Trailer Talk: Scream, The Black Phone, and more!

Scream

I gotta be honest, I was never that into the Scream movies. All due respect to the brilliant Wes Craven, but I thought he did the meta approach better with New Nightmare, and the Scream movies were just a more mainstream, watered down version of those same ideas. I don’t find them particularly amusing, nor very thrilling. Not sure if this is a hot take, but that’s how I’ve felt about this series. Watching this trailer is a very weird experience since the meta element seems almost completely removed, along with the humor, which is weird because the filmmakers did Ready Or Not, which is a great horror comedy. Maybe it’s just the way the trailer is edited, I can’t say I’m super sold on this, but I’m always willing to give anything a shot.

Scream hits theaters on January 14th, 2022.

The Black Phone

I feel like this shows just a bit too much, but it still looks super promising. I generally like Scott Derrickson’s work a lot, especially when collaborating with C. Robert Cargill. I love the idea here, and the different dynamics that he’s playing with. And Ethan Hawke as the villain is just terrific, I love it already. We have to wait a bit for this one, but I’m excited to see it.

The Black Phone will open in theaters on February 4th.

Zeroes And Ones

Well, that certainly looks intense. Leave it to Abel Ferrara to actually come up with a clever conceit to make a film during the pandemic. It’s interesting to see him go from his usual recent collabs with Willem Dafoe to Ethan Hawke with this one, as they do have a vaguely similar energy as performers, at least, that’s how I feel. I’m sure this trailer is more fast paced and propulsive than the film itself, going by Ferrara’s typical vibe. I’m still interested, he’s a terrific filmmaker, and anything he makes is usually worth a look.

Zeroes And Ones will be released in select theaters and VOD platforms on November 19th.

Home Sweet Home Alone

Yeah, this doesn’t look good, but I’m not mad about it or anything. It’s a straight-to-Disney+ movie, so the odds of this having any impact over the “legacy” of the original is practically zero. There’s a lot that doesn’t work about this trailer, but I’m sure you can figure all that out for yourself, but as for what does work…I think Archie Yates is a very charming lead, and with a better script and production values, I’m sure he would be great in a Home Alone reboot. But this looks like such a no-effort production, so I’m not gonna waste my time with it.

Home Sweet Home Alone premieres exclusively on Disney+ on November 12th.

Robin Robin

Oh, yeah, this looks great! Love Aardman, so it’s great to see them make a full on musical. The songs sound really funny, the story is amusing, the animation is on point as expected, and it just looks like a really good time. Aardman has rarely let me down, and while I wish I could see and appreciate their work on the big screen, I’m glad Netflix has seemingly given them a platform to just do their thing. Can’t wait for this!

Robin Robin hits Netflix on November 24th.

Colin In Black And White

I don’t really follow sports that much, so I’m only vaguely aware of the stuff that Colin Kaepernick has been through since he first kneeled during the national anthem. I don’t know much about his life before that, so this looks like it could provide some interesting insight into that, especially with him narrating everything. Though, I worry it will only present a sanitized version of his story with any rough edges scrubbed clean. But I suppose it’s less about him as an individual and more about the ideas he wants to get across through his activism, and how they relate to his childhood, which is certainly an interesting approach to this kind of story. Might give this one a shot.

Colin In Black And White will be released on Netflix on October 29th.

Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!