Author Archives: Leonard Wilson

Quick Review: The Last Stop at Yuma County (dir. by Francis Galluppi)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

This review might be a bit biased, as I’m a fan of actor Jim Cummings’ work. I loved The Wolf of Snow Hollow and his brief cameo in Halloween Kills. The moment Francis Galluppi’s Last Stop at Yuma County was released on Apple Films, I bought it. Not even a rental. At 90 minutes, it’s a short crime thriller that fits in well with those late night gems you may come across.

On his way home to celebrate his daughter’s birthday, a Knife Salesman (Cummings) arrives at a gas station in Yuma County, Arizona, only to find that the station’s gas truck is a bit delayed. He decides to wait for the truck in the the gas station’s diner. Additionally, the news on the radio is going around about a recent heist of a nearby bank. Similar to movies such as Legion or Tales From the Crypt Presents : Demon Knight, the Diner makes a great setting for a standoff when the two robbers make an appearance – played by Richard Brake (Barbarian) and Nicolas Logan (I Care a Lot). Can the Knife Salesman and the local waitress, Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue, The House of the Devil) make it through the day and save themselves?

For his first production, Galluppi handled things well, I felt. The shots are evenly paced, well lit and framed in such a way where it doesn’t feel like the camera lingers too much or is too shaky. The strongest part of The Last Stop in Yuma County are the characters. Cummings, Brake, and Logan are the stand outs, but everyone contributes to the story in their way. The film dances between drama and comedy pretty quick, which had me chucking in moments before getting jolted back to reality with the ever changing situation.

If the movie has any kind of drawback, it’s that some of the story’s elements aren’t fully closed up by the time the film ends. It’s not a terrible thing, considering where the focus of the story moves, but a little more closure would have been nice. Outside of that, The Last Stop at Yuma County is worth the watch.

Scenes I Love: Lighting the Beacons in Return of the King

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

We just received word that the Texas Branch is still currently down. It’s been six full days without power. I can’t even begin to imagine the impact, but we’re hoping that they back up and running soon. Case and I are keeping the fires lit here, but it also reminds us of Lisa Marie’s John Wick levels of legendary speed, sheer will, creative output and literary fortitude. We miss the Bowmans, and are rooting for their quick return.

In the meantime, we’re sharing some of our favorite scenes and films. It seems fitting that the Lighting of the Beacons sequence of The Return of the King is our focus here. With the city of Gondor under attack, the steward Denathor (John Noble) doesn’t wish to call for any help. With Pippin’s (Billy Boyd) help, Gandalf (Ian McKellan) gets word out to Rohan in a most spectactular fashion. Howard Shore’s score amplifies the sequence to epic levels.

Enjoy!

Clooney and Pitt reunite for Jon Watts’ Wolfs trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

After a fantastic run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy, director Jon Watts shows no signs of slowing down. His next project, Wolfs, is one he wrote, produced and directed with a little assistance from Apple Films. The film reunites Oceans’ Eleven stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt as a pair of competing fixers that are forced to work together. It’s not too far removed from Michael Clayton for Clooney or Bullet Train for Pitt. The film also stars Amy Ryan (Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building) Austin Abhrams (HBO’s Euphoria) and Poorna Jagannathan (HBO’s The Night of).

Wolfs premieres this September in theatres.

Set sail with the Moana 2 trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

(New York and the other TSL branches are covering for the Texas Division until power is restored. We wish the the best and hope for a speedy recovery. Coincidentally, my little brother’s just West of Dallas Ft. Worth, and I haven’t heard from him yet. Stay strong out there!)

It looks like Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) are back for another adventure. While we aren’t given too many details as to what this entails, one major change will be the lack of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s involvement, musically. Fear not, as both Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (known as Barlow & Bear, of course) have taken on musical duties. We’ll see where this takes us.

Moana 2 is due in theatres this November.

Disney returns to the Pride Lands in the Mufasa: The Lion King Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King adds a new bit of Movie Trivia in the world. As it stands, James Earl Jones has voiced two characters (the other being Darth Vader, of course) that have had prequels created for them. I’m hoping that Universal decides to give us that Thulsa Doom backstory we all know we’re secretly longing for.

Despite not asking for a prequel, the trailer looks pretty good. Mufasa doesn’t appear to be of any special lineage, but that makes one wonder how he became the King of Pride Rock. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) brings together some talent in John Kani, Seth Rogen, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Donald Glover, Aaron Pierre, and Billy Eichner. The film also introduces Blue Ivy Carter, along with her mom, Beyonce Knowles-Carter. With music by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Moana, In the Heights), this should be interesting.

Mufasa: The Lion King premieres this December.

Mia Goth and Ti West take us to 1985 in the MaXXXine Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

The X trilogy kind of snuck up on everyone. The end of March 2022’s “X” gave us a sneak peek at Pearl, which ended up releasing later in theatres that same year. Now, director Ti West and actress Mia Goth are closing the loop with MaXXXine, which arrives in theatres this summer.

MaXXXine is a direct sequel to X, with our heroine still wanting to be a major star after the events of the first film. Though she may not realize it, Maxine has a lot in common with Pearl, and those elements may put her into some dark circles.

MaXXXine also stars Kevin Bacon, Halsey, Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Debicki, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Michelle Monaghan.

Lionsgate takes on The Crow in a new Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

As it’s been 30 years since Alex Proyas’ The Crow was released, a remake was inevitable. From Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell), this version of The Crow has Bill Skarsgard (John Wick 4) taking on the role of Eric Draven, who is brought back to life when he and his girlfriend Shelley (FKA Twigs, The King’s Man) are brutally murdered. Aided by a Crow, Eric searches for vengeance and it looks like Danny Houston (30 Days of Night) may be Draven’s main target. The look of the film seems to be a mix of DMC: Devil May Cry with some John Wick classic shooting action sequences. That’s not entirely a bad thing. It’s a new story for a new generation. The writers on board here are Zach Baylin (Gran Turismo) and William Schneider, who has the upcoming Return to Silent Hill.

The Crow releases in theatres this Summer.

Vault Hunters rejoice!? The Borderlands trailer is here!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

It looks like everyone’s favorite Vault Hunters are taking Pandora by storm in Eli Roth’s trailer for the Borderlands movie. I’m a little biased on this one. Gearbox (the makers of the Borderlands game) once came under fire for supposedly using the funding Sega gave them to make an Aliens game to push Borderlands 2. Sega was left with the terrible Aliens: Colonel Marines. We may forgive, but we haven’t forgotten.

Still, it looks like we have 4 adventures in search of a great treasure while trying to fend off all the dangers in a wasteland. Cate Blanchett (Tár) plays Lilith, with a mix of gunplay and hopefully elemental abilities. Claptrap (Jack Black, Kung Fu Panda 4) is in the mix along with Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt, Barbie) and Kevin Hart (Jumanji) as Roland. I’m kind of curious about what Eli Roth (Thanksgiving) has up his sleeve here, but it definitely feels like they’re dipping in the Guardians of the Galaxy marketing style.

The Sting trailer brings the creepy crawly Nightmare Fuel!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Spiders.

If there’s one creature on the planet that gets a bad rap, it’s the spider. They have too many legs, too many eyes (save for Tarantulas), and they were designed with faces perfect for making people shudder. Without them, however, we’d be overrun with insects. I don’t even to look at this trailer to know this is pure Nightmare Fuel. One rapidly growing alien spider running loose in an apartment complex? There’s so much Nope in this, I don’t even know where to start.

At least the hero’s named Charlotte. That’s pretty cool. In Sting, we have an apartment complex and an alien spider that seems to be growing both in size and in appetite.

Sting will be out in theatres this April.