The Crown Season 5 Trailer Butts Up Against Current Events, Our New Favorite Doll M3GAN Changes Release Dates, and We Look Back at The Rock's Best Role
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Sometimes, life and art crash into each other. Studios and streamers plan release dates for advertising meticulously, so Netflix already had plans to drop The Crown season 5 trailer today. Of course, what they couldn't have predicted was that the trailer would butt up against a pretty major event in the U.K.: the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss after only 44 days in office. So it goes.
Then again, for all I know, Netflix might be loving this coincidence. It might inspire even more people to watch the trailer. As the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity.
The Crown season 5 trailer is just one story in our latest /Film Newsletter. We also have news about M3GAN, a celebration of The Rock's greatest performance, a review of the Prime Video series The Peripheral, and more.
Have You Heard the News?
The Crown season 5 trailer is here, with the very talented and very tall Elizabeth Debicki taking on the role of Princess Diana in her final years. This season will also feature Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, and Dominic West as Prince Charles. Of course, a lot has changed in the real world since the last season: both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have died, and Charles is now King Charles III. This new season premieres November 9, 2022.
Speaking of trailers, here's a trailer for A Man Called Otto, featuring Tom Hanks in grumpy old man mode.
Warner Bros. is turning The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring into NFTs, because this is the nightmare future we've built for ourselves.
M3GAN, an upcoming movie about a dancing murder doll, has moved its release date up a tiny bit. The flick was originally supposed to open on January 13, but will now arrive on January 6, 2023. I say they should move it open even more. Open it this week! I want to see M3GAN dance!
Remember the huge flop RIPD? Well, they went ahead and made a sequel. Yeah, I dunno, folks. Life is strange.
Reviews
Critic Sarah Milner was not very impressed with the new Chloe Grace Moretz Prime Video series The Peripheral. The series premieres on October 21.
I've rounded up some new Blu-ray releases right here, including the 4K Criterion release of Lost Highway, Jordan Peele's Nope, the action-comedy Bullet Train, the Idris Elba vs. a Lion movie Beast, and many more.
Features and Exclusives
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a new movie out this week, which made me think of his best performance: the role of a born-again coke addict ex-con in Michael Bay's underrated Pain & Gain. Before he became a big movie star, The Rock showed us here that he could've been a pretty great character actor.
The School For Good and Evil is now streaming on Netflix. If you watched it, and dug it, here are 10 similar movies to check out.
Here are some of the best Easter eggs in Halloween Ends. "But Chris, shouldn't they be HALLOWEEN eggs?" you might ask. No, silly. Halloween eggs don't exist. Please be serious.
Writer Kayleigh Donaldson says that films like Wendell & Wild and Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio prove that stop-motion is alive and kicking.
Andor is the best of the Star Wars series on Disney+, and yet, it doesn't have as big of an audience. What gives?
Video of the Day
While it still occasionally happens from time to time, back in the old days (we're talking the '70s, '80s, and '90s) studios used to put out TV ads for films showcasing audience members walking out of theaters and offering up praise.
Horror was the genre that made the most of these ads, with moviegoers proclaiming just how scared they were while watching the flick. This particular vintage ad is for Child's Play 2, and features a very enthusiastic crowd ready for more Chucky mayhem. My favorite part of the video features a gentleman proudly stating the film features "More Chuck for the buck!" You said it, sir.