Film Junk » Trailers

Zhang Yimou’s Blood Simple Remake Trailer

Sean — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:34:48 +0000

Ever since it was announced earlier this year, a lot of people have been wondering what the heck is up with Zhang Yimou's remake of The Coen Brothers' very first film Blood Simple. It was believed that he would be turning it into a comedy, and with the odd title Amazing Tales: Three Guns, it seems clear that we should probably expect something completely different. And wow... that's exactly what we're getting. The Playlist found the first trailer for the film on YouTube, and if you're familiar with Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower, you won't be too shocked to see plenty of artistic slow-mo, thematic colours, extravagant costumes, and melodramatic acting. It looks like a Zhang Yimou film, except... what the heck does any of this have to do with Blood Simple?? Granted, the trailer is not in English (save for the voiceover) so it's a bit hard to piece together. It gets weirder though: according to Yahoo!, the movie features "a theme song rapped by the filmmaker himself"! Huh? Something tells me this may be the first Zhang Yimou film that Reed Farrington actually dislikes. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film here in North America sometime next year. Check out the wacky trailer after the jump and see what you think.

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Crazy Heart Trailer Starring Jeff Bridges

Sean — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:16:45 +0000

Is Crazy Heart going to be this year's The Wrestler? Fox Searchlight is certainly hoping so... they've even inserted the phrase "broken-down" into the movie's synopsis. The film stars Jeff Bridges as an alcoholic country singer named Bad Blake, who takes one last shot at redemption after meeting a journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who is trying to get to the real story about his life. Okay, so maybe there's a little bit of Anvil in there too? The movie is the directorial debut of Scott Cooper, who up until now was best known as an actor (his previous credits include AMC's western mini-series Broken Trail). Fox Searchlight was originally going to release Crazy Heart in the spring but decided to move up the release date in order to make a push for the Oscars. I'm sure we'd all love to see Jeff Bridges win one at this point in his career, but the field is looking crowded this year. What do you think, could this be the role that puts Bridges over the top? Crazy Heart hits select theatres on December 16th. Check out the trailer in HD over at Apple.com, or watch it embedded below.

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Leaves of Grass Trailer Starring Edward Norton and Edward Norton

Sean — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:55:44 +0000

Ed Norton starring in a stoner comedy? Yep, it sure looks that way. Leaves of Grass played at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year and the only thing I remember hearing about it is the fact that Norton plays the two lead roles. I guess he's taking a page out of the Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey playbook. Either way, I didn't realize this was a comedy about pot... which apparently it is. Writer/director Tim Blake Nelson is also a character actor who you might know as Delmar from O, Brother Where Art Thou? and also Samuel Sterns (aka The Leader) from Incredible Hulk. (I guess that's probably how he recruited Ed Norton for this film.) He has previously directed a few things before including the Shakespeare adaptation "O", but there sure isn't any iambic pentameter here. I can't say this promo trailer did much for me, but if you like to "hit the hippie lettuce" then I guess you'll have to add this to your Netflix queue. Leaves of Grass is getting a limited theatrical release on December 25th; check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.

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Grown Ups Trailer Starring Adam Sandler and Friends

Sean — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Hey look, the gang's all here! Grown Ups (previously known as The Lake House) is an upcoming comedy that re-unites Adam Sandler with SNL buddies David Spade, Chris Rock and Rob Schneider (not that he and Schneider have been apart for very long). Throw Kevin James into the mix, and you've got a recipe for a pretty huge summer blockbuster. The first teaser trailer has hit the web over at Yahoo!, and it's chock full of nostalgia. The only thing that seems to be missing is... a plot? In a strange way, the lack of some inane gimmick is kind of refreshing. All we know is that the movie is about five high school buddies who get together thirty years later for a holiday weekend getaway. Sure most of the humour seems painfully low brow, but there is an undeniable chemistry between the cast. It seems a bit like Couples Retreat in that it's just a group of actors who wanted an excuse to work together again. What do you think, is there a chance this might actually be good? Grown Ups hits theatres on June 25th, 2010; check out the trailer below.

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Extraordinary Measures Trailer Starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser

Sean — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:13:22 +0000

Harrison Ford is, and always will be, the man. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that his career has been sputtering for some time now (Indiana Jones notwithstanding), and with his latest film Extraordinary Measures, it seems unlikely that he is going to reclaim the audience that has been slowly slipping away from him. The movie co-stars Brendan Fraser, and while I might have been interested if this was a buddy comedy (ha!), instead we have a serious drama about a father looking for someone to help him cure his children of a rare genetic disorder. Just look at that picture... even these guys can't believe they ended up in this movie. Extraordinary Measures is based on the true story of John Crowley as documented in the book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million – And Bucked the Medical Establishment – In a Quest to Save His Children. The book was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Geeta Anand, and adapted for the screen by Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat, The Shipping News). Sounds like potential Oscar bait, until you realize that it was directed by the same guy who did the Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz comedy What Happens in Vegas. I'm not saying people can't branch out, but the odds are kind of stacked against this one. Extraordinary Measures hits theatres on January 22nd; check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.

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Date Night Trailer Starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell

Sean — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:48:14 +0000

The first trailer for Shawn Levy's Date Night just hit the internet today, and it seems to be getting a pretty lukewarm response across the blogosphere. Being that this is the first big screen team up of Tina Fey and Steve Carell, I would have thought there would be a little more excitement out there. Then again, I suppose based on what we're shown in the trailer, it does look rather mediocre. The concept definitely seems dated and predictable: a married couple goes out for a rare night on the town and through a case of mistaken identity ends up being chased by some hitmen. Still, there's a part of me that thinks that Carell and Fey will be able to make it something worth watching, and there are hints of that in the trailer (the "killshot" line made me snicker to myself). I just don't know about some of these full-blown action scenes... I mean, they are clearly going for something along the lines of Get Smart and Pineapple Express, and I'm not sure they need to. The supporting cast also includes James Franco, Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis; check out the trailer after the jump, or watch it in HD over at Apple.com.

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Kick-Ass Teaser Trailer

Sean — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:07:30 +0000

We've been anxiously awaiting the release of the first official trailer for Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, and although the trailer still isn't supposed to go online at MySpace for another couple of days, it has apparently leaked elsewhere... and Lionsgate seems okay with that. So here it is. The movie is based on the comic book by Mark Millar (Wanted) and focuses on a high school kid who decides to become a superhero... with no super powers whatsoever. The trailer certainly makes it seem like the movie is heavy on comedy (particularly with the presence of Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Clark Duke), but only hints at some of the brutal violence that is also reportedly contained within. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was just another superhero spoof. Still, as someone who enjoyed the big screen adaptation of Wanted, but enjoyed the comic even more, I think I have a pretty good idea of what we're in for. The movie stars Aaron Johnson (who also plays young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy), along with Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong and Nicolas Cage. Kick-Ass hits theatres on April 16th 2010; check out the teaser trailer after the jump.

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Clash of the Titans Remake Trailer

Sean — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:19:09 +0000

Well if there's one thing they want us to know about Louis Leterrier's upcoming remake of the 1981 epic Clash of the Titans, it's that it's hip and cool and edgy! Since this is just a teaser trailer, they can get away with showing quick clips of action scenes and melding it together into a music video of sorts. It works fairly well, and I'm sure this is going to excite fans of 300, which is clearly their target audience. Still, I have to wonder, is this music indicative of what the actual soundtrack will be? Because if so, that's pretty lame. The movie stars Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Gemma Arterton, Ralph Fiennes, and of course, Pete Postlethwaite (among others). It looks like this will be sufficiently epic and the special effects certainly give a much-needed update to the original, but is it just me or do some of the creature designs seem like a rip off of Pan's Labyrinth? Clash of the Titans hits theatres on March 26th; check out the teaser trailer after the jump.

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A Single Man Trailer

Sean — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:42:34 +0000

Prior to watching this trailer, I didn't know too much about Tom Ford's A Single Man except that it was one of three movies playing at TIFF this year with similar sounding titles (The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man and Brian Koppelman's Solitary Man being the other two). After watching this new trailer, I still can't say that I know very much about it, but in a way, that's actually a good thing. This is an artfully constructed trailer that relies more on atmosphere and imagery than plot elements to sell you on it (okay, and a little bit of Oscar buzz as well). Based on Christopher Isherwood novel, the movie stars Colin Firth as a gay college professor in the '60s who loses his lover and is stricken with grief. After a night out with his friend Charley (Julianne Moore), however, he starts to see the possibility of moving on with his life. The production design is done by the same folks who work on Mad Men, which is certainly a selling point for me. Interestingly, first-time director Tom Ford is also a well-known fashion designer, so I think we can assume there is a lot of attention given to the period clothing too. All that being said, I still have no idea what the story is about. I guess I'll just have to see it to find out. A Single Man hits select theatres on December 11th; check out the trailer after the jump.

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Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me Trailer Starring Casey Affleck

Sean — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:34:32 +0000

I'm not always eager to post promo and sales trailers for movies when they find their way online because they're usually too long, rough around the edges, and quick to be pulled off the web anyway. They're not intended for the general public, and shouldn't really be judged as such. In this case, however, we've got our first look at what appears to be a very promising flick, and with all the talent involved I simply couldn't help posting about it. Michael Winterbottom's most recent film Genova didn't get a ton of attention at TIFF last year, but his previous two films, A Mighty Heart and The Road to Guantanamo both made my top 10 lists in their respective years. This time around he's teaming up with Casey Affleck, who is riding a wave of critical acclaim from outstanding performances in Gone Baby Bone and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, for an adaptation of the book The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson. Affleck plays a deputy sheriff in Texas who also turns out to be a cold-blooded killer. The trailer shows a couple of potentially disturbing scenes, but it also gives off a pretty awesome No Country for Old Men vibe. Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba co-star, offering them both a chance to prove their acting chops. What do you think, does this look like a winner? The movie is currently in search of a distributor but will probably be hitting the festival circuit in 2010. Check out the promo reel after the jump.

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Third Trailer for Sherlock Holmes Hits The Web

Kasper — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:40:38 +0000

The third (and final?) trailer for Guy Ritchie's upcoming retelling of the classic stories about the famous British detective Sherlock Holmes, has hit the web. Without having seen it (I prefer to know as little about a movie as possible before I see it, if it's one I'm interested in) I can tell as much as it does show a good amount of new footage from the film, while also showing a more polished look in general, than the previous two trailers. So with all the SFX having gone through the various post-production touch ups, it now seems like the movie is about ready. Sherlock Holmes hits the streets on December 25th. Watch the trailer after the jump.

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Salt Trailer Starring Angelina Jolie (in English)

Sean — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:53:21 +0000

Earlier this week, a Russian trailer for the upcoming Angelina Jolie action-thriller Salt found its way online, but was quickly pulled down by Sony... and really, who wants to see a low-quality, dubbed version of a trailer anyway? (A lot of people... I know.) Today they have debuted the first domestic trailer for the film over at Yahoo!, and although it looks fairly action-packed, I can't say there is anything all that noteworthy about it either. Is Angelina Jolie really the biggest current female action star? It seems weird to say that, but I guess her filmography proves it. Either way, I'm sure they're hoping to attract fans of Wanted with this one. The production history on Salt has kind of a weird twist in that Tom Cruise was originally supposed to star in the lead role (and not in drag). Somewhere along the way they rewrote the story so that the main character was a woman instead. Weird. The script comes courtesy of Kurt Wimmer (Law Abiding Citizen, The Recruit, Equilibrium) and Brian Helgeland (Man on Fire, Mystic River, Payback). Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Saint, Patriot Games) is in the director's chair. These guys all have some good stuff on their resumes, so it could end up being a pretty solid spy flick. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that a movie about a Russian sleeper agent is not set during the Cold War. Boo. Salt hits theatres on July 23rd; check out the trailer after jump.

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