23 posts tagged “trailers”
I went to see a midnight showing of Where The Wild Things Are Thursday night. Coming out of the theatre, I was declaring my love for the film, when one of my friends said, "But it's not a kids movie."
This stopped me dead in my tracks. Not a kids movie? My friend said that it was "too scary" for kids.
Just because the monsters talk of eating the little boy at one point in the film, it's not a kids film? I don't quite understand this. There are plenty of "kids" films with darker messages. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory shows children practically being tortured in a fun factory, yet the film is now a family classic. Even The Wizard of Oz has frightful moments (personally, I think the witch and the monkeys are terrifying -- plus, unlike WTWTA, Dorothy never wins them over to the good side in the end).
It's been a while since I was a child, but are children's movies becoming softer in substance and premise in order for these movies to relate to kids? Are we sheltering kids from scariness and fright to the point where we don't want them to feel anything when they watch a film? I wonder why Wall-E or even Up get recognition for being geared toward children, when really they made politically statements and clocked in with movie times that would leave children bored. I actually described WTWTA as the "closest depiction of growing up on cinema." Yet, perhaps, I felt this way because I watched this movie from an adult perspective.
To me, Where The Wild Things Are is about imagination. There are no computers or text bullying in this film. The movie is about escaping life through your mind. I don't find this so scary, especially since the audience knows that the little boy isn't going to dream up being eaten, digested, then regurgitated.
Five years ago, Jude Law risked overexposure by appearing in six films in one year (Alfie, The Aviator, Closer, I Heart Huckabees, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow). Chris Rock even made a joke at the Academy Awards about Jude Law being in EVERYTHING (which for some reason irked Sean Penn).
Gerard Butler appears to be the new Jude Law. When I went to see District 9 last week, I saw two previews with him in it. To me, he looks like a poor man's Russell Crowe, so I get excited when I see a preview for his movie until I realize it's not Russell Crowe.
Law Abiding Citizen looks like it might be decent. But basically, I just wish the cast consisted of Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington.
Gamer, on the other hand, looks pretty awful. Didn't we already kinda do this in 2007 with Stone Cold Steve Austin in The Condemned? Plus, I think we can officially retire Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" from ever again being used in a film with a dark theme. It's like playing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" in a chick flick.
I would just like to add that I haven't seen Butler in anything I've enjoyed yet. I didn't even like his performance in The Phantom of the Opera. I'm wondering what the allure is. Is there something about him I just don't get yet?
My brother told me about the trailer for the new movie Brothers and said it's a remake of a German movie from 2004. An unnecessary remake, according to him, who claimed the filmmakers got it right the first time. This American version looks slated for something on Lifetime. I keep expecting this trailer to be a lead-in to Army Wives.
I still just don't buy Tobey Maguire as a lead or an actor. He'll always be creepy Peter Parker to me. It's also hard to believe that Natalie Portman is playing a mother. For some reason, I still see her as the kid slinging a gun around in The Professional. Even with Jake Gyllenhaal, I'm just not excited by this trailer.
With political war dramas rarely doing well at the box office (see Rendition, Lions for Lambs, Stop-Loss), I wonder how this film will be received in December when it's released.
I feel like I'm on a Juno kick lately. First, I totally dug the trailer for Diablo Cody's new horror film. Now, I'm totally into Ellen Page's new comedy called Whip It (directed by Drew Barrymore).
I don't think teenage roller derby has been covered enough in coming-of-age films. With the exception of Kristen Wiig, I'm enjoying everyone in the cast, including Daniel Stern, Juliette Lewis, Drew Barrymore, and Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat (Maybe!!). Although, I think Marcia Gay Harden is officially being typecast as the domineering mother in movies (see Into the Wild, The Mist, Bad News Bears, . . .).
I think the movie looks like it might be fun! But good enough to garner buzz for Drew Barrymore as a director (at one point, they wanted her for the Twilight sequel!)? Only time will tell.
Lately, I've noticed that the powers-that-be who create movie titles are just getting lazy. Case in point, Fast & Furious as opposed to The Fast and the Furious. These are two different movies with nearly the same title.
Just when I thought it was just a blip on the movie radar, here comes The Final Destination. Here's a sample conversation on how people will distinguish between this movie from its original, Final Destination:
"Hey, did you see the new previews for The Final Destination?"
"Uh, yeah. About nine years ago."
"No -- The Final Destination. New title -- it has 'The' ."
"Oh, THE Final Destination. Wow. This must be THE final one then! Awesome."
Basically, the "The" in the title is about as subtle as Clark Kent's glasses.
Here's a clip of THE Final Destination. I'm really glad to see that horror films are venturing into Racetrack territory. I hope there's a cameo by Danica Patrick!
The trailer for Rob Marshall's movie musical Nine is out and it looks a lot like Chicago, with its dark lighting and themes. The cast is incredible -- with Dame Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard (looking like Audrey Hepburn!), and Penelope Cruz (also looking like Audrey Hepburn!).
The trailer for the new Woody Allen movie Whatever Works is out, and it's a return to New York City, Allen's bread and butter location.
Since Allen will no longer be appearing in his own movies (Scoop was his last hurrah), I think Larry David is a great Allen replacement. Past actors who have assumed the "Woody Allen role" have included John Cusack, Kenneth Branagh, and Jason Biggs. None of them could cut the mustard in my opinion (I've practically majored in Allen -- having seen all of his films). Yet, Larry David has the delivery and crotchety old man musings down. He had me at "I was considered for a Nobel Prize in Physics. [Pause] I didn't get it."
The trailer for My Sister's Keeper was recently released, the movie based on the 2003 Jodi Picoult novel. The story revolves around two sisters, one with cancer, the other genetically engineered to provide the former sister organs and other necessities.
I've read the book and was quite enthralled with it (I literally was stamping my feet on the floor as I turned the pages). While it's not the best written book you'll ever read in your life (that would have to be "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates), it certainly will make you think about issues like stem cell research and people's rights to their own bodies. One of the most conflicted, complicated characters in the book is the mother, Sara Fitzgerald. When I read the book, I went through many possible actresses in my head as to who would play the mother (for some reason, I always pictured Gone Baby Gone's Amy Ryan). However, I never pictured Cameron Diaz.
From the looks of this trailer, this movie is way out of Diaz's element (one wonders when she's shown shaving her head whether she gets all the hairgel out beforehand). I'm interested to see if she can do something more besides gross-out comedies and voices of cartoon characters. Maybe this will be her Erin Brockovich.
I've never seen any High School Musical movie. I've never even looked at Zac Efron long enough to make a decision on his sexuality or whether he's cute or not. Yet, after having a dream about the actor the other night, I can't stop thinking about how hot he is!
In the dream, he was my high school boyfriend and my family was having a pool party. We were in our bathing suits and he was totally in to me! And Vanessa Hudgens was nowhere to be found. Fun fact: following the dream, I actually had to look up Zac Efron's date of birth to make sure he's legal enough to fantasize about. Turns out, he is (date of birth: 1987)!
This got me to thinking. I have no reason to dream about Zac Efron. In fact, the next day, I couldn't figure out why he showed up in my dreams in the first place. Did I subconsciously, unknowingly have a crush on him? Am I a 14-year-old girl? Or was it that I had seen previews for his new film 17 Again the night before?
The answer is in the last statement. Somehow, after seeing previews before going to bed, Warner Bros. and the producers behind 17 Again had infiltrated my thoughts, brainwashing me into believing that Zac Efron is cute, when I had no feelings for him before. I see this as the wave of the future, where subliminal message movie previews are shown late at night so that unsuspecting dopes like me suddenly start dreaming about Jason Statham or Channing Tatum (stars of Crank: High Voltage and Fighting. . ."respectively"), when I really had no desire for them before, nor a desire to see their movies.
I suppose it could have been worse. It could have been an awkward Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing dream!
The trailer for Taking Woodstock has been released online. I've been looking forward to seeing previews for this film since going through a brief post-Oscar depression, scouring IMDB and Incontention.com for next year's Academy Award nominees (terribly sad, but entirely true). Surprisingly, Demetri Martin appears to be the lead in director Ang Lee's tale based on actual events surrounding Woodstock.
