Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors, so reading he’s receiving Oscar buzz for his portrayal of an alcoholic country singer in Crazy Heart comes as no surprise. Whether he’s resurrecting a deer in Starman, drinking a White Russian in The Big Lebowski, or chucking Robert Downey Jr. into a bus in Iron Man, the guy is 100 percent solid. Add to the cast the equally dependable Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight) and Robert Duvall (We Own the Night), as well …
Category: Trailer Tuesday
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the popular video game franchise, hits theaters in May 2010 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Zodiac), Ben Kingsly (Elegy) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace). It’s being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Mike Newell. Based on the trailer below, I’m a little underwhelmed. But then I’m a bit biased, because I think the video game is straight up lame. And while Arterton is smokin’ hot, Jake Gyllenhaal might one of …
Angelina Jolie has found her niche: a face-punching, trigger-pulling, boot-in-the-pruney heroin”e” who could use a few calories. As the title character of Evelyn Salt in next year’s Salt— a spy thriller about a CIA agent who may or may not be a Russian spy with an agenda to permanently shorten a US President’s term– Jolie shouldn’t disappoint. The real draw here, however, isn’t Jolie– it’s the return of director Phillip Noyce to the political/espionage/action game. If the name Phillip Noyce …
Dan will have a review of Disney’s A Christmas Carol later this week, so I don’t want to spoil his thoughts or give any details away, but I will say this: Despite all it’s lavishness, it’s missing one key element – heart. In fact, to better illustrate and to introduce my pick for Trailer Tuesday, I will say DreamWorks Animation’s forthcoming How to Train Your Dragon has more heart in two and half minutes than Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol …
The year was 1982, affectionately called “The Spielberg Summer” by the media (because E.T. and Poltergeist were barnstorming the box office), and MGM was facing bankruptcy. It bet the house on Poltergeist, directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and produced by Steven Spielberg, and claimed victory as the supernatural thriller grossed $76 million domestically, literally saving the studio from filing Chapter 11. 27 years later, Poltergeist is unbelievably dated, campy and generally silly from beginning to end, but …
Aside from watching chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Jack Frost nipping at my nether-regions, I think I’ll be snacking on some popcorn and sipping a frosty Diet Coke at the theater and watching Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. A second trailer US trailer was released today and, even though not really showing us anything that new, it merely confirms to me that which I already assume: This movie is pure win. How can it not be? Guy Ritchie’s style …
You know how you can tell summer has officially bought the farm? Trailer Tuesday. Bombastic musical beats and explosions are gone. Angst-filled yelling and tears and dramatics are the new hotness in pursuit of accolades and the palm logos adorned with “Winner of”. Take Andy’s Precious pick for example: harsh and bleak with a touch of hope. Or Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans*. Harsh and bleak… with a touch of CRAZY. A sequel/remake (but don’t call …
One of my favorite films of all time is Monster’s Ball. It’s full of bleak, despairing truth, as well as hope and life. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. It’s no surprise to me that Precious, a film about an illiterate, obese teenager living in Harlem in the late 1980s, is directed by Lee Daniels, as he was one of the producers of Monster’s Ball. In fact, the novelist behind Precious (the novel is actually called Push), a woman …