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November 2016 Movie Trailer Round-Up!
Hey folks!
Sorry about the quiet nature of this blog as of late - real life has kinda cast a pall over the fun nature of what Blast-O-Rama is designed to be, but after some time of working through things, I’m dedicated to making this site a release and a place of excitement and joy.
With that in mind, I’m catching up today with a number of movie trailers released over the past few weeks to share my thoughts (and maybe hear yours!)
La La Land
I’ve been incredibly excited for writer/director Damien Chazelle’s next film since the credits on Whiplash rolled, so to say I’m pumped for this is an understatement. But when you add the fact that it’s an honest to God song-and-dance movie, complete with an incredible cast and some of the most stunning visuals I’ve seen on screen in years, you have a movie that I am chomping at the bit to see.
La La Land hits select theaters on December 9, with a full roll out on December 16. (Opposite Rogue One. Rough.)
Wonder Woman
I really loved the teaser for this film revealed during San Diego Comic Con, and arguably, this trailer for the fourth film in the DC Comics Extended Universe is more of the same. But yet, the focus on Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor gives me pause. For a movie that is supposed to really install Wonder Woman as an absolutely strong female hero, why are we giving so much time and credence to who is, essentially, her male sidekick? We’re paying to see Wonder Woman. We don’t need a dude to make us feel OK.
Wonder Woman is in theaters on June 2, 2017.
The LEGO Batman Movie
Hands down, one of the biggest highlights of The LEGO Movie, beyond the joy of, somehow, a competent film being made about LEGO, was Will Arnett’s egocentric version of the Dark Knight. Audiences loved this version enough that it looks like we’re going to be getting the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight, because of it.
Yes, it’s a family film, but there is such a deep-seeded love of the character that has come through in these trailers (including the HOLY-SHIT-I-REMEMBER-THAT-GUY choice of villains), not to mention some nice jabs at the current state of the hero in pop-culture (SHOTS FIRED AT Batman v Superman!)
I just hope this Batman movie isn’t too inside baseball.
The LEGO Batman Movie arrives on February 10, 2017.
Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets
Oh boy! I’m incredibly excited to see Luc Besson finally do a proper, high-concept sci-fi film, all these years after The Fifth Element. What we see of Valerian here is absolute eye candy, and I want to just immerse my retinas in it, but I am concerned with the one-two cringeworthy punch of Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as our leads. (Delevingne in particular, post Suicide Squad.)
Maybe we’ll be lucky, and like the trailers, the movie will be more spectacle than film, and we can just lose ourselves in the insane CG creations Besson has brought to life.
Sidenote: any of you guys ever read the Valerian comics? Worth tracking down? And how can a city have a thousand planets?
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets zooms in on July 21st, 2017.
Beauty and the Beast
I really, really enjoyed The Jungle Book earlier this year, so I’m not immune to the idea of a Disney live-action remake being good. That said, with all the money, cool effects, and hype behind it, the trailer for this live action version of Beauty and the Beast has left me quite cold.
There doesn’t seem to be any of the effort behind this remake - more of a 1-to—1 push to live action, leaving me cold and wondering why. Maybe there’s something more to be revealed in theaters?
Beauty and the Beast makes guests of us all on March 17, 2017.
Kong: Skull Island
Just 12 years (yes, it’s been THAT long) after Peter Jackson gave us an unusually lengthy remake of the greatest creature feature of all time, Warner Bros is giving us a new look at the great ape with Kong: Skull Island.
Sure, this is ultimately a movie designed to cross over with the latest Godzilla movies, but holy SHIT, this looks INCREDIBLE! From surreal monsters and an amazing cast, to whatever the hell John C. Reilly and his fellow World War II fighter pilots are doing, this looks like an absolutely loopy and ridiculous monster mash for March. I AM IN.
Kong: Skull Island reveals itself on March 10, 2017.
Cars 3
Unless you’re a six year old boy, chances are, you’re not a big fan of the Cars franchise. The punchline for any joke about Pixar, the series is arguably the most maligned thing they’ve done, but results in tons and tons of merchandising cash.
And now we have the teaser for the third film, which is perhaps the most shocking, grim, and surreal thing that Pixar has ever released.
Are they really going to make Cars 3 serious? We’ll find out this summer.
Cars 3 speeds into your cinema on June 16, 2017.
Silence
The pet project of master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Silence has been in development for over 20 years. Based on the true story of Portuguese missionaries entering Japan to find their fellow missionary after his disappearance, this trailer left me somewhat cold.
Yes, this feels like a prestige film. Yes, it will probably win all the Oscars. Yes, it will be praised among many. But something feels dry and workmanlike about it all. Is this poor marketing? Or did Scorsese overthink this one? We will see this Christmas.
Silence hits theaters on December 23, 2016.
That’s all for this November trailer round-up. Agree with me? Disagree with me? Have another trailer I need to see? Sound off in the comments.
Wednesday November 23, 2016