, it’s safe to say expectations were higher. Within hours after the disappointing numbers went public, articles began springing up citing the reluctance of audiences to go to theaters due to COVID concerns. Sounds reasonable and it’s an explanation that would be easy to digest if not for one thing – “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.

Only one week removed from “West Side Story’s” underwhelming debut, “No Way Home” (the latest installment in the ludicrously lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe) has shattered records bringing in an astonishing $253 million domestically during its opening weekend. To add some context, this is the third Spider-Man movie to star Tom Holland as the beloved webslinger. The first film brought in $117 million on opening weekend back in 2017. The second film raked in $92 million back in 2019. Both were pre-pandemic releases.

Suddenly the pandemic hesitancy excuse being made for “West Side Story” and other films doesn’t hold as much water. Clearly people will still go to the theaters. But they’re not going to see “West Side Story” or Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” or Guillermo del Toro’s terrific “Nightmare Alley” which just opened and could only muster an abyssal $3 million in its first weekend. Without question there are variables at play. For example, there are older moviegoers who would likely go see those films if not for COVID concerns. But differences in numbers this massive seem to indicate something else is going on.

To get a better grip of the situation all you have to do is look at the 2021 box office numbers and see how many of the top grossers of the year were franchise movies. Obviously tentpole blockbusters topping the charts is nothing new and they happen to be an important part of the movie business. But with the infusion of huge crowd-pleasing interconnected moneymakers like the Marvel films (and we get several each year), they seem to have completely taken over. And there’s no sign of that changing any time soon.

What does that mean for movies that aren’t bound to the franchise model? What does that mean for filmmakers willing to take chances and make something fresh and original? What does it mean for them getting funding? How long will companies be willing to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into projects only to take a bath, even if the director is Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, or Guillermo del Toro? Those may sound like questions for the studios to wrestle with, but they very well could effect the kind of movies we get going forward. Could we be heading to a place where original mid-budget movies are too big of a gamble?

So what’s the cause? Are we finally reaching that point where the influx of big-budget star-studded franchises has diluted the tastes of audiences? Deep down I don’t believe it’s a clear this-or-that issue. There are several things that factor into the equation including the pandemic and the increased popularity of streaming platforms. But I also believe something has changed with a fairly large segment of moviegoers.

With the exception of cinephiles who more-or-less watch some of everything, it seems a large number of people simply have little interest in seeing movies that aren’t franchise connected. Sure there are a few exceptions, but the numbers are pretty telling and the potential consequences are concerning, especially for someone like myself who loves small and mid-budget features just as much as I love blockbusters. What will it take to get people to try other movies? I don’t know, but studios have to be feeling it. And at this rate you can’t really blame them if they decide to cut their losses. I hope we never reach that point.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please share them in the comments section below.

Last week I shared my Top 20 films of 2021 (you can check them out HERE). This week is a less joyous occasion. In keeping with tradition, today I’m sharing my picks for the five worst movies I had the displeasure of seeing in 2021. There were far more bad films to choose from than last year, but I was finally able to whittle them down to five? So here we go. Enjoy….I guess.

Before I get into 2021’s five worst, here are a few of the year’s bigger disappointments:

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” – It’s not that I was a huge fan of the first “Venom” movie, but the pieces were all here for something great. Unfortunately, it’s far from great. [REVIEW]

“House of Gucci” – I don’t dislike this movie. In fact I like a lot about it. But with with a cast like this and subject matter so juicy, you would expect better results. [REVIEW]

“Eternals” – Marvel Studios has had a pretty stellar track record. But this turned out to be a dull and uninteresting slog. Easily among the weakest from the MCU catalog. [REVIEW]

And now I present to you the biggest stinkers of 2021

#5 – “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions”

In addition to having one of the worst titles of 2021, “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” is one of the most pointless sequels of the year (or any year). Sure, it throws in more wacky puzzles for its group of boring and uninteresting participants to solve. But that’s literally all we get. The story is shockingly shallow and none of the questions from the first film are answered. A ludicrous plot “twist” is thrown in, but even it can’t bring a spark to this utterly lifeless exercise. [REVIEW]

#4 – “Cinderella”

I don’t remember anyone clamoring for a new “Cinderella”, but we got one anyway. There’s no nuance, subtlety or cleverness to be found anywhere in this laughably heavy-handed reinvention that seems to have a poorly veiled distaste for the fairytale that inspired it. A flat story, bland characters, weird cover songs, a sparkless romance – it’s all there. But the biggest casualty is Camila Cabello who has noticeable charm and even a little swagger. Sadly she’s smothered by some truly horrible material. [REVIEW]

#3 – “Fear Street Part 3: 1666”

Talk about a trilogy with loads of squandered potential. The “Fear Street” films started on shaky ground, got a tad better with the second film, but then crashed and burned with this truly awful finale. This mess of a movie is plagued by baffling creative choices, haphazard storytelling, and scattershot pacing. And while this superficial backstory tries to add some depth the the ongoing drama, it ends up being the death knell to a trilogy that should have and could have been better. [REVIEW]

#2 – “Space Jam: A New Legacy”

Look, I know I wasn’t the target audience for a new “Space Jam” movie. But that didn’t keep me from recognizing how terrible “Space Jam: A New Legacy” turned out to be. In this embarrassing cash grab, story, characters, good humor, and heart take a back seat to corporate self-promotion. And no one expected star LeBron James to be an Oscar contender. We would have settled for him being forgettably average. Instead, we get a performance that should have the Worst Actor Razzie locked up. [REVIEW]

#1 – “Karen”

I saw a lot of bad movies in 2021, but none were as mind-numbingly awful as “Karen”. I’m still confused about what this movie wants to be – a horror thrilller, a dark comedy, a stinging social satire? Whatever it’s going for, this bewildering mess wildly misses every mark it aims for. Hampered by ridiculously on-the-nose dialogue and unintentionally hilarious performances, “Karen” is astonishingly bad from start to finish. It literally left me speechless (and not in a good way). [REVIEW]

And those are my picks. I’d love to hear your picks for the worst movies of 2021. Let me hear from you in the comments section below.