RATING THE TRAILERS: Movie Trailer Reviews 2012

Uninteresting Trailers- SWEENEY, SPIDER MAN, DARK NIGHT RISES, ENTRANCE, GET THE GRINGO, DARK TOWERS, RED LIGHTS (could be good but not a fan of the trailer), CITIZEN GANGSTER, COSMOPOLIS

Interesting Trailers- WINTER, EXPENDABLES 2, BOURNE LEGACY, THE HOST, SOULMAN, AREA 407 (not a fan of found footage films, but this and the CHERNOBYL DIARIES that is shot like found footage, looks potentially interesting), SAVAGES I’m on the fence about, as it can easily go in the uninteresting pile, same with LOVELY MOLLY. HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (the trailer and Jennifer Lawrence make the most of a tired crazy neighbor, Norman Bates flick. But I really have no interest), SAMARITAN (shows too much), KEYHOLE (it definitely has a great cast but there is something ponderous and passionless and direction-less about the trailer, even for a Guy Maddin film. Hope it’s good but the trailer doesn’t fuel that hope), TRANSIT (this is a borderline great trailer, only hurt by the fact the premise seems more than a little over used and familiar), ABE VAMPIRE HUNTER,

Great Trailers- TOTAL RECALL, THE ROAD, PROMETHEUS

Trailers!

John Luessenhop’s TAKERS Trailer

TAKERS is another trailer that comes from a relatively unknown director, but fortunately with its cast it has a lot going for it.

Idris Elba, I consider one of the best actors working, being a huge fan of his OBSESSED. From THE WIRE to ULTRAVIOLET he elevates everything he is in so was intrigued enough to give this trailer a look.

(Now all that praise about Idris Elba said, casting him as one of the Norse Gods in the upcoming THOR movie?

Really?

Only if you give me some Neil Gaiman ELEMENTALS type reason for a Norse God to be inhabiting a Nubian dude, failing that I have to agree with the Geek Syndicate guys on this particular casting.

There is no question of Elba’s talent.

There is colorblind casting, but when the ethnicity of the character, is part and parcel of the character, the history, the mythology, then colorblind casting doesn’t come into it. Just as it would be idiotic to have white guys portraying Nubian Gods, or playing Reggae– makes me laugh. Jah is a concept that no amount of braiding your hair can give you. So click on the link to hear the GS take on the casting. That said, they are completely wrong on their Samuel L. Jackson bashing. He was GREAT in IRON MAN II! 🙂

So yeah, I’m always glad to see Elba in a flick, but like I said… to make this casting okay, make it not a lightning rod against the film, they are going to have to write-in some type of Gaiman ELEMENTALS type reason for it. If they can do that they can make it work.

Okay back on topic…) ,

Before I get to the trailer, the poster… just poor. What the hell is up with these marketing guys. There was a time when posters were high art, as well as sought after collectibles. These days posters more often than not are just lazy.

Thankfully the trailer, has no such issues. Trailers are typically poor, good, or great. I mean you typically either get it right or you don’t.

300, STAR TREK (2010), OBSESSED, WATCHMEN these are examples of GREAT trailers.

I’ve rarely seen a trailer, that starts off in one gear and then kicks in to overdrive, that goes from good to great. TAKERS trailer goes from good to great. WoW. If the movie can live up to the trailer, I’ll be a happy camper.

Take a look! 🙂 .

Daniel Stamm’s THE LAST EXORCISM Trailer

Director Daniel Stamm is an unknown quantity to me. So the trailer for his THE LAST EXORCISM movie has to stand on its own.

Hmmm.

Trailer is not bad. Just isn’t particularly…. intriguing. Out the gate you know with exorcism in the title, you are already setting yourself up for (rightly or wrongly) comparisons with THE EXORCIST. I’m sorry, that’s just how that is. Like anything else, you’re going up against the shadow of what has gone before.

You do a western, people coming to the theater will have UNFORGIVEN, OPEN RANGE, TOMB STONE, SEARCHERS in their head. And perhaps you don’t have to be as good as those movies, but you have to at least show something that looks like an exciting, and at least somewhat original, take on a familiar theme.

The poster pretty much summarises all the trailer has to offer, a young girl with the assistance of CGI, contorting her limbs and breaking her joints, and doing the familiar crawling on the ceiling stuff. That’s pretty one trick, to carry a trailer much less an entire movie.

The trailer for THE LAST EXORCISM does not inspire confidence. It seems very cliched, very been there done that, and very…. , well it’s no other way to say this… boring.
And that is something a minute trailer should never do… bore you. I hope the trailer is misleading and the film is great… but I don’t quite see it.

Your mileage may vary.

Check the trailer out here!

And say with me, screw FLASH based trailers. FLASH =easy avenue for spyware and viruses.

UPCOMING MOVIES 2009: OUTLANDER and Elba, Ali and Beyonce in OBSESSED

I’ve been going trailer crazy recently. Sampling trailers old and trailers new. under the “new” heading two trailers/upcoming films that have me (to differing degrees) interested are OUTLANDER and OBSESSED.

What drew my attention to OUTLANDER, beyond the premise of THE HIDDEN meets PREDATOR meets BEOWULF, is the international poster above (the US poster as usual lacks any creativity, being basically just a closeup of the stars face. Ala HANCOCK, TRAITOR, etc. Note to studios, the best way to sell an action movie, isn’t with a big face. Star or no, it just shows a staggering lack of creativity on the marketing department’s side). That said, having Jim Caviezel as your star is also a strong selling point. His work in Tony Scott’s DEJA VU opposite Denzel Washington, showed an actor who brings his A game.

So I watched the two International trailers for OUTLANDER, and it looks fun, if not exactly original. It’s heavily advertised as being from one of the producers of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, but this tale of an alien predator and prey that lands among the Vikings circa 700BC, is very much the three movies I stated above (THE HIDDEN, PREDATOR and BEOWULF) mixed together. That said if director/writer Howard McCain can offer a fresh delivery and spin, the film could rise above its obvious influences to be something enjoyable.

This will be Howard McCain’s first feature film. His made for TV movie, 1998’s PERFECT PREY, was very derivative of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but did show moments of style, and you can see the growth of that style in the trailer for OUTLANDER. We’ll see if that growth extends through the movie in total.

OUTLANDER (according to their website) is getting a limited release in theaters this coming weekend, so if you’re near a major city (DC, New York, LA, etc. Full list is here.)

So you can catch it on the big screen if so inclined. For the majority of you, this should be coming to a DVD near you, shortly. Innitial feedback sounds positive, so I think it’s worth a look.

Possibly, with the exception of THE WATCMEN, the best trailer I’ve seen so far for a flick in 2009 is OBSESSED. A thriller/drama it’s a reworking of FATAL ATTRACTION, but man that cast just has me wowed!

Idris Elba has that old-fashioned Leading man charisma, but unfortunately has not been given leading man roles. Though even in the largely supporting roles he has been relegated to, his presence brings a weight and gravity that elevates the films he’s in.

His films include: ONE LOVE, SOMETIMES IN APRIL, WORLD OF TROUBLE (TV Pilot), DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS, THE REAPING, 28 WEEKS LATER, AMERICAN GANGSTER, THIS CHRISTMAS, THE NO 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY, ROCKNROLLA, THE HUMAN CONTRACT, THE UNBORN (Speaking of the UNBORN, exactly what is this poster selling? :). Perhaps not the most comforting of signs, when a ghost flick has to resort to an ass shot to sell the flick. Not that I’m complaining, just mentioning it. :).

)

However, with the OBSESSED Idris Elba moves into leading man territory. And surrounded by stunners such as Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter, and Christine Lahti, there aren’t many better roles… for a leading man.

The trailer looks fantastic. The film is directed by Steve Shill, his first feature film, but he has a lengthy resume directing episodes of some of the best television shows; and is written by David Loughery. If the film can live up to its preview, this film could be as good, if not better than the champ of homewrecking terror… FATAL ATTRACTION.

Film is produced by RAINFOREST FILMS (unfortunately their site appears to be flash only, so I won’t link to it. You guys know how I feel about FLASH only sites, it’s a definite no-no in my book. Note to rainforest, include an HTML entrance for people who don’t use FLASH for security reasons, or just in the name of being easily accessible to the widest number of people. It’s just good business sense) and distributed by Sony Screen Gems. So far no one has released a poster, but hopefully soon, and hopefully it will be good.

Now of course the preview could be completely misleading, and the film could be a stinker, ala Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, but I’m hoping not. And giving the track record of the cast and the director, my money is on it being great. Let’s put it this way, I’m going to be in the theater when this flick, OBSESSED opens in April 2009.