Crazy Rich Asians
Funny, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how rom-coms have been a dead(ish) genre for a while. Every now and then we’ll get something like Trainwreck, and The Big Sick, but the actual “rom” part of the rom-com is really just a subplot at best. It’s been a long time since we had a pure, unabashed (and good) rom-com.
A good chunk of my Twitter has been going nuts about this particular movie ever since it was announced. Apparently, it’s based on a book. But anyway, this looks like it could be a lot of fun, and it’s nice to see it satisfy an audience that has largely been underserved. I really hope the movie lives up to everyone’s expectations.
Crazy Rich Asians will be released in theaters on August 17th.
Venom
“That guy you work for is an evil person,” he says with a slight twinge of an uptalk, as if he was asking her a question.
I mean, yikes. This looks rough, and I’m trying my best to be kind here since this is only a trailer, but man, these trailers are not doing this movie any favors. It almost seems like one of those weirdly over-the-top comic book or cheap sci-fi movies from the mid-to-late 2000s, and I can’t tell if that’s on purpose or not. From the questionable acting ticks, the laughable lines, the cringey “Embrace Your Inner Anti-Hero” title cards in the trailer, it all just looks very…not good.
Granted, this was never going to be for me. I was never a fan of this character, and the only time I was somewhat interested in him was in Spider-Man 3, so my opinion matters zilch here. But surely, this wasn’t what fans had in mind, right? There’s gotta be more to this, right? With a cast like this? I just don’t know. Nothing about this is inspiring any confidence in me.
Venom will hit theaters on October 5th.
Sanju
One thing I hope to do on this site more and more is talk about Indian cinema, and not just Bollywood stuff. At the very least, I’ll always try my best to bring attention to Indian films to folks who might not normally see these.
However, I don’t know if this will be one of those, since this is pretty inside baseball. Sanju is a biopic of the very popular (and controversial) movie star, Sanjay Dutt, who has had a career spanning well over three decades. I can’t really make any one-to-one comparisons, but imagine if a Hollywood studio made a biopic about Robert Downey Jr. starring Andrew Garfield or something. Again, not comparing anyone here, but just giving you an idea of just how weird this whole thing is.
The actor playing Sanjay Dutt is Ranbir Kapoor, who is very talented and has a lot of range, but I’m curious what the approach to this is, especially given that Sanjay Dutt had some slight involvement in the production as a consultant. This director, Rajkumar Hirani, has worked with Dutt on his first two films, and he has gone on to do some highly acclaimed work such as 3 Idiots, which might seem familiar to some of you since it was one of those rare crossover hits.
So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one. It has the potential to be something really interesting, and I’ll be sure to report on it as soon as I’m able.
Sanju will be released in India and the UK on June 29th, I don’t think a US release date has been set yet.
Leave No Trace
This is from Debra Granik, the Oscar nominated filmmaker of Winter’s Bone back in 2010, and she has finally made a new film. It seems to explore similar settings and characters, so I guess she has a particular interest in the lives of small town folks and their relationship to the wilderness around them. It also looks like a better version of films like Captain Fantastic or The Glass Castle. Ben Foster is the star, along with newcomer, Thomasin McKenzie, and he’s always been one of those actors who are able to shine through even in bad films. There’s not a whole lot else to say about this one, but I am looking forward to it.
Leave No Trace will be released June 29th.
The Tale
The word on this movie when it premiered at Sundance was so overwhelmingly positive that there was even talk of Oscar potential. Unfortunately, that won’t happen since it got picked up by HBO, but at the end of the day, all that matters is the movie and nothing else.
It’s an autobiographical from writer/director, Jennifer Fox, where her film counterpart, played by Laura Dern, dives into her past in order to re-examine her first sexual experience and face the daunting questions about what your memories do to itself to keep you going. So, a very timely story, and one that is a necessary to explore. I’ve been anticipating this one for a while, and it’s coming very soon, so I think you should keep an eye out for this as well.
The Tale will air on HBO on May 26th.
Smallfoot
This looks pretty cute. I think in recent years, Warner Animation Group have really come into their own by taking the smart, fast-paced, irreverence of their old stuff like Looney Tunes, and applying it to their family films with the likes of the various LEGO movies, and Storks, which is a severely underrated film.
This one is directed and co-written by Karey Kirkpatrick, who has been involved with animation going all the way back to being a writer on Rescuers Down Under back in 1990. So, this guy is clearly a veteran filmmaker here, and despite some hit-and-miss in his filmography, I’d like to think Warner Animation Group has good quality control, especially considering the producers include the director duo, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. I’m sure at the very least, it’ll be a good time.
Smallfoot will be released on September 28th.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
Gus Van Sant is a pretty hit-or-miss filmmaker, but he almost always swings for the fences, so he has remained an interesting and compelling voice in American independent cinema. This one is based on the memoir by cartoonist/musician, John Callahan, played here by Joaquin Phoenix (who already made one very memorable turn very recently).
The film definitely looks fascinating, and the cast is great. It’s also worth noting that this is the first writing credit from Gus Van Sant since his 2007 film, Paranoid Park. Based on how this trailer goes, it looks like the film will keep things fairly light, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it has some heartbreak waiting under its sleeve. I don’t know much about John Callahan, so a lot of this will be new to me.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot will be released July 13th.
Woman Walks Ahead
This looks like it could be neat. In a way, it seems like a rebuttal to those white saviour movies where some white guy becomes an honorary member of an oppressed group and basically helps them win. At least, I hope that’s what this is. It doesn’t seem like Jessica Chastain’s character ever gets actively involved in the conflict between the Chief and the Colonel.
But it’s still going to be a tough balance, and I’m curious if a film with a story so distinctly American being handled by a British writer (Steven Knight) and director (Susanna White) is the best choice to tell this story. Just look at what happened when a similar thing happened with Three Billboards, a movie that I like, but still suffers from a lack of nuance in a very specific American racial dynamic that got the movie in a lot of heat. Either way, I’m open to this, and I hope it makes all the right decisions.
Woman Walks Ahead will be released June 29th.
Sharp Objects
It’s been well over two years since it was announced that Amy Adams would star as the lead in this miniseries from Marti Noxon and Jean-Marc Vallée, which is adapted from the novel by Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl fame. In fact, it’s been so long that I almost thought this had already come and gone, but then I realized I was thinking about that Dark Places movie, which I haven’t seen, and going by the box office, neither did anyone else.
But anyway, this looks pretty cool. I have no idea what it’s about, but Gillian Flynn seems to have a knack for subversive, grimy genre pieces led by women, and I am always in the mood for stuff like that. It also doesn’t help that Amy Adams is one of the very best of the biz, and her involvement alone is worth giving this some attention.
No specific release date was given, but the miniseries will begin airing on HBO in July.
Dear White People – Vol. 2
Another series that’s definitely worth getting excited for. I quite liked Justin Simien’s film of the same name, but when he basically remade it into the first season of the Netflix show, he really outdid himself. And now, we have a whole new season with an all new story, and I’m excited to see where this goes. The show has been among my favorites on Netflix, so if Simien and his crew for this season are able to keep it up, this could be something really special. Check out the first season if you haven’t already.
Dear White People Vol. 2 will be unleashed on Netflix on May 4th.
Yellowstone
Jeez, has Taylor Sheridan had any sleep in the past few years? It feels like he’s releasing project after project after project, and I don’t know how he finds the time to do literally anything else. And now he has a whole series that he is set to write and direct. I’ve mostly liked his work thus far. He’s working with a pretty great cast here including Gil Birmingham, who has been excellent in a couple of Sheridan’s previous films. They must have a solid working relationship, and I kinda hope he gets to be a lead one day.
But anyway, the series is going to air on the Paramount Network, formerly Spike TV, and it follows a family of Ranchers who are constantly dealing with the troubles of having to handle a ranch as big as theirs, often including conflicts with land developers, an Indian reservation, etc. I don’t know why, but I get a Dallas-esque soapy vibe from this. If this is basically a soap opera with occasional Sheridan style idiosyncrasies and shootouts, then consider me intrigued.
Puzzle
This looks really nice. I’m always excited whenever I see Irrfan Khan pop up in an English language movie, and him and Kelly Macdonald look like a neat pairing. This is a remake of a 2010 Argentinian film, which I haven’t seen, but heard some good things about. Doesn’t seem like the kind of movie to warrant a remake, but I’m curious about this.
It’s directed by Marc Turtletaub, who is mostly known as an indie producer behind stuff like Little Miss Sunshine, Loving, Safety Not Guaranteed, Everything is Illuminated, Sunshine Cleaning, etc. So, it’ll be interesting to see what he’s like when he’s behind the camera. Plus, it’s written by Oren Moverman, who has one heck of a filmography.
Puzzle will hit select theater July 13th.
Disneynature’s Penguins
It’s kind of insane to me that Disney – or Disneynature, to be specific – has the audacity to show clips of cute animals only for you to realize you have to wait a whole year to see it. Oddly enough, they don’t have a release this year. I was meant to be Dolphins, but for some unknown reason, it got scrapped on the week of release, and postponed until further notice.
Now, if we’re being real here, we’re not missing much. These movies are only educational on a fairly basic, elementary school level. But they are at the very least consistently well made, amusing, and adorable. I love penguins, so consider me excited to see this next year. I wonder what celebrity they’re gonna get to do the obnoxiously cutesy voice over.
Disneynature’s Penguins will be released on April 19, 2019.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments below!