John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum (2019) REVIEW

Not too long into John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum, the titular Wick (Keanu Reeves reprising his career-resurrecting role) has a knife thrown at him. Frequent cinemagoers will know that in movies, when a knife is thrown it always stabs into a person at a perfect angle (alternatively, it can miss entirely, as happened when Laurie Strode proved her distinct lack of hand-eye coordination when throwing a knife at Michael Myers in Halloween H20, who, I might add, was standing about three feet away). However, the knife hits Wick with the handle instead and it bounces off harmlessly. This realistic attention to detail, along with the quite astonishing stuntwork, wide shots and worldbuilding, is what sets the John Wick trilogy (soon to be a quadrilogy) apart from all the other mindless, quick-cutting modern action movies. The first film was a pleasant surprise that build an instant cult classic status and brought Keanu back from movies like the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still and the less-than-impressive Matrix sequels. Chapter Two upped the ante by ditching the original's cold, grey look and replacing it with a hyper-saturated world of neon colours, and took the time to further explore Wick's world, turning a fairly straightforward action movie into a series about a shadowy, glamorous worldwide underbelly of assassins and gangs. If you liked either of those films, good news - Chapter Three takes everything you could possibly have liked about the first two movies, be it the action, the colour, the humour, the dogs, and turns it up to eleven.

The result is a very intense film that rarely lets the audience take a breath. A major improvement on the last two is that Wick feels more vulnerable this time around. He is wounded several times and the film almost makes you believe that he could die in any of it's prolonged, spectacular action sequences. All of the action scenes are creative and well-shot, and the stuntwork is pretty amazing. The action highlight for me was a long scene in Casablanca around the middle involving dogs with Halle Berry (now that's a strange sentence). With so many action sequences packed in with only small breaks in between, the film could definitely have been exhausting, but the variation of the fight scenes keeps it afloat. The only exception to this rule is the last fight scene, which goes on for ages and becomes pretty repetitive. It was also a weird choice to have as the final fight as their is not a whole lot of history or emotional weight in the relationship between Wick and the enemy he's fighting.

As is to be expected from this franchise at this point, the cinematography is really good and is enhanced by the neon colours. As usual, the use of wide shots and long takes make each fight scene easy to follow, no matter how chaotic it may seem. As for the story, while it didn't have the focused trajectory of the first film or the impressive worldbuilding of the second, it was still very entertaining with no dull moments. I've seen a lot of people single out the second-act Casablanca scenes as a low point, but for me they were the best in the film, and I enjoyed the breathless first act. As I've already mentioned, I think it loses some creative steam in the third act, with a slightly duller shoot-'em-up giving way to an overlong final fight that's a little too similar to the hall of mirrors fight in Chapter Two.

The new additions to the franchise are entertaining. Anjelica Houston's character is nicely morally ambiguous and Halle Berry, although she's not in it that much and doesn't have a whole lot to do acting-wise, makes an instant impression with her impressive fight choreography (she took the same training as Keanu for this film) and her fighting chemistry with her dogs. She creates a welcome foil for Wick in what could have been another movie of Keanu looking angry and growling his lines. All the preestablished characters are great, too. The hotel concierge gets a lot more to do, as does Ian McShane's Winston. Like Berry, he's not in it that much, but Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King continues to make an impression, and I feel like he'll have a bigger role in Chapter Four. Keanu Reeves is one of the people on my list of 'Actors I Kind-Of Ironically Enjoy Who Always Elevate the Movie They're In' (other entries include Willem DaFoe, Jeff Goldblum, J.K. Simmons and John Malkovich), but Wick gets some character growth that allows him to do some more acting, and of course his stuntwork is very impressive.

Something else that's turned up to eleven in this film is the comedy. While the John Wick movies have always intentionally ridden the line between seriousness and subtle dark humour, this movie definitely spends more time on that element, and as a result there are some really funny moments, my favourite of which involved a doctor who stiches Wick up at one point.

John Wick: Chapter Three definitely has some pacing problems and could have benefited from a shorter fight at the end (this is the longest Wick, and it doesn't quite feel like it needed to be). Fans wanting a stone-cold conclusion to the trilogy will be disappointed, as this film spends a large amount of time setting up the next one, and possibly even a spin-off for Halle Berry. As a result, this feels more like part three of four (or however many they decide to make) than a complete story like the first two, which is strange considering Chapter Two ended on a bigger cliffhanger than this one. Even with these flaws, though, it's still an immensely entertaining and well-made film.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fyre Fraud (2019) REVIEW

Australian release schedules for non-blockbusters are horrible. It's probably something you'll hear me complain about a lot, particularly later in the year. A case in point is the Fyre documentaries. Two documentaries on the same subject (the disaster that was the Fyre Festival), coming into direct competition with each other by releasing in the same week. Or, at least, they did for most people. While Netflix, being pretty reliable (still waiting on that Wandering Earth movie everybody's talking about, though), released their documentary, Fyre, at the same time as everybody else, due to Hulu not existing in Australia, we had to wait months before Fyre Fraud finally premiered on Channel Seven the other night, meaning that Australian cinephiles missed out on the whole conversation surrounding the two and which one is better. Still, I'm going to belatedly join the conversation anyway.

As for which one is most worth a watch, my best advice is to watch both. Watching both of them together will give you the fullest picture of the dumpster fyre (ahem) and its various failures. I'd recommend starting with Netflix's one as it assumes the least knowledge about the events of the festival, but either one is fine. However, if you for some reason can only watch one, it really depends on what stuff you most want to see from a documentary about the Fyre Festival. If you want a chronological retelling of everything that went wrong with the Festival, all the financial and infrastructure problems, with Billy McFarland as a main character and plenty of footage from the people behind the scenes. If you want to get a good picture of the man behind the whole thing, McFarland, and a look at the context surrounding it, watch Fyre Fraud.

As far as Fraud on it's own, I feel it is the stronger of the two. The addition of an actual interview with McFarland gives it an extra credibility that puts it above the Netflix one, particularly given (as this one smugly points out in the closing moments) given that the latter was produced by Jerry Media, the people behind the festival in the first place.

Fraud skips gracefully over the lead-up to the festival, perhaps recognising that Netflix had already cornered that market with it's insider information from Jerry Media. Instead, it spends it's time looking at the events preceding and following the festival, including a brief look at McFarland's life up to the point where the documentary starts (including his previous cons that act as precursors to Fyre), as many interviewees make observations and try to dig into his psyche. McFarland himself gives very guarded responses to the interviewer's pretty difficult, at times fairly hostile questions ('has anyone ever called you a compulsive liar?' 'I've been called a lot of things, since the Festival.'). At times, however, he appears to let his guard down and show some genuine remorse, but the documentary is always quick to admit that these moments could just be another scene in the con act that is his life. As it often points out, McFarland has been scamming people for years.

Another aspect that strengthens this iteration of the Fyre Festival documentary is it's examination of the current culture, particularly on the Internet, built around Millennial and brewing toxicity that can so easily be exposed by an event like Fyre. The film repeats the phrase, 'it's a great time to be a con man', and it is so true. We live in an age where con artists no longer have to work to gain our trust; all it takes is a bad link, or an ad on a message board, and within seconds they're siphoning hundreds, even thousands of dollars from you. These links and ads highlight the Western world's current materialistic views. These days, the entrepreneurs are not young CEOs of oil companies or whatever, they are twenty-something vloggers, essentially selling themselves and their lifestyles. We want to emulate them, to own the stuff that they own, and internet con artists appeal to this 'need', giving us ads for free iPhones and stuff like that.

Fraud, unlike Fyre, is also surprisingly funny. It drops in clips from TV shows like The Office and Family Guy (which are made even more hilarious by the context the documentary is putting them in), and it's effective editing drops in things like a photo montage of McFarland water-skiing when he should be solving problems to great comic effect.

Overall, I thought this was a breezy, funny, efficient and thoughtful documentary. It doubles as something on the side of dark comedy while also being a character study of a real life story. It's editing is spot on and often hilarious, and the interviews are quite revealing. It's not as profound as this review might make it seem, but it will definitely give you some food for thought, and it makes a great double feature with Netflix's documentary on the same topic.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sydney Film Festival 2019: Highlights of the Program

The full program for this year's Sydney Film Festival was revealed this morning, with dozens of films coming to cinemas all around the city. After scouring through the full list, here are the nine movies that most interest me. At the end of the day, due to being busy, I'll have to cut four of these to see five at various cinemas. Here they are:

Apollo 11


After storming Sundance and South by Southwest with overwhelmingly positive reviews, this IMAX documentary about the moon landing is finally coming to Australia as part of SFF. I've seen it at or near the top of many '2019 ranked' lists so I'm really looking forward to this one.

Mon 10 June - 9:30am - State Theatre
Sat 15 June - 2:00pm - Casula Powerhouse
Sun 16 June - 1:45pm - Hoyts Entertainment Quarter 15


The Dead Don't Die


Jim Jarmusch's new zombie comedy will be appearing at SFF just a few weeks after it opens the Cannes Film Festival and, as with most of these, it is currently the only Australian release date slated for this movie. Although the trailer failed to make too much of an impression on me, it's quirkiness and stellar cast aree drawing me, and audiences everywhere, in.

Fri 14 June - 6:30pm - State Theatre
Sat 15 June - 8:45pm - Ritz Cinema Randwick
Sun 16 June - 6:45pm - Event Cinemas George Street


Hail Satan?


The premise of this documentary is so ridiculous you kind of have to see it. It follows the new Satanic Temple that was set up a few years ago in the United States and their battle for freedom to worship whoever they please. Specifically, Satan. This doco will probably have a tongue-in-cheek tone but something to say about freedom to religion. Should be interesting.

Mon 10 June - 6:30pm - Event Cinemas George Street
Thu 13 June - 8:30pm - Dendy Newtown


I Am Mother


Here's one for the sci-fi fans: I Am Mother is a slightly mysterious dystopian film directed by Australian Grant Sputore and starring Hilary Swank and Rose Byrne. This only has one showing, possibly because it looks like it'll be coming to Netflix pretty soon after. That puts it slightly lower on my priority list, but it'd still be cool to see an original Australian sci-fi on the big screen,

Thu 6 June - 6:30pm - Ritz Cinema Randwick


The Kleptocrats


This documentary was part of the first films announced for the festival and caught my eye when I was scrolling through weeks ago. It's about embezzlement in the Malaysian government. I know that doesn't sound too interesting, but might I add that the money embezzled was used to fund the parties thrown by the people who made The Wolf of Wall Street. It is a crime that runs from Malaysia to Hollywood, and would probably make for a pretty interesting documentary.

Wed 5 June - 8:15pm - Dendy Opera Quays Cinema 1
Sun 16 June - 2:15pm - Dendy Newtown


Midnight Family


Yet another documentary, this one follows a family in Mexico City as they run a private ambulance service, caring for citizens in urgent need of help. As time goes on, their financial needs begin to come into conflict with the safety of their patients. This is an intriguing premise and I'd like to see how it turns out for the family.

Fri 7 June - 6:45pm - Dendy Newtown
Sat 15 June - 12:45pm - Dendy Opera Quays Cinema 1


The Miracle of the Little Prince


The Miracle of the Little Prince is a documentary (today is not a good day to be a fiction fan) about the translators of the book The Little Prince, and their battle to protect their dying language. I don't know too much about book translators and I think this would be an interesting documentary, probably with some beautiful landscape cinematography, as seen above.

Thu 6 June - 10:00am - State TheatreSat 8 June - 4:00pm - Dendy Opera Quays Cinema 1


Skin


Of all the films that I selected for this post, this is the one with the most showings, and it's easy to see why. The short film (by the same director) that it's based on took home the Best Live Action Short Oscar earlier this year, and it is (in my opinion) an early contender for a Best Picture nominee next year. It's also got a classic morality premise, about a white supremacist who decides to leave that, uh, line of work and has to disentangle himself from his dangerous friends. It had a cracking trailer, which I reviewed just a short while ago, and I was very happy to see it in the program, especially since I'm not sure when it'll get released Down Under afterwards. Of all of these films, this is probably the one I'm most excited for.

Thu 6 June - 6:15pm - Event Cinemas George Street
Sat 8 June - 7:00pm - Ritz Cinema Randwick
Sun 9 June - 1:30pm - Hayden Orpheum Cremorne
Mon 10 June - 11:20pm - State Theatre


The Wedding Guest


Dev Patel is an actor who I think has a lot of potential but is hampered by how he keeps taking either the same lead roles (look at him in Slumdog Millionaire compared to him in Lion. Basically the same character) or useless supporting roles. So I'm excited to see him take a role that's a bit different in this, as a man who is paid to take a woman away from her arranged wedding and make it look like a kidnapping. The trailer gave away a bit much but I'm still intrigued.

Wed 5 June - 6:30pm - Event Cinemas George Street
Fri 7 June - 6:30pm - Ritz Cinema Randwick


And that's it! I hope I'll be able to navigate the showtimes for the ones I want to see around my other commitments. It's going to be hard to cut those nine down to five. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

And... The Rest! (April 2019)

I've devised a new monthly series similar to my Trailer Round-Up posts, where I talk about all the films I watched this month that I didn't review for the blog, either because they weren't new releases or weren't part of any series I was writing. I'm only going to be talking about first-time watches, by the way. These are ordered in the order that I watched them. Thankfully, there aren't too many this month, as most of my filmic adventures were rewatches or 2019 movies. Don't worry, I won't be spoiling any of the movies here.

Hellboy (2004)


Though I've more or less opted out of seeing this year's Hellboy reboot in the face of overwhelmingly negative reviews, I was still interested to see Guillermo del Toro's take on the source material. It's rare that a writer/director is allowed so much creative freedom on a comic book movie, but the fruits of that risk (from a studio standpoint) can be seen here. Hellboy is absolutely a del Toro movie, brimming with his signature Gothic style and sense of humour. The cinematography and use of colour is far beyond what most modern comic book movies have done, and the script shines with gleeful violence (to the limits of PG-13 rating, anyway) and goofy humour reminiscent of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It also showcases an always-entertaining performance from Ron Perlman as the titular character, as well as complimentary supporting players like Doug Jones as the amphibian Abe Sapien. I enjoyed John Hurt's performance but thought that his character was underwritten; despite the supposedly important relationship between him and Hellboy, they share barely any scenes together. Another low point is Selma Blair. She's perhaps the actress with, emotionally, the most to do, given her flawed character, but she monotones it the whole way through. I get that she's meant to be distant but it makes her really hard to care about. The villain is also kind of cartoonish but I can forgive that given his effortlessly cool henchman (who can be seen in the above poster, on the left). Despite it's flaws, Hellboy was definitely a fun time, with a lot of auteurish style that most comic book movies don't possess. I'll definitely watch the sequel.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


The King of Comedy (1982)


Sorry about the poor quality of the above poster. This isn't really a well-known movie so I had trouble finding a landscape poster. Anyway, this was a movie directed by Martin Scorsese. It came pretty soon after Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and flopped at the box office, with critics not being especially impressed either. It's grown in stature since then, particularly now that it's being likened to the new Joker movie, but it is still mostly overshadowed by those two and by Scorsese's later hits like Goodfellas, Casino and The Wolf of Wall Street. I found it pretty engaging. There are a lot of effective narrative elements on show, and as a character study I think it functions pretty well and is definitely helped along by a really good performance from Scorsese regular Robert de Niro. However, I felt it hit some snags in the third act due to a lack of tension and some dodgy pacing. That didn't stop it from reaching a great climax involving a genuinely funny stand-up routine and a darkly comic mediation on who reaches fame and popularity in society, a message that feels particularly relevant today.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Inception (2010)


Inception is one of those movies that the Internet loves and always references, but I actually hadn't seen. Now that I have, I'm so glad that I did. Inception is intricate, layered, emotional, thought-provoking and exciting the whole way through. Add to that some awe-inspiring visual effects and a pretty great performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, and you get a great movie. Christopher Nolan loves to manipulate the passage of time in his films, to varying effect, but it works perfectly here, mining the maximum amount of tension from actions that only last a couple of seconds, because from the characters' (and therefore, the audience's) viewpoint, they take minutes to play out. It's a movie that invites conversation, and I've found myself dwelling on it in unrelated moments, having completely irrational thoughts pop up in my head because the narrative of Inception is somehow so plausible, its dream sequences weirdly relatable. The worldbuilding on show is very impressive. I think looking at Inception really emphasises how blockbusters have changed over the course of this decade, which is now coming to an end. Back in the days of 2010, an original, complex and intelligent film like this could succeed at the box office, but now, in 2019, studios rely on brand names rather than good ideas to make money. And it works.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Slumdog Millionaire (2008)


The film that won Danny Boyle his first (and to date, only) Best Director Oscar, Slumdog Millionaire also took home Best Picture that year, which was good for me because I was able to check out a film I was interested in and tick a Best Picture off the list. Probably the best thing I can say about it is that it takes risks. That poster makes it look really fluffy, but in reality it's not overly feel-good, it's gritty, and it's willing to break as many conventions as possible in its camerawork and its editing. The use of colour is pretty cool, but I'm not so sure about the overuse of Dutch tilts. As for the editing, I definitely noticed it, which is more than I can say for most movies. I don't think it was too overbearing, apart from in a couple of scenes where it made them actively confusing or just felt a bit show-offish. Narratively, it's kind of your average rags-to-riches tale (that's not a spoiler, it's in the title), albeit one with a lot more griminess than you'd expect. The explanations as to how the main character knew the answers to the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? questions were believable, though it tested my suspension of disbelief that he was somehow asked them in the same chronological order that he discovered the answers. I know it was to keep both sides of the story moving forward, but it was a little hard-to-swallow. Overall, though, it was pretty good; hardly the best Best Picture, hardly the worst.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Birdman: or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)


Another Best Picture winner, and a more deserving one this time. Birdman is very unique, from it's camera movement (so as to make it look more like a play) to it's trippy, probably metaphorical storyline. The film takes place almost completely in and around one building, and it's a testament to the visuals on show that I didn't notice this until after I finished watching it. Even its script is structured like a play; lots of monologues, and the camerawork is mostly comprised of medium shots. The cuts are all disguised by movement. Some of them are obvious, but many took me by surprise. The film also has an acute self-awareness. Even leaving the fact that Michael Keaton is basically playing himself post-Batman (name three Michael Keaton movies between Batman Returns and this, I dare you*), the movie often references current superhero films and actors, which might date it in the long run, but for now makes it feel very timely. The film has some great performances (although Eddie Redmayne's Stephen Hawking was great in its own right, Keaton probably should have taken home Best Actor that year). The film culminates in a fantastic moment of dramatic irony that, like The King of Comedy, says a lot about what people will do to reach notoriety. In fact, that film paired with this would make a great double feature. Definitely one of the best Best Pictures I've seen.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Shaun of the Dead (2004)


Shaun of the Dead was a pretty funny movie. I don't think it really did anything too special, other than some unexpected hefty dramatic beats and some nice camerawork. It's definitely thoroughly entertaining throughout the first two acts, but I felt the third act ran out of steam a bit, thanks in part to one of those dramatic beats. The movie is made a lot better by Simon Pegg's panicked, realistic performance and the screenplay's fast-paced, hilarious dialogue and set-ups. A favourite moment of mine was when protagonists Shaun and Ed realise that an effective way to kill zombies is to throw vinyls at them, so they go through Shaun's record collection, sparing limited editions and albums that they actually like. I've been told that Hot Fuzz is even better than this so I'm looking forward to that.

Thanks for reading!

*Side note: I was researching Keaton's movies to see if I could back that claim up and I came across his Saturn Award nomination for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which, upon looking at the other nominees and winners for Best Supporting Actor, led me to a world of hilarity. Clark Gregg (The Avengers) winning over Javier Bardem (Skyfall)? Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) over J.K. Simmons in Whiplash? No wonder nobody takes that ceremony seriously.

Trailer Round-Up #2 (April 2019)

Welcome to Trailer Round-Up, where I take you through and review all of the trailers released this month (or at least, the ones that interest me)! Let's dive in!

Joker (2019) Teaser Trailer

For me and many people, Joker is the biggest wild card (pun intended) of the year as far as films go. Not only do comic book movies centred around villains without their hero counterpart usually not work (*coughs* Venom), this is a new incarnation of the character already immortalised in film by Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance. Even weirder, it's directed by the guy who helmed the Hangover trilogy. Surprisingly, this trailer is pretty great. It's definitely going for a Scorsese-esque look and feel, appropriate since that legendary director is producing the film (a friend of mine wonders if the only reason they hired him as producer was so that they could rip off all his movies). Joaquin Phoenix, a very reliable actor, looks great in the role, and the cinematography is pretty good. The hype just went up for this one.

The Lion King (2019) Trailer #1



This was one I hadn't actually seen until I sat down to write this post. I'm... ambivalent at best towards Disney live action remakes, and usually pretty fed up with them. But everybody was talking about it so I thought I better chime in. Yeah, doesn't look too good, does it? There's nothing particularly offensive in the trailer but it seems kind of pointless to remake a really good film in an almost shot-for-shot way. I thought we learnt this after Gus Van Sant remade Psycho. I'm aware that the biggest talking point of this trailer was the redesign of Scar. I don't really have a problem about redesigning the characters in theory (though making them realistic has made them a lot less expressive), but Scar now looks a lot less distinctive and I have a feeling it will be hard to tell which lion is which is in fight scenes and in ones with less lighting. It's not very practical, which incidentally is how I'd sum up this movie.

The Dead Don't Die (2019) Trailer #1



I know Film Twitter kind of lit up talking about this trailer, which came out of nowhere, but I was somewhat unimpressed. Yes, it's got a great cast, but the tone looks all over the place. Just from the trailer, it looks a little confused. I don't really have much more to say about this one, but it definitely failed to impress me.

Stuber (2019) Trailer #1



I'm not entirely sure why Dave Bautista's acting career hasn't really taken off yet, after Guardians of the Galaxy. He seems content with starring in direct-to-DVD action movies and having occasional supporting roles in things like Spectre, when he could be so much more. That being said, this is a studio film, so it might give his career a bit of a jump start if all goes well.  It's an entertaining premise but the trailer doesn't make it look especially special. Also, I felt it gave away a bit too much about the plot of the movie. I feel like I've seen a lot of it already.

The Addams Family (2019) Teaser Trailer



Given the recent trend of animated family comedies that are slightly darker in their subject matter (see also Hotel Transylvania), the Addams Family was not a bad IP to adapt into an animated film. The exaggerated character designs also help. The trailer didn't exactly impress me, per se, but I think there's definitely potential there. It's got a good cast, good animation style, a darker sense of humour (was that a reference to Stephen King's It?) and it'd be nice to see an older franchise like this get resurrected for a new generation.

Dark Phoenix (2019) Final Trailer



Another month, another Dark Phoenix trailer. Apparently this is the final one, though I wouldn't count on that if the release date gets pushed back again. Yet again, this trailer is pretty much the exact same as the previous one, with just slightly different shots from the same scenes, in the same order. They're really not putting any effort into marketing this film. It still looks fairly solid, although this has been in development (or, more accurately, release) hell for so long that the hype has kind of burned itself out at this point. It's hard to get excited for this now because I'm never sure when exactly we're gonna get it, and not in a cool, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote kind of way. Plus, these new X-Men films have gotten pretty repetitive at this point. I'd be willing to bet money that Magneto and Professor X start the movie on good ground, then something annoys Magneto, so that they're no longer friends, and then at the end they're back to being friends again.

Child's Play (2019) Trailer #2



This is one film I'm becoming more interested in by the day. I know a lot of Chucky purists are very sceptical about this movie, but personally I couldn't care less that it's a reboot given that a) I've only seen the original film, and b) that movie wasn't exactly great to begin with. The best kind of remakes/reboots take a flawed property and try to make it better. We don't need reboots of five-star films, but these are the kind I want. This movie definitely seems to be playing up the horror elements of the franchise, which is good because my biggest issue with that first film was that the comedy ruined the atmosphere. Adding to this, Mark Hamill is playing Chucky, which is pretty much perfect casting in my eyes. Plus, this is one premise that definitely could be updated for modern times, and they seem to be doing that by making Chucky more of an AI than a voodoo thing. A lot of people hate this change, but I'm on board with it. I also like how they're mostly keeping Chucky (or at least, the evil iteration of him) in the dark in the marketing. This was a pretty good trailer, much better than that first one.

Skin (2019) Trailer #1



Another month, another A24 trailer. This is a feature length remake of the infamous 2018 short film, which took home the Best Live-Action Short Film Oscar earlier this year, which was very surprising since it was much derided (it holds a 2.3/5 average on Letterboxd and the majority of people I follow on there gave it a 1/2 star rating). I listened to YMS describe the ending of the film and it sounded, to put it politely, a tad silly. I haven't watched the 20-minute short yet but it is on YouTube so I might give it a look. Anyway, this is the feature length version and it looks pretty good. Apparently the ending is different from the short, so that's good. Expect this to be in the Oscar race this year.

Hobbs and Shaw (2019) Trailer #2



As someone who has never watched a Fast & Furious film and really has no interest to do so, it's constantly surprised me how much I've enjoyed the trailers for this film. It just looks fun, over-the-top fun unconcerned with realism or physics. You don't really get many buddy cop movies these days, so it's fun to see one getting a lot of attention. The fight scenes look well-shot and choreographed, as I'd expect given that it's directed by David Leitch (one of the men behind John Wick). This trailer basically told you the whole story but I get the feeling that the plot isn't exactly the focus of this. Johnson and Statham have fantastic chemistry and I might just see this one.

21 Bridges (2019) Trailer #1



Well, that good run of trailers was bound to end sometime, right? I don't have much to say about this. It's nice to see Chadwick Boseman's career taking off, but this looks like the most generic dark action movie about cops. There is nothing really of note at all in this trailer, I must say.

Men in Black: International Trailer #2




I've actually never seen Men in Black or it's two sequels, but they must be better than this to have become so popular. The trailers for International make it look like little more than yet another low-effort Sony Entertainment cash-grab. Chris Hemsworth is basically just playing Thor 2.0 again and Tessa Thompson looks like she could not care less about this movie. Plus, it's sad that the only high-profile roles Liam Neeson can get these days are supporting ones in Sony blockbusters. Cliched plot, questionable CGI and bad jokes mean I'll be skipping this one.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Final Trailer



In an American summer season that looks like kind of a mixed bag, this is one blockbuster I'm very hopeful for. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (or Godzilla II: King of the Monsters, as it's been labelled over here in Australia) looks like it has a thoughtful plot, and it has striking cinematography and use of colour. This looks like it might be one of the best looking movies of the year. Add to those factors a fantastic cast, and this should be a highlight of the blockbuster season.

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker Teaser



Finally, we have what was by far my most anticipated trailer for this month (to be fair, it was pretty much the only one that I knew was going to be released in advance). There's a lot to talk about in this teaser. There's some nice cinematography, the sequence of Rey vs a TIE Interceptor on a sand planet looks really cool. It's nice to see Billy Dee Williams back as Lando Calrissian, and it's especially nice to finally see the three main characters of this trilogy actually sharing scenes. I'm assuming that the planet right at the end with all the Death Star debris was Endor, although it could very well be Yavin IV. I wouldn't have thought that that much debris could have survived either of those explosions as we saw them in the previous film, but I don't think there'll suddenly be a third Death Star that, what, crashed by itself? As for Emperor Sheev Palpatine, I don't think he's back in any physical way (as in, he didn't survive Return of the Jedi, and he wasn't cloned). I would guess that it's either a Force ghost or a hologram recorded when he was alive. Maybe said ghost or hologram has been pulling the strings all along, which I like the idea of since it would link the sequel trilogy a bit more tangibly to the previous films. If there is one overarching villain, it feel much more like a nine-film saga than a collection of three trilogies.

But enough about my fan theories. What was your favourite trailer or trailers of the month? The highlights for me were definitely Joker, Child's Play, Skin, Hobbs & Shaw, Godzilla and Star Wars. There were a lot of forgettable ones, like The Lion King, The Dead Don't Die, Stuber, The Addams Family, Dark Phoenix and especially 21 Bridges. The only one that I thought was bad was Men in Black: International.