Normally if someone said that a trailer opened with a talking lion on the beach parting the ocean for a group of children, they'd have my attention. But somehow this image is squandered in the new, curiously low-key trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. There are some great images here, but the entire affair feels subdued, and maybe a bit tired. Like poor Aslan the talking lion walked a thousand miles through snow and ice to get to that beach.
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Burlesque is so lucky that I can't believe it exists. Otherwise I might dismiss its new Japanese trailer for what it is: overacted, undersmart, and more bombastic than Christina Aguilera's "Lady Marmalade" revamp all those years ago. But as is, it's still a staggering trailer that makes you say, "I can't believe Cher and Christina and Stanley Tucci and glitter are all pretending to get along so well." Oh yeah, and also: "Where the hell is Kristen Bell?"
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In case you didn't get enough jokes about Jack Black's gut last week in the Gulliver's Travels trailer, The Kung Fu Panda 2 teaser has one more! Score! Besides that it gives a glimpse of...not very much at all. In fact the rest of the teaser will remind you how long thirty seconds can really feel.
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In case you were worried that Justin Timberlake would settle for buttoned-up, Oscar-tickling roles for the rest of his cinematic career, fear not: He is down for nudity, sexy talk, and Semisonic references, too. Friends With Benefits pairs him with Mila Kunis, gets the duo to strip and shack up, and makes an artful tennis/sex metaphor happen. Let's dissect this nudity-laden preview. (NSFW.)
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Was there an internal memo circulated around Hollywood this week that stated all movie trailers must be released on either Thursday or Friday? The latest arrival is Zookeeper, the Kevin James-talks-to-animals comedy that became a hot property in the wake of the success of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Yep, all words in that sentence are true. Movies: Now more than ever, everyone!
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Good news, ladies. You've been begging the movie gods for years to pair Jennifer Aniston with Adam Sandler in a romantic comedy where she, as a cynical single mother, plays the pretend wife to his bikini model-sexing plastic surgeon. Well, finally, finally, dear readers, that movie here. Ready to suspend all disbelief for your first taste of Just Go With It?
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Though he has been summarily wasted on Saturday Night Live this season, Jason Sudeikis has had a pretty solid 2010: He's dating January Jones, parties with the cast of Mad Men and was the only decent part of Going the Distance. (Yes, that's including Charlie Day.) Still, breakout stardom has alluded him thus far...something which will probably change once Hall Pass comes out next year.
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Speaking of old-school animation, the new trailer for The Illusionist serves as a perfect reminder of just how captivating the art form can be. Based on an unproduced screenplay by the great Jacques Tati and directed by Sylvain Chomet (The Triplettes of Belleville), even the film's trailer transports viewers to a new world. And it looks much more fantastic and inspiring than this one.
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Ah, the friends with benefits arrangement! You could map Hollywood's version of it out on a chart. First there's the initial bliss, like the couple has mastered a trick that has stumped the human race for generations; then maybe one month later, the guilt and uncertainty slowly sink in; and finally there's that complicating moment where one party breaks the pact and falls in love. In No Strings Attached, Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman are the test subjects in this age-old experiment of sustained commitment-free sex. No prizes for guessing the conclusion, but still, the No Strings Attached trailer looks like it might be a cut above the average romantic comedy.
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They say tragedy comes in threes, and that's proven once again with today's collection of repellent videos. First, it was the teaser for Bridalplasty; then the Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son trailer. Yet if you didn't think things could get any worse, Warner Bros. was kind enough to release another look at Yogi Bear. To quote Henry Hill: This is the bad time.
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There's a great line in the mostly forgotten neo-classic Empire Records that goes, "What's with today, today?" I'm reminded of that because coming on the heels of the soul-crushing preview for Bridalplasty, the new trailer for Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son feels like being kicked while down. Let's all hold each other and click ahead to watch this one together.
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Yes, the trailer for this new Indie Horror film looks a lot like Paranormal Activity. But let's not write it off yet -- its medical-testing-gone-wrong premise makes for a great hook and seems like a topical and potentially horrifying direction for this found-footage horror movie sub-genre. Really though, the trailer is mostly worth watching for the hilarious sound effect it uses to transition into the creepy part.
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I've watched this Sucker Punch trailer twice now and I'm still trying to decide whether I hate it because it genuinely looks awful, or because the fact that I don't get it makes me feel completely out of touch, which in turn makes me resentful. I'm trying to be fair here, and in that interest, it should be noted that the beginning of the trailer uses "When The Levee Breaks" so well that anyone with a pulse will feel at least a little psyched. But I maintain that there's more life in the first verse of that song than in this entire overkill mind-f*ck trailer.
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While the first Gulliver's Travels trailer looked like a mindless CGI holiday paycheck for Jack Black, this new one focuses more on the insightful, sardonic satire that made Jonathan Swift's original work so legendary. It holds a giant mirror up to human nature and...nah, I'm just kidding. It's mostly about Jack Black deflecting tiny cannon balls with his bare stomach and things like that.
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Jason Statham clearly does not mind being typecast. After playing the same role over a dozen times, he's gotten the hard-boiled, soft spoken, totally lethal bad-ass down to an exact science. He's so good, in fact, you occasionally wonder what would happen if he pushed himself or took on a different type of role. But then the Blitz trailer comes along and reminds you of the totally insane renegade cop action you'd miss out on if Statham ever moved on.
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