In the first scene of the trailer for 50/50, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is attempting to shave his head, using an electric razor his friend Seth Rogen has probably used on his private parts. It looks like the set-up for a new Judd Apatow knee-slapper, but 50/50 is no Knocked Up. Based on the true story of how screenwriter Will Reiser overcame cancer, the film takes a lighter, humor- and romance-filled look at what life is like when you have a 50 percent chance of dying young. The trailer looks promising, and we’re excited about the cast, which includes Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, and Philip Baker Hall in addition to Gordon-Levitt and Rogen. Let us know whether you plan on seeing 50/50 when it comes out September 30th.
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Will 2011 be the year of the stoner comedy? Less than four months into the year, theaters have already seen the release of David Gordon Green’s uneven Your Highness, and now there’s a trailer for another paean to weed-smoking — directed by a guy with an impeccable comic pedigree. High Road is the feature film debut of Upright Citizen Brigade co-founder Matt Walsh. Billed as “a totally improvised ‘high’ comedy,” it stars James F. Pumphrey as a small-time pot dealer whose brush with the law forces him to decide between drugs, making music, and his pregnant girlfriend (Abby Elliott). The supporting cast includes Lizzy Caplan, Rob Riggle, Ed Helms, and Horatio Sanz (who’s long been known among New York audiences for showing up unannounced at UCB performances and ruining the show with his laughing-at-my-own-jokes schtick). High Road will premiere April 29th at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Honestly, based on this trailer, the movie looks like it might be a bit too Judd-Apatow-lite for our taste, but considering how much we like Walsh, Elliott, Caplan, and Helms, we ‘ll still likely give it a chance if it ever makes it to theaters.
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While there are plenty of cinephiles who would argue that everything that Woody Allen has produced since his heyday is absolute crap, we were actually fond of Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona. Unfortunately, Midnight in Paris — which opens May 20th and will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — looks to be one of his duds in spite of its lovely setting. It probably doesn’t help that Owen Wilson is playing the Allen stand-in here, which just makes the whole thing feel slightly off, like some kind of self parody. Or maybe we’re just biased because of the rather barfy poster, which looks like someone’s kid ‘shopped it. Click through to watch the trailer, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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Okay, we’ll say it: We’re tired of superhero movies. The saturation point has long passed. Thanks to the success of the Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and X-Men franchises, it now seems that any caped hero who ever appeared in the pages of a comic book is a worthwhile subject for a major motion picture — in spite of the fact that, with the exception of the films mentioned above (and not even all of them — how ya doin’, X-Men: The Last Stand) and a few scattered others, most comic book movies are downright putrid.
So please, please, bear that bias in mind when we tell you that, much to our chagrin, the new trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger looks awesome. Director Joe Johnston’s ’40s visual scheme is delicious (the trailer immediately brings The Rocketeer to mind — which, wouldn’t you know it, was directed by Joe Johnston), Chris Evans is looking more and more credible (pull this off, Chris, and you’re forgiven for those Fantastic Four movies), and how about this supporting cast? Tommy Lee Jones? Stanley Tucci? Hugo Weaving? Sign us up! Check out the full trailer after the jump, and let us know if you agree in the comments.
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Time for a confession that should thoroughly alienate a good portion of our readership: I don’t like The Lord of the Rings. Okay, let’s be fair: I don’t really know The Lord of the Rings. I never read the books, and only saw the first movie— and that was the original theatrical cut, which was only, what, six hours long? Point is, that was enough. Not my cup of tea. So I’m as surprised as anyone to be genuinely excited by the new trailer for HBO’s upcoming medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones, based on a series of books by George R.R. Martin called A Song of Ice and Fire, which (no surprise) I haven’t read. But the show’s pedigree is top-notch: it is co-created by David Benioff, who wrote the novel and screenplay of one of our favorite underrated dramas, Spike Lee’s 25th Hour, and the writing staff includes Jane Espenson, five-year vet of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s got a terrific cast as well — Red Riding vets Mark Addy and Sean Bean (the latter of whom appeared in the aforementioned Lord of the Rings pictures), the great Peter Dinklage from The Station Agent, and Aidan Gillen, aka The Wire’s Tommy Carcetti. Being an HBO drama, it will also apparently have naked people in it. At any rate, check out the trailer after the jump, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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The trailer for Super — which is written and directed by James Gunn (Slither) and stars Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, and Nathan Fillion — makes it look like the kind of movie we originally thought that Kick-Ass was going to be: a warped indie comedy about wannabe superheros. Wilson plays a sad sack who decides to suit up as “Crimson Bolt” after his hot wife (Tyler) dumps him for a smarmy drug dealer (Bacon). Ellen Page is the comic book store clerk who helps educate him on the cannon before eventually slipping into a mask and tights as his sidekick, “Boltie.” We’ll definitely be checking this one out when it hits theaters on April 1st, if only to squirm over the idea of sexual tension between Wilson and Page. How about you?
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There’s something about Michelle Williams that makes us want to give her a great big hug. Maybe it’s the delicate Rosemary’s Baby-inspired look that she has been sporting lately. Part of it probably has to do with the tragic way things ended for her ex-husband, Heath Ledger. But then there’s also the fact that Williams seems drawn to some of the saddest roles available to a young actress in Hollywood. And we’re not just talking about her recent Oscar-nominated turn in Blue Valentine; just think about the characters she played in last year’s Shutter Island, Wendy and Lucy, or Brokeback Mountain.
The newly-debuted trailer for Meek’s Cutoff, a film that reunites Williams with her Wendy and Lucy director Kelly Reichardt, is no different. As Vulture notes, the action is set in the free-wheelin’ American frontier of the mid-19th century and “it looks like they’re losing a game of Oregon Trail.” Despite looking like a bit of a downer, the critical buzz from the multiple festivals where it has screened so far has all been positive; the film is set to hit theaters in limited release April 8, 2011. Click through to check it out, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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The release of a new film from the director of Saw isn’t necessarily cause for celebration; whatever your thoughts on that somewhat game-changing horror tentpole, its never-ending sequels have — to put it charitably — softened the brand. To his credit, director James Wan only helmed the first installment, but his follow-ups — the murderous-ventriloquist-dummy tale Dead Silence and the Kevin-Bacon-as-Charles-Bronson thriller Death Sentence — both crashed and burned.
However, his latest effort, Insidious, is a collaboration with producers Oren Peli, Jason Blum, and Steven Schneider —the team responsible for the surprisingly taut, genuinely scary Paranormal Activity. (We’ll not talk about Paranormal Activity 2 for now.) And we’ve gotta say, the trailer for this Poltergeist-style haunting chiller looks pretty decent. It’s got Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne in the leads, some solid character actors in supporting roles (hey there, Barbara Hershey!), and we’d be lying if we didn’t admit this two-minute teaser gave us a mild case of the creeps. Click through to check it out, and let us know if you agree in the comments.
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We have to admit, of the many, many, many remakes of 1980s movies currently in production, Jason Winer’s new version of Arthur seemed one of the most egregiously unnecessary. If you haven’t seen the original (and really, there’s no excuse for that — it’s streaming on Netflix, for goodness’ sake), it really is a perfect comedy, and we’re not quite sure how these folks presume to improve upon it. But, that said, they’ve made some wise casting decisions: those of us who like Russell Brand (and you either love him or you hate him, it seems) can see him filling the Dudley Moore role well enough, while the decision to switch the gender of John Gielgud’s Hobson to a female, and cast Helen Mirren in it, is rather ingenious. Most exciting of all, mumblecore ingénue Greta Gerwig, so wonderful in last year’s Greenberg, is a perfect choice to play the Liza Minelli role. So it seems strange that she’s barely present in the film’s newly-released trailer, while Jennifer Garner — playing Susan Johnson, the object of Arthur’s arranged marriage, a very secondary character in the original — is all over the damn thing. Maybe they’re just advertising the more recognizable face?
And while we’re at it, does it seem strange that this oh-so-up-to-date-remake is being advertised entirely with songs that pre-date the original? (“All Right Now”? Seriously?) But, those concerns aside, there are some laughs in the trailer, so we remain on the fence about this one — reluctantly optimistic, if you will. Watch the trailer after the jump and let us know what you think.
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When we first heard about Bridesmaids, a female ensemble comedy directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, we had high hopes in spite of the rather unoriginal sounding premise; Kristen Wiig (who co-wrote the film) plays a single woman whose best friend (Maya Rudolph) asks her to be the Maid of Honor in her upcoming wedding. Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper fill out the remaining female half of the wedding party. Judging from the trailer, this isn’t going to be anything groundbreaking, but it will elicit a few laughs (although enough with the single lady jokes!), and beats the hell out of other recent attempts to appeal to the 30-something female market — like Bride Wars or either of the Sex and the City movies. Plus, there’s a brief cameo by Jon Hamm and a glimpse of puppies in bow ties! Take a look and let us know what you think.
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