Rating system as follows;
Potential for Greatness: 1-5
Based on how good I think the movie will be.
Potential for Entertainment: 1-5
Whether or not a movie is wonderful or not, it may still have some entertainment value.
Trailer Editor Offset
Editors don’t make the big bucks for nothing. Shorten a movie down to a minute thirty, add a sweet soundtrack and you can make the biggest pile of turds (Skyline) look like spun gold. A positive TEO implies that the movie will be better than the trailer portrays, a negative TEO implies that the trailer somehow gives the movie a boost, and that even though this movie looks great, it’s gonna be lame.
Man, what a treat we have with the Melancholia trailers. The above trailer was released on the Apple trailers site this morning and gives the impression of a beautifully shot film in a sprawling location with amazing actors, drama and sci-fi elements.
The second alternate trailer, below, uses nearly the exact same footage, compiled a little differently, and appears to be classic Lars Von Trier film; muted color palate, hand held shooting, and human relationship drama. I like it. It looks pretty good. I realize that my tolerance level for films like this is significantly higher than most, but it looks good and I for one am excited to see it.
If you hadn’t already heard, this is the film that Von Trier was presenting at Cannes this year when he said some remarks that may have appeared to be sympathetic to Nazism. Which made Kirsten Dunst very uncomfortable.
Von Trier has had a history of mental issues and I don’t think that any antisemitism is actually in the movie, but it does go to show that there is a fine line between filmmakers that are provocateurs and filmmakers that are just jackasses. Which side of the line Von Trier lands is yet to be seen.
Potential for Greatness: 4
The director, the cast, and the cinematography all add up, this will be a delight for the senses. Unless of course all of those elements are sabotaged by interminably long exposition and overwrought drama. Kirsten Dunst did win best actress for the film at Cannes this year, so take that for what you will.
Potential for Entertainment: 3
I would plan on seeing this because it might be a great quality movie. Though I have a feeling that this movie will lean heavily towards Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst arguing rather than explosions in the sky.
TEO: ??
Well which trailer is most like the finished product? If I had to guess I’d say the second one.
I love Clint Eastwood films. I’m always confused when I meet people that don’t like him. I’ve even spoken to people that claim that he is xenophobic and senile. Have these people seen Letters From Iwo Jima, did they watch anything beyond the trailer of Gran Turino?
Anyway, in my humble and never obnoxious opinion, Clint Eastwood is great. So great, that once while standing next to a red carpet event I yelled at him, “You are so tough!”
Leonardo DiCaprio is pretty good as well, I feel like he is the sort of guy that is too recognizable to be a character actor, but still manages to pull off great emotive performances. And he apparently really likes old timey clothing, so that’s fun. Quick list of Leo in period clothing:
This Boys Life
The Man in the Iron Mask
Titanic
The Quick and the Dead
Gangs of New York
The Aviator
Catch Me If You Can
Revolution Road
Shutter Island
J. Edgar
upcoming The Great Gatsby
Potential for Greatness: 5
Hey man, it’s my blog, and I like Clint. I think it’s going to be great as long as the the aging makeup doesn’t get all weird Benjamin Button. Plus, Judi Dench!
Potential for Entertainment: 4
Action, drama, age makeup. It’s gonna be a roller coaster the likes of which you’ve never seen.
TEO: -1
I think it’s going to be more of a slow drawling monologue than the explosion in the trailer promises. So, if you go into it with the same sense of anticipation as a history channel show, you should be fine. Don’t expect big shootouts and any more explosions than the one in the trailer.
When I worked for the Palm Springs International Film Festival there was a film that the octogenarians when nuts for. All of the screenings sold out pretty much immediately after being announced. I had never heard of the film before and felt a bit perplexed why all of the elderly people wanted to see this film so badly. That film was the original swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Now the inevitable american remake is on it’s way, (note to foreign filmmakers; americans don’t like to read), and lucky for film-goers it’s being directed by David Fincher. For those unfamiliar with the book series or the swedish versions, TGWTDT is a trilogy of books written by Stig Larsen and published posthumously. It has become one of the highest selling books in the world. Film viewers that have sensitive dispositions should be warned, the original film had graphic violence, multiple rape scenes, and generally is not the most hopeful movie. So not the best choice for a first date movie.
Potential for Greatness: 4
David Fincher knows how to make a dark movie. Se7en, Zodiak, The Game, Fight Club, even The Social Network with it’s collegiate cargo-shorts-and-flip-flops setting was shot very dark. My one criticism is this; why does hollywood insist on making every accent british, no matter what the culture? Is it the actors? Is it because the american audience are too dumb to listen to anything but clipped british voices? It’s infuriating.
Here’s the thing, whether or not this movie is decent, it’s going to be huge. All the critics have seen the original, and are currently writing their pre-reviews based on the trailer. (Hey, that’s my schtick, get your own hobby!)
Potential for Entertainment: 4
I’m sure that this movie will stay very close to the original shot list and script… but FINCHERIZED.
TEO: 0
With Fincher, the movie trailer is usually the ultimate companion to the film. It’s like when movies used to release a music video for MTV that was basically a trailer but with neat original music.
The Artist by director Michel Hazanavicius is a modern film shot to look like an original silent film from the 20s. Hazanavicius wrote and directed OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and it’s sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio. I really enjoyed both of these films. Hazanavicius has a serious eye for the writing and aesthetics of the 60s spy film, and with the artist it would seem that he enjoys recreating these time periods with exacting accuracy.
Aesthetically, the trailer makes this film look beautiful. The soft diffused black and white along with the striking mise-en-scène (check out 1:53) really nails the silent film era. Also being shot on 35mm certainly helps. Off the top of my head, I can think of a couple of films that achieve this new-film-that-looks-old aesthetic (The Saddest Music in the World, The American Astronaut) and with the right director it can be amazing. Not since The Saddest Music in the World have I seen a modern film that could be so easily mistaken for an old film. Jean Dujardin was the star of the OSS 117 films and even then I thought to myself that his expressive face would suit silent films. I’m really looking forward to seeing his performance.
Potential for Greatness: 4
I really like what I’ve seen thus far from this writer/director and acting team.
Potential for Enterntainment: 4
If you haven’t seen OSS 117, then you are probably thinking, “what’s the big deal?” It’s gonna be good, trust me.
TEO: 0
I’m loving the look and feel of the trailer but I don’t think that they’ve blown all the best scenes.
Oh look, it’s every actor with a distinctive speech patterns in one movie. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marissa Tomei, and though uncredited, I assume Christopher Walken will show up to say some serious stuff in his weird synchopated rythm.
Directed by George Clooney, this is a drama full of political intri-SNOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRREEEEEE. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The last 15 years of car chase movies sucked. XXX, the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, and all the Fast and the Furious movies. Why have they all been so piss poor you might ask? Well, because they were marketed to the Friday night high school crowd. No real plot, flashy cars, and very bad dialogue.
But thankfully that streak may be at an end. I’m going to set up this review first with a questionaire:
Do you think that Bryan Cranston, Albert Brookes, and Ron Perlman are good actors?
Well, ok, Ron Perlman kinda only has one facial expression, but he is still very entertaining.
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, let me be the first to recommend Drive. If you answered, “I haven’t seen those movies.” Then I have another question: What is wrong with you?
Nicolas Winding Refn is the writer and director of all of those films and I believe that he is on par with the best writer/directors working today.
I loved Bronson. It’s subject matter was brutally violent and physical, yet much of the brutality was off screen and the sound effects and soundtrack brought a lightness to the action, as if the audience was seeing the fight from Bronsons gleefully crazed perspective. I think that under the direction of Refn, the film will take this movie from standard criminal driving movie to a place of excitement, dread, and deep human relationships.
Potential for Entertainment: 4
Either way you slice it, guns, fast cars, and Bryan Cranston equal a great way to spend your time.
TEO: 0
If the movie is anything like the trailer then I am really excited for it.
First off, I have a confession to make. I’m a fairly stoic, logical person (some would describe it as unemotional, I’ve even been called a robot on occasion). But the one thing that always gets me choked up, to my eternal chagrin and sometimes workplace embarrassment, is certain heart tugging movie trailers. I can’t really put a finger on what precisely it is; perhaps it’s a swell of music at the moment of a choice dialogue line, or maybe it is the certain type of family drama. Either way, there are certain trailers that really put a lump in my throat in a way that not many things can.
Which brings me to The Tree.
I love Charlotte Gainsbourg. After looking at her filmography I guess I’ve only seen her in a couple of things, notably Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep, the Todd Haynes Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, and she won best actress at Cannes for Lars Von Triers Antichrist. Something about her acting is so natural, she doesn’t rely on her femininity to be appealing, she just really embodies her characters.
This film looks pretty great; cute, but not in a saccharine sweet way, dramatic, but not in the self flagellating way that many dramas get.
Potential for Greatness: 4
This film was chosen to close Cannes last year, which puts it in a good pedigree.
Potential for Entertainment: 4
So the movies that I’ve seen Charlotte in, she’s always been a supporting character. Hopefully she can lead a film.
TEO: 0
I don’t think that there will be much of a difference between the trailer and the film tonally.
While we’re on topic with Charlotte Gainsbourg, it would be a real shame to not mention that a biopic of Charlotte’s father, Serge Gainsbourg, is coming out.
Gainsbourg Most Americans are at the very least vaguely familiar with Serge Gainsbourg’s song je t’aime moi non plus. After watching this trailer I am excited to learn more about his varied musical career, particularly his more dirty rock sound. The visual style and fantastic elements of this film are undoubtedly a result of the directors career as a comic book author. Director Joann Sfar has already seen success with his Donjon series of graphic novels. It should be a good one.
Potential for Greatness: 3
While I’m Not There delved so deeply into the mythos of Bob Dylan, I believe that the fantastic elements of Gainsbourg will be less unhinged. It’s always a treat to be taken into the life of a complicated and brooding rock character.
Potential for Entertainment: 4
So cool, so french, so extravagant. Why wouldn’t it be entertaining?
TEO: -1
After reading about Serge Gainsbourg a bit, I think that the movie will either gloss over the loathing, alcoholic, misogynistic character that was Serge Gainsbourg, or slowly descend into a sad story of a talented man drinking himself to death. For this reason I imagine that the Trailer Editor was tasked to cheer up the story a bit.
It’s official, hollywood has wrung out the last little drops of inspiration from pop-culture remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings. Every old movie, tv show, cartoon, and comic book has been remade anew. So where is hollywood to turn when the inspiration well dries up? Well certainly not to their own creative mind, that would be ridiculous. Who wants to go see a movie that isn’t based on a previously marketable concept? Why on earth would anyone go to a movie that didn’t have some sort of nostalgic value?
Well, thankfully, some brilliant person discovered a fresh trove of movie magic; Board games. This movie looks so dumb, equal parts Armageddon, Transformers, and Top Gun. Should we be offended by the filmmakers obvious contempt for the film-going peoples intelligence? Well, just in case you thought this is just a one-off joke like Snakes On a Plane, the Monopoly Movie may or may not still be in production.
Potential for Greatness: 0
Guaranteed, you will probably forget everything about this movie between the theater and the parking lot.
Potential for Entertainment: 2
Liam Neeson chewing out some guy on a battleship is entertaining for a few seconds, but little does he know that the lickspittle will soon be his son-in-law.
TEO: 0
I feel sorry for the guy that had to edit this trailer. Because he had to watch the movie.
This trailer is the long version from Comic-Con. It was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the same guy that wrote and directed Gattaca, and wrote The Truman Show. The basic plot of this movie is that through science, (I’m assuming), everyone stops aging at 25, currency is based on lifespan, so every time you work you gain a little bit of time, everytime you spend currency, you are spending minutes of your life. I can just imagine the writer or producer at a party having this conversation:
Writer: Hey dude, I’m gonna step out and have a cigarette.
Friend: You know, every cigarette takes five minutes off your life.
Writer: Yeah, but what doesn’t shorten your life? HOLY SHIT I’VE JUST HAD THE GREATEST MOVIE IDEA!!!
Leading the cast is ol’ J-Lo Timbersnazzy, known for Alpha Dog, Dick-in-a-box, and that music video where him and some friends were marionettes. I feel like Justin Timberlake has proven to be a solid performer, and if I had to choose a musical performer to lead a movie I guess Timberlake would be it. Though Springsteen would make a great Snake in an Escape from New Jersey movie. So maybe J-Lake can sustain a movie length.
Cillian Murphy is also in it and though he was great in 28 Days Later and The Wind that Shakes the Barley, he has kind of fallen into a rut of playing the severely serious guy, exemplified in Batman Begins and Inception. On the other hand, all of those movies were amazing so maybe Cillian Murphy’s presence in this movie is a good sign.
Potential for Greatness: 4
This could be Justin Timberlakes big breakout hit that launches him into being the next Will Smith. I just hope that unlike the Von Smith Family Singers, we don’t see a crop of Timberlake child performers in 8-13 years.
Potential for entertainment: 3
I think I saw the whole movie in the trailer. Whatever happened to leaving me wanting more?
TEO: +2
After rewatching the Truman Show and Gattaca Trailers I noticed a trend with Andrew Niccol films; the trailers tone is wildly different than the movie itself. The trailer for Gattaca makes it look like an action film a la Timecop, and the Truman trailer looks like a family comedy whereas I would have classified it more as a lightly ominous drama with comedic elements. Both of those previous films meditate heavily on the human condition and I don’t think that In Time is much different. I’m giving it a trailer editor offset of +2 in the hope that the movie is more thoughtful than your standard run-from-baddies movie.
Ok head to head, which will be a better movie? I’ve liked Robert Downey Jr. in most of his movies, though lately I feel like he has been really laying his RDJ shtick a little thick. Is it possible that sober RDJ is more addicted to over-acting than drugs and alcohol? Robert, come on, snap out of it. You’re not Tom Cruise, calm down a little and act for a bit.
Sherlock Holmes #1 was entertaining, but more of an action movie than your typical Holmesian mystery.
Potential for Greatness: 3
It’s gonna be fine.
Potential for Entertainment: 5
With so many explosions and high flying stunts this movie is perfect popcorn. Now if the writing keeps up, then it might even outshine the groaner scenes of RDJ in drag.
TEO: 0
What you see is what you get. I don’t anticipate any surprises here.
Apparently Tsui Hark is a famous Hong Kong director. I hadn’t heard of him before but this movie looks great. There are so many asian films that portray epic cityscapes and palaces that initially I was a bit ho hum about this trailer until 1:36 when someone karate kicks a deer. Say what?! And then shortly afterwards the slow motion fist meets staff crunch and I was like, “wait a minute, are they playing dubstep along to scenes from the Tang Dynasty?” More like Dy-NASTY! Amirite?
Potential for Greatness: 5
Could be awesome…
Potential for Entertainment: 4
I’m marking it down one point on the off chance that its 2 hour run time bores me to tears. On the other hand it just might be 2 hours of deer kicking wonder.
