Bad Times at the El Royale – Trailer

Director: Drew Goddard
Producers: Jeremy Latcham, Drew Goddard
Screenplay: Drew Goddard
Cast:Ā Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth

SYNOPSIS
Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption… before everything goes to hell. Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson and Cynthia Erivo lead an all-star cast in BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE.

BAD TIMESĀ AT THE EL ROYALE Official Channels
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:Ā www.ElRoyaleMovie.comĀ 
FACEBOOK:Ā www.facebook.com/ElRoyaleMovieĀ 
TWITTER:Ā www.twitter.com/ElRoyaleMovieĀ Ā 
INSTAGRAM:Ā www.instagram.com/ElRoyaleMovieĀ 
HASHTAG:Ā #ElRoyaleMovie

In Theaters October 12, 2018

http://www.fandango.com

The Little Stranger – Trailer & Clip

ā€˜The Little Strangerā€™Ā tells the story of Dr. Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked.

The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. But it is now in decline and its inhabitants ā€“ mother, son and daughter ā€“ are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life.

When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the familyā€™s story is about to become entwined with his own.

The film stars Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, and Charlotte Rampling!

Listen as Gleeson reads a passage from the first chapter of the novel and watch an eerie clip of Rampling from the film.

Donā€™t miss this disturbing tale when it haunts into theaters onĀ Friday August 31st!

Director: Lenny Abrahamson (ā€œRoomā€)

Writer: Lucinda Coxon (ā€œThe Danish Girlā€), based on the novel by Sarah Waters

Producers: Gail Egan, Ed Guiney, Andrea Calderwood

For more info, please follow the film on social:

#TheLittleStranger

Official SiteĀ IĀ FacebookĀ |Ā TwitterĀ |Ā Instagram

In Theaters August 31

http://www.fandango.com

‘Glass’ Tease Trailer

M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originalsā€”2000ā€™s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016ā€™s Split, from Universalā€”in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.Ā 

From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass.Ā  Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast.Ā 

Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumbā€™s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

Joining the all-star cast are Unbreakableā€™s Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard, who reprise their roles as Dunnā€™s son and Priceā€™s mother, as well as Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story series).

This riveting culmination of his worldwide blockbusters is produced by Shyamalan and Blumhouse Productionā€™s Jason Blum, who also produced the writer/directorā€™s previous two films for Universal.Ā  They produce again with Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock, and Steven Schneider and Kevin Frakes, who executive produce.Ā  Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum also serve as executive producers.

GLASS ā€“ In Theaters January 18, 2019

Official SiteĀ |Ā FacebookĀ |Ā TwitterĀ |Ā InstagramĀ | #GlassMovie

A Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production, Glass will be released by Universal Pictures in North America on January 18, 2019, and by Buena Vista International abroad.


Genre:Ā 
Comic-Book Thriller

Cast:Ā James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, with Sarah Paulson and Samuel L. Jackson

Written and Directed by:Ā M. Night Shyamalan

Produced by:Ā M. Night Shyamalan, Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan

Executive Producers:Ā Steven Schneider, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Kevin Frakes

In Theaters January 18, 2019

http://www.fandango.com

THE LITTLE STRANGER Starring: Domhnall Gleeson and Charlotte Rampling- Trailer

Story:Ā THE LITTLE STRANGER tells the story of Dr. Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked.Ā  The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries.Ā  But it is now in decline and its inhabitants – mother, son and daughter – are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life.Ā  When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the familyā€™s story is about to become entwined with his own.


Director:Ā 
Lenny Abrahamson (ā€œRoomā€)Ā 

Writer: Lucinda Coxon (ā€œThe Danish Girlā€), based on the novel by Sarah WatersĀ 

Producers:Ā Gail Egan, Ed Guiney, Andrea CalderwoodĀ 

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, and Charlotte RamplingĀ 

For more info, please follow the film:

Official SiteĀ |Ā FacebookĀ |Ā TwitterĀ |Ā Instagram

#TheLittleStranger

In Theaters August 31

http://www.fandango.com

Hereditary Movie Review

A24ā€™s done it again and with Toni Collette starring in their latest film, ā€˜Hereditary,ā€™ theyā€™ve created a must-see horror film; one that will be remembered for a long time to come. Sheā€™s one of the most underrated actors working today so Iā€™m glad to see her get this role. Forgive that the film is a bit slow because Collette is outstanding as Annie a, fundamentally, cursed soul. This script allowed Collette a great deal of room to play more than one entity and gave her character above average depth. Horror films usually give female characters one dimension, but Colletteā€™s Annie is to frighten you and throw you off course and she does so with ease.

Annie is writer/director Ari Asterā€™s female lead, a mother who is fighting many demons in the present as well as evil in her bloodline she was previously unaware of. When her mother passes away, grief-stricken, Annie inherits complications she doesnā€™t understand but must now deal with, ready or notā€¦ like it or not. Though she tries to avoid the truth about her ancestry, several horribly events push her to acknowledge who she is. She says things she never knew she felt, experiences the mythical and sees what she once thought unreal. The complexity of the death of her daughter moves her in a direction the filmmakers made sure the audience would never see coming. This is well hidden in trailers because they lead you to believe her daughter, Charlie (Shapiro), is a problem child to be feared when it turns out that itā€™s Annie we all need to be concerned with. After all, she is next in line. How this unravels is just a slice of what makes the film such a delightful fright. True or not, making your audience imagine that Annie is the protagonist before they even sit to watch the story unfold is a brilliant move. Centered around her behavior for how she loses her child, the suspense builds in a most unusual fashion, taking this mother down a most unexpected path. The shock and terror come from who you envision sheā€™ll be and you never expect who she ultimately becomes.

In his feature debut, Aster manages to surprise horror fans by giving them a feeling of isolation with the story and making it almost impossible to grasp onto a lifeline that could pull them to safetyā€¦ because there isnā€™t one in or around them to find. Annie is unredeemable. As she becomes more desperate, Aster uses fewer clichĆ©s and relies a limited amount on what makes a traditional horror film grim and ghastly which will endear you to his style and drive you wild with anticipation for the next nightmare heā€™ll drag you through.

I did have one issue but didnā€™t want to give anything away by revealing too much. However, I feel compelled to mention what I thought was a tragic error so I will. The storyline Annieā€™s son, Peter (Wolff), is involved in wonā€™t be divulged because itā€™s very jarring, but I must mention that the actor chosen was not a good fit for the part. This felt so wrong that it pulls you out of the story at times. The creepy level is high and the tension youā€™ll feel will startle and impress. Horror doesnā€™t work when itā€™s predictable. ā€˜Hereditaryā€™ is anything but that.

The Endless Movie Review

Sometimes a movie can sneak up on you and take your idea of reality and throw it in the trash can. “The Endless” can do just that. It can lift out your brain, put it in the blender, and hit ‘Frappe’. But when you are finished watching, you realize that the movie that you just saw has taken you on a trip into an alternate dimension Fun House. Be careful, you still might be stuck somewhere in the Hall of Mirrors.

Two brothers have escaped ten years ago from a weird ‘UFO death cult’, as they called it. Aaron Smith (Aaron Moorhead) rememebers things much differently than his older brother Justin (Justin Benson). Being far removed from that time, they both feel isolated without contact with the cult members. They are living dull and drab lives, and they wish to make a final closing statement to the other cult people. So they head back for just single night to confront them. But at the same time, Aaron thinks they might be able to take them back.

Justin and Aaron stop at the roadside marker that shows where their mother was killed in a car crash and the cultists found the two boys alone. The cult took them in and cared for them, and Aaron has some fond memories. Back at Camp Arcadia, Aaron and Justin meet with many of the people with whom they used to live. The group has no actual leader, but Hal (Tate Ellington) is the one who talks the most and explains things to them. But how to explain that 10 years have gone by, yet the entire group seems to have not aged? There is Anna (Callie Hernandez) who is sweet to Aaron and might be using her charm to make him stay. There is Tim (Lew Temple) who is big and brawny and might be an enforcer who can make people stay.

Justin wants to get going quickly, because he feels something is not quite right at the camp. The members of the group never leave, and there are very odd things that he sees. Gravity does not seem to work in the same way. The full moon is shown to be two moons in the sky. There are things that Justin cannot explain, Aaron is not paying attention at first, but soon he also gets the idea that there are unnatural forces at work. Justin tries to leave, and he gets lost in the woods.

Justin finds a fellow named Carl (James Jordan) and he explains some things to Justin. But he does not believe Carl, until he sees the results of what happens. There is an unseen force or an entity that is controlling these people, at the camp and in Carl’s cabin. Justin goes not he finds a couple of guys in a cabin where unusual things happen with time. In some areas, there is repeating loop where time is not advancing into the future. Justin and Aaron reconnect and both decide that it is time for them to go. But will they be able to get out of the mystery location, without a way to know what the hell is going on?

Justin Benson has come up with a story that takes you and gives you a very strange tingle of your spidy-sences. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead manage to not only direct the entire film, but also two play the two key roles. As brothers who had been able to escape the clutches of a strange death-cult, they return to find things were more bizarre then they thought. The story unfolds very slowly and methodically, with just enough unexplained images and dialog to make you wonder if the two guys are just insane.

For a very small independent movie, this reaches and succeeds far better than a handful of major Hollywood releases. It explores the presence of an unseen entity better than “Annihilation”. It takes a stab at displaying time loops that can rival the movie “Edge of Tomorrow”. It takes a clever look at what being in a cult can do to mess up the brain of young kids, better than any other major movie.

“The Endless” does a credible job of breaking out of a ‘cult status’ movie and being able to become a well-respected and interesting movie that will be talked about for ages.

In Phoenix, playing the FilmBar

You Were Never Really Here Movie Review

Though some may view this as painfully slow in the beginning, I see it more as art being created before your very eyes. With any piece of art, it takes time to make it come to life and why should a film be any different? Slow and lacking in story and structure is different, this builds to a magnificent climax and with its gorgeous cinematography, noteworthy performances and memorable plot, you wonā€™t leave feeling disillusioned. In fact, if you like Martin Scorseseā€™s ā€˜Taxi Driverā€™ this is definitely the film for you. Joaquin Phoenix plays, Joe, his version of Scorseseā€™s Travis Bickle. Phoenix plays him much in the same way that DeNiro played Travis. Heā€™s raw and unkept but Joe isnā€™t disturbed. Heā€™s haunted, yes, but he has clear goals and will do anything to meet them, especially when they get personal. Phoenix won in Cannes for the film and I believe heā€™ll be rewarded here, too.

Joeā€™s past, shown to us in snippets of macabre flashbacks, has led him to perform very dark things but for good reason. He is an advocate of sorts, hired to help people, mostly little girls who were abducted or are runaways, break free of the sex trade theyā€™re forced intoā€¦ and heā€™s exceptional at his job. His preferred method of taking people out is a hammer and when we first meet him, heā€™s cleaning up a crime scene, indicating to us heā€™s methodical, careful and very professional. He also takes care of his elderly mother and from the flashbacks, it seems sheā€™s all heā€™s ever had. With his next assignment, helping a politician’s daughter escape the clutches of a sex maniac, he ends up putting his motherā€™s and his own life in jeopardy. The film was directed by a female director, Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) which could be why Joe, though a killer, conveys such loving and caring characteristics. You’ll sense great sorrow and warmth inside of him and take pity.

I donā€™t want to give too much away but thereā€™s a scene when Joeā€™s in a lake. Heā€™s sinking to the bottom for a reason I wonā€™t tell you here but itā€™s handled so beautifully, so poetically, that it brings you to the brink of tears. As an audience member, you take on Joeā€™s anguish and heartache. Itā€™s a spectacular look at this character and a shot you may never forget. His relationship with his charges may seem to get in the way of his missions but then you realize those relationships are the missions. He may be saving them but, in essence, when all is said and done, they are saving him.

Donā€™t miss this fascinating film for anything. I canā€™t stress this enough. Enjoy the fact that Ramsay takes some time to paint you the full pictureā€¦ itā€™s worth it. Youā€™ll like the soundtrack that accompanies the film, as well. The ending is somewhat vague but had it drifted on a definitive course, it wouldnā€™t have fit the style. Go see this asap!

Red Sparrow Movie Review

ā€œRed Sparrowā€ is Russian spy craft for what could be called a ā€˜honey potā€™. It is an enticing and intriguing person willing to bend to your every whim, only to double-cross and lead you into destruction. When a former ballerina becomes a Sparrow – then secrets, and blood, will likely be spilled. Hope you can get that carpet cleanedā€¦

Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is the ballet prima donna at the Russian ballet, until an unfortunate accident. With a bum leg, Dominika will no longer star in the ballet, and she will be tossed out of her place. Her mother will get no medical care, unless her uncle, Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), can help her. But she has little choice but to take Ivanā€™s offer: Sparrow Training Center.

Ivan runs the Russian Security Services (the new and improved KGB). Dominika goes to the training center to become adept at seduction and persuasion. If not, her mother will die. The strict woman who runs the school is the Matron (Charlotte Rampling) and she runs the place with an Iron Curtain fist. Dominika is stripped of all dignity, and at times, all of her clothes. Brutal training includes humiliation, beatings and near rapes. Ivan takes her away for a mission. There is a highly placed general named Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons) who thinks Ivan is not carful enough with the mission.

Her objective is to seduce a Russian oligarch who had made a little too much money. But she is brutalized and he is brutally killed. Dominika is taken away and given a new assignment. She is sent to Europe to attach herself to a CIA agent named Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton). Nash has a super-secret mole, a source inside the Russian government that Ivan and his pals want to ā€˜talk toā€™. That is spy talk for torture and slowly kill.

There is much traveling – to Bucharest, then Vienna, then London and then to Moscow and back to Bucharest. Anyway, Dominika gets wind of an American who can get military secrets. She has a roommate in Bucharest who tells her about the woman codenamed Swan (Mary-Louise Parker), but her roommate is brutally murdered. Dominika goes to meet with the traitor Swan and deliver the payoff. So she gets all the US State secrets, all on three and half inch floppy drives? Wow, so up-to-dateā€¦

But Agent Nash is attempting to win over Dominika to be his double-agent. But at the same time, it is Dominikaā€™s job to win over Nash to determine the identity of the Russian mole. Both are playing a deadly game of Spy vs. Spy. And neither one can be quite sure whose side the other one is really on. At one point a Russian killer is there to take Nash hostage and begins to torture him to death. Will Dominika come to his aid, or is her training really set in stone?

ā€œRed Sparrowā€ is based on a novel, but it tries to pack as many Cold War type stories inside as it can. There is a story about the Sparrow Training Center, which Dominika later calls ā€œwhore schoolā€. There is the Nash and his mole story, which could have been made much more prominent. This is the subplot of the Swan character selling US secrets, and how that all could have come about. There is the main story of Dominika going to meet with Nash and turn him, while Nash is busy trying to change her into another asset.

Francis Lawrence (as the director) should have picked out one of these stories and stayed with it. The movie ends up being overly long and drawn out. Jennifer Lawrence (as the main character) does a passable Russian accent, which occasionally fades in and out. Lawrence (Francis, not Jennifer) takes way too much time focused on humiliation, brutality, murder, rape, and torture. Lawrence (Jennifer, not Francis) does quite a few bold adult moves with scenes of nudity and some sex scenes.

Both Joel Edgerton and Matthias Schoenaerts do very good with their characters. Also, Charlotte Rampling is quite chilling in her role as an emotionless head of the State-run school. But the movie could have used a lot more of Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons. These two are wonderful actors and the movie perks up a bit more when they are on the screen.

ā€œRed Sparrowā€ is a quite adequate spy movie, with a high level of torture and sex thrown in. But that is an unusual combination, and it makes for an icy and chilly reception for the Cold War drama. Red Sparrow does get off the ground and flies, but it never does soarā€¦

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Movie Review

This film is about a young, talented writer who is loved and admired by everyone.Ā  With the help of his adoring teacher, he gets a publishing deal almost overnight, comes close to winning the Pulitzer Prize and then, instead of appreciating it and enjoying his success, he vanishes. Of course, there is a lot of tragedy and melodrama in between these moments, which explains some of his character, but itā€™s the way the story is told youā€™ll have the biggest problem with.

While watching the movie I couldnā€™t help but compare it to Catcher in the Rye, a popular book with adolescents about a young man looking for someone to connect with. Not only does the storyline remind me of the book but the main character, Sidney (Lerman), seemed to mirror J.D. Salinger himself. The 2017 film Rebel in the Rye came to mind while watching this, as well, with both the subject matter and the writers having almost the same artistic intentions and success, yet not having an enthusiasm later in life for either one.

Unfortunately, we jump back and forth in the timeline. The first hop leaves you somewhat baffled because where we are in the story isn’t displayed particularly well. After being introduced to Sidney, youā€™re left to guess if the next point in the story is, in fact, a book being written or a future timeline, but you do catch on to the fact that both story A and B belong to Sidney. In school, Sidney has a friend he was once close to named Brett (Jenner), who has completely changed for the worse. Brett is cold to Sidney and cruel to others and the revelation as to why will come as a shock to Sidney but not necessarily the audience, however, it does bring us deeper into why Sidney is so troubled. When Melody (Fanning) enters Sidney’s life, you know that with her zest for life and their goals and dreams together, will finally help him find a reason to be happy, but Sidney just may have a way to mess that up, too.

Kyle Chandler plays an investigator trying to find the missing writer who couldnā€™t live with his self anymore after a young fan of his kills himself after reading his book. Blaming himself for his death and the loss of his friend, Sidney sets out to ruin whatā€™s left of himself, even attempting to rid the world of his books if he can.

I liked the acting in the movie but I didnā€™t much care for all the moodiness Lerman continually gives us. You tire of it quickly, as do other people in his life, but being that itā€™s a deep psychological introspective, you accept it. It was heavy on the drama and had some slow parts in the middle but an incredibly powerful final act and a wonderful Elle Fanning helps you forget all about the issues Iā€™ve mentioned. The score is nice and the cast is good but had it not flipped around as often as it had, the yarn might have rolled out a bit easier and watching it been a little more enjoyable.