Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
November 4, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The Flying Scissors – Opens November 12th
The Flying Scissors gets props for originality at least. Taking a page from Christopher Guest's mockumentary playbook, the flick takes a super close look into the world of competitive Rock, Paper, Scissors. A world, in fact, that exists. (And we're talking at the global level, too). Even so, I wonder whether the humor in this one actually lasts. I mean really, how many jokes can you make at the expense of competitive RSP (as Rock, Paper, Scissors enthusiasts have shorthanded it)?
You've got the girlfriend who can't wrap her head around her boyfriend's passion for RSP, another dude who sustains an RSP injury and may have to switch to his left hand, and other like scenarios. The comedy here seems to be spread pretty thin, and I can't imagine the comedy stretches any further than the silliness we're hit with in the trailer.
Grade: D
Cracks – Opens December 4th (U.K.)/ TBA (U.S.)
Female teen jealousy. Doesn't get any more angsty than that! If you're a fan, Cracks is your movie. (No U.S. release date has been set, though I have a feeling this one will make its way across the pond after bowing in its English homeland). Its story concerns a clique of students within an elite boarding school in the 1930s who do nothing short of bowing down to the feet of their swimming instructor, Miss G (Eva Green). Their dynamic takes a turn when a new, beautiful Spanish girl, Fiamma (Maria Valverde), is inserted into the mix, which draws Miss G's attention away from the girls. (This would be where the looming jealousy aspect comes into play).
Cinematically, the movie looks beautiful. Its cinematographer, John Mathieson, previously worked on films like August Rush, Hannibal and Gladiator. His involvement in this picture in general should come at no surprise, since he's been in bed with the Scott family (Ridley, Tony and the others) for a number of years. And Ridley's daughter, Jordan, directed Cracks.
I liked the frequent aerial shots of divers plunging into water, and wonder how they play into possible themes of the movie. Their motions are so fluid and practiced, which clash neatly with the girls' unrehearsed dramatics and emotionally charged bickering.
Grade: B+
The Wolfman – Opens February 10th, 2010
Playing more like an extended teaser, the new "trailer" for Universal's The Wolfman disappoints in the way that heavily CGI'd movies tend to disappoint. Obviously, it's difficult to get a half-man, half-wolf to look "real" without the aid of a computer. But, I would have hoped for the producers behind this one to follow in the footsteps of a franchise like the new Batman in creating characters with a bit more authenticity. (I'm not talking about something along the lines of Teen Wolf. I think it safe to assume we've progressed from that era).
I don't know about you, but CGI usually takes me out of a particular movie, and I have a feeling the effects in The Wolfman would do exactly that to me.
It's been a long time coming for The Wolfman. Universal has notoriously flip-flopped over its release date more than John Kerry ever did with his political platform back in the day. Originally scheduled for a November 12, 2008 release, Wolfman's bow date then changed another four times for reshoots and marketing purposes. (Of course, this can never be good). For now, we can expect to see it in a few short months.
Grade: C
Green Zone – Opens March 12th, 2010
With the trailer to Green Zone opening on a misplaced, albeit powerful looking Matt Damon being scooped up by a foreign enemy – complete with quick edits and cinema verite camera techniques – you'd almost for certain put good money on the fact that you're watching footage from the next Bourne movie. His captor even asks: "Who are you." To which Damon replies: "Roy Miller." Wha??!
It's Roy Miller because it isn't Jason Bourne 4, but Green Zone, a movie based on the 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Besides a familiar visual style, star (Damon) and director (Paul Greengrass), Bourne and Green Zone's similarities basically end there.
Action movies just may be my least favorite of the lot, but this project excites me. Its main story seems to revolve around uncovering the mystery of this dude named Magellan before war escalates in Iraq's Green Zone. Alongside Damon, who I've really grown to like over the past couple years, are the fantastic Amy Ryan (who needs to work her way back onto The Office pronto), the reliable Greg Kinnear and Brendan Gleeson, who was basically perfect as Colin Farrell's sidekick in the 2008 black comedy In Bruges. I'd likely go see all of these actors carrying separate movies; so to see them together here is pretty awesome.
Grade: A-
How to Train Your Dragon – Opens March 26th, 2010
Maybe animation aficionado Kim Hollis should weigh in with her two cents on this one, but DreamWorks – obviously behind the Shrek franchise and one of my all-time favorite animated movies, Kung Fu Panda – appears to have digressed with How to Train Your Dragon. I just didn't find much to like about it. To me, it all felt rather awkward, right down to the casting choice to bring in Jay Baruchel to voice lead character (and Viking teenager) Hiccup. He just didn't sound right to me.
The project, based on the 2003 children's book of the same name by Brit Cressida Cowell, is set in a mythical world where vikings are raised to battle dragons. When Hiccup is of age to be included in dragon training, Hiccup encounters and unexpectedly befriends an injured dragon, flipping his worldviews – and what he's been taught – upside down.
Grade: D+