Trailer Roundup: The Watch, Killer Joe, Fat Kid Rules The World & More!

It’s time for my favorite part of the year. What time is that you might ask? Well, it’s the time of year when we get the previews for all the summer and fall movies coming out for the year. But why do you get excited just for summer and fall movies, you might ask? Well, simply put, they’re just better. Summer films are meant to entertain, while the fall fare is all Oscar bait and leftover blockbusters that didn’t make the cut so you’re either getting A-grade quality or C-grade cheesiness, both of which are very enjoyable.

In this edition of Trailer Roundup, trailers for what might win Best Picture at the Oscars or Worst Picture at the Razzies will share the stage to be consumed for your film-going pleasures.

The Watch (RedBand)

Formerly known as Neighborhood Watch, the film has gone through some major marketing changes due to some recent current events.  The film follows an ‘urbanite’ who moves to a new community and joins the Neighborhood Watch, who soon find out that they are in the midst of an alien invasion. It looked hilarious back before the marketing switch, and it looks even better now that they are focusing on the aliens. – SupaScoot

Stars: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Billy Crudup, Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte, and R. Lee Ermey

Release Date: July 27, 2012

Bait

In this R-rated gorefest from unknown director Kimble Rendall, Bait 3D follows a group of tsunami survivors who are trapped in a supermarket. And not because of the water. No, there’s a 12-foot killer shark lurking in the surrounding waters, and the only chance of survival they have is waiting for the water levels to die down. Does this sound stupid? Yes. Is the trailer stupid? Yes. But is it going to be a shark-filled, gore-filled, dead-person-filled, cheesy-dialouge-filled piece of awesome shit? Absolutely.

Stars: Phoebe Tonkin, Alex Russell, Xavier Samuel, Julian McMahon, Sharni Vinson, Cariba Heine, and Lincoln Lewis

Release Date: September 6th, 2012

Argo

I think we can all agree that Ben Affleck is a better director than he is an actor. So his newest film, which he directed I might add, looks pretty great. I love movies about movies, and that’s what Argo is… kind of. According to IMDb: As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. That risky plan you might ask? Make a fake movie. Argo looks to be the most entertaining war story of the year.

Stars: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Michael Parks, Chris Messina, Victor Garber, Bryan Cranston, Kyle Chandler, Taylor Schilling, Michael Cassidy, and Clea DuVall

Release Date: October 12th, 2012

The Possession

It seems like we’ve just got the preview for this year’s biggest stinker. Produced by Sam Raimi of all people, The Possession follows a little girl who purchases a mysterious antique box at a local garage sale. Unbeknownst to her, the box is home to a malevolent spirit that possess her body, and it’s up to her parents to stop it. The problem isn’t that it looks poorly made, it just looks so derivative. It’s even “Based on a True Story”. I can’t wait until the day Hollywood runs out of true stories to tell.

Stars: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Davenport, Natasha Calis, Grant Snow, Agam Darshi, Quinn Lord, and (not even joking around here) Matisyahu

Release Date: August 31st, 2012

Killer Joe

Alright, everyone. This is where shit gets serious. Matthew McConaghuey in an NC-17 movie directed by William Friedkin based on a play by Tracy Letts? Count me the hell in. Oh yeah, and the movie co-stars Emile Hirsch and Juno Temple, two of the best young actors working in Hollywood. After accumulating a hefty debt, a young man hires a hit man to kill his evil mother who has a $50,000 life insurance plan on her. Thing is, the hit man is a maniacal wacko who instead accepts the boy’s sister’s hand in marriage instead of monetary payment. Things get a little crazy, apparently.

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, and Thomas Haden Church

Release Date: June 29th, 2o12

Fat Kid Rules The World (RedBand)

In Fat Kid Rules The World, Troy is a morbidly obese and depressed teenager who, after attempting suicide, is saved by street performer and teenage drug addict Marcus. The two form a bond and start a punk band together, bringing Troy both confidence and fame as he realizes his impact on the world. But when Marcus’ drug addiction becomes a problem, it’s up to Troy to help him live to see another day. From the trailer, it seems like this will be a great quirky coming-of-age film that will appeal to all demographics.

Stars: Jacob Wysocki, Matt O’Leary, Billy Campbell, Sean Donovan, Jeffrey Doornbos, Vivan Dugre, Julian Gavilanes, Russell Hodgkinson, and Matthew Lillard

Release Date: TBD

The Host

Stephenie Meyer adaptations have a reputation for being… complete and total shit. Much like the adaptations of Nicholas Sparks, moviegoers appreciate none-too-much the sappiness and artificial fluff that comes with a love triangle between a human and a vampire and a werewolf. So, it’s rather surprising that the teaser trailer for Meyers’ most recent adaptation, The Host, looks halfway not shitty. Starring Saoirse Ronan, the film is about a dystopian future where there is no crime, no hate, and no conflict because of a parasitic alien soul that invades peoples’ bodies… I think.

Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt, Frances Fisher, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, and Scott Lawrence

Release Date: March 29th, 2013

The We and the I

Michel Gondry understands the human condition better than a psychologist, so it’s fitting that he would make a film about a bunch of seniors during their last bus ride home from school. The premise is fascinating and seems to me like a film that would be adapted into a play or vice versa. From the trailer, it seems like the portrayal of these kids is extremely accurate, and I’m quite excited to see how their different personalities play against one another in a film that takes place in such a confined space.

Stars: Meghan Murphy, Alex Barrios, Brandon Diaz, Joe Mele, Lady Chen Carrasco, Patricia Jade Persaud, Jonathan Scott Worrell, and Raymond Rios

Release Date: TBD

Beasts of the Southern Wild

This trailer for the Sundance Film Festival favorite looks to be equal parts The Tree of Life and Where the Wild Things Are, except possibly even more magical than those two combined. The story follows a six-year-old named Hushpuppy who goes in search of her mother after learning of her father’s deteriorating health. Along the way, she meets a fascinating cast of characters who all teach her something about life. To be honest, this is possibly one of the most gorgeous trailers I’ve ever seen and I truly can’t wait to see this film.

Stars: Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Marilyn Barbarin, Jonshel Alexander, Kaliana Brower, Joseph Brown, and Nicholas Clark

Release Date: TBD

That does it for this edition of the Trailer Roundup!

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‘End of Watch’ Trailer Gives Cops the Shaky Cam Movie We’ve All Been Asking For

Shaky cam!!!

Jake Gyllenhaal is back on our radar with a new cop movie (Co-Starring Michael Peña, who is awesome in general by the way). It is a story told through dash cams, eyewitness phones and cameras, yada, yada, yada. It is supposed to be gritty and organic and realistic. Reality television, only not as corny right? I mean, it looks okay to be honest. As long as it does not come off as gimmicky as it sounds, it could be a good movie.

Plus is that Anna Kendrick? I’d watch a movie with her that’s not Twilight. And Natalie Martinez from Detroit 187? Yeah, I watch that, I need my Detective Sanchez fix.

Too bad they had to be like “from the writer of The Fast and the Furious.” Because that was possibly the worst dialogue for a movie not released direct to DVD. – “I smell…skanks. Why don’t you girls pack it up before I leave tread marks on your face.”

You know what’s worse than that line? Having Michelle Rodriguez deliver it. So yeah…we’ll see about this movie.

Grizzly Review: 30 Minutes or Less

Up for a movie about one of the most ingenious criminal plans of all time? Then get in there and see 30 Minutes or Less, but I must warn you; Shut your brain off along with your cell phone before the movie starts, because it’s a long profanity laden ride. The dialogue definitely drives the movie, but not in the Tarantino way. Think about it, you’ve got Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson spouting off one liners all movie long! But come to think of it none of them were particularly memorable. Plus everything Danny McBride says is funny so it’s hard to keep track.

So I’ll give you  rundown and the things that drive our characters to the madness they get up to in the movie. First off there is Nick played by Jeese Eisenberg, who is fairly unremarkable in this movie. As Dr. Kronner said he’s basically a poor man’s Michael Cera which I’m pretty sure is impossible but you understand the comparison. Being a poor man’s anything is terrible, especially when it involves Michael Cera…. but we’re off topic so let’s continue. Nick is an out of highschool pizza delivery guy living the dream as his forbidden girlfriend Kate is about to go onto bigger and better things. Why is she forbidden? Because she is his best friend Chet’s twin sister. And she is played in all of her hotness by Dilshad Vadsaria. I’ve tried and cannot make that name sound attractive though.

Dilshad Vadsaria as Kate

Chet is played awkwardly but hilariously by Aziz Ansari. After a best friend blowout occurs between the two, Nick spills the beans about Kate and the two-part no longer friends… for now. That’s when Nick falls into the twisted web of retarded plans that belong to Dwayne. (Danny McBride)

The guys buying their rape kit… I mean bank robbing kit!

I’m going to tell you what Dwayne’s master plan is because it’s just that effin’ awesome. It won’t take away from the movie, unless you considered something this stupid as a spoiler. Dwayne and his best friend Travis (Swardson) are morons who blow up watermelons with C4 for fun and one of the old Friday the 13th movies in 3D in their spare time. Dwayne’s father, the Major (Fred Ward), is understandably hateful towards his son who is definitely over forty and a complete bum still living with him. But then Dwayne has an idea…. or one he expands on from a stripper starting. One way to get his dad’s lotto winnings is to have him killed. He then plans to have his father killed, but to pay the hitman (Michael Pena) he has to force someone to rob a bank for him. Once his father is dead and the hitman paid off then Dwayne and Travis can start a tanning salon that will be the perfect front for a prostitution ring. Way to dream big guy. Though in Dwayne’s defense the Tanny Glover is ingenious! The rest of the movie involves Nick’s quest to rob a bank and get off the exploding vest Dwayne and Travis put on him to do their bidding.

I won’t spoil anymore of the movie, but I’ll say it’s definitely worth a watch. Nothing extremely memorable but if you’ve got nothing going on during a Tuesday night and a couple friends are willing to go with you then by all means go for it. Low expectations will do wonders for you going into this one. I give it 2.5 out of 5 bears. Nothing great, but definitely worth some laughs.

Grizzly Review: The Lincoln Lawyer

I know a lot of people are feeling burnt out on law dramas and cops shows as the networks flood the airwaves with mediocre programming, but for fans of the genre, let me recommend The Lincoln Lawyer. It felt like a throw back to the better court-room dramas of the early 90’s mixed with the solid writing of some of cable’s best current ongoing series.

I know I’m a week behind on this one, I was talked into Sucker Punch last weekend, so I just got to see this last night. The Lincoln Lawyer is based on a 2005 book of the same name. Written by Michael Connelly, this was the first of 4 books starring the character of Mickey Haller, who is played by Matthew McConaughey in the movie. Here is the trailer:

As I’m sure you just noticed in the trailer, this isn’t just about a court case, but a lot more than that. It’s an ethical dilemma that puts our protagonist in the proverbial ‘Rock and a Hard Place’. The movie’s pacing is consistent and the story progresses nicely, feeling neither rushed, nor as if it’s dragging. Much of the movie you are lead to believe one outcome will result from the events on-screen, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong about said outcome. It’s increasingly rare anymore that I can be surprised by a movie, so just when I thought I had it figured out, they threw in a well-timed twist.

The movie’s antagonist is played by Ryan Phillippe, who looks the part of the spoiled rich kid and successfully pulls off a convincing psychopath. He is a good foil to McConaughey’s lawyer, and they have an impressive on-screen chemistry.

William H. Macy plays Mickey’s friend Frank, an investigator who looks into clients stories for the defense. People who know Macy, but don’t watch Shameless may be off put by his disheveled look in here, but he is, as usual, at the top of his game in here.

We also see Marisa Tomei as Mickey’s ex-wife. A rare divorced couple that actually gets along, which is made even rarer by their professions. Mickey is defense attorney, but Tomei’s character works at the D.A.’s office. They are held close by the daughter they share.

After that the cast of the movie is full of under-rated character actors, some of which don’t even make their way into the trailer. Chief among them is one of TV’s best actors, star of AMC’s Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston. He appears in a smaller role, but still makes an impact. In addition to Cranston, we also see someone from the other side of the Television quality spectrum with Bones star Michaela Conlin. The 2 TV stars play Police Detectives investigating a case that involves Mickey. The cast rounds out with performances from Michael Pena, John Leguizamo, and Josh Lucas.

Then there is the comic relief: Eric Etebari.

In the midst of the trial, when Phillippe is being accused of Attempted Rape and Murder, this dude takes the stand and proceeds to tell us about what a Ladies’ Man he is…with hookers.

Everything he says is AWESOME.

This guy reminded me of “Man in Wig” from Drive Angry. He was so ridiculous we couldn’t stop laughing, but somehow it didn’t ruin the flow of the movie.

This movie pays off in almost every aspect. It’s been quite some time since I’d seen a legal thriller I liked this much. I highly recommend this movie. I give it a very strong 3.5 Bears.

 

Grizzly Review: Battle: Los Angeles

I’m a huge fan of movies involving extra terrestrials, [Ed. – ET for Life!] and there here has been a whole slew of them in the past year. None though stood out to me, or left a real lasting impression. I either disliked the aliens in them, or the cast of human characters trying to survive against them. Out of District 9, Monsters, and Skyline – I really only took a liking to District 9. Monsters didn’t show me enough aliens and Skyline had too many idiotic humans in it. But then I watched Battle LA.

Battle: Los Angeles was basically a simple storyline with excellent visuals. But being simple didn’t by any means make it a terrible movie. By simple I mean “Aliens are here killing people. We had better kick their asses.” which makes up pretty much 85% of the movie, but all the fire fights between the marines and aliens never wore thin for me. It was spread out and the scenes in between gave chances (albeit sparse) for character development. They also gave a nice overview of the characters at the beginning.

The cast was pretty rounded, very well put together. You get to see Ramon Rodriguez in a not so annoying role as a young commanding officer, as opposed to his vomit-inducing portrayal of Leo Spitz in the crap pile that was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena were good, though both felt under-utilized. To their credit though, as civilians they didn’t bog the movie down at all and their characters actually enhanced scenes.

Even Michelle Rodriguez took a departure from her normal role as “Female Hardass Character who Yells a lot” in to a more realistic Air Force intel specialist who can fire a rifle. Still no ‘Damsel in Distress’, but something different for her. And then our hero of the movie, Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart was solid and believable as Marine Corp Staff Sargent Nantz, who was actually on his way out of the Corps when the alien aggressors launched their invasion. It’s his experience that gets our cast of characters moving.

The cast also includes a great young ensemble of actors as the grunts, including Cory Hardrict (Gran Turino), Noel Fisher (Terriers), and Will Rothhaar (Jack Frost). Hell, we even had child actor Bryce Cass, who was better than twenty Jake Lloyd‘s could have ever been!

Now I’m expecting a lot of people to ‘rabble rabble‘ about how cliché and melodramatic Eckhart’s couple of speeches to the troops are, but personally I had no problem with them. In terms of melodrama Independence Day still takes the cake on that one. And while I may feel the different about Battle: Los Angeles in about ten years, right now, I thought it was well done and heartfelt.

The movie was shot in a familiar way, the closest thing I can think of being Black Hawk Down, in terms of the urban warfare and house-to-house fighting. The camera utilized the ever-popular ‘shaky sense of urgency’ during the battle scenes, making you feel like you were in the middle of a firefight, actually watching the aliens landing in L.A. And their drone ships hovering all about the war-torn landscape of Los Angeles gave me goosebumps.

The aliens themselves overall were done pretty well. You only catch glimpses of them at first as they ambush our brave marines and seem nearly unkillable. After a certain point though, a weakness is obviously discovered, and then it’s game on.

The aliens reasoning for attacking Earth (which I won’t spoil) may initially sound stupid, but makes perfect sense once you think about it. If anyone out there is a fan of military movies, and alien invasions then this movie is the best of both worlds for you. Good pacing, great cast, and realistic looking effects.

It’s also very refreshing to see it win the weekend box office up against a variety of animated kids films and a Red Riding Hood-Twilight hybrid with a $36 million rake in. (Box Office Mojo)

Overall I give this movie a 4 out 5 Bears