Brad Pitt is directed by his one-time stuntman David Leitch (who also helmed Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) in the quirky assassins-on-a-train actioner Bullet Train. How could it not be fun with the likes of Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King and Michael Shannon playing characters with names like Lemon, Tangerine, The Prince and The White Death? Taylor-Johnson’s facial hair is the best pornstache since… Chris Evans’ specimen from just the other week in The Gray Man. (Now in theaters.)

Following X, A24 continues to own the elevated-horror space with party-game slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies, which features a… killer… cast of up-and-comers, including Oscar-nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Amandla Stenberg (Dear Evan Hansen) and perhaps, most notably, Letterboxd member Rachel Sennott, who broke out in Shiva Baby and is well on her way to becoming a huge star, we reckon. If she wants to. Annie Lyons interviewed director Halina Reijn for Journal. In Zoë Rose Bryant’s review, she calls the film a “brutal blast from start-to-finish with a razor-sharp script that is equal parts horrifying and hilarious, featuring probably the only accurate depiction of Gen Z in entertainment today” before stating “Film Twitter, this one was made for you.” Not sure if that’s a promise or a threat. (Now in theaters.)

It may be not quite as doomed-to-failure as the endless Terminator reboots, but it’s nevertheless remarkable how they keep messing up potentially franchise-reviving Predator movies. Bringing in Shane Black seemed like a good idea last time, but 2018’s The Predator was… not it. The latest effort, Prey, however, might just be. “Badass monster design, great cinematography and score, plus, cool axe-throwing swoosh sounds? Thank you!” says Dorina. “It’s like they took Arnold’s muscle sweat from the original and used it to reverse engineer the most bitchingest predator movie possible,” writes Cobbler Lotion. The 1719 setting sees the dreadlocked alien face off against young Comanche warrior, Naru (Amber Midthunder) and her very good dog (Coco, a rescue animal, whose performance gets almost as many mentions as Midthunder’s). Pity Prey didn’t get a theatrical run so Coco could have her moment on the big screen. (Now on Hulu.)

There is a peculiar, primal appeal to films which feature people falling from great heights. Your humble Call Sheet editor is a big fan. In Fall, two friends attempt to move on from the trauma of losing a friend in a rock-climbing accident—by climbing a 2,000-foot-tall radio tower. However implausible this sounds, we ascendant-movie lovers can’t wait for all the vertiginous action! (Now in theaters.)

In the year of its 40th anniversary, Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1982 boy-meets-alien film E.T. the Extra Terrestrial has an IMAX re-release this month. The beloved classic stood as the highest-grossing film of all time for a decade, until Spielberg broke his own record with Jurassic Park in 1993. An IMAX Jaws release is also in the works. but no word on an IMAX Always just yet. (Now in IMAX theaters.)

Finnish cinema appears to be having a moment. Arriving a few months after the minor breakout success of squishy domestic-horror Hatching is Alli Haapasalo’s Girl Picture, a coming-of-age drama that follows three young women across three eventful Fridays. Amidst all the Booksmart comparisons, Laura says the film “plays perfectly into how liminal that time feels as a young adult”, while Leonora Anne Mint writes “this is what an iconic sapphic relationship looks like on film.” Haapasalo took our Life in Film questionnaire and yep, we love Labyrinth-era Bowie too. (Now in theaters.)

The singular Aubrey Plaza continues to zig where others zag with Sundance fave Emily the Criminal, a gig-economy thriller about a catering worker who delves deeper and deeper into illegal activities to pay back her student loans. “[Plaza] is such a wonderfully weird person, I’m glad I get to see her become unhinged in various ways,” writes Dodi. “Reminded me of Good Time in the portrayal of rugged and raw desperation under capitalism” is Holli’s take. Fellow Delawarian and Letterboxd senior editor Mitchell Beaupre had a great chat with Plaza about all things First State. (Now in theaters.)

Although the splendidly ridiculous 2009 thriller Orphan sustains a passionate cult following, none of us thought we’d be getting another film in the series, let alone a prequel. But thirteen years later, Orphan: First Kill is here, and we’re all on-board. The great Isabelle Fuhrman (who deserved an Oscar nomination for last year’s The Novice) returns to play killer adoptee “Esther”, presumably with the help of some LOTR-style forced-perspective angles. The trailers kind of give away the first film’s twist, and although it’s been more than a decade, we ain’t sayin’ what it is here. Just watch Orphan. (In theaters and on VOD August 19.)

Although he is still revered by fans of a certain age, movie stars of Sylvester Stallone’s type generally don’t get to play leading roles in the Marvel/DC epoch. Following a brief-but-memorable supporting performance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and a perfectly cast voice role as a walking shark in The Suicide Squad, Stallone gets his long-deserved superhero lead in Samaritan, where he plays a sanitation worker accused of being the titular, long-thought-dead, super-powered protector. The Rocky vibes in the trailer are encouraging. (On Prime Video from August 26.)

If you make a film like Mad Max: Fury Road, you’ve earned the right to make whatever crazy passion project you’ve been struggling to get off the ground. Which appears to be the case with George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, in which Tilda Swinton stars as a woman struggling to choose her three wishes when she conjures up a djinn, played by Idris Elba. “Idris Elba doesn’t snap his fingers and say ‘Ineffable,’ but that’s OK”, writes Kyle. We’ll see anything Miller does. (In theaters August 31.)

French filmmaker Claire Denis gets a lot of love on Letterboxd, especially from our senior editor Mitchell Beaupre, who has two fantastic interview features centered around Denis’ latest film, Both Sides of the Blade, currently in theaters. In addition to this delightful conversation with Denis, Mitchell spoke to the film’s star, repeat Denis collaborator Juliette Binoche, who also reflects on her 1993 classic Three Colors: Blue.

John Woo is one of the all-time greats. Newly minted Letterboxd contributor Katie Rife interviewed the balletic-action specialist at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, where Woo was presented with a Career Achievement award. The director discussed his approach to action choreography, what inspired him to become a filmmaker, and the most dangerous stunt of his career.

It’s hard to think of another director (or pair of directors) with a career trajectory like Anthony and Joe Russo, who went from acclaimed indie comedies to lambasted mainstream comedies to acclaimed comedy television to the (second) biggest movie of all time. Mitchell Beaupre spoke to the Russos about their action influences to mark the release of their Netflix spy thriller The Gray Man.

Multi-hyphenate talent, social-media star (and notably prolific Letterboxd member) Demi Adejuyigbe has a series of conversations with Adesola Thomas about his thoughts on Blackness in cinema, covering everything from Sidney Poitier’s Uptown Saturday Night to Rush Hour 2 to Game Night.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On continues to charm audiences across multiple demographics with its unique stop-motion aesthetic and good-natured cuteness. Letterboxd editor-in-chief Gemma Gracewood is most definitely a fan, and she spoke to the film’s director Dean Fleisher-Camp about expanding his and Jenny Slate’s shorts into an instantly beloved feature-length film.

Isaac Feldberg talks to Ethan Hawke about The Last Movie Stars, Hawke’s new six-part HBO Max documentary series about legendary Hollywood couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Here’s a list of all the films mentioned in the series.

Arguably the finest actress working today, the peerless Isabelle Huppert puts in a relatively rare English-language performance in the fashion-centric feel-good movie Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Huppert spoke to John Forde about her supporting role in the delightful Lesley Manville film, currently in theaters.

There is so much more good reading on Journal, from our Festiville crew’s round-up of the best of Fantasia 2022, including Atsuko Ishizuka’s coming-of-age anime Goodbye, Don Glees!, to an illuminating chat with Ayoka Chenzira about the restoration of her 1994 coming-of-age Brooklyn drama Alma’s Rainbow. Also: Danny Cohen on what it was like to follow Courtney Barnett with a 16mm camera for four years, Not Okay director Quinn Shephard on cringe comedies and cinematic tragedies, and Apples director Christos Nikou on sometimes needing “a bathtub, a little bit of blood and a song from Laura Marling”.

I tells ya, there ain’t nothin’ more fun to watch in a movie than a dude totally melting before your eyes. It used to be more common in the era of practical effects and Latex. Digital melting just isn’t as cool. Letterboxd member Douglas Wicker is similarly nostalgic, and has produced a face and heart-melting list celebrating the many films in which somebody totally melts.

Disheartened by recent events, film archivist Justin LaLiberty has compiled a hugely comprehensive list of films featuring abortion. “Not all are positive portrayals,” he cautions. “But explicit pro-life propaganda has been excluded.”

Letterboxd member girlsgutsgiallo would like to remind us that not all vampires are mysteriously wealthy. This list of poor and working-class vampires reveals a different economic class of bloodsucker (I’m pretty sure those guys from The Lost Boys were rich kids posing as poor to be grungy and cool though).

IanFaria’s confronting Movies About Property list includes films about colonialism, cursed land, physical and psychic property, ownership disputes, the banality of evil, the trauma of losing your home and the dream of earning one.

Where would cinema be without badly behaved women? Several of the best-worst are present in Jimena’s list, I support women’s rights but more importantly, I support women’s wrongs.

In the mood for an Asian coming–of-age film? Check out Mari’s list.

It’s time for Dom’s Pick! Each issue, our Call Sheet editor Dominic Corry closes with a recommendation for your watchlists. This month: Frailty. One of only two directorial efforts from the late, great Bill Paxton (I still haven’t seen the golf one), this 2001 Southern Gothic horror is told in flashback by Matthew McConaughey, who details a childhood in which his father (played by Paxton) murdered various strangers at home in front of his two young sons, justifying his actions by saying they were demons who deserved to die. Atmospheric and grimly somber, it’s an under-appreciated chiller well worth a look. The world ain’t the same without you, Bill.