Last weekend I saw An American Pickle, the new Seth Rogen movie and one of the first originals from HBO Max. It’s the perfect kind of streaming first movie – interesting enough to check out, because I’m already paying for HBO, but not something I would pay specifically to see in theaters.
The film is surprisingly fast and straightforward. There are really only two characters in the whole thing, and they are both played by Rogen – one an app developer in Brooklyn, the other an early 1900s immigrant to New York who wakes up in the present. day after it has been frozen in pickle brine for a century. Rogen does a great job of putting the two apart, and it’s fun to watch him play by himself.
It’s strange, however, just how narrow the film is. We can not meet the friends of the modern character or see that one of them already interacts so much with other people. It limits our view of who they are, and it seems to limit the driving possibilities that the premise offers as well. Eventually it still feels like we barely met her.
Check out this week’s nine trailers below.
Bad here
Dear White People creator Justin Simien is back with a horror satire about a Black woman who feels pressured to get a weave to get to work, and whose weave then begins to murder people. There’s a really classic horror vibe to the way it’s all shot, and it’s just from this trailer how clear Simie can make things happen. The film is coming to Hulu on October 23rd.
Alarm clock
Lamorne Morris stars in a new Hulu series about a Black cartoon that begins to show objects live and talk to him after he is attacked by a white police officer. The character is based on artist Keith Knight, who is also one of the show’s creators and writers. It debuts September 9th.
The devil all the time
Netflix has the following movie from Christine director Antonio Campos, and it looks like a similarly beautiful, slow-building, and exciting ride. I really like the visuals here and the very classic movie quality for them. The film is coming out September 16th.
Away
Hilary Swank stars in a new Netflix series as an astronaut on her way to Mars. However, it’s not really a sci-fi series – it’s a drama about families struggling with absent parents and the fear that they might not return. It’s kind of a surprising approach to a show about a trip to Mars, and it seems extremely juicy. The show debuts September 4th.
Not heavy
One of the next movies to come to HBO Max is a road trip comedy about two teenage girls forced to travel across state lines so that one of them can get an abortion because of the oppressive requirements for parental consent wherever they go living. This is, depressingly, the same premise explored by another film, Never seldom sometimes always, but a few months ago, but Not heavy clearly goes for a much more ridiculous take on the situation. The film is coming out September 10th.
The third day
HBO has released an early new miniseries featuring Jude Law and Naomie Harris as visitors to a mysterious island. As Lost of, I am required to place trailers for each series on Mysterious Islands. The show debuts September 14th.
Save by the clock
Peacock brings back Save by the clock, with a reboot that looks very different from the original sitcom. The new series looks a bit more modern and polished, but it is still full of references to and characters from the original. There is no release date yet.
Scare me
The premise for Scare me is wonderfully simple: two people are stuck in a closet in the woods, and they decide to take turns scaring each other. The film played earlier this year at Sundance, and now it’s going to Shudder.
Undergods
I just don’t post trailers for smaller movies without a scheduled release, though Undergods was too compelling to resist. The film resembles a strange and beautiful series of vignettes set in a crooked and vaguely futuristic Europe. It debuts at Fantasia International Film Festival later this month.
