Malignant
For some reason, I was under the impression that this wasn’t going to be a supernatural horror film, but whatever, it’s James Wan, I’m going to be excited regardless. This seems to have been a bit of a passion project for him, with the story being an original creation credited to Wan and his wife, Ingrid Bisu. I’m liking what I’m seeing here, and I like the J-horror vibe this kinda has. This looks like a ton of fun, and from what I’m hearing, the story goes to some wild places. I can’t wait to see this, especially given how the latest Conjuring was really lacking in his style.
Malignant hits theaters and HBO MAX for 31 days starting September 10th.
Jackass Forever
It seems like in the past decade or so, the Jackass movies have become these unironic critical darlings, and I am here for it. I’m a huge fan of these films, and their juvenile sense of humor, which I think plays out in a way that can only really be done through a medium like film. But at the end of the day, I’m just glad to see these guys together again, and I really hope this serves as a great send-off for this series.
Jackass Forever hits theaters on October 22nd.
The Last Duel
No one does modern historical epics quite like Ridley Scott. Granted, I think he’s one of the few guys who can even acquire the funds to make a historical epic, but that’s a discussion for another time. This looks fantastic. Obviously, the production values are out-of-this-world, but the story looks really compelling. When this first was announced, I think there was a bit of trepidation about how the subject matter will be handled. But given Nicole Holofcener is credited along with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, it seems like Jodie Comer’s character is going to have a lot more agency and presence than she would if this were a typical rape-revenge type film. Either way, it looks great, and this is only the first of two Ridley Scott movies to come out this year. What a beast.
The Last Duel will open in theaters on October 15th.
John And The Hole
Wow, I’m getting some serious Yorgos Lanthimos vibes here, specifically something like The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, which I really loved. The word-of-mouth seems mixed, but that could just be an indication that it’s doing something interesting that won’t necessarily satisfy everyone. I’m not sure, I haven’t looked into the festival reviews. But this does look appealing to me, and I’m very curious where they go with this kind of premise. Consider me intrigued.
John And The Hole hits select theaters and VOD platforms on August 6th.
Queenpins
I’m 100% sold on this. I love the premise, I dig the actors involved, and while I’m not familiar with the works of the directing duo, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, it looks like they’re taking a strong approach to the story here. I love that it doesn’t seem to go out of its way to make the film more quirkier than it needed to be, it’s allowing the situation to provide for the humor. That’s a big problem I come across often when people try to make dark comedies out of real crimes. And the few parts where they do seem to stretch reality for the sake of a joke are legitimately amusing. I’ll be keeping an eye out for this.
Queenpins opens in theaters on September 10th.
Days
I kinda feel bad writing this, but this trailer almost feels like a parody of foreign arthouse films. That said, I hear this film is great, and it definitely looks like it’s coming from a very assured eye. I’m sadly not familiar with the works of prolific Taiwanese filmmaker, Tsai Ming-liang, but this seems like a good a place to start as any. I don’t know what to really expect here aside from what little I got from that Justin Chang blurb near the end, but I will try to seek this out.
Days will open in select theaters on August 13th.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!