'Benji,' 'Uncle Drew,' Pfeiffer, & More Trailers You May Have Missed
Staying on top of the trailer circuit is a full-time job in and of itself. We're here to help.
Happy Presidents' Day! With the holiday comes five new trailers ranging from the silver screen return of a famous dog to the big-screen debut of a current NBA superstar (not to mention new turns by Michelle Pfeiffer and Burt Reynolds).
Benji (dir. Brandon Camp)
While we realize that this trailer may not speak to No Film School's target audience, for us, nothing beats the arrival of a new entry in the popular, five decade-spanning kids franchise that fancies a mixed-mutt as its title character. While director Joe Camp, the series' creator (and director of numerous Benji installments beginning in 1974 with the Oscar-nominated original), isn't involved in this latest installment, his son Brandon very much is, writing and directing a production that brings things back to the basics: a brother and sister take in the pooch and subsequently need him to come to their rescue when they encounter a few bad guys. The immortal question of our time arrives: If Benji can pull this off, will their mom allow her kids to keep him? Much like the film itself, the trailer celebrates the new with the old, and "pop icons" Benjamin Franklin and Michael Jordan are name-dropped accordingly. Release Date: March 16th, 2018, via Netflix.
The Last Movie Star (dir. Adam Rifkin)
It's been 20 years since Burt Reynolds received an Oscar nomination for his supporting performance in Paul Thomas Anderon'sBoogie Nights, and the Michigan-native, in a role of personal career introspection, appears set to get more good notices with The Last Movie Star, director Adam Rifkin(Detroit Rock City)'s film about an aging actor who's being feted with a lifetime achievement award at an (extremely) independent film festival in Nashville. This feels like a strong showcase for Reynolds, an actor who was very much aligned, career and age-wise, with contemporaries De Niro, Nicholson, and Eastwood—all names referenced in the trailer as previous honorees of the fictional festival—before taking a different path to stardom. Excluding a brief cameo by Chevy Chase, Reynolds appears to be the elder statesman of the cast by a long mile, with Boyhood's Ellar Coltrane and Modern Family's Ariel Winter in supporting roles to even out the median. Release Date: March 30th, 2018, via A24.
Where is Kyra? (dir: Andrew Dosunmu)
Premiering at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Where is Kyra? is granted its long-anticipated theatrical release 15 months after debuting in Park City. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a woman dealing with the passing of her sick mother, the film looks to be a harrowing document of a woman attempting to juggle grief with competent functionality. As further economic complications arise, the trailer hints at a more psychological thriller in its sights: Is Kyra's mother still alive? Everyone says they see her walking freely out on the streets. Directed by Andrew Dosunmu (Mother of George and Restless City), the film has been celebrated for Pfeiffer's lead performance and cinematography by DP superstar and recent Oscar nominee Bradford Young (Arrival); up next, Young has a small movie called Solo: A Star Wars story due out this May. Release Date: April 6th, 2018, via Great Point Media.
Marrowbone (dir: Sergio G. Sánchez)
From screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez (of director J.A. Bayona 's The Orphanage andThe Impossible fame) comes the gentleman's directorial debut: a haunted house period piece where something is most definitely going bump in the night. The trailer reveals an orphaned family (three brothers and a sister) living on the outskirts of society in a bucolic yet creepy and completely-removed-from-civilization multi-floored residency where something evil lurks within. They're a guarded group, but is that because they value their privacy or because some kind of force won't allow them to leave? While the trailer sports scary music and jolting thrills the further it progresses, we're not bombarded with an overabundance of special effects, leading me to believe that the final takeaway is more subtle and longlasting. Being released in theaters and across all platforms on Friday the 13th, it looks like a solid addition for genre-vet Anya Taylor-Joy ofThe Witch and Split. Release Date: April 13th, 2018, via Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing.
Uncle Drew (dir: Charles Stone III)
Inspired by the hidden-camera, mockumentary-style viral ads released by Pepsi five years earlier, Uncle Drew stars NBA superstar Kyrie Irving (at 25 years young) reprising his role as an elderly, bearded basketball star with something left to prove. Old age makeup and prosthetics take center stage here, as fellow basketball All-Stars like Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, and Lisa Leslie join in on the fun (it's an amusing touch to introduce their characters via plastic bobbleheads), and the plot feels pieced together as to not distract from the sketch-like zaniness of the athletes' performances. Comedians LilRel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, and Nick Kroll round out the cast, and director Charles Stone III may be familiar to loyal Trailer Watch readers; we profiled his Netflix comedy, Step Sisters, last month. Release Date: June 29th, 2018, via Lionsgate.
