Last week was all about fears and tears in the world of upcoming movies, from heart-wrenching animations to possessed children to soldier dogs. This week’s film industry motto: no viewer left feeling joy.
Here’s a round up of all the best and worst trailers that were released in the last seven days. It’s time to get emotional.
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Coco
Coco is Disney and Pixar’s response to The Book of Life and it basically guarantees a sob fest.
“Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events,” reads the description.
The animation is spectacular, the score makes my chest feel like it’s flying and there’s a dog. What more do you need?
Coco is released 22 November.
Megan Leavey
According to YouTube user biorobot2, Megan Leavey should have been called Saving Private Doggo — and they’re not wrong.
Based on a true story, Megan Leavey tells of a marine desperate to reunite with the dog who taught her “what love is” — and we all know “based on a true story” plus “dog” equals “two hours of straight-up bawling.”
It’s not going to be without its flaws — no film that glorifies war is — but if you’re looking for a well-made tear jerker and can’t get your hands on Toy Story 3, this looks like it will do.
Megan Leavey is set to hit cinemas 9 June.
Voice from the Stone
Goodbye tears, hello fears.
Voice from the Stone is a thriller starring Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke as a woman who thinks she can stop the creepy happenings in a mansion in the middle of nowhere. She’s apparently seen absolutely no horror film ever, but, hey, she did warn us that if she looks back, she is lost.
The film looks interesting enough and Clarke looks set to expand her acting range passed “stoic queen with three emotions.” It’s about time.
You can catch Voice from the Stone on 28 April.
American Gods
Based on Neil Gaiman’s eponymous book, American Gods is a fantasy TV show that blends together various strands of ancient and modern mythology.
The premise is that gods and mythological creatures exist because people believe in them — and as people’s beliefs start to shift, new gods arise based on the media, celebrity, technology and the like.
“Left adrift by the recent, tragic death of his wife, and suddenly hired as Mr. Wednesday’s bodyguard, Shadow finds himself in the center of a world that he struggles to understand. It’s a world where magic is real, where the Old Gods fear both irrelevance and the growing power of the New Gods,” reads the description.
American Gods airs on Starz 30 April.
Transformers: The Last Knight
Remember when Michael Bay treated Megan Fox like a prop, forcing her to be sexy and sultry and passive beyond her comfort zone? And how Shia LeBeouf said Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was hired because she came from Victoria’s Secret and was comfortable with working for the male gaze?
It is difficult to forget the way Transformers has treated its women — which is why Michael Bay’s attempt to make a girl power flick feels facetious, to say the least.
“The Last Knight shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero,” the description reads.
But you don’t get to make four films degrading and humiliating women, and then make one with a female protagonist and think it will erase that legacy. That’s like apologising for setting a house on fire by offering up a 500ml bottle of water.
However, there is always gratification in reading the words “feminist propaganda” in a YouTube comment section, so for that I am grateful.
Transformers: The Last Knight comes out in June, but I’d recommend donating the ticket money to a local women’s shelter instead.
The Outcasts
Here’s the final fear: watching hot twentysomethings play “awkward” high schoolers.
When will there be accurate acne-ridden, socially inept puberty representation? When will the teenagers get their due?
The Outcasts is your typical exaggerated high school film about the nerds wanting to get revenge on the populars. It’s going to be unrealistic, it’s going to be cliched.
But it’s going to be watched because Avan Jogia’s face is in it. And that’s enough for me.
The Outcasts is out 14 April.
