Trailer Roundup: 7/11/12

– Nathan

Lawless

Is it just me or does Shia LaBeouf desperately want to be the new James Franco? Sorry kid, that baby-face-and-hair-grease combo didn’t work for Leonardo DiCaprio, and it won’t work for you.

Goats

I don’t know about you, but it really bugs me in trailers when they cut clips together to make it look like characters are commenting on what happens to other characters. But this movie could be good, with Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and all. And wait, that naked Goat Man character looks sorta like Robin Williams, and the main character is going to a prep school, so-o-o-o  is this finally the Dead Poets Society sequel we’ve all been waiting for?

Gangster Squad

This movie, as far as I can tell, looks exactly the same as the trailer for The Great Gastby, and I say this for several reasons. First, both use music that doesn’t suit the era the film is set in. Secondly, both these films have selected an odd color palette, one that makes heavy use of greens, blues, and yellows, colors that are almost similar to Hugo in their shades and values. Similarly, both also make use of CGI, which I find incredibly distasteful when it comes to making period pieces. The makers of both of these films, instead of attempting to create a realistic tone that depicts the eras factually, have rather opted to bring to life the memories we have of these eras- with exaggerated colors, typefaces, set-pieces, etc. Nostalgia colors our perception of the past, as these filmmakers are attempting to do. Everything is placed in order to evoke a perfect yearning for the past that it’s not history we’re seeing, it’s a strange world that is more similar to the retro-futurism of Tomorrowland than anything that actually ever existed. While this film may seem violent or action-packed, it’s more whimsical than anything else and might as well have been directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Oz: The Great and Powerful

This isn’t a trailer, but I decided to throw it up here anyway as it’s our first look at this film. James Franco bugs me, and also what looks like the extensive use of CGI bothers me as well, because animated backgrounds and set-pieces don’t compare at all to the original beauty of The Wizard Of Oz. From this first glimpse, it looks like it will just end up being another Mirror Mirror or Alice in Wonderland, but let’s hope not.

Cosmopolis

As I mentioned earlier with Shia LaBeouf, Robert Pattinson needs to lay off the gel. Why does it seem that every actor who started out young but now desperately wants to be taken seriously loads up on the grease? LaBeouf, Pattinson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Radcliffe, they’ve all done it, and I still don’t buy it. The trailer calls the film a masterwork, but the consensus from Cannes seems to be that it’s a little dull.

Sleepwalk with Me

Okay, here it is- the trailer I’m most excited for this week. Mike Birbiglia is one of my favorite comedians, and not just because he used to do cable commercials in my hometown. He’s a warm, honest, and earnest comedian, and this movie definitely looks great. He’s assembled a fantastic cast- one that includes Wyatt Cenac, Loudon Wainwright III, and MARC MARON- and the film is produced by none other than Ira Glass, so I’m definite that it will be good. I’m glad to see that someone is giving Marc Maron roles, because he’s one of my favorite comedians as well and has definitely been under-appreciated and underused in the film world. I also want to go see this because I identify with comics like Birbiglia and Maron- even though I’m young, I feel like my problems are middle-age problems, I don’t know why. I already worry about things like skintags and going bald and I don’t know, I feel like that’s not a young thing to worry about. So Birbiglia and I probably have some common ground. And I’m a comedy nerd too, so why would I not go see this movie?

Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa

Okay- I know I said I was most excited for Sleepwalk with Me, but that was the trailer I was most excited for, and this isn’t really a trailer. Announced yesterday, this stop-motion project from CHARLIE KAUFMAN of, well, you should know Charlie Kaufman, DAN HARMON of Community, and DINO STAMATOPOULOS of Mr. Show and also Community, is going to be great. I just know it. Forget the lack of plot details, it’s already hit half its Kickstarter goal despite just being announced yesterday, and well, look at those names again. Process those names. Think about just how much you love those names. And according to the video, if this project goes well, we’ll get more stop-motion films from names like DAN HARMON!!!! and LOUIS CK!!! LOUIS CK!!! Think about how much you love Louie!! Just think about it!! Think about how much you hate it when I use exclamation marks and then remove that nasty thought from your mind by thinking about how much you are already in love with this project!! Seriously, guys. It’s going to be great.

All previous editions of Trailer Roundup can be found here.

Review: Prometheus

Don’t believe the anti-hype, Prometheus is a terrific thriller.

Despite what Ridley Scott has repeatedly claimed, Prometheus is deeply indebted to Alien, not in the sense that it’s a straight-up prequel (Prometheus takes place on an entirely different planet than Alien), but in its general plot structure: Prometheus is nearly a beat-for-beat remake of its 1979 predecessor. But while Alien was grimy and claustrophobic, Prometheus strives for visual dazzle, ratcheting up its premise to nauseating heights.

The plot is pretty much in-line with what we’ve come to expect from the Alien movies: crew goes out to explore planet with a strong woman protagonist, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace of the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series) and shifty android, named David. Michael Fassbender, the man who plays David, is the real standout actor in this movie, bringing David to life as a fascinating mixture of David Bowie and HAL 9000. This time, they’re exploring the planet because Rapace and her boyfriend have found maps in dozens of ancient cultures all pointing to one star system, and they hope to find the culture that engineered humans and ask them the big questions about life, the universe, and everything. Of course, they don’t find quite what they expected and bad shit starts to go down. While the concept of bad shit going down in space may not be new, the film features terrific action and horror setpieces, and its imaginative special effects help a few scenes reach intensity to rival even that of Alien (one scene featuring an a computerized surgery machine immediately comes to mind). Prometheus features many terrifying riffs on the original xenomorph, and anyone looking for the same atmosphere of horror found in the Alien will not be disappointed.

Aside from the horror-thriller aspects of the movie, it also attempts to be thematically high-minded, pondering such Big Questions as the origin of life and the responsibilities between creators and their creations. This aspect of the film does not work quite as well simply because it does not answer any of the questions it raises. This may be because Scott wanted to keep things loose enough for a sequel, or it could just be because he preferred to leave the film open to interpretation. Either way, it doesn’t detract from the power of the film’s more visceral scenes. Prometheus may not present a Ridley Scott as masterful as he was when he made Alien or Blade Runner, but it does present a Ridley Scott more ambitious and focused than he has been in years.

Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator), starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. 124 minutes long. Rated R.

Is it? Could it be? Indeed. What We Watched: Some Things from The Past Few Weeks

Alec:

It’s the triumphant return of What We Watched! Things are starting to cool down around here, so I’m hoping we’ll be able to get back to regular updates for the ‘log, including the return of weekly What We Watched. Since we posted the last What We Watched approximately ten years ago, I can’t remember all that I’ve watched, but I’ve managed to coax a few memories out of my increasingly derelict psyche. Nathan, however, seems to have the recollection abilities of a cinematic savant, so I guess he’s got everything he watched on here. Actually, this will be a two-part article, because the number of movies and shows watched these few weeks overfloweth the bounds of just one.

Cowboy Bebop

I haven’t finished Cowboy Bebop yet because the quality of my set of episodes is really poor, so I need to find a new one. Nevertheless, I watched “Bohemian Rhapsody” a few weeks ago and found it to be a top notch Bebop episode. Without giving too much away, “Rhapsody” finds the Bebop crew investigating a series of cyber-robberies at hyperspace gates, but find the robberies are more than simple petty theft. Bebop has crafted a really unique, interesting world, and the best episodes, like this one, focus both on creating a new story for our protagonists while also making them intruders in the larger stories of the lives of others. Though Bebop may ultimately be Spike’s story, his isn’t the only story in the series, because Bebop has created a complex, interesting world around him.

Recommended? You should probably check Cowboy Bebop out if you haven’t yet.

Religulous

Don’t go into Religulous expecting anything substantial. While the role of atheism and theism in America is an important topic that deserves an insightful documentary, Religulous isn’t it. Essentially, it’s just two hours of Bill Maher riding around in a van making fun of religion both fringe and mainstream. This isn’t to say it’s a bad film; Maher is a pretty funny guy and the film is pretty entertaining, but you don’t get anything out of it that you couldn’t get browsing r/Atheism on reddit for a few hours.

Recommended? If you want to kill some time.

Game Change

Oh, I had quite a bit to say on this one after I saw it, but the passage of time has made me forget. Essentially, Game Change is a great historical document but a poor dramatic film. On the positive side, it provides great insight into what happened within the McCain campaign during the Sarah Palin debacle, and illuminates this bizarre and nebulous time in history. However, it fails as a film with terrible dialogue and flat characters. Everyone seems to speak only to provide context to the events surrounding the movie, not as actual human beings. It’s great as nonfiction, but a failure as art.

Recommended? For politicos: yes. For those seeking a good drama? no.

American Psycho

Just a terrific film. While it couldn’t possibly reach the dizzying heights of the novel, the film version of American Psycho wisely doesn’t try to, focusing on creating a slick, powerful satire all its own. I usually describe American Psycho as a satirical Great Gatsby for the ’80s: a scathing indictment of a time so morally vacuous that a serial killer fits right in. Patrick Bateman worries when his mask of sanity begins to slip, but he’s really the most well-adjusted person anyone could be to the values his world promotes.

Pick of the Week:

Frisky Dingo

Boosh. Frisky Dingo, the spiritual predecessor to Archer, is an absolutely groundbreaking comedy, and one of the most daring things I’ve watched in a long time. The laissez-faire style of production at Adult Swim can lead to disaster for some shows, as they become completely unhinged, but it pays off in Dingo, as the show spirals to insane heights without stopping for a second. Together with the second half of Moral Orel, Frisky Dingo stands at the pinnacle of Adult Swim’s programming and is one of the greatest achievements in animated television in the last decade.

Nathan:

Due to my general laziness/the overall business of the last few weeks, we’ve gotten, um, a bit behind. So here’s an overview of what I watched in the past three weeks.

The King of Comedy

While usually overshadowed by the giants in his body of work, Martin Scorsese’s chsatirical farce about celebrity obsession and the entertainment industry is one of his secret best. Starring Robert DeNiro and Jerry Lewis, the lighter and more ridiculous tone of this film is somewhat unexpected from the man celebrated for his Catholic guilt. While I wouldn’t guide you to this film as an introduction to Scorsese’s work, it is an essential treat for those familiar with it.

Recommended? Yes.

Memento

What Christopher Nolan has in terms of conceptualization and idea-crafting ability is continually shot-down by his visual incompetence and smug attitude, as shown by this film. Like all of his other films, or at least those I have seen, the idea behind Memento is excellent; however, it suffers due to its banal dialogue, cheap conflict, cheeky metaphors, and lack of visual direction. Nolan has ideas, but he has no grasp on how to keep the interest of the audience’s eyes and makes no effort to build his characters or use the color palette available to him. However, it seems others are able to forgive him. Maybe I’m just an old crank.

Recommended? Meh. It’s up to you.

Alice in Wonderland

Don’t see this movie. As it managed to shove its digitally-rendered hands into the pockets of everyone passing by a theatre in 2010, you probably have seen it, but if possible, avoid it. It represents Tim Burton’s definite fall as a visually original filmmaker and rise as a tween pop-goth icon screwed over by Disney and the third-dimension. I mean, really. Avril Lavigne sings on the soundtrack, and Burton completely forgets the traditional (and more interesting and engaging, in my opinion) special effects techniques used on the film I am about to discuss below (by this I mean that I was originally supposed to write about Beetlejuice, which I somehow forgot to do, but anyway, you should see Beetlejuice). So yeah, don’t see it.

Recommended? NO.

Double Indemnity

The sad thing about film noir is that most audiences today are now more familiar with parodies of the genre than they are with the genre itself. So most people my find Double Indemnity dated, but I don’t. With a captivating first shot and unforgettable last, there is not reason not to enjoy this film.

Recommended? Yes.

Little Shop of Horrors

While I may respect Frank Oz a wee bit more for his puppetry than I do for his directorial efforts, I enjoy this adaptation of the musical which was itself an adaptation of the Roger Corman film. Oz successfully manages to mix a duplication of the schlocky Corman-esque feel with great comedic acting and that hopping Motown sound to produce a pretty entertaining film.

Recommended? Yes.

The War Room

What’s great about this documentary is not necessarily the subject itself, but the people involved with the subject, particularly James Carville and George Stephanopaulos, Both men are some of the most fascinating characters in recent political history, and their centrality to this documentary about the first Clinton presidential campaign make it equally fascinating, humorous, and enjoyable.

Recommended? Yes.

Pick of the Week:

Leningrad Cowboys Go America

Do you dig that title? Because I really dig that title, and it’s initially what attracted this movie to me. However, I soon found that there was a lot more to it than just the title. One part Stroszek, another part Spinal Tap, this straight-faced Finnish yarn about a Russian band that ventures to the United States only to find success in Mexico is hilarious, awkward, strange, everything. The film’s visual irony and general Herzog-like absurdity is fantastic, and the bizarre send-ups of rock-and-roll hits (by way of gulag prison band) peppered throughout the film make it even more memorable. My gosh, I can’t explain this film. You just have to see it. And Jim Jarmusch is in it as well, so if that doesn’t sell you, nothing will.

All previous editions of What We Watched can be found here.