News Around the Net
Two exciting new Star Trek trailers dropped this week! First up is this look at Picard:
This is a very solid trailer. Lots to get excited about here. The production values of this show look spectacular, which makes me happy. (On the other hand, Discovery also had terrific production values, but that show disappointed me again and again.) I love the glimpses of Starfleet Headquarters, and the holographic projection of the Enterprise D! I love the glimpse of Data — and he’s painting! Nice nod to TNG continuity. (And also, apparently a confirmation of my theory that Data in this show would only be appearing in Picard’s memories/dreams. Note that Data is wearing the TNG-era uniform, and not the later uniform of the movies, or what we see of current Starfleet uniforms in the Picard era.) It’s also exciting to see Riker and Troi, though actually that was the aspect of the trailer that I was least into. I am not wild about the idea that Riker and Troi have retired to the woods. Why is everyone from the TNG an old hermit now? Jonathan Frakes is still vital and working despite his age here in the 21st century (he’s a fantastic director) — so wouldn’t Riker all the more so still be in the thick of things in the 24th century? I want Riker to be (finally) in command of a starship! But there is lots here that makes me happy. I really hope the show is good.
Discovery also dropped a trailer for their third season:
This is also a great trailer. I’m intrigued for to see this depiction of 1,000 years ahead in Star Trek’s future. I’ve always wanted these Trek shows to go forward in time, not backwards… and I’ve also often thought that a cool premise for a future-set Trek show would be the depiction of the re-establishment of the Federation after some sort of catastrophe. That sorts of seems to be what we’re getting here, and I am intrigued. I love the glimpse of a version of the Federation emblem (albeit with what looks like far fewer stars on it). I love Burnham’s various new looks. I love seeing what looks like the return of Craft, from the terrific Short Treks short film “Calypso”, written by Michael Chabon. I’m VERY intrigued by the appearance of Trills, as well as the symbiont pools — a deep-cut reference to Deep Space Nine! I don’t have much expectation that I will ever love this show… but hope springs eternal. (And I continually remind myself that neither Next Generation nor Deep Space Nine were much good for their first two seasons, either…)
I think this new trailer for Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen looks fantastic:
I adore Mr. Ritchie’s early crime films (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch) and am very excited to see him return to that style of film. (Though his previous attempt to do so, 2008’s RocknRolla, was a mess.) But this trailer was a lot of fun — and what a cast! I have high hopes for this one.
I am super-excited for Netflix’s upcoming Breaking Bad movie, El Camino! Here’s our first full trailer:
I’ve never read any of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials books… but after watching this terrific trailer for the first season of HBO’s upcoming adaptation, I added his original trilogy to my Amazon shopping cart!!
That looks wild. I’m in.
This is a lovely look back at the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I adore this film — click here for my original review. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful, haunting coming-of-age story, with a spectacular cast.
This is a terrific ode to the joys of Mark Hamill’s performance as the Joker in the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker animated film. I deeply love that dark, violent, funny, psychologically complex animated film. I think that the animated Mask of the Phantasm is Mark Hamill’s finest hour, and the very best of all of the Bruce Timm animated DC Universe projects… but Return of the Joker is a close second!!
This is a fascinating look at how two huge Star Wars fans took their recent visit to Disney’s new Galaxy’s Edge to the next level. I am pretty sure I’d never do anything like that, but it’s cool to read about and awesome that the Galaxy’s Edge cast-members were so supportive in playing along.
Thanks for reading!