I wasn't expecting to put out another "Trailers!" post so soon, but there's been a deluge of interesting promos I want to talk about. All links below lead to the trailers and teasers on Youtube.
Napoleon - Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby look well matched, but the real test here is going to be for Ridley Scott. He's the only director who is still regularly making these big historical epics, and he's still terribly hit or miss. And when he does score a hit, the audience can't be counted on to show up for them. Good for Apple for funding such an ambitious project, but I don't think we're going to be seeing many more like this from Scott.
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - I didn't realize how fond I'd become of the "Hunger Games" until I got another glimpse of its universe here. I'm as happy as anyone that the YA dystopia wave is over, but it was fun in small doses. The cast looks promising - it's good to see Rachel Zegler again, and Viola Davis is always a treat, but the best surprise was the appearance of Jason Schwartzman, who I totally mistook for Stanley Tucci.
Wish - This is a milestone release for Disney Animation, meant to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Disney studio. I'm tentatively excited about the use of both 2D and 3D animation in the film, though what little we see of it in the trailer could use some fine tuning. The cast is great, though, and I like the premise that's been circulating about this being the story of the famous Wishing Star from "Pinocchio" and "The Princess and the Frog."
Killers of the Flower Moon - The long awaited reteaming of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio will look at the murders of native the Osage in the 1920s, and the formation of the FBI. I'd forgotten some of the cast who had been announced, and the sheer scope of this is impressive. This is going to be a much bigger production than I was expecting. The final running time is reported to be over three hours, and I honestly can't wait.
Next Goal Wins - Finally! Disney has delayed the release yet again, but Taika Waititi's soccer comedy is on the slate at last. And it looks like a perfectly charming underdog story in the same vein as "Cool Runnings," with a hapless Michael Fassbender as the coach. Waititi's been so bogged down in genre projects for Disney, it's good to see him go back to one of his main strengths - pleasantly eccentric, cross-cultural comedy.
Dune: Part 2 - This is being set up as a war film, emphasizing the grand scope of the film over interesting characters and ideas. We get glimpses of the new characters - the Emperor, Irulan, Feyd Rautha, and others - but there's no attempt to really introduce them. Instead, we're being primed to follow the ascent of Paul as the Messiah, and I really hope that Villeneuve and friends can pull it off. The source novel lost me in the second half, but the film feels like it could be a different animal.
The Color Purple - I've seen the Spielberg film, but not the stage musical version that the new "Color Purple" will be based on. I imagine that this must be a happier version of the story than the Spielberg film, heavy on the uplift. Hopefully it'll also be closer to the original Alice Walker novel. Oprah's got an executive producer credit, but it doesn't look like anyone from the cast of the first film will have any significant role in the second.
Wonka - I trust Paul King to deliver something watchable, but probably not at the level of his "Paddington" movies. I'm not too fond of needless prequels in general, but I really disliked Tim Burton's 2005 remake, and it's oddly a relief to see something that looks more like the original "Willy Wonka" movie from the 1970s. Timothee Chalamet sounds a little off, but he looks perfect. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one.
Poor Things - I still have no idea what this movie is going to be, but the trailer has convinced me that Yorgos Lanthimos will deliver his trademark oddity in spades. The makeup work alone is unnerving as anything. The bits of story presented here don't quite seem to match the description of the plot we have, but the mad scientist material is so out there, I guess that's no surprise.
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