"I prefer to suffer." Utopia has revealed an official US trailer for Saul at Night, a quirky indie sci-fi drama marking the feature debut of filmmaker Cory Santilli. This originally premiered in 2019 at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and is opening in the US this week on VOD for anyone interested. In Saul at Night, a mandatory sleep schedule has been enforced worldwide with one outlier who is forced to become acclimated to isolation in a bizarre experiment. He invents new ways to connect with his sleeping family. Starring Kentucker Audley as Saul, with Suzanne Clément, Stephanie Ellis, and Acadia Colan. Described as a "carefully drawn study of human nature and the nature of connections to both loved ones and strangers." This looks much darker & more dramatic than I was expecting, but I'm still curious to see what it's all about. https://onfs.net/3KbPAIS

"My mission is your mission." Showtime has revealed the first look teaser for their sci-fi series titled The Man Who Fell To Earth, arriving this spring. Yes this is the same thing as the iconic 1976 sci-fi film that starred David Bowie, also titled The Man Who Fell To Earth. They're re-adapting the novel that the film was based on, written by Walter Tevis and first published in 1963. The logline for this one: "An alien who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future." The highly anticipated upcoming original sci-fi drama series The Man Who Fell To Earth – starring Oscar & Emmy nominee and BAFTA Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor – will premiere exclusively on Showitme in 2022. Naomie Harris will also star as Justin Falls, a brilliant scientist and engineer who must conquer her own demons in the race to save two worlds. The cast also includes Jimmi Simpson, Rob Delaney, and Sonya Cassidy. This is just a first look teaser without much footage, but I'm intrigued. So far it looks good. https://onfs.net/3A6Jepy

"And what comes after ruin?" Kino Lorber has revealed the official US trailer for an acclaimed German film titled Fabian: Going to the Dogs, which originally premiered at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival last year. This 3-hour long feature already opened in Germany last fall and earned quite a bit of good buzz despite the extensive running time. Adapted from the classic German novel of the same name set in 1930s Berlin. Dr. Jakob Fabian, who works by day in advertising for a cigarette company and by night wanders the streets of the city, falls in love with an actress. As her career begins to blossom, prospects for his future begin to wane as layoffs hit the city and other problems begin to appear before WWII. "Veteran German director Dominik Graf (Beloved Sisters) wowed audiences at the Berlin Film Festival with this dazzling adaptation of Erich Kästner's classic of Weimar literature, set amid the twilight hedonism of pre-Nazi Germany." Starring Tom Schilling as Fabian, with a cast including Saskia Rosendahl, Albrecht Schuch, Meret Becker, and Michael Wittenborn. I've heard plenty of great things about this film and plan on giving it a watch soon. https://onfs.net/3A73Lu8

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." Another year, another Top 10. After watching over 460 films throughout 2021 (yes I was keeping track on Letterboxd!) it's time to share my final selection of My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2021. I try to watch as much as I can and give myself time to catch up with any extra films at the end of the year, but I also want to make sure I don't forget about some of my favorites from earlier in the year. 2021 was an invigorating and exciting year - with so many ups and downs. But as always, I'm lucky to have a chance to discover terrific films. this year in cinema took us on journeys to far away places, distant planets, as well as to mountaintops and valleys and deserts around this planet. I'm a sucker for visuals and style; the better a movie looks, the more I enjoy it. But I also need to feel the emotions, and when a good one really gets to me, that's the kind of film that sticks with me all year. https://onfs.net/3rupl7Q

"I don't think you understand the kind of people we're dealing with, honey." So what is Tarantino making next? Who knows! Here's something fun while we wait to find out. Video editor Luís Azevedo put together this fake trailer for The Vega Brothers, a prequel to both Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). The focus is on the two iconic characters - Michael Madsen (as Vic Vega) and John Travolta (as Vincent Vega) taking us back to explain their origin story, so to say. The video cleverly combines footage from both movies, and a few others, to create an entirely new movie. While there are rumors that Tarantino might still try to make a Kill Bill prequel or sequel, he probably won't ever do anything like this with the Vega Brothers. But film nerds can dream, can't they?! This initially debuted in December, but it's worth watching anytime. https://onfs.net/3romf5C

"There's chaos in you." Disney has unveiled the first trailer for their next streaming series called Moon Knight, introducing another new superhero to the screen. The series is launching at the end of March. In here, Oscar Isaac stars as Marc Spector, a former Marine who suffers from dissociative identity disorder and is granted the powers of an Egyptian moon god. Turning himself into "Moon Knight." But he soon finds out that these newfound powers can be both a blessing and a curse to his troubled life, fighting against his own multiple identities. In addition to Isaac, this series stars Ethan Hawke, Gaspard Ulliel, and May Calamawy. It's another Kevin Feige creation and so far it looks quite interesting. There's so many strange things going on, plus only one shot of him in the suit and no action scenes in this trailer. Huh. Check it out. https://onfs.net/3nxyHik

"It's not the first time I've worked with an idiot." Madman Films in Australia has unveiled an official trailer for Official Competition, the kooky Argentinian satire about making an indie film to play at film festivals. It's made by two Argentinian filmmakers and co-stars the powerhouse duo Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. A wealthy businessman hires an enigmatic art-house filmmaker to help make an award-winning film based on a Nobel Prize-winning novel. She casts two superstar leads that hate each other. Alternating between exacerbating the actors' mutual antipathy and uniting them in their shared discomfort with her psychologically tumultuous rehearsal techniques, Lola seeks to capture the drama of two alpha males vying for the limelight — but it won't be long before the gambit goes off the rails. Also starring Irene Escolar, Melina Matthews, Oscar Martínez, Pilar Castro, Manolo Solo, and Karina Kolokolchykova. This premiered last year at both the Venice & Toronto Film Festivals (here's the teaser), which is extra amusing because the film mocks festivals. I wish more films were this honest about how ridiculous it all is! Have fun. https://onfs.net/3qCjf6g

"They say he sent 100 Krauts to meet their maker." Dark Sky Films has released an official US trailer for the Russian WWII action thriller Red Ghost: Nazi Hunter, formerly known as simply The Red Ghost. This opened in Russia last year and is hitting VOD in the US soon. December 30, 1941. In Vyazma a small group of Soviet soldiers are trying to return to their comrades. They are suddenly caught in an unequal battle with a special unit of the Wehrmacht. None of these brave soldiers was born a hero but they became heroes. And were helped in their battle by the Red Ghost. The myth of the "Red Ghost" is about a lone hero who picks off Nazi soldiers one by one. He seems to be able to vanish almost magically into the forests and even to come back from the dead. Starring Aleksey Shevchenkov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Yuriy Borisov, Polina Chernyshyova, Wolfgang Cerny, and Michael Gor. Another intense jingoistic war movie from Russia - packed with bloody action galore. The English dubbing they put in this trailer is awful - you've been warned. https://onfs.net/3qDj8HF

"What are you feeling right now?" "I feel... mad." Warner Bros has unveiled an official trailer for the indie film The Fallout, marking the feature directorial debut of actress Megan Park. This first premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival last year, and will be debuting streaming on HBO Max later this month. The film deals with the "fallout" of a school shooting - focusing on one young student named Vada who struggles with all the overwhelming emotions afterwards. Relationships with her family, friends and view of the world are forever altered. In the process, she befriends another student named Mia, who she had never been friends with before. Jenna Ortega co-stars with Maddie Ziegler, and a cast including Niles Fitch, Will Ropp, John Ortiz, Julie Bowen, and Shailene Woodley. This and Mass are the only films so far that honestly and appropriately deal with the crisis of school shootings in America. May be hard to watch but is worth it. https://onfs.net/3IjHc8j

"I've got someone trying to pin a bunch of murders on me..." "In broad daylight?" Another month, another Bruce Willis movie. Make it stop!! Saban + Paramount have revealed an official trailer for Gasoline Alley, another boring Los Angeles crime thriller rehashing the same plot for the 5000th time. Some people were found dead, the cops think it was this guy, he says he's being framed. Yadda yadda. A man implicated in a triple homicide begins his own investigation. He enlists the two detectives on his tail in order to expose a conspiracy, or whatever. Starring Devon Sawa, Bruce Willis, and Luke Wilson, with Kat Foster, Sufe Bradshaw, Johnny Dowers, Kenny Wormald, Rick Salomon, Steve Eastin, Tracey "The Doc" Curry. This looks so bad. I wish Bruce would just stop making these, we really don't need them anymore... https://onfs.net/3qEcGAj

"The top of the primordial ecosystem. A god." The modern era of Godzilla began with Gareth Edwards' epic Godzilla, originally released in 2014 by Warner Bros. This was two full years before Japan responded with their own Shin Godzilla movie. This Godzilla also introduced an in-universe "secret scientific organization" called Monarch. The history of this organization is shown in the intro and discussed throughout this movie and its sequels. A design company called Prologue Films has released the clean version of their Godzilla montage and introduction to Monarch, that was re-worked into the opening credits for the Godzilla movie. There's an extra unseen shot or two in here, but most of all it's just cool to see the original version of this in full detail. There's so many historical bits and fun teases worked into this video - fire it up below and enjoy. https://onfs.net/3qGuivu

"Once a year his hunger needs to be satisfied." VMI has revealed an official trailer for an indie horror film titled Those Who Walk Away, introducing us to the "Rotcreep" creature. After Max and Avery meet on a social media app for a first date, they end up at a haunted house only to realize the trauma they share may either save them or erupt into an unforgettable nightmare. This haunted house they encounter, home of the Rotcreep, seems especially bizarre and crazy. Those Who Walk Away stars Booboo Stewart and Scarlett Sperduto, with Nils Allen Stewart as the Rotcreep. Freaky stuff! It's crazy how this trailer starts out so sweet & nice, then turns scary so quickly. Lots of crazy things going on! Looks so intense it's hard to handle. https://onfs.net/3KkRVBj

"Every pirate captain captains pirates differently." What do we have here, mateys? HBO Max has unveiled a teaser trailer for an upcoming series arriving in March titled Our Flag Means Death, created by David Jenkins, who also created the show "People of Earth" previously. This time he's taking on pirates! The year is 1717. Wealthy landowner Stede Bonnet has a midlife crisis and decides to blow up his cushy life to become a pirate. It does not go well. Loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet. Rhys Darby stars, with Taika Waititi as Blackbeard, with an ensemble cast including Fred Armisen, Nat Faxon, Leslie Jones, Samba Schutte, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, and Joel Fry. This ship shall be setting sail in March! Ohh yeah this looks ridiculous in a fun way! Hilarious. Can't wait to see more. https://onfs.net/3qFrcYq

"My five year old niece 'likes' science. I have a doctorate in quantum mechanics." What would you do if you had a device that would allow you to skip back on minute in time? Is there much you could do with that extra minute? Or would it just become a problem? One-Minute Time Machine is a fun short film made by filmmaker Devon Avery that originally premiered in 2014 and landed online in 2015. But that doesn't mean we can't still feature it now! I just came across this and it's so amusing, the perfect little short to make you laugh, in barely 5 minutes of time. James is all too eager to put his one-minute time machine to use in winning the heart of Regina, until he discovers the unexpected consequences of his actions. Starring Brian Dietzen and Erinn Hayes. The dialogue is so witty, even if it's a bit cheesy, it's all enjoyable in a cute way. https://onfs.net/3tyn0vw

"What happened?" "Did you see it?" Shudder has revealed the official trailer for Slapface, an indie horror film landing on the streaming service this February. It originally premiered last year at the Cinequest Film Festival and FrightFest, also stopping by Grimmfest and the Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival in Belgium. A boy deals with the loss of his mother by creating a dangerous relationship with a monster rumored to live in the woods. When the two reach a tentative trust, a bizarre friendship is born, and Lucas is swept up in a series of primal adventures. The film stars August Maturo as Lucas, with Mike Manning, Dan Hedaya, Mirabelle Lee, Lukas Hassel, Libe Barer, Bianca D’Ambrosio, and Chiara D'Ambrosio. This won the Audience Award at Cinequest, and looks like a thrilling little horror film with a good twist in the story. https://onfs.net/34SUn1F

A new age begins... Gather 'round, Lord of the Rings fans! Amazon has revealed the official titled and logo for their new LOTR series: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powers. The series begins streaming on Prime Video this September, and is the moxt expensive TV series ever made, with a budget at around $1 billion in total for the production. "Amazon Studios' forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness." We still haven't seen any other footage yet, just a first look photo, but that's it. This opening cinematic and logo reveal is not CGI - it was created and filmed practically. The sequence was made by FX master Douglas Trumbull last year in secret in LA (via IGN). Take a look. https://onfs.net/3AfSuYD

"WeWork isn't just a company - it's a movement." Apple has revealed their first official trailer for the new series WeCrashed, another look at an infamous business that started and failed pretty quickly. These kind of stories are so common these days, almost as if there's something wrong with the business world? This series tells the story of the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of WeWork, one of the world's most valuable startups, and the narcissists whose chaotic love made it all possible. "Inspired by actual events — and the love story at the center of it all. WeWork grew from a single coworking space into a global brand worth $47 billion in under a decade. Then, in less than a year, its value plummeted. What happened?" Starring Jared Leto as Adam Neumann, Anne Hathaway as Rebekah Neumann, and Kyle Marvin as Miguel McKelvey. These stories are always the same - they really want fame & fortune, not to actually make the world better. https://onfs.net/32eZiZT

It's January again, which means it's time for another Sundance Film Festival. The original plan for 2022 was to host a hybrid event - with the usual in-person screenings in Park City, Utah as well as online screenings. But they had to cancel the in-person event again thanks to the pandemic, returning to an entirely virtual / online event like last year. (Along with a few satellite screenings in select cities around the country.) This is our 16th year in a row covering this film festival; I'm always looking forward to returning and watching all the new films premiering at Sundance. Out of the 83 films showing at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, I've picked 10 films that I'm looking forward to seeing the most. To keep things well balanced, I've chosen 5 feature films and 5 documentaries from the line-up. There's a few gems in the line-up already. As usual with Sundance, you never can really tell what'll good or bad before the fest kicks off, but here's my picks anyway. https://onfs.net/3qFBJ62

"Do something about it!!" Vertical Ent. + Roadside Attractions have revealed the first official trailer for The Desperate Hour, an intense "real time" thriller starring Naomi Watts as a mother. This one originally premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival last year under the title Lakewood (a reference to the suburb in Los Angeles where this takes place), but because it received so many bad reviews, they decided to give it a different name. A mother on a jog in the woods desperately races against time to return and save her child as authorities place her small town on lockdown following a school shooting. In addition to Watts, the cast features Colton Gobbo and Sierra Maltby. The screenplay is written by the same writer as the thriller films Buried, ATM, Mercy, and Greenland. This definitely looks very suspenseful, but the big twist partway through this trailer is a bit strange. So that's what she tries to do? Huh... Not really sure that's a good idea. https://onfs.net/3Ko3rfp

"A LOT of people knew." Showtime has unveiled the first official trailer for a provocative new docu-series titled We Need To Talk About Cosby - which is the perfect title for this documentary about the downfall of Bill Cosby. Or more accurately, the truth will be revealed. "Through archival footage, Cosby reveals who he may have been all along – the antithesis of the principled, public figure" that everyone knew (and loved) when he was on TV. It's directed by comedian W. Kamau Bell and it's premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival before it begins streaming at the end of January. Bell, who grew up idolizing Cosby, unpacks how Cosby's desire for power, which propelled his professional success, could be the same driving force that motivated his alleged crimes against women. We Need To Talk About Cosby peels back complex layers, portraying the genius performer, philanthropist and role model, contrasted by the accused sexual predator that now defines him. Offers viewers the chance to reconsider Cosby's mark in a society where rape culture, toxic masculinity, capitalism, white supremacy are shaping how we re-evaluate sex, power & agency. Damn. https://onfs.net/3FHldXu

"I'm going on a walkabout." XYZ Films has released a full-length official trailer for King Knight, an indie dark comedy about a leader of a coven of witches and his downfall. Set to open in February this year. The first teaser landed last year during its festival run. Matthew Gray Gubler & Angela Sarafyan star in this comedy as Thorn & Willow, husband-and-wife high priest and priestess of a coven of witches in California - basically a hippie commune. When Willow unearths a secret from Thorn's past, their lives are thrown into turmoil and Thorn ventures out on a journey of self-discovery. The film's cast includes Nelson Franklin, Johnny Pemberton, Barbara Crampton, Ray Wise, Andy Milonakis, and the voices of Aubrey Plaza and AnnaLynne McCord. Oh yes this trailer finally leans into the totally wacky, weird crazy stuff going on in this. Right down to the pine-cone heads, third eye, and funky animated sequences. Bring it on. https://onfs.net/3fCsdKw