As the second official month of blockbuster season rolls around, so does a mixed slate of new clips including a handful that are among the best-looking of the year so far and a couple that incite grimaces as quickly as the weather does profuse sweating. Our featured trailer this week is the “leaked” red band trailer for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (more on that disclaimer later), which stands as one of the most unique and enticing instances of marketing in recent memory.
Following up that Stieg Larsson adaptation is the dramedy 50/50 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in his second cancer-themed comedy in the last few years after Funny People, as well as Robert Rodriguez’s fourth entry in the popular children’s fantasy series, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. Finally at number four and five this week is the Rachel Weisz-starring The Whistleblower, which is based on a true story, and Happy Feet 2, which reunites most of the cast from the 2006 Oscar-winner with the addition of that extra dimension. There are plenty of reasons to tap those toes and dance – it’s Trailer Tracker.
New clips this week:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
50/50
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
The Whistleblower
Happy Feet 2
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
With just the original novel in a series of three, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, selling a mere 30 million copies (hint, sarcasm) and the Swedish film adaptation becoming a foreign hit domestically, Hollywood interest was inevitable in the late Stieg Larsson’s literary property. The bright light that followed the instantaneous chagrin of many fans following the announcement was the involvement of Oscar-nominee David Fincher, much of his film team, Daniel Craig in the male lead role and a worthwhile slate of international talent. Sporting the usual excuse that this was not a remake but rather a re-adaptation from the source material, this film still had its detractors; that is until the “international teaser trailer” was “leaked.”
A barrage of quick-cut chronological
shots of the film entombed in a thundering cover of Led Zeppelin’s "The
Immigrant Song" by Trent Reznor and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the trailer
shows little but is utterly transfixing in its bold coolness. Boasting the
tagline “The Feel Bad Movie of Christmas,” Sony appears to be going all out and
not opting for the safe route in their marketing strategy. Back to the leak, here
are the facts: the clip on YouTube has not been pulled, Sony has issued no
statement, the clip is a perfect focus for a supposed “cam job,” with no talking
from “the audience,” heads in the way, etc. Going by the trailer itself and the
way this rollout looks to be building, I would not put it by Sony to pull this
trick out of their proverbial hat. Regardless of origin, I can’t wait for the
full-length trailer and the film itself. Even though I loved the original
“Dragon Tattoo,” what’s the wrong in having two masterful versions to love?
50/50
What’s your chance of
liking this movie? I’d say about 80 percent, actually, with Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick and others starring in this dramedy
from The Wackness director Jonathon
Levine. Following the struggles of a twenty-something (Gordon-Levitt) in his
struggle with cancer and how he opts to conquer the disease with the help of his friends, heartfelt thy name is 50/50
(hopefully). Previously titled I’m with
Cancer, it’s not to say these types of movies aren’t hard sells to
audiences looking for some simple larfs and not real-life situations, but the
cast and the witty trailer have to win over at least some pundits. Rogen
previously starred opposite Adam Sandler in Judd Apatow’s similarly-themed Funny People, which though a rare flop
for the mega-producer and filmmaker, I found that to be one of the more
rewarding comedies of the last few years. Let’s hope this offering can yield
similar results.
Though I was thirteen when
the original Spy Kids hit theatres
(more or less the age group for which the film was targeted) and even though I
have grown to adore the director of the trilogy and many others (Robert
Rodriguez that is), I can’t stand this property on any level but kid-friendly
crap. Now after an eight-year hiatus the gang is back along with some fresh
faces including Jessica Alba and I couldn’t be less excited by this car-wreck
of a trailer. Switching between gritty, gory grindhouse fare and flamboyant
pseudo-spy flicks is quite a feat I suppose so I will simply be avoiding the multiplexes
on August 19. My only hope is that this
is a financial success only for the reason that the studio will be pleased
enough to give Rodriguez the green light on more projects of his choice like Machete and please, please
The Whistleblower
Continuing her stint in
indie territory, Rachael Weisz returns with the political thriller The Whistleblower, a true-to-life
account of cop Kathryn Bolkovac who travels to post-war Bosnia to work for the
U.N., only to uncover a human trafficking scandal that threatens everyone
involved in that state of tenuous political peace. The Whistleblower premiered at TIFF to positive results and these
types of realistic, plot-driven offerings in the vein of Syriana and Breach, to
name a few, can be very rewarding even if not in the traditional sense. Weisz
is a tremendously talented actress and she can easily cement a film such as
this which calls on her abilities to raise intentionally stark material. If
this movie creeps into limited release and to a theatre near me, I may make the
trip.
Happy Feet 2
From one of the least
deserving Best Animated Feature Oscar winners to a 3-D sequel, Happy Feet 2 offers the second
cringe-inducing trailer of the week with penguins dancing to third-tier hip-hop
(give me Mr. Popper’s Penguins any day).
The original 2006 film was decent enough but often offered an uneasy blend of mature
darkness, politics, random song and dance sequences and your normal animated
plot devices. If the teaser is any indication, the formula has not deviated and
we’re in for another 90 minutes of braying flightless egg-layers. If this is the case, we’ll
have yet another sequel that does nothing to correct the shortcomings of the
original.