Thoughts on Zach Snyder’s Sucker Punch Trailer

Apparently I was asleep in a cave when this trailer hit the web, but after watching it tonight, I have conflicting emotions. First and foremost, I want the movie to succeed. I absolutely loved every minute and detail of Zach Snyder’s 300 (2007), but I literally hated almost every minute of Watchmen (2009) and I’m not quite sure what to think of Snyder’s upcoming animated owl movie, Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.  Sucker Punch hits theaters on March 25, 2011 and showcases a near all-female cast, including Vanessa Hudgens (Bandslam), Abbie Cornish (Bright Star), Jamie Chung (Grown Ups), Jena Malone (The Messengers) and Emily Browning (The Uninvited).

Is it just me or does the trailer for Sucker Punch feel like a video game? It’s often said that video game to cinema translations don’t work because games are built on the foundation of spectacle and gameplay, not story. I tend to disagree with that notion, but I wonder if we’re entering an age where certain up and coming filmmakers, many of whom have played video games their entire lives, are now basing their visuals and foundations on some of the otherworldly imagery video games provide. In fact, the entire story of Sucker Punch, from what I can comprehend, seems like the basis for a video game.

Here is how Zach Snyder describes the film:

“Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of Baby Doll (Browning), who is trying to hide from the pain caused by her evil stepfather and lobotomy. She ends up in mental institution in Brattleboro, Vermont, and while there she starts to imagine an alternate reality. She plans to escape from that imaginary world but to do that she needs to steal five objects before she is captured by an unknown adversary. She has 5 days to escape before being lobotomized. In order to cope with the situation, she enters the hyper-real world of her imagination, and the lines between reality and dream begin to blur. She is joined with friends who are inmates from the institution. Lessons learned in the said fantasy world could help the girls escape their real-world fate.”

Check out the trailer and let me know your thoughts. This is on my radar, but after getting walloped in the balls by Kick-Ass and let down by Watchmen, I’ll go in extremely guarded.

Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis Get Nasty in The Black Swan

Whether you like Darren Aronofsky’s films or not is entirely a matter of choice, but one thing cannot be debated or argued – Aronofsky is a visionary filmmaker and a cinematic artist. He made waves at the Sundance Film Festival in the late 1990s with his black and white thriller, Pi, and followed that film with the disturbing and haunting Requiem for a Dream, the dreamlike and romantic The Fountain, and the gritty Oscar darling, The Wrestler. His newest picture, The Black Swan, opens in limited release on December 1, 2010 and is scheduled to open the Venice International Film Festival next month.

The Black Swan stars Natalie Portman (Brothers) and Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli) as two ballerinas working for a New York City stage production of Swan Lake.  Portman is the innocent White Swan and Kunis is the sensual Black Swan, and as you can see from watching the trailer, their seemingly tetchy rivalry turns into a bizarre friendship, wherein it seems Portman goes a little nuts. One thing is certain, the look and feel of this preview seems to mirror the bright visual sensation Aronofsky paints in Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain.

I’m interested to see if Aronofsky can follow the success he enjoyed with The Wrestler, and I’m also interested to see the performances of Kunis and Portman. Both are extremely beautiful women, but Portman is a tad overrated in my book and Kunis hasn’t given me anything but a pretty face to be impressed over. What do you think? After watching the trailer, do you have any interest?

Skyline: Contender or Pretender?

Dan alerted me to the trailer for Skyline, a new Schi-Fi film from Brothers Strause (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem), last week and I just got around to watching it yesterday. I say Schi-Fi instead of Sci-Fi, because this appears to be one of those Independence Day-style movies where the shit hits the fan and everyone in Los Angeles receives a stern pruneslam from invading aliens.  It also appears to have me grossly conflicted on whether or not this will be a wonderful, bombastic holiday treat (it hits theaters on November 12, 2010), or a big-screen blast of something better suited for the SyFy Channel . Given that the Brothers Strause got their start in special effects and started their own special effects company (Hydralux), and given the fact the movie stars Eric Balfour and Donald Faison, I don’t hold any hope this movie will do particularly well.

However, before I start digging Skyline’s grave, tell me what you think of the trailer. Perhaps I’m completely wrong and this will picture will be a surprise holiday hit. Based solely on the effects, I’m hoping that’s the case, because I enjoyed the trailer immensely.

Trailer Tuesday: How Do You Know

Maybe the smile I’m wearing after watching the trailer for How Do You Know shows that I’m a 36 year-old man in the midst of reevaluating his life and where he is, but from a strict cinematic perspective, there isn’t much in the way of negative coming from this December 17, 2010 release.

Written and directed by James L. Brooks, the genius behind Spanglish, As Good as It Gets, Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment, the movie centers around a love triangle between a professional softball player (Reese Witherspoon), a corporate executive (Paul Rudd) and a professional baseball player (Owen Wilson). It looks like Jack Nicholson shows up as Paul Rudd’s father and that should make for some interesting chemistry.

From what I gather in the trailer, Witherspoon isn’t really sure where her life is taking her and either is Paul Rudd. Like much of Brooks’ writing, a strong theme in the movie will be love and finding the person that makes you happy and that doesn’t always mean a happy ending necessarily. One thing I admire about Brooks’ writing is the honesty and raw, honest characters – full of flaws and problems – he brings to the screen in a charming but uncensored fashion.

This is definitely on my must-see holiday film list.

Trailer Tuesday: Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark

I’ve never seen the 1973 version of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and I’m not sure how the remake, due in theaters on January 21, 2011, is going to fare, but I do know this: the recently released, gimmicky, see-it-coming-a-mile-away trailer did, in fact, make my netherregions pucker something fierce. My loins went into turtle mode and my bum went to Defcon 1. Something about flashlights under blankets and creepy creatures crawling around in said blankets make me tense. And why shouldn’t it? This remake is written by Guillermo del Toro (and Matthew Robbins), who is no stranger to scaring the bejesus out of theatergoers over the last decade or so. Starring Guy Pearce (The Road) and Katie Holmes (Batman Begins), this movie ought to be a creepy little treat.

Take a peek at the trailer and let me know your impressions. Personally, while this could be decent, I’m banking on this doing poorly critically and financially. How many times have we been told the scary story of a family moving into a haunted house and the kids begin to see ghosts and goalies, while mom and dad are oblivious until it’s too late? Unless del Toro and first-time director Troy Nixey have something surprising and adept planned for movie patrons, this is going to sink. The January release days says as much.

Trailer Tuesday: The Social Network Trailer Smells of Oscar and Awesome

The trailer for David Fincher’s new film, The Social Network, is dipped in awesome and sprinkled with little bits of gold Oscar flakes. It’s a long way to go until February 2011, but I have a hard time believing this tale about the rise of Facebook and its founders, Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin, won’t have its due consideration come awards season.  There’s just too much of the fantastic orbiting this picture, starting with director David Fincher (Zodiac), screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson’s War), and actors Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), Andrew Garfield (who was just cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Marc Webb’s franchise reboot) and Max Minghella (Art School Confidential).

Still, I do have to be somewhat leery of a finally wrought trailer giving me goosebumps and the actual film becoming a depantsing and spanking of the highest order. This has happened to me several times. Pay it Forward and Vanilla Sky are two that come to mind almost immediately, as do all of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels. Put quite simply: These were cases of cinematic blue balls – exciting trailers that pushed the promise of critical and box office success, but then crapped out in hefty fashion.

Let’s hope that’s not the case here. Check out the trailer and give me your thoughts. Also, if you have any blue-ball-trailer experiences, please, speak up and vent your anguish in the comments.

Let Me in Redband Trailer is Mucho Creepy

More often than not, movie trailers are hugely deceiving. That’s why I’m a little cautious about getting worked up over Let Me In, the Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) remake of the Swedish vampire flick, Let the Right One In. Reeves has said he’s been faithful to the novel and the film, hence many wonder why a remake is even necessary or warranted. I’m a Cloverfield fan, so I’m in the game more for Reeves – to see if he has talent beyond the shaky-cam Godzilla movie he made in 2008 – than I am for any love of the original foreign thriller, which I thought was moody and slightly boring.

Take a peek at the redband Let Me In trailer and give me your thoughts. From the looks of it, Let Me In looks more violent, tense and scary. It’s also certain to have less cut-off-wiener-eunuch time than its predecessor. It’s simply hard to see Reeves’ remake failing, especially with a cast of Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road), Chloë Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).

Trailer Tuesday: The Town

I watched Armageddon on Blu-ray a few weeks ago and even though I will bang the drum for the I Heart Michael Bay fan club, and argue that all his movies, including Pearl Harbor, are entertaining and wonderfully stylistic, I will not champion Ben Affleck for any acting awards any time soon. In fact, with the exception of a few roles, Affleck’s thespian skills deserve a hearty pruneslam. The animal cracker scene in Armageddon and nearly every moment where he’s spraying spittle and snot via his bawling (Haaaaarrrry! Nooooooo! I looooove yoooou!) are cringe-worthy and dry-heave-inducing.

On the other hand, Affleck proved he might be a more attractive and hunky version of Ron Howard with his 2007 directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone. If you loved that movie, despite its gritty and sad story, as much as I did (fans of Dennis Lehane should love it), then Affleck’s next project, The Town, might fit the bill. The trailer definitely has that Oscar smell and the cast is a mélange of pretty faces and acting prowess. Affleck is behind and in front of the lens this time around, and he’s joined by Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl), Chris Cooper (Married Life) and Pete Postlethwaite (Clash of the Titans).

The Town will premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on September 11 and will release wide on September 17, 2010. Take a look at the trailer and give me your thoughts.

Belated Trailer Tuesday: Due Date

I took a little R&R this past week in Garden City, Utah, so there wasn’t much posting going on. I’ve never missed a Trailer Tuesday, so while this is belated, it’s still valid.

Longtime AATM reader Danny championed the new Due Date trailer last week after I posted the preview for Middle Men, and while he thought it was gut-busting goodness, I’m not that impressed and, subsequently, this makes me kind of pissed off. How can a movie directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover) and starring Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone) have such a crappy trailer?

I’ll tell you with two words: Jamie Foxx.  I can’t stand him or his acting. The guy is poison. Yeah, I said it. I don’t care if he won an Oscar for playing Ray Charles and I don’t care if he’s BFFs with Kanye West. I think he sucks and is straight up CBO (that’s Chris Bosh Overrated, for the uneducated).

Furthermore, despite the success of The Hangover, let’s also remember Todd Phillips is the man behind Starsky & Hutch and School for Scoundrels, both of which were cinematic turds. So if Due Date bombs at the box office, count me not surprised. Check out the trailer after the jump and give me your opinion.

Trailer Tuesday: Middle Men Redband Trailer

By ANDY MORGAN

The more I see of Middle Men, the more excited I am for its August 6, 2010 release date. And trust me, in this redband trailer, you get to see plenty of boobies and hear the f-word, but this movie is about the dawn of porn on the World Wide Web and the man who stepped in to establish the first online billing company dealing exclusively with adult entertainment, so you knew it was coming anyway.

I hope Middle Men injects some life into Luke Wilson’s career, because ever since he guest starred on The X-Files in 1998, I’ve been a fan. Wilson plays Jack Harris, the architect of the billing system and an overall straight-laced family man. This is most likely the guy you cursed as you tried to download “free” pictures of some busty amateur back in 1997 on your computer sporting the dial-up modem and Pentium II processor. Considering Utah loves pornography, I’m guessing Middle Men ought to pump out some serious cash in Utah County multiplexes.

Middle Men also stars Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar), James Caan (Get Smart), Gabriel Macht (Whiteout), Laura Ramsey (The Ruins), Jacinda Barrett (Poseidon), Kelsey Grammar (Fame), Kevin Pollak (Cop Out) and Robert Forester (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past). Take a look at the trailer after the jump and give me your thoughts.