1. Venom (Trailer #3)

We talked about this for a bit on the pod, and our main sentiment is that we STILL aren’t excited for this movie. For me, this should be so easy to love. I love Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed and Jenny Slate, but nothing about any of these trailers has really moved the needle for me. Also, I’m not sure what is going on with Tom Hardy’s accent but it sounds terrible both as Eddie Brock and Venom. The latter is almost indecipherable in that connivence store scene. I also have to note that the “We are Venom” thing is cringy as fuck, and the attempt to get the SDCC crowd to do it made my skin crawl.

It’s directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less), and co-written by Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks), Will Beall (Gangster Squad), Scott Rosenberg (Con Air) and Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spiderman 2). That’s a lot of writers so it must be good. It’s current release date is October 5th.

2. Jungle Cruise (Teaser)

I usually never put teasers in here, but I had to for DJ. This movie is loosely inspired by the the Disney ride, and this what we know about the plot so far from wiki: “Frank, a boat captain, takes his sister and her brother on a mission into a jungle to find a tree believed to possess healing powers. All the while, the trio must fight against dangerous wild animals and a competing German expedition.” So sort of like Indiana Jones, except with The Rock? Sign me all the way up my dude. This is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, The Commuter) who dropped out of Suicide Squad 2 to make this. Probably the smartest career move ever made. It has a trio of writers in Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049), Glenn Ficarra (Bad Santa, Crazy, Stupid, Love) and his usual co-writer John Requa. It stars Dwayne Johnson (BALLERS), Emily Blunt (The Quiet Place), Édgar Ramírez (Wrath of the Titans), THICC BOI JESSE PLEMMONS (Friday Night Lights) and Paul Giamatti who was hilariously cast as “a Crusty Harbormaster”. The release date as of now is October 11th of next year.

3. Benched

This looks like a movie that should have been made in the late 90’s early 2000’s or something. I’m not sure what place that has in modern cinema, but there is definitely a market for this. I’m a big fan of John C. McGinley, especially from his ‘Scrubs’ days, so its sad to see him in smaller pictures like this. Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood) is his co-star who is a solid bargain-bin Michael Shannon. This hits select theaters (I swear) and VOD on August 17th.

4. King Of Thieves (Trailer #2)

The first trailer definitely got my attention, but this one just put it on my top 10 most anticipated list for the rest of the year. I’m a huge sucker for heist movies, and adding some fan-favorite old British actors to the mix is a winning formula in my book. James Marsh is at the helm (The Theory of Everything) and Joe Penhall writing (The Road, Mindhunter). Thats a solid back end, and the crew of My Cocaine(The Dark Knight, Cider House Rules), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, The Kings Speech), Ray Winstone (The Departed, Beowolf), Jim Broadbent (Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge), Tom Courtenay (???) and Charlie Cox (Daredevil) is phenomenal.

5. If Beale Street Could Talk

Holy shit, this looks incredible. It’s based off the 1974 novel of the same name by one of the best writers of all time, James Baldwin, and it focuses on a couple that is in love, but gets separated when the man is falsely accused of rape and sent to jail. It’s adapted and directed by Barry Jenkins, the mastermind behind Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay winner ‘Moonlight’. I can’t rave enough about how incredible that movie was, and having that expertise applied to a James Baldwin storyline has this immediately buttered. I also have to note that dropping this yesterday, Baldwins birthday, was a savvy marketing move. It stars Kiki Layne in her first motion picture, Stephan James (Race), Teyonah Parris (Chi-Raq), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Pedro Pascal (Narcos) and Regina King (Jerry Maguire). That’s an absolutely insane cast to compliment an all-star director and legendary author. I’d be SHOCKED if this doesn’t win Best Adapted Screenplay, and expect it to be a heavy contender for Best Picture. This comes out November 30th.

6. Smallfoot (Trailer #3)

What a totally pleasant holiday movie! You get to see a little more of the exposition as far as the human-yeti interaction here which is fun, and I expect this to make some solid dough this winter. Karey Kirkpatrick (Over the Hedge) is directing, and he has some solid credentials writing animated kids movies in ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and ‘Chicken Run’. He wrote this along with Clare Sera (Blended) which is an odd crew, but the dialogue you can sample from the trailer looks very pleasant. Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) is the star, and it has a great cast in Zendaya (The Greatest Showman), Gina Rodriguez (Annihilation), Danny DeVito (Matilda), James Corden (Yuck), Yara Shahidi (Blackish), Common (Selma), Jimmy Tatro (22 Jump Street) annnnnd LeBron James (Trainwreck). This hits theaters September 28th.

That’s all for this week, don’t forget to vote in my 51 week study of the best movies from each state. We have the results from Alabama, and are voting on Alaska this week. If the embedded form doesn’t work on your device, click here:

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