Released a few days ago, the official teaser for Focus Features’ Captive State feels primed as one part alien invasion movie with a healthy dash of vaguely political commentary. Indeed, it’s hard not to think of the much-ballyhooed American Space Force when watching this trailer. According to the official synopsis, Captive State is set in a Chicago neighbourhood after almost ten years of occupation by an alien force. What promises to propel the film is the conflict between those who comply and those who resist. Again, it is hard not to draw parallels to the political moment south of Trailaurality’s Canadian border when there is an entire coalition of American voters who identify on social media as the de facto, capital-R Resistance. This being said, we’re here for the music and sound, and there is much to say on this front as well.

The final trailer for Johnny English Strikes Again was recently released, and it picks up mostly where the previous trailer left off. The series, which parodies the James Bond series and likely takes in part from Mike Myers’ turn-of-the-century Austin Powers trilogy, is the third in a series that began in 2003 and had a sequel in 2011’s Johnny English Reborn. 

Footed by Amazon Studios, Suspiria (2018) is a remake of the 1977 Italian supernatural horror film by Dario Argento. At a world-renowned German dance company, an artistic director, an ambitious young American dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist are engulfed in an all-consuming darkness. The original film was itself based on an 1845 essay by Thomas De Quincey, Suspiria de Profundis (“Sighs from the Depths”). 

This week on Trailaurality, we’re taking a step back from weekly analysis of a given trailer and instead giving the spotlight to a large and ever-growing phenomenon in the ever-evolving fan/producer relationship with trailers: reaction videos.

As we enter mid-August, trailers geared towards the holiday season are ramping up; one such features the next outing for Disney’s recent line of live-action films ensconced firmly in the fantasy genre. Following Maleficent (as a spin-off of Sleeping Beauty and the live-action rendition of Beauty and the Beast comes The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. 

Featuring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart and arriving in select theatres September 14th, Lizzie captures the story of Lizzie Borden, the infamous Massachusetts woman who was tried (and eventually acquitted) for the murder (by hatchet) of her father and stepmother in 1892. 

Due for release this October, Mid90s arrives as the promising promotional material for Jonah Hill’s (best known as a partner-in-laughs to many Seth Rogen films) potentially auspicious debut as director.

This week we are looking at and listening to The Darkest Minds, a new thriller that is one part Stranger Things (produced by the same people, no less), and one part X-Men – “if you can hear this, you’re one of us” intones a voice underneath grainy radio static at the beginning of the trailer, immediately suggesting the kind of psychopathic horror/adventure that Stranger Things has become emblematic of, but as will be seen and heard, definitely of a more action-oriented lilt.

A top winner at Sundance 2018, The Miseducation of Cameron Post’s trailer is comedic, quirky, and bears a loveable brand of eccentricity not unlike a Wes Anderson production, taking on the difficult subject of gender and identity and conveying a difficult experience in a relatively light-hearted way. 

​​​​​​​Coming in early 2019 as part of TNT’s “Suspense Collection,” I Am the Night promises to be a thrilling match-up, with Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins directing Hollywood phenom Chris Pine. In this series, a runaway woman discovers that she’s familially connected to a doctor-come-murderer, George Hodel. The suspense that ensues promises equal parts horror and film noire, and the trailer certainly obliges.

Written by Brooks McLaren and directed by David M. Rosenthal, How It Ends is an upcoming Netflix original set to premiere July 13th, roughly eight years after the the initial script in 2010. 

Following some six years after the 2012 original, Disney Animation’s Wreck-It Ralph 2 doesn’t hold back or play shy about its status as an unabashed sequel: it promises everything that earned its 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, but more. 

Siberia is Keanu Reeves’ latest filmic foray; it offers a similar dramatic palette that whets the appetites of John Wick fans, with a Russian twist. 

Not quite a reboot and not quite a sequel, Halloween is part of an eleven-instalment franchise stretching back to 1978. Without particular for continuity with its previous sequels, this version of what’s become a sort of re-told myth in the American slasher tradition of filmmaking sees Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her original role as Laurie Strode, seeking some forty years later to enact violent revenge on the escaped mental patient and original film’s murderer, Michael Myers (Nick Castle). As such, the film is best thought of as a direct sequel to the original, within its own continuity.

As covered earlier, the Golden Trailer awards were held last Thursday. The 19th annual event recognized an array of trailers across a variety of categories. 

In recent weeks on this blog, we’ve been tracking a recent spate of biopics, including seminal musical legends Whitney Houston and Freddie Mercury / Queen. This week we’re continuing this trend with an upcoming feature retrospective on Elvis Presley called, suitably if obviously, The King. The previous trailers were relatively straightforward, presenting a predictably positive overall image of Houston and Mercury. However, with The King, it becomes apparent midway through the trailer that this film is as much an extended metaphor acting as a comparison to and appraisal of the current American cultural moment as it is a remembrance of where and how Elvis Presley impacted his own time.

While this first teaser for the biopic on late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury has garnered some cause for concern with a late-stage director swap and some criticism regarding addressing Mercury's sexual identity in a misleading way, the editing and music itself is tremendous in the way it staves off the obvious approach.

The Golden Trailer Awards nominees have once again been announced. Practically the Oscars of motion picture trailers and television marketing, the nomination tallies reflect a shifting of the cultural guard over from the traditional major studios towards the major players in streaming such as Netflix. This year, both Warner Bros. and Netflix round out the top two studios with 62 nominations each.

Mr. Rogers needs no introduction. It’s all too easy to gently pluck the heartstrings of many a grown adult with the same dulcet tones featured in the theme song he himself wrote back in 1968.