Trailer Premiere: GREEN LANTERN

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-stuntmanBob

Trailer Review: THE NEXT THREE DAYS

This is another movie trailer that basically shows and tells you more than you really need to know, cause if they did, which...OH THEY DID; they would be giving away everything and showing you the entire movie in the trailer.

Does he become the man who can leave his kid at a gas station? UHHH yea, its in the trailer.

Does he learn where the bullets go? UHHHH yea, its in the trailer.

This movie is written and directed by Paul Haggis who literally gave birth to Chuck Norris' return; Walker Texas Ranger. Alright, aside from that, the man is a great talent in the film industry, there is no getting around that. His writing credits include Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Casino Royale, In the Valley of Elah, and Quantum of Solace. His directing credits include Crash and In the Valley of Elah. I really got into Paul Haggis with his movie Crash, but really started to pay attention when he was part of the team that brought back Bond. I feel that's really where my comparison's lay with this movie; Bond vs. The Next Three Days.

I could be wrong, but if your a film geek, I'm sure you'll appreciate the mindless rambling. Both films seem to be about men who need to step out of themselves and become something else. Haggis' Bond is a cold hearted, take no prisoners assassin before he's thrown into having to be smooth, debonair and sometimes a bit controlled. Russell Crowe is a family man who must dip into something very dark in himself to do what it is he NEEDS to do. A feat like that is pretty massive, being able to sacrifice your son? Sacrificing you son's likely hood of ever growing up with no parents at all? Not cool DAD! At the end of Casino Royale, Bond loses something very dear to him and it changes him forever. I can only hope that a loss and for that matter a sense of reality is given at the end of this film.

I'm a big Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks fan and from the looks of the trailer they play a convincing couple and Crowe more-so a husband who decides he's going to break his wife out of jail.

When it comes down to it on the surface the movie looks like a good actioner and caper movie. But I'm just really upset that the whole story is all in the trailer. With Haggis at the helm, hopefully it brings something different.

As always the final review will be when credits roll and lights come up.

Dueces
StuntmanBob

RIP: Dino De Laurentis

Cinema loses one of its greatest producers today, so in honor of him I present to you the trailer to the 1980 classic a FLASH GORDON! Find this movie blu ray, buy its soundtrack; completely scored by none other than QUEEN and celebrate this mans life with one of the greatest Rock Opera's in sci-fi.




Dueces!
StuntmanBob

Trailer Review: FASTER

"He's Faster!"

REALLY!!! REALY!!!????

So Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has been on a bit of a down slope as of late. A small role in this past summers The Other Guys brought us closer to the man we all know and love; you know the one from DOOM! His most recent movies were all Disney flicks the last one being about a hockey player who is known as the "tooth fairy" because he...oh well you get it. Long story short he becomes a tooth fairy. In tights. With Wings. (sighs)

But it looks as though Dwanye Johnson is starting an uphill battle to get back to the top of being an action star. Faster looks like the first stepping stone. I'm very torn right now about how I should feel about this movie. The story is a very familiar one and yet its being treated like a Michael Bay flick. I don't get a sense of urgency cause everything about this is just very formula, so it runs the risk of being boring. I mean we've all seen revenge flicks; a good one being Kill BIll, some formula yes, but even that had its little surprises here and there. Now, there is another movie coming out called Drive Angry with Nicholas Cage that looks like the exact same movie, with some supernatural elements loped in, but everyone in the movie seems to know the kind of movie they are making and they are just chewing up the material. (More on that movie in a future post).

Between the two I choose Drive Angry. However I not afraid to admit that I have been wrong. I once wrote about the A-Team and The Losers. I cited that The Losers looked like a far better movie in terms of action and just over all camaraderie, but in the end, when those house lights went up; The A-Team was the better flick. I'm hoping lighting doesn't strike twice here and my predictions are sound.

This movie is directed by George Tillman Jr. The man behind such movies as Men of Honor, Soul Food, and Notorious. He's also produced Roll Bounce, Barbershop 1 & 2, and Nothing like the Holidays for his production company State Street Pictures. As a director I really admire Tillman's work, for one he makes movies that are revolved around African Americans. Now its not all of his movies, but I point this out because as a Latino myself, I want to make movies that have minorities in the lead roles, mostly Latino. It also seems that everything he does is always something different, so he's versatile and always allowing himself to grow as an artist. As with Faster its a step into action movies. He's got a great eye for talent, comedy and drama. Its just kind of a shame that it doesn't quite mesh all together from the trailer.

The other surprising thing about this movie is that it is rated R. I'd imagine that just by the uneven feel of this movie it would be a PG-13 but I'd guess that it was Tillman Jr. who was all for sticking to a story that was true to its violent roots. Gotta give him props on that one. The R rating is one of the small highlights for me, for this movie.

Overall as an actor I like watching Dwanye Johnson, in a way he's like, but not up there with, Bruce Willis as being this very likeable, everyday man who is put into extraordinary situations. We like to watch him and see how he would handle a situation cause in a sense we'd do maybe the same thing? Aside from the uneven-ness, this movie definitely looks like it will deliver some pretty good action. I mean we've all seen revenge flicks and so seeing THE ROCK! walk into an office and just blow a guys head off is very promising. By this I mean that, we hopefully won't be treated to "please don't" speeches like the one that pastor gives towards the end of the trailer. Johnson is on a mission to kill 'em all and I'm glad at least that we are getting just that.

Also this is also means good things for its running time. I'm hoping for a short hour and half flick, which means that this movie will not overstay its welcome. My final review is always when the credits roll and the house lights go up.


FASTER walks into the theaters and attempts to blow your head off on November 24, 2010

Dueces!
StuntmanBob

TRAILER REVIEW: The Guardian's: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

The man behind the Dawn of the Dead remake, 300 and Watchmen is now heading for the skies in this new animated adventure that deals with owls. Everytime I see this trailer is makes me think of The Goonies. Now I'm not saying that it looks better than the Goonies; only that the sense of adventure and discovery that's in The Goonies, is in some ways, recreated in this trailer.

That being said...

Lately more and more fantasy type novels and stories are being adapted. The Harry Potter movie series is finishing up its run and studios I'm sure are clamoring for the next big thing! So far its been failure's all around; Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Last Airbender.

I don't understand how the Harry Potter movie series, which is also based on a kids/young adult book if you've been living under a rock, can go on for two hours theatrically and have you hooked for the entire time and then you have two really great series' in your possession that have Harry Potter and even Star Wars like capabilities and you just short change the story completely!

I actually read a few of the books to Percy Jackson and was really looking forward to seeing the movie cause it brought the Gods into our generation in a new and exciting way. The book was filled with such history about all of the main characters interactions with the Gods and all we got was a cliff notes version of it. I saw The Last Airbender television series after seeing the movie and was immediately saddened that so much of the story was sacrificed to get to an ending that didn't mean anything, when it should. I know not every fantasy type novel or television cartoon has a history as rich as Harry Potter, but these two properties did, and more.

Here's hoping that Guardian's changes some of those things. The trailer opens with the legend of the Guardian's and their place in owls history. Being also based off a children's book, the trailer then shifts and has our young owl heroes out to find these legendary Guardian's, for help. For one, I really hope there is more of a history to these creatures than the voice over in the trailer.

Next we get this really horrific, inspirational, "you can make it to the finish line music", that I think completely shoots the trailer in its foot. The movie is directed by Zack Snyder which you would never known cause for some 'effed up reason his name isn't anywhere in the trailer. Even though Snyder is known for his very hard "R" movies, I think that this movie could benefit from his name being up there in bright lights. But then again, I could understand if the studios are like "we don't wanna give off that this movie is gonna have buckets of blood and action...sooo...take his name off"; fuckers. Aside from my Goonies nostalgia, I really feel or at least hope that Synder has crafted a much more serious and reality based movie than the trailer is showing off. What I mean by reality based is that while all the pretty lights and slow-mo is a Snyder trademark and exciting, I hope that real threats and consequences fall upon our heroes and their Champions.

This movie is also getting an IMAX release as well as a 3D release and the only reason I'm happy for that is because it will be getting Resident Evil: Afterlife out of there. THANK GOD! But I'm not sure yet if I will see it in either format yet. Perhaps the 3D, but IMAX is a little pushing it.

As always my final review will be when the credits roll and house lights go up!

Dueces!
StuntmanBob

Trailer Review: DEVIL

M. Night Shyamalan is back this time as an executive producer and "idea giver" in the new thriller/horror movie, DEVIL. This is the first installment under Shyamalan's self-titled "The Night Chronicles" series. The movie is directed by The Brothers Dowdle, whose most recent credit is the movie Quarantine. I know my fellow film geeks, as a whole, have a wonderful time comparing Shyamalan to George Lucas, but I really think he's super-ceded with this move. I'm sorry sir, I may be one of the few people who liked Lady in the Water, but I think you should concentrate more time on writing and directing, like you actually care about the people who sit down and pay to see your films. Not go throwing around the word Chronicle, every time you come up with an idea and just so happen to have two more that follow.

Its okay Chronicle, I promise to lead a campaign that will save you from having to be fucked by M. Nights title card on screen.

So the trailer opens up with these really striking images of what looks to be the New York City skyline upside down with taglines going across it. If you read my Catfish review you know how I feel about taglines, so we won't go there. It makes it seem like everything that's happening, the interactions and those who get in the elevator is all by chance. But the trailer still has to remind me that "everything happens for a reason"....

...fucking taglines....

Anyway the elevator stops, people start screaming and then we are given a series of images from the movie of all the crazy scenarios that will occur. This brings me to the second highlight of the trailer which is when all these images are happening the sound is drown out and there is this low monotone sound that screeches through the rest till we are given a jump scare. Now I really believe that if Shyamalan's name wasn't all over this movie, audiences would have less of a grudge against it. Yes, it looks like another hapless horror movie thriller, with an idea, that by the end could have more done with it, but doesn't change the fact that the trailer isn't all that bad looking. Its an interesting idea, simple enough, and put in a location that suits its claustrophobic and terrorizing needs; its just the filmmaker its associated with that gives it its bum rap right from the beginning.

In summation, I'm honestly curious to see how this entire movie plays out. Less for Shyamalan, but more for the writer and directors of this movie. See Mr. "Unbreakable" is only credited with a "story by" credit. For those of you who think that "screenplay by" and "story by" are the same thing...they are not, let me clarify.

Screenplay by means that they actually wrote an entire script out.

Story by means that Shyamalan could have done anything from walk into and office and say; "Yo...5 people...Elevator...feel the tension...mmmhmmm..can you feel it? AND THEN BAM ONE OF THE IS DEVIL. Package it, sell it, knick knack, patty whack, give a dog a bone!" Or he could have wrote an outline with some plots points and another writer flushed the rest of it out.

I think the latter is what happened but its fun to wonder.

I haven't seen Quarantine and even though I've heard bad things about it, doesn't change that the movie's main plug is that a news reporter is trapped inside a building and has to get out before horrible things happen to her. The writer of this movie is Brian Nelson, who wrote the script for 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. Both films take place in one location, but do a whole hell of a lot to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible and bring as much tension to the idea of being trapped into its small, but simple story ideas. I'm going to try and go into this flick with the thought that Shyamalan did nothing more than give creative control over to other talented writers and filmmakers and let them do what he hasn't been able to since Unbreakable; and that is make an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

As always my final review will be when the credits roll and house like come up.


Dueces!
StuntmanBob

Trailer Review: CATFISH

Before you read, just know that this review has a spoiler for the movie District 9.

"Just True"

In recent years the docu-style of filmmaking has returned with movies like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, District 9, and in theaters now, The Last Exorcism. Catfish is the next installment in that style of filmmaking. The trailer does a good job at establishing this hapless guy that we are following who is having an online relationship with a girl whose voice, we think we hear and pictures from her Facebook, that we hope are also her.

After the swooning and dirty text messages, his friends who are documenting this series of events, and him decide to drive up to her farm in Michigan and once they get out of the car, the trailer shifts and I'm happy and kinda annoyed at the same time.

Annoyed

"The Final Forty Minutes of this Film will take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that you won't be able to shake for days". - Chris BumBray Joblo.com

While this quote excited me when I first saw this trailer, it soon made me begin ask; are the last forty minutes of this film all I'm really going to be waiting for? Well... Yes! I think by adding quotes like these to trailers, the advertisement is literally telling me when things will get interesting in the movie! I think it sabotages the film in that your not letting the audience go on this journey and be surprised. I just wish the trailer did something with its already uneasy images to give it that same shift in tone. Instead it lazily relies on a quote.

Take a look at the trailer for District 9. Everyone I talked to said to me that it looked like another variation of a run-of-the-mill "alien invasion" movie; i.e. Independence Day. When in fact, sitting in the theater, you were rudely awakened. Discovering that the movie was more about a man who on the day of his promotion is infected in a way that would change his life forever and question his own treatment of the aliens.

Of course punch words like; "AMAZING", "OUT OF THIS WORLD", and "POWERFUL", were thrown around, as well they should be. But no where did it say in the trailer; "Just fucking wait till you see a scene where (SPOILER WARNING) they unwrap his hand and its an alien hand!, CRAZY!"

I just think for the sake of promotion, quotes like these should be chosen more carefully.

Also, while it won't deter my enjoyment of the movie, I highly question this film's validity in being "Just True". I don't know if any of you have seen the movie The Strangers, but that film was also based on a true story. However, it was later revealed that using that tagline, and I do think its more of a tagline now, was purely for advertisement. Although events depicted in the movie unfortunately do happen. The movie was just a look into those happenings. Which I think is what is happening in Catfish.

Happy

Aside from all that I will be definitely going to see Catfish. From the trailer alone I'm hooked. Get it? YucK YucK! It starts off as one thing, then shifts gears very quickly into something that we know is just bad. I like to see movies like this where the images are not all that clear, there is grain, you see people holding the camera; I just think it gives the movie more of a sense of realism and It will help establish the situation and actions more so.

Also with David Fincher's The Social Network coming to theaters a few weeks later, this movie I hope will crack open some interesting debate about social networking sites and meeting people over the internet.

As always my final review will be when the credits roll and the house lights go up!

Dueces!
StuntmanBob