Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
What We Do in the Shadows is one of my favorite current shows. If you don’t watch it, you should consider checking it out. If you do watch, you know how good it is. Below is the teaser for season 3 which premieres on September 2nd!
A look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of four vampires who have “lived” together for hundreds and hundreds of years in Staten Island.
Here we have the poster and trailer for Risen. The poster is okay and the trailer is better. This kind of reminds me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Arrival (2016). I’ll check it out at some point.
Disaster unfolds when a meteor strikes a small town, turning the environment uninhabitable and killing everything in the surrounding area. Exobiologist Lauren Stone is called to find answers to the unearthly event. As she begins to uncover the truth, imminent danger awakens and it becomes a race against time to save mankind.
Today we have the poster and trailer to Kingdom: Ashin of the North. Billed as a special episode, but at 92 minutes, I see it more as a spinoff movie.
I’ve enjoyed both seasons of Kingdom and Kingdom: Ashin of the North is written by Kim Eun-Hee. who wrote both seasons as well. I had no idea this was coming, so call me surprised and deal me in!
This summer, a 92 minute thirst for blood begins.
Kingdom: Ashin of the NorthA Kingdom Special Episode: Kingdom: Ashin of the North
Coming July 23, only on Netflix
Stars: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge and Mary Lynn Rajskub.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…Dan Forester (Pratt) is an ex-military high school science teacher who believes he is destined for something bigger. Forester will get his opportunity when he is drafted to fight in a war being held nearly 3 decades in the future.
Still with me?
Okay. In the future earth has been invaded by aliens who have killed almost everyone on the planet. In an effort to turn the tide and save humanity, future soldiers have come back into the past to recruit people to fight in the future. A worldwide draft is instated and draftees are sent to the future to fight aliens for seven days. If they survive they are returned to their proper time. Forester is drafted.
Forester and the others in his group learn there is no training. They are given weapons and transported to the future to kill aliens. Less than 30% will survive the seven days. In Forester’s group we have a nervous college professor, a tough as nails vet who has done three tours and a bunch of others who we learn nothing about (yep, they’re alien fodder). As soon as they are in the future Forester’s team is given a mission and off we go. Alien battles come fast and furious and we learn about the plan to save the world.
What I liked: Chris Pratt was good. This may be his best performance yet. Edwin Hodge is a standout as the soldier with 3 tours. Sam Richardson provides comic relief (although maybe too much in some spots). I loved seeing Mary Lynn Rajskub and wish she was given more to do. The action is non-stop once. I really liked how they explained who could participate in the time travel (coming and going). I liked the explanation of how the aliens got to earth. All through the movie I was thinking these creatures don’t have the brains for space travel.
What bothered me:Despite the things I didn’t care for, The Tomorrow War has a core cast that is likeable, a script that keeps things moving and a conflict that involves saving the world. If you’re looking for a fun ride (and don’t give it too much thought) you’ll enjoy The Tomorrow War.
I like both the poster and trailer for Tailgate. Yes, it seems to be very similar to Unhinged, but I really enjoyed that film, so maybe Tailgate will be as fun a ride.
You probably wouldn’t notice if I didn’t mention it, but there are no words spoken in the trailer. It is a Dutch film and perhaps the studio didn’t want it so obvious to American audiences. But the trailer is still very effective.
Hans is a self-confident man, driving across the country with his wife and two daughters by his side. His ego gets the better of him when he gets into an argument with another driver. The van driver turns out to be the wrong man to cross on the road, and sets out to teach Hans a deadly lesson. Skillfully pushing the buttons of Hans’s arrogance, a simple family road trip turns into a deadly obstacle course in this nerve-wracking, blackly comic morality tale thriller.
Director: Lodewijk Crijns
Writer: Lodewijk Crijns
Stars: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Anniek Pheifer, Roosmarijn van der Hoek
Today we have the teaser for The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Part 1. I look forward to seeing how this series ends. The Walking Dead is one of the tv series that I can say I was with from the start (and if all goes well) and saw every episode. It’s been a fun ride.
The Walking Dead returns for Season 11 on Sunday, August 22.
The Hunting screams drive-in movie. Low budget? Check. Monster movie? Check. No big name stars? Check. Monster not clearly shown in trailer? Check. Craig would watch it? Check.
I like the poster. (The only nit I would pick is that the title font looks too much like The Howling.) The werewolf in the poster looks kind of cool but I’m not sold on the one in the trailer. It’s hard for movies to come up awesome looking werewolves. If it were up to me, I’d try to get my werewolf to look as close to the wolf man in Curse of the Werewolf.
At any rate, I’ll check out The Hunting if it comes to one of my streaming services.
Today we have the second trailer for Blood Red Sky which is a crime/horror mash-up starring Dominic Purcell as the main villain. Deal me in.
Nadja and her ten-year-old son are on an overnight flight from Germany to New York when a group of terrorists violently take control of the plane and threaten the lives of the passengers. Suddenly Nadja faces an impossible choice – should she reveal her dark side and the inner monster she has kept hidden from her son for years in order to save him? The hunters become the hunted in this action-horror from director Peter Thorwarth, starring Peri Baumeister and Dominic Purcell.
First there was the screenplay for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. Then the trailer for the movie was released. Then we got the movie.
Then Tarantino decided to adapt his screenplay/movie into a novel. Today we get a trailer for the novel. Then on July 29th Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the novel, by Quentin Tarantino will drop. Until then, the trailer…
Hollywood 1969… You shoulda been there! Based on his Academy Award-winning film, Quentin Tarantino’s first novel is here! Buy and read #OnceUponATimeInHollywood today!
Quentin Tarantino’s long-awaited first work of fiction — at once hilarious, delicious, and brutal — is the always surprising, sometimes shocking new novel based on his Academy Award-winning film.
Below we have the final trailer for The Tomorrow War. At the very least The Tomorrow War should be a fun couple of hours. I’m looking forward to it!
THE TOMORROW WAR premieres July 2, 2021 globally on Prime Video
In The TOMORROW WAR, the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.
Directed by Chris McKay
Written by Zach Dean
Produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Jules Daly, David Goyer, Adam Kolbrenner
Executive Produced by Rob Cowan, Chris Pratt, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer
Starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge, Jasmine Mathews, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Keith Powers
Today we have two posters and a trailer for Vampir. I like both posters quite a bit. It’s not often we get art on a film poster. Both have an old school horror feel to them.
The Vampir trailer also has an old school horror feel to it. I have a feeling that this will be a love or hate it type film. I’ll give it a shot.
Blood Red Sky – The Trailer is Here! Free on Netflix? Yeah, deal me in.
A woman with a mysterious illness is forced into action when a group of terrorists attempt to hijack a transatlantic overnight flight. In order to protect her son she will have to reveal a dark secret, and unleash the inner monster she has fought to hide.
Watch Blood Red Sky, only on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/BloodRedSky
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Director: Michael Chaves
Screenplay: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (story: James Wan & David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick; based on characters created by Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes)
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook and John Noble.
Tagline: The Demonic Case That Shocked America
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a change of pace in that the Warrens are working to save a man from death row by using the “he was possessed by the devil” defense. Talk about a Hail, Mary!
So, there’s a lot of courtroom action? No, just two brief scenes. But you have to understand this isn’t about that. It’s about finding out why the man was possessed and curing that. But, we know why he was possessed, he asked the devil to take him instead of the boy. Yes, but as we learn, he wasn’t possessed by the devil, he was cursed by a Satanist! But, the title is “The Devil Made Me Do It”? Yes, but it wasn’t through the Devil directly. But, the movie is scary and full of tension like the other “Conjuring” movies, right? Well… not really.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is all over the place. There are exorcisms, a cold case murder mystery, a story of young love, old love, a possession, a curse, a demonic/satanic controlled murder, there’s ESP, raising the dead, a hospital drama, and keeping a man off death row. For me, it was a bit too much.
I like the chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The nod to the original Exorcist when the priest arrives for the exorcism of the little boy is a nice touch. The set-up with the little boy and the waterbed was creepy. John Noble was a nice addition but needed more to do.
Nits to pick: It wasn’t as scary or filled with tense scenes as past Conjuring films. The lighting in every indoor scene was as if to remind us “this is a horror movie” and something scary could be in the shadows.
The set-up of Patrick Wilson’s heart problems were well done but then for the rest of the film the threat of a heart attack looms despite his constant running, straining to lift his wife as she goes over a cliff, etc. I didn’t think that the whole “Here’s Johnny” with a sledge hammer instead of an axe scene worked. We know he’s not whacking his wife with it.
I didn’t buy at all that a man in jail for murder and who is using the devil made me do it defense would be allowed out of a cell to mop floors in a semi-dark (spooky, huh?) room. That he would be come possessed, levitate off the floor, windows would be blown out and not a single cop or orderly shows up?
Overall, I found The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to be an okay viewing experience. So it gets 2 of 5 stars.
Daniel Kurland over at CBR.com listed his choices for the 10 Best Zombie Movies Of The 21s Century (So Far). I decided to play along so here are Kurland’s and my choices (using just his list) and some thoughts at the end.
|
Kurland |
Zablo |
10. Overlord |
*** Anna And The Apocalypse (Haven’t seen) |
9. #Alive |
*** One Cut Of The Dead (Haven’t seen) |
8. Dawn Of The Dead |
8. Rec |
7. Dead Snow |
7. Dead Snow |
6. Anna And The Apocalypse |
6. Alive |
5. Shaun Of The Dead |
5. Shaun of the Dead |
4. One Cut Of The Dead |
4. Overlord |
3. Train To Busan |
3. Dawn of the Dead |
2. [REC] |
2. Train to Busan |
1. 28 Days Later |
1. 28 Days Later |
If I was creating my own list I would include World War Z and Army of the Dead.
Today we have two new Army of the Dead posters and they just may be the best yet. Anyone know who did the art for them? If so, let me know so I can give proper credit. Click on the images to see biggie-sized versions.
