Rom-Traums, Shrek Summer 2026 and Marvel (and America)'s Brave New World
Vol. 1 Issue 16 – 13th July 2024
Posters and trailers galore
It’s been a busy week for first looks and teasers.
As mentioned in the last issue, the trailer for Gladiator 2 dropped with much fanfare amongst cinephiles and Pedro Pascal/Paul Mescal fans. However, over on YouTube the trailer has more dislikes than likes currently! Despite director Ridley Scott’s historical accuracy (that scene where the Colosseum can be seen filled with water for a naval battle!) and the acting prowess displayed by Denzel Washington and others, it seems there are fans of the original who can’t stand a sequel and other who think a modern rap song shouldn’t have been the background score… Trivial reasons to warrant a 👎 but the movie will speak for itself at the box office!
Next is a trailer I’ve been watching every day since it was dropped. This was the romance-drama (or should I say rom-traum) We Live In Time. Starring your favourite British actors, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, the small glimpse into the movie is already tugging at everyone’s heartstrings. Both actors getting to showcase what they do best, Andrew Garfield goes through a tragedy involving his girlfriend and Florence Pugh gets to make her iconic ☹️ sad face. Produced by A24, the movie is bound to be a modern classic that resonates with everyone.
A double-drop for Marvel, starting with Agatha All Along, Kathryn Hahn returns as the wicked witch from WandaVision with her own spin-off series for Disney Plus. The trailer hints at the curse that Wanda (The Scarlet Witch) put her under and how she might break free from it. It also introduces her coven featuring Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke.
On Friday, Marvel Entertainment also dropped the first poster and teaser for Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) playing the titular role after the mantle was passed onto him by Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame. We saw him grappling with the weight of this responsibility in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series but it looks like he’s come into his own in this trailer. We are also introduced to Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross and a sneak peak at his Red Hulk! It’s one of the better Marvel trailers in recent times in my opinion and the iconography on the poster is pretty amazing too! Can’t wait for 14th Feb 2025…
And finally, we have a premiere date for the second season of AppleTV+’s Severance! The teaser teases us just enough, not revealing anything after that cliffhanger ending of season 1 back in 2022, but it does reveal that it will arrive back on our screens on the 17th of January, 2025. If you’ve not seen the show, and chances are you haven’t, please go watch it. I believe it’s one of the most underrated shows of recent times and was sadly overlooked during awards season too. It’s a sci-fi psychological thriller filled with intrigue and mysteries, coupled with brilliant performances that entrance you. It’s Black Mirror-esque but takes it up a few notches from that.
TikTok Trends
Well, they start on TikTok but eventually migrate onto Instagram Reels too.
Before getting into the viral hits, the first one I’d like to point out is actually a styling hack. A lady used her chunky gold earrings as clasps on the straps of her top and why is it kinda giving Schiaparelli? Watch here, you could either secure and snatch one side of your top or even put one earring on each side for a balanced look!
“My favourite animal is…” not an actual animal but this text that you’ll see overlayed on many videos turns it on its head and mentions something that elicits the user’s wild side. Here’s a few examples…
The Japanese part of the track Mamushi by Meghan Thee Stallion and its dance has also been gaining a lot of traction being such an earworm.
When a group of friends in the UK decided to create a TikTok hyping each other up, they each chose two things that were a part of their look and repeated it on camera to a beat. And that’s how the “Boots and a Slicked Back Bun” trend was born. Now everyone’s recreating it with their own version, even comedians Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones joining in. And some people are getting too creative with it!
Down to the wire
Last weekend, Lewis Hamilton narrowly won the British Grand Prix. The home favourite finally won a race after his last win in 2021. It was also special considering he won it in his last year with the Mercedes Team since he’s moving to Scuderia Ferrari next season. With this win, he also broke the record for most wins at a single track by a driver since this was his 9th win at Silverstone.
Speaking of an English win, the Euros final will see England and Spain facing each other on Sunday.
Spain will also be looking forward to the Wimbledon Men’s Singles finals match on Sunday as World No. 3, their own Carlos Alcaraz takes on World No. 2, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. It’s a repeat of last year’s Wimbledon finals, we’ll see if Alcaraz nabs the win again.
On Saturday, the Women’s Singles finals will take place between Barbora Krejčíková of Czech Republic and Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Haven’t you heard
Sabrina Carpenter has revealed the tracklist of her upcoming album Short n’ Sweet, releasing on 23rd August.
The Devil Wears Prada Sequel is in the works with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt returning to reprise their roles. As for the storyline, the sequel will follow “Miranda Priestly as she navigates her career amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing and faces off against Blunt’s character, Emily Charlton, now a high-powered executive for a luxury group with advertising dollars that Priestly desperately needs”.
Glen Powell’s dog, Brisket, is stealing the show on Twister’s press tour. The movie (and its marketing) also has been getting rave reviews, being called this year’s “Top Gun: Maverick”, which I’d imagine Tom Cruise would also agree with given how he showed up to the premiere to support Glen.
Survival thriller movie, Eden, starring Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Daniel Brühl, directed by Ron Howard is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Joining the festival line-up alongside Eden is A24’s We Live In Time, Nightbitch starring Amy Adams, the Elton John documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late and Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon based on the life of amateur Indian filmmaker Nasir Shaikh.
M. Night Shyamalan’s new horror, Trap, dropped it’s second trailer and looks promising as a serial killer creates havoc at a packed concert that is meant to be a trap to catch him.
Shrek 5 will be coming to theatres Summer 2026! Coming alongside Toy Story 5. Now this is a double-billing I can get into.
Emily Henry's newest book, Funny Story, along with all her other romance novels, is also being adapted. For this movie adaptation, Henry has written the screenplay herself.
Thank God for American network television. If no one else got me, I know my comfort network television show got me. The 4th season of Abbott Elementary will premiere on October 9th 2024! Just to refresh your memory, the finale of the 3rd season aired in May this year, a 5-month turn-around time is unheard of in today’s age of streaming and taking 2 years to film a new season.
Speaking of one of those shows, Euphoria Season 3 will apparently go into production in January 2025, but with the way its actors are booked and busy, and creator Sam Levinson is unable to lock down a script, who’s to say if this date is really set in stone.
Harry Styles joined Stevie Nicks on stage at the BST Hyde Park festival!
A new perspective on a famous meme just dropped.
God bless America
John F. Kennedy’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg has been appointed the new Political Correspondent at Vogue Magazine. Seems fair. But for the uninitiated, he’s a bit of an internet sensation. One look at his Instagram or Twitter profile will tell you just why. He describes himself as a “silly goose” and honestly, that makes him an apt fit for the job (not his law and business degrees from Harvard).
And exactly why does American politics coverage need “silly goose” energy you may ask? President Joe Biden recently addressed Ukraine’s President Zelensky as “President Putin” and American Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump”. Oh boy.
