5 Film & TV Trailer Explanations From This Week: #14
Polar, Russian Doll, Little, and more.
It’s been a busy week for me; I’m currently taking part in a 30-day writing challenge, which means that I’ve churned out more articles than I ever thought I would be able to.
It also means that I haven’t had as much time to spend on this weekly piece, so please forgive me if I’ve missed out anything interesting (or tell me about it on Twitter!)
1. Polar (2019)
What is this movie about?
Based on a webcomic and Dark Horse Comics’ graphic novel series by Victor Santos, the series is known for its action-noir style and minimal dialogue. The film adaption focuses on the second graphic novel, Polar: Came From The Cold, and is produced by Dark Horse Entertainment (Hellboy, 300) and Constantin Film.
What’s the trailer saying, if I can’t be bothered to watch it?
To be honest, it looks exactly like Taken, with fantasy sprinkled in. It shows a mystery ex-hitman making friends with his cute neighbour (Vanessa Hudgens in the damsel in distress role), who then gets kidnapped by his former employers in order to…piss him off?
Why the hell should you care about this?
Mads Mikkelson plays the retired hitman with an eye-patch who is going to take revenge.
I mean…that’s all the casting and plot you need right there!
2. Russian Doll
What is this show about?
A comedy series premiering on Netflix on the 1st of February, this show does the Groundhog Day loop; Natasha Lyonne’s character keeps dying over and over again, and seems doomed to repeat the same cycle.
What’s the trailer saying, if I can’t be bothered to watch it?
It shows us the premise of the loop; the main character is dreading being at a party (where she’s the guest-of-honour), and then while leaving, gets hit by a car. She then ‘wakes up’ again at the same spot, in front of the mirror, before the party begins again.
The trailer then shows her slowly going crazy as she tries to avoid death and find out what’s going on.
Why the hell should you care about this?
It’s an old concept, but the idea of it being a series is intriguing; how will they keep this up for 8 episodes (and more, if it gets renewed) if the day always restarts the same way?
3. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
What is this movie about?
Jake Gyllenhaal reunites with his Nightcrawler writer and director, Dan Gilroy, in this horror film about art. It’ll be released on Netflix on February 1st as well.
What’s the trailer saying, if I can’t be bothered to watch it?
I…didn’t know it was a horror film, so I was interested in the first half of the trailer, which focused on a bunch of pretentious art critics tearing down other people’s art.
And then the second half went off the rails after a mysterious artist captures everyone’s attention. It seems like those who buy the art end up getting…well, killed, in gruesome ways.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s art critic seems to be the main character, and one of the only few who are genuinely freaking out about…well, art murdering people.
Why the hell should you care about this?
I actually kinda wished the film was about these pretentious art critics and their lives; it seems like it would be funny as hell.
But as much as I hate horror films, I still want to know whodunnit, so…I guess the trailer did its job well?
4. Little (2019)
What is this movie about?
If you’ve watched Black-ish, you would know Marsai Martin as Diane. With this film, she becomes the youngest person with an executive producer credit, as she came up with the idea after watching Big.
What’s the trailer saying, if I can’t be bothered to watch it?
The trailer tells us the premise of this comedy film: there’s an overbearing boss (played by Regina Hall), who bullies…well, everyone. She has a long-suffering assistant, played by Issa Rae (from Insecure). After Jordan (the main character) bullies a child, the child waves a cute wand and wishes that she would become little again.
…voila! Jordan becomes her younger self (played by Marsai Martin), but with all of her current memories. That means that she has to depend on her assistant now since she’s basically an unattended child running around. Cue hijinks and laughs.
Why the hell should you care about this?
It just sounds like a ton of fun, honestly.
5. IO (2019)
What is this movie about?
A science-fiction thriller film that focuses on a dystopian future, the movie’s title refers to the location on Jupiter that most humans have relocated to.
It stars Anthony Mackie and Margaret Qualley (from The Leftovers).
What’s the trailer saying, if I can’t be bothered to watch it?
Qualley’s character is a scientist who has stayed on earth to find survivors (and because she doesn’t want to give up on our planet). She does this in with a series of I Am Legend-esque radio broadcasts, which ends up attracting Mackie’s character to her location.
They decide to board the last spaceship to IO, but that location is…not near, which equals trekking through dangerous (and toxic) terrain.
Why the hell should you care about this?
Anthony Mackie, guys!!
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