The Predator
Look, The Predator is one of my most anticipated films of the year, and even I can tell you this isn’t a great teaser. It suffers a similar problem to that Venom teaser we had a while back, which is that there isn’t a big money shot or wow moment. It needed just one image to get people really excited.
But another issue is that there isn’t much personality to this, which really shouldn’t be the case since Shane Black is the writer and director, and that guy is a personality machine gun. It’s probably because it’s so busy trying to cut in a lot of action beats without letting a moment sink in like it did with the opening and the ship crashing. If you look at the trailer for The Nice Guys, it allows moments to breathe so we can get a sense of the characters and the tone. This doesn’t do that, so of course it will look bland. I’ll definitely talk about the main trailer once that comes about, and while this isn’t a good first impression, I’m still excited to see the film.
The Predator will be released on September 14th.
Never Goin’ Back
This looks like a lot of fun! Part stoner comedy, part celebration of female friendship, young adult shenanigans, it looks like it’s got everything. I wonder if writer/director, Augustine Frizzell (who is making her debut here), took inspiration from those low budget slacker comedies from the 90s independent boom because it looks like it could easily fit right in with that crowd. Either way, this looks good, A24 is pretty damn reliable with the films they pick up, so I’m looking forward to this one.
Never Goin’ Back will hit theaters August 3rd.
The Catcher Was A Spy
I haven’t read any specifics, but the word on this movie has been rather mixed. But I’m still very curious because it just seems so odd. A WWII espionage thriller starring…Paul Rudd? Strange choice, but you know what, it’s so out of left field, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Plus, as a history buff, it’ll be fascinating to see the story of Moe Berg being brought to the big screen for the first time. I hope this is good.
The Catcher Was A Spy will open in theaters and VOD June 22nd.
Searching
Ah, so we’re starting to see other films take a page from the Unfriended style of storytelling. That’s very interesting. I admired Unfriended more than actually enjoying it, so I’m curious to see if that changes with this or if this form is really just limited. I can’t help but think John Cho deserves better than this, but I’m sure he had a good time experimenting with this style.
Plus, gotta support a fellow desi. The film is co-written and directed by Aneesh Chaganty, who is making his feature length debut here. There’s good word of mouth following its premier at Sundance earlier this year, so consider me intrigued.
Searching will hit theaters August 3rd.
Dog Day
In case Todd Solondz’s Weiner-Dog was too miserable of an experience for you.
This look cute, and Ken Marino showed some solid directing chops with How to Be a Latin Lover, so sure, I think this will be just fine.
Weirdly enough, it’s listed as a drama on IMDb, but a comedy on the trailer description, so I’m not sure about the tone this will go for. However, it’s got a decent enough cast, and it’s really hard to resist a movie that’s basically all about celebrating the joy dogs bring.
Dog Days will be released August 10th.
Adrift
This seems a bit been-there-done-that, but it might still work. Baltasar Kormákur is a solid director, and he’s working with a good cast here. I can dig an oceanic survival movie every now and then. The last really good one was probably J.C. Chandor’s All is Lost, which was back in 2013. So, we’re about due for another good one of these. The romance element between Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin might be what makes or breaks the movie, and I think they’re both good enough actors to pull it off. I’m not excited for this by any means, but it could be a nice surprise.
Adrift will be released June 1st.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
I’m gonna keep this short because I know this movie has its fans. I don’t have a problem with fluff like this, and I’m sure the movie has its charms, but my idea of fun doesn’t include a bunch of actors butchering all my favorite ABBA songs. If I want to watch a fun movie with a heavy ABBA soundtrack, I’ll watch Muriel’s Wedding, thank you very much.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again will be released on July 20th.
Luke Cage Season 2
Yeah, this trailer kicks a lot of ass. But it is worth remembering that this is a Marvel Netflix show, so I’m fully prepared to love the first half, and be bored to tears for the second. I think Jessica Jones Season 1 and The Punisher are the only ones that kept me engaged for the entire season, but even they had their issues.
But Mike Colter is a wonderful screen presence, and it’ll be cool to finally see Simone Missick’s Misty Knight get her bionic arm. I hope this season gets a good momentum going unlike a lot of the other Netflix Marvel shows, but I’m not holding my breath. At least, I know the soundtrack will be great.
Luke Cage Season 2 will be available on Netflix June 22nd.
Arrested Development Season 5
I don’t know if the Season 4 “remix” that was released improved on the season, but I do remember liking it just fine, even if it never reached the heights of the show at its peak. With this, the trailer honestly doesn’t do much for me. It’s a lot of callbacks, and the jokes in it aren’t particularly funny, so I can’t say I’m fully on board at the moment, though it can certainly change with a better trailer down the line.
Also, I don’t know if it was a smart move to bring Jeffrey Tambor back given the allegations he’s faced recently. I find it odd since he is no longer a part of Amazon’s Transparent, and they even went as far as removing him from Emmy consideration, yet Netflix doesn’t seem to have a problem with him being here despite the fact that they went out of their way to get rid of Kevin Spacey from House of Cards and Danny Masterson from The Ranch. I’m curious if his continued involvement here will effect the show in terms of views in any way. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Arrested Development Season 5 will begin streaming on Netflix on May 29th.
Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!