Every week countless trailers go unnoticed or unreported. Trailer’s are an art form in itself, and can be just as entertaining, if not sometimes more, than the actual films, so they deserve their own recognition. That’s why every week we sort through them for you guys, and put the ones we feel you should watch here in our Trailer Roundup.
Continue reading Trailer Roundup: LSD Trips, Wall Punching, China Treachery, & Much More
This is Grizzly Bomb’s Trailer Round for March the 5th in the year of 2013…
[tabgroup][tab title=”The Company You Keep”]
This new film centers around Jim Grant (Robert Redford), a former member of a radical anti Vietnam War group known as the Weather Underground. Though he has successfully remained off the FBI grid for thirty years as an Albany attorney, Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) aggressively pursues answers from Grant and ultimately stirs up a giant mess involving several members of the WU. The only way for Grant to keep everything he loves is to clear his name.
Both produced and directed by Robert Redford, this thriller is based upon the 2003 novel of the same title written by Neil Gordon.
Director: Robert Redford
Stars: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Sam Elliott, Jackie Evancho, Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Susan Sarandon, and Anna Kendrick.
Release Date: Limited U.S. release April 2013
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We have already seen the first trailer for Danny Boyles new film Trance, but with the release of its red band counter part we are exposed to a deeper grit. Simon (James McAvoy) partners up with the wrong crowd to steal a piece of precious art. Sure enough, the plan goes awry, and Simon gets knicked only to have forgotten everything. Insert the attractive hypnotherapist to find out where the painting went, and you’ve got yourself a nice little action film filled with deception and intrigue.
The new red band trailer shows the psychological affects that this venture will have on Simon. There will be a dance between reality and fiction. That is, unless people can really talk with only half of their head left. Call me presumptuous, but I assumed this is a dream sequence of sorts.
Scarlett Johansson, Melanie Thierry, Eva Green and Zoe Saldana were considered for the role of Elizabeth which ultimately went to Rosario Dawson.
Director: Danny Boyle
Stars: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel, Tuppence Middleton, Wehab Sheikh, Danny Sapani, and Lee Nicholas Harris.
Release Date: March 27, 2013 UK
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All you have to say is Twilight’s Stephanie Meyer and you have got yourself a box office success. The name alone will lead to some kind of financial prosperity. So, of course, this movie had to be made. It doesn’t look all that terrible, but it certainly hasn’t wowed me with some kind of new concept.
In this typical science fiction action film, a parasitic alien race has attached itself to the human race. A resistance has been established and is linked to the aliens by Melanie, an individual who has partnered with her host (Wanda) rather than succumb to it.
Director: Andrew Niccol
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Marcus Lyle Brown, William Hurt, Frances Fisher, Boyd Holbrook, and Chandler Canterbury.
Release Date: March 29, 2013
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I love it when the same movie is repackaged and sold as if it is something new. I am, of course, referring to the comedy duo of Wilson and Vaughn. It’s not like this isn’t an acceptable practice in Hollywood. We have seen it time and time again, and the audience is truly okay with it. Consider it a wonderful chemistry that can be enjoyed in countless scenarios even though plot points rarely deviate.
The trailer itself points out that this is the mental Hunger Games against a bunch of genius kids for a hand full of jobs. So let’s just call it that. This is NOT Wedding Crashers II: Crashing Harder!
Director: Shawn Levy
Stars: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, John Goodman, Rose Byrne, Dylan O’Brien, Chuti Tiu, JoAnna Garcia, Swisher, Jessica Szohr, Josh Gad, and B.J. Novak.
Release Date: June 7, 2013
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I was surprised when the word “Byzantium” did not come up as requiring spell check. It turns out that it is an ancient Greek city.
Byzantium is the name of the guesthouse in which the mother, daughter vampire duo portrayed by Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan take refuge. The story unfolds when Eleanor (Ronan) reveals her secret to Frank (Caleb Landry Jones).
Director: Neil Jordan
Stars: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Jonny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones, Same Riley, Tom Hollander, Thure Lindhardt, Christine Marzano, and Daniel Mays.
Release Date: 2013 U.S.
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They’ve been trying to make a Y: The Last Man movie for a while now. I remember hearing movie plans back when the comic was still being published, and wondered myself who would be playing who, and of course, asked the ultimate question of movie vs TV series. The story starts out fairly simple; All males on Earth die, except Yorick Brown, and one male Capuchin Monkey. The new world, entirely run by women, starts to slowly realize that the human race will die out unless something is done, and Yorick, being the only man around, runs into some trouble just by having that lucky ol’ Y chromosome. That’s putting it lightly, anyway. The direction of how to handle such a beloved, intricate story, and how to bring it to the screen, small or big, is one that seems to have eluded major studios for a while now, despite the project coming very nearly close to being made in 2007.
via [Geek]
Back in 2007, Vaughn and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth began work on adapting Y: The Last Man to film. Suburbia director DJ Caruso was brought on to helm the project in 2010; however, he eventually left due to a disagreement with the studio on how to handle it (he wanted a trilogy; they wanted one film). We’ve not heard much on the project since his departure.
We all know by now that didn’t end up happening, and for good reason. That argument over just how much, and how long the adaptation should be, ended up being pretty crucial.
via [screenrant]
The premise itself is easy to see as a feature film, but the sheer scope of the comic’s run has been a divisive issue.
Known for his expansive and self-contained storylines, Vaughan’s account of Yorick’s travels spanned 60 issues – a story that Caruso remained unconvinced would be best told in a single feature film, which was New Line’s wish. During Caruso’s time on the project four different screenplays were drafted, but ultimately the lack of agreement led to the director and studio parting ways.
Rather than remaining bitter, Caruso moved on to other projects, and explained that his disagreements with New Line went much farther than simple script issues. Unsurprisingly, Caruso wasn’t even sure that Y: The Last Man could be properly adapted into a two-hour film:
I didn’t think that you could take Yorick’s story and put it in to a two-hour movie and do it justice. That was sort of the difference. I think that New Line, working with Warner Bros. in their new relationship, just felt reluctant thinking that we can’t leave this thing open. If you are familiar with the comic book, you know it’s just mind-boggling. If you look at what my buddy Frank Darabont did with ‘The Walking Dead,’ you think […] “is that the best thing for it? Because there is just so much great stuff, so no, I’m not involved with that anymore.”
Here’s where the normal person would suggest it should be a tv miniseries. In a perfect world, of course it should. In a perfect world, I’d love it to be a full fledged show, with each issue adapted into an episode. But in this world, where brilliant comics like The Walking Dead are taken and turned into melodramatic shitfests like its AMC counterpart, I’d rather Y stay off my teevee, and let someone competent, with a single vision, give us his adaptation of the story. That way, if it’s shitty, it’s only 2 hours of my life wasted.
I’m not a fan of Shia LaBeouf, but I’m not a hater either. I have no strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I do think he was miscast as Yorick, and I’m glad that he won’t be playing him. When I think about that old project, LaBeouf, and factor in that disagreement over length, I can see why the project fell apart. The good news is, it’s been picked back up, and the new script is rumored to actually be good. It’s being written by former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia, who you may recognize as the writers for Syfy Channel’s current series Warehouse 13. This bodes well, because it shows they know how to handle science fiction concepts, as well as an apocalyptic atmosphere, as any fan of Jericho will tell you.
So it seems like the script is good, which is good to hear. As much as I loved Y, not every single little subplot and side character is needed. I can see the entire story being trimmed to just Yorick, Ampersand, Yorick’s girlfriend, 355, Dr. Allison Mann, (Jesus I just got that pun of a last name, what’s wrong with me?), and have Alter as the villain of the film. You could tighten the whole story up, and make it a very simple, 2-3 hour, “Man on the Road” story. You just gotta narrow the vision down to one solid concept, and to me, that concept is the development of the unique relationship between 355 and Yorick. Make that part work, and all the rest will fall into place.
The one deciding factor would also be the ending, which I’m not adverse at all to being changed. Actually, let me clarify, not the ending ending, (because that was beautiful and perfect), just the explanation for what killed all the males. As it was, it took me to about the absolute far end of my suspension of disbelief and tolerance for pseudo-scientific, quasi-new age, bullshit theory. I won’t ruin it for you, but I will warn you that it’s disappointing. Then again, how could it not be? It was certainly unique, and better than “Ohhh crrraaazy virus!”, or what have you. However, when it comes to a film adaptation, a simpler, more easy to digest theory, and ending revelation, such as virus, or a combination of virus and the book’s ending, would suffice.
All in all, this is a script I’d love to get my hands on, and a project I’d love to see actually come to fruition, if only to see how it’s handled. I don’t expect it to be perfect, I just want it to be good on its own terms. Basically what I’m saying is folks, go in expecting a kick in the balls, and if the movie slaps you in the face, you’ve won!
Also, If I had to cast Yorick now? Ryan Reynolds. That’s right. I can feel your hate. IT MAKES ME STRONGER.
So it’s time once again for next year’s Oscar class to begin the long journey off palm-pressing and baby-kissing in order to get enough critical swagger to garner a nomination. Cannes film festival has kicked off and Movie Drawer has tipped us off to some of the early front-runners. Let’s dissect:
This adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s generation defining novel looks like it will definitely be a serious contender. It has the right mix of young stars like Tron 2.0‘s Garret Hedlund, a four-language speaking indie Director in Walter Salles, veteran character actors like Terrance Howard, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi and of course the all important period element, see old cars and Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss. I’m excited to see this movie as it’s one I can get away with on date night but will still have all the sex drugs and rock and roll you can handle. The biggest problem I see is Kristen Stewart. I applaud her for broadening her horizons and early reports are that she does a fine job but unfortunately like the Manning’s of the NFL she will always have the “Stewart Face” no matter how well she does.
Next up is another period piece based on a novel…
Lawless used to be called “The Wettest County in the World” which was the name of the novel that it is based on but it got Hollywooded up a bit on the way as the producers quickly realized they needed a name that captured the violence of the story and that people would easily remember. This has another great ensemble cast including Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy who will be the hottest thing since sliced toast after The Dark Knight Rises and Guy Pearce who has begun to relish the bad guy role. The only potential stick in the spoke is the lead character being played by Shia LaBeouf. I don’t have anything against Shia personally but I don’t know if he has the depth needed to play a complicated tough guy like Jack Bondurant. Either way I’ve been excited for this movie to drop for a long time now.
Well you can forget about this next one as an Oscar nominee unless it’s in the foreign category because it’s so very French.
Here is the modern tale of a cross-dressing man who wants to become a woman. I guess the twist is that he is in a heterosexual relationship but is still trying to become a woman. It looks pretty compelling and for the lead actor’s sake it’s too bad that it isn’t an American film because cross-dressing drama is Oscar Gold stateside.
Another French film has been garnering a lot of buzz apparently…
I guess this is on of those cases of “you gotta be there to see it” as the trailer doesn’t give away a whole lot except that it’s about aging relationships and the sanity of a crotchety old man.
One more foreign film being heralded as “Scotland’s Full Monty”…
No subtitles on this one but you might need them as the scotch accent is thicker than the guy who tries to sell you the lawn seed. This seems like the classic feel good story of a neer-do-well that does good against the forces of classism. You may remember Director Ken Loach from such films as… well you porbably won’t remember Ken Loach from anything you’ve seen unless you are into the indie circuit but he is a talented and accomplished filmmaker who has surely produced a gem here.
That’s the early rub from Cannes so pick up your wine glasses, turn on your public radio and look forward to enjoying these “indie” films in your local art house not too long from now.
After the disgraceful, garbage juice-bloated monstrosity that was Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Bay returned to his roots with a “Less talk and more blow shit up” philosophy that roped me right in. Transformers: Dark of the Moon should have been the most enjoyable of the franchise for a lot of Transformers fan. I love, love, LOVED the first movie and the introduction into the Michael Bay Transformersverse, but with Dark of the Moon we were able to dispense with the pleasantries and have an all out Autobot-Decepticon brawl that essentially leveled Chicago and left the Lincoln memorial busted up like so much rubble. The movie had everything I loved about the first one, with less of what we were subjected to in Revenge of the Fallen. Not to mention my favorite addition of all with ‘Sentinel Prime’, voiced by the man, the myth, the Vulcan: Leonard Nimoy.
Now, I was under the impression that the 3rd Transformers movie was the end of the road for Michael Bay and company because that’s what was said, but there was no effin’ way that Paramount was dropping the exploding money generator that is the Transformers franchise, so a part 4 was inevitable. The only question was who will star in it and who will direct it.
With Shia supposedly not coming back for a fourth hurrah, we were fed the rumor that has not been heard from again about Jason Statham starring. Personally I don’t think there should be any humans. I’m ready for a Transformers movie with only Transformers starring in it. You know it’ll never happen but a guy can dream, right?
The next big question was who could possibly replace a genius like Michael Bay? Well pretty much anyone who can make stuff blowing up on-screen look impressive is my answer. Give me McG, give me Roland Emmerich. The list could go on for a little bit. But with Dark of the Moon I was completely used to Bay’s popcorn movie, action directing style so you won’t hear me complaining if he returns, which it certainly sounds like is happening. Worst Previews:
Rumors started flying that a fourth film will soon happen, since Paramount Pictures will never give up such a lucrative franchise. And now comes word from Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner that the company has been in active discussions with Paramount, Steven Spielberg and director Michael Bay to develop “Transformers 4.”
The goal is to make an announcement before the end of the year, so a decision will be made soon. And not only that, but now IGN is reporting that there may be a Transformers 4 and 5 being shot back to back if it all comes to fruition. Color me super happy-excited!
Variety is now reporting that not only is another film being planned, but the studio is considering shooting a fourth and fifth installment back-to-back.“Nothing is set in stone, but screenwriter Ehren Kruger is said to have an idea for the next installments that the studio is high on, and has only begun engaging with writers,”
Shia LaBeouf will not be back, but those rumors about Jason Statham taking over the franchise? The action star is being considered. And according to Variety, Bay very well might be directing these films as well (and not just exec-producing), despite all his past talk about being done after three.
Can Bay truly pass on a franchise whose last movie grossed over a billion dollars? Hell naw man! If Shia is smart he’ll do a couple of passion projects before gearing up for another ride with the robots in disguise.
Grizzly Bomb 