“Dear Jordan, just take one look at your mother. That will tell you what I think beautiful is.” That’s a line from the upcoming movie “A Journal for Jordan”. Based on a true story, the film is an adaptation of Dana Canedy’s memoir “A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor”. The story has an interesting hook, but the biggest draw may be the names attached to the film. It’s directed by Denzel Washington and stars Michael B. Jordan. And they’re joined by an intriguing new face Chanté Adams.

The new trailer gives us a brief glimpse of what Washington is going for. The story (written by Virgil Williams) follows 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King (Jordan) who pens a journal for his newborn son telling him how to live and love the right way. The movie looks sweet, heartwarming, and poignant with Jordan and Adams showing off some sparkling chemistry. I’m in.

“A Journal for Jordan” opens December 10th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Yesterday Netflix dropped the trailer for their upcoming biographical drama “Worth”. The film is directed by Sara Colangelo and debuted way back at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It sports a compelling cast led by three Academy Award nominees – the always great Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, and Amy Ryan.

“Worth” tells the story of attorney Kenneth Feinberg (played by Keaton) who was assigned to head the Victim Compensation Fund following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Feinberg was tasked with making the decisions on how much each family of a 9/11 victim would receive. The drama unfolds as Feinberg puts together an imperfect formula to help figure benefits. But it quickly sparks the ire of families who see it as unfair and insulting. As movies like “Spotlight” and “The Founder” have shown, Keaton is a terrific fit for this kind of material. Adding Tucci and Ryan is icing on the cake.

“Worth” drops on Netflix September 3rd. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Clint Eastwood is more than an on-screen legend. He’s also a prolific filmmaker who still steps in front and behind the camera even at 91-years-old. His latest film is “Cry Macho”, an adaptation of N. Richard Nash’s 1975 novel of the same name. It’s the 40th film Eastwood has directed and his first since 2019’s “Richard Jewell”. The first trailer reveals what looks like a heartfelt redemption story set around the United States/Mexico border.

Eastwood plays a former rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who is approached by his old boss (Dwight Yoakam) to go into Mexico and bring back the man’s son. The dangerous job turns into a trip of reflection and mentoring as Eastwood’s character forms an unexpected bond with the youth. Eduardo Minett and Fernanda Urrejola also star. I’m anxious to see where Eastwood goes with this and whether he can capture this material in a fresh and compelling way.

“Cry Macho” premieres September 17th in theaters and on HBO Max. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

John Wick inspired action movies are popping up everywhere these days and Netflix has another one just around the bend. “Kate” has all the kinetic blood-soaked markings of a Wick flick. And while I’m always up for a stylish hyper-violent romp, the real draw here is the film’s lead, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. After getting back-burnered in her last film “Birds of Prey”, here she takes center stage and judging by the first trailer she’s relishing every second.

In “Kate” Winstead plays an assassin (of course) assigned to kill a prominent Yakuza leader. But the hit goes south after she discovers she has been poisoned. With roughly fifteen hours to live Kate sets out to find who’s responsible, leaving a trail of carnage in her wake. Speaking of “carnage”, Woody Harrelson pops up as her handle/contact/mentor…something like that. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in with everything. I like the look of this and I love seeing Winstead get a meaty action role.

“Kate” premieres September 10th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

So I had completely forgotten there was a new “Cinderella” movie coming until yesterday when Amazon dropped their first trailer. Hopefully it won’t take me long to forget it again. This particular first look doesn’t do the upcoming fantasy musical any favors. Originally slated for a big screen release, Sony Pictures axed its theater run and sold the film to Amazon Studios. Good move Sony.

Written and directed by Kay Cannon, “Cinderella” is a modernized retelling of the classic fairy tale and stars Camila Cabello in the titular role. It looks like the bare basics of the original story are there – a young woman is kept from going to the ball by her wicked stepmother, but with a little magic she finally gets to go and meets her Prince Charming. But that’s about all in terms of similarities to the original story. This looks to be an aggressive overhaul which brings along a certain level of uncertainty. And the cringy dialogue, bad jokes, and iffy music certainly doesn’t help.

“Cinderella” premieres September 3rd on Amazon Prime streaming. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

As someone not all that acquainted with the world of tennis, the name Richard Williams doesn’t really ring a bell. But even an out-of-the-loop know-nothing like me can tell you about his two famous daughters Venus and Serena. The new film “King Richard” looks at the life of the tennis pro and father who trained two of the greatest tennis players to play the game. It’s an interesting choice to focus on Richard Williams, but one that lets the filmmakers lean on the star power of Will Smith.

The first trailer dropped a few days ago and much of what we see looks like a pretty traditional biopic. Smith is giving the kind of performance that the Academy eats up – transforming and with the kind of big scenes that grabs the attention of voters. All that said, there is an inspirational story at the film’s core and Smith is an actor who can deliver with the right material. There are also two compelling young actresses playing the super-talented sisters (Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton).

“King Richard” hit theaters November 19th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.