Trailer Hitch

By Eric Hughes

August 27, 2008

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Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: Another ping pong movie hits the screens after 2007's Balls of Fury, Jim Carrey says "yes" to a Liar Liar-like comedy and Nicolas Cage looks to stop the apocalypse.

Ping Pong Playa – Opens September 5thWait, a film starring a stable of Asian actors that isn't related in any way to martial arts? Yes, you've read correctly. IFC Films ventures into seemingly brand new territory with a comedy from writer-director Jessica Yu centering around one of the most renowned sports played by Asians and Asian-Americans: ping pong.

In Ping Pong Playa, Jimmy Tsai stars as Christopher "C-Dub" Wang, the supposed black sheep of a family whose entire world revolves around the sport. One day, Christopher is forced to learn the benefits of ping pong after taking over as instructor of a class that his mother taught before getting injured in a car wreck. He then puts his family's ping pong history on the line by entering in a national tournament in place of his ping pong champion brother, who like his mother, cannot participate because of the accident.

As for the trailer itself, it really didn't strike me as all that funny. It was entirely too slapstick for my tastes, and the story appears to be just as formulaic as it sounds. This is the overused plot of a slacker son who proves he's really a winner when it counts, but in new clothing.

Grade: D
Also expected to be released on this date: Bangkok Dangerous, Everybody Wants to Be Italian, Walking on Dead Fish, Mister Foe, Save Me, Un Secret




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Forever Strong – Opens September 26th

Based on a true story, Forever Strong is a sports film (high in dramatics, as we've seen before), though one whose subject admittedly is something a bit uncommon. It's rugby. You know, that sport that's kinda catching on as of late, especially among the muscle jocks, yet one that the common man still has no idea how to play. Well, maybe Forever Strong can serve as your intro (as it would mine, too).

Here, Sean Faris plays lead high school rugby player Rick Penning, who loses his spot on an Arizona rubgy union team when bad behavior forces him to move up to Salt Lake City. There, he joins a renowned high school team, which eventually advances into the national championships to face off against his former team (coached by the boy's father, played by Neal McDonough, no less). Other cast mates include Gary Cole as coach of the team in Salt Lake, Arielle Kebbel as Rick's love interest and Sean Astin as his social worker.

Grade: B-
Also expected to be released on this date: Eagle Eye, Miracle at St. Anna, Nights in Rodanthe, The Lucky Ones, Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot, Choke, Smother, Humboldt County, Blindness, Obscene

The Brothers Bloom – Opens October 24th

Reminiscent of the sleek and uber cool men (and their style) previously seen in the Ocean's Eleven series, The Brothers Bloom pairs up Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody as two of the world's greatest con men who come together for one last great gig. This time it's an heiress named Penelope (Rachel Weisz), whom the boys want to take for a trip around the world, while at the same time conning her out of her precious $2.5 million. Along the way, however, Brody's character, Bloom, falls in love with Penelope, obviously complicating matters.

The trailer lays it all out for you, too (actually a little bit too much, to be quite honest). The setup, the locations, the players, the con. It's basically all there for the taking. Like seeing the entire feature squeezed down into no more than two minutes (save for the ending, of course). The Brothers Bloom sneak peek is a classic example of when the trailer just gives too much away.

Grade: C+
Also expected to be released on this date: High School Musical 3: Senior Year; Saw V; Crossing Over; Pride and Glory; The Changeling; Passengers; Roadside Romeo; Synecdoche, New York; I've Loved You So Long; Family Life


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