Snake Eyes
I’m actually really excited for this. Not because I have any attachment to the G.I. Joe property – I very much don’t, but I am excited because of a lot of the people involved. I love Henry Golding, I’m pumped to see Samara Weaving here, Iko Uwais’ involvement is also very cool, and I believe its the first big movie for Andrew Koji, who I recently discovered after binging the excellent series, Warrior. And the biggest show of promise is Kenji Tanigaki (famous for his stunt and fight choreography on a ton of Hong Kong action movies, especially those featuring Donnie Yen) is the fight coordinator and second unit director for this. There’s a lot of cool talent involved, and this little glimpse we got here has me sold.
Snake Eyes hits theaters on July 23rd.
Dear Evan Hansen
I recall seeing this trailer cause a bit of a ruckus online. Apparently, everyone was under the impression that this was some kind of coming out story or something instead of a World’s Greatest Dad riff for tweens. Honestly, I’m totally fine with that, I’d rather have something more bold and complicated than another story about an upper middle class white boy coming out of the closet. My problem with this is the filmmaking. Everything about this movie’s language and aesthetics don’t support the idea of musical numbers existing here. Granted, I don’t know if this features big sprawling numbers or merely a few intimate solos, but I feel either way, it doesn’t feel right. I do generally love musicals, but this doesn’t really look like my cup of tea. I’ll give it a shot, though. But I will say, Ben Splatt is way too old to play a role that only worked when he played it on the Broadway show over half a decade ago.
Dear Evan Hansen opens in theaters on September 24th.
Fear Street
I’m pumped for this. While I don’t have any connection to the books, this is directed by Leigh Janiak, who directed this great little indie horror film in 2014 called Honeymoon, which I highly recommend, and she hasn’t worked on a film since. Now she’s coming out with a whole trilogy of movies, and that’s really exciting to me. I know nothing of this story, so I don’t know what to expect. Obviously, there’s a witch’s curse element, which has been done many times before, but it looks like they’re putting a cool spin on it. I’m very excited for this.
Fear Street Part One: 1994, Part Two: 1978, and Part Three: 1666 will be released on Netflix on July 2nd, 9th, and 16th, respectively.
Skater Girl
This looks cute. It seems like a fairly straightforward feel-good movie, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. A lot of this looks really interesting to me, and with the lines that some of these kids have, man, they are really charming. This is co-written and directed by Manjari Makijany, who is not someone I recognize, but upon a little research, it looks like she’s the daughter of Mac Mohan and the cousin of Raveena Tandon (they’re very big figures in Bollywood, in case you didn’t know). I don’t have much else to say about this, I’m not expecting my mind to be blown, but it looks really solid. I’ll definitely check this out.
Skater Girl will be released on Netflix on June 11th.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
While I wouldn’t call any of them great, I have enjoyed all three Hotel Transylvania films. A lot of it does have to do with the animation. Genndy Tartakovsky’s style and energy is so cool and fun to watch that it ultimately does most of the heavy lifting. He doesn’t seem to be directing this time around – the honor of that goes to Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon, though, he still has a writing credit. The premise here is really amusing, and could certainly lead to some great comedy. I laughed at some of these gags more than I thought I would. Again, I’m not expecting this to change the world, but I’m sure it’ll be a good time.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania will be released in theaters on July 23rd.
Good On Paper
Iliza Shlesinger has really carved a space for herself with Netflix, between all her comedy specials, her sketch show, and her appearances in films like Spenser Confidential and Pieces Of A Woman. She’s been in the game for over a decade now, but it was only recently that I’ve started really noticing her, and I dig her vibe in the couple of things that I saw her in. She also wrote the script for this, apparently basing it off one of her standup routines about a guy she actually dated. I also like Ryan Hansen, he was great on Veronica Mars, and he’s got good comedic timing. Plus, you got Margaret Cho! It just looks like a real good time.
Good On Paper hits Netflix on June 23rd.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!