Trailer Talk Thursday: X-Men First Class and the Captain America and Super 8 Superbowl Spots

Hey everybody, Travis of The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Note: I'll try to keep this edition of T3 pretty short and sweet since most of you are probably busy reading the Devour posts so hope you enjoy.

I'm fully aware we are pretty busy here at the LAMB right now with the "Devour the Oscars" series but I figure since I covered the Super Bowl last year, that I should at least mention some of the numerous TV Spots they showed and one trailer that has taken the internet by storm. What is that trailer you ask? Go to Google and type in x-men and you should have a pretty good idea...it's the latest X-Men film by director Matthew Vaughn (of Kick-Ass fame) entitled X-Men: First Class.

There has been plenty of controversy surrounding this film since it was first announced. Whether it's the fact they are using younger versions of our favorite heroes, the casting decisions/switches/rumors, or the fact that there hasn't REALLY been a great X-Men film since the X-2, a lot of people have a lot of varying opinions about this one. The general consensus by many was that it was gonna fall flat like the last two, especially with Thor and Captain America coming out this year alongside it, but that consensus was greatly changed by many when the first trailer was released earlier today.

Before we go on here is the trailer:

Pretty awesome right? Well at least that's what I think. The CGI and effects look a lot better than they did before, the cast (or at least that of Magneto and Professor Xavier) looks promising and it's inclusion of some lesser known heroes alongside some staples of the franchise is good for seasoned fans like myself as well as newbies to the series who may want to learn more about the canon of the X-Men universe.


 Moving onto my first of two TV Spots...Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America has had a very horrific film life since his incarnation. There were two Reb Brown made for television movies that mostly consisted of recycled driving footage and featured the Captain, or at least his costumed self, for about 15 minutes and had him carry around a Frisbee for a weapon. And then there was the 1990 film which basically is what this current film is following (incarnation and battle with Red Skull) except the 1990 film had terrible acting, plot holes as wide as the Grand Canyon and the Captain himself did some incredibly stupid and cowardly things. Well now this new version is out and while it's only 30 seconds, it's 30 seconds of great hope. Chris Evans has left his Human Torch days behind him and looks to become a great Captain America (although Human Target's Mark Valley or Nathan Fillion would have still been better). Add in Hugo Weaving as the villain and a script that features Joss Whedon on it (to a certain extent) and we may have a great film on our hands. I'll cover the full trailer when it comes out but for now here is the TV spot



 And finally we have JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg's new film Super 8

When I saw the first trailer for Super 8 I thought it was a sequel to my favorite monster movie of all time Cloverfield. I mean Abrams+aliens+cameras should equal Cloverfield but alas, after watching the Super Bowl TV Spot those dreams were shot out the window since the film is not in first person like Cloverfield was. That being said however I do have hope for this movie. I adore Kyle Chandler (of Friday Night Lights) and the inclusion of Spielberg should prove to be most interesting so I can't wait to see what the future holds for this movie. Hopefully it will prove to be the alien monster movie we were expecting and more.

Here is the spot


Well that does it for this weeks entry of trailer talk Thursday. Tell me what you think about these films in the comments below and I will see you all next week.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Rubber and Red Riding Hood

Hey everyone, Travis from The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday, where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Well it's happened. I've finally hit the bottom of the barrel. Not in the sense that there are no more good trailers but in the sense that I've just plain run out of trailers, or at least for movies I haven't already covered. I checked nearly every site I could think of that specialized in trailers and even went through YouTube and DailyMotion looking for any and all trailers. What it came down to, after hours of searching, was a movie about a killer tire and Little Red Riding Hood done in the style of Twilight. Maybe that first sense was the right sense after all.

That being said, our first film this week is Rubber-

 Rubber is the second film from French director/house musician Quentin "Mr. Oizo" Dupieux and is about a killer car tire named Robert. Yeah, you heard me correctly: a killer car tire named Robert. Robert was abandoned in the desert by his previous owner and one day, completely out of the blue, stands up on his own and starts rolling around. Not soon after he "awakens" he realizes that he has telepathic powers and can blow anyone and anything up. Like any killer to be he starts off small with assorted objects and creatures around him and slowly but surely works his way up to humans, specifically women. So he's a telepathic killer car tire who stalks women...Are you sure Ed Wood is dead? Now don't get me wrong this actually sounds awesome, in a Ed Wood/Roger Corman/The Asylum shlockbuster sort of way, but as a serious horror film (which from the trailer alone doesn't seem like what it's going for anyway) it's crap. I'm looking forward to it because of the sheer originality of it all (and just how silly it will be) but I know it's probably going to be an acquired taste for most and not everyone will like it, let alone watch it.

Oh well, decide for yourself with the trailer-


Next up is Red Riding Hood-

...Listen, Catherine (Hardwicke the director) I've got to be completely honest with you. Besides Thirteen, all of your movies kind of suck. Heath Ledger's performance aside, Lords of Dogtown was boring and uneventful, The Nativity Story put me to sleep and Twilight was terrible on almost every possible level. And your latest film, Red Riding Hood, is basically the story of Little Red Riding Hood, if it were done by Twilight Fan Fiction authors. Now you are probably a great person and you must be doing something right because you convinced Leonardo DiCaprio to produce this movie, but whenever I watch the trailer for this I just shake my head in disappointment because I almost can guarantee this will suck. Now I have some hope because Gary Oldman, Julie Christie and Virginia Madsen are starring in it, but it's not like they all haven't done one or two films they probably regret doing. If this is amazing I will recant my previous statement of suckitude and give this the applause it deserves, but if the trailer is any indication of what's to come...I doubt that will happen. Thanks again Catherine.

Here is the trailer-



So what do you all think? Is Rubber too weird for you or just the right amount of weird? Was I too harsh on Red Riding Hood or does it really look and feel a lot like Twilight? Also do you think with the Superbowl coming up that more great trailers will show up? Tell me what you think in the comments below and I will see you all next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Paul and The Mechanic

Hey everybody! Travis of the Movie Encyclopedia back with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday. It may be a new year but I'm still here to bring the the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

As I already said, it's a brand new year and after a nice three week break (and from also being away from any possible computer for three weeks) it's time to get back to work. As with every new year we get inundated with new and updated trailers to try to get our seats into their seats. But two have stuck out to me, one because it stars the two guys in my favorite movie of all time (Shaun of the Dead) and the other because...well it has Jason Statham. Whether you love or hate his movies, the man sure knows how to do action films.

First up though is a new comedy featuring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The catch? Edgar Wright isn't writing and directing. Shocker ain't it? That film? Paul.

 Paul is the newest film from Superbad director Greg Mottola and is written by our two titular heroes, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg/Frost play two comic book nerds who, after attending Comic-Con in San Diego, decide to take a trip to Area 51. They don't plan on going in but they do want to stop at all the theme restaurants and star gaze in hope that it will inspire them to create some sort of epic story. Problem though is that they see a car crash and instead of a person coming out, they meet Paul...an alien. At first they are excited at the notion of an alien but when they realize they have the government on their tail, they try to do the best to make sure Paul goes home.

While Edgar Wright may not be attached, I do have hope for this movie. Pegg/Frost are a great comic duo and Mottola has done two really good movies in a row (the other being Adventureland) so I'm hoping for the best. Add in Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, and Seth Rogan as Paul and you got a comedic ensemble piece that I think anyone would be excited for.

But that's just me. Here is the trailer:

Next up is The Mechanic.

The Mechanic is the latest from Simon West, director of Con Air and the first Lara Croft film, and stars action superstar Jason Statham and Nick Jobe's of Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob's favorite actor, Ben Foster. And before you get any ideas, no neither of them work with automobiles. A "mechanic" is a trained assassin who makes sure that there is no trace left behind and can do whatever it takes to get the job done as soon as possible. And as usual, Statham's character of Bishop is the best there is. When his friend and boss is killed, he vows vengeance and along with his boss's son (Foster), they do whatever it takes to find and kill these men.

A typical action movie idea (revenge) with a staple action hero (Statham) and featuring some underrated or up and coming actors (Foster) sounds like something we have seen dozens of times. But there is a style and a coolness to the Mechanic that sets it apart. It's not just blam blam blam. There is a methodical pacing and timing to it all that makes it all the more interesting. Whether I'm right or wrong, we won't have long to wait as The Mechanic will be released shortly. I know I'm going to see it, mostly since I'm a sucker for Statham and action movies in general, but hopefully this brand new red-band trailer will convince you too.

Here it is:

I hope you all enjoyed this week's edition of Trailer Talk Thursday and I will see you all next week.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Kill the Irishman, Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Hey everybody, Travis of The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday, where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Just in time for the holidays we get a myriad trailers shoved in our faces. Be it the new Fast and Furious, Terrence Malick's new film, a non Twilight Pattinson flick or a random animated film, the internet is completely swamped with new trailers. Instead of going over all of them I found 3 that I think are definitely worth mentioning, two of which have caused a major stir in movie goers and fanboys all over the world. That's right, I'm talking about the Thor movie and Pirates of the Caribbean 4. But I couldn't just leave it at that, especially when there is a new movie trailer featuring Christopher Walken out there. So I just had to feature Kill the Irishman in this post as well. And since the other two are gonna be the topic of discussion in the comments, I will start with Kill the Irishman.

Kill the Irishman is the story of Danny Greene. Greene is the man who pretty much single handedly ended most of the Mafia syndicates located in the US. He grew up in a tough neighborhood and quickly became an enforcer for the Mob. Problem is, when he started getting pressured by rival groups and gangs, as well as people from within his own mob, he decided to go rogue and take out all of these bad guys himself. That led to him having a giant target on his back that no normal person would ever want. Who would really want to be hunted down by the mob? The odd thing though is that nobody could kill him. They shot him, beat and left him for dead, blew him up and destroyed everything he had but they could not kill him. Greene even had the balls to go on the news and dare the Mafia and anybody else to kill him. And they couldn't.

Sounds like a great idea for a movie, doesn't it. Add in a group of great "actors who need quality roles bad" like Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ray Stevenson and Vinnie Jones as well as the genius that is Walken and you got yourself a great film.

Here is the trailer-


Next up is Thor...

Ever since this movie was announced, fanboys and comic lovers alike have had multiple mood swings about what they think of the film. One minute they love it, the next they hate it. Then something gets announced and it's back to love, but then shortly back to hate. It's a continuous cycle that has not been (or has been I guess) helped by the recent debut trailer and poster for the upcoming movie. Some are excited for it, thinking it will have the Iron Man effect (lesser known superhero to the general public getting his own movie and it blowing up to blockbuster proportions) and some think it will tarnish the good name of Thor. Me? I'm optimistic. I've been a fan of the Thor comics for a while and I've always thought it would be nice to see Thor get the big screen treatment. The trailer looks exciting enough, Chris Hemsworth isn't some broken English jacked up bodybuilder type (which some people think is bad) and the inclusion of Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins is cool seeing as they are all quality actors. I mean the 3D thing seems a bit much, as it's probably converted (they stated in many interviews that it was shot in 2D) and we all know how most conversion films turn out, but other than that I really have no problem. I'll reserve judgement until May.

Here is the trailer-


Finally Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides...

Hmm...well I don't know honestly. Part of me is happy because they got rid of Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom and are instead focusing on the Jack Sparrow and Barbossa being pirates doing pirate activities but part of me is hesitant seeing as how the first movie was good all around but the series kind of took a dive plot wise in the second and third movies focusing instead on effects and action. That didn't mean that they were unwatchable, just that it never reached the level of the first movie again in terms of quality. That being said, from the trailer alone I can tell they actually have a good story (if they decide to even remotely follow the book that the story is based on), a tighter focus (no more throwaway love stories or backstabbing octopus people) and they toned down Jack to a level where he was still quirky but not annoyingly so. Granted that's just three minutes of a probably 2 hour movie, but I think that if they can get back to the core of what the series is really about: pirates and searching for treasure (something lost in the second and third movie for the most part) and what I noticed in the trailer is true for the whole movie then it could be as good or better then the original. Or I could be wrong and it's an epic fail. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

Here is the trailer-

Tell me what you think in the comments below and I'll see you all next week.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Green Lantern and Cowboys and Aliens

Hey everyone, Travis of the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

This week saw the release of two highly anticipated trailers: Ryan Reynolds and Martin Campbell's take on the DC fan favorite Green Lantern and Jon Favreau, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's take on the classic graphic novel Cowboy's and Aliens. Looks like it's time to crack open the comics...

First up is Green Lantern- 

 I've always been a fan of the Green Lantern, even before I became the comic nerd that I am now. The idea of a man who could fly and materialize anything he wanted all because of a magical alien ring was mesmerizing to five year old me. While I always fancied myself a Batman enthusiast (the posters, action figures and costume could vouch for that), it would still be cool to put on a ring and imagine being able to create a giant hammer out of thin air. But then I did get into comics and I found myself realizing that while I still loved Green Lantern, he has some convoluted and confusing stories. Not to mention there are thousands of Lanterns and the DC universe focuses on many of them. Still though I find myself catching myself up and I enjoy every minute of it.

The film version however (which is what you care about) follows probably the most famous Lantern Hal Jordan and his origin story of how he became a Lantern. It also features the introduction of two of my favorite super-villains, Sinestro and Hector Hammond. Hal is played by People's Sexiest Man Alive of 2010 and all around badass Ryan Reynolds, who plays the character perfectly, mixing the charm, charisma and badassery necessary to be Hal Jordan. Sinestro is played by perpetual bad guy Mark Strong with Peter Sarsgaard playing Hammond. Both look good in their roles, although the trailer didn't focus much on them. The effects look great, the story looks solid and hopefully it lives up to the hype.

Here is the trailer:

Next up is Cowboys and Aliens-

I read the original graphic novel (and subsequent online webcomic sequel) a while back and fell in love with the concept. The title got straight to the point, as this IS a tale about cowboys and aliens, but the action and the story are much deeper than that. Mixing elements of sci-fi and western to create something that on paper seems silly but in execution is amazing, Cowboys and Aliens is a thrill ride from beginning to end. But how does the film stand up?

Well if the trailer is any indication then damn...it looks good. Besides my inner geek going "James Bond and Han Solo vs aliens!!??", the style and effects are fantastic in look as well feel. It captures that 19th century essence of the old west and tosses in that War of the Worlds esque alien takeover feel that we have come to expect from sci-fi films. It looks great, the acting looks fantastic (the casting person should be kissed) and with so many great and talented people touching this film, I'm sure this one will become a classic. I'd be terribly sad if all this awesome were to be squandered somehow.

Here is the trailer:

But these are just my opinions. Tell me what you think in the comments below and I will see you all next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Winnie The Pooh, The Eagle and the final Tron Legacy Trailer

Hey everybody, Travis of the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

I decided to add another trailer this week, mostly because any chance I get to talk about Tron: Legacy is a chance I'm willing to take. But Tron isn't the only blast from the past getting a new movie that I'll be talking about this week. I'm also going to bring you the first trailer from the upcoming Winnie the Pooh movie. Now before you go run off thinking this is just toddler/young child fare...give the trailer a look. Fans who thought they were too old might re-find that spark that they lost. Also on today's edition we got the latest Channing Tatum movie and believe it or not it actually looks pretty decent.

First up though is Winnie the Pooh-

 Winnie the Pooh has been part of the Disney universe for a long time now. So much so that people forget that he existed before those first short films were ever released. He was created by writer A.A Milne back in 1926 as a character in a collection of short stories that he used to tell to his son. He focused it around a bear named Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood and thusly titled it after our main hero. The name came from a bear named Winnie and a swan named Pooh. It was later adapted into multiple short films that were created and animated by Disney Animation and the rest is pretty much history.

The sad thing though is like all successful Disney franchises at the time, they wanted to milk the living daylights out of it so as time went on after the short films were released they started milking the series for all it was worth. They hit a jack pot in the mid to late 80s when they turned Pooh's escapades into an animated series called the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The series was so widely popular that they turned it into multiple motion pictures, all of which were pretty good. The key though to Pooh's longevity and why so many people loved him was that he appealed to not only kids but adults. The films and the show never talked down to the audience instead grasping that inner child we all have. But sadly in the mid 2000s and all the way up until this year Pooh became fodder for toddlers and slowly faded out of existence (the latest iteration was recently cancelled) save for a few books and greeting cards.

Now Pooh is back however with all new stories and it looks really good. Handled by veterans of Disney animation and original music from Hans Zimmer, this version looks to re-capture that magic that it once had.

Here is the trailer-

I think it looks pretty good. If you do Pooh well and put a lot of effort into it, it'll show and people will come.

Next up is The Eagle-

There isn't as much to say about this film other than it's done by the same people who did Last King of Scotland (Academy Award Winner Kevin Macdonald and BAFTA winner Jeremy Brock) and it's based on the 1954 novel "The Eagle of the Ninth." If you see any similarities to the recent Centurion, you're not wrong. But what's interesting is that this film is from the perspective of people RELATED to the Ninth Legion. In Centurion it showed what happened to the legion and in this it's about the son of one of the legion members who goes to look for him and find out what happened to him and if he was killed to retrieve his Aquila (or Eagle standard...hence the title).

Here is the trailer-

It seems pretty interesting for me. The story seems good, the acting not half bad and the action is pretty intense. I want to see more and I'll reserve my judgement till after I see the film but as of right now it looks decent. A good companion piece to Centurion if nothing else.

Finally is the last Tron Trailer before release- 

There isn't much point in talking about the film as this film has been hyped to no end on screen and online. It's the long awaited sequel to the Disney masterpiece that made us really look at special effects in a way he hadn't before. It's written by the guys who did Lost, directed by first time director Joseph Kosinski (of Halo commercials fame) but with help from the original directors and writers to make sure they kept everything straight. They also have the return of Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn as well as Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley. New to the cast is Kevin's adult son Sam (played by Garrett Hedlund) who goes into Tron to look for his father. Quorra (played by Olivia Wilde) a program designed to help Sam and Jeff Bridges (you read that right) as CLU 2, an exact replica of him who wants Kevin Flynn dead. The score is done by visionary DJ and Techno group Daft Punk and it was shot in 3D.

That's everything in a nutshell. And it looks amazing. I personally can't wait for it and with this last trailer we get just enough new stuff to hold us over until December 17th. 

Here's the trailer-

Brilliant. Simply Brilliant.

But that's just my thoughts. What are your thoughts on Tron Legacy? Overhyped crap or potential masterpiece? What about Pooh? Were you a fan? And does the Eagle hold your interest whatsoever? Leave a comment below and I'll see you all next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: The Rite and Gulliver's Travels (with bonus extra)

Hey everyone! Travis from The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest and greatest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Well oddly enough this has kind of been a slow week for trailers. I realize I'm gaging this based on my trips to the movie theater this week as well as my daily check of IMDB and Trailer Addict but there really hasn't been a ton. There was a Paul Teaser Trailer and as anyone whose read my site will know, I am excited for Paul. The problem is the trailer is only a minute long, mostly music and kind of hard to critique and seeing as how this is a critique of trailers I kind of need more. 

But I did find two trailers, one that's been shown at the past three films I've attended and one that popped up on Trailer Addict that I know is already causing a big reaction, and trust me it's negative. So to make up for one really potentially bad trailer I decided to add a little something extra and that is the music video for Daft Punk's De-Rezzed. Why? Because Daft Punk does the score for Tron Legacy and because of that the music video is basically a movie trailer but with music emphasized over words. Also the version I got has some new footage, albeit brief, of the movie and any Tron fan should be excited by even a minute of new features. 

Anyway onto our first trailer: The Rite-

As you probably guess this is the cover of the book that the movie is based on. No official poster has been released at this time but I'm guessing it will probably end up looking like this. 

Anyway, The Rite is the latest film from Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom, whose known for his mostly for his Swedish work but has directed some English Horror/Thriller films like Stephen King's 1408 and Derailed. It's based on a book by Matt Baglio and happens to be written by him as well with help from Michael Petroni (best known for Till Human Voices Wake Us). It focuses on a man who studies to become a priest but is a little bit iffy on the idea of exorcism. So he travels to the Vatican where they happen to be commissioning priests to become exorcists around the world due to a abnormally large increase in demon possessions. It's also apparently based on a true story, which would be news to the Vatican since they deny that they ever commissioned priests due to an increase in possessions. Seems a bit Angels and Demon-y to me but I don't want to get into church politics. 

Anyway here is the trailer-

So what do I think? Well I think that Warner Bros and New Line are making a mistake by making it out to be a horror film. To be honest with you I think this will be more of a drama mixed with some horror/thriller elements when the demon possessions start rearing their ugly head. Lately it seems studios are hell bent on marketing any supernatural film (unless it's made by Eastwood) as a horror film. Most of the time they are but what it forces the trailer guys to do with some of these movies is either be really vague, use deleted/altered footage, only show the scary parts even if there are only a few, or just show a lot of screaming. The problem with that is when audiences go in expecting a horror movie, sometimes they will be disappointed. Case in point? The Last Exorcism.

Anyway that's what it seems Warner Bros has done with the trailer but hopefully people will see by the inclusion of Hopkins that this is probably going to be a legitimate thriller and not just some cheap horror flick.

Next up is one that has audiences divided, without even showing a single frame of footage...Gulliver's Travels.

You want to see what I mean? Look at the poster. Forget Segal, Blunt or Peet and look at the rest.

1. Real 3D film: does this need to be in 3D? Really? And I'm willing to bet it's conversion 3D too...sigh.
2. "From the Studio that brought you Night at the Museum": I hate the "Studio that brought you" crap. I'm serious. When your film's creators and stars lack any excitement by name alone that you have to drop the studio's name to get excitement? That's bad. Want an example? "From the studio that brought you Alien, Die Hard, Speed and Home Alone comes Gulliver's Travels." Doesn't work does it?
3. Jack Black: Now don't get me wrong I like Jack but he's not one of those actors I run to the cinema to see.  I mean he's funny and he CAN do serious, but from the trailer alone he's just trying to be his goofy self that he seems to have mastered and while that may appeal to some, it doesn't appeal to me.

That was the poster...the POSTER. Now here is the trailer-

So what do I think? GAAAAAAHHHH....Sorry...It doesn't look funny, interesting and if you like the source material at all you will stay away. I could see this maybe being good for kids but seriously? I'm not a fan.

So to get the bad taste of that film out of your mouth, here is a nice piece of Tron Legacy. I'll leave you with that and I will see you all next week.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Scream 4 and Burlesque

Hey everybody! Travis from The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Today is an interesting one because I have a lot to say about both movies, oddly enough without having to see either of their respective trailers. By name, reputation and production stills alone I had already shaped an opinion of both films. Now that I've seen the trailer for both, one opinion has completely changed while the other has just gotten stronger. 

That and both of these films involve masks, one made out of rubber and one made out of botox. Bazinga.

Let's start with Scream 4-

The Scream Franchise was huge back in the 90s. Not only did it have the master of horror Wes Craven writing and directing it, but it was a unique concept that most people wouldn't pick up on the first viewing: It's a satire of classical slasher films. It was tongue in cheek to begin with but the added element of people like Randy spelling out horror cliche's as well as Craven himself acting out some of the said cliche's (look no further then the beginning of the first movie) it added a few more chuckles to horror fans like myself.

But after 3 movies the series was pretty much done. It had done all of the known "rules" (the cliche's involving most horror trilogies) and Sidney and company seemed to have lived happily ever after. Most of to all of the loose ends were fixed and there was no reason to have another.

So when they decided to make another I was slightly pissed. I mean people complain about the Saw series but at least it's ending and staying ended *cough Halloween/Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street/Child's Play*cough*. There reaches a certain point when it changes from trying to tell an over arching story and into a cash cow exploitation of a series. I thought Scream was different, but I had thought wrong. That was until I saw the trailer. Once I saw the trailer I realized just why exactly that Scream 4 needed to be made and why it was a good thing. Now if this rumor about Scream 5 and 6 is true then it really has become said cash cow exploitation of a series. But at least this fourth installment seems justified.

See what I mean? The rules have changed now that reboots and re-imagining of franchises has reared their ugly heads. So I can see why Scream 4 is necessary. But does it look any good? The fact that it has the original 3 of Cox, Arquette and Campbell is nice and the "teen" actors and actresses are all mostly competent actors and will probably do their part well. And it made me chuckle...which means it's still the same ol Scream. At least Craven knew how to do this film right by doing it himself. 

Let's hope that My Soul to Take was just a blemish and here's hoping for Scream 4.

Next up is Burlesque-

It's Showgirls 2.0.

I'm not kidding. Tell me it doesn't look like a better acted version of Showgirls? The dancing, the club setting, the older woman boss, the gay choreographer, the guy best friend (there is probably a girl friend too), the getting away from where she came from element? It screams Showgirls. The only difference is instead of lap-dances and pole dances we get singing and dancing (although the dancing looks like stripping without the pole).

I wish I could be nicer to this film since I like Cher, Stanley Tucci and Christina Aguilera but even the filmmakers must have known this. I mean really. Am I crazy?

Tell me what you think in the comments below and I'll see you next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Drive Angry 3D and Wrecked

Hey everybody! Travis McCollum of the Movie Encyclopedia here to bring you another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest and greatest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Up until about noon today, Trailer Addict was pretty bare in terms of new content. There were new previews for upcoming films like Megamind, Hereafter and 127 Hours but I've already covered two of them on Trailer Talk Thursday and the other one comes out tomorrow. So needless to say I was a bit stuck. Then all of a sudden a myriad trailers came flying up. Now it became a game of "Which one, which one." First I went with a choice I thought I'd like called Wrecked. I'm a big fan of psychological amnesia films as well as Adrian Brody so it was an easy choice. With the second trailer however I wanted to reach a broader audience, specifically a movie I'm sure some members on the LAMB will love (or love to hate) and that's the one I'm starting with. Nick Cage's new movie...Drive Angry...Shot In 3-D. 

I already have a pretty good idea about this one from just reading the production credits. You have Patrick Lussier directing it, a director known for his classic hits Dracula 2000, The Prophecy 3, White Noise 2 and recently My Bloody Valentine 3-D. He is also going to be writing and directing the next Halloween movie "Halloween 3-D." Thanks Patrick...just what we needed, ANOTHER Halloween movie. Speaking of writing you have Todd Farmer writing the movie (with some input from Lussier) whose best known for Jason X, The Messengers (1 and 2) and of course My Bloody Valentine. 

But the cherry on this wondrous sundae has to be our lead actor, none other than Nick Cage. And ol Nick is in top form here, spouting one liners in a dark, bad-ass voice, shooting a gun as long as my desk and of course fighting the supernatural forces of Hell while trying to save his granddaughter from an evil cult. Because as we all know, some of Nick's best movies have him dealing with the forces of Hell and evil cults. Throw in some bees and we got an American classic.

Anyway here is the trailer-

So what do I think? Well I got most of my opinions out before the trailer but from the trailer alone it looks like it has the possibility of being a pretty good popcorn flick. If anything else it at least looks like a "so bad it's awesome" kind of Cage movie. The action is over the top, the effects are purposefully cheesy, Cage's one liners are funny (I was waiting for the Who to kick in) and William Fichtner looks great as the Accountant (Get it? Evil accountant *bu dum pish*) playing an almost Agent Smith kind of messenger of the devil. 

It should be interesting at least. Check it out 2/11/11

The next movie is one that caught my attention quickly and one that might actually put Adrian Brody back on the map as a seriously good actor. This movie is called Wrecked. 

Wrecked is written and directed by two newcomers, Michael Greenspan and Christopher Dodd, whose previous work were a couple of Canadian short films. But despite their inexperience this film actually looks really good. It's a highly atmospheric movie, working (at least from the trailer) a lot in two central areas, the forest and the car, and showing just how cramped or how empty they really are. The car scenes seem hectic, tense, and claustrophobic while the woods scenes seem dark, lifeless in yet mysterious. The fact that it has such a small cast too really helps out the movie a lot. It's mostly Brody's show. Like the highly underrated Moon, this film only has a few people, one of them being the voice on the radio. In flashback scenes and in what seems to be hallucinations there are a few more people but for the most part it was Brody, the bodies and the radio host. 

Here is the trailer-

So what do I think-
Story-wise it looks really good. I love thrillers and when you add that mystery element in it, like amnesia, it's even better. Brody seems believable as the man and you really seem to care about him and you want to figure out the mystery with him. And when you throw in the "I could have been an evil murderous criminal? Who am I really?" aspect, I really think it works. Moral dilemma's seem to work for the most part and in a thriller like this, it makes the time fly by. That and when Brody is good, Brody is really good.

Then again this IS just the teaser so hopefully we get to see more in the future. Either way this is looking like an early 2011 favorite of mine.

What do you think of these trailers? Good, bad, myeah? Leave a comment in the section below and let me know and I will see you all on the next Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: True Grit and The Tempest

Hello everybody, Travis McCollum of the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest and greatest trailers to hit the silver screen. Today we will be covering two highly anticipated remakes coming out later this year: True Grit, the remake of an old John Wayne movie (which itself was an adaptation of a book by the same name) and The Tempest, a remake (and in some ways a re-imagining) of the classic Shakespeare play of the same name.

First up is True Grit:

 True Grit follows Mattie Ross, a 14 year old girl whose father gets killed by Tom Chaney, an evil drifter whose notoriety is known all over the West. Mattie is too young to take on Chaney herself so she goes into town to find someone who can take Chaney down. She hears about a US Marshall named Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn and his legendary grit (in other words his unstoppable drive to get things done) and so goes and tries to hire him. Along with Rooster, Mattie gets help from a sheriff and friend of Rooster's named LeBouef and the three of them go hunting for Chaney.

Joel and Ethan Coen are writing and directing this remake and in interviews have claimed that they are staying more true to the book, making it darker, more violent and of course a lot more funnier (because what's a Coen brothers movie without a little dark humor?). Filling John Wayne's shoes is of course The Dude himself Jeff Bridges which will make this the first time since Lebowski that Bridges and the Coen Brothers have worked together. Matt Damon plays LeBouef, Josh Brolin plays Chaney and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie.

So without further ado...the trailer

So what do I think? Well it looks awesome. I was a huge fan of the novel as well as the original John Wayne film and have always been a Coen brothers fan so I have high hopes for this one. Bridges, Brolin and Damon all look great, the setting looks epic and the use of the now seemingly re-popular Johnny Cash song "God's Gonna Cut You Down" seems perfect for the movie. I can't wait and if the trailer is any indication, the Coen's may have Oscars in their future.

Next up is The Tempest:

This one is already stirring up some buzz. The casting decision of Helen Mirren as Prospera (a character originally male) as well as some changes to the original source material have driven a line in the sand with most viewers. Some are excited to see changes done to the story since it worked so well for Julie Taymore's last Shakespeare adaptation Titus and some Shakespeare enthusiasts hate the changes saying that this adaptation has lost it's true meaning and what made it special. Me? As an avid Shakespeare fan part of me questioned the idea of having a female Prospero (they changed the O to an A due to gender) but since I enjoyed Titus so much, as well as films like Scotland, PA I have no true problems with it. Changes can be good sometimes.

So without further ado...the trailer:


So what do I think? I really like this ensemble cast and the visual effects are quite stunning (in true Taymore fashion). Hopefully we see another trailer soon, showing us more but from this trailer alone I'm at least intrigued and hopefully this will be a really good adaptation. But I know it's going to be a seriously polarizing movie as well for a number of reasons.

What do all of you think? Are you looking forward to True Grit? Does The Tempest intrigue or piss you off? Leave comments in the section below and I will see you all next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Priest and Megamind

Hey everybody, Travis McCollum from The Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

First up is a trailer for a movie I have been anxiously awaiting: "Priest." Priest is based on a Korean Manga that ran 16 volumes strong and then just stopped three years ago. The story revolved around a former Priest named Ivan Isaacs who was out to track down and kill the twelve fallen angels and destroy the corruptness in the church. He also turned into a zombie vampire hunter about halfway through.

The film adaptation has changed a lot from the book but, at least in my opinion, not enough to make it unrecognizable. You have to realize that they had 16 volumes of work which spanned over 2000 years and featured dozens and dozens of characters. Unless they wanted to do a bunch of sequels, they had to condense and change some things around to make it one self-contained story. Now it's just Issac and two other people in a post apocalyptic world hunting down vampires. Hey that sounds cool to me. Let's look at the trailer.

So what do I think? Well the style is actually quite good, love the atmosphere of the film. The vampires actually look like demonic creatures of Hell...which is a welcomed change compared to what we're used to. The weapons look awesome, the actors look and feel like they belong there (this was originally a Gerard Butler film...) and it's got Bill from True Blood in it (or Stephen Moyer I guess is a better way of putting it). I'm looking forward to it and hopefully other people find it interesting.

Next up is Megamind.

I feel like this film is getting a bad rap right off the bat. Whenever people see the poster all I hear is them groan and say how horrible it's going to be. And they've given the same three excuses over and over:

1. It's a Will Farrel Movie

2. It's a DREAMWORKS animated film and not Pixar

3. It's a superhero movie and those have been done to death.

Honestly I don't think people are being fair. Farrel is definitely overused and could use some time off but I think this will be good for Farrel since it's only his voice they're using and he has a very animated voice. As for the animation, well Dreamworks has made some good animated films (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda ect) and while it may lack the style, creativity or depth of a lot of Pixar movies, the studio isn't a failure. So it wants to market mainly towards a kid based audience. That's not a bad thing. And this is an original, or at least semi-original, take on a superhero film so I have no problem with it being a superhero movie.

Let's take a look at the preview:

So what do I think? Well I'm glad they're finally fleshing out the story a little showing it to be more than good guy vs bad guy and it now being bad guy helping good guy against other bad guy. Farrel actually has some funny parts, as well as Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, David Cross and Jonah Hill. I did get some laughs out of this. Is it movie of the year? No but it seems at least somewhat enjoyable. Hopefully it is as good as trailer and if not, oh well.

Please tell me what you think of the trailers below and I will see you all next time on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: 127 Hours and Black Swan

Hey everybody, Travis from the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Today we will be talking about two films that have become quite popular before the trailers were ever released: 127 Hours and Black Swan. Why have they become popular? Two reasons:

1. The movie's director (Danny Boyle for 127 Hours, Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan)
2. The subject matter (Aron Ralston being true story of survival and deranged ballerina's)

But now the time for talk and speculation about the movies is over. We finally get our first glimpse into these two highly anticipated films. First up...127 Hours.

127 Hours, as I mentioned, is the story of Aron Ralston (James Franco). He is a mountaineer who enjoys living on the edge. One day though, without telling anyone about his plans, he went canyoneering and slipped and fell down the canyon. A boulder dislodged and crushed his arm. The bigger issue than his arm being crushed was that he was pinned and couldn't escape because of the boulder holding his now crushed arm down. What makes this story interesting and why they made a movie about him is that after 5 days of being trapped, he cut off his arm with a dull blade and escaped to live and tell the tale.

Danny Boyle, who has become famous with films like Trainspotting, 28 Days/Weeks Later and Slumdog Millionaire, and Simon Beaufoy (who wrote Slumdog) have teamed up to create this true story of survival. Here is the trailer:

What do I think? Well it looks pretty good actually. I think Franco is a fantastic actor and can really pull off serious and funny well. Like Ryan Reynolds with "Buried" it will be interesting to see if he can basically do a 1 man show (there are other people but it IS about him). I believe he can pull it off and I look forward to the movie.

Next up is Black Swan.

Black Swan is an interesting one. Aronofsky, who has made a name for himself with Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler, had started a screenplay about understudies and doubles but never finished it. Soon afterwards he had watched Swan Lake and decided to connect the two, making the film about ballerina's, understudies and Swan Lake. If you know Swan Lake at all you will know that there are two main swans: the white one and the black one. The white one is innocent and the black one is more devious and sensual.

The idea of this film is that Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina who has dedicated her entire life to dance and nothing else, mostly in part to a former ballerina of a mother, suddenly receives competition for a role she wants when Lily (Mila Kunis) arrives and throws a wrench in her plans. Nina gets the role, with Lily as her understudy, but in Aronofsky fashion, things go terribly wrong. Here is the trailer:

So what do I think? Well I think it's kind of weird but extremely intriguing. I am a fan of Portman and Kunis and I think this looks like a great movie for both of them. It looks like it's going to be a mind freak, as per usual (especially the feather pulling thing at the end), but I'm really interested to see how it turns out. I'm not the biggest Aronofsky fan but I think I will like this one.

But that's my opinion. What do you think? Would you see these movies? Leave your comments below and I'll see you next time on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Sucker Punch and Jackass 3-D

Hey everybody, Travis from The Movie Encyclopedia here for another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest and greatest trailers to hit the silver screen. Today we are going to be tackling two films, both that are sure to generate a lot of talk...for different reasons. First is Sucker Punch.

Sucker Punch is the first original film from Zack Synder. Zack Snyder, director of 300, Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Watchmen, has made a name for himself in films. Despite only having made 4 movies so far (the fourth coming out later this year) his films have garnered a lot of attention. 300 has been called one of the best action films ever. Watchmen has been highly talked about as a flawed masterpiece adaptation or a total abomination of the source material. Dawn of the Dead has been called one of the best horror remakes ever. But the thing with Snyder is he is a love/hate director: you either revel his work or damn it.

So when Zack announced his newest film, an original at that (something he's never done), it garnered a lot of attention at Comic-Con. And when that trailer was shown people were left speechless. Here it is:

So what do I think?: I think it's going to be amazing. The whole evil mental institution idea has been done before but not like this. Not to the point where people imagine a dream world full of robots, ninja's, mech suits, dragons and deep space battles. It's beautiful to look at, the story sounds extremely intriguing (girl gets taken to evil mental institution, escapes into another reality to hide from pain and plans to escape whilst still partially in alternate reality) and it's Snyder. You either love over the top slo-fast-mo or not.

In one sentence: One flew over the female 300.

I was going to talk about Skyline for my second trailer but nothing really happens besides talking heads saying Stephen Hawking was right and blue lights hitting Earth. So instead I'll talk about one that leaves a lot of people scratching their heads:

Jackass 3-D. As a teenager of the 2000s I loved Jackass. A bunch of idiots beating themselves up for a cheap laugh. It's low brow entertainment at it's best. And the first two movies were good. Granted it was no Godfather but it was what you expect but with a slightly bigger budget.

But that was then and this is now. Since the second movie we haven't really seen a whole lot of the guys. Every now and again they'll do a special on how they're doing and they even had a poorly selling video game, but for all intents and purposes Jackass was over. They had their last hurrah and were done. Some of them continued onward to do other things (Foxworthy film, Margera TV) but the craze was over and people were over Jackass. Heck even other shows like Nitro Circus, The Dudesons and Rob Dydreck's shows took over in their place.

So I'm really at a loss when I hear in 2010, 10 years after the show started and four years after their last appearance on television or film, they decide to come out with a third film, in 3-D no less. Although in it's defense compared to the Last Airbender and Step-Up, this probably fits in the 3-D bracket better than those films. At least with this one they can use 3-D to make us laugh on purpose.

But I did laugh and I guess this IS a good 10th anniversary present. But still I'm a bit hesitant at the idea of yet ANOTHER Jackass film. So without further ado here is the trailer:

What do all of you think? Does Jackass deserve another film? Has 3-D run it's course? Is Sucker Punch awesome? Zack Snyder: Yay or nay?

Tell me what you think in the comments and I will see you all next Thursday.

Trailer Talk Thursday: Old Man My A**

Hey everybody it's Travis from The Movie Encyclopedia. No you are not dreaming this really IS a new entry in Trailer Talk Thursday. Between seeing films, getting ready for my second year at college, preparing to go to PAX, family issues, the 1 year anniversary of my blog and lots of other things I haven't had time to do this segment. I apologize for the lack of content and you can count on a new TTT every Thursday.

But you didn't click on this or read this post to hear me ramble about my issues. Instead today I'm here to talk about the new trailer from Robert Schwentke's (director of Flightplan and the Time Traveler's Wife) new film Red.

Based on the comic book miniseries "Red" by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner it follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and his elite team of commandos (Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich) as they deal with a group of assassins who are intent on eliminating them. They are all R.E.D operatives (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) and they will stop at nothing to take out these assassins and find out who put out the hit on them.

So without further ado here is the trailer:

So what do I think?

Well besides my initial reactions of "Old version of The Losers" and "How did they afford these actors?" I'm actually quite intrigued by this film. It looks like an over the top, tongue in cheek action film that features some great actors.

Malkovich, who always comes off as crazy in his films (or at least to me) really works in this film because he gets to up the crazy. He also comes off as the comic relief (or at least in the trailer) and I always enjoy a Malkovich comic relief. He's so over the top, it's awesome.

Willis actually looks badass and what I appreciate the most is that they don't seem to be trying to beef him up as an indestructible machine like they did in the last Die Hard film and Surrogates. Instead he seems his age but has that swagger and charisma about him that made him so good in the first place.

Mirren seems out of place but I think that's probably the point. On top of that I could listen to her read the phone book and would love every second of it.

Speaking of someone I could listen to read the phone book Morgan Freeman is in this movie. I love Freeman in any movie. He (or should I say his voice) makes any movie better and he's already shown he knows how to work an action film so I think he'll do well.

Otherwise the effects look nice, the humor is actually funny and I can't wait to see this film. Red is released October 15th and be sure to check it out.

So that'll do it for me this Thursday and be sure to tell me your thoughts on the trailer in the comments section.

Trailer Talk Thursday: He's a sweet guy...but he is a tornado of destruction

Hello once again! I am Travis of the movie encyclopedia and this is Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Comedies nowadays tend to be hard for me. Mel Brooks is busy with Broadway, Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker have dissapeared or keep making crappy movie after crappy movie, Judd Apatow is hit or miss and really the best comedy directors seemingly today are either actors (Ben Stiller with Tropic Thunder) or writers turned directors (Steve Pink with Hot Tub Time Machine). But one person I forgot to mention is someone who has jumped up and down the spectrum of good and bad directing and that is Jay Roach.

Jay Roach is probably best known for two series: The "Meet the..." series and the "Austin Powers" series. Now the Austin Powers series was pretty good altogether but individually it had some highs and lows. The first one was brilliant, the second was not that good and the third was just okay. But altogether they were still good. As for the Meet the series it's been hard. I WANT to love both films but I can't. Meet the Parents is funny but not ROTFLOL funny. The same goes for Meet the Fockers...funny but not ROTFLOL funny.

And now we have a new film from Jay Roach! The only problem is that if the trailer is the best the movie can offer...we're screwed.

A remake of the 1998 award winning dark comedy "The Dinner Game" the story follows Tim (Paul Rudd), a business man in corporate America with a good life who is on the verge of having everything he ever wanted. The only thing standing in his way: a dinner for idiots. Basically the business men have to lure strange and eccentric people to a dinner so that they can make fun of them and verbally abuse them thus humiliating them. Tim's girlfriend thinks it's cruel and doesn't want him to do it, but then his solution just hits him...literally. Barry (Steve Carrell) is an IRS employee but he is also geeky, weird, a "tornado of destruction" and most of all...an idiot. But as they become closer will Tim have to choose between friendship or his job?

The premise sounds good. The actors seem good (Paul Rudd is always solid, Steve Carrell is a great idiot and Zach Galifianakis is always so oddly hilarious) and so it SHOULD work. The only thing is I didn't laugh once. Maybe it's the whole "wait for the red band" thing or maybe it really is JUST NOT FUNNY. Hopefully it's the former but really I can't be too sure. This COULD be a really funny movie but hopefully this trailer is just a very small taste of what's to come and the actual thing is much better.

But that's just what I think. Comment down below and tell me what you think and I will see you all next time on Trailer Talk Thursday.