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“We Bought a Zoo” Trailer
In the last few months, this film has been one of the big mysteries of this Oscar season. Up until now, we haven’t really seen anything aside from a few stills. I’m not sure if any film other than “J. Edgar” has been as elusive in terms of how big of a contender it will be. Now, we finally have a trailer for Matt Damon’s project…and I still can’t tell what to think of it.
Most of this indecision can be attributed to the director’s hit or miss track record, especially with the Academy. “Jerry Maguire” was a huge hit with the Oscars. “Almost Famous” had big potential to take home the gold, but somehow missed out on Picture and Director nominations (though Crowe did nab an award for Best Original Screenplay). Then came “Elizabethtown.” Everyone thought it would automatically become a massive contender…and then people saw it, and that notion pretty much went out the window.
Trying to tell if this film is going to be the next “Jerry Maguire” or the next “Elizabethtown” is proving to be quite difficult, even with our first glimpse of it. There are moments that give it an air of striking originality and others so cheesy they made my teeth grit. Will the Academy embrace it? I’m going to go out on a limb and say no. The field is closing up, fast, and with new voting regulations for Best Picture, it’s hard to imagine it making the cut. I would never count out a dark horse Original Screenplay nomination, though. They seem to adore Crowe much more as a writer than director. Also, Matt Damon appears to give an honest and down-to-earth performance so I wouldn’t quite KO him yet from the Best Actor competition.
Check out the trailer, below:
“Contagion” Billboard is LITERALLY “Viral”
So, now I have now seen “Contagion” and all the cards are on the table. I thought it was decent, but frankly, quite underwhelming. However, I have to give props for this brilliant marketing tool. After all, who needs a regular billboard when you can have a billboard made completely out of bacteria?
To gain publicity at the Toronto Film Festival, Warner Bros. tapped the Canadian advertising company Lowe Roche to design a form of marketing acute to the disturbing plot of Steven Soderbergh’s film. The artists used fungi and bacteria to illustrate some posters. When first hung up, they appeared like simple, blank billboards. However, after some time passed, onlookers were excited and horrified to see that the substances had rotted and evolved in a way that beautifully (and, at the same time, disgustingly) advertised the movie.
I must say that in the past decade or so of viral marketing, this is the first advertisement to take that phrase to a whole new level. Well done to the “Contagion” marketing team for really using the creative side of their brains.
Check out the awesome making-of video, below:
Armadyne PSA Spot – “Elysium” Marketing
If you thought that “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Amazing Spider Man” were pretty distant glimpses into the future, then you’re really going to get thrown for a loop with this one. Sony Pictures has released a viral marketing video for the film “Elysium” due out in theaters in about a year and a half. The video is actually an advertisement of an advertisement, in essence. It’s a PSA commercial for a company called Armadyne, which will apparently be the industry conglomerate playing a big role in the film and its plot.
It’s a cool video, despite the fact that neither it, nor really anyone involved in the film, has revealed any kind of inkling to the story….or really anything else about it, except that it will be sci fi to its very core. “Elysium” is the sophomore film by rockstar director Neill Blomkamp, who helmed 2009’s Best Picture nominee “District 9.” The film reunites the director with his star, Sharlto Copley, who joins a big name cast featuring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Alice Braga and Diego Luna.
This film is already turning into the kind of massive mystery, both in marketing and plot, that “Inception” was last year. For sure, it will either be a major hit or a ridiculous disappointment, with Blomkamp’s career hanging in the balance.
Check out Armadyne and all it has to offer the world, below:
NEW “Contagion” Trailer
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.
My “Separation of Church and State” Montage
As I said, earlier in the year, I planned on including more than just commentary on this site. I also intend to feature content that I have created or worked on as a filmmaker, as well. I had posted the production stills and trailer for a short film that I had gotten the chance to work on in late winter, titled “Blood on the Plain.” Production of that film will be resuming soon and there will surely be some phenomenal work to be advertised. Recently, I also gripped on a short film titled “A Tribal El Community.” It’s the first student film ever to be sanctioned to shoot on the Chicago Transit Authority’s train system. Hopefully I will have some photos from that production, soon, as well.
On top of lighting work, I have also dabbled in editing from time to time. I thought I would share a montage that I made for my Editing Styles and Techniques class earlier this year. The topic of my project was the separation of church and state, an issue that I believe is burning our country alive. As some of my readers know, I am an athiest (actually borderline agnostic). While I respect other people’s decision to believe in religion, I prefer it be kept the hell away from me. Therefore, it kills me to see that our country, founded on religious freedom, has become so heavily tied in with Christian ideals and beliefs, both morally and politically.
Quite frankly, this issue is, for me, the epicenter of 90% of what’s wrong with this country. It’s why women may have to fear dying from back alley abortions. It’s why our children are growing up ignorant enough to believe that the world was created in seven days. It’s why millions of people remained plagued with horrible, debilitating illness (because God says we’re not allowed to find a cure for them). It’s why gay people cannot find there place as equal members of society (which they are; any debate on this issue is frivolous) and why humans may never find an ultimate solution to global warming. In other words, the Christian grasp of this country is what is preventing our civilization from moving forward.
Anyway, enough of my preaching. Let’s move on to the montage. This is, by standards, a found footage montage, meaning that it is assembled from dozens of different sources. Those who listen carefully will be able to tell immediately what musical choice I made for the piece. I’ve also used elements from perhaps my favorite feature documentary, “Jesus Camp,” which, to this day, remains the scariest movie I’ve ever seen in my life. The rest is assembled from various sources and websites. Hope everyone enjoys it and perhaps it might spark some debate.
Full Length “True Grit” Trailer
People are going to think that this is actually a “True Grit” FYC site, but trust me it’s not. However, I was very surprised to see a full length trailer for “True Grit” at an early showing of “The Social Network,” especially after the fantastic teaser was released only a few days beforehand. I’m over the mystery, however, because any fears that this film will not be everything that it can be, including an Oscar contender, should now be assuaged:
I will try to post a good HD copy as soon as it becomes available.
“True Grit” Trailer
So there’s a lot of organizational facets that I plan to get up and running soon. But I’ve got to address the story that has been occupying a large amount of my interest this week, and that is the long-awaited trailer for this winter’s release of “True Grit.” The new film by the ever-busy Coen Brothers is an adaptation of Charles Portis’ classic western (I’ve noticed now that many filmmakers have been avoiding the term “REMAKE” by citing the original source material as much as humanly possible).
This film has been a major contender flying very low under the radar. Until now, the only thing people have had to go on was a screenshot and a few production stills. Now that it has reared its ugly head, I think it’s safe to say that a number of nominations will headed its way this January. One thing in particular that a number of people I know can really cross there fingers for would be a long-deserved Oscar statuette for Roger Deakins, arguably the best director of photography working today. And if the images of this trailer paint an accurate picture as to the look and style of this film, then wishes might just be granted.
Enjoy this collage of visual and thematic splendor:
For better resolution get the hi-def at Apple Trailers:
The Edge of the Frame 