Trailer Roundup- PTA, QT, Denzel, and some R-Rated "Magic Mike"

   
     Catch up on all the latest film trailers right here in the Trailer Roundup. Today we have cinematic snapshots from a couple summer releases looking for added buzz, the latest glimpses from Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Pixar's latest romp for next summer, and a couple of little movies that look pretty great.

Which ones are you excited for? Which ones will you skip? Feel free to comment galore.

Django Unchained- After rewriting the outcome of World War II, Quentin Tarantino turns his attention to the slave-era South where his latest bloody, pulpy revenge film filled with his trademark dialogue, complicated interesting characters and plenty of blood. "Django" stars Jamie Foxx as the titular Django, a slave freed by a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). The two men are headed to find the infamous Calvin Candie (an overly coiffed Leonardo Dicaprio) and his plantation Candieland where Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) is enslaved.
     Quentin loves his B genre films, and after making his noir, gangster, blaxplotation, and kung-fu films, it looks to finally be the spaghetti western is always hinted at making. Plus...Leo Dicaprio looks to be having more fun than he's ever had in at least a decade. (Dec. 25)



The Master- A new Paul Thomas Anderson film is always cause for celebration and excitement, and "The Master" is no exception. Closely resembling the story of the rise of L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, the film set in a post-WWII film tells of a appealing intellectual (Hoffman) who launches a religious organization. A drifter (Phoenix) becomes his right-hand man, but as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the drifter finds himself questioning the belief system and his mentor.
      The two different teasers are enigmatic and odd, but the Jonny Greenwood score is in full force as are the stunning visuals by Mihai Malaimare Jr.. Phoenix seems to finally gotten over his "I'm Still Here" and is back in a big way, and you can never count Phillip Seymour Hoffman out. Plus, Amy Adams!! (Oct. 12 in limited release)

Teaser 1


Teaser 2

Pitch Perfect- Taking advantage of the huge popularity of acapella as seen in "The Sing-Off" and in an even bigger way "Glee," this bitchy musical comedy stars Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air" and "50/50") as a college freshman whose browbeaten into joining her college's all-female singing group. She injects some much needed energy into their act, and it's just in time for an annual campus competition against the rival boys' group. I think it looks fresh, silly, and funny, and after things like "Mean Girls" and "Easy A" hint at it with individual musical sequences, its nice to see the music front and center. I'm a huge fan of Anna Kendrick, and it'll be nice to see her take the lead in her first film of this nature. Plus a little nod to "No Diggity," and you can never go wrong with that. (Oct. 5)




After the cut, many more trailers including Denzel Washington's latest drama, a sweet little romance from Dayton/Farris, a promising phone sex comedy, and....an R-rated NSFW "Magic Mike" trailer you can't miss.

Focus unleashes "Anna Karenina"

     I was already excited, but now, I'm nearly foaming at the mouth.

     Focus Features has unveiled a first look at their giant adaptation of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." Featuring some awe-inspiring pomp and circumstance, it seems the novel is going to be given the lush and expansive treatment it richly deserves.

     Directed by Joe Wright and adapted for the screen by god-among-men Tom Stoppard, from what we can glean from the trailer, the film detailing the search for love and happiness of a young woman and her embattled affair amongst Russian's aristocracy is going to oscillate between real live sets and a limbo-like set with a stage, amphitheater, and gilded ballroom. If the ambition on display pans out as well as it looks in these two and a half minutes, audiences are in for a real treat. (Plus it'll be absolute catnip for the Academy.)

Trailer after the jump

Pick Six Mini Reviews for 2012...so far

     After the Oscars, I did give myself a self-imposed hiatus from the movies. Reboot, relax, and try to recharge for yet another great foray into the year in cinema. I caught up on old things I love ("The Bridges of Madison County," TV's "The West Wing"), some guilty pleasures (the original "Beverly Hills 90210") things I like a whole lot more than when I caught them the first time ("The Fighter," Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life"), and new things I had never seen before that now I'm having a bit of a love affair ("Junebug," "Spirited Away," and "Before Sunset").

     But I'm finally ready to start giving the reviews of the things I've been seeing...the good, the bad, and the abominable.

The Hunger Games- With all that hype, all that fan girl anticipation, could writer/director Gary Ross and his team ever live up to the potential laid out by Suzanne Collins and her ever-popular trilogy? Yes and No. It's a thrilling film that does set up how high the stakes really are and what will inevitably follow as well as the colorful characters we will see. It has a sterling first hour, fully realized set pieces and some really touching moments as well. Jennifer Lawrence is able to find some of those layered emotions, and her portrayal of Katinss's uncomfortability with being the star is honed just right.
     The film eventually pulls its punches in the second half though. Especially in regards to the violence. We're witnessing children killing other children...for sport, yet we never seem to feel like anyone is willing to look into that and ask why? Or....how having to kill affects these kids. Plus the camera moves and cuts so quickly as to avoid the audience seeing the atrocity of the games (and an R rating) that we're left just jumbled rather than shocked. It's just too long too. Grade: B

Titanic 3D- I never had the opportunity to see Titanic in theaters back in the day. My mom felt it was not yet appropriate for her fourth grader. So the opportunity to see it was something I couldn't pass up. And I'll say after all these years multiple viewings on both DVD and television, the film is still a great piece of work. Sure there's some wonky dialogue, and Billy Zane is hysterically off (especially in that moment where he goes all Rambo, pulls the gun and chases Jack & Rose through the sinking ship), but the romance is great, and the final hour as the ship is going down is incredibly thrilling. James Cameron made "Titanic" like Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in that it's one of those great kitchen sink pieces. It has something in it for everyone. There's action, romance, cheesy melodrama, and Bill Paxton. The 3D transfer was a nice touch as well. Grade: A

21 Jump Street- What could have been a smug and overly violent action comedy ends up being very funny and had a bit of a heart. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are pitch perfect as these young-looking cops trying to crack the undercover drug world of high school. When they arrive and see that they live in a world where environmentalism is in, being a bully and a jock is out, and hipster is in, it throws them all off, setting up even funnier situations. Has a great 80s throwback vibe without being so slavish it can't move forward. The end does get a bit "Pineapple Express" excessive with the violence, and the villain is a bit lame. Channing Tatum is a real star though, and the film shows that. Grade: B+

After the cut, the latest from Studio Ghibli, The Vow, and the teen rager Project X
 

Spectacular! Spectacular! To Nicole on her 45th Birthday....

      To the risk-taking redhead from the land down under, Happy Birthday!

     In the last twenty-three years, she moved from fiery exotic, to the woman behind the man of the biggest power couple in Hollywood, to A-List star with ambition to burn.

In such varied work as "To Die For," "The Portrait of a Lady," "Moulin Rouge," "The Hours," "Dogville," "Birth," and "Rabbit Hole," amongst many more, she has continued to work with big name directors trying to push herself creatively. She's admittedly made some poor choices along the way, but she continues to be wiling to fall flat on her face.

Happy Birthday Nicole! Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

What are you favorite Nicole Kidman moments? Films? Performances?

After the jump are some of my Nicole moments including television appearances, film clips etc.

To Diablo on her 34th Birthday

In just three short films Diablo Cody has become not only an Academy Award winning screenwriter but also a brand. There's a quality of writing full of blog-ready catchphrases and pop culture-laden comebacks that has continued to enthrall and excite, and on today her 34th birthday....check out this quintessentially Cody clip from her latest, the divisive Young Adult.

Dream a Little Bigger, Darling- "The Avengers" Review

    There's a scene, early on in Christopher Nolan's "Inception," where Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is using his assault rifle to fight against the army of projections trying to kill him. His weapon is dependable, it's sturdy, and it'll certainly get the job done, but his combatants keep firing back. That is until Tom Hardy sidles over and with a sly smirk and says "Mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling" as he raises a grenade launcher and fires towards them with a loud explosion.
     While watching Joss Whedon's giant superhero pot luck "Marvel's The Avengers," I had similar feelings throughout. It's fun. It's loud, and it's funny. It features all the flash, whiz, and bang one has come to expect from the best comic book films, but instead of raising itself to be about something greater, something more nuanced, it and its filmmaker are happy just making rollicking summer fare.
 

"Wreck-It Ralph" Trailer Arrives

     Just days after the first images arrived, Disney unveils what looks like a real winner to hurt their ailing bottom line. "Wreck-It Ralph is the story of the villain of the arcade game Fix-It Felix. After much soul searching, and one too many Game Overs, he abandons his game and seeks out other games to try to be happy in which you can imagine causes some havoc in the video game universe.

Trailer after the cut

Happy 41st Birthday Mark Wahlberg!

And in honor of his birthday, let's watch Andy Sandberg's great impersonation of him from SNL.

Fresh Links, Get Your Fresh Links Here

• InContention- Kris Tapley starts looking at a fairly full slate for the Best Animated Feature lineup. And speaking of animated features....Collider has new images from Disney's new feature, the video game-themed "Wreck-It Ralph."
• Two more big prestige projects get further on the road to being produced: director Andrew Dominik and producer Brad Pitt will take on Joyce Carol Oates' "Blonde" with star to be determined (fingers crossed for Naomi Watts). Plus Jon Favreau may take on the "Jersey Boys."

•  If there wasn't already enough reason to go see "Prometheus" on Friday CinemaBlend reported there will be special extended scenes from Ang Lee's ambitious "Life of Pi" adaptation before the film along with before "Madagascar 3" and "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter."
• Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra Miller try to explain the "Perks of Being a Wallflower" in the new trailer based on the much-buzzed about novel on HitFix
• Michael C at The Film Experience dissects whether Wes Anderson has an unexpected dark side that we're all missing.
• And finally AwardsDaily shows us the first images from Nicholas Winding Refn's followup to "Drive" the other Ryan G osling starred "Only God Forgives"

Tale As Old As Time....With Some Smashing New Threads- Mirror, Mirror Review

  

  
     Some years ago, it became incredibly unhip to like sweet, charming fairytales. Everything had to be kissed by cynicism and touched by self-referential humor.  Gone was the literate sweetness and strong romance of Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" or Disney's mid-century princess films.

     Even the most earnest attempts at princess stories "Tangled" and "The Princess and the Frog," have fallen prey. Prince Charming is being swapped out for the ghostly pallor of Edward Cullen and fair maidens for Giselle from "Enchanted" who has to let her fairytale existence be shattered by the oppressive realities of the "real world" before she can fall in love.

   I blame "Shrek." The 2001 animated smash mined its comedy from mocking the fairy tale cliches and tropes making it more difficult for filmmakers to try to reinvent these classic stories with the grace and blithe they occasionally call for.

      So how does one construct "Snow White" nowadays?

      For Tarsem, the visual wunderkind and pop avant garde mastermind behind the journey into the mind of the pedophile in "The Cell" or the ass-raping of Greek mythology that was "Immortals," he went a route that seems almost diametrically opposed to his vision...he went earnest.