Some interesting upcoming features in front of There Will Be Blood over the weekend..
The Savages
trailer link
(not on YouTube? Get with the program, people!)
This film on paper? Sounds horribly depressing. Two dysfunctional adult siblings have to decide what to do with their cranky, elderly father as his health fails. I had no idea at all it had comedic moments in it- Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays tennis! Hilarity ensues...
Snow Angels
Sam Rockwell alert! He seems to play strictly sad cases these days, based on this and his part as the paranoid brother in The Assassination of Jesse James. And he got second billing to Kate Beckinsale!?
This looks depressing, but not as depressing as David Gordon Green's previous directorial efforts- All the Real Girls and Undertow. Seriously, can he just make a movie about kittens or something?
The Band's Visit
Interesting fact about this film- it was disqualified for the Best Foreign Film Oscar for containing too much English. Isn't that kind of harsh, considering that America is such an obnoxious world power that English is becoming sort of a neutral language between other cultures? Oh sorry, is our lack of diplomacy forcing your children to learn our language? Then your movies fail to be different enough!
And the foreign category is completely whack this year anyway- France didn't submit The Diving Bell and the Butterfly because they'd rather it won Best Picture, but then Persepolis doesn't make the shortlist for the Oscar- neither does Spain's most lauded film, The Orphanage, or any other foreign film with any buzz that I've heard about (like Iran's Offside, or Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days). Can we just agree, AMPAS, to scrap your ridiculous "one movie per country" rule and just let merit win out next year? Sheesh.
Showing posts with label trailers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trailers. Show all posts
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Trailer Report: There Will Be Blood, Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
At Milwaukee's prestige Oriental, I got a trifecta of trailers for movies I am really, really excited about, in front of an awesome, awesome, film: No Country For Old Men. It made for a complete film-going experience.
There Will Be Blood
Oh man. Daniel Day-Lewis makes it count. This movie on paper- a period piece based on Upton Sinclair's book "Oil!" directed by P. T. Anderson, with music by Radiohead's guitarist- sounds sort of odd. But DDL in this trailer is cooler than the other side of the pillow.
Who else can act so much with a pause, when he says: "I can't keep doing this on my own with these...people."
Persepolis
When people saw Pixar return to form with Ratatouille this year, they naturally assumed yet another "Best Animated Feature" Oscar was in the cards.
Now? Not so much. Enter Persepolis, a film based on the best-selling graphic novels by co-director Marjane Satrapi that tell her life story. It looks delightful, and refreshing different than most of the animated fare from this country.
That being said, it sort of floors me that France chose it as their official entry for the "Best Foreign Film" Oscar, because that means there's no chance for this next film to win it.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I'm not familiar with the other films of Julian Schnabel, but this film looks transcendent.
It may just be a case of a perfectly cut trailer- this one even has three distinct acts to it, perfectly set to three different snippets of music. The raucous wildlife of "Chains of Love" by the Dirtbombs, then the indie rock rush of "Don't Kiss Me" by Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle, and finally the wistful "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky (music originally from the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, but it instantly sounds more meaningful in this trailer).
In any case, just thinking too long about the true story this movie is based on is enough to summon deep emotion, and a phenomenal trailer has me itching to experience this film.
There Will Be Blood
Oh man. Daniel Day-Lewis makes it count. This movie on paper- a period piece based on Upton Sinclair's book "Oil!" directed by P. T. Anderson, with music by Radiohead's guitarist- sounds sort of odd. But DDL in this trailer is cooler than the other side of the pillow.
Who else can act so much with a pause, when he says: "I can't keep doing this on my own with these...people."
Persepolis
When people saw Pixar return to form with Ratatouille this year, they naturally assumed yet another "Best Animated Feature" Oscar was in the cards.
Now? Not so much. Enter Persepolis, a film based on the best-selling graphic novels by co-director Marjane Satrapi that tell her life story. It looks delightful, and refreshing different than most of the animated fare from this country.
That being said, it sort of floors me that France chose it as their official entry for the "Best Foreign Film" Oscar, because that means there's no chance for this next film to win it.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I'm not familiar with the other films of Julian Schnabel, but this film looks transcendent.
It may just be a case of a perfectly cut trailer- this one even has three distinct acts to it, perfectly set to three different snippets of music. The raucous wildlife of "Chains of Love" by the Dirtbombs, then the indie rock rush of "Don't Kiss Me" by Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle, and finally the wistful "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky (music originally from the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, but it instantly sounds more meaningful in this trailer).
In any case, just thinking too long about the true story this movie is based on is enough to summon deep emotion, and a phenomenal trailer has me itching to experience this film.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Trailer Report: The Assassination of Jesse James, Charlie Wilson's War
We went to one of Milwaukee's more unique theaters, The Rosebud, to see American Gangster, and saw only two trailers. But they were good ones.
The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Who Totally Shot Him In The Back Because He Was Jealous Of Him, Kind of Like the President of Latina Singer Selena's Fan Club
Hey, I'm seeing this tonight! We have these passes for $4 at Marcus Theaters that we got a few weeks ago for free when we bought tickets. At first I was like "hey, cool!" but then I realized they were only good from November 5th through the 8th, and that all new releases are "no pass." (So no Bee Movie just yet). But there's a huge, 24 screen behemoth all the way on the south edge of the area, and it gets the occasional prestige picture to fill up the space. So it all worked out.
Anyway, this looks awesome, especially the Roger Deakins camera-work. And it marks the third movie in a row, after Gangster and Lust, Caution, that's over two and a half hours long. Sitting power!
Charlie Wilson's War
This also looks pretty good, and I've always been a fan of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin... I even fooled myself into thinking "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was awesome for weeks longer than anyone else.
And Phillip Seymour Hoffman can really pull of that mustache.
The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Who Totally Shot Him In The Back Because He Was Jealous Of Him, Kind of Like the President of Latina Singer Selena's Fan Club
Hey, I'm seeing this tonight! We have these passes for $4 at Marcus Theaters that we got a few weeks ago for free when we bought tickets. At first I was like "hey, cool!" but then I realized they were only good from November 5th through the 8th, and that all new releases are "no pass." (So no Bee Movie just yet). But there's a huge, 24 screen behemoth all the way on the south edge of the area, and it gets the occasional prestige picture to fill up the space. So it all worked out.
Anyway, this looks awesome, especially the Roger Deakins camera-work. And it marks the third movie in a row, after Gangster and Lust, Caution, that's over two and a half hours long. Sitting power!
Charlie Wilson's War
This also looks pretty good, and I've always been a fan of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin... I even fooled myself into thinking "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was awesome for weeks longer than anyone else.
And Phillip Seymour Hoffman can really pull of that mustache.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Trailer Report: Atonement, No Country For Old Men, The Bucket List
Hey, it's a multiple post day, since I feel bad about being delinquent earlier this week. These are the trailers I saw last night in front of Gone Baby Gone.
Atonement
An early awards contender, and it looks good. Spot on casting of Romola Garai and Saoirse Ronan as the same character- or at least a great job on hair and makeup to get them to look exactly alike.
I'm excited, not least because I liked the Wright/Knightley combination in Pride and Prejudice. In fact, I suspect that I like that more than almost anyone, because I haven't seen the A&E version with Colin Firth.
No Country For Old Men
Dude. Yes. Sign me up. The bare-bones border lunacy of Cormac McCarthy's novel with the Coen brothers attention to detail and dark humor? How awesome can this be?
I for some reason have an impression of Javier Bardem as an amazing actor, but all I've ever seen him in are trailers (for The Sea Inside and Goya's Ghosts). But still, he looks legitimately terrifying in this.
Hopefully this will open in Milwaukee before the 21st, on which I'll be traveling for Thanksgiving.
The Bucket List
When I first read a synopsis of this, I was pretty skeptical, but it looks okay. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play themselves (a irascible coot and a wizened walking voice-over) doing all the things they want to do before dying.
Hopefully it'll be more than the episode of "Touched By an Angel" than it seems. But I did enjoy the line "Nobody cares what you think."
And for the record I was shocked, shocked, that this trailer had no Trailer Voice Guy. Kudos.
Atonement
An early awards contender, and it looks good. Spot on casting of Romola Garai and Saoirse Ronan as the same character- or at least a great job on hair and makeup to get them to look exactly alike.
I'm excited, not least because I liked the Wright/Knightley combination in Pride and Prejudice. In fact, I suspect that I like that more than almost anyone, because I haven't seen the A&E version with Colin Firth.
No Country For Old Men
Dude. Yes. Sign me up. The bare-bones border lunacy of Cormac McCarthy's novel with the Coen brothers attention to detail and dark humor? How awesome can this be?
I for some reason have an impression of Javier Bardem as an amazing actor, but all I've ever seen him in are trailers (for The Sea Inside and Goya's Ghosts). But still, he looks legitimately terrifying in this.
Hopefully this will open in Milwaukee before the 21st, on which I'll be traveling for Thanksgiving.
The Bucket List
When I first read a synopsis of this, I was pretty skeptical, but it looks okay. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play themselves (a irascible coot and a wizened walking voice-over) doing all the things they want to do before dying.
Hopefully it'll be more than the episode of "Touched By an Angel" than it seems. But I did enjoy the line "Nobody cares what you think."
And for the record I was shocked, shocked, that this trailer had no Trailer Voice Guy. Kudos.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Trailer Report: Lars and the Real Girl, The Kite Runner, Juno
The trailers in front of The Darjeeling Limited: a mixed bag.
Lars and the Real Girl
Meh. I was most interested to see how often the crowd laughed at this one- there was a chuckle when the doll first appears, another one at "she loves kids," and that was it: the joke gets old before the trailer is over.
Add in the unrealistic behavior of the townspeople, the not as poignant as they think it is dialogue with the brother, and it all looks very beige to me.
The Kite Runner
Haven't read the book, but I have this theory: reading an English novel about foreign cultures is all right, because words on a page don't take you out of anything. But a movie about a foreign culture where everyone speaks English all the time is distracting: they can be middling like Memoirs of a Geisha, or terrible like K-19: The Widowmaker.
And with all the slow fades, sweeping shots, gratuitous slow-mo, and music swells in this trailer, it really looks like they've Frank Capra-ized Khaled Hosseini's novel. And that title graphic looks like a Hallmark Original movie title.
Juno
The final entry in the trilogy of pregnancy movies about progressively younger people: first the late twenties country pregnancy Waitress, then the early/mid-twenties LA pregnancy Knocked Up, and finally the teenage pregnancy Juno.
And this looks good. The trailer does anyway, because it relies on the film itself to do the talking, not the Voice Guy or music. The only way to justify the feel-good montage at the end of the trailer is to make us care about the characters in the minute and a half that comes first, and they nail it.
Also, "shenanigans" is a funny word.
Lars and the Real Girl
Meh. I was most interested to see how often the crowd laughed at this one- there was a chuckle when the doll first appears, another one at "she loves kids," and that was it: the joke gets old before the trailer is over.
Add in the unrealistic behavior of the townspeople, the not as poignant as they think it is dialogue with the brother, and it all looks very beige to me.
The Kite Runner
Haven't read the book, but I have this theory: reading an English novel about foreign cultures is all right, because words on a page don't take you out of anything. But a movie about a foreign culture where everyone speaks English all the time is distracting: they can be middling like Memoirs of a Geisha, or terrible like K-19: The Widowmaker.
And with all the slow fades, sweeping shots, gratuitous slow-mo, and music swells in this trailer, it really looks like they've Frank Capra-ized Khaled Hosseini's novel. And that title graphic looks like a Hallmark Original movie title.
Juno
The final entry in the trilogy of pregnancy movies about progressively younger people: first the late twenties country pregnancy Waitress, then the early/mid-twenties LA pregnancy Knocked Up, and finally the teenage pregnancy Juno.
And this looks good. The trailer does anyway, because it relies on the film itself to do the talking, not the Voice Guy or music. The only way to justify the feel-good montage at the end of the trailer is to make us care about the characters in the minute and a half that comes first, and they nail it.
Also, "shenanigans" is a funny word.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Trailer Report: In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, Lust, Caution, Margot at the Wedding
These are the trailers I saw in front of Eastern Promises. I went to Milwaukee's premiere art-house theater, and one of the ten best in the country, so I got four artsy trailers this time.
In the Valley of Elah
Hey, this looks like the best movie of the year that I couldn't be less motivated to see. The situation in Iraq is depressing enough with seeing films about it all the time. Maybe if I keep hearing good things about Tommy Lee Jones' performance I'll make it this one.
But even though Paul Haggis is pretty humble about the whole Crash debacle in this interview, I'm still nonplussed on him in general. Hey everybody, Paul Haggis wants you to know that not only is racism bad, so is the war in Iraq! Way to go out on a limb there, buddy.
Also, they need to include a bit of dialogue in this trailer that explains the title, because I had too see this about eighteen different times this summer before I remembered what this movie was called.
Into the Wild
Spoiler Alert! If you've read the book, you know that this guy dies. The description on the back of the book says he dies. This Wikipedia entry says he dies. The book starts with his body being found, and works backwards from there. So why does the trailer for the movie not mention that he dies? We're heading for a The Perfect Storm style backlash on this one.
Also, Emile Hirsch looks like he's twelve, even with a beard.
Lust, Caution
Ang Lee? Tony Leung? Sign me up already.
Also, I love the trend of foreign film trailers with no dialogue in them. It's as if they want to trick all the douchebags whose first thought is "Subtitles? Queer!" into going. Because frankly, I don't want those people sitting next to me on October 12th (when this comes to Beer-town).
Margot at the Wedding
I really liked The Squid and the Whale, and I have Kicking and Screaming on my Netflix. So I was planning on seeing this either way, especially given Noah Baumbach's involvement with Wes Anderson.
And the trailer looks pretty good- I wasn't sure if Nicole Kidman's usually cool demeanor and Baumbach's cynicism were a good match, but color me intrigued. Also, it looks like Jack Black can act a little bit. Go figure.
In the Valley of Elah
Hey, this looks like the best movie of the year that I couldn't be less motivated to see. The situation in Iraq is depressing enough with seeing films about it all the time. Maybe if I keep hearing good things about Tommy Lee Jones' performance I'll make it this one.
But even though Paul Haggis is pretty humble about the whole Crash debacle in this interview, I'm still nonplussed on him in general. Hey everybody, Paul Haggis wants you to know that not only is racism bad, so is the war in Iraq! Way to go out on a limb there, buddy.
Also, they need to include a bit of dialogue in this trailer that explains the title, because I had too see this about eighteen different times this summer before I remembered what this movie was called.
Into the Wild
Spoiler Alert! If you've read the book, you know that this guy dies. The description on the back of the book says he dies. This Wikipedia entry says he dies. The book starts with his body being found, and works backwards from there. So why does the trailer for the movie not mention that he dies? We're heading for a The Perfect Storm style backlash on this one.
Also, Emile Hirsch looks like he's twelve, even with a beard.
Lust, Caution
Ang Lee? Tony Leung? Sign me up already.
Also, I love the trend of foreign film trailers with no dialogue in them. It's as if they want to trick all the douchebags whose first thought is "Subtitles? Queer!" into going. Because frankly, I don't want those people sitting next to me on October 12th (when this comes to Beer-town).
Margot at the Wedding
I really liked The Squid and the Whale, and I have Kicking and Screaming on my Netflix. So I was planning on seeing this either way, especially given Noah Baumbach's involvement with Wes Anderson.
And the trailer looks pretty good- I wasn't sure if Nicole Kidman's usually cool demeanor and Baumbach's cynicism were a good match, but color me intrigued. Also, it looks like Jack Black can act a little bit. Go figure.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Fall Movie Preview
Apologies for the hiatus in posting- my girlfriend’s little brother was killed in a car wreck. Yeah. It makes movies seem less important, obviously, but then again we did go see Shoot ‘Em Up to distract ourselves. And it worked.
So here are the movies this fall that I’m most excited about, one per month:
September: Eastern Promises
This one will have a review soon. Because what’s not to like? It has Aragorn (though if I ever met Viggo Mortensen I would say “I loved you in G. I. Jane!” just for the awkwardness), Naomi Watts, David Cronenberg, the guy that wrote Dirty Pretty Things, and Vincent Cassel.
The runner up for September is probably The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand, or whatever it’s called, now that’s it’s getting good reviews (or at least Terrence Mallick comparisons, which is enough for me). But that’s assuming that it actually comes to
October: The Darjeeling Limited
If you don’t like Wes Anderson movies, at this point that’s mostly your problem. For me, Bottle Rocket was one of the first movies I watched over and over and went to see at midnight (also it holds a special place in my heart because I used to watch it with my mom on the IFC channel), and the scene at the end of The Life Aquatic (Spolier Alert) when Steve sees the Jaguar Shark and wonders aloud “Do you think he remembers me?” gets me teary-eyed every time. I even wrote a college paper about The Life Aquatic. I got an A on it.
So of course I’m stoked for this movie. But I guess Wes Anderson is a taste that is for some reason difficult for other people (and critics) to acquire.
October’s runner up is probably Michael Clayton, because Clooney’s dependable enough. We Own the Night is out pending critical reception, and regarding Things We Lost in the Fire I’m torn between my hatred for Halle Berry (see X-Men 3: The Last Stand), and my respect for director Susanne Bier’s previous film, After the Wedding.
November: American Gangster
Come on, people. Watch the trailer. Everyone is stoked for this movie. Even Jay-Z was inspired. I’d also like to point out the expert use of music in both this trailer and The Darjeeling Limited’s trailer, above. Really makes all the difference.
November’s runner up is a tie, as my love for both the Coen brothers and Neil Gaiman is enriched by No Country For Old Men and Beowulf, respectively.
December: The Golden Compass
This is pretty much by default. I mean, I was gonna try and look cool and say I was really excited about Francis Ford Coppola’s new film Youth Without Youth until I realized I don’t really give a crap about Apocalypse Now or even (gasp!) the Godfather films. And if I ever own a Francis Ford Coppola film, it’ll probably be to get my girlfriend Peggy Sue Got Married.
But I like fantasy epics, and Daniel Craig, so I’m in line for this one. For a runner up, I’ll go with Clooney again, as his third directorial feature, Leatherheads, comes out. I’m not terribly sold on the premise, or old-timey football in general, but I really liked The Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck, so I’m optimistic.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Trailer Report: The Kingdom, Hitman, Harold and Kumar 2
Hey, what did I do immediately after posting "Why I haven't seen Shoot 'Em Up yet"? Saw Shoot 'Em Up, of course. It was pretty hilariously ridiculous, it turns out. A review is kinda passe at this point, though, since it's been two weeks.
Instead, here are the trailers we saw in front of it:
The Kingdom
Remember, take your vacation in Saudi Arabia- where all cars have the potential to explode!
Uh, yeah. First of all, Trailer Voice Guy is annoying enough when he's just talking. It's even worse when he's reading things to me (mainly because I know how to read!). Also, I'm sure Saudi Arabia loves us for this one (Saudis: They kill women and children!). I love the carefully juxtaposed images of Muslims praying with random cars exploding- not xenophobic at all. Nope, not at all.
Hitman
This movie featuring no treble whatsoever! I'm not trying to knock Timothy Olyphant here, but seriously- did Vin Diesel have a scheduling conflict? Or is he all like "I'm a serious actor now, I was in a Sidney Lumet movie!" Because nobody saw Find Me Guilty. I checked.
Harold and Kumar 2
It's like they weren't sure what type of movie Shoot 'Em Up was, so they stuck two action movie trailers, and a couple of comedies: we got this short teaser and the trailer for Mr. Woodcock, which I'm not even going to take the trouble to embed. Because this blog is better than that.
As for this HK2, I liked the original, but you can only get so much "foreign people look different" humor on credit- eventually you have to earn that sort of thing.
Instead, here are the trailers we saw in front of it:
The Kingdom
Remember, take your vacation in Saudi Arabia- where all cars have the potential to explode!
Uh, yeah. First of all, Trailer Voice Guy is annoying enough when he's just talking. It's even worse when he's reading things to me (mainly because I know how to read!). Also, I'm sure Saudi Arabia loves us for this one (Saudis: They kill women and children!). I love the carefully juxtaposed images of Muslims praying with random cars exploding- not xenophobic at all. Nope, not at all.
Hitman
This movie featuring no treble whatsoever! I'm not trying to knock Timothy Olyphant here, but seriously- did Vin Diesel have a scheduling conflict? Or is he all like "I'm a serious actor now, I was in a Sidney Lumet movie!" Because nobody saw Find Me Guilty. I checked.
Harold and Kumar 2
It's like they weren't sure what type of movie Shoot 'Em Up was, so they stuck two action movie trailers, and a couple of comedies: we got this short teaser and the trailer for Mr. Woodcock, which I'm not even going to take the trouble to embed. Because this blog is better than that.
As for this HK2, I liked the original, but you can only get so much "foreign people look different" humor on credit- eventually you have to earn that sort of thing.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Trailer Report: The Brave One, Good Luck Chuck
When I saw 3:10 to Yuma on Sunday night, it was at a small theatre on Milwaukee's north side, so I only got two trailers: The Brave One and Good Luck Chuck.
The basic description of The Brave One didn't really intrigue me, much like the similarly plotted Death Sentence, out in August. And the tv spots like this one didn't really move me to see it either, since they really just sort of paint it as a thriller.
But the movie's official trailer makes it look pretty good. Check it out:
See? This trailer is perfect- no Trailer Voice Guy, a clear idea of the story, a perfect piece of music, and an expertly done Things Spiraling Out of Control montage.
Compare that to the second version of the trailer, which has no introspective voice over from Jodie Foster, and much different, more police chase movie music, and doesn't peak at the same "I want my dog back!" moment:
It's funny how these seem like two different films with nearly the same footage.
As for Good Luck Chuck, I don't think any trailer could make me want to see it at this point, so don't worry. I just think it's funny that they initially had a trailer that explained the premise:
But that must not have tested all that well, because the trailer I saw was just Jessica Alba doing pratfalls:
They had a meeting and were like "Jesus Christ! This whole sleeping with the guy to meet the right guy next idea is just confusing people! But every body likes to see pretty people getting hurt..."
Also the Trailer Voice Guy makes it sounds like the title is actually "Good Luck, Chuck."
The basic description of The Brave One didn't really intrigue me, much like the similarly plotted Death Sentence, out in August. And the tv spots like this one didn't really move me to see it either, since they really just sort of paint it as a thriller.
But the movie's official trailer makes it look pretty good. Check it out:
See? This trailer is perfect- no Trailer Voice Guy, a clear idea of the story, a perfect piece of music, and an expertly done Things Spiraling Out of Control montage.
Compare that to the second version of the trailer, which has no introspective voice over from Jodie Foster, and much different, more police chase movie music, and doesn't peak at the same "I want my dog back!" moment:
It's funny how these seem like two different films with nearly the same footage.
As for Good Luck Chuck, I don't think any trailer could make me want to see it at this point, so don't worry. I just think it's funny that they initially had a trailer that explained the premise:
But that must not have tested all that well, because the trailer I saw was just Jessica Alba doing pratfalls:
They had a meeting and were like "Jesus Christ! This whole sleeping with the guy to meet the right guy next idea is just confusing people! But every body likes to see pretty people getting hurt..."
Also the Trailer Voice Guy makes it sounds like the title is actually "Good Luck, Chuck."
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