Trailer Digest - Terminator Salvation (2009)

Welcome to the Future War...

Now we know that franchises (like cockroaches) can survive a nuclear holocaust. After the pretty definitive end of Terminator 3 (itself a surprisingly worthy follow up) now we have Terminator Salvation. Set in the future after the bombs have fallen, it tells the continuing story of John Connors fight to save humanity from the machines. Perhaps it was inevitable that the series would end up going here but I think the war against the machines was better left as a kind of back story mythology. News that Christian Bale had been cast as Conner seemed like a good choice, but bringing the guy who directed the Charlies Angels films (McG - he doesnt even have a name) and confirming that it was to be a trilogy seemed like monumental mistakes.

The first teaser worked for me. I especially liked the mixing in of the original Terminator theme. Also, considering this debuted in the first few weeks of principal photography, the visible effects work seemed to be of excellent quality.




'Terminator Salvation' Teaser (1080p) from Yggdrasil on Vimeo.


And now we have the first full length trailer. Its a bit of a mess to me - making the possibly fatal mistake of revealing far to much and reaching an unsatisfying crescendo. Bale seems to be channeling his awful gravelly Batman voice and the effects, in some of the longer shots, look only average (am I the only one who sees those Terminator bikes skating?). I also have an awful feeling that this will be a PG-13 Terminator, something which T:3 only just avoided (it was rated R in the States but 12's in Ireland). If you cant portray the power of the metal monsters by showing the frailty of human flesh then the hopelessness of the fight is lost. Check out the trailer anyway and by all means have a look at the HD streaming from Vimeo.




Terminator Salvation: Bande annonce subjective (2) from majestic on Vimeo.



'I have a bad feeling about this...'


Terminator Salvation is out in May 2009.

Trailer Digest - Watchmen 2009

Say what you like about Zack Snyder but he does not make bland comic book films. His visceral take on 300 was a revelation in a world filled with PG rated, child friendly superheroes and he looks to be continuing this run with his next feature - Watchmen.

Based on perhaps the most celebrated Graphic Novel of all time (apparently we cant really call them comics anymore) Watchmen tells the tale of an alternate 20th Century reality where superheroes walk among us and the Cold War is still very much alive. One of the heroes is murdered and it is up to the rest to solve the mystery surrounding his death - hence the line 'Who watches the Watchmen'...

Since the awe-inspiring teaser trailer for 300, Snyder has also had a reputation for creating excellent marketing campaigns for his movies and Watchmen is no different. This first teaser is notable for its music choices - no bog standard trailer music here, instead they use The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning by Smashing Pumpkins. Which works better than anyone could have expected.


Watchmen (trailer 1) from Grimrock on Vimeo.


For the second trailer, the first true theatrical trailer, the song choices were even more niche. Anyone who can take an action filled trailer and put it to music by Philip Glass AND make it work is, frankly, something of a genius. The first piece comes from his mesmerising score for the mostly sucessful experimental movie Koyaanisqatsi while the latter part of the trailer is accompanied by the instantly recognisable Muse - coming from their song 'Take a Bow'. Together they evoke the startling, eerie difference of the world which Snyder is presenting, which also making it clear that this is a very different kind of superhero movie.


NEW Watchmen Trailer from Young Il Lee on Vimeo.


Watchmen has been in the press recently at the centre of a disagreement between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. over who exactly owns the rights to the source material - a case which has already delayed its release in to 2009. It seems clear now that it is in the interests of neither party to delay the film further, but some kind of profit share agreement may be necessary. From the evidence presented by the trailers, Watchmen looks like an incredibly dark, stylish and indefatigably cool movie and one which should make a real splash when it hits screen around the world in March 2009.

Pride and Glory

I was a good man once...




Pride and Glory overcomes the clichés of the cop drama to emerge as one of the best films of the year. Raw and real, it recalls Narc in its gripping tale of fathers and sons and the insidious creep of corruption. Colin Farrel aquits himself well with a difficult role but Edward Norton steals the show with his best performance in years. Jon Voight also surprises in a role which makes good use of his stature and brings back the memory of the screen presence he once had. It is to the credit of the cast and director that every part seems entirely fleshed out and real, with perhaps the most effecting coming in a minor turn by Jennifer Ehle as the cancer ridden wife of one of the sons.

Technically, the movie makes the most of the natural grit of its location photography. There are a few long, accomplished steadicam shots here but they are unobtrusive - serving the story rather than the ego of the director (Scorsese, I'm looking at you). The music, from the underrated Mark Isham, is also very effective and subtle, becoming fittingly more dramatic as the movie nears its conclusion. Pride and Glory just feels solid - as though the proper time was taken to really work every aspect out properly (a feeling which was wholly absent from Quantum of Solace, for example). It is really refreshing to see every member of the cast and crew give their best to a project and the results speak for themselves.

Sterling performances aside, Pride and Glorys script (co written by Narc writer/director Joe Carnahan) is also extremely effective, slowly unfurling a dense and dark tale of power, greed and the dramatic effects which come from being a family of cops. This is not a mystery, the truth of what has happened is revealed very early on but a dozen shades of grey make determining the real villains of the piece a far more difficult task for the audience. Pride and Glory is one of the tightest scripts in recent memory, with each element coming together in a way that recalls the symmetry of greek tradgedy, if not its frankly distracting excesses. The pace and power wanes a little towards the end as the whole thing spirals towards lumpen melodrama but the resolution, when it comes, is fitting and manages to sidestep cliche at the last moment.

After several years in development hell and a further delay in releasing to theatres, Pride and Glory seemed to come and go in a flash. We can only hope it finds its deserving audience on DVD.

Highly Recommended.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

"Hi, can I have a coffee?... Black?
Can't you see we talking?... White?"



Kevin Smith is a talented writer and no doubt an intelligent man but his latest so called comedy is an exercise in overcomplicated cliche which dodges any possible entertainment value in its premise to deliver a tired, meandering love story.

Seth Rogen continues his one man quest to drown considered and witty comedy in an excess of improvisation. Improv implies mental and verbal dexterity - responding to situations with speed and verve. Here Rogen is just making stuff up as he goes along. This kind of interplay is annoying in films like the Pineapple Express (listen to the last conversation in the diner - three actors say nothing of consequence for almost 10 minutes) but in a Kevin Smith film, it is a travesty. Smith may be overrated as a director but his writing - in particular his one liners - are always clever and often inspired. Ben Affleck works in a Kevin Smith film because he does what he is told and the script makes him hilarious. By the same token, Rogen ruins Zack and Miri by neutering Smiths zingy dialogue with constant attempts at his own hilarity.

Zack and Miri is all the more disappointing because there are whispers of a better film here. Justin Long's cameo is inspired, recalling Val Kilmer in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Jason Mewes steps out of his Jay and Silent Bob persona enough to show he is capable of real screen presence. The supporting cast are generally excellent and Elizabeth Banks does well with her difficult role as Miri. For me, the real problem remains Rogen and, by extension, the Judd Apatow baggage he brings along with him. Apatows films are carefully plotted, often with very simple central stories, which gives the actors space for improvisation. In this environment, actors like Steve Carrell (and to a lesser extent Rogen) flourish. By contrast, Smiths best films are dense ensembles with a vaguely connected series of events requiring very strict focus by the actors to maintain any semblance of order. When Smith takes on a premise like Zack and Miri and peoples it with Apatow alumni like Rogen and Craig Robinson it loses all semblance of form and effectiveness.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno has courted controversy with its sex scenes (which are few and by no means explicit) and title but will be more remembered as the moment when Smiths sentimentality overcame his talent. The film lies in a no mans land between the View Askew universe and Judd Apatow territory but doesnt measure up to the weakest offering from either. Finally, Zack and Miri Make a Porno just isnt very funny and that, given the pedigree involved, is the most disappointing thing of all.


[AND some of the best lines in the trailer didnt even make it into the finished film...]


Zack and Miri make a porno from Auston Bunsen on Vimeo.

GAME.IE

As well as working on the first issue of Click Magazine I have also been writing for Game.ie - working on game reviews as well as articles and news pieces. The site has been a little neglected of late (mainly because everyone who works on it was also working on Click) but it should get some much needed TLC over the coming weeks.

So check out www.game.ie - we even have some good competitions for games that I want almost as much as you do!

:)

Click Magazine - Issue One...

I am now a professional, published journalist. How odd...

Click, Ireland's premier (and only!) Movies, Games and Technology Magazine landed on shelves countrywide on Friday the 5th of December. After an extremely sucessful launch party, there seems to be a really positive buzz in the industry and Click could well fill a significant niche in the Irish market.

I came on as a contibutor for the games section and somehow managed to become the editor of the movie section, as well as reviewing games. All things considered, the magazine turned out extremely well and I hope we manage to make it to a second issue because we all learned a lot from this first experiment.

So pick up a copy if you see it and give us a chance to give Ireland the Click Magazine it deserves.

Price is 4.95 from most newsagents and a mere 3.95 in Tescos (introductory price)

And remember...

WE KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU CLICK!


Click Magazine - Issue One from Daniel Anderson on Vimeo.

Trailer Watch - Star Trek

So, Star Trek is coming... Yawn...

Ok, so I'm not a Trekkie but honestly, how are there any Trekkies anymore? Surely being beaten into the ground by crap like Star Trek: Insurrection makes you question your faith? No? How about the endless torture that was Enterprise?

Still there?

Ok so the guy who created lost and directed the last mess of a Mission: Impossible film was exactly who Paramount wanted to reboot one of thier most prized franchises. At this point, no one could make a bigger mess out of it so personally I think they should have saved 100 million dollars and gotten Uve Boll and a couple dozen rabid monkeys to type up the thing but maybe thats why I'm not a movie producer.

Star Trek 11 (yes ELEVEN!) works as a prequel to the Kirk/Spock timeline as well as a reimagining of the whole Trek universe. It even (God forbid!) goes against canon in its depiction of the early years of Kirk and Spock and thier initial meeting at the academy. While the trailer is undoubtedly well produced (which, from a major studio, it should be) the whole endeavour screans 90210 in space and Thunderbirds - all mixed into one big, uber-shiny mess.

You can all judge for yourselves come May 2009.


Star Trek from Yuri Prado on Vimeo.

Coming Soon - The Wrestler

Say what you like about Darren Aronofsky but he makes films which do not compromise themselves for the sake of the mass market. His frenetic, black and white debut Pi and 2000's blistering Requiem for a Dream exploded notions of genre, battered down walls of censorship and lingered in the conscious mind for days. It was a long six year wait until his next film but The Fountain eventually emerged from a maelstrom of delays, casting difficulties and budget cuts and it, predictably, polarised critics and viewers alike. Filled with dazzling images created without the use of any CG, it told a tale both epic and intimate, spread over a millenia and from one end of the galaxy to another. To say that what Aronofsky was trying to do was ambitious barely stratches the surface. I, for one, was mesmerised by the length and breath of the story and by the surprising subtlety of the whole endeavour but the lack of any definitive answers to any questions is something which most viewers will find unforgivable. Regardless, The Fountain is a unique and wonderful film which everyone should try to see once.

Which brings me to my actual point. Darren Aronofskys latest is heading to you local multiplex in January, after rave reviews at the Cannes film festival earlier in the year. The Wrestler tells the story of a washed up fighter (Mickey Rourke) who is coaxed out of sedentary retirement by the promise of reliving his glory days. But this is no simple martial arts story with an cliched final fight and an uplifting ending. The focus is not on the fight in the ring but the emotional, mental and social scars which this battered long-time loser carries with him. The central performance from Rourke has been touted as truly Oscar worthy. As a washed up former star playing a washed up former star, compounded by Rourke's own, truly terrifying post cosmetic surgery features, we have one of those rare occaisons where actor and character meld into one.

With Aronofskys sterling reputation and flair for examining some of the most complex issues in existence in a thought-provoking way, combined with Rourke's powerful performance, The Wrestler could be something truly special.

Check out the refreshingly raw and despairingly dramatic trailer and do your best to support this film on what will, no doubt, be a limited run...


"The Wrestler" Movie Trailer 2008 from Fred DeMetrovich on Vimeo.

Burn After Reading

'Report back to me when it... makes sense'





After No Country for Old Men the Coens brothers no doubt had free rein (and a blank cheque) for their next project. That they chose to waste that potential on something as flaccid and underwhelming as Burn After Reading is bitterly disappointing and proves once and for all that the brothers are not as talented as we would like to believe.

Burn After Reading is about morons and, not incidentally, that also seems to be its target audience. It is a cliched ensemble piece - a panapoly of characters are introduced which appear to have no real connection between them and slowly the links are revealed. This simplicity would be forgivable if there were a single charming or clever element in the piece but sadly it all seems like a bad joke. The characters are composed of nothing but ticks and grimaces; McDormand looks like she is in a no man's land between 2 minor strokes (and is eerily reminiscent of Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka) while Clooney confirms that the sum of his comedic acting ability is his willingness to contort his face. Pitt is the only major player who comes off more or less unscathed (he seems to embrace the absurdity, rather than trying to act through it) but his role is too minimal to save the film. The script is unwieldy, veering from confusing to overly simplistic and has a somewhat peurile sexual focus.

Good points are few are far between. The supporting players are generally good - with J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins especially memorable. Indeed the formers interactions with his intelligence community subordinate, as they try to figure out what the hell the main characters are up to, provide the films only consistent humour.

Burn After Reading is a black comedy with too much milk and sugar - the result is anemic and lacking the grown up sensibilities of the brothers' better films. Fargo, for example, is extremely funny at times but laces that humour with a real sense of human desperation and a respect for the audiences intelligence.

It seems pretty obvious to me that this film would not exist without the success of No Country for Old Men, a film which I thought was effective but rather overrated. Perhaps if more people had felt like I did we wouldnt have had to suffer through this flat, laugh free 'comedy'.

Burn After Reading is about morons, for morons and (quite possibly) made by morons. Avoid.

The Midnight Meat Train

'I have a train to catch...'




The Midnight Meat Train is the latest film to be (however indirectly) associated with Clive Barker. This used to be a good thing, especially between the time of Hellraiser (1987) and Candyman (1992), but as both spiralled into the depths of serial trash (Hellraiser is on its 9th iteration) he has become more associated with sub standard slasher films. Whatever you may think of his garish and brazenly obscene writing style, the themes he confronts are strong and generally quite cinematic – voyeurism and the clash of the ordinary with the extraordinary, as well as perennial favourites fetishism and sadomasochism.

The Midnight Meat Train tells the story of Leon Kaufman (Bradley Cooper), a photographer who, in looking for inspiration for his work, is drawn to the subway in the pre-dawn hours. Initially hooked by a minor brush with the darker side of the city (he stops a gang from assaulting a girl) he is invigorated by the experience, and delves deeper. Here he find a mysterious man (Vinnie Jones) who rides the shrieking metal subway cars alone at night. Intrigued by the man’s forbidding presence and spurred on by the praise he receives for his latest series of photographs, Kaufman returns to the unending night of the subway, determined to explore this terrifying and exhilarating new world beneath the sleeping city.

The movie is adapted from a short story in Barker’s Books of Blood and, apart from the now customary producer credit, that is where his involvement ends. This is a real shame, as the material added to expand the script to feature length could have done with some of his inspired mix of squeamishly detailed viscera and surprisingly subtle characterisation. The story made a virtue of its brevity – requiring no set up and building to a pay off with minimal fuss (and maximum bloodletting). The script, however, loses itself early on in its frantic, almost childish need to play with your gag reflex. The opening scene is liberally slathered with agreeably viscous blood, and before the film is half over we have seen eyeballs knocked out of sockets (then stepped on), heads mashed with hammers and have careened through a skull in bullet time before exiting through the eye (eyes in general have a pretty hard time of it in The Midnight Meat Train). Likewise Kaufman’s descent, literally and psychologically, comes off as half-baked. His morbid, possibly self-destructive curiosity is a familiar theme that can be effective but here there is not enough set up to make the journey believable. There is no attempt to explain exactly what would make him seek out these extra-curricular thrills. Indeed, his life with his girlfriend (Leslie Bibb, trying valiantly to wring something from her meagre material) is painted as pretty idyllic. The film also settles into a formula far too quickly: a kill scene is followed by a scene with the couple at home, as a counter-point to the supposedly harrowing gore and violence. Then there is some investigation, some minor stalker/slasher interplay between Jones and Cooper and another disjointed, unnecessarily explicit horror interlude. The ending shakes things up a little, and it builds to a suitably despairing denouement, but by then its effectiveness has been so diluted by 90 minutes of on camera vivisections and Coopers surprisingly placid performance that the final credits merely seem like welcome respite.

It’s not all bad though. The premise and the idea of the ending, coming directly from Barker’s story, are a cut above those of your average horror film and a testament to the strength of the original. Likewise, the direction (by Versus helmer Ryuhei Kitamura) is certainly energetic and his cacophony of camera angles, speed changes and in-camera effects are enough to keep you awake during the films slower moments. Unfortunately this over-the-top style – combined with some unnecessarily flamboyant (though generally well integrated) CG – also has the effect of negating any real sense of tension or unease in the few moments of the film that attempt to create suspense. The cinematography is crisp and manages to make itself stand out a little from the horror crowd, preferring stylistic (though perhaps a little too smoky) compositions to the gritty and grainy semi-realism of some recent offerings. The music is extremely jarring – reaching almost laughably frantic levels during the final fight and overpowering any scene which does not heavily feature the sound of metal on bone. As for the performances, Cooper’s Kaufman is all grimaces and curiously underplayed, while Jones remains mercifully mute but generally looks more mystified than mysterious.

The Midnight Meat Train is another let down for Barker fans and, unfortunately, for horror fans in general. You may, if you are so inclined, get some enjoyment from the kill scenes – which are at least agreeably the other side of PG-13. You may also experience a little Outer Limits style shudder of approval at the ending that might make you reconsider your next nocturnal subway ride. But, ultimately, there simply isn’t that much to The Midnight Meat Train and it is destined to ride the mediocre movie midnight train alone into obscurity.