Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
October 22, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Let the Right One In – Opens October 24th
Vampire lovin' seems to be all the rage these days. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, chronicling the strange love affair between a teenage girl, Bella Swan, and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, lit the book industry by storm, and the first of an expected series of movies is due out next month. The same goes for HBO's True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, where the titular character, played by Anna Paquin, falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).
Here, though, the roles have been switched. In the Swedish film Let the Right One In, a relationship blossoms between a 12-year-old human boy, Oskar, and a 200-year-old vampire child, Eli.
And the results? Let's just say I'd bite (sorry, couldn't resist). The trailer is beautiful, with generous peeks into the film's gorgeous cinematography. It appears to be subtler in its storytelling, rather than being an irrelevant gore fest. The movie is based on a 2004 vampire fiction novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Grade: A-
Also expected to be released on this date: High School Musical 3: Senior Year; Saw V; Pride and Glory; Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D; The Changeling; Passengers; Roadside Romeo; Synecdoche, New York; I've Loved You So Long; Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom; Family Life; The Universe of Keith Haring
Transporter 3 – Opens November 26th
The Transporter franchise has become one of those things that just sells itself. It's Jason Statham. He's a professional "transporter." He runs a business of delivering packages without question. 'Nuff said. Here, it appears to be more of the same, where Frank Martin (Statham) is rigged to explode (courtesy of a bomb around his wrist) should he step more than 75 feet from his vehicle.
And that's really all you need to know. If you're a fan of quick cuts and lots of explosions, you'll find a lot to chew on here. To be honest, the trailer definitely is liberal in its sheer number of cuts, which gets to be a bit too much — especially in the final 30 seconds or so. Yet the action sequences are pretty entertaining, so this one gets by with a passing grade.
Grade: C-
Also expected to be released on this date: Four Christmases, Australia, Fanboys, Milk
Seven Pounds – Opens December 19th
It's December 19th, so we may as well release another Will Smith movie. For the third consecutive year, the actor will open one of his movies around the Christmas holiday (after The Pursuit of Happyness is 2006 and I Am Legend in 2007). This time it's Seven Pounds, a movie that looks like it carries about the same emotional weight as The Pursuit of Happyness (and as luck would have it, they both share a common director: Gabriele Muccino).
In Seven Pounds, Smith plays the boringly named Ben Thomas, an IRS agent with a hidden secret who sets sail on a journey of redemption, and consequently, forever changes the lives of seven complete strangers.
I don't know, I watched it a couple of times and never really could get into it. All's I remember is Smith hitting it off with Rosario Dawson's character, and dramatically running through the rain one too many times. Woody Harrelson and Michael Ealy also star.
Grade: C
Also expected to be released on this date: Yes Man, The Tale of Despereaux, Nothing But the Truth, The Wrestler, The Brothers Bloom
Defiance – Opens December 31st
So what's with Hitler pilfering this year's holiday season? Last week, I reviewed Tom Cruise's new one, Valkyrie, about a 1944 plot by German army officers to assassinate the baddy. This week? Defiance, the true story of three West Belarus brothers (Daniel Craig, Live Schreiber and Jamie Bell) who band together and escape the clutches of Nazis to fight back and rescue Jews. In total, the boys saved a total of 1,200 Jews and other refugees.
I'm more excited about seeing Quantum of Solace, yet this Daniel Craig feature looks decent as well. And luckily for Craig, Paramount may have bumped the release date back a few weeks, but it still falls in this calendar year, so it's still in contention for 2008 Oscars.
Grade: B
Also expected to be released on this date: None
Push – Opens February 6, 2009
Two questions: Why is this futuristic, sci-fi thriller being released a week before Valentine's Day and not in the summer season? And, when did little Dakota Fanning graduate from movies like Charlotte's Web? This absurd-looking movie, Push, is poised to bank on Heroes' celebrity by centering on a group of young American expatriates who have extraordinary abilities. Hiding from a U.S government agency known as The Division, the telekinetic and telepathic individuals must figure out a way to join their differing talents into one to escape the agency forever.
Though the movie features people with remarkable abilities, the trailer is anything but. Too much cheap dialogue and snazzy, yet uninspired visuals make this just one more movie I have zero interest in seeing.
Grade: D
Also expected to be released on this date: He's Just Not That Into You, The Pink Panther 2, The Wayan Bros. Comedy