"He deserves his revenge." Check out this early teaser trailer for an indie action film from Chile titled The Fist of the Condor, which is premiering at the 2023 Rotterdam Film Festival - underway right now. This is the latest film from a Chilean indie director named Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, who is best known for his rad low budget action films including Kiltro, Mirageman, Mandrill (we reviewed this one back in 2009). This one also stars Marko Zaror, who also produced and has appeared in plenty of his films before. A group of martial artists from around the world search for a book that contains the ancient secrets of how to overcome the limits of the human body - tracking down one man known as El Guerrero. The cast also includes Gina Aguad, Eyal Meyer, Man Soo Yoon, Jose Manuel, & Fernanda Urrejola. This is clearly a throwback tribute to cheesy action films from the 80s & 90s, with a training montage in the mountains and epic fights on the beach. It actually does look pretty damn cool, and the fights do seem like they'll be thrilling to watch. https://onfs.net/3RzyPf3

"His life is not yours to take!" She wants that revenge anyway. An official trailer has debuted for a film titled The Nomad, made by NYC-based filmmaker Daniel Diosdado. There's not much else worthwhile featuring this week in terms of new movie trailers, hence why this is being posted. Doesn't look so good. When a reporter filming a story about an atheist serial killer targeting the city's priests comes face to face with the killer, she must choose between turning him in and breaking the news... or perhaps directing him towards her abusive father and wrapping up her own story. The Nomad stars Lauren Biazzo, Dietrich Teschner, Vanessa Calderón, Anthony Goss, and Marianne Goodell. This looks like more faith-based nonsense filmmaking, covering up intense religious propaganda with a generic thriller story about a killer. Have fun. https://onfs.net/3Rmx8Bx

Why go to film festival if not to discover some of the best up-and-coming filmmakers? The 2023 Sundance Film Festival has just wrapped and after screening over 100 new films. Was it a success? Absolutely. The festival returned to an in-person event in the snowy city of Park City, Utah after two years of virtual festivals during the pandemic. Sundance is famous for being the place where directors like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez made their mark, breaking into the industry with their first indie films. In recent years they've also been responsible for launching Damien Chazelle (Whiplash in 2014), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station in 2013), Dee Rees (Mudbound in 2017), Ari Aster (Hereditary in 2018), Lulu Wang (The Farewell in 2019), and Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You in 2018). At Sundance 2023, the festival decided to feature a selection of mostly unknown, first-time filmmakers and it paid off. This is one of their best line-ups in years, with an especially strong selection of high quality indie films from a new generation of artists. https://onfs.net/40eLJTw

"We're all just men. We're not invincible, just trying to walk a line between courage and fear." Saban Films has unveiled a new US trailer for the Australian crime thriller called Transfusion, marking the feature directorial debut of Matt Nable. It's now arriving in the US in March this year, after first playing in Australia earlier in January. A former Special Forces is operative thrust into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him. In between performing his roles in the Avatar sequels for James Cameron, which were also filmed in Australia, Sam Worthington took on this role. He plays a father suffering from PTSD and without identity after retiring from the Special Air Service regiment (SAS) of the Australian Army. The thriller also features Phoebe Tonkin, Edward Friday Carmody, Matt Nable, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, and Sam Cotton. It looks pretty generic overall, though there might be some good performances. https://onfs.net/3HmdEZ4

"Not giving 'the wave' is just a symbol of what we've become as a society." Road rage is dangerous!! Don't let it take over you. This Canadian short film titled A Simple F*!&ing Gesture is about a couple that gets super pissed in their car one evening. After playing at festivals the past few years, it's now online to watch for free. While stuck in traffic, emotions escalate for a husband and wife when another driver doesn’t give them a "thank you wave" after they cut in. Comparing him to a symbol of all that is wrong in the world, they are terrified when he pulls over to confront them. Starring Paul Bates, Christy Bruce, Chuck Shamata. At only 8 mins, this is a fast and easy watch, and a nice reminder that anger comes all too easily these days. https://onfs.net/3jrdqHY

"Talk to me about literature!" Saban Films has revealed an amusing official trailer for a comedy titled A Little White Lie, which will be out on VOD to watch starting in March. Another of these uninteresting new films that despite having a good cast, will probably turn out pretty mediocre from the looks of it. When a handyman living in New York City is mistaken for a famous and famously reclusive writer, he's brought to a prestigious university where he is to deliver a keynote address to save the school's literary festival. "Shriver must do whatever it takes for his shot at love in this fish-out-of-water comedy." It's based on the book called Shriver. The film stars Michael Shannon as Shriver, with Kate Hudson, Zach Braff, Kate Linder, Aja Naomi King, plus Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Don Johnson. This looks like a wacky mix up with a fun ensemble of talented actors, but will it be any good? Maybe it has a good few good laughs? Have a look. https://onfs.net/3l0A62c

"We are gonna have to take control." Lionsgate has unveiled an official trailer for an action thriller titled The Weapon, yet another of these extremely bland, derivative action films they're always dumping out on VOD right away. Actor Tony Schiena is making his directorial debut, and also stars as the lead character. Dallas is a one-man killing machine on a mysterious rampage... His attacks on biker gangs and meth labs anger the Vegas mob boss who's holding Dallas's girlfriend hostage. But who is Dallas working for? Even torture won't make him talk... and he won't stop until justice is served. The film's cast also includes Cuba Gooding Jr., Sean Patrick Flanery, Jack Kesy, Bruce Dern, and Annalynn McCord. This looks as boring and as uninteresting as any action film can, with the most generic and obvious plot ever. Just skip it. https://onfs.net/3WZV7HI

"Now you look like the Michelin Man. This ain't no beauty contest." Sony Pictures has finally unveiled the official trailer for the Big George Foreman movie, formerly called Heart of a Lion. After being delayed from opening last year, this boxing biopic is now to set open in April, and the movie's full title is seriously: Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World. Yowza. The biopic tells the life story and follows the boxing career of the legendary George Foreman. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist (and creator of the George Foreman Grill). Directed by acclaimed filmmaker George Tillman Jr., the film stars Khris Davis (seen in Judas and the Black Messiah) as Foreman and it also stars Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker as Foreman's trainer and mentor Doc Broadus. The cast also includes John Magaro, Sonja Sohn, Erica Tazel, Sam Trammell, Deion Smith, Judd Lormand, Al Sapienza, and Sullivan Jones as Muhammad Ali. This looks like a fairly generic biopic, telling a story we've seen many times before of a boxer making a comeback. https://onfs.net/3Jt3HvD

"You shouldn't take a risk if you're gonna figure out what it is you're missing." Shout Factory has released their official US trailer for The Magic Flute, an epic fantasy adventure thriller based on the classic Mozart opera of the same name. This premiered at the 2022 Zurich Film Festival last year and it already opened in Europe in the fall. It's now set for a US release in theaters this March. The Magic Flute is a reimagining of Mozart's opera classic and stars Jack Wolfe, F. Murray Abraham, Iwan Rheon, Stéfi Celma, Asha Banks, Stefan Konarske, Niamh McCormack, Amir Wilson, and Tedros Teclebrhan. This follows 17-year-old Tim Walker as he travels from London up to the Austrian Alps to attend the legendary Mozart boarding school. There he discovers a centuries-old forgotten passage into the fantastic world of Mozart's "The Magic Flute." This looks like another Harry Potter ripoff, with a school and serpent and witches and more. It seems like made-for-TV junk that we should probably be avoiding anyway. I wish this looked better. https://onfs.net/3HNTYi3

From last year's Slamdance Film Festival, arriving in February in theaters - take a look at this micro budget indie. Fandor has revealed the full official trailer for an indie film called Hannah Ha Ha, opening next month after more than a year of waiting. It first premiered at the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival last year, where it won the Best Performance Award and the Grand Jury Prize during the fest. "While the narrative's modesty is charming, there is a hidden subtlety and depth to this movie that makes it stand out from a lot of other festival fare." Hannah lives a content, hard-working life in the small town where she grew up. To her visiting older brother, she's just wasting her time. As their Summer together winds down, Hannah gets what wasting time really means. Starring Hannah Lee Thompson, Roger Mancusi, Avram Tetewsky, and Betsey Brown. This one is really only for fans of indie flicks and quaint dramas about drifting through life. https://onfs.net/3JxE4cR

"So we're both lousy friends." Roadside Attractions has revealed an official trailer for an under-90-minutes dark comedy titled Moving On, the latest from filmmaker Paul Weitz (of About a Boy, In Good Company, Little Fockers, Being Flynn, Grandma). This actually premiered at TIFF 2022 last year, and recently played at the Palm Springs Film Festival, with a theatrical release set for March coming up next month. Two old friends reconnect at a funeral and decide to revenge on the widower who messed with them decades before. Along the way, each woman learns to make peace with the past and with each other. Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin star as the two old friends, along with Malcolm McDowell, Richard Roundtree, Catherine Dent, and Marcel Nahapetian. This does look like it has some funny scenes and sharp dialogue, though the rest of the cliched story doesn't seem that great. Still will be worth watching just for Fonda and Tomlin. https://onfs.net/3Yit9bp

"The road to the end begins 2/10." The new trailer for the 10th Fast and the Furious movie, titled Fast X, drops on February 10th in just a few weeks. Leading up to that big reveal, Universal Pictures has unveiled a new "legacy trailer" for the original movie that started it all - The Fast and the Furious from 2001. With 10 days to go until the new trailer, they'll be dropping a "legacy trailer" for each of the 9 movies that come before Fast X. We'll add them below over the next 10 days before the main event. This first trailer is for the action classic starring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster. It's just a 60 sec re-cut of the trailer from the past (can you believe its been 22 years?!) but it's cool to see anyway. I'm still amazed they've been able to keep this series going all the way to 10 movies, even as they get cheesier and more ridiculous every time, but that's why audiences keep watching. Does anyone else live their life a 1/4 mile at a time? Or is it just Dom? Whether you like it or not, another F&F is speeding into theaters soon. https://onfs.net/3YdtMTA

"The final battle for the FP." XYZ Films has revealed an official trailer the next film in the ongoing indie sci-fi action comedy series The FP, continuing with FP - 4EVZ arriving this February. It's skipping theaters and heading to VOD directly. This is a follow-up to the other sequels FP2: Beats of Rage (2018) and FP3: Remix Revelation / Escape from Bako (2021). A legendary family of rhythm game warriors must battle their way deep into the future to save what remains of a booze fueled humanity from a horrific calamity that threatens to turn them all stone cold sober 4 EVZ. Jason Trost returns again as JTRO, with Tallay Wickham, Art Hsu, Lib Campbell, Ryan Gibson, Mike O'Gorman, and Bru Muller. This next one looks uber trippy, borrowing from Scott Pilgrim and Star Wars of course, with all the expected low budget sci-fi touches. I'm surprised one of the Trosts is still making these FP movies, but why not if someone is still watching. Enjoy. https://onfs.net/3YdykJB

Typically, when people talk about their favorite filmmakers, names of directors with never-ending success come to mind – with careers full of culturally impactful, memorable movies that have marked an entire generation. M. Night Shyamalan is a somewhat popular name in these types of conversations, but much of his filmography suffers tremendously from inconsistent quality. At the turn of the millennium, he crafted a series of unforgettable masterpieces (The Sixth Sense in 1999, Unbreakable in 2000, Signs in 2002), but then went on a long hiatus returning with new films that were either quite divisive or downright disastrous. He's back again in 2023 with Knock at the Cabin, an adaptation of the book written by Paul Tremblay. https://onfs.net/3HtThJx

"This simple life of yours is good." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for an indie film titled Faraway, a German production about a woman who escapes to a Croatian island to rediscover herself. It's the latest film from German director Vanessa Jopp, starring the Swiss actress Naomi Krauss as Zeynep. It'll be on Netflix starting March. "It's cold, winter feels eternal and many of us are yearning for a sense of happiness, and to feel the sunshine again – so why not just pack your suitcase and dare yourself to start over?" Zeynep is unhappy and her life has not turned out as she wanted... That's why she flees to a Croatian island, where her deceased mother bought a house long ago. She hopes to find peace and relaxation finally - but she hasn't reckoned with Josip, who still lives on the property. The film's cast also features Goran Bogdan, Adnan Maral, Bahar Balci, Artjom Gilz, and Davor Tomic. This looks super cheesy, especially with this cliche song choice in the trailer. But it also makes me really want to go visit and relax in Croatia, too. Have a look. https://onfs.net/40fZT6K

"Extraordinary courage can change history." Well Go USA has revealed yet another official US trailer for Hidden Blade, a WWII Chinese spy thriller from filmmaker Cheng Er. This one already opened in China in January, and is landing in US theaters starting in February in a few more weeks. The film follows the story of a group of underground workers who risked their lives to send intelligence and defend the motherland, set after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor when the Wang Jingwei regime declared war on Britain & America. During World War II, at the height of their war of resistance against Japan, a group of courageous citizens develops a top-secret underground espionage network at great peril to their own lives. Actor Tony Leung headlines Hidden Blade, along with Wang Yibo, Hiroyuki Mori, Chengpeng Dong, Zhou Xun, Eric Wang, and Huang Lei. I like how both of these trailers below feature no dialogue, just music and moody shots from the film. It's quite an effective choice for this, relying entirely on the visuals to pique our interest. https://onfs.net/3HT4TY2

"He has lied to you, and he has used you, when are you going to accept that?" MGM+ has debuted the full official trailer for the British spy series titled A Spy Among Friends, arriving for streaming in March. The service formerly known as Epix has re-branded as MGM+, with a big line-up set to launch this spring. "The epic true story of Kim Philby, the Cold War's most infamous spy, from the 'master storyteller' and author of Prisoners of the Castle." It's an adaptation of the book of the same name. The UK mini-series stars the very talented actors Guy Pearce and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, real-life 1960s British spies who, despite their opposing allegiances, developed a life-long friendship. It reminds me of the other British spy film The Courier (aka Ironbark) from a few years ago - also about two spies who were friends. This series features Anna Maxwell Martin, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Kunken, Nicholas Rowe, and Anastasia Hille. Thanks to the excellent cast, this looks like a seriously engaging watch. Check it out. https://onfs.net/3wRMlRo

Have you seen all of the best films of 2022 yet? Which of the most talked about films do you still need to watch? With the 95th Academy Awards ceremony just over a month away (on March 12th), there's still a bit of time to catch up with more of last year's top movies. Graphic designer Sam Smith put together his own Top 30 Films of 2022 video, inspired by David Ehrlich's annual project. This one isn't as elaborate or as complex as Ehrlich's creation, it's more of a straight forward video countdown - going through the 30 films one-by-one. It's only 3 minutes and features a few quick clips from each of his 30 favorites - some hidden gems on it, too. I always enjoy watching these kind of film videos mostly because it's fun to discover what's going to come next on his list. Did he love EEAAO?? Of course he did! Wow look how high up in the Top 10s the donkey film EO is! He definitely loved that one (the music in this vid is also from that film). View below. https://onfs.net/3wQNnNv

"I've been trying to work out why you're here - I wonder if it's because you're lost." IFC Films has revealed a new US trailer for the British drama The Lost King, which premiered at TIFF and already opened last year. It played in October in UK cinemas, and opens in the US in March in theaters for those still interested. Co-written by Steven Coogan, and directed by Stephen Frears, the film follows a historian who defies the stodgy academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, lost for over 500 years... Telling "the life-affirming true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country's most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England's history." Sally Hawkins stars as Philippa Langley, with Harry Lloyd as Richard III, plus Steve Coogan, James Fleet, Sinead MacInnes, John-Paul Hurley, and Phoebe Pryce. With this cast it's obvious the film is going to be good, and the story is so catchy I'm so curious to find out how she figures out where he is. https://onfs.net/3kVNu7M

"Listen, you're gonna be alone. You gotta adapt - use what you got." MGM Studios has revealed an official trailer for The Covenant, a two-part war movie action thriller from the British filmmaker Guy Ritchie. It's now set to open in theaters in April coming up this spring, an easy sell for US audiences to watch a jingoistic Afghanistan War movie. It's actually officially titled Guy Ritchie's The Covenant, kind of like how it was called Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. The film follows Sergeant John Kinley, who on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan is teamed up with local interpreter Ahmed, who risks his own life to carry the severely injured John across miles of grueling terrain to safety. Later John decides to return on an unapproved solo mission to save Ahmed and get him out of the country before the Taliban kill him. Jake Gyllenhaal & Dar Salim star as John & Ahmed, along with Antony Starr, Alexander Ludwig, and Bobby Schofield, Emily Beecham and Jonny Lee Miller. It does look pretty good, as a gratifying action movie redemption story. https://onfs.net/3HTmX47

"We're doing something together, we're trying to save somebody!" IFC Films has revealed an official trailer for a grainy indie film called God's Time, marking the feature directorial of an NYU graduate filmmaker named Daniel Antebi. The film first premiered at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, and also stopped by the New Hampshire Film Festival in the fall, with a release finally set for February this winter. Two best friends go on an electric odyssey through New York City to stop the woman they love from committing murder in the stylish, bombastic and darkly funny God's Time. Described as "a crowdpleaser from last year's Tribeca." The festival adds this tidibt: "Vibrant, stylish, and expertly constructed, God's Time delivers uniquely dark comedy that both masks and emphasizes the beating, bruised heart at the center of this explosive powder keg." Starring Ben Groh, Dion Costelloe, Liz Caribel Sierra, Jared Abrahamson, and Christiane Seidel. It seems wacky and funny and all over the place, for better or worse. Looks like a good time in NYC. https://onfs.net/3DBRv7Y