Friday, April 21, 2017

Trailers! Trailers! Spring of 2017 Edition


We're finally getting our first looks at some of the later summer pictures and a couple of the early fall ones too.  There have been some interesting trailers that have popped up in the meantime, so this is as good a time as any to catch up.  I tried to get a better mix of smaller and larger movies this time, I should warn you in advance, dear reader, that I'm unleashing some snark in this installment.

As always, all links below lead to Trailer Addict.


Thor: Ragnarok - And this is why this is my most anticipated superhero movie of the year.  The God of Thunder's previous films have been some of the least interesting of the MCU, but this one looks like so much fun.  The crazy '80s "Flash Gordon" visuals are right.  The humor is right.  The Led Zeppelin is right. And I can't wait for Jeff Goldblum and Cate Blanchett to join in on the silliness.  May this lead to more clout and attention for Taika Waititi, who should come play in the Hollywood sandbox more often.   

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi - There's really not much to talk about here, which is exactly as it should be.  The new ships look great, Mark Hamill is suitably weathered, and all our old favorites are back.  It doesn't live up to the "Force Awakens" teaser trailer, but really, could anything?

Deadpool 2 - This doesn't even have a release date yet, and we have no idea who's playing Cable, but we can expect the Merc and his mouth to return to screens sometime next year.  I have to admit that I'm tickled that FOX put this fairly elaborate little short together so early in the marketing process, but they deserve a victory lap for the previous film's success.

Baby Driver - Edgar Wright's latest looks like a ton of fun.  The trailer just oozes style, the cast is great, and Ansel Elgort looks good in the leading man spot.  The comedy too, is firing on all cylinders.  The entire exchange about the Mike Myers masks just had me on the floor.   I'm also glad to see this being pushed up to a June release date for more visibility.  

Coco - I always welcome more original features from PIXAR, but this one hasn't gotten me very excited yet.  Maybe it's the relative aesthetic similarity to "The Book of Life," or the odd thematic similarities to "Ratatouille," with the kid's hero worship.  In any case, there's something about the teaser that feels oddly generic for PIXAR.  I trust the studio enough to see the film regardless, but this teaser probably had the opposite effect that it was intended to.   

Justice League - Well, well, well, Zack Syder.  Here we are, on the verge of a potentially epic disaster in the making.  It's nice to get a better look at Cyborg, Aquaman, the Flash, and some of the more minor characters but there's nothing here that's actually getting me excited for the team-up. Oh, and putting Amy Adams in such a prominent spot just underlines the inevitability of Superman's resurrection.  It really was a mistake to "kill" him off in the first place.   

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  - Martin McDonagh is back!  And his latest tale of violent revenge heads out to the Midwest, where Frances McDormand is taking no prisoners in her war against the local police for failing to catch her daughter's killers.  The copious amount of swearing indicates that McDonagh hasn't mellowed in the least since "Seven Psychopaths."  I'm very curious about how he'll fare with the change in setting and female lead.  

A Ghost Story - I'd only heard a little about the particulars of the plot when all the buzz from Sundance came out, so I wasn't prepared for something so melancholy and existential.  The image of the ghost, which I'd originally found very Charlie Brown, actually grows on you.  I haven't been a fan of David Lowery's work so far, but the trailer definitely makes me want to give him another chance.  So by any measure it's the most effective one on this list.

War for the Planet of the Apes - Woody Harrelson makes a great addition as the new villain, but it's the personal conflicts among the apes that strike me as the most interesting.  I shouldn't still be surprised at how good the effects work on the ape characters is, but I am.  I'm torn between wanting the series to go out with a bang with a final installment, or wanting it to continue on indefinitely.  Because if any franchise has the chops for it, this does.  

Atomic Blonde - After Imperator Furiosa, it's good to see Charlize Theron sticking around in the action genre for a bit.  I'm looking forward to this far more than her appearance in the latest "Fast and Furious" movie.  Okay, the lesbian love interest is a little eye-rolling, but the fact that it's normalized enough for it to be eye-rolling is a good thing, right?

IT - Okay, I think that's enough trailers for today.
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