WB Reveals 'Aquaman' Trailer at Comic-Con

Aquaman wasn't exactly a dynamite character in the lame Justice League movie, so I don't know how many people were looking forward to his solo outing (from director James Wan, of The Conjuring fame). But it turns out to be WB's only superhero movie this year, so I'm sure they're hoping for the best. Most of this trailer just looks dumb and bad. And there's an awful lot of surface action going on for a character that's supposed to be underwater most of the time. Meh.

Zachary Levi Leads Superhero Comedy 'Shazam'

Comic-Con 2018 is going on right now, so get ready for a boatload of new trailers for movies coming out in the winter and next year. Surprisingly, this one doesn't look nearly as bad as I was expecting, given the premise. It's obviously Big as a superhero movie, but that whole idea kinda makes it stand apart from all the others, and I think the only way to do it is to make it a comedy. It could still turn out ridiculous, but maybe the high concept worked in this case. 

Lucas Hedges Stars in Conversion Therapy Drama 'Boy Erased'

This movie directed by Joel Edgerton looks like an almost certain tearjerker, and Focus Features recently moved its release date from late September to November 2nd, which is a definite push for awards consideration, so they must think it's pretty strong. I would guess in the acting categories, since Hedges has been good since he was first noticed (and Oscar nominated) for Manchester By the Sea, and his parents in this are played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. Edgerton also wrote the script, which is based on a memoir by Garrard Conley, about his experience in gay conversion therapy after his parents wouldn't accept his sexuality.

More Queen Songs Are Created in New 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Trailer

That first teaser was popular because it was a 90-second montage set to those great Queen songs, and to be honest, the longer trailer isn't all that different. Guess they knew what worked. You do see a little more of Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury (the accent's a little shaky I think), and it basically looks like more of an old-school biopic than they've made in a while. And Bryan Singer is getting the sole directing credit for this, despite having left the production about three quarters of the way through. My guess is the music is going to be enough to make this a hit.

Felicity Jones Struggles With Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Accent in 'On the Basis of Sex'

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a legend of course, and a lot of people are interested in her story (as they should be, and as the box office success of the recent documentary RBG, has shown), but I don't think this movie about her looks very good. Sorry, but I can't help but get cheesy, TV movie vibes from this (the music doesn't help) and Felicity Jones is not a good actress, in my opinion. It could be that Focus Features agrees, since they moved the release date to late December on this one, but it will probably premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, so we'll hear about it before then. 

New Trailer for 1960's Love Story 'Cold War'

This new movie from Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker who directed Ida (which won the Foreign Language Film Oscar a few years ago) is called Cold War and got rave reviews out of Cannes this year. It seems destined for the Oscar race and is coming out in the U.S. on Dec 21st, but much earlier in the UK, as you can see from this trailer. It looks exquisite. I can't wait.

Queen Mary vs. Queen Elizabeth in 'Mary, Queen of Scots'

Looks like this has been the week for period costume drama trailers, hasn't it? Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie face off in this historical drama, which I honestly don't think looks very good. Neither actress looks like she's up to the challenge of this kind of character (especially Robbie, who resembles the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland in parts of this trailer). But I guess we'll see when it comes out in December.

Keira Knightley Fights for Her Name in 'Colette'

Yay! As a longtime Keira fangirl, I get excited when she has a new movie out, and this film about the famous, bisexual, Parisian writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette got great reviews out of Sundance. Also as a Dominic West fan, he got great notices too and looks like a standout in this, as her piggish husband Willy. By the way, how is it she hasn't seemed to have aged a day in the last 15 years?

Poster:

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Royalty Goes Berserk in 'The Favourite'

This is apparently Fox Searchlight's big Oscar bet for the fall, and it looks to be a showcase for actresses Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone (that's right, Emma Stone, who has never looked to me like she fits into period pieces). It's from director Yorgos Lanthimos, who made The Lobster, one of the strangest comedies I've ever seen, but this one wasn't written by him apparently, so that may make it more accessible to audiences. We'll see. It's likely to premiere at Venice or Telluride in a couple months.

Timothee Chalamet Goes for Another Oscar Nomination in 'Beautiful Boy'

Boy does this look like a tearjerker. Heartthrob Timothee Chalamet (from last year's Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird) is back in the role of a meth addict and Steve Carell is the devastated dad trying to reach out to him. The material may seem familiar, but I happen to have seen this director's previous film The Broken Circle Breakdown from 2012 and he does have an eye for family tragedy. And Chalamet's a good actor, so who knows. It comes out October 12th, so it's definitely an Oscar play.

Michael B. Jordan Returns for 'Creed II' This Thanksgiving

I thought the first Creed was actually a really good movie, but I don't know what else there is to say for a sequel....then again, Rocky went on for a ton of sequels, so who knows. And of those, Rocky II was probably the best one, so maybe this will be in that vein. Looks fairly typical, but it appears that Adonis Creed will be fighting the son of Ivan Drago, the man who killed his father back in Rocky IV. This one has a new director in Steven Caple, Jr., since Ryan Coogler left, and the screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone and Cheo Hodari Coker (showrunner for Luke Cage).