After 19 years of waiting, Steven Spielberg gave a valentine to all of us today by unleashing the teaser for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Technically it’s not the best teaser … but that’s forgivable because it’s darn good to see Harrison Ford in that fedora looking as if he hasn’t lost a beat. Couple this with The Dark Knight and the 2008 Summer Movie Season is looking delectable. Watch the trailer in brilliant High Definition over at Yahoo or be lazy with YouTube below.

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Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace is a film about the nineteenth-century slave trade that shows almost nothing of the slave trade itself, and yet is all the more haunting for it. Indeed, while the film celebrates the abolition of the slave trade by the United Kingdom in 1833, it paints an all-too-familiar picture of a country where people born into a life of privilege are almost never confronted with the sufferings of others, and aren’t particularly interested in doing anything about them. Fundamentally, this is a film about the privileged few enjoying comfort and prosperity on the backs of the disenfranchised—a scenario that remains all too haunting in twenty-first century America. If you can watch it and still feel comfortable with the way the world is, you’re probably not paying attention.
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A gaggle of DVD releases to tell you about today yesterday (I was busy…doing…stuff). A gaggle, I say, a veritable gaggle.

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon
This one is at the top of my list this week, if only because no one knows it exists. A poignant, effective documentary about the Apollo space missions in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Features restored archival NASA footage of the missions, and interviews with the remaining crew members who flew them. A glimpse into an era most of us never experienced.

Into the Wile

Into the Wild
Christopher McCandless graduated from Emory University at the top of his class, gave up all his possessions, donated his $24,000 in savings to charity, and hitchhiked into the Alaskan wilderness. Alone in a rundown van, he died of starvation (don’t worry, giving that away is like telling you the Titanic sinks). Sean Penn directs this true story based on Jon Krakauer’s book. Watch for the excellent Hal Holbrook, who’s up for a Best Supporting statue for his role.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck (yes, that Ben Affleck) makes his directorial debut here to almost universal raves. I’m actually really happy for the guy, as I thought he had been reduced to begging his buddy Matt Damon for a sidekick role in the next Bourne movie. A little girl gets kidnapped and Casey Affleck (Ben’s little bro) has to find her amidst a web of lies & corruption. Law & Order: SVU for smart people.

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane
Jane Austen purists are undoubtedly tearing their hair out and mounting 40 day fasts in protest (you think I’m joking, don’t you?) of this supposedly ‘true’ story of how Jane Austen fell in love, but its really all in good fun. Anne Hathaway dazzles as Jane, and current British-Hearthrob-Go-To-Boy James McAvoy (who’s in Atonement) plays the object of the author’s affection. Its a good idea in theory, even if it falters a bit in application. You could do worse.

And on that note, I bring you the ‘worse’ that you could do after the jump.
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There is presence of Catholic imagery throughout Gone Baby Gone to the point that it takes on a virtually oppressive air. This is almost certainly intentional—the central character of the story is one who, try as he might, is unable to escape from the rigid moral code of his Catholic heritage. The film is a mystery that dabbles in horror and social activism, but in the end boils down to a question of what humans adrift in a sea of sin and evil can do about it.
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Two men of great historical import have worn the iconic toothbrush moustache (you know—the one that looks like a soul patch under your nose): Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin. Because of the former, we’re unlikely to see anyone of note ever wear it again, but (due to the latter) there was a simpler time when said moustache stood for all that was right with the world: pratfalls, slapstick, pathos. As Hitler rose to power, however, the moustache was usurped and became synonymous with hatred, destruction, and imperialism. Chaplin, of course, was not about to take this lying down.
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In 2005, first-time director Joe Wright’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice surprised critics and audiences with its beauty and grace. It was a good film, even though it maddened a few Austen purists. Fresh from his success with P&P, Wright brings Ian McEwan’s Atonement to the screen with just as much visual panache and a cast that would make any more seasoned director rightfully envious.
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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a fairly standard (but admittedly very good) mid-90’s Oscar-bait drama, with a handful of things that make it especially notable. First off, it stars a young Johnny Depp, before Tim Burton made him into an underground star, and way before the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise made him into one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood. Second, it stars an even younger Leonardo DiCaprio, four years before Titanic would turn him into one of the most overplayed teen heartthrobs since James Dean. Finally, and most notably, it costars Darlene Cates, who wasn’t even an actress—the film’s producers simply saw her on an episode of Sally Jessy Raphael entitled “Too Heavy to Leave the House.” The film would still be a very good one without all of this, but those three facts alone make it worth seeing.
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Legal thrillers had their heyday during the reign of John Grisham, when studios scrambled to bring every word he had ever written to the cineplex. This produced both good (The Firm) and bad (The Rainmaker) results, but the overall effect was to burn audiences out on the genre. Now people get their weekly injection of high-stakes legal drama via the small screen, as evidenced by the popularity of Law and Order: Crimescene-Courtroom-Autopsy Super Legal Show, or whatever the latest flavor of the week is. So what is it about director Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton that earned it 7 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and led Warner Bros. to give it a second theatrical run, which is almost unheard of?
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Before the bright neon letters of the film’s title burst onto the screen with a blast of disco music, there is one minute of music much like what can be heard at the most solemn of occasions. It is music that sounds broken, downtrodden, sad. Something is broken. The feeling that this music evokes is the essence of Paul Thomas Anderson’s second film, Boogie Nights; a film that does explore the 70s pornography industry, but is more about the lives of people trying to make themselves happy and successful by any means possible.
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Ridley Scott’s American Gangster is a film that doesn’t do anything particularly new or innovative, but with Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe in the leads, who’s going to argue? Both men exude charisma throughout the proceedings, and their nuanced acting make the film a pleasure to sit through, even if it does feel a little slow and derivative. The film manages to mix together two stock genres—blaxploitation and the classic rise-and-fall gangster film—and make it work well. If you’re looking for a genre fix, you could do a lot worse.
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Not a pretty day for wide releases. January and February are typically the equivalent of the movie studios’ dumping grounds, where they offload all the crap that’s been gathering dust on the shelves. This week the dumping ground gets an extra serving of cinematic castoff.

Fools Gold

Fools Gold
Kate Hudson + Matthew McConaughey = box office gold, which 2003’s How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days proved to the tune of $105 million. I would tell you about the derivative plot and what the critics are saying (hint hint, it starts with an ‘a’ and rhymes with ‘trocius’), but I just can’t get past the poster. Look at that thing. It’s like they gave the airbrush to a psychotic ad man who’s idea of beauty was a bronzed stick with sunglasses. My wife’s response when she saw the poster was, “Looks like some kind of creepy alien.” Creepy alien indeed.

Hit the jump for the rest of your “options”…
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Given that How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days is ostensibly based on a parodic self-help book of the same title (written—and illustrated, in full stick-figure glory—by Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long), you’d expect something a bit irreverent and original. You’d be wrong, of course—the film incarnation of the book is nothing more than a formulaic romantic comedy, and bows just as low before the altar of When Harry Met Sally as every other romantic comedy since 1989. Not to say that it’s a bad film, of course—there are some genuinely funny moments, there’s real chemistry between stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, and the supporting cast does incredible work—but its reliance on clichés ultimately makes it hard to watch more than once (unless, of course, you’re a die-hard genre freak, in which case, have at it).
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David O. Russlell’s I Heart Huckabees is a film that examines two opposing viewpoints of the universe: a) all is one, and b) all is nothing. Inexplicably, its final answer is both.
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Each week we plan on bringing you the best of the freshest trailers floating out there on the internets. We scrounge the deep recesses of the net, looking for films you’ve never heard of, but we also toss in the cinematic pop-culture fix of the moment (ala Iron Man) because, well, sometimes that stuff is just cool. And really, you need to see what Iron Man looks like, even if you don’t know who the heck he is. He’s a dude in a freakin’ iron suit that blows stuff up! Who doesn’t want to see that?

On principle I like to watch trailers in HD, the highest quality I can get. I realize many of you don’t care about that, so I’m embedding YouTube versions for those with, shall we say, ‘less refined tastes.’ Those who desire their trailers as pristine as possible get links to the HD versions.

Edit: I can’t get the embedded YouTube clips to work, so for now you’ll just have to deal with the HD versions.

Son of Rambow

Son of Rambow
For all my talk of Iron Man, there is another super hero movie that I instantly fell in love with the moment I saw the trailer. Son of Rambow was an audience favorite at Sundance this year, and it deals with two boys coming of age while they film their own sequel to the blood-drenched franchise that put Sly on the map. The trailer radiates charm, and you owe it to yourself to watch it. My number one pick this week.

Son of Rambow in HD

Hit the jump for my other picks this week (including Iron Man).
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Our weekly glance at what is hitting the shelves of Blockbuster (and your Netflix queue) and whether or not you should care.

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  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
  Don’t let the longest title in the history of cinema put you off too much, but don’t expect Tombstone levels of gun-fightingness either. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, Ben’s little brother (who pulled down an Oscar nom for his performance), turn on the slow burn, but if you have the patience its all worth the wait. A good choice if you liked Eastwood’s Unforgiven or Costner’s Dances With Wolves.

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  Across the Universe

  Across the Universe
  One of the most polarizing films of the year. Bizarre, unique, artsy, energetic, simultaneously fascinating and annoying…not your typical musical by any stretch of the imagination. A weak story is tied together with a few decades worth of Beatles music. You’ll like this if you liked…well, no, there’s nothing quite like this. You’re on your own here.

• 
  Elizabeth: The Golden Age

  Elizabeth: The Golden Age
  The sequel to Elizabeth, Cate Blanchet snagged an Oscar nomination for her reprisal as the warrior queen of England. Sumptuous costumes, lush scenery, and the ever-magnificent Cate chewing up the scenery around her, The Golden Age is an easy choice for the period loving film watcher. Pick this one up if you liked….wait for it….wait for it……..Elizabeth!

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  The Jane Austen Book Club

  The Jane Austen Book Club
  No need to be terrified of the estrogen laced title, men, the women in your life will love you for bringing this one home. And, to be fair, there is plenty here for the males to appreciate. A chick flick that rises above the limitations of its genre, Book Club stews together all of Austen’s classic works in a modern setting and doesn’t bore (too much). You should know whether or not you’ll like this one or not just from the title.

Hit the jump for the rest of the weeks releases…
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I wanted to like this film. I really did. A musical set only to the Beatles and directed by the queen of visual eye-candy, Julie Taymor (who also directed the sumptuous if flawed Titus)? How could one not root for it out of the starting gate? Alas, a few molehills quickly became mountains for me and led to a general sense of boredom throughout the 131 minute run time.
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Andrew Dominick’s screen adaptation of Ron Hansen’s non-fiction novel of the same title, is wrought with lush imagery and strong performances. This slow, methodically paced journey through the lives of richly drawn characters will no doubt take home more than one award in the upcoming awards season.
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The Disney Channel is frequently cited as an example of how low the House of Mouse has sunk since Walt’s death, and perhaps rightfully so—but from a strictly business perspective, you can’t really argue with results. In the last decade or so, the cable network (together with the equally unjustified Radio Disney) has done for “tweens” what their animated pictures and “Disney Afternoon” of years past did for younger children: turned them into a loyal army who will nag their parents into buying them anything. Say what you will, but it’s an expertly conceived formula: establish your tween heartthrobs, convince kids they should care, then release as many films and music albums featuring them as you possibly can, all carefully designed to separate parents from their paychecks. It should come as no surprise that this is a commercially successful endeavor, but it also turns out to be artistically successful much more often than one would expect. It’s provided us with the surprisingly smart cartoon Kim Possible, the criminally underrated sitcom Phil of the Future, and, most recently, the aptly-titled High School Musical.
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