We get bombarded with teasers, trailers and promotional clips relentlessly – each weekend Steve Newall sorts through the best of the week for you to check out and get excited about.
The Fall Guy
Ryan Gosling stands in for Lee Majors in The Fall Guy, a new action comedy directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train) that’s based on the 1980s TV series. Gosling plays seasoned/battered stuntman Cole Seavers, doubling for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the movie star lead of an action blockbuster shooting in Australia. Complicating matters—the director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) is Cole’s ex. Complicating matters even further—when the star goes missing, Cole is tasked with tracking him down, which leads him into an action-packed real-life fight for his life.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Set several generations after the previous Apes pic, and now in the hands of director Wes Ball, this new entry in the franchise is set in a world where the fall of humanity is complete. Echoing the 1968 original, humans have regressed to a feral, animalistic state, while apes live in harmony. That is, until a new leader seeks out powerful human technology to further the growth of his empire… and one young ape sets out with a human companion to find freedom.
The Boy and the Heron
The Boy and the Heron
Look, we’re not usually fans of dubs—but any excuse to see a new glimpse of this new film from Studio Ghibli master Hayao Miyazaki. Revealing itself to be perhaps heavier on the fantasy than earlier anticipated, The Boy and the Heron feels like another magnificent entry in the Miyazaki filmography. Plus, the performances of the English-language voice cast feel spot on, including those of Robert Pattinson, Laren Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe and Dave Bautista.
Shōgun
Shōgun: Miniseries
A new series adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel (already a 1980 miniseries), Shōgun stars Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne. Loosely based on the real-life William Adams, a 17th-century English navigator who was the first Englishman to visit Japan, Blackthorne finds himself shipwrecked in Japan and having to adapt to the culture, learning its traditions at a time of feudal intrigue. Earning the trust of Lord Toronaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), the foreigner ends up in the midst of a struggle for the future of Japan.
Manodrome
In echoes of his role in 2019’s excellent black comedy The Art of Self-Defense—but without the jokes—Jesse Eisenberg joins an intense male self-help group here. There looks to be more than a touch of Fight Club to proceedings also, as Ralphie (Eisenberg) falls under the spell of its charismatic leader Dan (Adrien Brody)—and, wouldn’t you know it, things take a turn towards the increasingly fucked up.
Family Switch
Family Switch
Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms lead this Netflix family comedy from director McG that sees the four members of a disconnected family all switch bodies. “That’s so freaky,” one character observes. Indeed. The timing of this event is slightly inconvenient, with all four at crucial points. Will they learn the valuable lessons they need to secure a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout? Probably!
Boy Swallows Universe
Boy Swallows Universe: Season 1
1980s Brisbane is the setting for Netflix’s adaptation of Trent Dalton’s semi-autobiographical novel. Trying to hold his fractured family together, the eight-episode series sees young Eli growing up with a drug-addicted mum (Phoebe Tonkin) and drug-dealer stepfather (Travis Kimmel). Simon Baker, Anthony LaPaglia, Bryan Brown and Sophie Wilde also appear, but the series belongs to Felix Cameron as Eli, following him on his journey from childhood innocence into the brutal world of adulthood.
