Summer of ’84
I’m kind of torn on this. On one hand, it looks about as generic a throwback that you can possibly make. On the other hand, it’s by the Canadian trio, François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, who made the fun, charming, and inventive 2015 film, Turbo Kid. So, while the trailer isn’t as promising as I would like, I’m hoping that maybe the film itself will reflect the strangeness of the group’s last film. I feel like we’re beginning to reach a point where 80’s nostalgia isn’t enough to sell a movie. I mean, remember how not big a deal Ready Player One turned out to be for our collective pop culture consciousness?
Summer of ’84 will be released on August 3rd.
King of Thieves
It took me a second before I realized this is directed by James Marsh, the Oscar nominated director of The Theory of Everything. It feels way less heavy, that’s for sure. I do like what I see here. The cast is really good, and I especially look forward to whatever Ray Winstone does here. This has been quite a year for heist movies with Ocean’s 8, Den of Thieves, The Hurricane Heist, American Animals, the upcoming Widows, and – to a degree – Solo, and it looks like this will be a fun addition to that.
This film is also written by Joe Penhall, who adapted The Road back in 2009, and was a creator and writer on the amazing Netflix series, Mindhunter. Like I mentioned earlier, it seems pretty light considering the people involved. Maybe there’s a darker edge that the trailer is hiding? Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. But I am very interested.
King of Thieves will be released in the UK on September 14th; a US release date has not been set yet.
Father of the Year
There is no reason for any trailer for a Happy Madison production to be almost three minutes long. There’s not much I can really say about this one. It looks and feels just like every other movie of this type. It’s just not for me. If you like this kind of stuff, more power to you.
Father of the Year will hit Netflix on July 20th.
Juliet, Naked
This looks really charming and funny, if a touch derivative, but that’s OK since the plot isn’t what’s selling it, it’s the actors, and the actors all look great. Ethan Hawke’s been having a pretty good year so far with the acclaimed First Reformed, and his own directorial effort coming later this year, Blaze. Plus, while I’m not super familiar with the director and writers here, I do recognize the name Nick Hornby, and whenever his name pops up in any project, whether writing it or it being an adaptation of a book of his, usually turns out pretty damn good. So, in that respect, this is something I look forward to.
Juliet, Naked will be released in theaters August 17th.
In-rang
Yes, I know the trailer isn’t in English and there are no subtitles, but I thought I’d put it here anyway for one big reason. This is the latest film from the South Korean filmmaker, Kim Jee-woon. He made great films like A Tale of Two Sisters, I Saw the Devil, The Last Stand, The Age of Shadows, and of course, The Good, The Bad, The Weird.
This is a live-action adaptation of the 1999 anime, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. I haven’t seen the original, but I heard it’s good, and it’s apparently good enough that I was able to recognize the costumes and the image of the red eyes coming out of the dark without even knowing the context of it. I’m mostly excited to see what Kim Jee-woon does with the material, he’s a talented filmmaker, and while I don’t understand what’s going on in the trailer, it looks pretty stellar.
In-rang will be released in South Korea on July 25th; a US release date has not been set yet.
Disenchantment
Not a lot of movie trailers were released this week, so I thought I’d throw this in here. I was really excited for this show because Matt Groening has been practically shaped and molded my comedic sensibilities through years of watching The Simpsons and Futurama, however, I was disappointed to hear his dismissive reaction to the whole Apu controversy. It’s not enough to make me avoid the show entirely, but I’ve lost a lot of my initial enthusiasm.
As far as this teaser goes, it’s solid in setting up the general vibe of the show, and of course, hearing the voices of Maurice LaMarche and John DiMaggio brings a big smile to my face. It looks like there’s a lot of potential here, even with what little we’re shown, so I do hope the series turns out great.
Disenchantment will begin streaming on Netflix August 17th.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!