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Movie Trailer Tuesdays: Shutter Island, Up In the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2012
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Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island. Photo: Paramount Pictures
Reviewed below are new trailers for upcoming films from Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, The Rock, and directors John Woo and Wes Anderson. They’re listed from best to worst. Enjoy!
SHUTTER ISLAND
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams
Release Date: February 19, 2010
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are hoping to go 4 for 4 with this psychological thriller, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone). Based off the trailer, they look to have succeeded. Scorsese’s follow-up to the Academy Award-winning The Departed was originally slated for release October 2nd, but was pushed back by the studio for financial reasons. Scorsese has always been best at his genre films rather than the Oscar-baiting epics. Shutter Island looks Hitchcockian, atmospheric, strongly acted and phenomenally shot. This one remains on top of my must-see list.
Trailer Grade: A
UP IN THE AIR
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman
Release Date: December 4, 2009
While this new trailer for Jason Reitman’s George Clooney-starrer isn’t as effective as the stunning teaser trailer, it teases some of the brilliance that was the talk of the Toronto Film Festival. The dialogues sound sharp, the characters look strong and the mood seems just about right. A corporate-Jerry Maguire starring one of our best movie stars in what looks to be the role of his career.
Trailer Grade: B+
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: (voices of) George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson
Release Date: November 25, 2009
Watching this trailer just makes me smile. Wes Anderson has wisely decided to ignore going the straight route with his adaptation of the Roald Dahl’s book and in true auteur fashion, sprinkles the film with his quirky and dry humor. Most of the director’s frequent collaborators are here as well including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman. The animation looks great, the story is enticing and the characters look strong as well. That “cussing” scene alone makes the film well-worth checking out..
Trailer Grade: B+
THE CRAZIES
Directed by: Breck Eisner
Starring: Timothy Olyphant,Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker
Release Date: February 26, 2010
The Crazies is a contemporary remake of George A. Romero’s film about the strange and horrific events that befall a small town after an accidental leakage of a military biological weapon. While the concept nor the set-up look like the most freshest in the book, the use of Gary Jules’ "Mad World" is inspired. It gives the trailer a depth that’s not usually seen in the promotion of horror trailers. While the film may not be good, at least the trailer makes it a little interesting.
Trailer Grade: B
RED CLIFF
Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi
Release Date: November 20, 2009
Director John Woo has made a career out of over-the-top, testosterone-laded action flicks. After the failure of his last couple of American films, Woo returned to China to create this epic retelling of the Battle of Red Cliffs, an event that led to the destruction of the Han Dynasty. As with most of Woo’s movies, Red Cliff looks to feature plenty of flying doves, slow-motion actionsequences and flashy violence. However, the trailer is unfortunately lacking in the dialogue or story department. Not many westerners are aware of the subject matter and hoping to secure seats based on this trailer is a bit risky, considering the failure of previous epics and the film’s title of the “most expensive Asian film of all time.”
Trailer Grade: B-
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Emily Blunt, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany
Release Date: December 18, 2009
Costumed dramas must be notoriously hard to market. Solid, enticing trailers for films in this genre are far and between. While The Young Victoria may be a strong film with fine performances, the trailer does almost nothing for me. It comes off as just another biopic about Queen Victoria, a figure who has been the subject of countless films. The trailer does nothing to show that there’s something different about the film. I would have been interested in it if they had gone in the route of the 1998 film Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett - A vicious power struggle between Elizabeth and the world.
Trailer Grade: B-
2012 (5 minute preview)
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Peet
Release Date: November 13, 2009
Columbia Pictures previewed this footage over 450 channels on October 2nd, so if you were watching television that evening, there’s a good chance you might have gotten a preview of this footage. Looks like director Roland Emmerich is back to his old tricks again as he stuffs every ounce of mayhem possible into this five minute preview. Seriously, I have never seen this much destruction in a movie in my life. It’s simply flabbergasting. Whether it makes you want to see this film or not is totally up to your interest in watching landmarks get mutilated and disaster films. 2012 looks to be a guilty pleasure to end all guilty pleasures.
Footage Grade: B-
SAW VI
Directed by: Kevin Greutert
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Shawnee Smith
Release Date: October 23, 2009
Yup, you’ve read it right. Saw 6. I stopped watching this series after the third film. Enough is enough. This series is perhaps one of the finest examples of Hollywood greed. Rehash the same thing over and over again. And it looks like the marketing team realizes this too. The trailer is basically a bunch of people screaming and dying while Jigsaw looks and laughs. The End.
Trailer Grade: D
TOOTH FAIRY
Directed by: Michael Lembeck
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal, Ashley Judd
Release Date: January 22, 2010
Remember when The Rock was an action hero? Seems like a long time ago. While not a great actor by any means, Dwayne Johnson does have the movie star charisma as evident in films like The Rundown, Be Cool and even in The Scorpion King. Wasting your talent in garbage like The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain and this film is just not the way to go. This is just looks bad! I mean, really, really bad! What genius taught of a film starring The Rock as a tooth fairy sounded like a good idea? To make things worse, the film also stars Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal and Ashley Judd. It’s just baffling.
Trailer Grade: F
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEKQUEL
Directed by: Betty Thomas
Starring: Jason Lee, David Cross, Zachery Levi
Chipettes dancing and singing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” That’s all.
Trailer Grade: F
Weigh in on your favorite of the bunch. Will any of these movies be good? Which movie are you most interested in seeing? Comment below
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