Lawless (new John Hillcoat movie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zl7S1LaPMU

There has been a lot of talk on how this year is shaping up nicely for cool movies, and I would add this to the list (I'm most excited about Django Unchained, Batman, and Prometheus in that order, then probably this).

If you aren't familiar with John Hillcoat, do yourself a favor and watch The Proposition. Definitely a top 10 Western of all time in my opinion. Violent and unsettling and beautiful and relentless. Just awesome.

I have no reservations about seeing Shia Labeuf in the trailer, because Hillcoat's movies don't mess around with comic relief. The Road was just to damned dark to really enjoy, but this looks to be in Hillcoat's wheelhouse given the family ties and the violence (that I assume will be brutal). My prediction is that this will be what The Newton Boys would have looked like if Sam Peckinpah had directed it.

Definitely. I only mentioned Shia because I would normally be inclined to avoid a movie that he's in, but Hillcoat's directing style will hopefully ensure that we don't see the Shia of every Transformers movie, Indiana Jones 4, etc. One clip appears to show him with a face that is beaten to shit, so that's a good start. Reviews will start coming out soon since it's playing at Cannes.