Trailer Round-Up – October 29, 2016

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veoPig2LJDU[/embed] Three-time Academy Award winner Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) is the director of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, a movie about 19-year old private Billy Lynn, who returns home after a harrowing tour in Iraq. Lee shot the film in an ultra high frame rate that's never been used before, in order to dramatize war in a previously unseen way. Almost all of the quotes by critics shown in the trailer talk about the revolutionary technology on display (even though overall the reviews for the movie itself so far have been mixed), but since Youtube has a frame rate limit on its videos, the trailer itself makes it appear like any other movie. With a director like Ang Lee at the helm, this is certainly one to look out for, but whether or not the new technology was worth it is something most people will probably only find out once they see the movie for themselves - which is a quite the gamble. Rules Don't Apply [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW6HIUHkKPk[/embed] Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply, his first film as a director since 1998, follows aspiring young actress Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) and her ambitious young driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) as they struggle with the absurd eccentricities of wildly unpredictable billionaire Howard Hughes (Beatty). The final trailer is focused and straightforward, outlining the basic premises and giving us a glimpse at the eccentricities of Hughes. With a stellar cast and a legendary filmmaker at the helm (and starring), this is a no-brainer for film buffs - whether or not it will connect with a wide audience is less clear though. You can check out the first trailer here. Man Down [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-910So8UWM[/embed] Directed by Dito Montiel and written by Adam Simon, Man Down is a psychological thriller set in a savage post-apocalyptic North America, as former U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer (Shia LaBeouf), searches desperately for the whereabouts of his son, Jonathan, and wife, Natalie (Kate Mara), accompanied by his best friend (Jai Courtney) and a survivor (Clifton Collins, Jr.). While certainly a controversial celebrity figure, Shia LaBeouf has also made a name for himself as a very talented actor. What little we see of his performance is the best thing about the trailer for Man Down, which fails to communicate the post-apocalyptic setting suggested by the synopsis (for the most part, it looked like a pretty dull contemporary war movie). Split [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJXACd2zAx8[/embed] Although Kevin (James McAvoy) has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist (Betty Buckley), there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teen girls led by the willful, observant Casey (Taylor-Joy), Kevin reaches a war for survival among all those contained within him – as well as everyone around him – as the walls between his compartments shatter apart. M. Night Shyamalan in the director's chair invites as much excitement as it does caution - whatever he does, good or bad, is mostly guaranteed to at least be interesting/bizarre enough to be worth talking about. The premise behind Split seems like a fantastic opportunity for James McAvoy to flex his acting chops, but the questionable 'unlocking the full potential of your brain' science is a bit off-putting. The second trailer no longer banks on the surprise reveal of the multiple personalities, which, coupled with a few cheap tricks that undermine the tension and the creepy tone rather than build it, make it less effective than the first trailer. Still, Split looks like an interesting thriller, even if it by one of the most hit-and-miss directors of our time.