F9
I love this trailer. They went full soap opera. Not only did they do an out-of-nowhere “he’s your brother” reveal, but they also bring back someone from the dead. Incredible. I love it so much. Having been a touch disappointed by Fate Of The Furious, and finding Hobbs and Shaw amusing, but not as wild as it could have been, I was happy to see Justin Lin come back, and it looks like he’s bringing the series its groove back. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this one.
F9 will hits theaters on May 22nd.
Spiral
I’m sold. I’m not even a huge fan of the Saw series, I’m mostly indifferent more than anything else. However, as soon as I heard Chris Rock wanted to do a new one, I was sure it was all a pipe dream, and it turns out – nope! They went out and actually made it. I’m so glad this exists, whatever it is. I like the Seven vibes, I love that Samuel L. Jackson is in this, and I like that it doesn’t seem to stray too far tonally from what the series is ultimately all about. I don’t know what Chris Rock has in store here, but I’m here for it.
Spiral will be released in theaters on May 15th.
The Jesus Rolls
I don’t understand this weird obsession that John Turturro has been having in revisiting his Jesus character from The Big Lebowski, and on top of that, making his film be a loose remake of the 70s French sex comedy – which, going by its plot description, probably hasn’t aged well – Going Places (or Les Valseuses, the original French title). Given the cast assembled here, it just has that smell of “hey, can I ask you a favor” all over it. I’m not totally sold on it, but I could be wrong, and I hope I am.
The Jesus Rolls his select theaters and VOD platforms on March 6th.
All The Bright Places
Another Netflix teen rom-com. They sure know how to grab a specific market. And admitedly, this does look nice. Elle Fanning and Justice Smith are both very good actors, and could easily make this kind of material work. However, the reason to be excited for this is because it’s directed by Brett Haley, who made films like I’ll See You In My Dreams, The Hero, and Hearts Beat Loud. He has a way of creating these intimate and pleasant movies that really stick with you while keeping things fairly understated. I admire what he does quite a bit, so even though, he didn’t write this, I’m looking forward to what he does here.
All The Bright Places will be available on Netflix on February 28th.
Minions: The Rise Of Gru
Didn’t even realize this was being made, but I guess that shouldn’t be all that surprising since the first Minions crossed the billion dollar mark. I can’t say I have any strong feelings about this. I like the first two Despicable Me movies quite a bit, but I’ve been indifferent towards most of the other additions to that series, including the first Minions movie. Looks harmless enough, I suppose.
Minions: The Rise Of Gru opens in theaters on July 3rd.
The Roads Not Taken
Not a ton to really say about this one, but it has some pretty compelling ingredients – an effective trailer, an acclaimed director, and a solid ensemble cast. Beyond that, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to dig into, especially for a film like this. It looks neat to me, and seemed like something worth highlighting.
The Roads Not Taken opens in select theaters on March 13th.
Marvel’s Disney+ Shows
I was honestly kind of disappointed that the Superbowl didn’t bring any cool, new trailers this year. It was almost all stuff we’ve seen bits of before. And the only exception is the quick glimpses on the new Marvel shows that will hit Disney+ soon. There’s admitedly not a lot to get from this. It definitely looks like they aren’t skimping on the budget, which is nice. Marvel Studios is such a well oiled machine at this point, I don’t have any reason to think these might turn out lackluster, so…yeah, looks like it’ll be good. Still waiting on a What If? trailer, though.
Falcon & Winter Soldier and Wandavision will debut sometime this year, and Loki in early 2021, on Disney+.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!