So tonight is the finale for Mare of Easttown and there are so many threads that need to be tied up that I legitimately don’t know how they’ll answer all the open questions. I have a theory of who the killer is, and I don’t think it’s the same person who fathered Erin’s baby. Will Mare ever find happiness? It seems unlikely, I’m afraid. But maybe she’ll find answers or closure.
I realized that in this week’s trailer roundup that— in addition to a time-traveling theme— we have two movies that feature Sam Richardson, who played Richard Splett, arguably the best supporting character on the late great HBO show Veep. Please cast him in all the things, Hollywood, he’s hilarious.
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The Tomorrow War
Chris Pratt is drafted into a war where he has to go into the future and fight aliens that sound and look (from the brief glimpse we get) like the Aliens aliens, because if present-day people don’t help, all human beings will be wiped/disappear “from the face of the Earth” (which we know is Very Serious because two separate characters say so in the trailer). Lots of guns, lots of Pratt wisecracks (which somehow don’t quite land here), and lots of stuff blowing up, plus an Independence Day weekend release date ensure many people will watch this movie. And what a cast: J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Yvonne Strahovski, and Sam Richardson all join Pratt, so hopefully they can breathe life into what seems like a movie we’ve seen once or twice before. The Tomorrow War comes to Amazon Prime July 2nd.
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Werewolves Within
Based on the Ubisoft VR game of the same name, Werewolves Within takes place in the small town of Beaverfield, and stars Sam Richardson as new-in-town Forest Ranger Finn, who discovers a dead body that may have been the victim of a wolf attack. But not just any wolf! A snowstorm forces a group of the very weird townspeople to hole up in an inn with Finn, and oh yeah one of them is probs a werewolf. Horror/comedy combos aren’t always easy to pull off, but the trailer shows Richardson’s comedy chops are in fine form. Werewolves Within will release in theaters June 25th and on demand July 2nd.
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Eternals
As my colleague Chaim Gartenberg noted earlier this week, this trailer doesn’t really tell us much about the plot of Eternals, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We see how the Eternals, a band of immortal heroes, have helped humans across the centuries. But something is amiss, because as Salma Hayek says in the voiceover “We have watched and guided. We have helped them progress and seen them accomplish wonders. Throughout the years, we have never interfered — until now.” The all-star cast includes Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Richard Madden, and Kit Harington, and it’s directed by Chloé Zhao, whose Nomadland garnered Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. Eternals is set for a November release.
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Infinite
Mark Wahlberg stars as a man haunted by memories he doesn’t recognize because surprise! he’s an Infinite, a person who has had multiple past lives and is part of a secret group of warriors who are trying to save humanity from one of their own, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. This is one of the many movies whose release date was pushed back from last summer by the pandemic, but oddly isn’t getting a theatrical release. Based on the book The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz, Infinite also stars Sophie Cookson, Jason Mantzoukas, Rupert Friend, Toby Jones, and Dylan O’Brien, and was directed by Antoine Fuqua. It hits Paramount Plus on June 10th.
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Old
This is the first official trailer for the latest M. Night Shyamalan flick (we got a teaser during the Super Bowl (and side note, what is the difference between teasers and trailers anymore?). A family (and others) on a beach vacation begins aging rapidly, adding years in a matter of hours. Is it something in the water? We don’t know! Gael Garcia Bernal, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Vicky Krieps, Abbey Lee, Embeth Davidtz, Rufus Sewell, and Ken Leung star in Old, which comes to theaters July 23rd.
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Jungle Cruise
A movie based on a Disneyland ride starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. OK sure, why not, we base movies on books, video games, and board games, so this is the next logical step, right? And the second trailer for this movie gives a glimpse of Jesse Plemons, usually a sign that things are headed in the right direction. Jungle Cruise comes to theaters and Disney Plus (with Premier Access) on July 30th.
