I’m sticking with The Handmaid’s Tale for now; in the latest episode we see a lot of very improbable situations that need to happen in order to move the plot along but at last, finally, the main story moves away from Gilead. Does that mean things are going well for June? I don’t think it’s a major spoiler to say “nope, not really.” But we get to see some backstory for Janine, who asks June some uncomfortable questions in the present. More of that, please. The back half of the season looks promising.
Our trailers this week have a theme of sorts: Sequels. Trailers for the sequels to A Quiet Place and Stranger Things, and third trailers for Loki and In the Heights.
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A Quiet Place Part 2
As my colleague Alex Cranz noted, this movie had its theatrical premiere last March but was abruptly pulled from wide release shortly after because of the pandemic. So Paramount is going to try again, because they really want to give it a run in theaters, apparently. The latest trailer shows some flashbacks (hi John Krasinski!) to the attack by the sound-sensitive aliens that wiped out most of civilization, but most of what we see is the time period immediately after the first movie’s ending. Emily Blunt and Millicent Simmonds reprise their roles from the first movie, trying to be quiet and connect with other human survivors. A Quiet Place Part 2 also stars Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, and Djimon Hounsou, and was directed by Krasinski. It hits theaters March 28th, and will be on the Paramount Plus streaming channel 45 days later.
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Stranger Things 4
This is an unsettling preview of what Eleven’s life was like before she escaped from the facility where she had experiments performed on her— OK look. I liked the first season of this show because I am a child of the 1980s and a fan of Winona forever, and, because Millie Bobby Brown gave a spectacular performance as the abused Eleven. But I don’t know if I can sit through another season where she endures misery after misery (although, I am currently midway through the latest season of The Handmaid’s Tale so…). Please bring back Hopper for reals, show? No release date yet for Season 4, but as my colleague Andrew Webster pointed out the other day, if they don’t get on with it, the lovable kids from Hawkins, Indiana are going to be in their mid-20s before this drops. Let’s go, Netflix!
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Loki Trailer 3: “Doing Great”
The god of mischief (played by Tom Hiddleston) jumps out of a plane in this latest trailer for Loki. We don’t get a whole lot of new details about what’s coming from Marvel’s latest TV series in trailer No. 3 but can this show hurry up and drop already please? Loki premieres on Disney Plus June 9th.
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Halston
Ewan McGregor stars as larger-than-life fashion designer Halston who built a fashion empire amid all the excesses of the 1970s and 1980s. The miniseries also stars Bill Pullman, Vera Farmiga, Rory Culkin, and Krysta Rodriguez (as Liza Minnelli!). Halston debuts on Netflix Mary 14th.
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In the Heights: 96,000
The latest trailer for the movie version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway play In the Heights focuses on a major plot point: Someone bought a lottery ticket worth $96,000 from the bodega where main character Usnavi (played by Anthony Ramos) works. In the Heights comes to theaters and HBO Max on June 11th.