"The play is my life! And no one is going to take that from me!" HBO has unveiled an official trailer for The Great Lillian Hall, a brand new HBO Original Movie set for a streaming debut on Max next week. It'll be out to watch on May 31st, which is just around the corner. When beloved Broadway actress Lillian Hall (Jessica Lange) starts forgetting her lines, she must reckon with the sacrifices she made for her career. Hall, a beloved Broadway actress, has never missed a performance throughout her long, illustrious career. Yet in the rehearsals her confidence is challenged. People and events conspire to take away her ability to do what she loves most. The illustrious Jessica Lange star as Lillian Hall in this, joined by Kathy Bates as Edith Wilson, Lily Rabe as Margaret Tanner, Jesse Williams as David Flemming, and Pierce Brosnan as Ty Maynard. While there was a real Lillian Hall, this just a story about a fictional actress, though Lange really makes it all seem real. Another emotional story about a great artist getting old and forgetting who they are. https://onfs.net/3VcjkwN

Within the sports movies subgenre, there have been tons of baseball movies made over the decades. It is America's pastime, after all! There's even an entire book published this month about baseball movies and their legacy. So it would seem as if we've seen it all – every kind of baseball movie has been made before by someone at some point; even Richard Linklater made a modern classic a few years ago (called Everybody Wants Some) and we featured a video edit of the best movies. Lo and behold, we have another classic that has just come up to bat. Carson Lund's Eephus is a baseball movie we've never seen before. And it's genius. It's an "old dudes play ball" indie comedy and it's hilarious. I laughed my ass off watching this, it's more fun than actually going to a ball game, and there's plenty to analyze about what's happening beyond the who's on first and who has the best pitch. Another Cannes 2024 gem that I'm glad I took the time to sit down with. https://onfs.net/3KgeAjF

"What are you waiting for, kid, get on!!" Cloudrise Pictures has unveiled two teaser trailers for an animated feature film titled The Worlds Divide, the impressive new creation from a Canadian animation filmmaker named Denver Jackson. It's premiering soon at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival for animation in France this summer, in the Annecy Presents section. The Worlds Divide is an animated fantasy / action-adventure set in the world of Esluna. Young Natomi is suddenly transported from a war-torn world to a magical world abundant with vegetation. Guided by a stuffed bear, she must unravel the secrets of her father and escape the sinister Queen hunting her down. In order to get her father back, Natomi must unlock mysterious clues hidden by her father, evade the Royal Magistrate, and uncover the mysteries of her power with the ultimate consequence of deciding her father's fate. This looks like a very good time! Featuring the voices of Breanna Pearl, Phillip Sacramento, Max Lindsey, Andrew Lander, & Chelsea Krause. The first footage in these teasers kicks ass - similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender and Nimona but still feels entirely unique. I can't believe all this is created by Jackson! Impressive work - if you'll be in Annecy, make sure to catch this. https://onfs.net/4bXN2vb

"I've never talked to anybody about what that was like." ABC News Studios has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Brats, arriving for streaming on Hulu this summer. In the 1980s, everybody wanted to be in the Brat Pack. Except them. This is the untold true story of the actual Brat Packers. Director Andrew McCarthy reunites with Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, and many others for this original documentary. Brats takes a look back at the iconic films of the 1980s that shaped a generation and the narrative that took hold when their young stars were branded the "Brat Pack." McCarthy reunites with his fellow Brat Packers — his friends, colleagues, and former foes many of whom he had not seen for over 30 years — to answer the question: What did it mean to be part of the "Brat Pack"? McCarthy also sits down for a first-time conversation with writer David Blum, who fatefully coined the term in his 1985 New York Magazine cover story. This sounds like a cool nostalgia trip! "Making Brats was that rare opportunity to dive back into the frozen past and bring it up into the living present," said McCarthy. This is worth a look. https://onfs.net/4dYaWIM

"Don't you get it? It's not you vs. me, it's us vs. them." Sky Cinemas has revealed an official trailer for a fun family adventure movie called Robin and the Hoods, set for a release in the UK this summer. This Sky Original Film creation is the latest directed by film geek filmmaker Phil Hawkins, probably best known for the fan film Star Wars: Origins and the most recent Prancer: A Christmas Tale (2022) update. This time he reinvents Robin Hood as a fresh new urban tale. For the tenacious 11-year-old Robin and her loyal band of friends 'The Hoods', the patch of overgrown scrubland at the end of their cul-de-sac is a magical kingdom. When a property developer wants to take it over, the kids fight back and do everything they can to get their parents to speak out and stop the gentrification. Starring Darcey Ewart as Robin, with Naomie Harris, Gwendoline Christie, Mark Williams, Bruno Edgington-Gibson, Gloria Ishikawa, Dexter Sol Ansell, Eddison Burch, Tom Goodman-Hill, and Christine Bottomley. Yeah this is actually looking pretty rad! And it reminds me of The Kid Who Would Be King, with the same sense of adventure as that one. https://onfs.net/3UW8p9m

Meet Oraz! Last year while on the film festival circuit, I met a young film critic named Oraz Kereibayev. We quickly became friends, hanging out at the Venice and Berlin Film Festivals. Oraz is from Kazakhstan, a big country in Central Asia located just below Russia and above Uzbekistan & China. Most know Kazakhstan from Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat movies, though of course that's a very deplorable caricature of the country and the people from there. I'm a big fan of Oraz and luckily to call him my friend, and overjoyed that he has become a part of the international film critic community covering film festivals all year long. He decided to make the trek to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival - his first time ever attending this prestigious cinema event. Before the fest ended, I met up with Oraz and interviewed him to talk about who he is, the films he loves, and his experiences at Cannes. I've been going to Cannes for 14 years already, and I also love showing newcomers the ropes and listening to them chat about what it's like to be at this fest. Watch the video below. https://onfs.net/4aHNKLU

"Unmatched for suspense and spectacle!" The Jokers distribution in France have debuted a new trailer for the 4K re-release honoring the 70th Anniversary of this all-timer B&W action classic from Japan. Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai first opened in Japan in 1954 and also played at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. To celebrate this year's 70th anniversary, the 2024 Cannes Film Festival just hosted a special screening of this brand new 4K restoration. Hence why this new French trailer is out now. They add that Seven Samurai is "one of the most renowned films in the history of Japanese cinema. We decided to restore this film in 4K using the latest technology at TOHO Archives Co., Ltd. [for the] 70th anniversary of its initial theatrical release in Japan." The tranquility of a small Japanese village is disturbed by repeated attacks by a band of looters. Seven masterless samurai agree to defend the helpless peasants in this seminal classic. This stars Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, and Keiko Tsushima. The film is already available on Criterion Blu-ray and always replays in theaters, but a fresh 4K restoration is always majestic to witness. Have a look. https://onfs.net/3yJvcNW

"Fremaux knows his films, his festival, his audience. His taste is exceptional." (–Roger Ebert's notes from Cannes 2009.) At the start of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival two weeks ago, I announced a special giveaway of four signed copies of Matt Singer's book called Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever. Now that the festival has ended, it's time for a quick recap and a thank you to all those who crossed paths with me this year in Cannes. This 2024 giveaway was a follow-up to my 2019 giveaway, when I originally handed out 10 copies of Ebert's Cannes diary book called Two Weeks in the Midday Sun. This time the books were signed by the author, making them even more unique as a gift. Of course, I wanted to connect them to Roger Ebert again, and Matt's book is fantastic - recalling his history as a legendary film critic. All it took to win was finding me at a screening and saying the name of one film – The Brown Bunny. I had an amazing time chatting with my friends and colleagues in Cannes this year. Congrats to the winners. https://onfs.net/44ZhouO

"Give all the grace you got." Here's another experiential animated music video to enjoy. Los Angeles-based Chinese animator Danski Tang created this music video for the band called Sis and their new track "Bow To Your Wilderness". For those that aren't familiar with this musician already, Sis is the singer and the multi-instrumentalist Jenny Gillespie Mason - and her latest album is releasing soon called "Vibhuti." This mesmerizing music video for one song features a human running around in various psychedelic landscapes and abstract depictions of nature. (The backgrounds are all painted by an artist named Erwinson Lemus.) As usual, I enjoy featuring these animated music videos because they're so extraordinarily creative, exploring existential feelings and concepts that most music videos could never even dream of exploring. Dive right in. https://onfs.net/3KDGEh7

This is the story of Souleymane. This is a story we need to hear. This is a story we need to understand. By now there's an entire subgenre of modern day refugee films - important, real stories about immigrants and refugees and asylum seekers struggling to make it safely into Europe and survive under the crushing weight of anti-immigration people and policy (also see: Green Border or Europa or Io Capitano). One of the latest entries in this subgenre is the film Souleymane's Story, also known as L'histoire de Souleymane in French (or The Story of Souleymane). This premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and won two awards: Best Actor and a Jury Prize. It deserves both - the lead performance is exceptional and the storytelling in this is especially powerful. It's one of these films that might change your life - you'll never order food delivery again because it feels like exploitation when one of these guy's delivers. https://onfs.net/4bQeWsI

"All that crazy, hardcore training you made me - thanks to that I'm still alive." You don't say! So maybe training pays off? 101 Films has revealed an official trailer for Jade, an action thriller arriving on VOD this summer. Another of these dime-a-dozen junk action movies being dumped out on streaming and VOD at home. It's from the same stuntman filmmaker as Hard Home and Air Force One Down (ugh). Jade follows a woman who comes between a powerful businessman and a gang leader in their search for a hard drive that could damage the operations of Interpol. The woman is required to use her unique set of skills to retrieve the drive and stay alive. Introducing Shaina West starring as Jade, with an ensemble including Mickey Rourke, Mark Dacascos, Katherine McNamara, Keith Jardine, Steven Michael Quezada, and Chris Bruno. This doesn't seem as bad as Bamford's other action films, but it doesn't look any good either. https://onfs.net/4bXyawW

"This is the best you could come up with? Leave me here with our baby while you chase oil?" Good Deed Entertainment has posted a new trailer for the 2017 film titled Boomtown, about a family going to work in the oil fields. This originally premiered at the 2017 Nashville Film Festival and we posted a trailer back then for its initial release in the fall of that year. For some reason, 7 years later it's getting another VOD release in 2024. A young father and husband looks towards the oil fields for a better life for him and his family. But will the fast money and glamour detour his agenda? Along the way he encounters the trials and tribulations shared by thousands of Americans every year as they stake their claim to the American Dream. Boomtown stars Tyler Riggs as JT, along with Rachel Brosnahan, Boyd Holbrook, Dwight Yoakam, Jocelin Donahue. Not sure why this has another trailer out now, it doesn't look any better than it did back in 2017. https://onfs.net/3V20FCN

"I used to think the case is over when it's cracked, and the culprit's arrested... But later I realized cases never end." CMC Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for a revenge thriller from China titled Hovering Blade, formerly known as either Hesitation Blade or Blade of Hesitation as well. It just opened in China a few weeks ago, and also opens in US theaters this June. "If a teenager who has committed a heinous crime can be given a second chance to reform, then how can my deceased child be saved?" After his daughter is raped and murdered by a group of underage individuals, single father Li Changfeng resolutely embarks on the path of revenge. During this journey, he becomes entangled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with both the perpetrators and the police. The pursuit of justice and vengeance collide as emotions clash with the law in the ultimate showdown. Starring Xi Qi, Jingchun Wang, Qianyuan Wang, Youhao Zhang, Shuang Wu, and Alan Aruna. This has so much anguished yelling in it! And it seems brutal, especially when the dad finally catches up with the kids and goes berserk on them. Looks like it might be worth a watch after all. https://onfs.net/4azyjFr

"It's a game called, 'Find What's Wrong With This Shot.'" Here is another must watch new video about the current state of the VFX industry in cinema. It's a 20 minute video essay created by Crafthive called "VFX r u ok? Why It Feels Like the End of VFX." The creators take a cold, hard look at what's happening with visual effects (aka CGI and/or VFX) and all of the problems right now, from creative executives to financial struggles to bad filmmakers, and everything else going on. They explain that nowadays VFX has been turned into a commodity, they're "more artisan than artists" now, which isn't a good thing. Yes they even touch on A.I., crypto, Marvel, and all these other dangerous topics. It's not looking good... If you're wondering why, this is a great place to start. This video is also a nice complement to the 'No CGI' is Really Just Invisible CGI video essay series that debuted last year. The Phil Tippett quote they include in this (8:55) is fantastic. I'm glad they're talking about all this and being so blunt about how screwed up the whole movie industry is now. https://onfs.net/4bB6YnQ

"The ocean is calling them back... 🌊🌺" Disney has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a surprise sequel – Moana 2, about the Polynesian girl with a special connection to the ocean. The original Moana musical from Disney Animation Studios opened in late 2016 and became a beloved global hit, ending up as a favorite of many young viewers everywhere. This sequel is the first feature film made by Disney's Vancouver based studio. It was only revealed this was in the works earlier this year, and it's already set to open in theaters in November this fall. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced. Auliʻi Cravalho returns as the voice of Moana, with Dwayne Johnson back as Maui and Alan Tudyk as Hei Hei. There's also apparently a live-action version of Moana still in the works for 2025. In the meantime, we're getting this follow-up sequel bringing back all the characters for another voyage on the water this year. https://onfs.net/4bSy3m2

"Who are you?" "I'm here to take care of your problem." Sony Pictures & Apple Original Films reveal the first official trailer for Wolfs, an action comedy coming to theaters later this year (and eventually streaming on Apple TV+). Wolfs is the latest movie from director Jon Watts, who is taking a break from Spider-Man after making the three MCU movies before: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home. Though he's sticking around in NYC. The film follows two lone wolf fixers who are assigned to the same job. George Clooney and Brad Pitt (reteaming again after the Ocean's movies), two "lone wolves", are forced to work together, they find their night spiraling out of control in ways that neither one of them expected. The cast also includes Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Irina Dubova, Poorna Jagannathan, with Zlatko Burić. Featuring some slick cinematography by Larkin Seiple. This seems like a good one! Aside from Clooney & Pitt teaming up, looks like an amusing story that takes them all around NYC getting into all kinds of trouble. https://onfs.net/3R3qbGm

"He's going to hurt her, and I will have to kill him." The realest line in this. Netflix has revealed an official trailer for a romantic comedy called A Family Affair, the latest movie directed by Richard Lagravenese (of P.S. I Love You, Beautiful Creatures, The Last Five Years). This seems like another "we have to do this too" version of the exact same story from Prime Video's The Idea of You. They're almost the same plot, except in this one the guy is a movie star, not a pop star, who falls for the "older woman." A surprising romance kicks off comic consequences for a young woman, her mother, and her movie star boss Chris Cole, as they face the complications of love, sex, and identity. Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron star in this romcom, along with Joey King, Liza Koshy, Sherry Cola, and Kathy Bates. Well this looks pretty awful, not a single funny line in here and everything else is super cringe. Why do they keep making these just for the algorithm? Ugh. https://onfs.net/3UTnLes

"Open your eyes, and look clearly at what's going on around you..." Searchlight Pictures has just unveiled another official trailer for Kinds of Kindness, the brand new Yorgos Lanthimos film arriving this summer to watch. It just premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival a few weeks ago, where Jesse Plemons won the Best Actor award at the end of the fest (here's our review). This triptych film features three medium-length stories in one long feature (that runs almost 3 hours in total). As his follow-up to the Oscar-winning Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness is described as an anthology film with three segments - following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability. The exquisite ensemble cast in this: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer, and Krystal Alayne Chambers. Yes it's as weird and wacky and strange as you might expect from Lanthimos, much moreso than Poor Things. Not for everyone... https://onfs.net/4dTrP7r

"Don't let her get away! This Wicked Witch..." It's time for a LEGO remix that defies gravity! Universal has debuted a fully LEGO version of the magical official trailer for Jon M. Chu's Wicked movie, which will be opening in theaters everywhere in November. After two decades as one of the most beloved and enduring musicals on the stage, Wicked makes its long-awaited journey to the big screen as a spectacular, generation-defining cinematic event this holiday season. Directed by filmmaker Jon M. Chu (of Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba Thropp, a young woman with green skin who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. Ariana Grande co-stars as Glinda, with Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, plus Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz. It's always fun to see a LEGO version of a trailer, but it is literally a shot-for-shot CGI LEGO edit of the trailer footage. It just doesn't have that same hand-crafted quality that usually makes LEGO videos so cool. https://onfs.net/3wRkq7Z

"What was it all for...?" Well Go USA has revealed a new trailer for another intense war movie titled Before Dawn, an Australian production made by Australian filmmaker Jordon Prince-Wright. Not to be confused with Werner Herzog's classic Rescue Dawn (the story of Dieter Dengler). After first opening Down Under in April, this hits VOD in the US in July. Before Dawn is the journey of fictional Western Australia outback kid Jim Collins and his battalion on the Western Front during World War I. He joins up eager to fight, only to discover the brutal realities of trench warfare. Of course. Starring Levi Miller (from A Wrinkle in Time) as Jim, with Travis Jeffery, Myles Pollard, Tim Franklin, Jordan Dulieu, introducing Peter Sullivan, with Ed Oxenbould & Stephen Peacocke. How many of these "war is hell" movies do they need to make? This is really All Quiet on the Western Front or 1917 all over again, but not nearly as good as either of those. https://onfs.net/3VuNY4V

"We have to see loneliness as a threat to our health security." Abramorama has debuted the full trailer for a documentary film titled Join or Die, which is a rather ominous title for a doc. This important film centers on America's civic unraveling through the journey of scientist Robert Putnam (aka Bob), whose research on the decline in American community lights a path out of our democracy's present crisis. It first premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival last year, playing at the Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Tallgrass, Tuscon, and Denver Film Festivals as well. Putnam is a renowned social scientist and the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. He describes this as a "film about why you should join a club... and why the fate of America depends on it." It's an examination of how the decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy's present crisis. Americans are getting more and more lonely, and less connected, and that's affecting our social & mental health and much more. It sounds like a must watch. https://onfs.net/3V35YSh