Matt Singer is the editor and critic of the website ScreenCrush.com. For five years, he was the on-air host of IFC News on the Independent Film Channel, hosting coverage of film festivals and red carpets around the world. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, he’s been a frequent contributor to the television shows CBS This Morning Saturday and Ebert Presents At the Movies, and his writing has also appeared in print and online at The Village Voice, The Dissolve, and Indiewire. His first book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular, is on sale now.
Matt Singer
‘The Girl on the Train’ Trailer: The Thriller That Shocked the World
We’re so close, guys. So close to the end of summer movie season and the start of the fall, when the weather cools down and the movies start to get interesting again. I don’t know that The Girl on the Train is going to be an awards contender, but it certainly looks like a juicy thriller.
Two Fans Played the ‘Star Wars’ Theme on John Williams’ Lawn, and John Williams Loved It
13-year-old trumpeter Bryce Hayashi got a nice surprise when he and flugelhorn player Michael Miller played an impromptu tribute to John Williams’ Star Wars theme on the lawn of the master composer’s house: Williams himself was home and came out to shake their hands and salute them on their fine playing.
‘The Magnificent Seven’ Trailer: Chris Pratt and the Guardians of the Frontier
The bounty hunter, the gambler., the outlaw, the sharpshooter, the assassin, the warrior, and the tracker. Seven (a magnificent seven, if you will) against an army. And the army’s led by Peter Sarsgaard! I don’t like those odds.
Even Mark Hamill Is Annoyed by All the Secrecy Around ‘Star Wars’
My favorite part of any Star Wars panel like the one today at Star Wars Celebration is the terrified looks on the cast members when they’re asked to talk about their characters. They sweat and stammer, and look nervously at Kathleen Kennedy like at any moment if they say the wrong thing she’s going to end them with a Darth Vader Force choke.
‘A Monster Calls’ Trailer: Liam Neeson Has a Specific Set of Monster Skills
In the last couple years Liam Neeson has positioned himself as the scourge of kidnappers, murderers, terrorists, and wolves everywhere. But he still has room in his heart for children, as shown by the latest trailer for A Monster Calls, in which Neeson voices a big friendly giant (hm, where have I seen this concept recently?) who befriends a young boy struggling with his mother’s illness. The mother is played by Felicity Jones, and Sigourney Weaver (who’s actually top-billed in the trailer) stars as the boy’s grandmother.
We’re Gaga Over the ‘La La Land’ Trailer
Just yesterday during a Periscope Q&A, someone asked me for my most anticipated movies of the fall. The clear #1 choice: La La Land, the latest film from Whiplash writer and director Damien Chazelle. One day later, the first teaser for the film is here, and I’m even more excited to see the movie, which opens later this fall following a premiere next month at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
To Slowly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before: In Defense of ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’
The poster for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is so dramatic. The faces of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock, and Persis Khambatta’s Lieutenant Ilia refracted through a rainbow spectrum of light. That image promises excitement beyond imagination. Adventure! Passion! Every color under the rainbow!
‘Imperium’ Trailer: Harry Potter Versus a Different Kind of Wizard
As Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe fought all kinds of warlocks and wizards. But in the new thriller Imperium, he goes undercover to do battle with a different type of wizard; the sort who leads white supremacists.
Watch Deadpool Take Over the Japanese ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Trailer
X-Men: Apocalypse opened in the United States in May; after five weeks in theaters it’s starting to wind down its domestic theatrical run. (Last weekend it grossed an estimated $2.4 million on about 1600 screens.) But while the movie is slowly vanishing from theaters here, it’s yet to even open in certain international markets, including Japan. Over there, Apocalypse doesn’t debut until August, so the film’s promotional campaign continues in full force on that side of the Pacific. That includes this latest trailer, in which the star of Fox’s other (and far more financially successful) 2016 superhero movie shows up to promote his more famous colleagues.
‘Star Trek Beyond’ Trailer: Shipwrecked on the Final Frontier
It is interesting that, given a reboot could theoretically go off in any direction it chooses, that the relaunched Star Trek has begun to repeat events from the first Star Trek movie series. Star Trek Into Darkness was essentially a revisitation of The Wrath of Khan; the movie not only reintroduced the title character, it also flip-flopped the famous end of Wrath of Khan where Spock dies saving the Enterprise. (This time around it was Captain Kirk who made the ultimate sacrifice ... for about 8 minutes, and then he got better.) Certainly the circumstances of the film are very different, but Star Trek Beyond shares one crucial ingredient with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, namely the destruction of the Starship Enterprise, and the shipwrecking of its crew on a distant alien planet.
‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ Creators Say Reshoots Won’t Change the Film’s Story or Tone
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is holding reshoots this summer. No one disputes this. What is disputed is just what those reshoots mean for the movie, how much the film is changing in the middle of production, who is in charge of those reshoots, and whether it means the production is in any kind of trouble.
‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’ Trailer: Contrary to This Film’s Title, Tom Cruise Goes Back to the ‘Jack Reacher’ Franchise
By my count, Tom Cruise beats up 11 men all by himself in the trailer for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. 11! And that doesn’t include the four guys he beats up before the trailer starts that they show lying on the ground. And this is just a two minute and 30 second clip...