After weeks of pretty dedicating watching, I finally made it through Mad Men and understand what everyone was raving about for years. There are just so many impressive things about the show — its style, its characters, its vibrant depiction of the American ’60s and culture clash — but the thing that most impressed me is how its storytelling is perfectly focused yet feels so aimless and open, like it could go anywhere. And it often does.
When you start an episode or a season of a show, you generally know where it's going to end up — the people who have to show up, the locations that have to be visited. But Mad Men regularly bucks all of that, bringing its characters into new situations that evolve the story or address an issue in a different, parallel way. It makes every episode more surprising, but also a little bit more natural — creating bigger, messier lives for the show's characters. And that's all just so fitting for a series about people finding their way in the unfamiliar.
Check out 11 trailers from this week below.
Blade Runner 2049
This trailer gives us no idea if the team behind the new Blade Runner got the story right, but it's sure clear that they probably got the look, music, and tone spot on. And given what director Denis Villeneuve did with Arrival last year, it seems like we should be waiting for this one with high expectations. It comes out October 6th.
Wonder Woman
We're less than a month away from Wonder Woman, and this week, DC put out a final trailer for it. This new one has some really cheesy music, but it also introduces the villain a bit and shows just how stylized the film's action is going to be — the fight sequences look clear, huge, and over-the-top. It really feels like DC is tapping into the character's comic book roots. The film comes out June 2nd.
Twin Peaks
Showtime hasn't been willing to show much of the next Twin Peaks, but there's now only a week to go before it premieres and we're finally getting... well, at least a brief look at its characters and locations. At this point, fans may just want to hold off — the new season starts next Sunday, May 21st.
Red Nose Day Actually
This aired in the UK more than a month ago (you can find it online if you look around), and now the mini-sequel to Love Actually is coming to the US as part of the Red Nose Day fundraiser. The short mostly seems to feature updated versions of the film's more famous moments, but I suppose that's all you can ask for in a brief sequel like this. It comes out May 25th.
Woodshock
Woodshock looks like it could be a moody, tense drama. But it also looks maybe a bit too perfectly designed to make people in indie theaters drool, and this trailer doesn't quite make it clear if the substance is there to back it all up. That said, it makes sense that this thing is heavy on style: it's written and directed by Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind the fashion brand Rodarte. This is their first movie. It comes out September 15th.
War Machine
Netflix has another trailer out for its big, ridiculous war movie starring Brad Pitt. While the earlier trailers felt a little on this slow side, this one makes War Machine look confident and cocky, which is probably exactly what you want when you hire Brad Pitt. The film comes out May 26th.
The Limehouse Golem
It takes a lot for a murder mystery to stand out. And while The Limehouse Golem seems to hit a lot of familiar beats, it does it while in a colorful and energetic Victorian London, which just might be enough to set it apart. Bill Nighy stars. It comes out September 1st in the UK — there doesn't appear to be a US release planned yet.
Top of the Lake: China Girl
After a four year hiatus, the BBC is bringing back Top of the Lake for a second season. The show stars Elisabeth Moss as a detective taking on murder cases, and it costars Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie, making for one impressive cast. It looks bright and unsettling, creating a style that makes the show seem like more than just another True Detective alternative. Premiere dates don't appear to be set just yet, but it's coming to the Sundance channel in the US sometime in September.
Le Mans: Racing is Everything
Amazon went behind the scenes at Le Mans, the intense, 24-hour car race that hundreds of thousands gather to watch in France each year. It's not clear how many episodes there are going to be, but the documentary series is supposed to follow several drivers and seems to go into the race's nearly 100-year history as well. It comes out June 9th.
Gypsy
From the title to the description, pretty much everything about this new series from Netflix seems questionable. Gypsy stars Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup and has Watts playing a therapist who apparently just messes with her patients. It's probably too late to change any of this before June 30th, when the show comes out.
Jeannette
I'm pretty sure this is a prog rock Joan of Arc musical. Enjoy.