The Origin of the Phoenix Revealed in Final 'Dark Phoenix' Trailer

This is the first trailer for the new X-Men movie that shows you where the Phoenix actually comes from- and it looks like they’re going with the “alien entity” origin in this one? I still doubt making Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey the center of the movie is a good idea though. They’ve just done the whole Phoenix thing too many times at this point (and the movie’s gone through several rounds of reshoots and been delayed almost two years by now, so who knows what came out of it).

Billy Dee Williams Returns in First Look at 'Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker'

For the first time since 1983, Billy Dee Williams dons the Lando Calrissian cape again, which to me is really the only notable thing about this teaser. With Han, Luke and presumably Leia gone (thought it looks like Carrie Fisher has maybe one scene in this) I guess it makes sense for Lando to come back, but how long into the movie before they kill him off too? JJ Abrams returns to direct this final entry in the trilogy and it looks like he’s bringing back Emperor Palpatine (that is his cackle, right?) and Mark Hamill’s narration at least. I really don’t like this trilogy and I really hate this title- does it mean Daisy Ridley’s Rey is related to Luke after all? The whole reboot series has felt like a strange blend of nostalgic fan fiction (The Force Awakens) and bizarre, prequel-esque randomness (The Last Jedi). It’s hard to care about what happens to any of these people.

New Trailer Arrives for 'The Lion King'

Every time I see anything for this movie, certain words run through my head, chief among them “pointless” and “why.” I know the answer is money, and yet I can’t understand how so many people are fooled by what looks like a shot for shot all CGI remake of an animated movie. This is an animated remake of an animated movie. And the animals cannot be visually expressive in the same way the cartoon ones were, which is what made people love that movie and the characters in the first place, so this uncanny valley imitation stuff is just weird. And I still think the real thing that gets people excited for any of these trailers (the Aladdin one as well) is hearing the original music again, in this case Hans Zimmer’s iconic score.

Hawkeye Debuts a New Sleeve Tattoo in Final 'Endgame' Trailer

The only thing that really catches my eye here is Hawkeye’s new low-rent Mad Max makeover, which I’m assuming happens in the wake of the death of his family? He’s always been super lame anyway, so this new look just makes him more even more laughable. I don’t care as much as the entire world does about the rest of this, which will likely set the new record for opening weekends, solidifying Marvel’s world domination, etc, etc. Get your tickets now if you want any chance of seeing it the first weekend. I’ll wait.

Joaquin Phoenix Gives Us a Brand New 'Joker'

People never get tired of the Joker, do they? They never get tired of him or of trying to reinterpret him, and this time we have Todd Philips (Old School and The Hangover movies) delivering a sort of Taxi Driver-esque origin story with Joaquin Phoenix giving what looks like a spectacular performance. The trailer looks pretty good, the only question mark is the director (like I said, his previous films don’t inspire a lot of confidence in him pulling off something like this), but we’ll see.

Agnes Varda 1928-2019

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Legendary French filmmaker Agnes Varda passed away today at the age of 90, following a long battle with cancer. A key figure in the French New Wave of the 1950’s and 60’s, she was an artist in many realms, beginning with photography, but soon moving into film with 1954’s La Pointe Courte (which was edited by fellow French filmmaker Alan Resnais). One of the earliest female auteurs, her filmography included Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962), Le Bonheur (1965), Vagabond (1985), and most recently Faces Places (2017), which was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar. From 1962 until his death in 1990, she was married to Jacques Demy, another French New Wave filmmaker (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), with whom she had a son, Mathieu, and made a film about his life called Jacques de Nantes in 1991. An icon in film history, for women and all artists, in 2017 she received an Honorary Oscar for life achievement and is survived by her two children, Rosalie and Mathieu.

Trailer for 1962’s Cleo From 5 to 7:

Keanu Reeves Does Battle With Lots of Assassins in New 'John Wick 3' Trailer

I think I’ve stated before that I’m a fan of this franchise- it embraces its B-movie aesthetic and is fun and cheesy (it’s almost a parody), especially the second movie. Hopefully the third one will keep improving on the series. Parabellum comes out in May and this time adds Halle Berry and Anjelica Huston to the mix, but all the guest stars usually play second fiddle to Reeves, who kicks everyone’s asses throughout the films. That’s the kind of the point of them actually- they could be titled Keanu Reeves Kick Ass: The Series.

1969 Comes Alive in First Look at 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

Quentin Tarantino’s new movie is upon us, people. A massively star studded cast showers this supposed look at the time in California right before the Manson murders take place. Margot Robbie is playing Sharon Tate and everyone’s hoping Tarantino restrained himself from showing her horrifically violent death onscreen, but I’m kind of wondering if might be some sort of historical revisionist fantasy, like Inglorious Basterds. On another note, this is Leonardo Dicaprio’s first film since The Revenant, almost four years ago. Guess he really wanted to savor that Oscar, huh?

Natalie Portman Goes Mad in Space in 'Lucy in the Sky'

Natalie Portman seems to specialize in playing characters that slowly unravel- Black Swan Jackie, Annihilation. Now she’s an astronaut who seems to be undergoing some sort of breakdown, but it’s hard to tell exactly what the plot is. Noah Hawley, showrunner of Legion and Fargo, is making his directorial debut with this, which one doesn’t have a release date yet.

Forky Joins the Gang in 'Toy Story 4' Trailer

I love the Toy Story movies as much as anyone, but is it me or are they starting to become a little repetitive? After watching this trailer, it’s hard to imagine how many more times Woody can get lost, reassess whether he wants to be with his kid, and then presumably come back to them, right? Bo Peep being the leader of a lost toy group doesn’t look that different from the Jesse stuff in Toy Story 2, or the daycare plot in Toy Story 3.

Thor Meets Captain Marvel in New 'Endgame' Trailer

Still keeping the plot under wraps, the new trailer for Avengers: Endgame shows off some new hairdos (I normally find it irritating that Black Widow’s only personality trait is her ever changing hairstyle/color from one movie to the next, but Hawkeye outdoes her this time with that goofy mohawk), and brings in Captain Marvel at the end, while recapping some of the original Avengers’ journeys, since this is supposedly their last outing. You can still see some of the people who didn’t die in the last one though, like Rocket and Nebula, joining the old gang. I think a lot of people believe RDJ’s Tony Stark will finally perish in this one, which is possible, but I’d prefer a happier ending and just let him and Pepper ride off into the sunset, since the stakes and the villains in these movies never mean anything to me anyway.