We've been falling behind with current trailers. So here are a few key future favorites (or not) that we missed talking about. Do these promos sell you on their movies / seasons respectively?
YNMS notes and trailers follow after the jump for the all-star thriller Everest, the action spy comedy The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the potential Oscar player Bridge of Spies and HBO's The Leftovers Season 2.
But let's start on the mountaintops with...EVEREST
MAYBE SO: This cast is a Yes many many times over though what they've come up with leans more maybe so... waiting for reviews. It's a personal reaction, I'm fully aware: mountain climbing is one of my personal obstacles to empathy like -- why feel bad for people who deliberately put themselves at risk for death for no discernible reason other than to say that they did [insert brave/foolish stunt here]?! Also there is not enough Jake Gyllenhaal in the trailer and definitely not enough Keira Knightley anything. She's one of our very best romantic drama actresses but if that marital drama subsists of just worrying over the phone this role is movie is seriously lacking in your recommended allowance of Keira Knightley. Malnourishment ahead?
But I'm curious. Baltasar Kormákur's English language movies have not been critical darlings but generic action programmers. Nevertheless he's still the director that kicked things off with the memorable Icelandic films 101 Rejkavik and Hafið /The Sea (Oscar Submission 2002) so maybe there's just been a Hollywood learning curve?
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
NO: Henry Cavill is doing a 'voice' of some kind, right? I can't quite place it. This is one noisy trailer. If you like 'em noisy this one is for you. But noisy is kind of bare minimum requirement for action blockbusters. Also Henry Cavill who is British is playing an American and Armie Hammer who is playing a Russian is American? Needlessly complicated! Were no Russian hotties available? Potential saving grace that might tilt this towards a Yes: Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki are both looking slinky and hot in the background in sixties duds. In the background though. (sigh)
This opens in August 14th, aka the fatigue period. I can't imagine it will open big as none of these actors are "bankable" in any sense. Superman sells Superman, not the actor playing him. Hollywood keeps trying with Armie Hammer though.
BRIDGE OF SPIES
YES'ish: I went big for this one in my initial Oscar predictions for the year... and I still feel pretty good about that even though this isn't the type of movie that personally puts my hairs on end from excitement. "Inspired by True Events" often has a more narcoleptic effect. And there's nothing in this trailer that feels "exciting" unfortunately. But it does look classy so that's often enough for Oscar season. Spielberg reuniting with Hanks is obvious Oscar Bait. But I was surprised not to notice Billy Magnussen at all in the trailer. I'd assumed his post Into the Woods role would be big. But at least we have the great Mark Rylance, another stage star, to look forward to as the foreigner Hanks has to negotiate for.
If Rylance's role is big enough Oscar play could totally happen. He's a hugely respected actor in both the UK and US, despite not really having much in the way of a film presence. Yet.
THE LEFTOVERS
YES: While the first season of this curious HBO drama about life after "Sudden Departure" (when 2 % of Earth's population vanished in a vaguely Rapture life event, albeit one without even tortured religious logic) left many viewers puzzled, angry or confused some of us fell hard for its structural daring. It jumped randomly from character to character, sometimes burrowing in deep on just one, and actually stared down humanity's nihilism without celebrating its communal death wish as so many series do on multiple networks with their deep love of mayhem, dehumanization, rape, violence, and body counts. It was a challenging series so it's no surprise but still brilliant that this teaser shows NONE of the original stars (of course not everyone made it out alive of that first season) but a new curveball: we're apparently moving locations (?) and all the teaser shows is the road to a new town with a great twist via freeway signage. (Thursday at TFE: Ann Dowd, the great character actress and one of the stars of that first season, is in the house, guest blogging! Be here)
Are you a Yes No Maybe So on giving this series a second chance? What about the movies above?
PREVIOUSLY IN THIS SERIES...
The Martian | MacBeth | Suffragette | Shaun the Sheep | Ricki & The Flash