All posts by Kenna

“American Woman” Poster, Trailer & Clips

drama, mystery, ,

Jack Scott directed American Woman in a small, blue-collar town in Pennsylvania. We meet Debra, a 32-year-old woman whose teenage daughter went missing, leaving her to raise her infant grandson alone.

The story is told over 11 years, from when her daughter vanishes, through the trials and tribulations of subsequent years looking for closure, leading to the long-awaited discovery of the truth. In the movie trailer, we get a slight glimpse of the truth.

Scott’s directing credits are minimal, though he directed Welcome to the Rileys. 

The screenplay is by Brad Ingelsby, whose writing credits include Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale, and Run All Night, starring Liam Neeson.

They screened the movie at TIFF, and the reviews were positive. The cast also includes Christina Hendricks and Aaron Paul.

The movie clip “Please Set Down” seems random, but the scene shows how tormented Debra is over her daughter’s disappearance. She is accusing someone, but it is hard to tell who because the sound is slightly off.

The following movie clip shows the positive aspect of the movie. Sure. There are some lows but some highs, which makes a good movie. It is a fun clip to watch.

The following two clips contrast with each other. I am unsure who Debra is talking to in the kitchen, but the moment is decisive, and two actresses pull it off. The editing is excellent because it’s so intense. I am guessing the scene is with her daughter before she disappears, but I am unsure because the season isn’t right.

The following clip is a brutal scene for Miller, who plays Debra. But it would be best if you gave the little boy credit for hanging in with her anguish. He is with her, believing it and sympathetic.

The following two clips reveal her daughter’s attitude toward her son’s father. She is immature and not taking her life all too seriously. The other clip is Debra’s grandson as a teenager and at least a decade since her daughter disappeared.

I saw the movie the other night. The acting is excellent, but there are not enough highs to stress the lows. So, when we hit the movie’s most depressing point, it does not do the story justice. Miller does an excellent acting job, as does the rest of the cast, so you can watch with that in mind. The movie is available online on Amazon.

“Angel Has Fallen” Trailers, Clips & Poster

action, drama, thriller, , , , , ,

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, Angel Has Fallen begins with an assassination attempt on U.S. President Allan Trumbull, played by Morgan Freeman. His trusted confidant, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, played by Gerard Butler, is wrongfully accused and taken into custody.

After escaping from capture, he becomes a man on the run and must evade his agency and outsmart the FBI to find the real threat to the President. Desperate to uncover the truth, Banning turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name, keep his family from harm and save the country from imminent danger.

The screenplay is by Robert Mark Kamen and Matt Cook with the story by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.

Waugh is best known for being a stunt coordinator and doing stunts in tons of movies. He is also a screenwriter and directed a handful of movies.

The rest of the cast includes Danny Huston, Nick Nolte, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, and Tim Blake Nelson.

In the second trailer, Banning has a neurological issue from the attack on the President’s life. The overall feel for the movie is an action-pack intensity that is entertaining.

In this movie clip, we see the bad guy maneuvering the drones. He knows the Presidents entourage.

It’s good to see Nolte playing Butler’s dad. A little humor in the movie like this is good.

“Judy” Trailers, Clips, & Poster

biography, drama, legend, music, true stories, , , ,

Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy begins during the Winter of 1968. The showbiz legend Judy Garland, played by Renee Zellweger, arrives in Swinging London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town.

It is 30 years since she shot to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz, but if her voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown. As she prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians, and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through.

The movie derives from the play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter and the screenplay adaption by Tom Edge. On the IMDB website, Quilter says Edge’s screenplay is more edger than the imaginative play.


Judy is available on Amazon Prime or wherever Blu-rays and DVDs can be purchased. 

Goold directing credits include True Story, King Charles III, and The Hollow Crown, which won Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Best Single Drama. Goold works with executive producer Sam Mendes, who directed a couple of James Bond 007 movies. Mendes is not involved with the production of Judy.

The movie looks promising with Zellweger as Judy. We come to find even her dreams of love seem undimmed as she embarks on a whirlwind romance with Mickey Deans, played by Finn Wittrock, her soon-to-be fifth husband. Featuring some of her best-known songs, we celebrate the voice, the capacity for love, and the sheer pizzazz of “the world’s greatest entertainer.”

The next trailer shows more of the movie with is flashbacks and Garland’s drug dependency and separation from her children because she needs to go to London and make money. We see more of the other actors in the movie, including Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, and Michael Gambon.

Buckley is making quite a name for herself with her starring role in the award-winning Wild Rose.

Zellweger becomes Judy Garland, and she embodies her. She makes the movie.

Judy Garland is an endearing soul who understood the hardships that life can bring. She lived tragically in the end. But I am sure she is doing well.

In this clip, I can see Judy Garland as Dorothy when she comforts the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. Zellweger is brilliant, and I hope she gets nominated for both the Golden Globe and Oscar.

It’s heartbreaking to watch this scene because of Judy Garland’s life rollercoaster. Here she is on an upswing when we know it will be tragic again.

“Crawl” Poster, Clips and Trailer

horror, thriller, ,

Directed by Alexandre Aja, Crawl is more than about a massive hurricane hitting a Florida hometown. Haley, played by Kaya Scodelario, ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father, played by Barry Pepper. Crawl is an intense horror thriller.

She finds him gravely injured in the crawl space of their family home. The two become trapped by swiftly encroaching floodwaters. Their time to escape runs out, and the strengthening storm with rising water levels is not what is threatening their survival. Haley and her father must contend with a humongous and vicious alligator.

Scodelario is best known for the Maze Runner franchise, and Pepper starred in two of the Maze Runner movies: The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure.

Aja is best known for his horror movie The Hills Have Eyes. He worked alongside producers Craig Flores, who produced 300, and Sam Raimi, who made Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead and directed some of the earlier Spider-man movies.

The following two clips show how intensely they play the scenes out, with the gators jumping out from nowhere and attacking the humans. The second clip had me jumping out of my skin.

Kaya Scodelario, as Haley, is trying to reach a rescue team.
The situation does not look good for this guy.

“Wild Rose” Poster & Trailer

BBC, drama, music, , ,

Directed by Tom Harper, Wild Rose follows just out of prison Rose-Lynn Harlan, played by Jessie Buckley. She is bursting with raw talent, charisma, and cheek. Reunited with her son and daughter, she wants to leave Glasgow and become a country singer in Nashville.

On the other hand, Rose’s mother, Marion, played by Julie Walters, has had a bellyful of her worthless nonsense. Forced to take strict responsibility, Rose gets a cleaning job, only to find an unlikely champion in the middle-class lady of the house.

Harper is best known for directing episodic television shows and feature films. He has BAFTA nominations for both television and British cinema.

Written by Nicole Taylor, Wild Rose has a message — follow your dreams but keep your responsibilities in check. Home is where the heart is. Taylor is known for writing episodic television. Buckley also started in War & Peace, playing Marya Bolkonskaya, for which Harper directed several episodes.

Buckley won several awards, including the Dublin Film Critics Award for her role in this movie. She also starred in Beast, for which she won an award.

Watching the trailer, you get a feel for the pure Scottish story.

Soaring “Sonic the Hedgehog” Poster, Clips, Superbowl Ad & Trailer

action, adventure, children movies, family movies, kid movies, , , , , ,

Directed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic the Hedgehog is a live-action adventure comedy based on a popular videogame franchise from Sega. The story follows infamously brash bright blue hedgehog named Sonic, played by Ben Schwartz, and his misadventures.

He navigates the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound – human – best friend Tom Wachowski, played by James Marsden. Sonic and Tom join forces to try and stop the villainous Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, from capturing Sonic and using his immense powers for world domination.

Patrick Casey and Josh Miller are the first two listed screenwriters attached to the movie. The movie shares a total of eight writers.

The film also stars Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Neal McDonough, and Adam Pally.

Here is the second trailer for the movie and a new look for Sonic. Do you see the difference?

The next three clips show how the movie is silly enough for kids to enjoy.

I like the Superbowl ad since it shows some funny stuff with Carrey and who Sonic fights. But for what purpose?

“21 Bridges” Posters, Clips & Trailers

action, crime, suspense, , ,

Directed by Brian Kirk, 21 Bridges follows an embattled NYPD detective, played by the late Chadwick Boseman. He is thrown into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

As the night becomes day, lines become blurred about who he is pursuing and who is in pursuit of him. The search intensifies when extreme measures prevent the killers from escaping Manhattan.

The authorities close all 21 bridges in and out of the island, preventing no entry nor exit from the fabled island.

Matthew Michael Carnahan and Adam Mervis wrote the movie. Carnahan’s credits include Lion for Lambs, World War Z, and Deepwater Horizon. Mervis is also an actor and a playwright. The film 21 Bridges appears to be his first produced screenplay.

The late Boseman starred in the Marvel movies from Black Panther to Avengers Endgame and played Jackie Robinson in 42.

Kirk’s credit includes episodic television such as Games of Thrones and Penny Dreadful. This movie appears to be his first feature movie as well.

The cast includes Taylor Kitsch, Sienna Miller, Stephan James, and J. K. Simmons. You might recognize Stephan James as the young man in love in If Beale Street Could Talk and the heartfelt veteran in Homecoming, starring with Julia Roberts.

Anthony and Joe Russo, the directing team and brothers who brought us four Marvel movies, including Avengers Endgame, produced The 21 Bridges.

The movie trailer is entertaining, like a short film with all the key players. The poster shows Roseman as the cop that criminals do not want to contend with and notice his eyes are two different colors.

SD Comic-Con trailer is long, with lots of features and details about the movie.

The third trailer takes on his journey through Manhattan. Boseman is intense and one tough dude.

These clips show how intense this movie can get. So, hang on tight and let the drama begin. Oh, there is a bit of eye candy for the girls in the third clip.

The following clip shows us another aspect of the story. I like the characterization and the conflict between these two cops.

“Brian Banks” Trailer, Clips & Poster

biography, drama, sports, true stories, , , ,

Directed by Tom Shadyac, Brian Banks is a true story about an injustice made right. The studios are calling it “inspirational true story” when in fact I feel treachery.

The true story follows Brian Banks, played by Aldis Hodge, an All-American high school football star verbally committed to USC. His life is upended when he is unjustly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit.

Despite lack of evidence, Banks is railroaded through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. Years later, with the support of Justin Brooks, played by Greg Kinnear, and the California Innocence Project, Banks fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NFL.

Shadyac impressive credits offer encouragement for this movie to rock and entertain. He’s directed Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, and The Nutty Professional. Over the past decade or so, he’s involved himself in documentaries as director and producer. In 1983, he became the youngest staff writer for Bob Hope.

The cast also includes Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Liburd, and Morgan Freeman.

The injustice of what Banks went through is tough to face. The young woman lied and destroyed his life. The movie clip is a scene where Banks played the tap of the young woman confessing she lied.

The featurette tells what the story is about through the eyes of those who were there from Brian Banks as executive producer and Justin Brooks as executive producer to the actors who play the people who went through this tragic story about injustice.

The story is real, and injustice happens, unfortunately. In this clip, I understand what Banks mother is saying because I am a mother. I want nothing but good for my daughter.

“The System” movie clip sets the pace for going to trial.

“Gemini Man” Trailer, Featurette, Clips & Poster

action, thriller, , ,

Directed by Ang Lee, who is one of the most innovative directors, Gemini Man follows Henry Brogan, played by Will Smith. He becomes targeted and pursued by a mysterious operative, who is younger than Brogan. The pursuer seems to predict every move Brogan makes to avoid confrontation.

The movie billed as an innovative action-thriller also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong.

The screenplay is written by David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke. Lee is an Oscar-winning director and appears to be taking on a box office winner compared to his earlier movies of late. He is backed by top producers Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger.

Though the trailer offers spoilers, the main point of the story is a younger version of Brogan is pursuing him, and he needs to discover the reason and who is behind it.

The featurette highlights what filmmakers can do with CGI (Computer Generated Imagery Animation ) and beyond. Viewers see the finished product on the screen, and it looks like nothing to it. Oh no, the technology is phenomenal.

The second trailer tells us that there is more to the movie than we thought. Though, the story is not complicated and appears to be about these two men trying to exceed each other for the man who made them both. Lee captured a brilliant shot in the chase scene with the water reflection of the younger version of Brogan.

The next four movie clips are scenes from the movie trailers. There is a lot of action and philosophical dialogue.

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Trailer, Clips, Featurettes, TV Spot & Interview

action, adventure, legend, science fiction, sequels, space opera, , , , , , , ,

I am so excited that J.J. Abrams is returning to direct the final chapter of the saga from a galaxy far, far away.

The standard cast is returning with some new faces, including Lupita Nyong’o, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, Keri Russell, Adam Driver, Billy Dee Wiliams, and the late Carrie Fisher.

Abrams also co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio, and there appears to be a new Droid.

The red carpet interview with producer Kathleen Kennedy reveals the franchise hasn’t finished yet. Still, the other red carpet interviews with J.J. Abrams and stars talk about this being the last movie of the nine Star Wars movies.

Star Wars is a big box office winner. I side with Kennedy. The space opera stories must continue even if the next one starts with a different group of characters.

The “Special Look” shows the Star Wars past and the movie’s ending. In the middle, we see C-3PO with red eyes. At the end of the footage, we see Rey (or is it Rey) on the Darkside.

The third trailer shows a lot happening in the final movie. All of it is exciting.

Here is a TV spot and yes it advertises to purchase your advance tickets. Not a bad idea considering it will sell out in some locations. The TV spot does offer some clues to the story and new footage. Enjoy!

The Star Wars Culture featurette says it all.

The next featurette is fabulous. Enjoy!

The movie is about legends.

Funny scene, yes, “They fly now.”