“Funny People,” the third film from director Judd Apatow (“The 40 Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up”), is one movie I’ve been anticipating since the first trailer hit the web several months back. The movie releases on July 31 and this evening I came across the just-released redband trailer – it sat there staring at me in all its R-rated goodness, like the Playboy magazine you find when you’re a kid and know, without a doubt, you should not be looking …
Category: Trailers
I loved the movie “Juno.” In fact, I adored it. I wanted to hug it and snuggle with it. Jason Bateman was his usually snarky self, Ellen Page was loveable and snappy, Michael Cera was, um, Michael Cera, and the supporting cast, from Jennifer Garner to Allison Janney to J.K. Simmons and Olivia Thirlby added nothing but oodles of fantastic to this Jason Reitman (“Thank You for Smoking”) film. But despite all that, the movie only succeeds because of the brilliance …
On the surface, the new comedy “Couples Retreat” looks like the only thing it’s missing is Robin Williams and John Travolta (or William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence), but I can’t overlook three things: One, that I laughed through the entire trailer. Two, the case is pure comedy gold – from the stars to the supporting actors. Three, it’s written by Vince Vaughn (“Wedding Crashers”) and John Favreau (“Iron Man”). I don’t think you can discount a film as a …
Over the last 10 years Hilary Swank’s acting resume has been patterned with hits and misses. From her Oscar-winning turns in “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby,” to forgettable roles in “The Black Dahlia,” “The Core” and “The Reaping,” one thing is certain – even with the not-so-great films, she is still one of Hollywood’s brightest acting talents. Her upcoming portrayal of Amelia Earhart in “Amelia” smells like victory to me. The movie opens on October 23, 2009 and …
Steven Soderbergh and Matt Damon usually only have their names intertwined when “Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13” are mentioned, but the duo is joining forces in “The Informant!,” due in theaters on October 9, 2009. By the looks of it, Damon is channeling his inner Russell “The Insider” Crowe, going for the old hair, moustache and heavier build. The movie is described as a “dark comedy thriller” and the story revolves around one of the largest price-fixing schemes and cases …
While the motto for the first 30 years of my life could easily be described as “Live for today because the nukes are coming tomorrow”, the motto of my last four years would probably be “Vampires are dumb”. I know I’m in the minority here but I’m pretty sure that somewhere around 1987, scientific research did indeed show that vampires, with their crazy eyes and pointy-toothed hissing preferences, were somewhere around 93% lame. So hey, imagine my surprise when I …
Richard Kelly. Way back in 2001, when the writer/director stormed the scene with his dark, brain-twisting cult fave/critically examined Donny Darko, he was touted as the next genius auteur. Of course, a second film has a way of changing overblown expectation and when Kelly followed up with the bloated, unintelligible cluster-hump known as Southland Tales in 2006, the same folks originally singing his praises were left holding a wet bag of dog crap, wondering if their pretentiousness had jumped in …
The upcoming film District 9 has been working on gaining your attention by not really trying hard to gain your attention. In some circles, this is called viral, but viral actually spreads. Nevertheless, District 9 has released another “viral” video in its line of its universe-based trailers. I’m not a the biggest fan of the technique and voice over. It feels too Starship Troopers/campy, while the film footage contrasts gritty and radtastic. Maybe I’m over anlayzing. Maybe I’m not, but …
Anime (Japanese animation), in the U.S. at least, has always been a niche format. I’m not sure why it’s been so hard for American audiences to embrace it, but it’s probably because a) the style is reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons (ie-“crappy”) and b) years of ridiculous dubbing have made it a running joke (“NO! NNNNNNN… IDON’TWANTOTOGOWITHYOUWAITWHATAREYOUDOINGNNNNNYAAAAH!”) Over the last few years, Disney’s been trying to bridge the cultural divide with their U.S. releases of Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki films Spirited …
Damn you Stephen Sommers. George Lucas has already sullied my childhood with the pooptastic “Star Wars” prequels, and now you come a long and fail miserably at bringing Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Duke, Cobra Commando and Destro to the big screen. How do I know this? Easy, because this second trailer you’ve assembled for “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is just like the first – hollow, effects-laden, silly and ridiculous – and leaves me with zero desire or anticipation …