Trailer Tuesday (11-23-10)
November 23, 2010
Around this time of year, the only new trailers will be for 2011 films, which gives us a glimpse into the future. What movies studios will be counting on as big summer movie blockbusters. We got a couple of those here today as well as some indie thrillers, a remake, a biopic and a two Green films, one of which has me seeing red. Take a look for yourself and tell us what ya think….
THE LINCOLN LAWYER
Matthew McConaughey takes a break from his rom-com rut to get back into some legal wrangling (“Time to Kill” anyone?) with “The Lincoln Lawyer” involving…a certain towncar? At least that’s what it looks like. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Michael Connelly, the plot revolves around a successful criminal defense attorney who does business from the back of a Lincoln Towncar. See? I can’t make this stuff up. After spending most of his cases dealing with low-rent criminals, he gets involved with a high-profile case concerning a Beverly Hills (Ryan Phillippe) realtor/playboy, that’s when trouble brews. The would-be thriller also stars Marisa Tomei, John Leguizamo, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, and Michael Peña. The movie did have Tommy Lee Jones previously attached to direct and star in the film but dropped out over creative differences. Now that woulda been interesting (as long as Jones wasn’t slathering on the thick Southern accent). We’ll see how the former Sexiest Man Alive does here in a film directed by Brad Furman (“The Take”) from a script by John Romano (“Nights in Rodanthe”), hits theaters on March 18th, 2011.
SOURCE CODE
Finally! Here’s a look at what the next film for director Duncan Jones looks like! His breakthrough low-budget sci-fi debut “Moon” from last year with Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey. It was a critical success in a year of fantastic science fiction films and made it as an Honorable Mention on my Top Ten list. And now we have “Source Code”, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens, who wakes up in the body of an unknown man. Yikes! He soon discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. He also learns he’s part of a government experiment, a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack. I like that this mind-boggling story is set in Chicago and hope that there is some legitimate heart-pounding suspense. It looks like we could have a smart action-thriller despite some questionable-looking special effects. Regardless, I’ve been looking forward to the next film from Jones. The film, also starring Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright, pulls into theaters on April 15, 2011.
THE MECHANIC
How bout another one with Statham? Man, this guy doesn’t rest. Here he stars in a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson flick, which is fine with me. Never really cared for the original or thought that much of Bronson. Directed by Simon West (“Con Air”), Statham plays a hitman, or mechanic, who takes on an apprentice played by Ben Foster. And is that Donald Sutherland? Let’s hope he and Foster can make this out to be more shooting and fighting Statham flick, but then again, I might be open to that. “The Mechanic” works his way into theaters on January 28, 2011.
WINNIE
Last week, I gave you Winnie the Pooh and this time I give you Jennifer Hudson as “Winnie”, Nelson Mandela’s wife. Based on this trailer, this film directed by Darrell Roodt (“Cry, the Beloved Country”) looks pretty awful and that’s disappointing considering the potential here. Howard, usually a solid talent, seems miscast as Nelson Mandela. His work makes this look like it could barely make it as a made-for-TV movie! Add to that the heavy-handed dialogue and the low-budget make-up job and you have what looks like a movie that should never find viewers. I’d love to be wrong because it has one of my favorite actors Elias Koteas as well as Wendy Crewson. Unsurprisingly, the film has no release date yet.
THE GREEN HORNET
Here’s another trailer for a movie I haven’t yet made up my mind on yet. Director Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) isn’t an obvious choice for action comedy, superhero flick, but his film’s are always interesting. Seth Rogen slimmed down Rogen for the role of the title character, and I don’t really care for the approach to the character here. That being said, Jay Chou as Kato, the brains and brawn of the duo, has my interest with him playing the straight man. Seeing what they’re calling “Kato Vision” is pretty cool too. The movie stars Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos and Michael Pena. We won’t know whether it will be worth our time until January 14th, when it comes to theaters in 3D. At least this looks better than that other Green superhero movie….
GREEN LANTERN
As everyone knows, the trailer for Warner Bros. newest DC comics film adaptation is here. Director Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) brings the classic character to the big-screen and it’s a big move since we haven’t seen a super-powered hero from DC since “Superman Returns”. I’ve always been a huge GL fan, but this saddens me. It looks like too much Ryan Reynolds is coming through and less Hal Jordan. What a shame. I don’t wanna make a solid judgement yet but things don’t look good from what I see here. I can deal with the costume change here but the characterization is way off. Blake Lively (so good in “The Town”) plays Carol Ferris and Peter Sarsgaard and Mark Strong play the bad guys. I hope the trailer for “Captain America” is better. “Green Lantern” arrives in theaters on June 17, 2011.
COWBOYS & ALIENS
Now this has me looking forward to summer 2011! Combining two of my favorite genres, adapted from a comic book, and starring James Bond and Indiana Jones. It’s a no-brainer how much fun this will be. While Daniel Craig kinda looks dopey in a cowboy hat, Harrison Ford as a hard-nosed sheriff who doesn’t know what to do when lights come out of the night sky, is a welcome sight. Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) and also starring Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer, look for it to open on July 29, 2011.
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