I know, I know. Didn’t we just have a trailer round-up last week? Well, that’s the thing about the summer season starting to rev up. The internet pretty much explodes with visually stimulating previews meant to entice you into forgoing all social interactions for some time in a darkened theatre. Or, depending on the film, convincing you to stay home instead.
TROPIC THUNDER – Red Band (NSFW)
I want to like Ben Stiller. He’s done enough good here and there that I want to like him (“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood”), but he just makes it hard by playing the same character over-and-over again and relying on the same comedic shtick (it goes something like this – just in French). It seems with TROPIC THUNDER he’s hit on something though. Not only does the film seem genuinely funny, it seems like it’s a dead on satire of war films and their productions, and impressively (and surprisingly) has more than a little bite, mocking action stars wanting to go dramatic, method actors, and … well, Eddie Murphy. On another note, I noticed in the credits that Ethan Coen helped write this script? How did I not know this till now? That’s amazing!
CITY OF EMBERS
I hadn’t even heard of this film till last week when a poster was revealed, and now this week its trailer. What impresses me most is that it feels like an amalgam of various genres I love. You get the post-apocalyptic feel of an underground city, yet the apocalyptic tension of it dying out on account of a power crisis. In a weird way it’s a prison break movie, but also a NATIONAL TREASURE like scavenger hunt for clues to actually escape. Finally, it’s got a fun, adventure-filled family film tone, but with the dark, industrial look of a film like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. Also you can’t help but look fowrad to Bill Murray, who is so awesome, I’m going to go ahead and consider him a genre.
THE PROMOTION
I find myself anticipating this film very much, despite the pretty worn out plot about two people going to ridiculous competitive lengths to try and get a job they’re both gunning for. The reason I’m still excited? A) John C. Reilly, B) I’ve always found that given the right role, Sean William Scott can do pretty well, and it looks like he might be playing the straight man for once here, and C) pretty much every single film blog that I admire and whose opinion sync up with mine have been declaring this one of their favorite films of the year. Which also brings us to …
THE WACKNESS
… this film, which is being equally heralded by everyone who has seen it as an incredibly good and relatable film about, well, growing up and love, and all of those good things.
NOISE
This film about a man who decides to declare war against car alarms in New York City, eventually becomes a pseudo-vigilante superhero (The Rectifier), and then gets the interest of the mayor, seems like a pretty fun little flick, aided by a seemingly good Tim Robbins performance. Also of interest is the fact that it’s directed by Henry Bean, who we haven’t seen since the compelling Ryan Gosling drama THE BELIEVER.
If an initial teaser trailer for a film doesn’t hook me right away, I usually slot the film into the “meh” category of anticipation. HANCOCK is different though. I have to give credit to the people who put the HANCOCK trailers together, because each subsequent one we’ve seen has built interest in me, to the point where with this most recent trailer, I can honestly now say that I’m really pumped for it.
It’s not just the cool special effects, Will Smith playing an anti-hero, or that it seems like this film is actively aware it’s a summer blockbuster and completely reveling in that fact. It’s that the trailer – while giving away a lot of SFX and humor scenes – isn’t showing us much on plot. Yes, it alludes to Hancock’s transformation from zero to hero (sorry, I’ve always wanted to use that expression. It wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped), but there are only slight hints as to what Big Bad he really faces at the end. There seems to be a lot of destruction (two tornadoes, for example), and at one point it looks like he’s swirling around in battle with someone else in a way that can only mean that person is super-powered. But we still have no idea what the story really builds towards, which is great. Makes me want to go find out.
Also, the fact that recent news that HANCOCK got an “R” rating twice before snagging a “PG-13” rating indicates it may be a darker (read: interesting), more mature film than we all thought.
The massively best-selling “Twilight Saga” by Stephenie Meyer (think Romeo and Juliet meets vampires) has a pretty loyal and devout following, seemingly among all ages and even (sometimes) genders. Heck, even I read the first installment – the one now getting a feature film adaptation – to see what the hoopla is all about. Though it was enjoyable enough, I don’t quite see why it has amassed such a hard-core following, but then again I suspect perhaps I’m not entirely the target audience. Anyway, needless to say there’s a lot of anticipation (or criticism, depending on whom you ask) in regards to the upcoming movie, something this just released teaser trailer will inevitably contribute too.
If you’re not excited about THE DARK KNIGHT by now – and really, how could you not be as a self-respecting film buff? – this trailer might help. Heath Ledger looks perfect (and very unsettling) as The Joker, there’s loads of action, and harp-eyed fans might also pick up a couple of extra tantalizing teases along the ways. There also seem to be some really great lines in it, like The Joker’s “The city deserves a better class of criminal, and I’m gonna give it to them” or Harvey Dent’s “Either you die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” It looks like this summer the biggest competition has now become which superhero movie will be better: THE DARK KNIGHT or IRON MAN.
Though I told myself I would not watch the final trailer for INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTALL SKULL out of fear of having any more of the film spoiled, but then it appeared before me when I went to go see IRON MAN (followed by THE DARK KNIGHT trailer no less. I pretty much had a geekgasm). I just couldn’t find the heart to close my eyes and plug my ears. I suppose I underestimated the tantalizing allure of seeing and hearing it in on a big screen. This weak mortal could not resist. Thankfully not much more was given away, and instead I had the pleasure of getting a sweet taste of what it’s going to be like when I’m sitting in theatres on May 22nd, trying to hold back my girlish screams of glee.
I wasn’t too excited about HANCOCK really, but this trailer is turning me around. It looks like the silly, effect-heavy blockbuster I like to indulge in during those hot days of summer. Also, despite the fact that he doesn’t always make good movies, I remain a fan of Will Smith because he is so damn charming, and has such a presence on screen, that I can’t help but call him – in the truest sense of the word – a movie star. And movie stars are always fun to watch, especially when it could be a hoot to see Smith play an anti-hero, even if it’s only for probably the first fourth of the film.
The Narnia series pretty much opened my eyes to the sheer possibility of the fantastical, so my eternal debt to C.S. Lewis’ extended yarn, as well as my enjoyment of the first NARNIA film (even if it was a bit LORD OF THE RINGS lite), ensures that I’ll be seeing PRINCE CASPIAN, no matter what. It of course helps matters when Disney/Walden Media throw an exciting, action-packed trailer like this at me.
I know a lot of people are excited for comic legend Frank Miller’s directorial debut on his adaptation of Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT. I was too for a while, until it seemed like all he was going to do was rip off the style his co-director used on SIN CITY. This trailer doesn’t help matters. Yes, SIN CITY was cool enough (if disturbingly misogynist), but that association isn’t going to give THE SPIRIT a reprieve from me. It just seems like lazy, insecure filmmaking to me. Maybe I’m also biased because I think the style Darwyn Cooke used on his recent run on the re-launch of the comic would be much better suited for a film adaptation.
MAMMA MIA!
I’ve always had a devoted love for whimsical musicals, if not necessarily ABBA. It’s the former that has me rather drawn to this trailer for the film adaptation of the successful Broadway musical (which I never actually saw). Sure, the trailer is a bit grating, what with the whole “three Dads” thing being emphasized every ten seconds, and its annoyingly rapid editing, but what emerges is still the fact that it’s a silly, infectious, and undoubtedly entertaining fluffy musical. You also can’t argue with the cast. I mean, Meryl Streep (who it’s just delightful to see having this much fun), Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Waters, and Christine Baranski? I’m particularly excited to see two of my favorite young and up-and-comers Dominic Cooper (HISTORY BOYS, STARTER FOR 10) and Amanda Seyfried (“Veronica Mars,” NINE LIVES, MEAN GIRLS) get a high profile film gig.
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
To be frank, I have no idea what people are so excited about here. Okay, I do. It’s written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (SUPERBAD), and produced by Judd Apatow. That should really be enough. The thing is I didn’t find the teaser trailer, the red band trailer, nor the most recent trailer really that funny. There are a few gems, sure, like the “I’m kind of flabbergasted when you say things like that” bit, but for the most part it roused a might “meh” out of me. Maybe it’s just that I’ve never been much drawn to the slacker-stoner genre, or maybe it’s just that it’s not that funny.
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