Trailer Tuesdays: Foxcatcher (2014)

Remember how Michael Scott reacted when he learned that Toby had returned to Dunder Mifflin? ("NOO GOD! NO. GOD. PLEASE. NO. NO!!! NO!!! NOOOOOO!!!") - Well that's how I reacted when I learned that Foxcatcher had been delayed from its original release date of December 2013 to 2014. Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball), Foxcatcher tells the true story of "Olympic Wrestling Champion Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and how schizophrenic John duPont (Steve Carell) killed his brother, Olympic Champion Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo)." While I am eager to see a proven director like Miller tackle the difficult subject matter, the real draw of Foxcatcher is Steve Carell's portrayal of the prominent millionaire and mentally unstable John duPont. I have long praised Carell's acting prowess - from The Office to Crazy, Stupid, Love. Carell consistently delivers rich, subtle, and layered performances. A teaser trailer for Foxcatcher leaked online when the film was still intended for release in 2013, and the brief 65 seconds showcase a performance that is at once gripping, haunting, and downright chilling.
(TBA)

Trailer Tuesdays: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Despite a childhood infatuation with Star Wars and Marvel superheroes, I am genuinely concerned future generations will come to identify Disney as merely the parent company of Jedi Knights and Avengers. While recent acquisitions of Lucasfilm and Marvel Comics were sensible financial decisions, Disney would be mistaken to presume either brand is a defining cornerstone of the company. Thankfully, the production of a feature film seeped in Disney nostalgia provides a glimmer of hope that executives at Disney share my sentiment. Saving Mr. Banks tells the little-known story of Walt Disney's twenty years pursuit to the rights of Mary Poppins. Starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as Walt Disney and author P.L. Travers, the trailer for Saving Mr. Banks exudes a sweet, high-spirited charm once common in Disney pictures.

To close the first episode of Disney's long-running anthology series, The Disneyland Story, Walt Disney famously remarked, "During the last few years we ventured into a lot of different fields, and we had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of wonderful people. I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." Now more than ever, please Disney, heed this advice.
(December 20)

Trailer Tuesdays: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned twenty-six I made forty-nine million dollars - which really pissed me off, because it was three shy of a million a week.

Knowing my penchant for Martin Scorsese in general, and his ongoing collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio in particular, one could claim my admiration for the initial trailer of The Wolf of Wall Street is purely the product of unrestrained adulation and bias - but I don't care. Martin Scorsese, now seventy, has delivered a trailer reminiscent of earlier masterpieces, exuding the radiant energy of Goodfellas, the black humor of The King of Comedy, and the cathartic style of Raging Bull. But don't mistake The Wolf of Wall Street as a mere regurgitation of previous successes. Concerning the persistent onrush of time, Scorsese commented in 2010 that, "Given the amount of time and effort I put into a picture, there's no sense revisiting a similar one..." Following The Departed, I trusted Scorsese to approach successive features with uninhibited originality - Shutter Island and Hugo proved me accurate; the trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street proves me precise.

(November 15) 

Trailer Tuesdays: Pacific Rim (2013)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, At the Mountains of Madness, Crimson Peak, Beauty and the Beast, The Haunted Mansion, Justice League Dark

Regularly labeled as one of the busiest men in Hollywood, Guillermo del Toro is attached to direct not one, but all of the aforementioned pictures. While the probability that all will come to fruition is minimal, a critically and financially successful Pacific Rim greatly increases their likelihood. del Toro  proved himself to be a truly visionary director with Pan's Labyrinth in 2006, and I believe visionary directors deserve the artistic freedom to create movies any way they please (not the way the studio elite dictate cough The Hobbit cough). A successful Pacific Rim would allow del Toro the ability to develop his passion projects, and for that reason alone, I'm hopeful del Toro will deliver an imaginative, crowd-pleasing adventure.
(July 11)

Trailer Tuesdays: Only God Forgives (2013)

Is Drive the neo-noir masterpiece many critics have declared it to be? YES! While I previously likened Drive to the '73 Chevelle Gosling drove in the film (badass and striking on the exterior, but not a true muscle car under the hood), I was mistaken on two accounts. Not only is Drive a fully realized vision of arthouse action, the '73 Chevelle was more than capable of inducing a shot of adrenaline too. To follow-up Drive, Gosling and director Nicholas Winding Refn have gone completely off the grid and traveled to Thailand to make an independent "revenge fairy tale." Gosling stars as a man who has been living in exile in Bangkok for the past ten years after killing a cop. He manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drug operation and finds himself in hot water after his brother is killed for murdering a prostitute. The boy's mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) arrives in Bangkok to collect her son's body and instructs Gosling to take revenge and "raise hell." Gosling is on record as describing the script as "the strangest thing I've ever read and it's only going to get stranger." Only God Forgives has the potential to be the most violent, daring, and unusual film to be released in years. Need proof? Check out the leaked 20-second clip below. Even in 360p - it's downright stunning.
(May 23)

Trailer Tuesdays: Liberal Arts (2012)

Josh Randor, best known for his portrayal of Ted Mosby on the popular CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, has quietly established himself as a promising young writer/director. In 2010, Randor's freshman directorial effort, happythankyoumoreplease, won the coveted Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. While the film was later dismissed by critics and, to an extent, audiences, Randor gained an enthusiastic following. Earlier this year, Randor returned to the Sundance Film Festival with his sophomore film, Liberal Arts. Germain Lussier of /Film praised Liberal Arts and hailed Randor a "mini-Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire), mixing joy, life lessons and a love of culture into a perfect, crowd pleasing film." Now, I can't echo Lussier's praise based solely on a movie trailer, BUT the trailer exudes exactly what modern romantic-comedies lack: genuine heart. Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, and the always reliable Richard Jenkins, Liberal Arts may very well be the surprise of 2012.
(September 14)