Trailer Hitch
By Jim Van Nest
June 8, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The Devil Wears Prada – Opens June 30th
I honestly have to say, I'm not sure what I just watched. The Devil Wears Prada is a new comedy starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci. I could be wrong, but it seems like the trailer is nothing more than the first couple minutes of the movie. A seemingly small-town girl (Hathaway) is in New York applying for a job at Runway, an apparently huge fashion magazine. She seems to act, look, do, say and wear everything wrong. But, in the middle of her "interview", word comes in that the magazine's editor (Streep) is coming in early, which sends the entire office into a tizzy. Streep interviews Hathaway herself and the trailer ends. One is left to assume that she'll get the job and that's where the comedy will come from as she tries to find her way in the world of high fashion and difficult bosses. For me, Meryl Streep and comedy are two words that, in the same sentence, frighten me a bit, but I could see this one being mildly amusing.
The Lady in the Water – Opens July 21st
I know that The Lady in the Water has been done on these pages before, but that was the teaser and it wasn't by me. Being a HUGE M. Night fan, I have to touch on this one. The new trailer shows much more of the movie and definitely gets the creepiness of the film across. We see what appears to be an apartment complex and its maintenance man, the severely underrated Paul Giamatti. He's apparently hearing splashing and other odd noises coming from the pool at night. The problem is, no one's in it. Where the teaser just gives you an idea of what's to come, the trailer shows the Lady coming out of the water (Night's newest favorite, Bryce Dallas Howard) and we see that she's not really the scary part. It's those that may follow that are the dangerous ones. The trailer does a good job of showing different scenes without giving away much. I mean, I saw all the stuff (twice), and it didn't seem to give away anything more than what we already know. Strange lady in the water, probably a mermaid or something, and we don't want to meet her kin too much. For me, this is a must-see...and I think for people who have grown tired of Night's style, this trailer might be enough to even get them back in the seats.
Little Miss Sunshine – Opens July 26th
Little Miss Sunshine is the story of a seven-year-old girl, who has a chance to go to California to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Her family decides to take her there. Seems like a simple enough story, right? Well, when you add in a brother who has decided he's not going to talk anymore, a mother who feels it's best to discuss everything with her daughter (and I mean everything), a grandpa who doesn't seem to have a problem expressing himself and a suicidal, gay uncle, you have a recipe for what might be the funniest film that no one will actually go see this year. The cast is outstanding. Greg Kinnear is the little girl's father, Toni Collette, her mother. Alan Arkin is the grandpa and fresh off the success of The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Over the Hedge, Steve Carell plays the uncle. The majority of the trailer takes place around the dinner table, when Olive, the Little Miss Sunshine wannabe, asks her uncle about his accident. Her mom quickly points out he tried to kill himself. And he quickly points out it was because he fell in love with a male student who didn't love him back. The neatest thing about this movie is that it seems like, great cast aside, the movie will be carried by seven-year-old Abigail Breslin. And if the trailer is any indication, she looks to be up to the challenge.
Barnyard – Opens July 28th
Okay, I have two small boys and to put it nicely, I get my fill of Nickelodeon. From Nick Studios comes Barnyard, another in a long line of computer-animated films trying to hone in on territory pretty much owned by Pixar and DreamWorks. The story behind this one is that when the humans aren't around, the barnyard critters will get down. Filled with several little gags, from a cow jumping into a pond screaming "Man-abunga" to a trio of cows sneaking into a sleeping boy's bedroom and shoving him to the floor, cheering on their "boy-tipping." This looks to be a film that kids will love and adults will...well, not love. It also seems to me like Nick might be hoping for another Jimmy Neutron situation. A situation where the movie spawns the TV show, and the home videos, and the toys, and the... Suffice it to say, this one looks harmless enough, but I don't think the boys at Pixar need to be too worried about Nick Studios taking any of their audience.
The Wicker Man – Opens September 1st
I could be wrong, but I think Nic Cage will be starring in every film for the next 12 months. I've already done World Trade Center and Ghost Rider. To complete his trilogy, the trailer for The Wicker Man is out. The trailer starts off innocently enough, showing a cop, Cage, pulling over a station wagon driven by a mother with her daughter in the back seat. When the girl throws her doll out of the car and Cage goes to retrieve it, a semi comes out of nowhere and demolishes the car. However, the girl seems to be unharmed. Cage then gets a letter from a mother claiming to have a missing daughter (the same girl he saw in the car) and warning him not to believe anything he sees or hears. His search for this girl takes him to a Village-esque town where nothing is what it seems. You really can't tell what is going on, but it definitely has some supernatural stuff going down and you have to wonder who or what this little girl is. Co-starring Leelee Sobieski, the always-wonderful Ellen Burstyn and Deadwood's favorite rich widow, Molly Parker, The Wicker Man seems to have a good premise going, but will be totally defined by how it ends. For Nic's sake, I hope it's a good one. For mine, I'll wait to see some reviews and then probably for DVD.
All the King's Men – Opens September 22nd
Wow! Listen to this cast. Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini and Patricia Clarkson. Counting TV movies, this is the fourth version of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about power and corruption. Sean Penn plays Willie Stark, an amazingly charismatic politician in Louisiana. His speeches are incredible and the people love him. However, once he becomes governor, his lust for power overcomes his idealism and "they" begin to try to take him down. Penn looks like he gives another phenomenal performance and Anthony Hopkins looks to be great as well as the judge who won't just go along with the governor's ideas.