Appearing before Harry yesterday, another spate of new trailers: Al Swearingen (Ian McShane) and Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) join forces to help a young boy defeat the insidious Evil that is Christopher Eccleston in the first preview for The Dark is Rising (from the fantasy series by Susan Cooper, which I borrowed from the library around the age of 12 and can barely remember, other than the “seventh son of a seventh son” schtick.) Independence Day director Roland Emmerich stages his own quest for fire (among other nouns) in the new teaser for 10,000 B.C., starring Stephen Strait, Camilla Belle, and Omar Sharif. And Santa’s deadbeat brother (Vince Vaughn) comes home to screw up the family operation in the trailer for the christmas comedy Fred Claus, also starring Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Kevin Spacey, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz. (The joke mainly seems to be that Vaughn is tall and elves are short, but that is a pretty good cast.)
Category: Trailer Bin
Old Gods and Little Children.
In this week’s trailer bin, 9/11 meets The Blair Witch Project (and maybe even a dash of Cthulhu?) in the cleverly low-fi teaser for J.J.Abrams’ 1-18-08, a.k.a. Cloverfield. Freddie Highmore (of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) discovers his own Pan’s Labyrinth of sorts in the new trailer for The Spiderwick Chronicles, also with Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, and David Strathairn. And Ben Affleck directs his brother Casey in a Boston missing child case in this look at Gone Baby Gone, by the author of Mystic River and also starring Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and The Wire‘s Amy Ryan (Beadie) and Michael Williams (Omar).
Hitmen, and Solar Power.
Another slew of trailers: Tim Olyphant goes Wild Bill (to the strains of “Ave Maria”) in the teaser for Hitman (which I appropriately saw before Live Free or Die Hard yesterday — review on the way), Jason Bourne wants answers from Stiles, Allen, and Straitharn in the full trailer for Paul Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum, and astronauts Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh and others attempt to reignite the sun in a spoileriffic “synopsis” trailer for Danny Boyle’s Sunshine (I’m linking to it ’cause it’s there, but if you have any interest in this flick, I probably wouldn’t watch it.)
The Burdens of Power.
In case you didn’t get your trailer fill earlier today, here’s a few more for the independence day blitz: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise take aim at the GWOT in the teaser for Redford’s muckraking Lions for Lambs; Lawyer George Clooney bites off more corporate conspiracy than he bargained for while helping crazy Tom Wilkinson in this look at Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, also with Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack; and Cate Blanchett returns to the throne (and does expect the Spanish Inquisition) in the trailer for Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age, with Geoffrey Rush (returning), Clive Owen (as Walter Ralegh), Rhys Ifans, and that famous Armada.
Promises, Wonders, Jokes.
Several trailers of note over the past week: Aragorn continues his History of Violence and returns to the unsettling world of Cronenberg in the new trailer for Eastern Promises, also with Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, and Armin Mueller-Stahl. Shopgirl Natalie Portman looks adorable facing up against stiff-suit Jason Bateman in the otherwise cloying trailer for Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, also with Dustin Hoffman as Willy Wonka, uh, Magorium. Nicole Kidman tries to stop her sister (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) from marrying Jack Black in this look at Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding. (Not usually my bag, and Jason-Leigh can be a huge red flag, but Baumbach has earned a look after Squid & the Whale.) A bit-player in the Russian mob and a recent emigre to Liberty City (you) tries to move up the ranks of his organization in two new trailers for Rockstar’s eagerly-awaited Grand Theft Auto IV. (I may have to break down and get a 360, just for this game.) And, finally, a Kramerfied, really poor quality version of may very well be the teaser for Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight has emerged online. (I’ll reserve judgment until a higher quality version emerges, but for now I like the laugh.)
Spider-Pigs and Bumblebee Men.
In a world where small towns such as the sleepy haven of Springfield can be threatened by mystifying unseen forces and the desperate actions of President Schwarzenegger (um, shouldn’t that be President Wolfcastle?), it’s up to one typical small-town American family (and spider-pig) to rise to the occasion… Yep, you guessed it: the new trailer for The Simpsons movie is now online.
Black Hats and Texas Tea.
Two recent trailers of note: Good guy Christian Bale chases down bad guy Russell Crowe to ensure a timely train trip in the new trailer for James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma (also with Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk, and Gretchen Mol.) And Daniel Day-Lewis gets his hands dirty in the petroleum trade of the Twenties in this early look at Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, based on Upton Sinclair’s Oil!.
Unforgiving.
As seen on Aint-It-Cool, and by way of Variety, the trailer for the Coen’s much-anticipated take on Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly MacDonald, Woody Harrelson, and Stephen Root, is now online. Looks like the Coens are back in form (and looks like they captured the tone of the book perfectly.)
Portraits of Urban Decay.
A few recent additions to the trailer bin: Will Smith finds a lot of alone time in New York City in the way-over-the-top teaser for Francis Lawrence’s I am Legend (which looks nothing like the Richard Matheson novella and only slightly more like the last version, Charlton Heston’s The Omega Man); Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, sporting Zodiac-era duds and dos, go mano a mano (again) in the trailer for Ridley Scott’s American Gangster (also with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Carla Gugino, and Josh Brolin); and Jodie Foster gets all Bernie Goetz up in here — much to the dismay of Terrence Howard — in the new trailer for Neil Jordan’s The Brave One. Update: Ok, one more. President William Hurt is shot! (Or is he?) And secret servicemen Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox, along with a Zapruderish Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, and others, must get to the bottom of it all in the new trailer for Pete Travis’s Vantage Point.
Dumbledore’s Army.
Alert the Ministry: The new trailer for David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is now online, albeit not in the best format. Looks…ok, although I’d be surprised if it lives up to Newell’s Goblet of Fire (or even Cuaron’s Prisoner, since Order may have been my least favorite book in the series thus far.) Update: It’s now available in Quicktime — go here instead.