Trailer Thursday (10-28-10)

 

Burke and Hare

Director John Landis returns with his first feature-length major theatrical release since 1998′s unoriginal ”Blues Brothers 2000″ with a movie about bodysnatching. It has nothing to do with aliens and it’s set in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the 19th century and is loosely based on true events. The film stars Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis as murderers William Burke and William Hare who began as modest grave robbers trying to earn a living but wind up killing folks, providing the bodies to a local medical school, when the dead are kinda slow. While I think Landis has been weak in the feature film department lately (he did make a great Don Rickles doc, called ”Mr. Warmth”, stream it on Netflix), he does have a notable pedigree. Plus the film also stars: Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, Jessica Hynes, Isla Fisher, Hugh Bonneville, Stephen Merchant, and Christopher Lee. It will hit in the UK on October 29th, with U.S. release date yet to be announced.

Cool It

There are so many climate catastrophe docs out there now, it’s hard to choose which one to give your, um, energy too (sorry, I had to). This one seems kinda clever. Here’s the summary currently circulating: Climate catastrophe? The end of civilization as we know it? “Cool It” is based upon the book of the same name and lectures by Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist.” Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner travels the world with Lomborg exploring the real facts and true science of global warming and its impact. Lomborg is the founder and director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a globally respected think tank that brings together the world’s leading economists to prioritize major global problems — among them malaria, the lack of potable water and HIV/AIDS — based upon a cost/benefit analysis of available solutions. Amidst the strong and polarized opinions within the global warming debate, “Cool It” follows Lomborg on his mission to bring the smartest solutions to climate change, environmental pollution, and other major problems in the world. The film should be released on November 12th.

 The Rite

How about another exorcism movie? With possibly another hammy performance by Sir Anthony Hopkins? On top of it all, let’s base it on true events. Hopkins plays Father Lucas, a stereotypically unorthodox priest who schools a skeptical seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) in the world of exorcism at the Vatican. Leave it to creepy Hannibal to take a youngling to the Dark Side. The film has a promising supporting cast (which means just that) of: Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, and Rutger Hauer.  Director Mikael Hafstroem (who also creeped us out with the Stephen King thriller “1408″ back in 2007), seems to employ the annoyingly overdone shaky camera look here. Still this does look kinda freaky. But with it being released on January 28, 2011, ”The Rite” could just be next year’s “Legion”….something you’ve all been anticipating.

Sanctum

Centering on a group of explorers who are forced to find their way through unexplored underwater caverns in order to reach the surface after a tropical storm blocks off their intended exit. Like so many films these days, this is ”based on a true story” and is in 3D!  Unsurprisingly, James Cameron is involved in this adventure thriller starring: Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Parkinson, and Dan Wyllie. Dive into the “Sanctum” on February 4, 2011.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

What do you do with yourself when you have Beiber Fever and you just can’t get enough of your favorite perfectly-coiffed pubescent pop star? Fear not!  You boy is getting his own biopic, entitled “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never“,  offering an inside look into the beloved teen’s life. That’s right, it’s all here! From his toddler origins to his current superstardom success. Okay, I may not be the target audience here, but Bieber fans should get all their needs met with this one….in 3D even! If you can’t get enough of squealing tween girls, then you know where to head come the weekend of February 11, 2011.

Unknown

It’s time for another film where we watch Liam Neeson bust heads and break limbs. While I do enjoy Neeson, I also feel like he seems to be saying “yes” to anything and is almost to the point of saturation. Still, the guy can play just about anybody. In this psychological thriller, he plays a doctor traveling abroad in Berlin with his wife, when (of course) something terrible happens. The doctor is then left to frantically figure out who is to blame for his identity swap/swipe/theft (you choose) and chases, explosions and face-to-face threats/warnings ensue.  Such is the way of so many trailers. Director Juame Collet-Serra (“Orphan”) leads the supporting cast of: January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, and Frank Langella. This trailer is way too long. It could easily have been shorter and hooked us just was well. Also, I wonder what kind of doctor this guy is for him to be able to shirk authorities and dodge assassins. A doctor of espionage and deception? I know I’ll see this but I wonder if I will be rolling my eyes throughout it all. Look for it to hit on February 11, 2011.

Cars 2

Can you get your motor revved up for this? I can’t seem to muster any gas for it. Which is odd, seeing as how I am usually just gaga for anything Pixar. That being said, the original “Cars” is my least favorite of all their feature-length films. It’s not awful. In fact, at times it’s beautiful to look at, but the characters (while well-played) didn’t do much for me. That being said, Pixar’s output is superior to anything this side of Studio Ghibli. Still, this trailer doesn’t win me over, especially since it looks like this is to be an action-spy thriller (oh no no no!) with Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) as….agents of espionage?? Obviously, the kiddos will eat this one up, but Pixar has always been good at giving the parents something as well. Will that be the case here?  We’ll find out when it zooms into theaters in 3D on June 24, 2011.