Charles Bramesco
Auto Parts Website Offers a ‘Back to the Future’ Flux Capacitor
As an avowed walker and train-taker, I’m not much of a car guy, personally. But I know a thing or two — I can change a flat tire, correctly identify where jumper cables should be clamped, and I know enough that anyone who offers to sell you a ‘flux capacitor’ is having a laugh at your expense. The auto part was imagineered (a make-believe word for ‘invented’ that the folks at Disney originally imagineered) for Back to the Future, the all-important component that gives Marty McFly‘s Delorean the power to traverse time. And now, you too can attempt to flaunt the laws of metaphysics by souping out your ride of choice (imagine how a silent, time-traveling Prius would freak out people in the ’50s) with your very own flux capacitor.
Will Smith Assumes the First ‘Bright’ Teaser Won’t End Well
David Ayer, director of the newly-minted Academy Award-winner Suicide Squad (there’s a phrase I don't ever see my fingers getting comfortable with), has already begun work on his next film. Will the new project Bright also win an Academy Award like Suicide Squad did last night, which was real and not a dream we all had? We have no way of knowing, but it could happen. Evidently anything can happen, because Suicide Squad won an Academy Award last night. As in, one more award than Martin Scorsese’s career-defining religious epic Silence. So today, look upon the first teaser for Bright and bow before your new King of Oscars, for it is David Ayer.
Scarlett Johansson Won’t Be Controlled in Latest ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Trailer
The government is not to be trusted, not at present and certainly not in the trippy future Japan of Ghost in the Shell. Major Motoko Kusanagi (Scarlett Johansson) has been led to believe that she endured some manner of terrible accident in life, and the police department salvaged her body by augmenting it with cybernetic implants. In exchange for a second chance at consciousness, all she has to do is devote herself to fearlessly cleaning the street of crime and to surrender what’s left of her free will; naturally, she has some doubts about this. And when she meets an enigmatic stranger warning her that all is not what it seems, her whole understanding of who the bad guys are starts to shift.
‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Reveals Plot Details, Full Cast as Production Begins
After months of rumormongering and speculating and debating over whether Lin-Manuel Miranda has what it takes to make the jump to the big screen from Broadway, sequel Mary Poppins Returns has finally begun shooting. Disney sent out an official press release yesterday announcing that the production was officially underway at Shepperton Studios in Burbank, California, with a project release date of Christmas Day in 2018. (Nothing gets people in the mood for a movie-musical quite like the holidays, it would seem, as director Rob Marshall’s last film Into the Woods found a release date in late December as well.) And along with the news that the gears are now turning, the press release provided a full cast list and more comprehensive description of the plot as well.
The First Trailer for ‘The LEGO Ninjago Movie’ Has Bad Blood
Yesterday, a brief partial trailer for a full-length trailer (itself a partial-length version of the full-length movie) arrived online in promotion of The Lego Ninjago Movie, the latest spinoff of the Lego Movie franchise more recently expanded with The Lego Batman Movie. It gave us a brief preview of the design of the land of Ninjago, a block-built utopia wth Eastern influences that superficially resembles Tokyo. But today, we’ll get a fuller look at the new world in which this film takes place, and the scrappy little figurines that populate it as well.
Family Tensions Flare in Trailer for New Psychological Thriller ‘The Dinner’
Every family argues at the table. Some squabble about religion, some yell about politics, and some get into screaming matches at Thanksgiving dinner over whether or not Jimmy Fallon is a sniveling sycophant. But while all happy families are the same, all unhappy families are miserable in their own way, and the Lohman clan has an ocean’s worth of bad blood between them. It‘ll all come to the surface when Oren Moverman’s new drama-thriller The Dinner debuts at the Berlinale Film Festival on February 10, and today, those of us unable to jet to Europe can still check it out with the newly released trailer.
‘Star Wars’ Theme Park Coming to a Galaxy Far Away (Orlando) in 2019
Just as the nation’s mushroom-takers have begun to hit up their connections in preparation for this May’s opening of the lush, psychedelic new amusement park Pandora — The World of AVATAR, yet another attraction has appeared on the horizon. At present, Star Wars superfans can immerse themselves in the fantasy universe with the series of films, novels, spin-off films, animated television programs, various board games, and Disneyland’s popular Star Tours ride. But some diehards demand more, a fuller and more transportive experience. And Disney CEO Bob Iger has some great news for them. (And less-great news for everyone else.)
Mighty Ninja Warriors Take Up Weapons in ‘The LEGO Ninjago Movie’ Teaser
Hollywood’s getting in the Lego business, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Not that we’d want to, necessarily — The Lego Movie was a delight, and notices for the newly release The Lego Batman Movie have been positive. (Our trusty editor-in-chief Matt Singer spoke kindly of the film in his review earlier this week.) But regardless of where you personally stand on the matter, you’re getting more hot Lego content in the years to come. Production has already begun on the sequel to The Lego Movie, which should really be called The Lego Movie Sequel, and today brings a fleeting first look at the fleeting first look at The Lego Ninjago Movie.
Amy Schumer Brings the Rumble to the Jungle in New ‘Snatched’ Trailer
Could the upcoming Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn buddy comedy Snatched be the Bad Moms of 2017? While last year’s sleeper hit saw some downtrodden moms cutting loose and having a little fun, the new trailer for Snatched explores the tricky bond between a mother and her adult daughter. The Mother’s Day release date underscores the theme of motherhood, and the newly released trailer shows Schumer’s character helping her mom get what’s left of her groove back while on a tropical vacation. They even share a cast member in Wanda Sykes, who appears in the trailer to warn the two women that they’re cruising for an abduction.
Wolverine Cracks a Gun in Half in ‘Logan’ Super Bowl TV Spot
Less than a month now separates us from the premiere of Logan, and the nationwide nerd conniptions that it’s sure to induce. Those of us down for a quick trip to Berlin could theoretically get an earlier look, but the rest of us will have to make do with the virtues of patience. At least 20th Century Fox has made it a little easier on the rest of us commoners by running a minutelong clip from the film during the Super Bowl last night, and teasing some typically smartmouthed repartee from the lovable mutant.
‘Girls Trip’ Trailer: Queen Latifah Gets Her Kicks, Cajun-Style
With The Best Man and its sequel The Best Man Holiday, director Malcolm D. Lee gave the audiences of America something regrettably uncommon: a film created and staffed by black talent, centered on the particulars of black life without getting into weighty histrionics or overreaching with Madea-style drag. They’re fun, airy movies, and from the looks of the first trailer for Lee’s latest project Girls Trip, he’ll keep it light as he flips to the distaff side of the coin. At this point, giving black moviegoers two hours of enjoyable respite from all this business [gestures broadly to entire world] practically qualifies as a public service.
Hear John Legend and Ariana Grande Belting in Final ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Trailer
About a month and a half separate the viewing public from the much-hyped live-action remake of Disney’s essential fairytale Beauty and the Beast. While regular TV viewers and net-surfers can look forward to an uninterrupted stream of commercials and ads until then, Disney has given one last push of publicity today with the final trailer promoting their handsomely-appointed new film. And as if to sweeten the deal, they included a snippet of the previously announced re-recording of the majestic theme tune, as sung by La La Land jazz-diluter John Legend and travel-size pop starlet Ariana Grande.