Trailer Round-Up: 'Our Friend', 'Alien Xmas', 'Breach', 'Hunter Hunter', 'The Ultimate Playlist Of Noise', 'Skyfire'

The time has come once again for us to get our lassos and round-up some pesky trailers that escaped from the trailer farm! And then we'll, uh, milk them. Okay, this metaphor has gone off the rails. In any case, a trailer round-up is where we put together trailers for some smaller titles that deserve attention even if they're not huge blockbusters. Here we go!

Our Friend stars Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel, and those are three well-known actors, although I haven't seen much buzz about this yet. The film "tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family—journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters—and how their lives are upended by Nicole's heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt's responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple's best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life-altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined." You can look for this in theaters (if any are open) and On-Demand starting January 22, 2021.

Alien Xmas has been streaming on Netflix since late November, but we haven't covered it yet, so we're doing so now. This animated short is meant to resemble the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated Christmas classics of yore, and involves a "race of kleptomaniac aliens" that "attempts to steal Earth's gravity in order to more easily take everything on the planet." How can we stop them!? Well, according to the official synopsis, "only the gift-giving spirit of Christmas and a small alien named X can save the world." So there you go.

Oh no, it's time again for Bruce Willis to phone in another blah performance so he can buy a new boat. Someone, somewhere, should dare to watch all of the direct-to-VOD stuff Willis has churned out in the last few years and marvel at how an actor who can be really great sometimes, if he cares to, just seems to be sleepwalking through this latter-half of his career. Oh well. In Breach, "Fleeing a devastating plague on Earth, an interstellar ark comes under attack from a new threat; a shape-shifting alien force intent on slaughtering what is left of humanity." The cast also includes Cody Kearsley, Rachel Nichols, and Thomas Jane, and if I had to guess, I'd say Willis probably shows up for two or three scenes and then vacates, off to another direct-to-VOD movie he surely has lined-up next. Breach is now On-Demand and digital.

I haven't seen Hunter Hunter yet, but I've heard nothing but good things about the movie, with many talking about how many twists and turns are in store. The film "follows a family living in the remote wilderness earning a living as fur trappers. Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan), and their daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell) struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf. Determined to catch the predator in the act, Joseph leaves his family behind to track the wolf. Anne and Renée grow increasingly anxious during Joseph's prolonged absence and struggle to survive without him. When they hear a strange noise outside their cabin, Anne hopes it is Joseph but instead finds a man named Lou (Nick Stahl), who has been severely injured and left for dead. The longer Lou stays and Joseph is away, the more paranoid Anne becomes, and the idea of a mysterious predator in the woods slowly becomes a threat much closer to home." Hunter Hunter is now on VOD.

Coming to Hulu on January 15, 2021 is The Ultimate Playlist of Noise, a film that "follows Marcus (Keean Johnson), an audio obsessed high school senior who learns he must undergo brain surgery that will render him deaf. He decides to seize control of his fate by recording the Ultimate Playlist of Noise – a bucket list of all his favorite sounds. Once he sets out, he meets Wendy (Madeline Brewer), a wildly charming, struggling musician who is trying to escape to New York for her chance at a life-changing opportunity. Together they check off his list as they make their way across the country, until painful revelations force Marcus to face reality and his future without sound." Bennett Lasseter directs.

For a second there I thought Skyfire might be another entry in the surprisingly resilient Skyline series (it isn't – but there is a new sequel called Skylines). Instead, Skyfire involves a volcano theme park. Here's the synopsis: "Chaos erupts when the once dormant volcano at the world's only volcano theme park and resort rumbles. Everyone must evacuate before it's too late." Maybe just don't go to a theme park on a potentially active volcano, folks. Skyfire arrives on digital and On-Demand on January 12.