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New trailers: The Witcher, The Mandalorian, The Grudge, and more

New trailers: The Witcher, The Mandalorian, The Grudge, and more

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The week of the ‘The’ titles

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Photo: Katalin Vermes / Netflix

I finally got around to watching Widows, the latest film from Steve McQueen. I love McQueen as a director — I have distinct memories of feeling completely gutted walking out of Shame — and Widows is kind of a weird one for him. It’s really the first clear genre piece he’s taken on.

The film is based on a longer television series, and it very much feels like a condensed adaptation. There are a lot of characters and a lot of plot lines weaving in and out of each other. It’s the kind of thing that a book or a TV series can do really well, devoting as much time as necessary to each story. For a movie, it’s often better to simplify.

There are some lovely moments in the movie, though. The intro deftly weaves through the film’s deep cast of characters, offering telling moments with each of them. And the climactic moments remain tense and personal, while still hitting those fun heist-movie beats.

Check out nine trailers from this week below.

The Witcher

Forgive me, I have never played a Witcher game (or read a Witcher book) and have basically no idea what it’s about beyond there being a kind of grotesquely hot middle-aged man with a sword. I’m still not sure I really know what it’s about, but it sure looks like a potentially huge series. It debuts December 20th.

The Mandalorian

Maybe the single smartest thing Disney has done with Star Wars is casting Werner Herzog in The Mandalorian. In all seriousness, this show looks like Star Wars, and that’s not an easy thing to do on a TV show’s budget. We’ve learned basically nothing of the show’s lead character though, and until we do, I’m gonna be a little concerned about how well it can operate around a man wearing a mask. The series debuts just over a week from now alongside Disney+.

The Grudge

John Cho stars in this revival of The Grudge, which, as you would expect, has lots of creepy things to look at. That said, this trailer mostly feels like a super cut of jump scares and seen-it-before scary things, so... we’ll see how much the R-rating does for this incarnation of the series. It comes out January 3rd.

Jumanji: The Next Level

The big new reveal in this trailer is the song “Crazy Train,” which legitimately should just be used in all mass-market trailers. Suddenly I really want to see this? The movie comes out December 13th.

Forky Asks A Question

Disney+ comes out in just over a week, and this week we’re getting a look at another of its debut series. As much as this is just a silly kids spinoff, it looks like it’ll probably still be a funny watch for the adults sitting through it, too. All of Disney+ premieres November 12th.

Knives Out

The final trailer for Knives Out doesn’t go too deep into the movie — it’s really just a highlight reel of all the great reviews the film has gotten. There’s a big cast, a simple premise, and a writer/director who loves toying with genre conventions, so this ought to be fun. The film comes out November 27th.

The Photograph

On one hand, this looks like a really straightforward rom-com. On the other, it’s beautifully shot and looks like it brings a depth to the formula by folding in the complexities of not knowing one’s family history. Plus, it stars Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield. Obviously, this one’s coming out on Valentine’s Day.

Little Joe

I love that this candy-colored film is actually covering up a very eerie sci-fi story. It centers around scientists developing a plant with pollen that appears to have a mood-lifting effect, to eventually problematic results. It comes out December 6th.

Green Eggs & Ham

Here’s all I care about: the grumpy dude is voiced by Michael Douglas. The show starts November 8th.