Finally, The Road Gets a Top Notch Trailer

We’ve been hearing mixed reviews for The Road, based on Cormac McCarthy’s harrowing novel of the same name, since May. Some call it the best film of the year, others think it’s not so stellar. I have been dissapointed with the trailers released for the movie, as I don’t think they have established an identity and an emotional resonance with viewers, particularly me, a huge fan of the book.

Until now.

This new trailer finally hits the bullseye. Check it out below and let me know what you think. The Road opens on November 25th and is one movie I am absolutely looking forward to seeing this holiday season.

Cache Valley’s Weekend Film Forecast

Happy Halloween Eve to AATM readers! Looking for a scary movie to see in theaters this weekend? We’ve got you straight hooked up. See the list below, ranked by RottenTomatoes.com freshness, followed by what’s new in theaters and DVD/Blu-ray.

Personally, if you want something Halloweenish, I’d go for Paranormal Activity or Zombieland, except with the latter you’re going to get more laughs than actual bum-puckering frights. If you’re not keen on soiling yourself in public, then you could catch the Michael Jackson Love Train with This Is It, or you could check out Michael Moore’s new “documentary” and feel pissed about the government all weekend.

Whatever you choose, stay safe and remember – say no to trunk-or-treating!

AATM’s Halloween Movies Now Playing

Nightmare Before Christmas (PG, University Stadium 6) = 97% Fresh

Zombieland (R, Logan Movies 5) = 88% Fresh

Paranormal Activity (R, University Stadium 6) = 85% Fresh

Saw VI (R, Logan Movies 5 & Providence Stadium 8) = 45% Fresh

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (PG-13, Providence Stadium 8) = 37% Fresh

The Stepfather (R, Providence Stadium 8) = 11% Fresh

New This Week in Theaters

Capitalism: A Love Story (R, Logan Movies 5) = 75% Fresh

This Is It (PG, Providence Stadium 8 & University Stadium 6) = 80% Fresh

New This Week on DVD

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG) = 45% Fresh

Orphan (R) = 55% Fresh

Whatever Works (R) = 48% Fresh

Support AATM by picking these or other favorite DVDs and Blu-ray movies at Amazon.com!

Halloween 101: Ten Disturbing Movie Deaths

In Utah, Halloween isn’t simply a dress-up day where one freezes his grapes off while trekking the kiddies through the darkened neighborhood wastelands, searching for a fun-sized Snickers or Twix, instead finding cold porches and lonely Jack-O-Lanterns (apparently everyone else is trunk-or-treating – LAME). No, it’s a time where we like to reflect on the scariest elements and goodies our friends in Hollywood have offered us over the years.

Today’s topic? Ten Disturbing Movie Deaths.

As tens of thousands of movie deaths can attest, any tight-shirted, screaming frat chick or lunky pretty boy can die a loud, caro-syruped death. But as a jaded film veteran, there’s really only a few that have the power to stick with you. These are the deaths that feel a little too real… or even mean-spirited. As our Halloween features continue, we decided instead of going the obvious horror death route, we’d take a look at a few scenes that delivered a dose of horror where things felt a little too real. Disturbingly so. Most all have their accompanying (possibly NSFW) scenes, so read on and remind yourself “They’re only movies”.

Yeah, I Don’t Think That’s Indigestion (Andy)

The Movie: Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

Who: Kane (John Hurt)

What: On their way back to Earth, the crew of the commercial towing ship, Nostromo, detects an alien signal, investigates and then Executive Officer Kane gets a crab-like organism attached to his face. All is fine and dandy until Kane has a seizure at dinner and a baby alien erupts from his chest.

Why: The seizure is violent, the blood is endless the chest explosion is graphic and there is no hope to save Kane. Shocking and disturbing, this scene lights the flame of tension for the rest of the movie.

She Was Just a Baby! A Baby! (Dan)

The Movie: The Ring (2002, Gore Verbinski)

Who: Katie (Amber Tamblyn)

What: With her parents away, Katie is taking full of advantage of a deserted house on a dark, rainy night. It’s all fun and games and girltalk, but before underage experimentation gets under way, the conversation turns South and Katie realizes she’s on the receiving end of a wet, soggy curse. The death actually occurs off screen, but when her mom later talks about coming home to find her in the closet, things get disturbing fast.

Why: When the camera gives us a quick cut of Katie’s slumped body, our expectation of seeing her round, school-girl face is shattered as we see a nightmarishly drawn, gaping and moldy visage lolling to her shoulder.

… Continue Reading

Updated: Full Length Avatar Trailer Online

Until last weekend, my must-see thermometer had James Cameron’s Avatar deadlocked at tepid. The hype, along with Cameron’s overzealous bravado and the not-so-fresh teaser trailer was enough to extinguish any anticipation I once had for this “groundbreaking” movie.  However, after watching the full-length Avatar trailer last weekend (it was attached to Paranormal Activity), I must say, I am now enthusiastically waiting for the film’s December 19th release.

Check out the trailer below, and, as always, let us know your thoughts. Does this snippet make you want to see Avatar, or were you already planning on a great movie and another victory from Mr. King-of-the-World Cameron?

**UPDATE**

If for some unholy and mind-boggling reason you don’t have a computer or Internet access, you can catch the Avatar trailer on television at 11AM MST on Fox before kickoff of the Cowboys/Seahawks game on November 1st.

Frankly, the trailer might be the only reason you want to tune into this game. Yeah, that’s right, I think Tony Romo is a douche. What are you doing to do about it? Yeah. Sit down.

But I digress.

Not only will Fox viewers see the Avatar trailer, but the gazillions of drunken Cowboys fans will catch the 3:30 minute clip on Cowboy Stadium’s Diamond Vision Screen, which apparently makes this event the largest motion picture trailer-watching orgy in the history of motion picture trailer-watching orgies.

So, web friends, armchair quarterbacks and stadium-attending Cowboy’s fans – tell us what you think of the trailer!

See More Avatar Through the Miracle of Advertising

Avatar, the massive James Cameron project too recently unknown to the general public, is beginning to find its legs thanks to a new, story-based trailer attached to the uber-trending Paranormal Activity. The better trailer still feels super late, but at least people know it’s coming in less than two months. Studio reassurances of massive marketing are abounding and apparently, now is the time to expect the Avatar marketing flood (that flood promised way back at Comic Con?)– there’s a lot riding on it, so it’s about time.

As part of this coming deluge, 20th Century Fox has released a featurette that not only gives more story detail, but also introduces a load of footage not seen in previous trailers. The featurette is typically fluffy and a bit overstated, but it’s still full of fantastical cool looking stuff.

Check it out below.

Star Trek Gets a Plot Hole Filled

It was decades ago– in Hollywood release schedule years– when Star Trek lens flared its way to theaters back in May. There’s no question the resuscitation attempt worked– the movie delivered fun to audiences and a whole lot of loot for Paramount. But despite the good times had with a bombastic score and the return of busty green alien chicks that would later shoot exploding arrows, one question remained: what the hell was the villain Nero doing for the 20 years between meeting the exploding Kirk Sr. and the fat-handed Kirk Jr.?

Word on the street suggested a whole scene had been cut which explained the gap and also introduced Star Trek‘s cranial villains, the Klingons. Well, word on the street was right and the scene will appear on the upcoming DVD/Blu Ray release. Spike TV, home to the we want to be all things to dudes that wash their drawers in Axe and subscribe to Maxim/FHM for the articles, has scored an embeddable clip of the scene. An embeddable clip you can both view and enjoy below.

Star Trek hits shelves November 17.

Halloween 101: Scariest Movie Villains

In Utah, Halloween isn’t simply a dress-up day where one freezes his grapes off while trekking the kiddies through the darkened neighborhood wastelands, searching for a fun-sized Snickers or Twix, instead finding cold porches and lonely Jack-O-Lanterns (apparently everyone else is trunk-or-treating – LAME). No, it’s a time where I like to reflect on the scariest elements and goodies our friends in Hollywood have offered me over the years.

Today’s topic? Scariest movie villains.

Sure, it’s easy to think of horror icons – like Pinhead from Hellraiser or Jason from Friday the 13th – especially around Halloween, but are they really the type of characters that keep you from sleeping? I’m not so sure. Those evildoers seem forgettable and almost too extreme to be truly frightening. No, to me a villain scares you on multiple levels and leaves your blood cold. It’s the kind of character that visits you in your nightmares after you’ve turned the TV off, pulled the covers up over your head and shut the closet door, all precautionary measures to make sure the darkness fluttering in your mind doesn’t come to life and snag you in your sleep.

Here are my top ten. Don’t be a stranger, tell me yours in the comments.

Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs

This character is Anthony Hopkins greatest achievement as an actor. I was tempted to put Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb instead of Lecter, but the edge goes to Hannibal the Cannibal. One minute he’s your friend, the next he’s biting part of your cheek off and cooking your liver with some fava beans and nice chianti.

The Great White Shark, Jaws

For a movie made in 1975, the Great White Shark in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece still looks incredibly real and scary as hell. Personally, I can’t think of anything scarier: Stranded at sea with all kinds of unknown fish mulling around in the darkness below, including a 25-foot Carcharodon carcharias coming at me like a torpedo, ready to bite me in half. Sure, I have a better chance of getting hit by a meteor than I do being eaten by a shark, but Jaws changed the way I, and everyone else, look at the ocean.

The Alien, Alien

The tagline for Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic is “In space no one can hear you scream.” That line personifies what is so frightening about the creature in Alien. Sure you’re on a massive spaceship, but where do you run? Where do you hide? Considering you’re in the far, deep reaches of outer space, whom do you call for help? Worst of all, like the shark in Jaws, the acid-spitting extraterrestrial has no off button. It just keeps on killing without conscience.

Anton Chigurh, No Country for Old Men

Easily the scariest movie villain since Hannibal Lecter in 1991. Javier Bardem’s crazy-haired, coin-tossing, merciless assassin is the epitome of explosive tension in the Coen brother’s No Country for Old Men. I think I held my breath the entire time Chigurh was chatting with the old gas station attendent, just waiting for him to pounce. I was going to give this space to Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds, but despite his nastiness, Chigurh has the blacker heart.

The Demon, Paranormal Activity

Is there anything scarier than the possibility something unseen is lurking in your house, perhaps in your very bedroom, while you sleep? The demon in Paranormal Activity is never seen, but we see its mischief and can tell right away this dark force is content on torturing the scared couple during the wee hours of the night.

Pennywise, It

One word: Clowns.

Amon Goeth, Schindler’s List

It’s not just that Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) uses Jews as target practice from the comfy perch of his concentration camp mansion, it’s the look in his eyes during the non-violent moments where we understand something in Goeth’s soul has been perverted and corrupted to the point his character has become putrid and without shame or sorrow. This is the kind of villain that keeps me up at night, because this type of bad guy truly exists.

Alex Forrest, Fatal Attraction

“Well, what am I supposed to do? You won’t answer my calls, you change your number. I mean, I’m not gonna be ignored, Dan!” Alex Forrest is one evil lady in this movie. Her nutjobedness goes from sending Dan (Michael Douglas) angry mix tapes, to the final atrocity of boiling the family rabbit. This is a great Christmas present for any man considering an extramarital affair.

The Wicked Witch of The West, The Wizard of Oz

Margret Hamilton’s green-faced cackler is on this list because she was the first movie villain to scare me out of my OshKosh B’Gosh overalls. I always got particularly unnerved when she landed on the house and set Scarecrow on fire. I also pooped my Underoos when she cruised past Dorothy’s tornado-engulfed home as the evil Elmira Gulch.

Gollum, The Lord of The Rings

Sam and Frodo must have been suffering through some lembas bread-induced hangover, because there is no way I could sleep with this anorexic hobbit lurking around the campfire in his dingy loincloth. Gollum is the Hannibal Lecter of Middle Earth. He seduces you with his pitiful countenance and while you’re busy trusting him, he’s plotting a way to bite off your finger. This is the kind of goblin one expects to find living in the bedroom closet.

The Clown, Poltergeist

Just when you though the house was clean, you realize little Robbie Freeling is about to get whipped by his possessed clown doll. My memory is somewhat hazy when it comes to 1982, but I’m pretty sure I worked extra hard to keep my room clean and keep my toys put away. Nobody wants to wake up in the middle of the night to find their Build-a-Bear looking at them with malice. I literally hate and fear clowns because of Poltergeist.

Paranormal Activity Original Ending (POSSIBLE SPOILER!)

UPDATE: THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES. SORRY!

Hurry and watch this now, because I’m betting this will be gone within a few hours. If you’ve seen Paranormal Activity, then you know how the movie ends in theaters, but below is the original “alternate” ending for Paranormal Activity.

I can appreciate what Oren Peli is trying to do in this alternate version, but the ending now in theaters is by far the creepiest and better finale to the surprise hit. How about you? Have you seen Paranormal Activity and if so, what do you think of the two conclusions to the film?

Black Dynamite May Be The Best Film of the Year

And I haven’t even seen it.

Rolling out of this year’s Sundance (where it received an official selection), and from the absolutely fantastic trailer alone, Black Dynamite looks to have nailed every cheap and unintentionally hilarious note of hilarity born from 70′s era Blaxploitation films. Aimed squarely at urban youth, these films took big screen action scenarios usually reserved for white actors and plopped them in the crime-ridden ghetto while throwing in a heady mix of bravado, soul, and stick-it-to-the-maninism. Strung together on a very visible shoestring production budget, the genre delivered some iconic material while creating some memorable stars (Richard Roundtree in Shaft , Pam Grier in Foxy Brown), but also fueled accusations of perpetuating negative stereotypes.

40 Years later, Black Dynamite’s got no time for that jive. He’s got to get the dope off the streets and after more recent blaxploitation sendups I’m Gonna Get You Suckah/UnderCover Brother, this powder keg of black fury is primed to explode.

Directed by Scott Sanders, Black Dynamite is currently in limited release where, sadly, it will probably stay until it lands uncontested on my DVD shelf when it’s released next year.

If, like me, you can’t get enough, check out the official soundboard here.

Ghosts, Shmosts– Collapse Offers Up (maybe) Real Halloween Scares

So apparently Halloween’s on the very near horizon. Days away, even– which means “scariest” lists are where it’s at. Top scary movies, scariest villains and scariest John Travolta performances. And while the offerings dig up solid recommendations for fun “haunted house scares”, how about a real one? One that skips the imaginary monsters, slamming doors or unexplained midnight hickies. The kind of plausible, real world stuff that leads to gulping bottles of Tums and sleeping in the corner on a bed of canned meat and ammo; the prospect of having easily accessible sources of food, law, heat and modern day comfort catastrophically dry up, with most people having no skill to fill in the gaps with any of it. You know, the economic and societal collapse of Western civilization.

If the prospect of stuff scares you (which it should- you’ve seen how people get when they think a crowd’s after the last discounted DVD player), enjoy the trailer for Collapse, the heavy weight contender for Scariest Film 2009. The film’s focal point, ex LAPD detective Michael Ruppert, certainly has his detractors. Labeled a conspiracy theorist and all around crazy man by some, he’s been marginalized on many levels. The film itself plays on anxiety fears brewing today and the trailer certainly ramps up the sensationalistic nature of some of Rupperts ideas. Still, semi-plausible conspiracy theories have a knack for kicking fear’s tires and lighting its fires, and with critical buzz for Collapse unanimously confirming an unnerving viewing experience, what better way to make Halloween’s traditionally scary stuff look inconsequential?

Collapse hits select cities and Video on Demand November 6.