New trailers: Disney's first Latina princess, a Liam Neeson tree monster, and more
All the shows and movies you should be looking out for
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Is The Night Of the new thing that everyone's watching? I hope so, because I am officially caught up on all one episode of it and believe I can stay (mostly) up to date for another month or so or however long it runs for. Anyway, if you haven't checked it out yet, HBO's new crime drama seems like it could be this summer's big thing to watch.
So far it's all pretty interesting, though I do have one complaint: the manic pixie nightmare at the center of its plot. There's really only one major woman on the show (so far), and she's both dead (please, this is not a spoiler) and unrealistically, well, manic, as the phrase goes, whisking a sad young man off into the night on a crazy adventure. Only instead of helping him see life in a new way, he ends up super in jail. My hope is that the coming episodes will attempt to flesh out her character — and I suspect it's likely heading in that direction — rather than letting the plot rest on someone out of a twisted fairy tale. Seriously, male writers, this trope is avoidable. Introducing other female characters wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Here are the nine trailers from the week worth checking out:
La La Land
Hi, welcome to my new favorite thing.
Loving
If you don't get emotional watching this, we are officially on bad terms. Loving tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the real-life couple whose Supreme Court case led to nationwide invalidation of laws banning interracial marriage. It looks very emotional, in a very good way. It'll be out November 4th.
Elena of Avalor
Disney's first Latina princess seems pretty fantastic. Not only does it appear that she's about to gain political control over her kingdom, but she's also a skilled sword fighter capable of protecting herself and others. Elena of Avalor is a TV series, so there should be plenty of it coming to the Disney Channel. It starts July 22nd.
White Girl
You won't see a trailer with more energy and attitude this week than the one for White Girl — and there's hardly a word uttered the entire time. Elizabeth Wood directs and stars in this film about a woman indulging in druggy extremes like we haven't seen since Spring Breakers. It's supposed to come out sometime this fall and then head to Netflix.
The Realest Real
Technically, this is a short film for a luxury fashion house. But technically, I super don't care. The Realest Real is directed by comedian / musician / author Carrie Brownstein and stars, among others, fellow rock star / author Kim Gordon. This teaser is 30 seconds long, and I love every second of it. The film's out September 13th.
The Hurt Business
The documentary The Hurt Business takes a look at MMA fighting and the serious issues that come with it — including the very real potential for brain damage. It looks brutal on both a physical and emotional level. Ronda Rousey is among the athletes featured. It comes out sometime this fall.
A Monster Calls
This seems more like a strange music video than a movie (and in truth I have no idea what's happening at any point here), but here's why you're going to consider clicking play: Liam Neeson voices a freaky tree monster. It comes out this October.
Sea Fog
Bong Joon-ho, the director behind Snowpiercer, wrote and produced this thriller about a desperate group of sailors who start smuggling immigrants to keep from going broke. Things look dark and tense, which seems about right given Bong's previous work. Sea Fog comes out August 2nd.
League of Gods
I have no idea what this is, but there are a lot of things to look at.