It's like we said last week, summer tentpole season in theaters means awards season trailers hitting the circuit—right down to the Spielberg/Hanks powerhouse Cold War thriller drama. But the last week in trailers was big for a couple of other reasons, too, namely the first looks we got at The Martian and the final film in the Hunger Games series. Ben Foster looks like he's making a Best Actor play with his turn as Lance Armstrong in The Program and Mark Duplass is trying to make us recoil in fear as one half of the creepy movie Ceep. So here's what we know: Alicia Vikander's career is ascending like a launching rocket and Kate Mara is certified major. Lifetime is ready to take the message back with the help of Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell, and Jason Bateman's voice can sell us on pretty much anything. From the grandiose to the micro-budget, it's all waiting for you in this week's trailers.
We brought the Martian trailer to you when it was hot off the press, but go ahead and take in its three minutes of greatness one more time.
Pause at: 0:37 for the crew, pre-separation. Even looking like death warmed over, Matt Damon is still adorable at 1:09. Stop at 1:32 for a pretty damn beautiful Martian landscape. Space danger at 2:17! No matter what, the answer is duct tape, like at 2:32.
Essential Quote: "I'm gonna science the shit out of this."—Mark Watney (Matt Damon)
This was another real-time special brought to you last week, but the Mockingjay (Jennifer Lawrence) deserves your attention at least one more time.
Pause at: 0:21. A hero will rise! Prim/Katniss hug at 0:47. If you know what this means you know what this means. Brienne of Tarth at 0:50!
Essential Quote: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 76th Hunger Games."—Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin)
The last two movies Guy Ritchie directed were the Sherlock Holmes updates with Robert Downey Jr. They were fun in their own right and, as WIRED editor Jason Kehe puts it, "The greatest love story of our time," but they weren't cool—at least not cool in way Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. were. But U.N.C.L.E. looks like it could finally be a return to form for the director. Just look at it! We know not to get our hopes up too high, but at the very least, watching Henry Cavill drip charisma while Armie Hammer puts on his best sickle-and-mallet stare will be a lot of very attractive fun. BTW, Alicia Vikander back in the house!
Pause at: 1:31, 1:32, 1:33, and everywhere else for so many pretty things!
Song: Nina Simone, "Feeling Good"
Essential Quote: "Things could get a little messy."—Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill)
So just consider all of this: Director Steven Spielberg with star Tom Hanks and writers Joel and Ethan Coen all brought together to tell the story of a Brooklyn attorney who ends up neck-deep in the Cold War when he's sent to negotiate the release of captured American U-2 pilots. It's like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called and asked them specifically to make a Best Picture nominee.
Pause at: 0:59 for a dignified American hero.
Essential Quote: "Is there any outcome here where I'm not either detained or shot?"—James Donovan (Tom Hanks)
Hey, look! It's America's favorite semi-anxious everyman, Mark Duplass! We love it when our favorite actors turn scary, and even though Duplass just did that in The Lazarus Effect, it was kind of a boring movie despite a solid premise and great cast. But this time he's being scary in a movie he produced! And we've grown to trust this guy's instincts. So what's going to happen when Duplass' character, a terminal cancer patient named Josef, invites a filmmaker to record some of his final days at a secluded cabin in the woods, but then starts to behave in a really troubling fashion with his newly hired charge? We don't know! Maybe he's just a jerk who likes screwing with people, or maybe he's a sociopath. Let's find out!
Pause at: 0:38. It's super weird how a smile that normally charms you becomes super eerie when it's held for just a couple beats too long. Stop at 1:24 and really dwell on this backlighting.
Essential Quote: "This is gonna be a good day."—Josef (Duplass)
How is this real?! Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell have partnered up to make a comically bad Lifetime movie ... that's going to premiere on Lifetime. Genius! Wiig and Ferrell play a couple that takes in a pregnant woman (Jessica Lowndes, we assume) and cares for her in hopes of keeping her future child for themselves. Scandal! Huge high-five to Lifetime for being in on the joke.
Pause at: 0:05 and 0:07 for so much drama!
Essential Quote: "We could have had everything. We could have had a happy life together, but you're selfish and a coward and a liar, just like the rest of them!"—unnamed character played by Jessica Lowndes
Wow. Ben Foster looks like he's going HAM on this Lance Armstrong biopic from Stephen Frears, whose recent directing credits include Philomena and The Queen, which is a very not-bad resume! The Program is based on the book of the same name by sports writer David Walsh (played here by Chris O'Dowd), and it follows Armstrong's seemingly miraculous rise to the pinnacle of professional cycling after recovering from cancer. As we all know now: Armstrong participated in an elaborate performance enhancing drug regimen that thwarted cycling authorities for years before finally being outed as a world class cheat. There may be fewer and fewer heroes to look up to in the world, but at least we have actors like Ben Foster, who disappears behind the character, to bring the fallen to life. Oscar makeover alert!! Oh and heads up for Jessie Plemons, Dustin Hoffman, and Lee Pace.
Pause at: 0:35 and 0:46 for the full Armstrong. Stop at 0:48 for part of the program.
Essential Quote: "I have never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs."—Lance Armstrong (Foster)
We can't tell if this looks really adorable and worthwhile or if we're just charmed by the perfect voiceover from Jason Bateman.
Pause at: 0:53 for the sloth just making his way. Awww animals are so adorable when they've been tranquilized, like at 1:21 and 1:33.
Essential Quote: "Like nothing you've seen be-fur." (Oh, come on!)
If you've ever cared about Hollywood or been fascinated by its myths and legends, this Sundance debut will sit right in your wheelhouse. Marlon Brando was a strange man, whose strangeness only amplified as he got older. He became reclusive and rarely granted interviews, but apparently he did record over 200 hours of himself just talking about, well, pretty much anything. Filmmaker Stevan Riley was given exclusive access to this personal archive by the Brando estate, and he managed to track down, apparently, every TV and radio interview Brando ever did, including private recordings made by journalists. Whoa! We're ready to meet Marlon Brando, probably for the very first time.
Pause At: 0:44 for that face!
Essential Quote: "When what you are is unwanted you look for an identity that will be acceptable."—Marlon Brando
At the end of the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise's character John Anderton brought down the pre-crime program. But remember the pre-cogs? The three people in the tub who did all the crime predicting? Well, now it's 10 years later and one of them, Dash (Stark Sands), is still wracked by nightmares stemming from his time in the pre-cog tank. Fortunately he's got a savvy detective pal named Lara (Meagan Good) to team up with to help him stop crime and find his twin brother, Arthur. Whether or not Minority can hang as a show is to be determined, but we for sure know that it's making us miss Almost Human.
Pause at: 0:01 for future America. Stop at 0:12 for a preview of special effects.
Essential Quote: "You think you can fix the past by meddling with the future?"—Agatha (Laura Regan), the third pre-cog
We gave you a trailer for The Overnight a couple of weeks ago, but now we've got a red band one to offer! And, really, red band is the only right way to watch this movie, so just take it all in.
Pause at: You'll figure it out.
Song: Northeast Party House, "The Haunted"
Essential Quote: "Is that a ... butthole?"—Alex (Adam Scott)
