Welcome back to the best part of your week: The GlitchUp Trailer Roundup! This week features a pleasant mix of movies and TV, some trash, some good, some somewhere in between (I say this all every week, oh well). Let’s check ’em out.
The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards
This is a truly awful trailer simply because it gives you next to no incentive to watch other than the fact that there is a billion somewhat famous to famous people on your screen. It’s clearly an anthology of sorts, centered around “modern” problems. The words popping up across the screen give you the themes behind the movie, trying to tell you that you will be learning about these things while watching. But, like, is there any story they give you in this trailer? Other than two guys accidentally kill someone? Can’t help but feel like this was put together as one of Franco’s directing sideshow (he makes like a million movies a year; not kidding, go look it up) projects and that it’s been on the shelf for a bit. I mean, look at that Modern Family kid. He’s way older looking now! Doesn’t even have the peach fuzz in this trailer.
12 Strong
Wow. And I thought that last trailer was bad! Phew. This is one of the worst, most blatantly pandering trailers ever. It should be titled “War Soldiers: Patriotism Boner”. I’m fine with movies that are essentially propaganda, I liked American Sniper. But, wow. This is trying so hard to be like that, while trying to be an uplifting story at the same time. Like combining Lone Survivor‘s underdog setting and triumphant ending with Sniper’s “American Soldiers Are Badass As Fuck” story beats. And it sucks that this is such a bad trailer! Everyone in this cast I love. The script seems bad, but that could be due to poor editing. It’s releasing in that slot that Sniper, Survivor, and 13 Hours all took. Early January release, just enough to trick you into thinking it’s an Oscar type movie, but is really just a play at entertainment and a patriotic story. Which is fine, all three of those I liked. I’m all down for the true stories (Fact: The Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg true story trifecta is the best trilogy of all time even though they are not related in plot). But this, again, just looks so bad. Sad day. They should’ve kept the original title: Horse Soldiers.
Acrimony
Now this is actually a good trailer. Taraji P Henson is a boss ass bitch and although this is a Tyler Perry produced flick that is following on his/the industry trend of sexual/romantic thrillers centered on african-american couples, she is almost enough to entice me into wanting to see it. The drops of water in the background of this cement a nice intense, eerie vibe. While it gives a bit away in plot toward the end, still a well made two minutes.
Jim & Andy The Great Beyond
Jim Carrey, once a favorite/superstar/could do no wrong comedian-actor, is whack out of his mind. I don’t think anyone realized just how odd he was until he A. went off the grid essentially and B. started popping up doing weird shit and acting like some sort of doped out homeless man. This documentary, however, shows that he’s always been like this. Pulling behind the scenes footage, originally held from being released or shown to the public by Universal as stated in the trailer, documents Carrey’s time playing Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. He notoriously went deep into character, essentially refusing to the leave the mindset of the man he was portraying throughout the filming. Seeing just the extent he went and how it affected him, those around him, and the film itself is what this documentary is all about. A character study about a peculiar celebrity performing in another character study is intriguing, and the fact that this has gotten a response and buzz like it has me eager to watch.
I, Tonya
Fun fact: Margot Robbie had no idea Tonya Harding was real when she was offered the role. I don’t know even the slightest details behind the story, other than the fact Tonya Harding somehow got Nancy Kerrigan to fuck up her leg/ankle or something? No clue. The buzz surrounding the premiere applauds Robbie’s performance, Allison Janney’s performance, and the balance of black comedy and honest portrayal of the shitty people involved. Robbie’s accent is…interesting and if you like Reddit you’d think this movie is going to be absolute dogshit just because of that. A ridiculous proposition, but one that is not surprising coming from the often garbage hive mind that is r/movies. I like the pitch black comedy aspect and I want to know more about the story. And quite frankly, man and woman alike, who’s going to pass up an opportunity to watch Margot Robbie for two hours?
Black Panther
Listen to our thoughts on the trailer on the latest GlitchCast podcast!
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
I had a 30 second teaser of this in the roundup last week, but here we are! A full trailer. This is different from what I was expecting. JCVD plays a more ridiculous version of himself (knew that) but is actually secretly a spy (did not guess that). In.
Godless
Listen to our thoughts on the trailer in the latest GlitchCast podcast!
SMILF
Frankie Shaw (Mr. Robot, Blue Mountain State) is a fine actress. Leading her own show is something I am unsure of. This looks good enough and appears to avoid going too raunchy or “adults can be nasty and rude and crude too” route, instead balancing heart with light comedy. It is based on Shaw’s own Sundance award winning short that she wrote, directed, acted, and produced. She will have the same roles here, so shout out to Showtime for letting the original creator own that work.