Godzilla: King of the Monsters
/The latest (and final) trailer for director Michael Dougherty’s take on the Godzilla mythos has arrived, with Alloy Tracks supplying their epic take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Read MoreThe latest (and final) trailer for director Michael Dougherty’s take on the Godzilla mythos has arrived, with Alloy Tracks supplying their epic take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Read MoreAlthough it is framed as a teaser ten days out from its theatrical release, Marvel has really released a two and a half minute trailer that looks forward to the culmination of its cinematic universe ideas much as it provides a sweeping retrospective of its successful 11-year (thus far) run in film production.
Read MoreAfter forty-two years, Disney is dangling the promise of closure to this storied saga. While there is perhaps unsurprisingly nothing truly new on offer as the myriad narrative threads on this franchise begin to tie themselves neatly (for now, at least), the trailer does hold interest through a carefully executed aural procedure of anticipation, epic exposition, and a surprising—yet narratively satisfying—ending.
Read MoreOn paper, it’s an absurdist theatrical challenge: humanize the Joker—the one DC universe villain who comes off as more of a force of nature, void of empathy, perhaps than any other. By the same token, Warner Brothers knows the opportunity inherent in forging a compelling cinematic backstory for one of the silver screen’s most mesmerizing super villains.
Read MoreIn yet another sign of aging for those of us who may have in part reared children on such television, it’s 2019 and Dora the Explorer is halfway grown up — no longer the curious tot exploring the jungle (and Spanish) with your kid, Dora halfway resembles Tomb Raider, of all things (especially the most recent reboot of that series) in this action-comedy trailer.
Read MoreAs the comments section on the YouTube video embedded above suggests, it’s likely this fourth filmic entry in the Toy Story franchise, going for nearly twenty-five years, might appeal at least as much to teenagers and adults who saw the first one in 1995 as it will to today’s kids.
Read MoreThe trailer for upcoming thriller Ma, via Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, was releases recently. Starring Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, and Luke Evans, the choices of music in this trailer present both a classic fake-out and a classic motif-based musical theme that speaks to the film’s originality. The concept here is that Sue Ann (Spencer, as “Ma”) is a hermit resident of Ohio who is asked to buy some alcohol for a new teenager in town, and her friendliness gradually devolves into terrorizing control.
Read MoreThe launch trailer for Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season is here, and with it comes a wide range of suspenseful sonic design to placate the the senses before its premiere in April.
Read MoreAs a cornerstone of modern literature, it’s oddly appropriate that the Man Who Killed Quioxote (directed by Terry Gilliam—Monty Python; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) extends the mythos that gave us the word quixotic by adapting its story for today’s world. It’s a delightfully meta concept: here we have an old Spanish shoemaker (Jonathan Pryce) who starred as Don Quixote in a student film a decade prior; now, he believes he is Don Quixote. The original novel was predicated on the idea of a character under the illusion that he could inhabit a medieval, chivalrous character. It’s a concept reminiscent of films like Synechdoche, New York (2008), leaning into the novelty of its premise with the promise of delivering in the details of its execution.
Read More2018 was a banner year for musical biopics: Bohemian Rhapsody, and A Star is Born were heavy-hitters in the recent awards season, having undoubtedly shifted the lives of musicians and the circumstances of their music a little further into the public consciousness. 2019 appears to be little different, with the Sia-backed Vox Lux on the way, and now, the semi-eponymous title Rocketman, promising a deep dive into the life and times of Elton John.
Read MoreIt’s a simple concept, well executed: what if no one had heard of the Beatles, and their songs were reintroduced—some 49 years after their breakup in 1970? For any musician given the opportunity, it’s both a fantasy come true and an absurd moral quandary, and that’s the hypothetical terrain that Yesterday explores head-first.
Read MoreWhile we are currently between major trailer seasons – not quite close enough to summer blockbusters, too far away from the holidays – and in the midst of awards, the Super Bowl always yields a new crop of audiovisual advertising to pour over. Leading this draft comes Shaft, a remake/sequel of the 1971 film of the same name and its 2000 reboot.
Read MoreThe Guild of Music Supervisors recently announced their nominees for their 9th annual awards. Naturally, we’re particularly interested in the “Trailers & Promos” category.
Read MoreRalph Fiennes, a noted Shakespeare interpreter best best known for his appearance as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, directs this upcoming bio pic of Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko), the famed 20th century ballet dancer widely known as “Lord of the Dance.”
Read MoreAlthough Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse may be just making its way out of theatres as of this writing, the Marvel train waits for no one, and we’re already being promised another swinging foray this summer with Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Read MoreTommy James and the Shondells’ 1968 classic “Crimson and Clover” is the song of the day here, and you can already guess which lyrics are being highlighted: as the character (Natasha Lyonne, of Orange is the New Black fame) falls down the stairs to an untimely demise or recklessly staggers into oncoming traffic, the words “over and over” softly drift over her lifeless body as the day is made to repeat once again.
Read MoreIn the aftermath of the influx of holiday season trailers and into the awards show season, we thought it an opportune time to refocus on what’s happening on the small screen. Among the most musically interesting of recent TV trailers is certainly the latest foray promoting the next season for Star Trek: Discovery. This trailer features a constantly shifting and building arrangement that arrives at a satisfying conclusion in its final moments.
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again: 2018 yielded a strong cast of trailers across genres, budgets, and styles. Now for our second year running, here are a few trailers that we felt stood head and shoulders above the rest this year, with a special focus, of course, on the soundtrack.
Read MoreAs we begin to close out the year, we begin to look back – an introspectiveness takes us over alongside the spike in socialization over the holidays, with the implication of the New Year’s resolutions to follow. Of a similar tack comes this trailer for the latest HBO docudrama, focusing this time on the Brexit campaign and its inner workings. While Britons surely want an official investigation into the matter, this Toby Haynes-directed piece might have to do for now. (We kid, of course.)
Read MoreThis sequel to Shaun the Sheep (2015) comes from Aardman, the studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Known for its visually arresting stop-motion style, Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon promises, delightfully, more of the same.
Read MoreSeveral soon-to-be-released films poke irreverent fun at the action film genre, including Boy Kills World (out April 26th) and Deadpool & Wolverine (out July 26th). Another example, which we explore in this week’s blog, is David Leitch’s new film The Fall Guy. This film’s Official Trailer #2 re-works Journey’s 1980 hit “Any Way You Want It.” The use of an arena rock hit song from 40+ years ago immediately jolts us out of the expected action film trailer tropes of suspenseful synthesizers and deep dramatic drums (but don’t worry: this trailer uses them as well!). It involves a comedic take on a stuntman (played by Ryan Gosling) who—while in love with the director of an action film (Emily Blunt)—goes on a chase after a movie’s missing star (named Tom Ryder).
Resisting the rumour that the sequel might well be more akin to a jukebox musical than a drama that incorporates musical numbers per se, the first full trailer for the se- quel to 2019’s Joker exhibits some restraint in this regard. Instead, it opts for a mea- sured orchestration for a single song. “What the World Needs Now is Love”, a 1965 classic composed by Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David. It was first made popular in a performance by Jackie DeShannon and now finds a revival here.
On its way to theatres in a few weeks is Challengers, a sports-romance film about a love triangle surrounding tennis star-turned-coach Tashi (Zendaya). The film’s second official trailer is cut to a remix of Canadian pop star Nelly Furtado’s song “Maneater” from her 2006 album Loose.
Copyright Dr. James Deaville. Carleton University.
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.