The Oscars are tonight and despite my best efforts I still haven’t seen all the Best Picture contenders, so will hold off on making predictions (but honestly not sure how anyone beats Chadwick Boseman as Best Actor). Lots of good trailers this week including the return of the most wholesome show on all of streaming and the next big Marvel movie.
Ted Lasso Season 2
You know when you really love a show and it gets popular and everyone else likes it… and you brace for its sophomore season to be not quite as good as its debut? I am hopeful that Ted Lasso will not fall into this pattern, and the trailer for season two looks extremely promising (Ted: “Back home if a team was playing poorly, we don’t call them unlucky, what do we call ‘em, Coach?” Beard: “New York Jets.”) Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, Hannah Waddingham, and Juno Temple return along with others from season one for Ted Lasso, which drops on Apple TV Plus July 23rd. And if you’re interested in a little bonus Ted Lasso content, developer David Smith managed to figure out the recipe for the shortbread cookies Ted makes for Hannah. So wholesome.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The next big Marvel movie is the first to center an Asian superhero (and has an almost entirely Asian cast) and it looks very, very fun even if you don’t know the backstory and connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi, whose father trained him as a child to be an assassin. He tries to escape and live a normal life but as anyone who has ever watched a superhero movie knows, it ain’t that easy. Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Awkwafina also star in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, coming to theaters September 3rd.
Annette
Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard play a comedian and opera singer who fall in love and have a child they name Annette, “a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny.” The trailer has that French cinema feel, for sure, which makes sense, since Annette is the English-language debut of French director Leos Carax. Annette will open the 74th Cannes Film Festival on July 6th.
Fathom
Scientists Michelle Fournet and Ellen Garland embark on separate research trips in opposite hemispheres to try to better understand the songs of humpback whales. No one really knows why whales “sing,” despite decades of research. It’s challenging work that one of the scientists compares to “pointing all of our satellites skyward and listening from a sign from outer space.” The trailer is just beautiful (obviously watch with the sound on). Fathom arrives on Apple TV Plus June 25th.
Here Today
Billy Crystal wrote, directed, and stars in this movie about an aging comedy writer who befriends a woman (Tiffany Haddish) whose boyfriend bet on a date with him at an auction. Who would not be content to just watch Haddish and Crystal just bounce jokes off each other for 90 minutes? The underlying premise, though, is that Crystal is losing his memory and Haddish steps up to help him. Here Today arrives in theaters May 7th.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
I continue to be surprised at the endurance of The Conjuring movies, which continue to be quite scary. I have to be honest that I’m not a super big fan of these movies because of the way they often put children in terrifying situations, a theme which seems to persist in this latest installment. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are back to investigate a murder committed by a young man who claims he was possessed by the devil. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It premieres on HBO Max and in theaters on June 4th.
