Preview Review: 'The Light Between the Oceans,' 'Sky,' and More

Trailers of this week include 'The Light Between Oceans,' Sky,' and more.

Feb 26, 2016
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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

With the Oscars happening this Sunday, we're finally finished with 2015 in film. While it's still too early to see what the standouts are going to be this year, we're glad that at least one great trailer has dropped. The Light Between Oceans, the latest from Blue Valentine's Derek Cianfrance looks to be the first great movie trailer of the year—enough to be excited for. Luckily, the other trailers from this week aren't too shabby. There's Too Light, a pensive crime drama, Sky, a road-trip movie, and Precious Cargo, the kind of spring movie that's sure to make tons of money.

Anyway, check out our roundup of some of the best—or at least interesting—trailers that dropped this week:

The Light Between Oceans

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Genre: Drama

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz

Release Date: September 2, 2016

It's been three years since Derek Cianfrance released The Place Beyond the Pines, an ambitious crime drama about two different families spanning through two generations. Although great in moments, and certainly admirable for its scope, the film holds nothing to Cianfrance's Blue Valentine, his debut feature that sees the end of a marriage between two individuals, played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams (who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film). And it looks like Cianfrance hopes to devastate again with his latest—The Light Between Oceans. Based on the novel by M.L. Stedman, the drama follows another couple—a lighthouse keeper (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Alicia Vikander) who come across a baby girl on lifeboat and decide to take her in as their own. Years later they encounter a woman (Rachel Weisz) who lost her husband and child at sea at around the same time they found their adopted daughter. Things (obviously) get complicated. 

If the first trailer tells us anything, The Light Between Oceans is certainly a flick that will capture Oscar voters' attention, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see Fassbender, Vikander, and Weisz picking up awards come this time next year. It's melancholic, features a ton of crying sequences and a complex moral dilemma, and, well, that may be enough to make it one of 2016's best. 

Too Late

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Genre: Thriller

Director: Dennis Hauck

​Stars: John Hawkes

Release Date: March 18, 2016

For whatever reason, John Hawkes is one of those actors that's pretty much incredible in everything he does, but never really gets the recognition for it. He's been a standout in films like Me and You and Everyone We Know, Martha Marcy May Marlene (which got him an Oscar nomination), and was cheated out of tons of accolades for playing a man in an iron lung who just wants a little intimacy in The Sessions. Too Late, the debut drama from Dennis Hauck probably won't put him on any new radars, but it looks to be another strong role from one of our best character actors.

In the eerie film Hawkes plays Mel Sampson, a private investigator who is looking into the disappearance of a woman from his past. As he moves further along in his case he encounters ghosts from his past, and, in addition to finding out what happened to the woman, ends up learning a lot about himself. While it certainly looks like the standard detective piece, the whole film was shot in 35mm. That's exciting in itself. 

Sky

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Genre: Drama

Director: Fabienne Berthaud

Stars: Diane Kruger, Norman Reedus, Lena Dunham, Joshua Jackson

Release Date: April 15, 2016

I always thought Diane Kruger had pretty impressive dramatic chops (see the first season of FX's The Bridge), and it looks like Sky may be just the kind of small indie that could make other people see it. While it may be a small picture, the story about a restless French woman who leaves her deadbeat husband and tries to refashion herself in the American West, seems to tackle some grand themes. Kruger stars as Romy, a character who goes from place to place meeting all sorts of people: a cowboy stereotype (Norman Reedus), a trailer park mother (Lena Dunham, not in the trailer unfortunately), and a good-natured cop (Kruger's bf (ex?) Joshua Jackson). 

In a way Sky looks like your traditional road trip movie, but the unconventional (yet inspired) casting will hopefully take the indie to new heights. 

Precious Cargo

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Genre: Action

Director: Max Adams

Stars: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Bruce Willis, Claire Forlani

Release Date: April 22, 2016

The latest Bruce Willis film looks like every single Bruce Willis film. Precious Cargo, a heist drama, stars Willis as a vicious crime boss who's after a thief (Claire Forlani) who has let him down. Scared, she recruits her ex-boyfriend (Saved by the Bell's Mark-Paul Gosselaar) to help her on another mission. As things going awry, allegiances are questioned, which culminates in a final showdown between the three.

It's certainly not the most interesting thing Willis has done, but I guess he's been doing this shtick for a long time. So why not? 

OscarsMichael FassbenderRyan GoslingBruce WillisLena DunhamTrailersAlicia VikanderNews

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