Not Okay
This doesn’t appear to be based on a particular individual, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about people who have faked being part of a tragedy. Still, I think this is a really cool concept for a character study, and Zoey Deutch is a perfect choice for this kinda role. She’s always gives it 110% in everything she’s in, so I can’t wait to see this. Haven’t seen Quinn Shepard’s first film, Blame, though I heard it was pretty decent. Cool to see someone fairly young get the opportunity for a risky, original studio picture like this.
Not Okay streams exclusively on Hulu on July 29th.
Smile
For such a silly premise combined with a director making his feature debut, this looks surprisingly not bad. In fact, it’s pretty creepy. I’m just glad they’re not doing that weird digital effect that they did in that Truth Or Dare movie. It’s just normal smiles, extended as far as humanly possible. That list bit is pretty fun too. I guess that’s the word, it doesn’t look “terrifying” to me, but it does look like a good time, especially if you’re with a crowd.
Smile hits theaters on September 30th.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
Uh…OK. I guess this is a thing. I think once again, we’re given a scenario where it’s clear that not all ideas from childrens’ books translate well to live-action filmmaking. And I think the singing just makes it all worse. The wikipedia page for the books don’t mention anything about music or singing, and that’s the part that sticks out like a sore thumb. I don’t buy for a second that Shawn Mendes’ voice is coming out of that CG crocodile’s mouth, and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind about that. It looks and sounds weird. This comes from Will Speck and Josh Gordon, who are known for comedy, so maybe that element might shine more, but this trailer is…weird.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile opens in theaters on October 7th.
They/Them
Gotta say, hard to get excited for a horror trailer when you see that Peacock logo. Anyway, I’ve been pretty excited for this one since I first heard about it a couple months back. I think the idea is pretty solid, and ripe for commentary, and that title, while not necessarily as applicable to the story as it might initially seem, is too good of a pun to let go. I respect that.
They/Them hits Peacock on August 5th.
I Love My Dad
This is based on a true story? Yikes. I’d hate to have that story become a major motion picture if I was involved in it. But that’s just me, as an outsider, yeah, this is a pretty entertaining premise, and one that I’m surprised hasn’t really been done before. I mean, it’s gotta be good if Magnolia Pictures of all places is putting out a teaser trailer for it. Not a ton to dig into, but I like Patton Oswalt, and Lil Rel Howery has the black best friend role nailed down to a science. Yeah, I’m looking forward to this one.
I Love My Dad opens in select theaters on August 5th before releasing on VOD platforms on August 12th.
Boys
Yeah, this looks pretty amusing, even if some of the jokes feel like they are a solid five years outdated. I like the idea of a queer rom-com in which a vast majority of the cast are in the LGBTQ+ community, and Nicholas Stoller, while not queer as far as I know, is a solid director who has made plenty of films that I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve only been somewhat tangentially exposed to Billy Eichner’s work, so I can’t really speak to how I feel about him, but whenever I’ve seen him in talk shows and appearances on stuff like Impeachment: American Crime Story, I felt he was good. So, yeah, this looks like it’ll be solid.
Boys hits theaters on September 30th.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!