Super Gr8t

In the name of transparency I'll tell you I'm an unabashed Spielbergophile, but not even St. Steven himself has directed a movie as Spielberian as Super 8 since Jurassic Park, and that was 18 years ago!!!



There are so many elements of Spielberg it's hard to know where to begin.

Number 1: A group of kids looking for a little adventure find a big adventure. Spielberg never spoke down to children which is was made him so great as both a director and producer. E.T., Hook, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, Catch Me If You Can as Director, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, as Producer, even the wonderful opening to Last Crusade, all of these treat young people with respect while allowing them to make the human mistakes that everyone makes growing up.

Number 2: The strong but unconventional family unit. A simple allusion to something in the past mixed with strong acting and believable family dialogue can do wonders for the depth of a character and it seems that Abrams subscribes to the same school of character development.

Number 3: You've got the government train that crashes in a small town which, if I'm not mistaken, is the excuse that the government uses to close down the Alien landing sight in Close Encounters.

While the initial teasers and trailers focus on the mystery, all of these classic techniques are on display in the newest trailer, even the cinematography has a quintessentially Spielberg feel. The beauty of this trailer is that it gives you a much greater sense of the film to come without spoiling it. Abrams has a wonderful cast on hand including the always great Noah Emmerich, Kyle Chandler, whose been nothing short of brilliant on Friday Night Lights, and a cast of kids that look so right together Abrams might have just plucked them off the street on the way to the shoot. I could go on.

Whatever you want to say about the trailer say this, it got you excited for Super 8 to come this summer... and after all, isn't that the point of a trailer.

Back In Action with Lt. Oliver

So I'm a Dillahunt fan to begin with but the Oliver Sherman trailer has a dark beauty that recalls the Coen Bros. and a Winter's Bone type character isolation. Based on a short story by Rachel Ingalls and Directed by first timer Ryan Redford (Interview Here).

Oliver Sherman Official Trailer from Oliver Sherman on Vimeo.

The movie seems like it's missing that one something and so does the trailer. They try and introduce the element of danger but spend to much time on the monologues and drama. The music suffers the same problem. It tries at the end to introduce this ticking clock with on-time smash cuts but the effect is just that an effect. I didn't feel the pressure rising. I didn't get a real feeling for the stakes that amped up my excitement without giving to much away...

Now I know thats the devils dance, and I complain just as much as the next person about trailers that give you to much, but how well you can toe that line is how well you've devised your trailer. There were things that worked in the beginning (topic and cinematography) and things that worked at the end (the ticking clock) but the over all effect fell just short of Must-See-In-Theaters and right into On-Demandable.

The Right Man

Welcome to the gushfest. I'm listening to airport sounds supplied on the new website for Up In The Air because Jason Reitman is the best comedic director working today and if airport sounds are all he sees fit for me to hear right now than airport sounds it is. On this, the inaugural 10th post, it's fitting that we should break the mold.



There are things you get from a clip that you can't get from a trailer, the most important being a sense of pacing and a feel for the dialogue. It's not so surprising then that a director like Reitman, best know for comedic dialogue that's to smart to be real but feels real and enough camera sense to keep himself out of the way of the exceptional performances he pulls from his actors, should offer us a clip rather than the standard mashup of his best lines put to mildly compelling music.

A clip gives you the best of both worlds as far as trailers are concerned. You generate interest while keeping your best weapons secret . It's like Weezer releasing the Buddy Holly single only for you to find out about The Sweater Song and Say It Ain't So.

Clooney appears in good form. The charmer-comes-undone role is a nice combo of his is poorer efforts to portray frazzled quirky characters and the stock Oceansy Clooney. I also like Vera Farmiga, as a more disconnected professional, Departedesque character, rather than her most recent sloppy-horror effort.

Long story short, I'm not up in the air on this one. Reitman looks to be in his usual top form. With a fantastic adaptation, a great cast, and some subtle lighting in toe, he consistently reaches the highest level of comedy, intelligence.

Only

Sorry I've been away, but paid work takes precedence. And now on with the show...

I've been watching the usual trailers and they mostly flitted in an out of my attention for the 2:30 they were on. That is, until I came across Only, a film that looks like it was made on $75 and a shitload of Boxes of Joe, and yet the trailer was mesmerizing.



Wet and Rusting, by Menomena. The song provides so much atmosphere for the trailer I had to find it; it's part of what keeps me thinking about the movie, so ominous and romantic, mysterious then innocent. I've listened to a bunch of the artists listed on the film's website and I can say that the music supervision on Only is superior, but what else makes the trailer so appealing.

For one, something happens on this day... or doesn't... I can't tell, but if nothing happens then I have just as many questions. Aside from the subtle mystery of the day, the young actors look amazing, at least good enough to carry the film which is saying something. Jacob Switzer and Elena Hudgins Lyle seem inspired and a little uncomfortable, like kids in real life. Everything about the trailer begs to have light shed on it. Like there are layers at work, but because we know so little we can't get to them just below the surface. The Writing/Directing combo of Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynolds (both did both) seem to have created theses young characters with such depth and care that, like real people, I don't want to judge them to quickly.

I know I usually say a little more, but I don't want to be guilty of over kill. I'm looking forward to the story of Vera and Daniel... I want to take a girl I like.

Love In An Open Field

So it seems that spring is in the air. Summer romance flicks abound and instead of fighting it why not take a DoubleFeature Friday to have a look at some of this summer's selection. I know it's not Friday... but as the power went out yesterday we'll have to make an adjustment. So here it is Tripleplay Saturday aka The Summer of Love in a Field.



Ya got me, there's no field in 500 Days of Summer, but it still looks like the best romantic comedy for 20-35 year olds since High Fidelity... and a lot of people have filtered in an out of that group since 2000. Well, to all the new members welcome, and to those of you retuning for year 15 welcome back. It's been a long time since I've been interested in a romcom. The trailer works for a number of reasons but we only have time for 2, Joesph and Zooey. They just feel right. They look like a couple, and sound like a couple, and even if they're totally different people, which I doubt, they're talented enough actors that I don't question them for a second, unlike say Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner, or Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. The indie soundtrack, and the emphasis that's placed on it, should add to the "nostalgia" or increase whatever nostalgia you can get out of a group who've only cared about girls for 10-15 years. In the end there's no denying it, 500 Days looks like the perfect movie for you and that girl your kind of seeing... unofficially. I mean, we're still young.



I'd equate The Time Traveler's Wife to Spanglish without the humor, or No Reservations having a child with Jumper, then leaving Jumper for Click. The premise could be interesting, and acting could be decent, but it's a real 50/50. Bana and McAdams each have a touch and go history of middling to solid performances. The writing looks sappy as hell, but it's a trailer and we should applaud their honesty because I doubt the movie is gonna end with many dry eyes. The fact that TTTW was a best selling novel means it could be 2009's The Notebook, but I doubt it. This one will have to wait for it's HBO release before I see it but I'll have a box of tissues just in case it gets a little dusty (shout to Filmspotting).



I'm a sucker for reinvention. I love when directors find new ways to use a talented actor who, maybe, has fallen out of favor. Such is the case with Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri. Other than the possibility of a revival performance, though I was the one fan of StarDust, why does Cheri look many light years better than TTTW? Simple, the writing looks dry and smart, funny and seductive, and in short spot on ol' chappy. And then there's the acting. While Bana and McAdams are decent, Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates are splendid, not to mention Rupert Friend, fresh off the much lauded over The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The trailer looks beautifully whimsical and bitterly funny. Pfeiffer's best characters have always been unrelenting, a hardened, uncompromising, unapologetic beauty. She looks softer in the trailer, but I think it's to disguise because she sounds a sharp as ever. In fact, this might not be a reinvention as much as reintroduction... in which case, glad to meet you again Ms. Pfeiffer it's good to have you back.

No Transformers Just Transformation

It was all going to be so easy. I was planning to sit here and tell you how Transformers 2 looks just as good as you'd expect, and it does. But honestly, screw Transformers. The movie I'll spend my money on this weekend is a different brand of action-packed.



I was on the edge of my desk chair during the 2:30 trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's, The Hurt Locker. I can't really think of much to compare it with, but that's not a problem, it's a strength. Bigelow brought us the actioniers staple Point Break almost twenty years ago (that's right it came out the same year as Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey), she must have spent all that time learning.

So, why is The Hurt Locker is the best looking trailer of the year?

1. After a few seconds of the trailer, you know there are going to be great moments of high tension. The suspense and action are so obviously built into the life of the main character that the trailer doesn't have to focus on them. This leaves time for a rare sight in action trailers... character. It's obvious that Jeremy Renner, who plays Staff Sergeant Will James, is a wreckless man with a haunted past, but he's also funny, charming, a guys guy... I won't go on, but I could. And that's sort of the point, I feel like I know so much about this character already and I haven't seen more than 2 minutes of his life.

2. The trailer also does a nice job of changing tones. It hits suspense, action, comedy, and tragedy without ever seeming forced or disjointed.

3. They don't give away all their secrets. I railed on GI Joe for not using more Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but sometimes it's best to keep a cameo to yourself. Following up on a killer late apperance In Burges, Ralph Finnes will be somewhere in this picture and I can't wait to find out where.

4. David Mores... The man played George Washington, perfectly I might add. He's a fantastic actor and he should be in every war movie that needs white people. Sorry, no Letters From Iwo Jima, Ken Watanabe needs to eat too.

The Inagural HomeMadeMonday

First, a transparent moment, documentaries are not a specialty of mine. Boring is a strong word, it's more that historically I just haven't cared. They're hard to find out about, and even harder to find unless you live in NY or LA. This mild adversity made for a welcome surprise once I got to scouring the trailerscape for our first official HomeMadeMonday: Not only was there a wealth of interesting stories/people/topics, but they didn't look homemade at all... they looked, great.

Pressure Cooker looked great, but so did Unmistaken Child, unfortunately both are already out. I'll go see them, but being in theaters was a good enough reason for a d.q. The Cove looks like Free Willy meets Behind Enemy Lines (in a good way), and it comes July 31 which means I can save it until next week for the maximum effect.

All this prelude, it's like a calm country day with a gray swirling wind on the horizon, or the murmur of a stadium filled with people as the lights go out...



It's a hard pick to justify if you're not a music fan, but needless if you are.

It Might Get Loud doesn't come out until August 14, and even though I'll spend the next month and a half salivating while I relisten to each of their catalogues in turn, there are other docs coming out sooner that could have been featured. Another piece of ammunition for the naysayers, is the fact that it looks like something IFC or the Sundance Channel would have on Tuesday night. I can't say there's an obvious story here, and lack of story is typically my problem with documentaries. They just cover something, news like, rather than create an engaging story to put their subject on display. The trailer for TMGL manages overcome both of these problems. First, by having such an interesting subject, and second, by having such a ridiculously interesting subject.

In the world of trailers, especially documentary trailers, creating an appetite is the prime objective and anyone who's picked up a guitar, or Guitar Hero, has imagined having their icons all sit around and talk shop. Jimmy, Jack, and the Edge are different enough so that each will bring his own crowd, and yet similar enough that if you like one you won't be turned off by the others. And as for lack of story, no story... no problem. Director, Davis Guggenheim, who brought us Truth in An Inconvenient fashion, uses a little slight of hand to make you think your getting Cindarella Man. He shows you each man on his home turf. They meet on a raised stage that looks like a boxing ring where the ropes are replaced by Marshall Stacks. Finally, Jack White lays it all on the table while he heads for the showdown "...whats gonna happen? Probably a fist fight." Well, probably not, but enough reverb to punch you in the face... check and triple check.