Trailer

127 Hours

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-08-24 15:38
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Release Date: 
Nov 5 2010
Director: 
Danny Boyle
Cast: 
James Franco
Cast: 
Amber Tamblyn
Cast: 
Kate Mara
Cast: 
Clemence Posey
Synopsis: 
127 HOURS is the new film from Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of last year’s Best Picture, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. 127 HOURS is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.

The movie is supposed to be mainly a one man show, so it looks like the teaser is throwing out the first five minutes and set up while relying on Boyle's reputation. The story is an interesting one, although I'm still concerned about flashback heavy crutches in an effort to keep the audience interested. Boyle used two cinematographers for the film, Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak, so at the very least there will be something pretty to focus on if the story gets too drawn out. What are your thoughts on 127 Hours?

Black Swan

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-08-17 18:29
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Release Date: 
Dec 1 2010
Director: 
Darren Aronofsky
Cast: 
Natalie Portman
Cast: 
Mila Kunis
Cast: 
Vincent Cassel
Cast: 
Winona Ryder
Synopsis: 
BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

For a movie that has a lot of ballerina dancing it looks pretty darn creepy, in the best way possible. The cast and director make it an automatic for me, and the fact that it looks extremely intense certainly doesn't hurt it any. What are your thoughts on Black Swan?

I'm Still Here

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-08-17 08:29
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Release Date: 
Sep 10 2010
Director: 
Casey Affleck
Cast: 
Joaquin Phoenix
Synopsis: 
I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the documentary follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.

It's hard to get too excited about something everyone knew all along was for the cameras that happened several years ago, but at the same time it's so incredibly meta there's a perverted attraction. Especially when you hear about the supposed snorting cocaine off boobs, or oral sex with a publicist that is apparently part of the film. Shock and awe backfires more than it hits so I'm a little worried about the quality here, as the originality of it doesn't even exist. They are aware Jackass is still around right? What are your thoughts on I'm Still Here?

Sucker Punch

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-07-27 10:24
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Release Date: 
Mar 25 2011
Director: 
Zack Snyder
Cast: 
Emily Browning
Cast: 
Abbie Cornish
Cast: 
Vanessa Hudgens
Cast: 
Jon Hamm
Synopsis: 
“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, but her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary…with potentially tragic consequences.

Quite a bit to take in but it definitely looks very Zack Snyder-y. This is the first original film from the director of Watchmen and 300 and although it looks like bizarre might rule the day, that might not be a bad thing as dragons and ninja swords are always promising. I just know I'm going to get a headache if they don't slow down some of the cuts in the trailer. It almost makes me long for the days of dial up modems.

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-07-20 11:45
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Release Date: 
Sep 22 2010
Director: 
Woody Allen
Cast: 
Josh Brolin
Cast: 
Anthony Hopkins
Cast: 
Naomi Watts
Cast: 
Freida Pinto
Cast: 
Antonio Banderas
Synopsis: 
After Alfie leaves his wife Helena to pursue his lost youth and a free-spirited call girl named Charmaine, Helena abandons rationality and surrenders her life to the loopy advice of a charlatan fortune teller. happy in her marriage, Sally develops a crush on her handsome art gallery owner boss, Greg, while Roy, a novelist nervously awaiting the response to his latest manuscript, becomes moonstruck over Dia, a mystery woman who catches his gaze through a nearby window. Despite these characters' attempts to dodge their problems with pipe dreams and impracticable plans, their efforts lead only to heartache, irrationality, and perilous hot water.

Neuroses! Woody Allen! Philosophy! Self Doubt! Affairs!  Woody Allen!

I'm thinking that should be the tag line for every future Woody Allen movie. Quite a cast but it still seems like the same movie he's made twenty times already. Also quite possibly the most annoying voice-over I can remember.

The Town

Submitted by phletch on Fri, 2010-07-16 07:49
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Release Date: 
Sep 17 2010
Director: 
Ben Affleck
Cast: 
Jon Hamm
Cast: 
Jeremy Renner
Cast: 
Blake Lively
Cast: 
Chris Cooper
Synopsis: 
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage--bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name... and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug....not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.

I have two problems with this trailer and then the gushing will begin. First off "the studio that brought you the departed"? Don't remind me I've seen this movie before, at least let me choose my memories. Secondly the last third of the trailer seems to give away quite a bit of what happens, although the writing was on the wall for anyone paying attention.  

Now, for the other stuff, this movie looks awesome. Skeletor masks, check; hot chicks, check; explosions, check; Jeremy Renner looking like a badass, check; Don Draper being someone else, check. It really is like the perfect storm of awesome, like The Expendables for guys that don't like going to the gym. Affleck's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was fantastic and it seems like he's upped the ante a bit here with his sophomore effort. What are your thoughts on The Town?

The Social Network

Submitted by phletch on Thu, 2010-07-15 10:13
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Release Date: 
Oct 1 2010
Director: 
David Fincher
Cast: 
Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: 
Andrew Garfield
Cast: 
Justin Timberlake
Cast: 
Joseph Mazzello
Synopsis: 
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

All the components are there for this to be good, and then you get some Justin Timberlake overacting up in your face and bam, it feels like a bunch of TNT replays are in its future. The story obviously is interesting to a lot of people, even moreso than most probably realize, but there looks like a hefty bit of the bad acting here. Hopefully Fincher pulls it all together and they aren't relying on the social network crutch in all the promo material thus far based on necessity.

Due Date

Submitted by phletch on Wed, 2010-07-14 14:07
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Release Date: 
Nov 5 2010
Director: 
Todd Phillips
Cast: 
Robert Downey Jr
Cast: 
Zach Galifianakis
Cast: 
Jamie Foxx
Cast: 
Michelle Monaghan
Synopsis: 
Peter Highman is an expectant first-time father whose wife's due date is a mere five days away. As Peter hurries to catch a flight home from Atlanta to be at her side for the birth, his best intentions go completely awry when a chance encounter with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay forces Peter to hitch a ride with Ethan--on what turns out to be a cross-country road trip that will ultimately destroy several cars, numerous friendships and Peter's last nerve.

I read an early version of the Due Date script and while not much is recognizable in the trailer, it was certainly fertile grounds for the funny. On paper Downey Jr and Galifianakis make a pretty great odd couple and this trailer offers no evidence to the contrary. I'm assuming this teaser trailer is enough for any fans of Todd Phillips' previous work to get out to the theaters this November, although Jamie Foxx is always scary.

Jack Goes Boating

Submitted by phletch on Fri, 2010-07-09 12:23
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Release Date: 
Sep 17 2010
Director: 
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cast: 
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cast: 
Amy Ryan
Cast: 
John Ortiz
Cast: 
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Synopsis: 
Jack Goes Boating is a tale of love, betrayal, friendship and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples. Essentially, Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan) are two single people who on their own might continue to recede into the anonymous background of the city, but in each other begin to find the courage and desire to pursue their budding relationship. In contrast, the couple that introduced them, Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), are confronting unresolved issues in their marriage. Jack is a limo driver with vague dreams of landing a job with the MTA and an obsession with reggae that has prompted him to begin a half-hearted attempt at growing dreadlocks. He spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend and fellow driver Clyde and Clyde’s wife Lucy. The couple set Jack up with Connie, Lucy’s co-worker at a Brooklyn funeral home. Being with Connie inspires Jack to learn to cook, pursue a new career and take swimming lessons from Clyde so he can give Connie the romantic boat ride she dreams of. But as Jack and Connie cautiously circle commitment, Clyde and Lucy’s marriage begins to disintegrate. From there, we watch as each couple comes face to face with the inevitable path of their relationship.

Not sure I can think of a movie I don't love Philip Seymour Hoffman in so his directorial debut starring himself is certainly up my alley. Of course it doesn't hurt that it looks pretty and Amy Ryan will be the love interest. The film is based on a play by Bob Glaudini who adapted his own work for the screenplay. The original production of the show actually featured Hoffman in the title role as well as co-stars Ortiz and Rubin-Vega so familiarity with the material shouldn't be a problem.

Rango

Submitted by phletch on Tue, 2010-06-29 11:58
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Release Date: 
Mar 18 2011
Director: 
Gore Verbinski
Cast: 
Johnny Depp
Cast: 
Isla Fisher
Cast: 
Alfred Molina
Cast: 
Abigail Breslin
Synopsis: 
The story of a chameleon with an identity crisis.

There's lots of interesting people involved in this one and according to /Film there's going to be quite a bit of real life Johnny Depp mannerisms in Rango thanks to some fancy computering.

But the most interesting thing about this new project is that Industrial Light & Magic will be doing the animation using “cutting edge techniques” that Verbinski has said, “will allow us to capture and translate every aspect of Johnny’s performance, using it to drive the computer-generated characterer in a way that has yet to be seen in an animated feature.” Basically it sounds like Verbinski has gone the way of Robert Zemeckis.

Verbinski's resume is a bit all over the place and not really in the good way.  The Pirates of the Caribbean series has its fun moments, but it certainly has its fair share of money hungry ridiculousness as well. All things considered Depp as a confused chameleon with some fancy animation techniques is enough to get me on board, especially with the comically simple synopsis. What are your thoughts on Rango?

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