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NEW “Contagion” Trailer

July 14, 2011 1 comment

Yesterday, I got a shaky, poor-quality glimpse of the bootleg “Dark Knight Rises” teaser, said to be officially premiered tonight at midnight. Didn’t think this week could get much more exciting. I was wrong.

This has definitely been a film that’s been high on my must-see radar of 2011 for quite some time. Steven Soderbergh teaming with Matt Damon is always a treat (this is their fifth collaboration). However, it certainly doesn’t hurt to also bill Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, John Hawkes and Kate Winslet. It’s not much of a stretch to call that the best cast of the year, what with 14 nominations and 4 Oscar wins between them, already.

The trailer screams one word more than anything else, and it’s all I could have ever hoped for: DARK. Many pieces of entertainment featuring lethal outbreaks and deadly diseases have come about over the years, Wolfgang Petersen’s film “Outbreak” and Tom Clancy’s novel “Rainbow Six” being the most prominent. What all of those works seem to portray is what MIGHT happen in the case of a deadly virus unleashed upon the world’s population. Instead of following that same formula, “Contagion” seems to portray instead what DOES, or what WILL happen in that case scenario. And in the hands of such a capable director, one who is known for taking a no-holds-barred approach to tense subject matter, this film might not only be genuinely frightening, but also brilliant, as both a white-knuckle thriller and a touching human tragedy.

This having been shot in Chicago, I know a number of people who worked on it. Through them, I’ve been privy to a few scenes that definitely back up some of the themes I just foreshadowed. However, I really hate to spoil anything at all, so I’ll just keep them to myself. I am a little miffed that they’ve pushed up the release from October to September. Having only finished shooting in the last month, I’m surprised they’re so confident in such a quick release. Also, September has become known as a no-man’s land for studios to dump films that get left over from summer’s slate, yet are not quite so confidence-inspiring to warrant a fall/holiday push. I hope that “Contagion” has not been lumped into said category.

Anyway, check out the fantastic trailer in full HD quality, below.

Categories: Trailers and Videos Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“The Dark Knight Rises” Publicity Weekend

July 12, 2011 3 comments

Even though this was only released within the last few hours, it is already practically old news. Still it’s worth reporting on this mad publicity blitz for the highly anticipated film. This poster is only the first step. Accompanying the release of Warner Bros’ final installment of “Harry Potter” this weekend (thank God, by the way, that it is finally the last), there will be a featured first teaser trailer for Nolan’s flick.

To be quite honest, Batman fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. Their production has barely begun so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of footage. I’m expecting something similar to the first teaser of “The Dark Knight,” a fancy, blue visual effects show with some voiceovers. Not that that preview didn’t give chills, but most of those came from hearing the first syllables spoken by an infinitely more anticipated antagonist. They might be generous and throw in a shot of Bane to wet appetites.

The poster, released today, granted is an early promotional tool, is honestly pretty boring to me. The design is cool, but the detail on the buildings is fairly sloppy. I understand that it’s just a poster and I shouldn’t take it too seriously, but take a look at the buildings again. That has got to be one of the most claustrophobic city blocks I’ve ever seen. Where does the street go?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m still just annoyed that it’s not a Chicago city street we’re looking at. I’m not sure if that grievance will ever be resolved in my mind, but we’ll save that round of bellyaching for a different article. I will post the new teaser as soon as it becomes available online, probably within a day of it’s release in theaters. In the meantime, I’ve attached the first “Dark Knight” teaser, below, to show what we can probably expect.

Categories: Musings, News Tags: , , , , , , , , ,