Trailer Tracker: J. Edgar, Premium Rush and More

The first day of fall breaks forth in just a few days, so it is more than fitting to get a whiff of awards season which is not that far down the road. Our featured trailer this week is J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood’s biopic about the controversial founder of the FBI, to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Then, Joseph Gordon-Levitt shows off his action chops and biking skills in Premium Rush. Four wonderful British thespians, including Judie Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nigh and Tom Wilkinson then collaborate on the international coming-of-(old)-age tale The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Last off comes 13, an action thriller with Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Michael Shannon and 50 Cent about an underground world of gambling where humans, not chips or cards, are the means to the end. We always know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em – it’s Trailer Tracker.

                     
New clips this week:
J. Edgar
Premium Rush
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
13

J. Edgar

After what were largely deemed as “lesser” Eastwood films in recent years with Changeling, Invictus and Hereafter, the 81-year-old master again receives a swelling of early awards buzz for J. Edgar, a sweeping look at the 50-year span that the infamous politician and lawman spent as head of the FBI. The iconic figure is portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio as he continues his line of work with some of this generation’s finest filmmakers. The real J. Edgar was renowned for his possible hidden homosexuality, but the trailer focuses on how he managed to lead for such a lengthy tenure - namely how he bent the rules to do so. 

The Social Network’s Armie Hammer also stars as Clyde Tolson, Hoover’s right-hand man and Naomi Watts plays his secretary, Helen Gandy. This film will be an acting showcase to be certain, as we can see from a reasonably unfamiliar-looking DiCaprio both as a young upstart and aging veteran. If the involvement of these particular actors and Eastwood as director is not enough, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk) penned the screenplay, so expect plenty of snappy dialogue to go along with the political intrigue and cover-ups. J. Edgar will debut at AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Nov. 3 before going wide on Nov. 11. Awards season is just getting started, folks.

Premium Rush

Having personally seen a bike messenger get obliterated by a taxi, I can tell you (especially in New York City) the profession must require lightning-quick reflexes and nerves of steel. Joseph Gordon-Levitt one-ups things in Premium Rush as a dedicated professional-BMX-capable deliverydude who finds himself with a package that attracts some looks from the wrong people, specifically a dirty cop played by Michael Shannon. Written and directed by David Koepp (who has scribed such classics as Jurassic Park and Spider-Man), the trailer promises style out the proverbial wazoo: slow-mo, fast-mo, multi-person-mo, you name it. The premise itself is inherently silly, but the stunts look fiery and Gordon-Levitt is a charismatic enough lead in non-energized fare, so just imagine what we could see here.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Don’t skip over this one just because of the odd name, “Marigold Hotel” is packed with upcoming and proven talent, boasts a beautiful foreign setting in India and carries what appears to be a witty and nostalgic screenplay – take your grandma! Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel takes the role of the pseudo-proprietor of a somewhat dilapidated Indian hotel to which four seniors (Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nigh and Judie Dench) venture as a means to escape their slowly dwindling lives (in a happy way though). John Madden of the Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love directs a screenplay from new scribe and London native Ol Parker. This movie is by no means my cup of tea, but the talent is simply too strong to write off completely. “Exotic” lands in theatres in March of next year.

13

Distressingly set — or apparently semi-released — for a 2010 debut, 13 is a remake of 13 Tzameti, oddly by the same director, Gela Babluani (10 times fast anyone?). Sam Riley plays the leading young gent with Ray Winstone, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, 50 Cent and Alexander Skarsgard support this stylish retelling. Riley leads as a naïve young man who partakes in a seemingly sumptuous cash grab, only to find it is a high stakes game of Russian Roulette, whereby the bullets are not blanks. Most of the most famous leads seem to inhabit minor roles and as a film nerd who's been hearing about 13 for too long, I love the premise yet I fear the outcome.