Sorry about last week guys, it’s just that I stretched my time so thin, by the time I could sit down to find trailers and write I realized it was too late. It was probably for the best because last week the column would have only had 2 new trailers and what could possibly be the worst line-up of new releases since I started doing this. I got the chance to write a review of the Jaws 30th Anniversary DVD this week, hopefully that makes up my absence. This week isn’t much different than last week, but I have enough trailers to at least warrant a column. If you guys find trailers or anything that could be featured in this column send me an email.
The NFL season has started again and the football gods weren’t smiling upon my Ravens Sunday night, that is until Anthony Wright came in and at least kept the team from having their first shut out since 2002. It was so refreshing seeing a talented quarterback take full advantage of the talent surrounding him on the field. Unlike Kyle Boller who hasn’t done a thing since he was signed 3 seasons ago and has been relying on Jamal Lewis to carry him through games. I almost feel bad for the smile on my face when I saw him holding his leg on the ground… almost. Sadly it’s only a hyperextended right big toe which means he’ll be stinking up the field and giving up interceptions in three weeks. And to top it all off the Ravens just resigned Kordell Stewart who threw a wopping 2 passes last season… did they watch ANY of his games in Chicago two years ago?
Now that I got everything off my chest… to the Trailers!
Coming Soon :
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna Faris, David Koechner, John Francis Daley
Release Date: October 7th 2005
Plot: A waiter for four years since high school, Dean has never questioned his job at Shenanigan’s. But when he learns that Chett, a high school classmate, now has a lucrative career in electrical engineering, he’s thrown into turmoil about his dead-end life. Dean’s friend Monty is in exactly the same boat, but he couldn’t care less. More concerned with partying, Monty is put in charge of training Mitch, a shy new employee. Over the course of one chaotic shift, Mitch gets to know the rest of Shenanigan’s quirky staff: Monty’s tough-talking ex-girlfriend, Serena, Shenanigan’s over-zealous manager, Dan, and head cook Raddimus, who’s obsessed with a senseless staff-wide competition known only as “The Game.”
Spoilers: 7
Analysis: It’s like Office Space, Super Troopers, and Out Cold all rolled up in to one delicious bean burrito. Wait that analogy made little to no sense at all, O well you get what I’m talking about. Waiting… has the potential to reach cult status if the trailer is anything to go by. It looks like a nice raunchy comedy packed to the brim with filthy humor, and actors to create likable characters while doing so. However spoilers can be picked out fairly simply.
Overall Rating: 7
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
Release Date: December 9th, 2005 (NY/LA/SF)
Plot: Set against the sweeping landscapes of Wyoming and Texas, this epic love story tells of two young men — a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy — who meet in the summer of 1963 while driving cattle on a mountain range. They unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love.
Spoilers: 6.5
Analysis: I thought Ang Lee said that he was done directing movies after Hulk was released? Or did I just imagine that? Who knows. I’m not here to talk about Hulk (like I’d want to) I’m here to talk about Broke Back Mountain which is a fine trailer, edited nicely has a clear tone of what the movie will be about and genuinely has me intrigued. It’s something I’d take the time to rent or watch on TV but as far as heading out to the theater I have a feeling this much like everything else that seems to have quality to it will not be playing around here.
Overall Rating: 7
Starring: David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels
Release Date: October 7th, 2005 (limited)
Plot: ‘Good Night. And, Good Luck.’ takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950’s America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff – headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom – defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist ‘witch-hunts’. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.
Spoilers: 5
Analysis: It figures that yet another one of the movies I’ve been looking forward to for the past few months will be a limited release… the luck I’ve been having with limited titles so far this year, it’s simple to assume this won’t be showing in my neck of the woods. That cast the studio assembled looks top notch, Strathairn, Clooney, Daniels, and Downey all people I enjoy to watch on screen. Including stock footage of McCarthy as himself and slicing it in to the movie is pure genius and is certainly going to add that extra layer of believability to the picture. The trailer is absolutely beautiful, it’s hard to really pick out what are “spoilers” since this movie is based on American history that (I hope) was taught in high school classes.
Overall Rating: 8
Starring: Claire Danes, Jason Schwartzman, Steve Martin, Frances Conroy, Sam Bottoms
Release Date: October 21st, 2005
Plot: Based on Steve Martin’s best-selling novella, “Shopgirl” is a story of love in the modern age. Mirabelle (Claire Danes) works the glove counter at a high end department store in Beverly Hills, selling things that nobody buys anymore. An artist struggling to keep up with even the minimum payment on her credit card and student loans, she lives a quiet life and keeps to herself until a rich, handsome fiftysomething named Ray Porter (Martin) sweeps her off her feet. Mirabelle revels in the attention, the sex, and especially, being in love, but somewhere, subconsciously, she realizes that the relationship cannot last. Soon, she has to make a decision: will she stick with Ray, hoping that his feelings for her might grow, or does she take a chance with Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman), a musician who may offer more?
Spoilers: 5.5
Analysis: This looks like it could be a sleeper hit of the fall, the scheduled release date is right between the time studio’s put out movies that never fit elsewhere on the calendar and when they unleash their heavy hitter Oscar contenders. So it does have a chance of pulling in a big audience. There’s just something about it that’s making me look forward to seeing it, maybe because both Steve Martin and Jason Schwartzman have played similar roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels & Rushmore. And the talent they showed in those two could be the reason my hopes are so high. Some spoilers pop up but only a handful.
Overall Rating: 6
Starring: Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella, Kate Bosworth
Release Date: November 11th 2005 (Limited)
Plot: Eliza Naumann (Flora Cross) has no reason to believe she is anything but ordinary. Her father Saul (Richard Gere), a beloved university professor, dotes on her talented elder brother Aaron (Max Minghella). Her scientist mother, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), seems consumed by her career. When a spelling bee threatens to reaffirm her mediocrity, Eliza amazes everyone: she wins. Her newfound gift garners an invitation not only to the national competition, but an entrée into the world of words and Jewish mysticism that have so long captivated her father’s imagination. But Eliza’s unexpected success hurls the Naumann family dynamic into a tailspin, long-held secrets emerge and she is forced to depend upon her own divination to hold the family together.
Spoilers: 6
Analysis: Nice trailer, after watching it I’m very surprised, I was expecting this to be some sappy father daughter movie where they finally bond after years of ocward silence. But it looks to be something totally different, a deconstruction of the “perfect family”. And that’s something I would glady go and pay to see. Spoilers are here and if you paste them together they could give away a huge twist in the movie.
Overall Rating: 7
And last this week is The the world premiere of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire trailer. Now of the time I’m writing this it’s still unavailable and won’t be until 9:00 a.m. EST Thursday over at Moviefone.com. You can check that out here.
Opening this Week :
Starring: Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padalecki, Jon Bon Jovi, Gary Cole
Release Date: September 16th, 2005
Plot: After one too many incidents of bad behavior at his last school, Owen Matthews (Julian Morris) arrives at prestigious Westlake Prep – where a young woman has recently been found murdered in the dark woods near the boarding school’s campus. Owen quickly falls in with the school’s unofficial “liar’s club,” and he and his new friends decide to expand their game’s reach beyond campus, by spreading an online rumor that a serial killer called “The Wolf” committed the recent murder and is planning to strike again. The mischievous group’s descriptions of “The Wolf’s” intended victims are based on the people they know best – each other. Only when the school’s journalism teacher, Rich Walker (Jon Bon Jovi), warns the group about internet predators does Owen begin to regret sending their falsified story into cyberspace. When the described “victims” suddenly start to disappear, Owen and his friends are no longer able to determine where the lies end and the truth begins.
Spoilers: 6
Analysis: Why? why would they make this movie? Well, it’s not the movie I have a problem with more the premise. This is just like Urban Legends only no star power and nothing interesting… wait that’s what Urban Legends problem was too. The only thing that could make this watchable is if at the end we find out that Jon Bon Jovi is the killer. The trailer shows a few spoilers, like where certain characters will be killed and seems to give away most of what happes the first 2/3rds of the movie. I’m crossing my fingers that any of the next three movies climb to the #1 spot.
Overall Rating: 5
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Spybey, Ben Shenkman
Release Date: September 16th, 2005
Plot: When David sublet his quaint San Francisco apartment, the last thing he expected was a roommate. He had only begun to make a complete mess of the place when a pretty young woman named Elizabeth suddenly shows up, adamantly insisting the apartment is hers. David assumes there’s been a giant misunderstanding…until Elizabeth disappears as mysteriously as she appeared. Changing the locks does nothing to deter Elizabeth, who begins to appear and disappear at will. Convinced that she is a ghost, David tries to help Elizabeth cross over to the “other side.” But while Elizabeth has discovered she can walk through walls, she is convinced that she is still alive and isn’t crossing over anywhere. As Elizabeth and David search for the truth about who Elizabeth is and how she came to be in her present state, their relationship deepens into love. Unfortunately, they have very little time before their prospects for a future together permanently fade away.
Spoilers: 7.5
Analysis: A part of me see’s this and immediately brushes it off as a re-imagining of Ghost, but something about it seems so fun and light hearted that I just can’t turn away. It looks like it’ll be a great project to help push Ruffalo into the public eye, and that’s a plus. The trailer definitely could have lightened up on the spoilers however, it’s filled with them and this is a movie that could have probably been better off holding back a few. Overall it looks to be a fresh spin in a stale genre.
Overall rating: 6.5
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis, Gary Houston
Release Date: September 16th, 2005
Plot: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Auburn, “Proof” follows a devoted daughter (Paltrow) who comes to terms with the death of her father (Hopkins) a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental insanity — and is forced to face her own long-harbored fears and emotions. She adjusts to his death with the help of one of her father’s former mathematical students (Gyllenhaal) who searches through her father’s notebooks in the hope of discovering a bit of his old brilliance. While coming to terms with the possibility that his genius, which she has inherited, may come at a painful price, her estranged sister (Davis) arrives to help settle their father’s affairs.
Spoilers: 4
Analysis: What the… a Gwyneth Paltrow movie that I don’t immediatly hate? I can’t stand this woman, she named her kid Apple for crying out loud, did Steve Jobs pay her an undisclosed sum to name her daughter that? I hope it’s atleast enough to get the poor child through therapy. Then there’s the whole english accent thing. I can’t explain why I feel this way towards her but every time she’s on screen I see red. So this is a big surprise to watch and be intrigued, maybe the rest of the cast off sets Paltrow? The trailer looks promising and keeps spoilers to a minimum, however the story still seems too vague.
Overall Rating: 7
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ethan Hawke, Ian Holm
Release Date: September 16th, 2005
Plot: A wily arms dealer dodges bullets and betrayal as he schemes his way to the top of his profession, only to come face to face with his conscience. But it’s not easy to leave a life of girls, guns and glamour when nobody wants you to stop, not even your enemies.
Spoilers: 5
Analysis: Nicholas Cage has had a rough few years with his movies, they’ve just never been able to satisfy both critics and movie goers alike. He’s had critics say how great he was in Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men but it got little mass appeal. Then while his box office smash was raking money in, critics were brushing it off as simply The Da Vinci Code-light. Now it seems he has found a project that will please both parties. This movie looks sweet!
Overall Rating: 6.5
Starring: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Jason Schwartzman, Boris Leskin
Release Date: September 16th, 2005 (limited)
Plot: A young American Jewish man goes on a quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazi invasion. His guides are a cranky grandfather and his over-enthusiastic grandson, whose fractured command of English, passion for American pop culture, and inability to shut up threaten to make the worst of every situation. But what starts out as the tour from hell turns into a meaningful journey, with an unexpected series of revelations that will change all of their lives.
Spoilers: 6.5
Analysis: Elijah looks like a spitting image of his Kevin character from Sin City in this trailer, which makes me watch and wait for him to just snap and go cannibalistic on some one. It starts off fun but towards the end seems to lose itself, the first 3/4ths keep things light but the last 30 seconds or so are a complete 180 degree turn and confusing. There are a lot really funny moments in the trailer however after the first half it begins to give away a few too many spoilers. The movie will be worth checking out with Woods involved who always shines on the indy scene.
Overall Rating: 6
Number One Movie At the Box Office:
Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jennifer Carpenter
Plot: In an extremely rare decision, the Catholic Church officially recognized the demonic possession of a 19 year-old college freshman. Told in flashbacks, ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ chronicles the haunting trial of the priest accused of negligence resulting in the death of the young girl believed to be possessed and the laywer who takes on the task of defending him.
Spoilers: 5
Analysis: This movie’s supposed to be based on the true story that inspired the original Exocist movie. I must admit, while watching I got a few goose bumps, but after the trailer ended I found out that it was rated PG-13, which makes me wonder how good it can be with that rating. None the less, the trailer gives me hope that in this day and age there can be a great horror movie… even if it’s kinda sortof a remake of The Exocist. That’s what I posted a few weeks back and since then the movie has been recieving mixed reviews. I almost didn’t have a link to put up, but Brendan comes to my rescue with his two cents on the movie here.
Overall rating: 7.5
That’s it for this week.
As always if you feel like discussing movies or any of the days headlines check out the forums, or atleast waste a lot of time in the forums arcade section.
All images courtesy of IMPawards.com, Apple.com.
