So, I was talking to a friend, and he goes, “Have you seen the trailer for the new Tron movie?”

And I was all like, “What?”

And he was all like, “Huh?”

But yeah…he wasn’t making stuff up. Twenty-seven years after the first Tron film — the one that introduced the entire Pac-Man Generation to heavy-handed Christian allegory — we’re getting a sequel. Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel. The original Tron – while it certainly had its detractors — was a tour de force of visual pizzazz. It was light on story and heavy on flash; in other words, it was perfect for what it was. How could you possibly improve on it or build on it in any meaningful way?

It was also light on CGI. And yes, I admit that that stuff has its place, but it’s become something of a crutch to Hollywood in the last decade or so (dull storyline? add some CGI robot fights!). And I’m sorry to say that this particular trailer is filled with mediocre computer graphics. Maybe they’ll look better on the big screen; and they’ll certainly be more impressive in IMAX 3-D (!!!)…but really, when it’s no challenge whatsoever to make your movie look like it’s taking place inside a computer, what’s the point?

Then again, Tron was pretty much the awesomest thing ever, and I definitely won’t miss the sequel. Hmmm…I’m torn. Watch the video and tell me what you think.

HD goodness available here!

A mockumentary about a terrible Christian pop group? This one seems strangely appropriate for the site, since many of our contributors are (or have been) associated with the Christian music industry (not me of course — I’m cool!!!). It started as a series of shorts on FunnyOrDie.com (you can watch them all here) written by longtime Christian music journalist Dan Ewald (interesting interview here), and proved popular enough that he decided to expand it into a feature-length film. Personally, I found the shorts more cringe-inducing than funny (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind you), but the film looks extremely promising (see a surprisingly nuanced scene here), and reportedly has previewed to standing ovations both at Christian music festivals and at more “secular” (if you’ll pardon the expression) venues. If nothing else it sports an impressive cast, with alumni of Knocked Up, The Sara Silverman Program, The Office, Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm. (And, of course, it’s good to see that Victoria Jackson can still do things besides thump her Bible on Fox News.)

Anyway, here’s the trailer. I look forward to hearing what people think of it.

I wanted to highlight one of the DVD releases this week that needs a bit more love. Tarsem Singh’s The Fall has been dividing some critics, but everyone appears to agree that it is a visual feast. Singh (who’s last film, The Cell, was also an eye-candy feast) spent over 4 years filming The Fall in 18 different countries and financed it with his own money. Roger Ebert had a wonderful interview with the director a few months ago; it’s a great read, detailing Tarsem’s process and how he accomplished some of the incredible visuals sans the use of CGI:

Tarsem made millions as a director of commercials, and gladly spent most of them to make his movie. “Everybody in advertising,” he was telling me, “always says one day they’ll make a great movie with their own money, blah, blah, blah. They never do it. David Fincher, one of my producers, told me, ‘You happen to be the fool that has done it’.”

I hope to have my own review up in a few days, but in the meantime, peruse Alexander Coleman’s review or Daniel Getahun’s and drink in the trailer. Follow the links to the trailer and extended clips in glorious QuickTime. Gosh, this film is gorgeous.

LARGER VERSIONS
The Fall – DVD Trailer
Clip – The First
Clip – Wedding Crashers

But strangely enough, this new trailer for Milk, Gus Van Sant’s biopic of the famed politician, has me excited. To put it mildly, I think this may be one of the best movie trailers I’ve ever seen. Having done some trailer editing, I’ve experienced firsthand how hard it is to achieve the right balance of tension while trying to preview a story AND keep people interested. This trailer achieves all three, it is perfectly edited and designed, features just enough plot material, and flows seamlessly for the entire running time. The performances look to be electrifying as well; I’m sure that helps a lot.

It will be interested to see how Van Sant uses his unique style with this material and if he’ll be successful at evoking strong feelings of compassion both for people who believe in Milk’s cause and those who do not. Paranoid Park (Van Sant’s last film) was a huge success in making a decidedly niche character extremely relatable … perhaps this will be the same.

Turn the volume up and check out the trailer High Definition at Quicktime or in YouTube below.

The new teaser for Saw V is the third trailer I’ve seen in a year in which the main musical centerpiece is an ironically used piece of religious music. The first trailer was Hitman which used Schubert’s Ave Maria, the second Alien vs. Predator: Requiem using Silent Night, and now this new horror film using the classic hymn of the Christian faith Be Thou My Vision.

This has to be the most blatantly offensive of them all. Although I’m a Christian, I’m certainly not one to get caught up in the boycotts that emanate so often from the orifices of the Christian Right; but this is just wrong. It may not be illegal, but its one of the most distasteful, disrespectful, and intentionally offensive pieces of advertising I’ve ever seen. Shame on Lionsgate.

Sorry if my angst shows, but I really don’t think we need another one of these films. Don’t we have enough already? Every time I see a new preview for one of these, I’m reminded of something Frank Darabont (director of The Mist) said in an interview last year:

The torture-porn thing is pretty distasteful. I’m just not into it. Horror unfortunately tends to go in these cycles where it puts itself back in this ghetto. I just don’t find anything amusing about people getting tortured. I wish we weren’t making these movies. I think it degrades the culture. I think it diminishes the human spirit.

Truer words, Frank. Truer words.

Here’s the link to the trailer at YouTube — it doesn’t quite deserve the HD treatment

Depending on how much of an animation fan you are, you may know all or none of the following: In the winter of 2003, Walt Disney Pictures released Treasure Planet, a $140 million beast that flopped harder than some sort of interglactic whale. Ever the short-sighted buffoons (I mean, heck, Lilo and Stitch earned nearly four times its own budget at the box office, that same year!), Disney execs decided that hand-drawn animation was a thing of the past, and cancelled all projects that weren’t near completion, effectively ending the “series” that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had begun in 1937. Additionally, Treasure Planet’s co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements were fired, even though they had singlehandedly saved Disney animation fourteen years prior with The Little Mermaid.

When Disney merged with Pixar, though, this all changed, and the Pixar execs who had joined the Disney board insisted that Disney bring back traditional animation. (I mean, heck, they’re Disney. It’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s sad that the voice of reason in this had to come from the world’s CG pioneers, but really not all that surprising, when you think about it.) The first project that resulted? The Princess and the Frog, a fairytale set in New Orleans during the Jazz Age. Do I have to say that again? New Orleans. During the Jazz Age. Um, could this project get any more awesome? Actually yeah, it can, since Musker and Clements have returned to direct it.

Um…wow. I’m a geek. Anyway, a teaser trailer was finally released the other day, and while it’s not overwhelming, I think it shows some promise. We’re not looking at Lion King-quality animation, but it looks very good, and I’m sure they’ll clean it up further for the final release. I’d say it has a 50/50 chance of not being a great film, but it’s still awesome beyond belief that’s it’s being made at all.

Enough talk…feast your eyes on the awesomeness. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

If you have read it, the trailer is jam-packed with glimpses of key plot points. The transformation of Dr. Manhattan opens the trailer and from there … phew … its enough to make a rabid fanboy go wild. Some of it is pretty dang hair-raising. Me? Yeah. I’m excited about this one, but the trailer just didn’t jive with my reading of the graphic novel. Perhaps it looks too … hip? I imagined a grittier version of Watchman and have a feeling this sleek and stylish Hollywood production might mute the pathos and profundity of the novel.

But this is just a teaser. Check it out in glorious HD over at Quicktime or crappy YouTube down below:

Check out the trailer in HD over at Moviefone.

Or just watch in in glorious YouTube fuzzy vision. Your call.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I don’t normally read screenplays before I see a film, but I’ve read the first draft for this and it was fantastic. I can’t wait to see what Fincher has in store this November. This may just be the best film of 2008.

Check out the trailer in beautiful HD over at Quicktime!

YouTube below. HD available here, but not necessary in the least.

Looks like a mixed bag. It could be a masterpiece, or it could be a load of crap. Download the HD trailer and decide for yourself (YouTube provided below but not recommended).

The Fall

]]> http://www.moviezeal.com/trailer-park-the-fall/feed/ 7 http://www.moviezeal.com/trailer-park-the-legend-of-zelda/ http://www.moviezeal.com/trailer-park-the-legend-of-zelda/#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:00:08 +0000 Evan Derrick http://www.moviezeal.com/2008/04/01/trailer-park-the-legend-of-zelda/ At long last, the ivy clad champion of Hyrule is getting his debut on the silver screen. Is it up to snuff? Could this, finally, be the video game adaptation to legitimize the genre that Uwe Boll has singlehandedly destroyed? Looks epic, looks faithful to the source, looks to have a large enough budget. Chime in with your thoughts.

Here it is

WALL•E

Pixar is the King Midas of Hollywood right now. Although this trailer is a bit old (well, its a week old, but those of you addicted to the internets have likely already seen it), it needs mention here. I admit that neither Finding Nemo, Cars, or Ratatouille initially piqued my film geek zeal (although they were all great to one extent or another), but this trailer serves up the fix. Revealing more story than any of the previous teasers have, I am already lining up to purchase my ticket.

WALL•E in High Definition (choose Trailer 3 from the options)

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk
Hollywood’s last go at this franchise was one of the worst examples of faulty director choice I’ve ever seen (except, perhaps, John Woo for Windtalkers, but that’s another matter). Ang Lee is an amazing talent behind the camera, but whatever studio exec thought he was a good choice to helm a comic book film was smoking some bad crack that day. If the following trailer for the new reboot is any indication, Louis Leterrier (The Transporter franchise, Unleashed) was the right director for the job. In other changes, Edward Norton replaces Eric Bana, and I am all for the switch. Bana was always a little too rough and rugged to be Bruce Banner, but Norton is the perfect fit.

Feast on the new green giant here (in cruddy Flash as well as HD)

Hancock Teaser

Hancock
This trailer has been around for a few weeks, but I could not pass up the opportunity to share it on here with those of you who haven’t seen it (and for those of you who have, you should really watch it again). Peter Berg (The Kingdom, The Rundown) is one of my favorite working directors, and while he has never made anything earth shattering, his films never fail to entertain and delight me. This latest from him, which opens this summer, stars Will Smith as a…well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you. Just watch the trailer.

Watch the Trailer in HD! Do it!

And here is the YouTube version, if you must.

Coraline
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors and I instantly fell in love with Coraline when I read it years ago. It’s a children’s fairy tale with bite: not too scary for a child of 10, but not tame enough to remove all fears. The director of The Nightmare Before Christmas tackles this one, with Teri Hatcher and Dakota Fanning doing the voices. And its in 3D! (not the trailer, but the film) Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy….

The Happening

The Happening
The phrase “By the Director of Lady in the Water” does not tend to fill one with an immediate sense of confidence. Rest assured, the marketing team behind M. Night’s latest will not be using that as a tag line, and despite his sullied track record of late, this one is shaping up to look really, really good. Perhaps a return to form for the Sixth Sense auteur? One can only hope (just don’t cast yourself as a writer who will save the world, ok M. Night? OK??!?!?!).

The Happening in glorious HD

• Click here to view the embedded video.

Doomsday

Doomsday
This one may not appeal to many of you, but I find it fascinating. Director Neil Marshall’s previous effort was The Descent, which I consider to be one of the top 10 horror films of the last decade. From the trailer, Doomsday appears to be a combination of 28 Days Later, the Mad Max trilogy, The Running Man, and Gladiator, and if you think I’m exaggerating even in the slightest, see for yourself.

Doomsday in the highest-of-High Definition

It was a sad day for America a few weeks ago when Meet the Spartans sprung to No. 1 at the box office proving that the American film audience may not have a sense of humor anymore. Well, what do you know … here comes another one: Superhero Movie. This time a young punk with special abilities (and a grandfather played by … wait for it … wait for it … Leslie Nielsen [how I long for the days of Airplane!]) dons a suit resembling the mutant lovechild of The Green Hornet and Spiderman in order to go around the city as the victim of some unfunny slapstick. I can’t wait.

Next up is a Brit-flick from Lionsgate starring Jason Statham of Crank fame looking like a mix of The Ladykillers and Inside Man. The Bank Job will be sure to draw out the testosterone is American males because the trailer promises explosions, women, and cool British accents. Nevertheless, it looks like a better use of a Friday night than Superhero Movie.

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).

Iron Man

Iron Man
In spite of all the personal problems he’s had, I really like Robert Downey Jr. And although I have only a passing knowledge of the Iron Man canon, I can just sense that he’s perfect for the role. Top it off with director Jon Favreau who just gets stuff like this and you’ve got a winning combination. “Yeah, I can fly.” Sweet…

Iron Man in HD

Defiance

Defiance
Daniel Craig is awesome. Daniel Craig as James Bond? Awesomer. Daniel Craig killing Nazis? Testosterone meltdown (taken a step further, Daniel Craig killing Nazis as James Bond would be akin to a nuclear machismo supernova, but a fanboy can only dream so much). Ed Zwick, directing king of period action flicks (Glory and The Last Samurai), tackles the untold true story of Jews who fought back during WWII, and he puts stone-faced Craig front and center. Looks like it can’t fail.

Defiance in HD