After The Dark Knight, lots of people were wondering what Christopher Nolan next’s project would be. We slowly found out he’s working on Inception, with a fantastic cast. It’s got Leonardo di Caprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cottilard, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine and Ken Watanabe.
But what is it about? Well, until now (actually still even now) Nolan has been extremely tightlipped about this. This trailer is the first thing we see of it:
Oooh, I like it. Not sure where it’s going, but I’m really curious to see it now. I’m pretty much a fan of Nolan: while I liked both Batman movies, I adored two of Nolan’s “other” movies: Memento and The Prestige. And Inception is looking to be something similar: a movie where you’ll be trying to figure out the entire time “what the hell is going on here”.
When this post goes live at 13:30, I’ll be sitting in the BFI IMAX watching 15 minutes of footage of Avatar. In 3D. I’m psyched. And a little nervous. I’ve heard so much about this movie, I can’t help but think I’ll be disappointed by whatever I see. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be blown away. Maybe I won’t.
I saw this trailer yesterday, and I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have waited for the big screen. For the IMAX. For the 3D. Cause that’s what’s going to make this movie work, I think. It’s the movie that will convince us that 3D is the future for cinema. That these are movies you can’t watch on your computer screen or even your big ass plasma screen at home. No matter how big those screens are nowadays they won’t do this film justice. That’s what I expect at least. I think this will be a movie most remembered for its advancements in technology, not for its story or plot. And I’m curious to see if everything I’ve heard and been promised is true.
I’ll report back this evening on what I thought about the trailer and footage. For now, my opinion is: wait to see the trailer in the cinema. I just don’t think a small computer screen will do it justice. I’ll go ahead and post the trailer here anyway, cause I know most of you are dying to see it (no matter what I say). I do think it looks amazing; I just think the impact will be so much larger, if you see it on a huge screen in 3D for the first time. Anyhow here it is:
Law Abiding Citizen: An everyday guy (Gerard Butler) decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets his family’s killers free. His target: The district attorney (Jamie Foxx) who orchestrated the entire deal. Okay, wow! Hearing the description I just thought “another revenge movie”, won’t be much special. But this looks great! Release Date: October 2009 (US), November 2009 (UK)
When In Rome: Beth Harper (Kristen Bell) is a young, successful real estate agent… but she’s completely unlucky in love. However, when the New Yorker travels to Rome to see her newlywed sister, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of wannabe lovers. I’m curious to see both Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel as romantic leads, but I’m not convinced by this trailer. Release Date: January 2010 (US), April 2010 (UK)
Gentleman Broncos: Benjamin (Michael Angarano), home-schooled by his eccentric mother (Jennifer Coolidge), is a loveable loner whose passion for writing leads him on a hilarious journey as his story first gets ripped off by the legendary fantasy novelist, Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement). It’s directed by the same guy who did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre; I wasn’t much a fan of those movies, but I know some of you will find this hilarious. Release Date: Unknown
The Fourth Kind: In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document…until now. Okay, this just looks booooring. Release Date: November 2009 (US)
Untitled: A fashionable contemporary art gallerist in Chelsea, New York falls for a brooding new music composer in this satire on the state of contemporary art. Further complicating the affair is the composer’s brother. A little bit on the quirky side, but it still looks funny. Release Date: October 2009 (US)
The Ghost: Very short teaser trailer, but I think it looks interesting. Directed by Roman Polanski, it’s about a ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan). He uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy. Release Date: 2010 (US, UK)
Legion: Having lost faith in the human race, a legion of angels descend to Earth to bring about the Apocalypse. Humanity’s only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a diner and the Archangel Michael himself. It stars Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Durand, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, and Doug Jones. I think this looks awesome! It seems a bit similar in story to The Prophecy, but the visual effects here just look crazy. Release Date: January 2010 (US), March 2010 (UK)
Dorian Gray: A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all. This trailer came out a couple of weeks ago, but somehow I managed to miss it. I like the dark look they’re going for, but I’m hoping it’s not too costume drama-ry. Release Date: September 2009 (UK)
Astro Boy: When a scientist’s son dies, he secretly creates a powerful robot to replace him, but the robot uses its powers to become a famous superhero and faces his biggest challenge when an alien threatens Earth. So far we’ve only seen teasers, but now we finally get a full length theatrical trailer. It looks funnier than I imagined it to be. Release Date: October 2009 (US), January 2010 (UK)
New York, I Love You: In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come to life in New York, I Love You – a collaboration of storytelling from some of today’s most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast. And what a cast! Release Date: October 2009 (US)
It’s Complicated: Oh wow, a movie inspired by a Facebook status. Jane is the mother of three grown kids, owns a restaurant/bakery and has an amicable relationship with her ex-husband, attorney Jake. But when Jane and Jake find themselves out of town for their son’s college graduation, things start to get complicated. Hmm, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. I want to like this movie, because of Baldwin and Martin, but I just can’t stand Streep in romantic comedies (she was the main thing I didn’t like in Mamma Mia). Release Date: December 2009 (US), January 2010 (UK)
Me And Orson Welles: Set in 1937 New York, the story centers on a high school student (Efron) who happens upon the yet-to-open Mercury Theatre and is noticed by its mercurial founder, Orson Welles. The man lands a part in “Julius Caesar,” the production that catapulted Welles to the top, and spends the next week learning about life and love. Looks a bit cutesy, although I might end up seeing it. Release Date: unknown
The Open Road: A tale of a young man looking to reconnect with his long-lost father — a famous baseball legend — and bring him back to the bedside of his ailing mother. Together they embark on a road trip that none of them will ever forget. It’s got Jeff Bridges in it, so that’s got me kind of interested. But the other main character is played by Justin Timberlake; I don’t know, I just can’t stand him most of the time. Release Date: August 2009 (US)
The Boys Are Back: Inspired by a true story, The Boys Are Back is a deeply moving, wryly confessional tale of fatherhood, that intimately evokes both the fragility and wonders of family life. It follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter (Clive Owen) who, in the wake of his wife’s tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood. Release Date: September 2009 (US)
This just looks awesome! When Heath Ledger died, I was dreading what would happen to this movie. Ledger had only shot a couple of scenes, and they had to abandon the entire project or they had to reshoot all the scenes with him in it. Or so I thought. Instead Terry Gilliam chose another route: Ledger’s character enters three magical “worlds” and instead of recasting Ledger, in each of the different worlds this character is played by another actor. Johnny Depp. Colin Farrell. And Jude Law.
Here’s the description:
In the present day, immortal 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a traveling theatre troupe—including a sleight of hand expert, Anton (Andrew Garfield), and a dwarf, Percy (Verne Troyer)— that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession. Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor’s daughter (Lily Cole). The troupe, which is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (portrayed by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.
And of course the trailer:
Wow. The four actors surprisingly look pretty similar, and even though I was expecting it, it took me a while to realize who I was looking at. This looks pretty amazing, don’t you think?
The Lovely Bones: Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. This is directed by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong), and while somewhat controversial I think it looks amazing. Release Date: December 2009 (US), January 2010 (UK)
The Vampire’s Assistant: Based on the Cirque du Freak novels from Darren Shan. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. Release Date: October 2009 (US, UK)
I Sell The Dead: 18th century justice catches up with a pair of grave robbers. With only a few hours to go before his date with the guillotine, Arthur Blake (Monaghan) tells his life story to Father Francis Duffy (Ron Perlman). Before long, Arthur spills the beans on how he got started in the grim corpse peddling business with seasoned ghoul Willie Grime. This just looks so unusual and fun; definitely going on my “to-see” list. Release Date: 7 August 2009 (US)
The Other Man: Starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, this is the story of a husband who suspects his wife of adultery, and then sets out to track down the other man. I’m not too sure about this, although Liam Neeson might be enough for me to want to see it. Release Date: September 2009 (US)
The Blind Side: A poor, oversized and under-educated teenager is recruited by a major college football program where he is groomed into an athletically and academically successful NFL prospect. Based on Michael Lewis’ book. Apparently most of the movie is about football, but the trailer barely shows any of that. It could turn out fine, but Sandra Bullock seems horribly miscast. Release Date: November 2009 (US)
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell: A guy tries to patch things up with his soon-to-be-married pal after botching things up at his bachelor party. Based on Tucker Max’s best-seller. This just looks horrible (plus I can’t believe it’s based on a “bestseller”, who reads this type of thing?). Release Date: October 2009 (US)
I kind of ignored all i heard about this movie in the past couple of weeks; somehow I just thought it was a simple stop-motion picture and one that didn’t even look that pretty. Seeing this trailer though makes me realize what a weird and quirky movie this is going to be.
It’s directed and written by Wes Anderson, who previously did The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Tha Darjeeling Limited. So that should give you an idea what type of movie this is going to be. Here’s the description:
Mr. and Mrs. Fox live an idyllic home life with their son Ash and visiting young nephew Kristopherson. But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers — Boggis, Bunce and Bean — who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost.
And here’s the trailer:
Quirky, right? After reading the description, I’m guessing it’s not exactly what you were expecting to see. At least it wasn’t for me; I was very much surprised (although I shouldn’t have been: it’s Wes Anderson) at how much I liked this trailer.
The Book of Eli: This looks awesome! A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. Release Date: January 2010 (US, UK)
Hot Tub Time Machine: After a night of drinking Red Bull and vodkas, a group of guys travel back in time in their hot tub to when they were younger cads. This could turn out horribly wrong and with another cast I would have said it definitely turn out though. This combination of actors though just seems hilarious! Release Date: February 2010 (US)
Toy Story/ Toy Story 2 in 3D: So this year both of the first two Toy Story’s are being re-released in the cinemas in 3D. The trailer is pretty cute (and not just recycled scenes from the movies as I expected). Release Date: October 2009 (US)
Saw VI: I liked the first Saw movie, but I never have bothered with any of its sequels. For those of you that do though, here’s the trailer. There’s first a not very interesting interview with Tobin Bell though. The plot? I’m guessing evil traps, lots of deaths and Tobin Bell. Release Date: October 2009 (US)
Dark Country: A couple (Thomas Jane and Lauren German) en route from Las Vegas are forced to deal with a body out in the desert making their honeymoon one hellish ride. I’m liking the look of this movie, it’s a bit film noir like, but I’m not too sure about the rest. Doesn’t seem like an interesting plot. Release Date: Unknown
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard: Who is Don Ready? Salesman? Lover? Song Stylist? Semi-professional dolphin trainer? Ready is all of the above, except for a dolphin trainer. When he’s asked to help save an local car dealership from bankruptcy, Ready and his crew descend on the town of Temecula like a pack of coyotes on a basket full of burgers. Okay, this doesn’t look funny at all. The only thing interesting is some of the actors involved, but it seriously looks like an “avoid at all costs”. Release Date: August 2009 (US)
A Serious Man: A black comedy set in 1967 and that centers on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won’t move out of the house. Another movie from the Coen brothers. I really can’t connect to there movies, and so far I’ve never really enjoyed any of their previous movies. But I know loads of you out there do, so you’ll be happy with this quirky trailer. Release Date: October 2009 (US), November 2009 (UK)
Raizo (Rain) is one of the world’s deadliest assassins, having been kidnapped as a child and raised by the Ozunu Clan, believed by the world to be a myth. When Raizo’s friend is executed by the clan, Raizo flees into hiding. He later reemerges, seeking revenge. Meanwhile, Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) is a Europol agent who investigates money linked to political murders and finds that it is linked to the Ozunu Clan. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more. The clan, finding out about the investigation, attempts to assassinate her, but she is rescued by Raizo. Hiding in Europe, Raizo and Mika must find a way to take down the Ozunu Clan.
Sounds a bit average, right? It’s not exactly an original story. But take a look at the trailer:
I think it looks wicked! I’m loving the martial arts sequences we get to see, which I’ve kind of missed from a lot of the big action movies recently. Give me smooth choreographed fight scenes over big explosions every day! (Although the occasional big explosion can be fun too).
Ever since I heard about Tim Burton re-doing the Alice In Wonderland story, I’ve been following the developments with great interest. The casting seems prefect: virtual unknown Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. Add to that Burton’s dark visuals and you’ve got a match made in heaven.
Cool! I love the vibe they’ve got going on; it reminds me a lot of Labyrinth, a highly magical fantastical world, but slanting towards the dark and the disturbing. I’m not too sure about the effects so far, but this is only a teaser trailer (plus not even a high res one), so I’m expecting that will get better the nearer the film approaches. I only hope that the movie isn’t focusing too much on the Mad Hatter (unlike this trailer); this movie is about Alice, and while Johnny Depp is a great actor, I hope his character doesn’t take the limelight away from Alice. I think that shouldn’t be a problem though; I’m guessing they’re just banking on his character for this teaser to get people hyped up. (And that’s working)
