Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide release movies. Two iconic 1990s properties dominated the box office last weekend as Beauty and the Beast and Power Rangers held the top two spots. This week features a film trying to capitalize on a popular anime property, Ghost in the Shell, and DreamWorks tries something original with The Boss Baby. Let’s break them...[Read More]
The 2016 summer movie season officially kicks off this year with Captain America: Civil War. When we last left Steve Rogers in Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) he had disrupted the entire espionage world, and saved millions of lives by the way, by foiling the plot of Hydra to take over S.H.I.E.L.D. from within. Also, his oldest frenemy, Bucky/Winter Soldier, had saved his life after their fi...[Read More]
I hope you all enjoyed your Saint Patrick’s Day, dear readers, and are ready for the arrival of spring. My birthday was also this past weekend, and it was definitely a happy one. This Friday finally sees the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the first live-action meeting between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. And fittingly, this week’s installment of Trailer Trashin’ takes a lo...[Read More]
The Coen brothers first started publicly discussing their idea for Hail, Caesar! over a decade ago, but the resulting film feels jauntily tossed together in a fraction of that time. In some ways that’s a good thing. The film has a loose comic energy that allows it to slip easily from lengthy sketches to plottier sequences. But it’s also lacking in coherence. The Coens seem unsure if they’re making...[Read More]
Hello again, dear readers. This past week saw the release of Guillermo del Toro’s new horror film Crimson Peak, which I’m very excited about. In the meantime, I’ve got another trailer for a 2016 movie to show you. Now let’s take a look at the first trailer for Hail, Caesar!, the next film from the Coen Brothers. Premise: Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a Hollywood “fixer” helping the production of t...[Read More]
It’s almost October, dear readers, and that means prestige movie season is just around the corner. But it also means that we’re going to be getting trailers for more of next year’s big movies. And this week’s installment of Trailer Trashin’ is just that, with our first look at Disney’s The Jungle Book. Premise: The orphan boy Mowgli (Neel Sethi) grows up in the Indian jungle with the help of a pac...[Read More]
The 2015 summer movie season officially kicks off with Avengers: Age of Ultron. Needless to say that the bar has been set pretty damn high here. The prior installment, The Avengers (2012), was a well-received film that also had the third highest gross in history with $1.5 billion in ticket sales. That doesn’t even count all the merchandise the film sold. When critics and fans like your work, then ...[Read More]
With the release this weekend of both Disney’s live-action Cinderella and the Liam Neeson actioner Run All Night, we’re finally out of the early-year movie doldrums. And as I’ve said many times, dear readers, it’s never too early to look forward to what’s coming out. In that spirit, this week’s Trailer Trashin’ column takes another look at the first big mo...[Read More]
It’s an embarrassment of riches for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), dear readers. Hot on the heels of last week’s examination of the Ant-Man teaser trailer, this week’s Trailer Trashin’ looks at what will probably be the biggest movie of summer 2015, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Premise: With S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyed and the Avengers needing a hiatus f...[Read More]
I’m a bit ashamed to admit it, but my biggest blind spot as a cinephile is that I don’t pay a lot of attention to the world of independent film. It is a very rare event that I know about an indie film before a trailer has even been released. Such was the case with Chef, the new culinary comedy from actor/director/writer Jon Favreau. While it’s not breaking new ground in the world...[Read More]
Happy Tax Day, dear readers! I hope a lot of you have gotten out and seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier by this point – because it’s totally awesome. And if you’re looking for something scarier at the theater right now, I recommend checking out the new horror movie Oculus. In the meantime, this week’s edition of Trailer Trashin’ steps away from the big summer movies a...[Read More]
First off dear readers, I have to apologize to you for not bringing you my promised Super Bowl movie spot roundup last week. Unfortunately, the first part of last week ended up being crazy busy for me, and it got away from me. But I can tell you that the spot for Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier was by far my favorite. In the meantime, we got a new trailer for the upcoming superh...[Read More]