Teaser Trailer: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

The first teaser trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales dropped last night to a mixed variety of opinions. It’s easy to see why there have been some difficulties drumming up enthusiasm for this latest (final?) entry in the series. By the time it is released in May, it will have been almost fourteen years since The Curse of the Black Pearl took audiences by storm and earned Johnny Depp an Oscar nomination, and six years since Jack Sparrow’s last outing in On Stranger Tides. Dead Men Tell No Tales has had a troubled production, between rewrites, a ballooning budget (after the box office failure of The Lone Ranger, no less), and a plethora of issues involving Depp including illegally importing his dogs into Australia during filming, an off-set injury which required surgery and a delay in filming, and now his public split from wife Amber Heard along with allegations of domestic abuse. It’s easy to see how people might be a little tired of Pirates of the Caribbean, despite the seeming popularity of the series and its characters. It is possible to love something while simultaneously not wanting it to continue, and that’s an opinion I’ve seen repeatedly online the past few years.

But before I go any farther, take a look at the new teaser and then read on for my thoughts below:

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Captain America: Civil War – Trailer Analysis and Screencaps

Captain America: Civil War

As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, Disney/Marvel debuted a new trailer for Captain America: Civil War yesterday in conjunction with advance tickets going on sale. The first trailer was an atmospheric and moody one, giving us quick peeks at a variety of what’s happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with an emphasis on the Steve Rogers/Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes triangle. We got our first look at Black Panther, as well as hints at the ultimate showdown between Captain America and Iron Man. This latest trailer expands on the first one, repeating a few moments but going bigger. It’s much more action-packed, it gives us a larger idea of the film’s plot without too many specifics, and we get to see many more of our favorite heroes. And to top it all off, this trailer also gives us a first look at a new character, although one with whom most viewers are probably familiar. So take a look at the trailer below and then read on for my thoughts and screencaps. Then be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!

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Trailer Tuesday: Jurassic World

Jurassic World Logo

Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

I’ve been sitting on the Jurassic World trailer for a couple months now.  (I actually do this a lot, prepping screencaps of trailers without actually posting them, something I intend to change in 2015.)  In some ways I’m intrigued by it, but in others I’m very wary.  I’ve previously referred to Jurassic Park as the Star Wars of my generation, and to me it’s a cinematic masterpiece, one of the most awe-inspiring films I’ve ever seen.  I love The Lost World, but was pretty disappointed in Jurassic Park III, which was hurt by Spielberg’s lack of involvement.  I didn’t really need another Jurassic Park film, but I was intrigued by the way the script leak for Jurassic World was handled last year.  So when the trailer arrived in November, it stirred up a mix of emotions.  Take a look below and read on for my thoughts:

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Trailer Tuesday: Grudge Match

Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

I’m a big fan of the Rocky film series.  The first one is nearly perfect, the next three are all good fun (the less said about the 5th one, the better) and I absolutely love Rocky Balboa, the 6th film in the series which was released in 2006 and featured an aged Rocky returning to the ring to face a young champion based on an ESPN computer simulation.  I also happen to like Raging Bull, the Jake LaMotta biopic by Scorsese which featured a tour de force performance by Robert De Niro.  However, I had no desire to see the two films combine into the travesty of a trailer that I was presented with at the theater this weekend.  Take a look and read on for my comments:

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Trailer Tuesday: Gravity

Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.

When my wife and I see a new movie trailer, either in the theater or at home, we almost always look at each other afterwards to get an sense of each other’s quick reaction to the trailer.  Usually they’re in sync, as we typically like the same sorts of films.  “Stupid” comedies get an eye roll, horror films usually get a sarcastic yes followed by a determined no, big, loud action movies typically get an indulgent smile and a shake of the head, while many others get a noncommittal shrug or head bob indicating that we need to see more before deciding.  Even when we don’t agree, we usually know what reaction the other one will have before we look, so I wasn’t surprised to see her emphatic no following the first trailer we saw for Gravity.  Take a look at the latest one below, and read on for my comments:

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