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ladybusinessCome watch a relative comics newb squee her way through some of the trailers from San Diego Comic-Con 2016. Gaze as she uses a month's supply of exclamation marks single post. Marvel as she unleashes an army of CAPS LOCKED characters.
And, y'know, watch the trailers as well.
Wonder Woman
Aschaila would say, WONDER WOMAN IS GONNA BE IN A MOVIE! Although I don't have the depth of connection that chaila has with this particular super-character I'm still really excited about this film and this trailer. Super-ladies 4eva. Not that you asked, but let me take a short detour to list five super-women films that figure in my wildest dreams:
Feel free to leave your own wish lists in the comments.
Returning to this film - check out my trailer highlights:
And, y'know, watch the trailers as well.
Wonder Woman
As
chaila would say, WONDER WOMAN IS GONNA BE IN A MOVIE! Although I don't have the depth of connection that chaila has with this particular super-character I'm still really excited about this film and this trailer. Super-ladies 4eva. Not that you asked, but let me take a short detour to list five super-women films that figure in my wildest dreams:- Black Widow movie
- Storm movie
- Ms. Marvel movie
- Harley Quinn movie
- Supergirl in a mooooovie
Feel free to leave your own wish lists in the comments.
Returning to this film - check out my trailer highlights:
- Let's start at the very beginning. I loooove that opening shot. The sea, the sky, Wonder Woman. It's just hugely open and full of possibility. It also kind of reminds me of the final shots in Gravity on the beach, which in my head links two SFF films about female protagonists. Yay!
- The cave!! I have a lot of emotional about an all female society meeting in a mystical cave. So many ladies!
- Wonder Woman hiding a fucking sword in the back of her brilliant blue ballgown. I mean this is the shot of the trailer right?
Her solid, fuck-off sword sheathed in blue silk. The ornate handle pressed against her back Tremendous. - Amazons jumping. Amazons riding. Amazons shooting arrows. Just, the Amazons!
- And OMG, this is a trailer that shows a significant relationship between women. 'You were my greastest love.' I think this is Hippolyta talking to her which means this is a film which acknowledges the importance of a living, breathing mother. No mothers are gonna die today to generate male backstory.
- Gal Gadot being Wonder Woman, again! I love her accent and her hair and her everything. I really like that the studio chose an actress who wasn't American or British for this iconic role.
- 'I'm really excited that this film mixes SFF with historical background,' says the lady who still hasn't watched any of the Captain America films. Please don't hurt me.
- The costumes. I like Wonder Woman's period costume, particularly the brief snippet we get of her in the high-necked coat. I'm actually also a big fan of the Wonder Woman costume that appears in these new films. I know people want her to wear trousers. And I really liked the costume for the TV series which never happened. However, I think the traditional costume has been used really respectfully so far. For example, when Wonder Woman appeared in costume in Batman vs. Superman the camera never once went to prev settings (spoilers - there were several other pervy angles in Batman vs. Superman when Gal Gadot appeared on screen). And there are no creepy exploitative shots relating to the costume (or at all) in this trailer. So, refreshing. *weeps* I would go so far as to compare her outfit to Kara's costume in Supergirl - still traditional but with a creative awareness that "tradition" can't be used as an excuse for being creepy.
- The closing music. See, I don't know a lot about Wonder Woman and I don't know how I know that music but as soon as I heard it I was like ',Oh.' It was like a call from somewhere deep in my past. The prophecy! It has been foretold! Loving the retro guitar sound.
I mean, I still do not understand the appeal of Chris Pine (although I will grant you that the polo neck look is pretty fine on him) but hey ho looks like I am into this movie now.
In Con-clusion: WONDER WOMAN!
Suicide Squad
Eh, I have mixed feelings about the Remix trailer. I'm still excited for the film (if not for The Joker at all) but this is kind of a weak effort considering the trailers that have come before it.
Lemme explain by unloading my feels about trailers for a minute, ok? So, trailers are marketing. They're designed to explain what a film or program is about in order to entice an appreciative (or just large) crowd to a show. Cool, I get the commercial aspect of trailers, and I am wooed to films by trailers that are standard pieces of marketing. However, I like trailers best when they operate a bit like fanvids. I like trailers that choose clips which draw out a particular aspect of a film and construct a selective narrative. I like trailers that use a particular artistic style to build a mood. I love when it's clear that the team behind the trailer paid a lot of attention to the musical choice. When trailers almost become like their own little art projects it often makes me want to see a film more. And an interesting trailer is a work that can be appreciated in its own right.
So, I loved the leaked First Look trailer because it was so different from the trailers for most super-hero action films. It start with a slow extended monologue (from Viola Davis, no less). Then it moves on to Harley Quinn doing slow ballet moves on knotted sheets . And it's SO focused on the women in the film. It even shows a meeting between Harley Quinn and Viola Davis' character, Amanda Waller. Plus, there are so many non-sexualised shots of Harley (the choice to focus on her shoes and not her body when they do go in for a close up - I'm not over it). The opening feels like the introduction to a horror film: rain; a dark palette of shadows; Viola Davis cutting food, in a very Hannibal-esque way, while discussing locking people away. And that gives the whole trailer a very Gothamy vibe without overplaying a 'Bat City gloom-fest' sensibility. It's a very appropriate trailer for a DC film. The song choice is glorious because it gives the viewer a feel that this is film is going to be epic and tragic. And it starts setting them up to have conflicted feelings about this team right off the bat. I was 100% more emotionally invested in Suicide Squad by the time I'd seen this trailer and I loved the trailer itself.
Then you've got the Blitz trailer, which is all about the song choices. You Don't Own Me is just a killer whatever context it's played in, right? And, because You Don't Own Me has quite a kicky bounce, it's not too drastic a switch from that song to the more up-tempo The Ballroom Blitz. The whole effect is just jaunty. It's a jaunty little trailer about killer super-villains and their love for violence. It's funny, it's cool, it's all about team dynamics. I adore it.
The opener of the latest trailer is pretty swish. The viewer sees a close up of a shot glass, the glass clinks are matched to the music, and then Will Smith delivers a world-weary monologue. That whole sequence could have some from a fanvid, and I mean that as the highest compliment because (just in case you didn't know) I think fanvids are amazing. This trailer is quite interested in beat matching and sound. So, the section where it uses the pop of Harley's gun and the scrape of knives to hit song beats provides a little burst of quirky entertainment. And the first two backing tracks are kind of kicking but the footage chosen to make up the bulk of the trailer is very standard. There's a lot of fight footage. And the whole trailer has a 'watch ditzy Harley walk away' vibe to it which, just, nope. BTdubs HARLEY QUINN IS NOT A TOY - TAKE YOUR PERVY USE OF THAT FISTBUMP SHOT BACK. I mean, I appreciate how much Will Smith footage it uses (I can tell he's gonna kill in this film). Otherwise it feels a bit dull.
Anyway, I continue to be excited about Suicide Squad because Viola Davis, Will Smith and Margot Robbie are in it! I just might rewatch the other trailers instead of this one in the run up to release date.
Justice League
In all honesty, Justice League will probably be trash but I'm gonna see it anyway because Wonder Woman is once again IN A MOVIE. That's three so far, if anyone is counting.
This trailer is all over the place but can be pretty fun sometimes. I especially like the fact that Bruce Wayne is allowed to use his humour muscles, and I would absolutely take a film where Bruce Wayne deploys a more grown up version of The Star Lord's quirk and personality. By the way, I really like Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne even though I find the amount of angsting the creative team got him to do in Batman vs. Superman hilarious. Help - it's possible I'm ill.
What else? The mega-serious opener in the fishing community was stellar for me but maybe that's just because I have a thing about sea mythology and worn down fishing villages. I enjoyed seeing Aqua-Man lift Bruce Wayne. And as the internet has pointed out - Jason Momoa as Aquaman, 'WHAT A TIME TIME BE ALIVE':
The spot with The Flash is dorky-cute. OMG, Barry could you stop being such a loser around Batman for just one second, please. I feel like Ezra Miller is channelling Jessie Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg but nicer here, which seems appropriate considering Jessie Eisenberg is playing Lex Luther in this incarnation of Batman films. Ray Fisher looks cool as Victor Stone/Cyborg but he's not really in this trailer much so… Absolutely no shots of Amber Heard as Mera, or Amy Adams as Lois Lane. That probably tells us what we can expect for their involvement :/ This is especially annoying because I just finished reading Bombshells, Vol. 1 and Mera is a really fun character. She has a chariot that is pulled by dolphins, and she is best friends with Diana. I feel like these are both things we need to see on screen.
American Gods
I am just so glad Ricky Whittle is free of The 100 and that the problems there haven't tanked his career. Instead, he's the lead in the prestige fantasy drama for geeks everywhere.
Yeah, suck it Jason Rothberg.
I still haven't read a lot of Neil Gaiman's work but American Gods sounds like the thing I'd be most into because it's full of mythology. Also, the hero's name is Shadow Moon. This. Is. So. Tragically. Hip. How can you not love a name like that?
The trailer… makes it look like the show has some problems at its core. Heeeeeyyyyy, Shadow. So, your character motivation appears to be a dead woman… What's up with that? The trailer trades heavily on the aesthetics of attractive male grief and mourning after the death of this woman. Then later in the trailer it maybe turns out she's not dead. So perhaps we're good?
Leagues of American Gods fans are screaming at their screens right now.
Anyway, Bryan Fuller is attached so I'm very hopeful that any problems in the original text will have been at least noticed. And the effects look delicious. Fuller's visual sensibilities are always so exciting, and I can't wait to see what this team can do with a world that's allowed to get full on weird. Honestly though, I am mostly gonna ride this train because I support Ricky Whittle's career and face. Do good work, Ricky Whittle.
Also, very keen on what looks like a costuming preference for putting him in white shirts.
Luke Cage
This teaser just gives you nothing. Yes, yes, how inconsistent of me to say that and then still be excited about the Star Trek: Discovery spot. Blah, blah, blah. It's just, there's no real narrative to hang a viewer's love on here. It's all about the fight scenes. The team knew enough to pick a quirky song to both undercut and emphasis the punch-em-out the footage but I feel like they didn't really mix the footage with it in a way that makes a real impact. I get that Netflix are being really careful about what they release for all the upcoming Marvel project but still. Maybe they still just have really limited footage to work with?
I remain excited for Luke Cage. Being a bulletproof black hero is going to make him a big fan-favourite in these times. I'm a little disappoint in how short the early promo is, especially because it means I can't go on and on about Luke Cage for ages, but still very committed to digging into this project when it launches.
Star Trek: Discovery
It's literally just the ship pulling out into space and a logo and yet… Emotions! I am having emotions! There's gonna be new Star Trek on TV. ILU for bringing this to us, Netflix.
Lego Batman
Oh yeah, this is my kind of Batman film; a Batman comedy that trades entirely on how much of an emo-midlife crisis he's having. Yes! I was not a huge fan of the Lego movie. Unpopular opinion: I found it kind of boring and the reveal at the end wasn't enough to pull it back for me. And this made me sad because I really wanted to love it. Dirtbag Batman was really the highlight of the film, so very excited to see this tiny Lego figure navigate his way through unwilling parenthood and adventures.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Why did Charlie Hunnam have to get involved in this ridiculous project? Now I probably have to see it. Just look at that stupid, perfect coat they've put him in.
As Hello_Tailor said, why has Guy Ritchie decided he really needs to make a King Arthur film? I just… the logic of creation escapes me. It's good to try new things, I guess? So, I like the opening, which could not be more Guy Ritchie does Camelot as a bro-gangster film if it tried. Lotta chat, lotta fast cuts, lotta lads and vicious looking dogs. I mean if the whole film is shot like that it will at least be a distinctive experiment of an Arthur story. However, it seems unlikely the film is going to sustain that kind of style throughout (especially with a lot of set-piece battles to go through).
Ok, rewind. I just looked up the cast online and Katie McGrath is gonna be in this film BUT SHE'S NOT GONNA BE MORGANA. Help.
She's 'Elsa'. Who even is that? I need more information. There is a major chance I will burn everything to the ground if she doesn't get a good role. But there is only one woman in the trailer and she looks like an evil mage of some kind so prognosis is not good *weeps* Also, according to IMDb Morgana is totally absent from this film. So, now the major conflict will take place between Arthur and some dude villains. What issssssss this? >.> I take back everything I said about Charlie Hunnam's stupid, perfect coat.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow (Series 2)
Watching this was a BIG mistake. My little heart just can not take a Snart-less Mick Rory. NOOOO! Undo! Undo! Sara is the only good thing in this trailer. Welp, back to fan-fic for me.
Legion
Not sure how I had never heard about this project before, as it looks very much like the kind of thing my online circle would be into. It's got mutants, alternate realities, Charles Xavier's son & a protagonist who doesn't trust his own mind. I'm a big fan of Dan Stevens evolving career, and the idea of a weirder take on the X-Men world appeals greatly. The colour pallet of the trailer is lovely - greys and burnt orange. I will definitely be giving this show a shot.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Still haven't read the book but it is kind of obligatory to be excited about this film, yes? I think it looks like fun: period costumes, magic, that amazing white griffin. Love the choice of Colin Farrell as the villain because it's not the kind of project I would ever expect him to be attached to, and so I'll be intrigued to see what he does. And, come, on - 'I want to be a wizard.' That's the greatest closer for the trailer of J. K. Rowling project, right? I will get over my aversion to Redmayne's acting (he only does two, maybe three faces) just for this one special project.
So that's all the squee from me. Which Comic-Con trailers got you all excited?
no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 08:16 pm (UTC)Shadow's situation is complicated in American Gods. Laura's death was just one more thing. Her situation is complicated too. I'm wondering how much of it will come out in the movie. But you can take a look at IMDB, and note how many episodes the character is in.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 10:09 pm (UTC)Clearly all your feelings about the Wonder Woman trailer are also my feelings. Amazons! Mystical caves! Hippolyta! Historical setting! (Seriously, what a brilliant move for a WW movie). The music! The casting! I really love Gal Gadot in the role, and I'm just so happy about it. (Also so pleased they cast a non-American actress, and let her keep her accent, because Wonder Woman is NOT AMERICAN). The SWORD in the BALLGOWN. I fainted and haven't recovered. Like I seriously might not survive this movie. It's gonna be a close call.
I am way more excited for Suicide Squad than I thought I'd be! Amanda Waller, good lord, I am so here for her. And the "You Don't Own Me" trailer basically sold me. I am prepared to be annoyed at the objectification of Harley though, sigh. But hopefully the rest of it outweighs that, because I like so much of the casting (other than the Joker, yeah, don't care) I really think it could be fun.
And Jason Momoa in the crashing waves, yessssss. I REALLY REALLY like Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, not sorry! As "Batman," I don't really have many feelings about him because he's behind so much armor and stuff that I just don't care, but he makes an excellent, older, wearier Bruce Wayne, and I am happy that it looks like he may spend a fair bit of the movie out of costume? We shall see. Either way, DIANA WILL BE IN THAT MOVIE TOO. /one track mind
Thanks for posting all the rest of these! Admittedly I got a bit, er, distracted by the Wonder Woman trailer and totally missed a lot of the other great stuff that was coming out of Comic-Con!
no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 10:34 pm (UTC)Same feels about Affleck as Bruce Wayne vs Batman btw. I just really don't enjoy the costuming they've done for Batman this time around (soooo much rubber I just can't get my mind out of the Bat Cave/sex dungeon gutter and his stupid voice modulator is really serial killery). But I highly approve Affleck as elder statesmen socialite Bruce Wayne who is full of secrets. The only other thing I wish that Justice League movie had is Catwoman. I don't know who they would cast but Wonder Woman + Catwoman could be great.
And Suicide Squad. I've got too many feels and am bound to be disappointed but I hold out SO much hope. Will Smith is like my favourite male pop-SFF actor (Matt Damon's got nothing on him) and Viola Davis IN A SUPER-PEOPLE FILM! What if she starts doing SFF films on the reg?! Agree, The Joker just has never appealed to me as a character (I much prefer Two-Face as a villain) and Leto's performance will probably be... interesting but still, meh. I just want to see Harley beat everyone down while wearing those shoes :o
And you're welcome about the other trailers. Maybe Ricky Whittle is kind of your deal too? Idk I just kind of want him to be everyone's deal ;p
no subject
Date: 2016-07-31 11:11 pm (UTC)There's gonna be a solo Batman movie in this universe at some point, I think, so maybe we'll get a Catwoman then? Or, best of all worlds, there are rumors of a Harley Quinn + Birds of Prey movie. What if they did Harley + Catwoman + Poison Ivy vs. the Birds of Prey??? Be still my heart! So many possibilities, don't let us down, movies!
My jam right now is Viola Davis Amanda-Wallering her way through Suicide Squad press events, omfg, she is the best.
(I forgot to mention the Lego Batman trailer, omg, Dirtbag Batman is my favorite Batman, I am chuckling forever).
I am a philistine and found American Gods just really, really confusing as a book, but maybe I will try the series!
no subject
Date: 2016-08-01 11:13 pm (UTC)Oh, that Discovery trailer! I'm hooked on the basis of just two things: (1) the font, and (2) the THEME MUSIC, which says they've gone back to being Star Trek again. (I never watched a single episode of Enterprise because the theme music told me it wasn't going to be Star Trek. From what I've heard, I was right.) Now I'm looking forward to this, even though I'll have to wait for it on DVD. And where IS that, Utopia Planetia?
no subject
Date: 2016-08-03 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-08 08:45 am (UTC)