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Trailers

Trailer: Game Change

The first trailer has landed for the upcoming HBO movie about John McCain’s ill-fated recruitment of Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign.

I’m sure Julianne Moore will be fine but there is a small part of me that’s disappointed that Tina Fey isn’t playing Palin.

Game Change premieres on HBO on March 10th

> Game Change at HBO
> More on the 2008 US election at Wikipedia

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Trailers

Trailer: War Horse

War Horse is the upcoming Steven Spielberg film based on the 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo.

Set during World War I, it tells the story of a horse who ends up being sold into the army and serving both British and German forces in the battlefields of France.

After being turned into a hugely successful stage adaptation in 2007, Spielberg chose to direct it and the film stars David ThewlisBenedict CumberbatchJeremy IrvineEmily WatsonTom Hiddleston and Peter Mullan.

It’s released in the US on December 25th and in the United Kingdom on January 13th 2012.

(Quick fact: a key sequence was filmed just a few miles from where I’m typing this post)

> Official US site and UK site
> More about War Horse at Wikipedia

 

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Trailers

Trailer: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This is the latest trailer for David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which opens on December 21st.

<a href="http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-exclusive-trailer/2tbg0god?rt=ajax&#038;IID=1&#038;videoid=711ed3f0-7b20-9609-c37f-de9511616b9a&#038;autoplayvideo=true&#038;renderhtmlasattribute=false&#038;id=ux1_2_1&#038;src=v5:embed::" target="_new" title="The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Exclusive Trailer">Video: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo &#8211; Exclusive Trailer</a>

Note the electronic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and the digital cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth.

For some reason Sony have given the exclusive to MSN but if the above embed is giving you problems then just check it out at Apple Trailers or YouTube.

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Trailers

Spider-Man Trailers Side by Side

The trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has just been released and bears interesting comparison to the previous 2002 blockbuster version.

YouTube Doubler is a website that allows you to play two videos at the same time and compare them side-by-side.

The two Spider-Man trailers make an interesting case study as they reveal the similarities and differences of the respective films.

The 2002 trailer is snappier and has no problem featuring Peter Parker as Spider-Man, whereas as the 2012 one doesn’t really reveal the iconic suit until the very end in an extended POV epilogue, which appears to be a showcase for the film’s 3D visuals (the CGI looks like it needs to be refined).

Notice how the lengths are almost identical.

YouTube Doubler

For the record, I think the trailer for the 2002 film is much stronger, although it’s hard to fully judge until the new film comes out.

The Amazing Spider-Man is out on July 3rd 2012, just 9 days ahead of The Dark Knight Rises, which suggests Sony are pretty bullish about this film having a massive opening weekend.

> Watch the two trailers side by side at YouTube Doubler
> The Amazing Spider-Man official site
> More on the Spider-Man character at Wikipedia

Categories
News Trailers

Trailer: The Dark Knight Rises Teaser

The first teaser trailer for the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight Rises was officially released today.

It will be released on July 20th next year and as the film is currently shooting, there is only a couple of new bits of footage mixed in with clips from Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).

Interestingly, Warner Bros released it on the official Facebook page for the film (the official site links directly to it), which is a clever move as it allows them to track ‘likes’ and comments from fans, as opposed to an embedded trailer which merely tracks page views and plays.

Obviously this is one of the most anticipated films in years, so how does a studio like Warner Bros go about releasing the first teaser?

They decided to attach it to cinema prints of the latest Harry Potter film (thus tapping in to a huge audience) but part of the problem is that these days people just film it on their smart phone and upload it to YouTube.

That meant that although some got taken down, it wasn’t hard to see one on the popular video site and, if you were really keen, /Film even posted a detailed description.

The official trailer in HD finally dropped on Facebook at around 5pm London time and predictably was linked all over the place.

But it raises the question – shouldn’t studios just premiere big trailers like this on YouTube?

As for the content, we get a glimpse of what the story might involve, the main villain, a brief new clip of Batman and that weird chant music which was playing on the official website until recently.

Also, freeze frame the trailer at 1:24 and you’ll notice a blurry figure in the background who some are already speculating about.

Finally AndrewSS7 has created this wonderful montage of the posters from the three Batman films (Warner Bros should hire this guy).

> The Dark Knight Rises official site
> More information on The Dark Knight Rises filming in London
> Batman logos in early Christopher Nolan films

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Trailers

Trailer: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Warner Bros have released the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which is the final part in the series and destined to be the highest grossing film of 2011.

For non-Potter fans this is technically film 7B.

For Potter fans, J.K. Rowling has a new project called Pottermore.

> Watch the trailer in HD
> Find out more about the Harry Potter film series at Wikipedia

Categories
Thoughts Trailers

Reactions to The Shining Since 1980

These different trailers for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) give an interesting glimpse of how different eras perceive a film.

After the commercial disappointment of Barry Lyndon (1975), Kubrick wanted to do something with a bit more box office potential.

An adaptation of a Stephen King novel with a big star (Jack Nicholson) seemed to be a way of combining his interests as a director with the opportunity for a hit movie.

As it turned out the end result was met with a lukewarm critical reaction and modest box office before gradually establishing itself as a classic over time.

We can see part of this journey in how The Shining has been depicted in various trailers down the years.

Before the original US release in May 1980 there was this creepy teaser, which used the now famous image of blood coming out of an elevator.

The mood and mysterious tone kept users guessing, whilst cleverly using one of the signature shots.

On its release in the UK a few months later, Warner Bros were probably disappointed at the patchy reception in the US.

This recently unearthed UK TV spot reveals a lot more, but the inclusion of a still featuring Jack Nicholson’s grin (different from those used in other marketing materials) makes me wonder if the publicity department was having an off day when they approved this.

Kubrick then made a number of cuts to the film (around 25 minutes worth) before it opened in London and it seems initial audiences were baffled or even bored by what they saw.

The director was even nominated for a Golden Rasperry Award for Worst Director (!), which seems ridiculous now but perhaps speaks to its gradual appeal.

Part of that was down to screenings of the film on television and video during the 1980s, as it gathered a new audience who could appreciate its unusual style and considered approach.

This trailer for the ABC TV premiere in 1983 calls the film a ‘ultimate exercise in terror’ and cuts together some of the famous images in the film, including one scene involving skeletons dressed up at a party that was excised from the UK cut.

By now the film had ended its theatrical run, but a new audience was beginning to experience it just as the home video boom was taking off.

But why did it succeed with home audiences just three years after cinemagoers had partly rejected it?

Part of it may be down to Kubrick’s style, which doesn’t always make concessions to first time viewers and that The Shining has a special quality when you see it at home.

After all, it explores the quiet terror of being alone in a building and the ghosts of the people that may (or may not) have lived there before.

Perhaps the solitary nature of viewing it in the home suited the film better than the communal environment of the cinema.

Another technical detail worth pointing out is that it was effectively shot in the aspect ratio of 1.37, which means that although it was conceived and framed for a 1:85 theatrical release, the film was visually well suited to the squarer screens of TV and didn’t have to be pan and scanned.

After Kubrick’s death in 1999, British critic Jonathan Romney wrote an appreciation of The Shining for Sight and Sound, which was an excellent response to the initial criticisms:

“At first sight this is an extremely simple, even static film. [..] Kubrick had put so much effort into his film, building vast sets at Elstree, mak­ing a 17-week shoot stretch to 46, and what was the result? A silly scare story – something that, it was remarked at the time, Roger Corman could have turned around in a fortnight. But look beyond the simplicity and the Overlook reveals itself as a palace of paradox…. Even if the drama appears straightforward, there’s the matter of the unearthly stage it’s enacted on – the hotel itself, with its extraordinary atmospherics. Hotel manager Ullman (Barry Nelson) welcomes Jack by telling him how a former caretaker, Charles Grady, went crazy and chopped up his family: the problem was cabin fever, the result of confinement in isola­tion. Not only do the Torrances suffer cabin fever but Kubrick wants us to as well. The Shining makes us inhabit every comer of the painstakingly con­structed hotel sets, and the way the film guides us along corridors, around corners, up staircases – thanks to Garrett Brown’s revolutionary new gizmo the Steadicam – makes us feel we know every inch of the place, even (especially) the sound of its silences.”

It is true that there is an unsettling power to the film which takes the viewer right inside the mysteries of a particular place, rather than focus on the struggle between an innocent protagonist and an evil monster.

After his death people began to focus less on Kubrick’s reputation as a ‘reclusive genius’ and focus more on the glory of his work, which continues to inspire a generation of filmmakers fascinated by his attention to detail and impeccable craft.

With the proliferation of cheap digital editing tools and the web, frequent homages to Kubrick appear online, but perhaps the most memorable was this 2005 reworking of the film’s trailer as a romantic comedy:

The New York Times later reported on how it came about:

Robert Ryang, 25, a film editor’s assistant in Manhattan, graduated from Columbia three years ago with a double major in film studies and psychology. This week, he got an eye-opening lesson in both. Since 2002, Mr. Ryang has worked for one of the owners of P.S. 260, a commercial postproduction house, cutting commercials for the likes of Citizens Bank, Cingular and the TriBeCa Film Festival. A few weeks back, he said, he entered a contest for editors’ assistants sponsored by the New York chapter of the Association of Independent Creative Editors. The challenge? Take any movie and cut a new trailer for it – but in an entirely different genre. Only the sound and dialogue could be modified, not the visuals, he said. Mr. Ryang won the contest, and about 10 days ago, he said, he sent three friends a link to a “secret site” on his company’s Web site where they could watch his entry. One of them, Mr. Ryang said, posted it on his little-watched blog. And that was that. Until this week, when he was hit by a tsunami of Internet interest. On Wednesday, Mr. Ryang said, his secret site got 12,000 hits. By Thursday the numbers were even higher, his film was being downloaded and linked to on countless other sites, it had cracked the top 10 most popular spoofs on www.ifilm.com, and a vice president at a major Hollywood studio had called up his office, scouting for new talent.

The video has since been seen over 3 million times on YouTube.

By 2008 Kubrick’s status as a legend was complete and when UK channel More 4 screened a season of his films that summer, this trail was a wonderful homage to the making of The Shining:

Over the course of nearly thirty years, the reputation of Kubrick’s horror has grown. But what kind of trailer would Warner Bros cut for the film today?

Another edit on YouTube (by a user named Chigawa) gives us some idea:

The fact that The Shining still resonates, after the chilly reception in 1980, through numerous showings on TV and home video, is a testament its enduring power.

> The Shining on Blu-ray and DVD at Amazon UK
> IMDb entry for The Shining
> Stanley Kubrick at Wikipedia and MUBi
> List of edits to The Shining made for its UK release

Categories
Random Trailers

One Day filmed at the Rio Cinema?

The latest trailer for One Day would suggest that one scene was shot outside the Rio Cinema in Dalston.

First, take a look at the new trailer:

Compare the shot at 0.41 with a photo of the East London cinema:

Through the magic of Photoshop, see how they seamlessly blend in to one another:

The upcoming film is adapted from the David Nicholls novel and revisits the lives of Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) over a twenty year period.

Directed by Lone Scherfig (An Education), it opens on August 19th in the US and a week later in the UK.

> Official site
> One Day at the IMDb
> Ric Cinema in Dalston

Categories
Trailers

The Studio with the Leaked Trailer?

Was the leaked trailer for David Fincher’s remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo the first stage of a clever marketing campaign?

The first I heard of it was an official email on Friday morning telling me that the TV debut of the trailer would be Thursday 2nd June.

All this is pretty standard stuff for a major studio announcing the first look at a major production (this is Sony’s big film for Christmas).

But then over the weekend a bootleg version of the trailer popped up on YouTube and began lighting up on people’s Twitter feeds.

Set to a funky cover version of Led Zeppelin‘s Immigrant Song performed by Trent Reznor and Karen O, it’s one of the most striking and stylish teasers for a big studio film I’ve seen in quite some time.

Notice the quick cutting (there seems to be a rhythm of one edit per second), the dark Seven-style vibe and big, blocky fonts at the end which spell the fantastic tagline of “The Feel Bad Movie of Christmas”.

It feels like Fincher had a hand in personally supervising this, but how did it end up online? More to the point, how does a bootlegged trailer shot in a cinema sound so good?

Could it be the first step in Sony’s marketing push for this film?

(Let’s also not forget that one of the main characters is a computer hacker, so maybe the idea of an unofficial bootleg trailer fits in with the mood of the story).

> More on the upcoming Fincher version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
> Entertainment Weekly with their take on the trailer

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: The Descendants

A new film from director Alexander Payne is a pretty big deal, especially since he hasn’t made one since Sideways (2004).

The new trailer has now surfaced for The Descendants, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings about a land baron (George Clooney) trying to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife slips into a coma.

It also stars Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges and Robert Forster.

Fox Searchlight will be hoping for awards season action when it gets released stateside in December and although a UK release is TBC, I would imagine it would open around January or February.

> Official site
> The Descendants at the IMDb
> HD versions of the trailer at Apple

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Anonymous

A political thriller about who wrote the plays of William Shakespeare might not seem like obvious material for director Roland Emmerich.

But Anonymous opens in the US in September and the first trailer has been released:

It follows Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans) – who some people believe wrote Shakespeare’s plays – and is set against the backdrop of the Essex rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave).

Incidentally, 16th century London was recreated at Babelsberg Studios in Berlin with sets and a lot of CGI.

> Anonymous at the IMDb
> More on the Shakespeare authorship question at Wikipedia

Categories
Behind The Scenes music Trailers

Frequently Used Trailer Cues

Various pieces of film music often end up in trailers for other movies but some appear more frequently than others.

When you watch a trailer for an upcoming film, the music featured is not necessarily what you hear in the final cut.

Often this is because the film and score haven’t been finished, but there are some musical cues that keep re-appearing.

The movie music website Soundtrack.net have compiled a long list of frequently used cues from trailers and here are the top five:

1. Redrum from Immediate Music (Used 28 times): Immediate Music are a LA-based music company that specialise in music for trailers and for some reason their track ‘Redrum’ has really caught on. The pounding rhythm conveys a sense of emergency, the dynamic pause at 0.22 is useful for cutting to a dramatic shot and the choral singing creates an atmosphere of heightened tension.

It has been used 28 times in trailers for Dante’s Peak (1997), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), The Last Castle (2001), The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Ring (2002).

2. Fire in a Brooklyn Theatre from Come See The Paradise (1990) by Randy Edelman (Used 27 times): Not many people remember Alan Parker’s drama about the treatment of Japanese people in America following the attack on Pearl Harbor, but one track from Randy Edelman’s score has been used in plenty of trailers as an action cue.

Again, urgency is the key here with the insistent rhythm and pounding keyboards creating the impression that what you are watching is dramatic and important. Ironically, this is musically out of step with the rest of film but studio marketing departments seem to love it, especially for weighty dramas with high stakes, which means it has appeared in trailers for The Chamber (1996), Clear and Present Danger (1994), A Few Good Men (1992), Rob Roy (1995) and Thirteen Days (2000).

3. Tightwire from Immediate Music (Used 26 times): The trailer music specialists are at it again with this fast, orchestral cue which screams urgency and a sense that something big is about to happen (i.e. a bomb about to go off), creating the illusion that you’re seeing something important and dramatic.

This is probably the reason why it has been used in trailers for The Avengers (1998), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Leprechaun 2 (1994), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and What Lies Beneath (2000).

4. Naked Prey by Immediate Music (Used 25 times): Another track from Immediate Music, this cue automatically signifies urgent action with its quick beats and pounding rhythm.

Film trailers it has been used in include: Along Came a Spider (2001), The Beach (2000), The Constant Gardener (2005), The Mummy (1999) and Waterworld (1995).

5. Bishop’s Countdown from Aliens (1986) by James Horner (Used 24 times): James Horner’s score to James Cameron’s sequel to Alien (1979) was composed under extreme time constraints and pressure. But it features perhaps the most memorable trailer cue ever, taken from the climax to the film as Ripley fights the Alien queen.

The sounds of pounding metal, interweaving strings and perfectly judged brass all build to a monumental crescendo. It works so brilliantly that it appears in plenty of trailers including Alien 3 (1992), Broken Arrow (1996), Dante’s Peak (1997), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and Minority Report (2002).

UPDATE 07/04/2011: After Roger Ebert tweeted about this post (thanks Roger!) there was a lot of traffic and some excellent suggestions in the comments below.

Some are more modern examples of music that has been re-purposed for use in trailers.

Michael Williams suggests Steve Jablonsky‘s theme My Name is Lincoln from Michael Bay’s The Island (2005), which most people probably remember for its use in the trailer for Avatar (2009):

What’s interesting about this one is that it is used for the first minute of the trailer and was probably chosen for the spacey, sci-fi vibe.

Another suggestion from Fax Paladin was the track “St Crispin’s Day” from Patrick Doyle’s score to Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V (1989). Click forward to 2.37 to hear the specific cue, which is used when Henry give the Band of Brothers speech.

I’m not exactly sure what it has been used for, but it sounds familiar and the rousing strings around 4.22 certainly have that uplifting quality you often see in a good trailer.

Rug Daniels suggested Carter Burwell‘s theme to Miller’s Crossing (1990), which not only appeared in the trailer for that film but also cropped up in the trailer for The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

Although the film wasn’t a box office hit for The Coen Brothers, the moving strings and charming melodies make it perfect for creating a mood in a trailer.

Cat Vincent suggests Lux Aterna from Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem For A Dream (2000), which was famously remixed for the trailer to The Two Towers (2002).

Aronofsky told me in 2008 that Mansell was initially unhappy about this use of his music, but it caught on and quickly became a staple of various trailers and ads including The Da Vinci Code (2006), Sunshine (2007), and even Sky Sports News (it was also the theme for Soccer Saturday from 2007-2009)

Kevin Bingham suggests a track from John Murphy’s score to Danny Boyle’s Sunshine (2007), which combines an absolutely epic mix of strings, electronic beats and piano.

For some reason this was re-used (or slightly remixed) by Murphy himself in Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass (2010) – in a fairly tense sequence – and also cropped up in the trailer for The Adjustment Bureau (2011). It also seems to appear regularly in various TV shows. By the way, click here for a monster remix of this track.

Chris Knight suggests the track “Archer Solomon Hike” from James Newton Howard’s score to Blood Diamond (2006):

I can’t quite put my finger on what trailers have used it but the moody strings certainly fit that quiet/reflective moments in a trailer.

Dave suggests Basil Pouledoris’ main theme for Conan the Barbarian (1982). Listen to the opening part:

The rhythm and melody sound very familiar and create a vibe of impending doom in a foreign land. It also sounds like Jerry Goldsmith’s main theme for Total Recall (1990), another film which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Be sure to check out the full list of the most used trailer cues at Soundtrack.net if they aren’t included above.

> Soundtrack.net Trailer Music
> More on trailers at Wikipedia

Categories
music Trailers

Trailer: Scenes from the Suburbs

Spike Jonze has directed a short film called Scenes from the Suburbs which is a companion piece for Arcade Fire‘s album The Suburbs.

The first trailer has now landed in the week that it screens at SXSW:

Featuring a cast of unknowns, it is set in a future America where war is raging and the suburbs are segregated from the rest of the nation.

> Arcade Fire
> Spike Jonze at Wikipedia

Categories
Amusing Trailers

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: The Indie Version

This trailer by Joseph Brett recuts Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) as a US indie movie.

Note the correct aspect ratio, sans serif title font, use of atmospheric music and the clever choice of clips from the film.

It makes you think about how certain elements of the original (especially shot composition and pacing) seem more left-field in retrospect.

The music is ‘A Slight Return Home’ by Woodpigeon (iTunes link here).

> Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the IMDb
> The Trailer Mash

Categories
Amusing Trailers

The Hangover vs Casino Royale

This ingenious trailer mashup manages to mix The Hangover (2009) with Daniel Craig’s recent Bond films, Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

> The Hangover
> Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Attack the Block

This is the first trailer for Attack the Block, the new horror-comedy directed by Joe Cornish about aliens attacking a council estate in South East London.

Is it just me, or does it seem like a gigantic piss-take of Noel Clarke‘s films?

Attack the Block comes out on in the UK on Friday 13th May

> Official site
> Joe Cornish at the IMDb

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: X-Men First Class

The first trailer for the upcoming prequel X-Men First Class is here.

Set during the 1960s, it explores Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and the early days of their respective groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, it also stars Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Till and will be released on June 3rd.

> IMDb entry
> Find out more about the film at Wikipedia

Categories
Amusing Trailers

Die Hard Modern Trailer

Cameron Arrigoni has recut the trailer for Die Hard (1988) so that it has a more contemporary feel.

The orchestral swells give it a vibe similar to The Dark Knight trailer.

Note the change in comparison to the original theatrical trailer, which has the heavy voice, quick pace and 1980s style music.

> Die Hard at Wikipedia
> The Art of the Movie Trailer at Filmstage

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Trailers

Trailer: Rubber

A new French horror comedy called Rubber is about a killer tire with ‘psychic abilities’ that comes to life.

No, this isn’t a joke, although the tagline for the film is quite funny.

Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr Oizo), it screened at Cannes last May and will play at Sundance over the next fortnight.

> Official site
> Cannes reviews of the film at MUBi

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: The Tree of Life

The trailer for Terrence Malick’s latest film The Tree of Life has surfaced online.

Set in the 1950s, it is the story of an eleven-year-old boy named Jack (Hunter McCracken) growing up in the Midwest with his father (Brad Pitt) and mother (Jessica Chastain), and his life as an older man (Sean Penn).

It opens in the US on May 27th 2011.

> Tree of Life at the IMDb
> More on Tree of Life at Wikipedia

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Trailers

Trailer: The Beaver

The first trailer for The Beaver has arrived with a weird voiceover and an unexpected feel-good vibe.

A dark comedy about the depressed head of a toy company (Mel Gibson) who uses a beaver handpuppet to communicate with his wife (Jodie Foster) and family, it has an interesting back story.

Directed by Foster, the script by Kyle Killen attracted a lot of buzz by topping the 2008 Blacklist, an unofficial industry poll of the best unproduced screenplays.

However, Gibson’s recent phone-related meltdowns posed a dilemma for distributor Summit Entertainment and the release was put on hold whilst they decided to let things cool down.

The UK release date has already been set for February 11th and a Spring release in the US now looks likely.

Some things to note about the trailer: if you look carefully you’ll notice Jennifer Lawrence (a likely Oscar nominee for Winter’s Bone); Gibson’s beaver voice sounds like Ray Winstone; and Foster’s line near the end (“I’ll fight for you…”) feels autobiographical given her support for Gibson during his recent woes.

> The Beaver at the IMDb
> /Film with more details on The Beaver

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Cowboys and Aliens

The first trailer for Cowboys and Aliens came out today, the upcoming sci-fi western directed by Jon Favreau, which stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, it will be released on July 29th 2011.

> IMDb entry
> Find out more about the graphic novel at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Jane Eyre

The first trailer has been released for the upcoming adaptation of Charlotte Brontë‘s Jane Eyre.

Directed by Cary Fukunaga and adapted by Moira Buffini, it stars Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Michael Fassbender as Rochester and is expected to play up the more Gothic elements of the book.

Sometimes period dramas made in Britain can be by-the-numbers snoozefests, but this has some serious talent attached.

Fukunaga is coming off his brilliant debut feature Sin Nombre, Fassbender was brilliant in Hunger and Inglourious Basterds and Wasikowska recently gave a fine performance in The Kids Are Alright.

The supporting cast – Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins and Jamie Bell – also looks fairly stellar.

It gets released in the US on Friday 11th March 2011 and a UK release is TBC

> Official site
> IMDb entry

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Rabbit Hole

The upcoming drama Rabbit Hole stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a couple dealing with a sudden loss and is directed by John Cameron Mitchell from a script by David Lindsay-Abaire, adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

It opens in the US on December 17th and a UK release is TBC

> IMDb entry
> Reviews from Toronto at MUBi

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Inside Job

The new documentary Inside Job opens in the US weekend and it explores the causes and legacy of the current global financial meltdown.

Directed by Charles Ferguson (No End In Sight), it premiered at Cannes back in May to very strong buzz and the US reviews have also been equally effusive.

Narrated by Matt Damon, it features interviews with key politicians, bankers and journalists and arrives as one of the most acclaimed documentaries to come out of this year’s festival circuit.

Ferguson also recently spoke to Variety in Toronto about the film:

Inside Job is showing at selected US cinemas now and opens in the UK on February 18th 2011

> Official site
> Charles Ferguson at the IMDb
> More on the 2007-2010 financial crisis at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: True Grit

The first trailer for the Coen Brothers’ True Grit has been released and it looks like a more serious adaptation of the Charles Portis novel than the 1969 version with John Wayne.

Is it just me or is there a vague No Country For Old Men vibe to this?

UPDATE 05/10/10: Paramount have now released a longer version of the trailer:

True Grit is released in the US on December 25th

> True Grit (2010) at the IMDb
> Find out more about the 1968 novel at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

This is the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, which is released on November 19th.

Part II will be released on July 15th 2011.

> Official site
> More on the films at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: The Tourist

The first proper trailer for The Tourist has been released, the new thriller directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck which stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

Produced by Graham King, it is a remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer and will be von Donnersmarck’s first film since the Oscar winning The Lives of Others.

The vibe feels a little strange on this one.

Is it a straight thriller with a sprinkling of comedic elements or a full on joke-filled comedy-thriller?

It will be released in the US on December 10th but the UK release date is still TBC.

> The Tourist at the IMDb
> Find out more about Anthony Zimmer at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: 127 Hours

The first trailer for Danny Boyle’s new film 127 Hours has been released.

It is based on the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) who went through a gruelling ordeal involving a fallen boulder in an isolated canyon in Utah.

Watch the trailer below or at Apple Trailers:

> 127 Hours at the IMDb
> Read more about Aaron Ralston at Wikipedia

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Black Swan

Fox Searchlight have released the first full length trailer for Black Swan, the new film from director Darren Aronofsky about two ballet dancers (Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis) in a New York production of Swan Lake.

It opens the Venice Film Festival later this month and is likely to be an awards season contender.

The feel seems to be The Red Shoes crossed with Requiem for a Dream.

> Black Swan at the IMDb
> Official site

Categories
Trailers

Trailer: Let Me In

Let Me In is a remake of the 2008 Swedish horror film Let the Right One In and is the story of a young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who develops a friendship with a vampire (Chloë Moretz) in a New Mexico town during the early 1980s.

Directed by Matt Reeves, who made Cloverfield, it co-stars Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas.

It will open in the US on October 1st and in the UK on October 22nd.

> Official site
> Interview with Tomas Alfredson, director of Let the Right One In

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Trailers

Trailer: The Social Network

This is the first full length trailer for The Social Network, the upcoming film about the founding of Facebook.

Adapted from the 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding Of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich, it is directed by David Fincher and stars Jesse Eisenberg (as Mark Zuckerberg), Justin Timberlake (as Sean Parker) and Andrew Garfield (as Eduardo Saverin).

The film will be released in the US on October 1st and in the UK on October 15th.

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Directors Trailers

Alfred Hitchcock Psycho Trailer

Aside from being a great film-maker Alfred Hitchcock was a terrific showman – can you imagine any directors today doing these kind of trailers?

Note how the jolly tone contrasts sharply with the actual film.

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Trailers

Trailer: Cadência

This is the trailer for Cadência, a new documentary from director Daren Bartlett.

An exploration of Rio de Janeiro‘s sport and culture, it examines the country’s cadence (‘Cadência’) – the rhythm and true spirit of Brazil – and tries to capture the city’s identity through its citizens, passions and traditions, with commentary from academics, artists, and footballers.

If you are in London, the film is being showcased and supported with an exhibition at the 1948 Nike Store in Shoreditch from 25th March to 25th April.

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Trailers

Trailer: Hot Tub Time Machine

For some reason, whenever I tell certain people that John Cusack is in a new comedy called Hot Tub Time Machine they think I’m joking.

> Official site
> IMDb entry

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Trailers

Trailer: Four Lions

The first full length trailer for Four Lions, the new comedy about suicide bombers directed by Chris Morris.

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> Four Lions at the IMDb
> More about Chris Morris at Wikipedia

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Trailers TV

Trailer: Treme

This is a trailer for the new HBO series Treme, which is the latest creation of David Simon, the man behind The Wire.

It focuses on the Treme neighbourhood of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Here some other promo videos:

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Trailers

Trailer: Iron Man 2

The latest trailer for Iron Man 2 has arrived.

I couldn’t help but notice the geeky fanboy gushing on YouTube:

It looks like this film is going to make some serious money when it opens.

Intriguingly, it hits UK cinemas on April 30th, a full week ahead of the US, where it bows on May 7th.

> More about Iron Man 2 at Wikipedia
> IMDb entry

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Trailers

Trailer: Wall Street Money Never Sleeps

The latest full length trailer for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has arrived.

Directed by Oliver Stone, the sequel to his 1987 film sees Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) return to the financial world he once dominated and hook up with a young, idealistic investment banker (Shia LaBeouf), set to marry his estranged daughter (Carey Mulligan).

It also stars Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella and Eli Wallach.

The UK release date is Wednesday 21st April.

> Official site
> IMDb entry

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Trailers TV

The Pacific

The Pacific is an upcoming World War II miniseries, produced by Steven SpielbergTom Hanks and Gary Goetzman for HBO which will air in the UK on Sky Movies HD.

A companion series of sorts to Band of Brothers, which focused on the U.S. Army‘s involvement in the European Theater of Operations, this series explores the U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

The series track the stories of three Marines – Robert LeckieEugene Sledge and John Basilone – as they fight in the Pacific and follows them and their fellow soldiers as they clash with the Japanese in the battles of GuadalcanalCape GloucesterPeleliuOkinawa and the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Made at a cost of $200 million and shot on location in Australia in High Definition, the series will run for 10 episodes.

Sky Movies HD will be airing The Pacific in the UK at the same time as the series shows in the US on HBO.

UK viewers can find out more at skymovies.com/thepacific at whilst US viewers can find out more at www.hbo.com/thepacific

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