But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is Trailer Tracker, where we at Player Affinity scour the internet for the best new clips. Breaking into the last month of summer we visit
Yogi Bear
Another week, another CGI/Live-action bastardization of a classic television show. Coming off of two "Alvin and the Chipmunk" features, we can also look forward to The Smurfs next year, all adaptations for which nobody asked. The voice talent is certainly promising with Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake as the titular bear and his companion Boo-Boo respectively, but if these types of films have shown us anything it is that the caliber of material constantly fails its leads. It also looks as if the immensely talented Anna Farris is again stuck in dreck when she deserves so much better. Why Hollywood insists on these CGI hybrids escapes me, but this clunky animation looks to be scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel. Oh, and did I mention it is in 3D?
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Now this is what I'm talking about. Old school, haunted-house fun with Guillermo del Toro in both the writer and producer seat. The last time he delved into this genre was back in 2007 when he served as producer for The Orphanage and that chiller was and still is one of the best "horror" films of the last 20 years. I rarely jump during scary films, and I take pleasure in chuckling to myself as everyone else screams around me. I certainly can’t remember the last time I jumped at a trailer, but the utterly creepy finale to this clip did just that. The only shame is we have to wait all the way until January.
Drive Angry
When was the last time we had a straight up action film in 3D? This medium seems to tilt more towards animated films and fantasy adventure than a shoot 'em up diversion. In fact, has there ever been one? But 2011 will see just that in Nicolas Cage’s Drive Angry, a revenge actioner which will join Dwayne Johnson’s Faster for a pair of car-centric man-on-a-mission films. Cage looks pissed and if he can bring his manic swagger to this flick then color me intrigued.
Trust
How many people know that Friends star David Schwimmer is now a director? Yup, in fact he directed one of the most underrated romantic comedies in recent memory with Run, Fatboy, Run starring Simon Pegg. Schwimmer gets decidedly more serious in Trust, which finds Clive Owen seeking revenge (guys seem to do this a lot recently) after his daughter is targeted online by a sexual predator. If you think this sounds like Owen’s Derailed, well, it’s because it kind of does. The premise sounds simplistic but let’s hope the cast which also includes Catherine Keener can make it work.
The Virginity Hit
Now here is an interesting movie. What would happen if your quest to lose your virginity was all captured on video? Well, hopefully not like The Virginity Hit which tells the disastrous tale of a guy named Matt who after screwing -- no pun intended -- up his chance with his girlfriend enlists the aid of his friends to help him do the deed. I was unable to find any information as to whether this is partly real footage or all fake (I tend to drift towards the latter camp), but what is more important is if they have anything new to say about a premise that has been done to death in recent years. The film looks like a long, fictitious episode of The Real World with actual high-school age kids.
