Some trailers I've seen recently, and my thoughts on them; things seem
to have got started again, though there are more TV series trailers in
the mix than usual. (Links are to youtube. Opinions are thoroughly
personal. Calibration: When you've got these kinds of sums involved in
creating another two hours of entertainment for Western teenagers, I
feel it crosses the line from being merely distasteful to being
wrong.)
Lovecraft Country:
looks very promising, but it'll have to work quite hard to persuade me
that our heroes wouldn't be beaten to death by the local cops the
moment they started to be a nuisance.
Reckoning:
alas, the pain of being a serial killer. Never mind all the dead
women, he's so, like, soulful.
Think Like a Dog:
looks like more disposable kidvid. Probably fine for undemanding
children.
Becky:
this looks as if it has some potential: Home Alone with a dose of
realism. Not convinced by the cartoonish overblown villain but it
might work.
Shirley:
horrible people are horrible.
The King of Staten Island:
looks like more manchild-as-hero; I suppose there might be something
more to it, but I don't see it here.
John Lewis - Good
Trouble:
biopics aren't usually my thing, but this might well work.
Center Stage:
but we already know that the dancer's life is hell. Are you going to
show us why it's worth doing anyway? (Ideally not just "lots of
athletic sex".)
Unhinged:
ah, it's Duel only with a budget. Meh.
Sniper - Assassin's End:
this is number eight in the series, according to IMDb. So I assume
they used any original plots they might have had some time ago.
Roger Waters - Us + Them Concert Film:
I'm not a great fan, but I suppose it may be worth seeing if you are.
Da 5 Bloods:
unlike most ageing male directors, Spike Jones still has interesting
things to say. Not sure if this is one of them, but there's hope.
Coyote:
there's a lot of setup here. The question is, will it have an actual
conclusion, or will it be like most TV series, strung out with extra
seasons until the ratings drop and then quietly disposed of?
Monsterland:
might be great, but somehow it doesn't grab me. Perhaps because it's
introducing eight separate sets of characters so there's no room for
anything but stereotype.
The Adventures of Paddington:
nothing to do with the recent semi-live-action films, this looks like
generic kidvid. Insert character licensing fee here.
Antebellum:
looks more intriguing than the first trailer, and that looked fairly
intriguing.
Force of Nature:
that's an awful lot of C4 for one tiny little domestic door. That's
not "poomph", that's "dude, where's the second floor?". Looks like
enjoyable rubbish. Pity it's Mel Gibson though.
The Old Guard:
has the air of a comic adaptation… ah, yes, so it is. It's the
simplistic narration, the blatant and clichéd villains… yeah, I guess
the comics for smart people don't get chosen for filming, or they get
reduced to this when they are.
The Outpost:
just in case you thought you might enjoy the heroic war film, let's
wrap it in a frame story to show that nobody came out of it well.
There are better ways to do this.
Tenet:
OK, less of the smart thriller the first trailer was trying to look
like, but if Nolan can resist the urge to crap his artistic vision all
over it it might come out well.
Viena and the Fantomes:
just the cast introduction shots tells me this is about poverty
and desperation, and probably incompetent criminality. Apparently it's
a musical too.
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