Creed II
I can’t imagine the pressure that director, Steven Caple Jr., is feeling right now having to follow up Ryan Coogler’s masterwork. I loved Creed, so I’m of course highly anticipating this. However, I’m also keeping my expectations on check. I haven’t been fully on board with the whole movie being about Creed fighting Ivan Drago’s son in the ring. Sure, a part of me will get a kick out of seeing the Creed series slowly getting as ridiculous as the original Rocky series, but on the other hand, Creed was something really different and special, despite using a familiar template, and I’d hate to see all that potential go to waste. Not much else to say about the trailer. It’s solid stuff, and I hope for the best.
Creed II will be released in theaters November 21st.
Welcome To Marwen
I was wondering for a while about how this doesn’t really feel particularly “Zemeckis-y,” until the dolls came to life, and then I was like, OK, you have my attention. I think Robert Zemeckis might be the only director who can pull off such a bizarre conceit. However, all the interesting creative choices looks like it’s all ultimately in service of the standard “look at how inspiring this guy dealing with a physical/psychological ailment is” narrative, which I’m not as excited about.
I certainly hope it digs deeper than that, since I know Zemeckis is more than capable of it, but I can also easily imagine this whole movie going horribly wrong. It’s also worth noting that this is the second film Zemeckis has made after The Walk that was inspired by an acclaimed documentary, this one being the 2010 doc called Marwencol. And since this movie brings up the subject of Nazis, I’d like to take a quick moment to recommend checking out his last film, Allied. It’s really great, and hardly anyone saw it.
Welcome To Marwen will be released on November 21st.
Nobody’s Fool
OK, two major observations here. One, this has to be the first time I’ve seen a Tyler Perry movie that doesn’t feature the “Tyler Perry’s” over the title, right? They straight up snuck his name for the very end here, which is so strange to me. I did a little research and found that this will be first film distributed by a studio that isn’t Lionsgate. This film is distributed by Paramount Pictures, so maybe this was something their marketing team, I’m not entirely sure, but it’s kind of fascinating.
And for the second thing, this trailer went somewhere that I definitely wasn’t expecting, so I am somewhat curious here. Like most people, I loved Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip, but this feels like one of those movies you get when a comedian hits big and begins showing up in projects that don’t necessarily offer them the best material. I hope it’s not, but this particular style of comedy is something I haven’t seen from Tyler Perry, so I don’t know if he can pull it off. But hey, between this, Acrimony, and his turn as Colin Powell in Adam McKay’s Backseat, it’s going to be an interesting year for him.
Nobody’s Fool will hit theaters November 2nd.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Funny how this and Creed II both save, what is ostensibly, the hook for the very end of their trailers. It is an interesting hook, though. I can see this working, but I can also see how it might come across more fully formed as a book, as opposed to a film. It can still be fun. It does look like Lana Condor gets to show off a whole lot more range than she ever got the opportunity for as Jubilee in the last X-Men movie. The movie looks cute, and that’s kind of all I got. I hope it’s good.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before will hit Netflix August 17th.
Skate Kitchen
This is from, Crystal Moselle, the director of the fantastic documentary, The Wolfpack, and this will serve as her first narrative feature, but it’s also another first – the first film adapted from an Instagram feed, so it’s not like she isn’t out of touch with her documentary roots with some of her choices here. This looks right up my alley, and a fascinating look into a unique group of people. Jaden Smith kind of stands out among unknowns, but if used well, he can bring a crazy energy to a project like he did with The Get Down. This looks really good.
Skate Kitchen will hit select theaters August 10th.
Flavors Of Youth
This trailer doesn’t tell you much, but according to Netflix, it’s about “the simple joys of life through sensual memories and how the beating heart of love cannot be defeated by the flow of time,” which sounds…neat? It’s from the same producers and studio behind the excellent Your Name, who teamed up with three Chinese filmmakers, one of whom actually did some work on Your Name.
While it doesn’t give much in terms of what each story might be, I’m very curious about it. I find myself being drawn to anime that keeps the fantasy/supernatural stuff to a minimum. The simple, human dramas have a quietness and melancholy to them that I rarely find in western films, so I like to catch films like this just for that vibe alone. So, this definitely has my attention.
Flavors Of Youth will begin streaming on Netflix August 4th.
Tau
So, it’s like a hostage movie, except the thing holding people is an A.I. system in a futuristic house owned by Ed Skrein? I’ve liked Maika Monroe a lot in everything I’ve seen her in, but this isn’t looking particularly great. Gary Oldman’s voice as the A.I., Tau just doesn’t do it for me at all, and actually makes it somewhat amusing more than anything else. Plus, it looks like there isn’t much to it. Granted, the trailer could be edited to make the film seem more shallow than it actually is, but this isn’t doing it any favors.
Tau will be available on Netflix June 29th.
Like Father
Yeah, I know there’s lots of Netflix trailers today, but it’s kind of a slow week.
So, I like the cast a lot, and the hook is solid, but as this trailer went on, it kind of started to lose me. Not in that it looks terrible, but after a while, it looks like there’s a lot of that “we’re just gonna film these actors on vacation” feel to a lot of the footage here, and those rarely turn out great. But the moments in between when it digs into the relationship between Kristen Bell’s character and her father, played by Kelsey Grammer. It could be nice, but this isn’t something I’m holding my breath for.
Like Father will be available on Netflix August 3rd.
Any thoughts on the trailers? Feel free to leave a comment below!