Trailers by Brandon: It's a slow week at the box office as everyone is preparing for 'Infinity War'

Avengers: Infinity War really kind of screwed up April. The mega-blockbuster was supposed to come out the first week of May but then decided to switch to April 27 a week early. That sent movies like Rampage scrambling to move up a few weeks, and now has left this weekend a complete dead zone at the box office. There’s really not a whole lot of new trailers to check out either folks, but don’t worry because we’re still going to talk about it anyways. That also means we’re only one week away from Infinity War, so life could be a helluva lot worse.

Opening this week:

Super Troopers 2

I watched the first Super Troopers for the first time two days ago. I slightly expected to hate it as I was expecting nothing more than a bunch of gross-out gags. I’ve also found that a lot of comedies people once loved — i.e. Vacation and Office Space — really don’t hold up so well in 2018. But, to its credit, Super Troopers was actually a pretty funny movie that had me consistently chuckling. It’s not the best comedy in the world, but it’s funny enough and I’m now curious what the sequel will be like. Granted, comedy sequels have a terrible track-record and the fact that this is like 15 years after the first one isn’t a great sign, but I’m willing to give Jay Chandrasekhar a shot here.

I Feel Pretty

Thanks, Amy Schumer, but I’m not feeling too pretty about this one. I’ve heard, in early reviews, that it’s not as bad as the trailers make it seem and the message is more uplifting than it is demeaning. Still can’t say I have a strong urge to go spend my money on this one though, at least not in the theater.

Traffik

Four weeks ago, I didn’t know this movie was even coming out. Three weeks ago, I thought that someone was trying to remake Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. Now, I can’t help but see the trailer and think this looks like a bad Get Out knockoff. In short, I think I’m alright with passing on this one too.

 

New trailers:

The Equalizer 2 (July 20, 2018)

To be honest, I completely forgot about Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer and the fact that a sequel was coming out. Denzel Washington was good in the first movie and all, it’s just a property that totally slipped my mind. The trailer for The Equalizer 2, to its credit, got me excited again. Probably going to have to rewatch the first one at some point, but I’m always up to see Denzel lay waste to some bad guys.

Hotel Artemis (June 8, 2018)

I have such mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, this looks like a ton of fun. Seeing Jeff Goldblum show up in a role like this is just too good, as all the cast really seem to be getting in on this. On the other hand…John Wick anyone? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more blatant rip-off, as this is clearly the exact same thing as The Continental. Part of me really just hopes that they announce this actually is an official John Wick spin-off, because I really want to just be able to enjoy the movie and not have that running through my head the whole time.

Anon (May 4, 2018)

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way first: why is this guy still allowed to be a detective if he literally can’t trust his own eyesight? Putting that aside, it has an interesting premise? At least I think it does? Still a little shaky on the whole thing works, but this looks like an extended Black Mirror episode and I guess I’m okay with that for the time being.

Blindspotting (July 20, 2018)

It runs the risk of being preachy or melodramatic, but Blindspotting looks like it’s dealing with some important and relevant subject matter, which at least has me intrigued. It’s coming from a first-time feature-length director named Carlos López Estrada, meaning it could be great or it could easily just be so-so.

The 12th Man (2018)

For some reason, I had it in my mind that this was going to be a horror movie. It’s not a horror movie. It’s a survival movie. And while I can get a little sick of survival movies, as it’s hard to come up with something new for them, The 12th Man doesn’t look half bad.

Mary Shelly (May 25, 2018)

Eh. Not sure why Hollywood is making all these movies that show the origin story for how famous authors came up with their ideas, but nothing about Mary Shelly is really sticking out or making me think that I need to go out of my way to see it.

Rewind:

22 Jump Street (2014)

Yes, it’s true that most comedy movies suck. 22 Jump Street, however, is one of those rare comedies that might actually be better than the first. Don’t get me wrong, I love 21 Jump Street too, but that’s the beauty of this franchise — they’re all right at the same level. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill’s chemistry is on fire here, and the scenes between them and Ice Cube are worth the price of admission alone.

‘Super Troopers 2’ review: Some comedies really just don’t need sequels