In the research for this week's trailer post, I'm reminded of Michel Gondry's Be Kind, Rewind. Starring Jack Black and Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey), the premise had the two of them remake the inventory of the rental VHS store Black worked for. So we get to see how inventive the duo had to be to remake the low-budget versions of Ghostbusters and Rush Hour 2.
We are also introduced to the term for this process: "sweded" (the word is born out of the mispronunciation by director Gondry—“sueding”... y'know, like "as in "fake leather"). I'm sure there were fan-made films or trailers out there before Be Kind Rewind, but the film did bring the practise to the mainstream.
There are fan-made trailers and even Our Robocop Remake in 2014, a crowd-sourced project based on the 1987 classic, where 50 filmmakers were given a scene to reshoot in their own style. When spliced together, the film feels... disjointed, but it's a fun watch. You can check out Tenghihi, a Chinese content creator who, with his friends, makes these rustic remakes of Dragon Ball Z and Gold Rush Town. Anyway, enjoy this week's trailers.
This looks like it'll be in the vein of God of Carnage and The People Upstairs—which The Invite is adapted from—that everything takes place in a single night in one location. if you're gonna be shooting in a tight space, you'd want to a hell of a cast (Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Olivia Wilde... uh, okay sure, Seth Rogen) to bring about that controlled chaos. Despite the bad rap that Wilde got when she shot Don't Worry Darling, this looks to be a film that could redeem her.
Oooo-whee! Another season of Rick and Morty! How excited am I by the trailer and future seasons? To paraphrase Rick: "It's just Rick and Morty. Rrrick and Morty and their adventures, Morty. Rick and Morty, forever and forever, a hundred years Rick and Morty, s... things. Me and Rick and Morty runnin' around and Rick and Morty time. Aaall day long forever. All, a hundred days Rick and Morty forever a hundred times. Over and over Rick and Morty adventures dot com... WWW dot Rick and Morty dot com, WWW Rick and Morty adventures all hundred years. Every minute Rick and Morty dot com WWW hundred times Rick and Morty dot com."
Mixed feelings about watching Hulk Hogan's last interview. The man's a racist, endorsed Trump and is anti-union. Given how America is today, the title is a very accurate picture of the late wrestler.
If you were blown away by Baby Reindeer, the creator and actor, Richard Gadd, returns in another series, which seems to touch on toxic masculinity and some gonzo sibling rivalry. Jamie Bell plays a man, who has to come to terms with his upstart half-brother.
Not only is Jon Bernthal an underrated actor, he's also perfect as Frank Castle aka the Punisher. Boxer's nose, strong wide jaw, eyes that have seen war... there's nobody better to embody the Punisher than Bernthal.
One Last Kill is the third chapter in the MCU's Special Presentation (remember Werewolf by Night and, I think, a Christmas-themed Guardians of the Galaxy?), and it's an hour long, but from the looks of the trailer, it looks like a really long and terrible day for anyone in the Punisher's path.
Finally, we get to see something other than 15-second spots. While the spots hint at something weird that's going on in the titular New England town, this teaser proffers a creature of lore that might be the series' antagonist: the sea hag. Although my mind immediately beelines to Ursula from The Little Mermaid, the monster in Widow's Bay is more skeletal. And moist.
Several things that also make me optimistic about Widow's Bay: it's a series created by Katie Dippold and Hiro Murai; it stars Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root; and has equal measures of humour and weirdness.
