Trailer Time

It's trailer time again. These things tend to come in waves and today was an especially big wave. Lots of good stuff though.

THE TOWN -



It may seem very strange, but a huge selling point for me on this film is that Ben Affleck is directing. GONE BABY GONE exposed the fact that maybe he has a little more to offer behind the camera than in front of it. This time around he's doing both, but I feel like that might turn out okay. I like stories about bank robbers, especially when they're done well (see HEAT or even POINT BREAK). There seems to be a very personal/secretive element to the story that could give this film an extra boost. Affleck's character falls for a former hostage who doesn't know who he truly is - that sounds like gold in my book. Boston also seems to provide a great setting for intense narratives. Rounding out my reasons why this film might be awesome are the supporting cast in Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Jon Hamm. THE TOWN gets a wide release on September 17.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK -



First off - the use of this 'quiet' version of the song "Creep" in this trailer is perfect. There's starting to be quite a bit of buzz behind this film. Fincher is usually a very solid director and the studio is very positive about the way the film is coming together. This is a story I'm only moderately familiar with, so I'm excited to see how everything pans out. Even though his popularity has been steadily rising, I feel like this will be a really big role for Jesse Eisenberg. This one gets released on October 1.

BIUTIFUL -



This film divided critics at Cannes, but I'm very optimistic. Inarritu is one of the most talented directors working today, but I'd become tired of his interconnected-story narrative template. BIUTIFUL is supposed to be a straight single-story narrative and with Bardem in the driver's seat, I expect, at the very least, a great character study. A U.S. release date has not been set, but I know it's been picked up by a distributor, so look for it before the end of the year.

HOWL -



Ginsberg is a figure I'm only tangentially familiar with because of his connection with other subjects I've researched, so I'm hoping HOWL will be something of a learning experience. However, the film is supposed to more directly concern the titular work "Howl" and the obscenity trial that followed its release, which might be better considering the pitfalls of your standard biographical film. I'm mostly interested in this film because of Franco and his potential for giving fantastic performances. HOWL also has a September release, but I wonder how wide of a release that will be.

MACHETE -



A fake trailer for this film was released on Cinco De Mayo and it got a lot of people's attention. This preview isn't bad either, but it's getting less press. This time around I get a slightly different sense of the film, like it's less of an exploitation film than one might imagine, but I'm probably wrong considering who's in the director's chair. I'm still looking forward to this. Go Danny Trejo. Yet another September release, MACHETE hits theaters on the 3rd.

DEVIL -



This one got my attention by bringing to the screen one of my ultimate nightmares: being stuck in an elevator. The claustrophobia element alone is enough to have me scared, not to mention the fact some sort of evil force has a hand in it. The cast is full of nobody specials, but that can often be a blessing. The production values also look pretty slick. I guess M. Night Shyamalan had a hand in the writing process, which would usually cause me to avoid this like the plague, but at least he isn't directing and he didn't author the final screenplay either. Admittedly, this might be more of a DVD rental (especially since it comes out on the same day as THE TOWN), but the concept is interesting enough to warrant mention.

DUE DATE -



I was (and am) a big supporter of Todd Phillips' last effort THE HANGOVER, so I'm pretty excited for DUE DATE. Robert Downey Jr. playing the straight man to Zach Galifianakis seems like solid comedy. My only question/concern is how will Galifianakis' character differ from the one he played in THE HANGOVER besides him being the owner of a french bulldog? I guess if the answer to that were "not at all" I wouldn't really mind all that much, I just don't want to hear people whining about it. DUE DATE hits theaters the first weekend in November.

NOWHERE BOY -



NOWHERE BOY was nominated for a BAFTA last year, which, albeit not a guarantee of its quality, means that it's probably pretty decent. And that's all I'm after. If this film does anything but a disservice to the memory of John Lennon, then I'll be happy. We all know how this story ends, but an examination of the legend as a young man could still yield a happy ending because it will likely conclude with the beginning of his immensely successful career. Lennon will always be mourned, but it might be a nice change of pace to celebrate his amazing life. *Yes, that's Aaron Johnson, AKA Kickass, taking on the lead role.

I've been just as negative about this year in film as anyone, but just because we don't get the blockbuster summer we all crave doesn't mean that 2010 is doomed to failure. This fall might just render it a great year for film, we'll just have to wait and see.