Archive
NEW “Shame” Trailer
I know that I said I would have my new Oscar predictions up, and I am working on that. However, this is something that any self-respecting movie aficionado should not miss. It’s almost a plain and simple fact that no film has been more talked about on the festival circuits then Steve McQueen’s visceral and provocative “Shame.” Michael Fassbender took home the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and the film had to have come close to taking down the grand prize both at Venice and Toronto. When Fox Searchlight picked up the distributing rights for the film, it was going to be very curious as to how they would go about marketing it. It seems that they have hit the nail on the head.
For those that don’t know, the film tells the story of Brandon (Michael Fassbender) a rising New York City businessman who has an insatiable and unwavering addiction to having sex. Things become more complicated when his needy sister (Carey Mulligan) moves in with him and attempts to help fight his situation. The film has been heralded as a masterpiece, while also cited for its unrelenting sexuality. It will indefinitely receive an NC-17 rating, with little doubt of a fight from its maverick director. Usually, this would potentially injure an independent film quite badly in its fight for viewers. However, if Searchlight continues to pump out incredible trailers like the one below, they should have no problem building up a cult army of box office supporters. All this is making a Best Actor nomination for Michael Fassbender more and more likely.
I will definitely be first in line when it is released. In the mean time, I think I’ll watch this trailer again. Enjoy.
New “War Horse” Trailer and Poster
Over the summer, everyone questioned what I said when I declared that what we had seen of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” was only a teaser and there would surely be more to come. Well, here I stand on my own high horse with a new trailer for the upcoming film. Unfortunately, the new trailer doesn’t really seem to do much more than rearrange and expand on a lot of the footage shown in the last preview.
Many pundits, at the moment, are calling this film the frontrunner for Best Picture. While it definitely has a boatload of nominations in line, I would not put it at the front of the gate. The Oscars seem to enjoy Spielberg most at his grittiest, and this appears to be perhaps one of the most sentimental ventures he has ever made. One thing’s for sure about the film, however. It looks absolutely gorgeous. If all plays out, one award we can definitely say that “War Horse” is leading the field in is Best Cinematography. Should it win, my favorite active DP, Janusz Kaminski, would have three Oscars on his mantel, putting him among a group you could count on one hand, including Robert Surtees and the great Conrad L. Hall.
Recently, Dreamworks bumped up the release date to Christmas day. This now puts it within four days of “The Adventures of Tin Tin”‘s official opening. Mr. Spielberg does love to face off against himself. Not that he has anything to lose, really. Both films are sure to gross well over the 100 million mark. Combined with the success of “Super 8,” “Transformers 3,” “Terra Nova,” and all coupled with his reception of the David O’Selznick award from the Producers Guild, this will be a pretty good year for one of Hollywood’s greatest sons. And “Lincoln” hasn’t even started shooting yet.
Check out the new trailer, below:
NEW “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” 2nd Trailer
Ironically, less than twelve hours after I published my post of My 25 Most Anticipated Films of the Season, in which I ranked David Fincher’s new film as No. 1, Sony Pictures has released a brand new trailer for the thriller.
At three minutes and forty-five seconds, it’s possibly the longest studio-made trailer I’ve ever seen. Perhaps that is a testament of the film, being that they can reveal that much of the film and still have plenty left with which to play with their audience. I won’t lie, this trailer does not raise my heart rate and blow my mind like the effective teaser trailer did. Yet, I have now watched it three times, and I still have a nagging urgency to watch it again. Another testament, perhaps?
One thing’s absolutely for sure. Outside of Fincher’s outstanding crisp, desaturated, gloomy style that he brings to the look and feel of the film, it appears that the reason to see this is going to be Rooney Mara. Her transformation from the sweet, brunette, girl next door in her first big roles like the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake and “The Social Network” into this devilish, tatted-up, pierced-out heroine with an insane attitude is remarkable. I cannot wait to see her chew up this role.
Enjoy the new trailer, below:
David Fincher’s “Dragon Tattoo” Red Band Trailer
I am the last person who I expected to be pumped about this. I’ve never seen the original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” nor any of its sequels and I never really planned to. Also, as hard as it is to believe, “Social Network” groupie that I am, I have never been pumped for an impending David Fincher movie (outside of “TSN” and “Zodiac”). Therefore, it’s pretty strange that an American remake of a foreign thriller (or adaptation of the original source material, as I believe is the popular way of saying it) directed by Fincher has my interest.
And boy does it have my interest. Granted, this is just the first glimpse. However, from what we have here, it looks pretty brilliant. Fincher’s crisp visual style looks to still be in good form. The red band aspect, as well as the overall feel of the trailer, show that this will be a return to the director’s gritty roots. I’m not sure that Rooney Mara has really built up an image yet with the few roles that she has had. However, she’s certainly not worried about tarnishing that image with this rough portrayal of tattoos, leather, piercings and apparent nudity. Thankfully this performance will surely make her career explode, in a good way.
Needless to say, I am stoked. In fact I’m currently watching “The Social Network” again to gear myself up. The trailer is cell phone quality, but you can watch it in it’s entirety with great audio. To be honest, I’d watch it as fast as possible. I’m surprised that it hasn’t already been taken down by Columbia.
Official “Transformers 3” Trailer
Well, here it finally is. Maybe it’s sad that I’m totally pumped for this for the sole reason that I’m a Chicago resident. Maybe this is Einstein’s theory of insanity at play in hoping that this film is actually better than the first misstep and the second FAILURE.
And yet, I just don’t care. This movie looks cool and appears to feature the Chicago skyline more than…well…maybe any movie I’ve ever seen. It pretty much got torn up. The scene in which 300 North LaSalle (which I ride past everyday) get’s completely cut in half looks particularly cool. What can I say? I’m pumped.
Here is the trailer for this summer blockbuster. Please, God, let it not shame the city it’s shot in.
Here is the Apple HD version, as well.
NEW Trailer for “Crazy Stupid Love”
Yes, another movie trailer. What can I say? I love them. Who doesn’t? However this one, after you watch it, you will definitely not be sorry that I posted it.
Directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa rose to the very top of my watchlist last year when they finally got a chance to release their much-anticipated film “I Love You Phillip Morris.” The film was as inventive as it was hilarious and should have easily netted Jim Carrey his first Oscar nomination. Now, the pair of artists has seemed to further their quest to ultimately change the face of the romantic comedy and turning it into something someone with taste and self respect can enjoy.
“Crazy Stupid Love” tells the story of a man (Steve Carell), down on his luck, whose marriage is officially ending. He’s forced to get back into the dating game in who knows how long. He enlists the assistance of a five star player who can seemingly get with any girl he pleases. Carell completely changes his appearance and personality, but cannot change his inner self as he realizes that he cannot change what he really wants. Meanwhile, Gosling is discovering that love might actually be in the cards for him, forever changing his lifestyle and putting him in a situation that he doesn’t know how to control.
This film looks phenomenal on more levels than I can count. Who knew that throwing two guys like Carell and Gosling into a film together could create such a dynamite composition. Bolstered by the acting (and star, for that matter) power of Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, this film is literally gushing with potential. Yes, at times, the film does look like a higher brow remake of “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” an outstanding romantic comedy, in its own right. However, I feel that there’s something more at work here that could blow the above-mentioned film out of the water. It looks funny, touching and more than a little original. The film is set to be released on July 29th, and you can bet that I’ll be there opening weekend. I have a feeling that you all should, too.
Check out the trailer embed, below, or the link to the high quality Apple version below it.
NEW “Tree of Life” Poster
Wow. This film either has to be god’s gift to mankind, or it shall be the biggest disappointment in recent cinematic history. I don’t think any film aside from “Inception” has gained such a heavy base of anticipation among bloggers, fanboys and cinephiles, in general.
They seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on the visual images of the film (which are honestly quite gorgeous). Highly respected cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki could be looking at his fifth Oscar nomination, or perhaps even a win. Nothing will ever offset the snub of his loss for “Children of Men,” however, so a reward is irrelevant in my eyes.
One has to wonder whether or not the story is going to come anywhere near close enough to measuring up to the film’s brilliant eye candy. One has to wonder how a film that contains both Brad Pitt as an abusive, overbearing father and dinosaurs make it into the same screenplay. Yes, that’s right. I said dinosaurs. I remember hearing the rumors years ago, which I didn’t truly believe until I noticed the center square on the poster, fourth from the bottom. That looks quite a bit to me, and a lot of other people on the web, like a dinosaur standing the middle of some kind of river. Also, the top left corner appears to feature some kind of asteroid impact, that one could only guess is the rock that killed off life on Earth sixty-five million years ago.
Will this movie make any kind of discernible sense, or will it be a big visual mess of a film. I’m ready for just about anything at this point, and I hope you all are, too.
Check out the full poster after the cut:
NEW “Captain America” Trailer
God, I miss Oscar season. After getting a glimpse of the latest Avenger movie at the Super Bowl, Paramount has now given fanboys a full trailer for “Captain America: The First Avenger.” It definitely features a lot more backstory and also offers a bit of a look at who the opposition will be. I’m sure this movie will go on to make lots and lots of money. I have friends who’ve never touched a comic book in their lives who have been waiting for this film for ten years.
Meanwhile, I just can’t get excited about this flick. I’ll see it, for sure, but there’s something about a World War II super soldier going gung ho against Nazis with a big colorful shield doesn’t seem appealing to me. It could also just be that I hate Chris Evans and have no idea why he’s made it as big as he has. Overall though, I’m really just over the whole “Avenger” clusterf*ck that’s going on right now. It’s like every single movie featuring an Avenger is no longer standing alone in his own film, but instead just revving things up for the eventual collaborative super hero super movie. All of this is just building up way too much expectations and, moreover, just too much damn hype. I’m already over the movie and it hasn’t even gone into production yet.
Anyway, enjoy the new “Captain America” trailer. Either watch the embed, below, or click the link to be taken to the better-looking Apple HD version.
Trailer for “Rubber”
Okay. Well, this has got to be the most absurd, ridiculous and laughable ideas for a movie that I have ever seen in my life…….and goddamn it, I can’t wait to see it. This film is pretty much what it looks like. A spontaneously alive tire puts itself on some kind of a journey. But this is no ordinary tire, go figure. This particular wheel has some mean telepathic powers, enabling him to explode birds, individuals’ heads and everything in the like. I’d call that a pretty good deal, especially when you’re a tire.
God knows what to really expect from this movie. For sure it is one of the most original and daring narrative plotlines to ever make their way on the screen. But in this case, you really have to wonder if that’s a really good thing. Somebody had to have been standing over the director’s shoulder saying, “Are we really making a movie about this?” God, tell me there was one soul on the fence.
Regardless, this seems like a movie see. It’s nothing if not wholly intriguing. Check out the outlandish and really quite hilarious trailer below:
NEW Scream 4 Trailer
Oh, what the hell. I’ve known about this film for a while. I saw the original teaser when it leaked. I’ve seen all of the films before it. And the saddest part: I will probably end up seeing this, probably just for the opportunity to review it down to its last ridiculous detail. Seriously, folks, what the hell is this?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better example of a “paycheck” movie than this one. This is a cold hard proof that Wes Craven just has no more ideas left in his skull. By the way, I completely resent his trailers referring to him as the master of suspense. Steven Spielberg? Henri Georges-Clouzot? Alfred Hitchcock, for God’s sake?. It also shows that certain members in the cast, specifically Neve Campbell and David Arquette (Courtney Cox at least has “Cougartown,” and I must say, I don’t think she has ever looked hotter than she does now, surprisingly), really don’t seem to have a lot of options left in their careers. I mean, honestly, who the hell really thinks that this is a spectacular idea?
You know, the first film is actually quite decent, possibly one of the best straight-up horror movies of the 90s. However, this is a classic example of each sequel growing increasingly worse as the series progresses. So I’m sure that we’re in for a real treat this time around.
The Edge of the Frame 