Just started watching season four of The Handmaid’s Tale and I remember why I prefer the weekly release schedule for this show: Bingeing it is utterly draining (Monica Hesse makes this point much more eloquently in her mostly spoiler-free review in the Washington Post). The show has a conundrum: it can’t kill off its main character (which would be an incredible plot twist) and it can’t take her out of Gilead because that’s where the action is. So June has to keep suffering over and over. And over. After the first three episodes, June’s done plenty of suffering already. Over the rest of the season I’m really hoping to see A) much more of Alexis Bledel and Samira Wiley and B) something good happen to June. Anything.
Here’s the roundup of this week’s trailers:
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West Side Story
Steven Spielberg’s remake of the classic musical looks a lot like the original 1961 film at first glance (this side-by-side comparison from YouTuber Matt Skuta shows the many differences). But while the earlier film included white actors in makeup to play some of the Puerto Rican characters, Spielberg sought performers of Puerto Rican descent for his updated version. The spectacular Rita Moreno, who starred in the original as Anita appears in the Spielberg version, and is also an executive producer on the film. West Side Story hits theaters (after a lengthy COVID-related delay) in December.
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Castlevania
The latest 10-episode season of Castlevania is going back to “where it all started,” according to the new trailer. The official synopsis from Netflix says “Wallachia collapses into chaos as factions clash” and mentions attempts to bring Dracula back from the dead (!!). “These are the end times.” This is the final season with this cast of characters (Deadline has reported Netflix may launch a new series in the Castlevania-verse but with different characters), so expect plenty of blood. Season four of Castlevania drops on Netflix May 13th.
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Luca
OK so as a parent, I am always a bit wary of Disney/Pixar movies, because they are typically emotionally devastating for parents to watch (see: Finding Nemo, or perhaps Inside Out, or maybe the final scene of Toy Story 3) (aaand I just cried all over again dammit). Luca is the story of two young sea monsters who become human when they’re not in the water as they explore the surface world in a seaside town on the Italian Riviera. Seems safe enough and the trailer looks beautiful but Pixar always gets you, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Luca hits Disney Plus on June 18th.
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Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth is a post-apocalyptic fairytale based on a DC Comic, with Robert Downey, Jr. as executive producer (is that the most Verge-y sentence I have ever written? Possibly.). Our hero is a very cute hybrid deer-boy played by Christian Convery, who’s searching for a new beginning after society has been upended by something called The Great Crumble. Sweet Tooth arrives on Netflix June 4th.
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Rick and Morty Season 5
The second trailer for season 5 of Rick and Morty picks up where the first trailer left off, which is to say, in the middle of a chaotic space battle? with cyberpunk birds? that is a parody of the Power Rangers? Sure, why not. Rick and Morty returns to Adult Swim on June 20th.
