Trailers! Trailers! Mid-Summer 2019 Edition

A slew of trailers for Oscar season hopefuls and other fall releases have been released recently, so I thought I'd get some thoughts down on a few titles I'm looking forward to. All links lead to Trailer Addict or Youtube.

The Goldfinch - I'm torn between wanting to find out as much as I can about the film and going on a restricted information diet so I can enjoy any surprises in store. The announced cast and crew point to a very high level of execution, but the plot remains intriguingly undefined. I know that it's a coming of age story based on a highly lauded, but also much derided novel. Ansel Elgort is starring, which is a plus. John Crowley is directing, which is another. If nothing else, Roger Deakins will make sure it all looks amazing.

In Fabric - It's been too long since the last Peter Strickland film. He makes movies like no one else, and his latest is about a woman played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste and a killer dress. Literally. This looks to be another throwback to Italian giallo, but a pulpier one than anything we've seen from Strickland so far. There are some interesting - and probably accidental - visual parallels to Jordan Peele's "Us," and I can't help wondering if the two films might make for a good double feature.

Doctor Sleep - It's funny. I knew that "Doctor Sleep" was Stephen King's sequel to "The Shining" and I knew that a film adaptation was coming. However, it didn't really occur to me that this meant "Doctor Sleep" would be positioned as a sequel to Kubrick's "The Shining," and be able to borrow and reference its iconic visuals. Director Mike Flanagan appears to be taking full advantage, and based on his recent work on horror adaptations for Netflix, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about this one.

Ford v. Ferrari - Bale and Damon and a lot of fast cars? Sure, why not. "Rush" was a fantastic film featuring some great performances. I'm not a racing fan, but I enjoy a good onscreen rivalry, and I've come to appreciate sports films as dependably pleasant, low key historical dramas that usually feature colorful characters. I'm actually more interested now, knowing that Bale and Damon aren't playing Ford and Ferrari, and their characters are actually on the same side. James Mangold will be directing this as his follow-up to "Logan."

Ad Astra - I've been hearing a lot of buzz for this one, reportedly James Gray's passion project, but I wasn't really sold on it. Gray is known for smaller budget fare, and a space adventure thriller didn't seem to be in his wheelhouse at all. However, nothing about "Ad Astra" looks cheap, and we really don't see enough of Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones onscreen these days. I'm hoping that this will be something in the vein of "The Martian" or "Arrival," a hard sci-fi prestige pic that uses the genre trappings to say something more meaningful.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - Yeah, it looks pretty awful, but I'm going to watch this for the production design and costuming, the way I do with all the recent Disney live-action junk. Maybe we'll get to see Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer face off, and maybe we'll get Maleficent's scary castle and minions this time around. I just can't resist gaudy fairy tale vamping.

Joker - A one-off "Joker" movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, directed by the guy who did the "Hangover" movies? How is this going to work? Well, the trailer reveals that it's a psychological thriller and period piece that looks like a "Taxi Driver" and "The King of Comedy" homage, complete with Robert DeNiro in the role of the talk show host. There are Scorsese easter eggs everywhere. This has shot up to one of my most anticipated films of the year, and the trailer itself is now one of my favorites. That slow reveal of Phoenix's smiling mug is so wonderfully creepy, and I love the use of Chaplin's "Smile."

Terminator: Dark Fate - I never thought of Mackenzie Davis as a potential action star, but this works. She looks fabulous as the new terminator. However, the main event is getting Arnold and Linda Hamilton back onscreen. And though Tim Miller is in the directing chair, James Cameron is producing and contributed to the story. I didn't really expect another entry into the "Terminator" franchise so soon after the ill-considered "Genisys," but I'm game for this one because of its pedigree. It's not like anyone involved is getting any younger.

Onward - I don't like anything about this trailer, not the goofy designs, not the way the concept is being executed, and not the characters being introduced. It looks like something from Dreamworks or Illumination, not PIXAR. Then again, this teaser really isn't showing us much, and I was similarly unimpressed by teasers for "Coco" and "Zootopia," which I ended up loving. We're just going to have to wait and see.

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