Trailer Hitch

By Eric Hughes

May 6, 2009

They're obviously not cheering for her hairstyle.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: Francis Ford Coppola returns to the movies, Alec Baldwin plays one slick attorney and Meryl Streep bakes a pie.

Tetro – Opens June 11th

I know I'm supposed to like this because it's Francis Ford Coppola. But Tetro is a muddled mess. Black and white in my book is almost always gimmicky. And the movie's trailer hardly hints at what this thing is really about, other than a brother who threatens to expose the secrets of his family's history with a story he's written (which may or may not, as the preview tells us, have an ending).

Welcome back from the vineyards, Francis Ford. But this movie just doesn't do it for me.

Grade: D
Also expected to be released on this date: None

My Sister's Keeper – Opens June 26th

First, the facts: The trailer to My Sister's Keeper is quite good. Pairing its images with Vega 4's "Life is Beautiful" proves to be a stellar combination. I don't remember blubbering while reading Jodi Picoult's original novel. Yet the discovery of slight wetness at the corners of my eyes at the end of the adaptation's preview has me thinking the movie will undoubtedly get to me.

The book, published in 2004, is about a young girl (Abigail Breslin) who hires an attorney (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents for the rights to her body. Genetically engineered through in vitro fertilization, Anna no longer wants to give blood, bone marrow and other parts to her sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who has leukemia. The catalyst for Anna's decision is the news that she must donate one of her kidneys to potentially save her sister.

What's interesting about the trailer is the novel's main story – Anna suing her parents – appears to be a B-story at best in the adaptation. Even so, what's presented here is strong and very powerful.

Grade: A-
Also expected to be released on this date: Cheri, The Hurt Locker

Adam – Opens July 29th

If you're in the mood for puckery sweet fiction, head over to Apple to view the trailer for Adam, an Olympus Pictures production about a young man (Hugh Dancy) with Asperger's Syndrome who attempts to do what he can to nab the woman of his dreams (Rose Byrne).

I'm warning you. Adam is destined to be the sweetest movie. Ever produced. Of all time. In the history of cinema. So many moments here where you take a step back and think, "aww." (Similar to, say, watching two baby golden retrievers fight nice in the backyard). The flick will surely make you leave the theater in a chipper mood.

Grade: C+
Also expected to be released on this date: None




Advertisement



Julie & Julia – August 7th

Word to the wise: Do not, under any circumstances, even think about going to see Julie & Julia on an empty stomach. You'll regret the decision instantly and waste two hours of your life feeling disappointingly unsatisfied.

The movie, based on Alex Prud'homme's autobiography of famed chef Julia Child and a memoir by Julie Powell, Julie & Julia is about a frustrated secretary (Amy Adams) who embarks on a year-long quest to cook all 500+ recipes in Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Simultaneously, the film covers Child's life in Paris in the '40s and '50s with her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci).

Julie & Julia isn't one of those movies I'd put on the calendar, but I'd consider renting it once it reaches DVD purely for the acting performance by Streep, who appears to have Child nailed down. Funnily enough, this is not the first time the actress has been in a movie where its leading ladies share a loose connection with one another, but never meet. (The other being the Academy Award-winning The Hours).

Grade: B
Also expected to be released on this date: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Shorts, When in Rome

Post Grad – Opens August 21st

Good god, the voiceover work at the end of Post Grad's trailer is completely unnecessary! So much so that I felt the need to address it before anything else here at the top of its write-up. Please, go watch the thing to hear what I'm talking about. The dude's voice doesn't match the moment at all. It's just plain jarring.

So points off for that, Fox Atomic.

Elsewise, Post Grad is nothing more than standard romcom fair. Here, Alexis Biedel plays a recent graduate from college who runs into trouble locking down her first job. While living at home with her eccentric family, she faces problems in choosing the right guy in addition to finding work, and yada yada yada.

The cast is good – Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch, Carol Burnett, Rodrigo Santoro, among others – but that's about all to get excited about.

Grade: C-
Also expected to be released on this date: Inglourious Basterds, Goose on the Loose


     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Friday, March 29, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.