I always thought Jesse was slighted by the end of Breaking Bad. Not the last episode — it sent him off on the right note, as far as things were going — but the final season as a whole. Jesse’s humanity ultimately became more important than the wreck that was Walter White, but the show didn’t care to recenter our interest around the one flawed character who still deserved sympathy. (At least, as far as I remember from watching this in 2013.)
El Camino is something of an attempt to fix that. It’s a totally unnecessary, but entirely fun return to Breaking Bad’s world. It’s hardly a movie in the traditional sense; and even if you remember Breaking Bad reasonably well, you may (as I did) find yourself looking stuff up afterward. But it’s worth watching for any fan.
I still feel a little like Jesse was slighted again, though, with El Camino leaving the character in roughly the same place we last saw him. The film seems to be more interested in taking a trip back through our memories of the show than really moving Jesse forward. With that said, El Camino’s best moment is one in which we get to see the full range of Jesse’s character, with Aaron Paul perfectly popping back into an earlier incarnation of his role in a flashback. Maybe it’s not the attention he deserved, but it’s still a fun trip for fans.
Check out 11 trailers from this week below.
Dolittle
One day you’re playing Iron Man, the next you’re playing a doctor who talks to animals who has to look swashbuckling and lightly sweaty at all times and only talks in a sexy, comforting whisper. What is happening here? This thing comes out January 17th.
American Son
Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale bring their performances from the stage to the screen for this adaptation of the play American Son, which opened on Broadway nearly a year ago. The film really seems to be interested in keeping the play at just that: a play, giving the actors room to do their thing, with the camera nice and close. It comes out November 1st.
Lady and the Tramp
Talking dog movies are extremely in right now (I’m sorry!), and yet Disney is sending its live-action Lady and the Tramp remake (which is a whole lot more live action than Disney’s entirely CGI “live-action” Lion King remake) straight to streaming. But I guess that’s a good way to help send subscribers to Disney+ on day one. The film premieres November 12th.
The Man Without Gravity
This feels like a film from a decade ago: unapologetically twee, and potentially even charming enough to pull it off. Maybe I’m just buying in because the whole thing’s in Italian, but I’m pulling for Netflix on this one. The film comes out November 1st.
The Laundromat
It seems like every single person involved in this movie just goofed around the whole time… and maybe it’s great because of that. The film, from Steven Soderbergh and starring Meryl Streep, came out Friday.
Bombshell
Somehow, the director behind the Austin Powers trilogy is now making this film about sexual harassment at Fox. It’s a huge, serious story to unpack, and while this film has some big star power behind it, I’m not entirely convinced from the trailer that this kind of playful tone is exactly what the story needs. The film comes out in December.
Dollface
Okay, look. There’s a talking cat who drives a bus that takes Kat Dennings to relationship purgatory, or something like that, as well as literal Instagram cops policing accidental likes. I need to know at least a little bit more. The show comes out November 15th.
Beanpole
I am completely absorbed by this trailer: the sound, the color, the shapes of people’s faces. Even just the first 45 seconds — it switches from oddly hilarious to darkly serious in an instant, balancing those feelings the rest of the way through. The film, which won Cannes’ top directing prize, follows two young women in Leningrad in the immediate aftermath of World War II. It comes to the US in limited release on January 29th.
The Imagineering Story
Gee, I wonder how the documentary crew got behind-the-scenes access for this one? As much of a Disney puff piece as this is likely to be, The Imagineering Story still takes viewers into parts of Disney’s parks that most don’t get to see — and I’m sure for a lot of people, that’ll be worth checking out nonetheless. It comes out November 12th on Disney+.
The Outsider
Fortunately, Stephen King has enough material to sustain nonstop adaptations for the next several decades. The latest is The Outsider, a 10-episode series about an unexplainable murder. It starts January 12th on HBO.
Marriage Story
Netflix put out a full-length trailer this week for Marriage Story, the latest film from Frances Ha director Noah Baumbach. The film tells the story of a relationship through a divorce proceeding, which is something I haven’t seen done before and could make for a very emotional film. It comes to theaters on November 6th and hits Netflix exactly a month later.