Welcome to Trailer Snark, a weekly column covering trailers for movies that will be released this week with thoughts from our roster of bloggers (Jessica from The Female Perspective, Ken from The Crank File, Jim from The Front Row View, Rob from Spector for Hire, and Great Stories founder Chris). Thanks for reading, and enjoy the previews!
Last Week: Finding Dory took first place for the third week in a row! The popular sequel made another $41.9M for a total domestic haul of $372.2M to date. The next three spots were occupied by films making their debut. The Legend of Tarzan was the runner-up with $38.1M, followed by The Purge: Election Year at $30.8M and The BFG at $19.5M. Independence Day 2 closed out the top five with another $16.5M to add to its $72.6M total. The rest of the top ten was as follows: Central Intelligence ($12.3M/$91.7M), The Shallows ($9M/$35.2M), Free State of Jones ($4.1M/$15.1M), The Conjuring 2 ($3.8M/$95.2M), and Now You See Me 2 ($2.9M/$58.6M). Let’s take a look at this week’s new entries.
The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) – Family/Comedy
Rated PG for action and some rude humor
Tag Line: Ever wonder what your pets do when you’re not home?
Starring: Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell
Plot: A terrier named Max regularly invites his friends to hang out at his place while his owner is gone, but his quiet life is upended when said owner also takes in Duke, a stray mutt whom Max instantly dislikes.
Running Time: 90 minutes
Jessica: Looks cute, I’m not a huge fan of kids movies, but I’d probably watch this at home.
Chris: I am all over this one. Haven’t been this excited by a kid’s film in ages. Trailer had me in stitches.
Jim: Trailers for this have been shown at just about every kids movie since Christmastime—it’s still funny, definitely a go this weekend.
Ken: Adorable and hysterical. Any trailer that uses System of a Down is a winner in my book.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (20th Century Fox) – Comedy
Rated R for crude sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some graphic nudity
Tag Line: They needed hot dates. They got hot messes.
Starring: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza
Plot: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.
Running Time: 98 minutes
Ken: This movie looks dumb as…..
Jessica: Eh. This is one of those comedies that could be really good or being really, REALLY bad. Again, a home viewer (if that).
Chris: OK, maybe I am just inclined to amusement this week, but this looks like another laughfest. Likely won’t be a theater view, but I’ll be looking for it on the small screen.
Jim: A good premise made to look crass and obnoxious.
Captain Fantastic (Bleecker Street Media) – Drama
Rated R for language and brief graphic nudity
Tag Line: He Prepared Them For Everything Except The Outside World
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Steve Zahn
Plot: In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Running Time: 118 minutes
Jim: Viggo seldom disappoints—this looks heartfelt and absorbing.
Ken: This screams counter culture and I love it. Probably won’t score big with the mainstream but I’ll definitely be checking this out.
Jessica: Okay, this one got me. I’ll admit to being sold when I saw Viggo’s name, I mean, you cannot go wrong with Lord Aragorn in anything. The trailer made me laugh and cry so to me that’s a good sign
Chris: Could it be three winners in a row? Might be tough finding this limited release film in theaters, but this film about a man who attempts to raise his family off the grid only to have them forced back into society looks compelling and heartfelt.
Cell (Saban Films) – Horror/Thriller
Rated R for disturbing violent content, terror, brief sexuality and language
Tag Line: When everyone is connected, no one is safe.
Starring: Samuel L Jackson, John Cusack
Plot: When a mysterious cell phone signal causes apocalyptic chaos, an artist is determined to reunite with his young son in New England.
Running Time: 98 minutes
Chris: I love Stephen King and will watch any adaptation of his novels. This one took a long time to land a distributor, which is a concern.
Jim: I’m a Stephen King fan, so I should be looking forward to this. The book was good— one would hope for a Carrie or Shawshank Redemption. This looks too much like a run of the mill zombie flick though, so I might end up disappointed.
Ken: The premise is terrible but the execution looks tremendous. Pop culture is already overly saturated with zombies, do we really need one more?
Jessica: This is one of my all-time least favorite Stephen King books (and I love King) so I am less than excited about this one. It might be a home watch if I’m forced to see it.
Tickets Purchased: Three for The Secret Life of Pets (Ken, Jim, and Chris) and One for Captain Fantastic (Jessica)
