The Weinsteins may have moved Pirahna 3D to August thanks to dire, Nine-related straits, but at least a trailer has surfaced that gives a taste of the campy action. What's on display? Elisabeth Shue's biceps, Eli Roth's cameo, and a whole bunch of bikini-clad extras, including one whose piranha-eaten rear sets the film in motion. Dive in!
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It's been ten long years since we've had a movie based on an SNL sketch (ah, The Ladies Man -- you were there for us in good times and in bad), so it's with no lack of fanfare and anticipation that MacGruber, based on Will Forte's MacGyver-like character with a bad habit of blowing his team up, arrives in theaters. Here, then, is your first glimpse: a red band trailer that makes surprisingly light use of its license to filth (we counted one f-bomb, one s-bomb, and one reference to an extremely puffy Val Kilmer's villainous Dieter von Cunth), but nonetheless does a nice job of setting up the essentials to this incredibly Byzantine tale of nuclear counter-terrorism and international espionage. (Just kidding -- an infant could crap this story into a fresh diaper.) Pluses? Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe lightening up, and Jorma Taccone -- one-third of The Lonely Island and Chaka in Universal's summer disaster (but funny!), Land of the Lost -- in the director's chair.
The Verdict: I'm torn. On the one hand, the jokes seem a little stale to me and Will Forte's ability to carry a movie alone seems doubtful; on the other hand, it seems to walk the perfect line betw- POWER PLANT DETONATES IN 20-STORY FIREBALL.
Pardon the shamelessly salacious headline, but ever since viewing Chloe last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, I've been looking for even more ways to express the brilliant luridness of the lesbian-psychodrama-on-steroids that is Atom Egoyan's latest masterpiece. And now, thanks to the French (who else?), a new, NSFW trailer says everything in one dense, soft-focus burst of angst and lust. Are you prurient enough to see for yourself? Of course you are.
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Heading straight to video at the end of the month, The Donner Party features Crispin Glover in the latest cinematic recounting of one of the worst frontier tragedies of the 19th century. Except as a new trailer attests, this one's got an entirely unique, fresh angle for the 21st century. Or at least it's being sold that way -- and not necessarily in a good way.
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Oh hey, The A-Team! The Film Stage found a copy of the trailer leaked early by a Canadian newspaper for some reason, and you know what that means: The link will be taken down, 20th Century Fox will squash all copies for a few hours, and then they'll be forced to put up their official version a day earlier than they'd planned. So! If you're reading this, hit the jump and watch it before it gets pulled, and if it already has, then let me sum it up for you: A lot of narration and talking, a lot of really weird accents from Liam Neeson and Sharlto Copley, Bradley Cooper takes his shirt off, and there aren't as many explosions as you might think. No one pities the fool, but Neeson does love his quickly forming plans.
VERDICT: Kind of the B-minus team so far, to be honest.
How can I put this nicely? Let's see. Forest Whitaker hits bottom in... Hmm. No. A goat outperforms Carlos Mencia in... Ugh. This is hard! Stereotypes are roundly reinforced in... Arrrgh. The Our Family Wedding trailer is out, featuring the dream pairing of Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker and joke-thief Carlos Mencia. Perfect! Oh, and it's excruciating.
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Or maybe the better question is: Is it ever not too soon? Like some of America's greatest efforts of Marketing Jingoism -- say, Lego's exploitation of 9/11, or Chevrolet's exploitation of Vietnam, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 -- Lionsgate's new mini-trailer for From Paris With Love is both curiously timed to a month before its release and 11 days after a Nigerian terror suspect attempted to blow up a jetliner in Detroit. That's a little late for a trailer (and early for a commercial), but right on time to take full advantage of all the violent, terror-busting goodness within. Sure, we're dealing with Lionsgate, which knows well where its genre bread is buttered. But can I just be the first to say: Eww?
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WB has finally rolled out the full, English-language trailer for Christopher Nolan's Inception (none of that au francais whatnot -- this one is for realsies). What have we learned that we didn't know already? Not too much -- Leonardo DiCaprio still looks like Nolan himself, some of the images recall the director's last movie, and the scenery seems as pliable a fruit roll-up. There's a little bit in there that sheds light on DiCaprio's dream-surfing corporate raider, but otherwise, it's just an appetizer of unusual visuals. Let us know if this has you running up the walls in anticipation:
Movieline's Two-Minute Verdict has parsed some astoundingly convoluted (or convolutedly astounding?) trailers in 2009, from After Last Season to Perfect Sport. Yet neither of those -- in fact, no trailer ever -- has presented quite the bafflement that is the first spot for something called Violent Blue. From its accompanying plot synopsis to its screamy, disjointed, narrative-allergic, mildly NSFW set-ups, director Gregory Hatanaka has pushed trailer arts to unprecedented heights of insanity. And that's not the oxygen getting thinner around you, either; that's just your brain melting.
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The first Sex and the City movie helped usher in a wave of female film phenomenons, and now Sex and the City 2 is coming along to give that Twilight-gorged audience segment some questionable fashion and nice, soft lighting. SATC2's trailer boasts a road trip segment and hey, fun fact: The original movie was supposed to be a road trip until Kim Cattrall pulled out (by the time she agreed to participate years later, writer/director Michael Patrick King had reconceived the project). However...Morocco? Really, girls?
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Some observations of Christopher Nolan's Inception, based on this French-dubbed trailer:
1. Dreidel!
2. Life is actually a series of maps. When God is done playing with one city for the day, he rolls it up and puts it in a drawer.
3. A glass of water!
4. Trafficjambreaker!
5. More water! (Way more.)
6. LE CHEVALIER NOIR is how I'd like to be addressed at all times.
Verdict: How do you say "confused" in French?
Just a few hours ago, we were all reminded how a bad action rom-com trailer can result in a few of the most dissatisfying minutes of your week. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have since issued a reaction of sorts for next summer's Knight & Day, and while it's not going to make anyone forget Mr. & Mrs. Smith, there's no denying they might be on to something.
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In an instantly infamous interview last week, NYT film critic Manohla Dargis excoriated Hollywood for its affronts to women both on-screen and in the audience -- particularly in the realm of romantic comedy. "One, the people making them have no f*cking taste," Dargis said. "Two, they're morons, three they're insulting panderers who think they're making movies for the great unwashed and that's what they want." With that in mind, who's ready for the first trailer for The Bounty Hunter, featuring Jennifer Aniston ensnared by her title-character ex, thrown in a car trunk, and handcuffed to a bed, all to a jaunty pop soundtrack in about 30 seconds flat?
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The teaser trailer for The Runaways came out today, and it's got a tasty helping of Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon in eye makeup, and Kristen Stewart's Joan Jett throwing both fits and chairs. The clip won't do anything to derail the want-to-see buzz building for its premiere at Sundance, though I can't help but wonder: Are the odds stacked against this movie in general release?
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Good news, everyone: After a fairly smashing teaser, the full trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine has been released...and it still looks pretty damn funny. Let's admit that there are so many ways this could have gone wrong -- Adam Sandler could have used the hot tub to learn a cloying lesson, or Broken Lizard could have used the concept to make another movie. Instead, has director Steve Pink pulled off a minor miracle?
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