Volume 8: Give It Away, Now... (get it?)
Contagion
Dir: Steven Soderbergh – Planned release date: September 9
There has been much complaining among film fans—including me—that many recent trailers work less as appetite-whetting teases and more as entire films condensed into two minute clips. This means that many of a film’s most striking shots may be given away; diminishing their impact once the movie is finally released. However, this trailer for Contagion—the latest film from the prolific Steven Soderbergh—has one of the more striking spoilers I’ve ever seen in such a preview. Not even a minute in, and it is revealed that Matt Damon’s wife has died after being infected by a particularly nasty virus. As she’s played by Gwyneth Paltrow, we have to assume that she is not a minor character. Maybe this event happens early on in the film, but that doesn’t mean the trailer should go and ruin the surprise for everyone.
On the positive side, this spoiler is the only real problem I have with the Contagion trailer, which is advertising one of the more intriguing Soderbergh movies in quite some time. It’s not that his films have declined precipitously in quality; I just think this is subject matter he can knock out of the park. Apparently, he was able to convince some of the best actors in Hollywood of just that. A look at the Contagion cast list is an eye-opener, and that extends beyond the names at the top of the bill. Besides your Damons, Paltrows, Cotillards and Winslets, this film also boasts supporting parts for Bryan Cranston, John Hawkes and Demetri Martin (!), who I still think can have a decent career despite the horror that was Taking Woodstock.
Dream House
Dir: Jim Sheridan – Planned release date: September 30
Continuing (and ending) today’s semi-overarching theme of trailers that give an awful lot away, here is the preview for Dream House. Daniel Craig, continuing his quest to be in every movie in 2011, plays a family man who moves into one of those ominous homes you only see in horror films. Of course, the first few scenes of this trailer suggest that the film’s title might have the slightest hint of irony. (As the child says, “everyone who lives in this house gets killed.”) Yet the trailer doesn’t stop there as it should; it hints that the one behind all of these murders might actually be Craig himself. It is at this point the title goes beyond irony and enters the realm of double meaning: perhaps Craig is a delusional madman who has killed his family and now is pretending they still exist. At this point it is not just a dream house… it is a dream house. Get it?
If that is the final twist, then there are obvious comparisons to be made with Scorsese’s Shutter Island. But also, this is infuriating. I hope to God that there’s more to it, because if there isn’t then the trailer has given away what is supposed to be the film’s largest secret. With Craig involved, this film may very well still be worth seeing; it’s just sad to think that you may be going in knowing the whole story. At least the Contagion trailer made it clear that Paltrow’s death happens early in the film. The trailer for Dream House may very well make watching the actual film redundant.
Battleship
Dir: Peter Berg – Planned release date: May 18, 2012
I’m not going to beat around the bush here: this trailer is just the worst. It’s bad enough that this film aspires to be little more than a Michael Bay knockoff; it’s worse that it’s dragging Peter Berg—a man who I believe to be a talented director—down with it. Let’s begin with the ridiculous existence of the movie itself: IT’S BASED ON A HASBRO GAME. That is all. The good news is that of all the board game-inspired films on the horizon, Battleship seems like the one that could most readily make a good film. Particularly if it were about a group of naval officers at war against a common enemy… oh, wait. Aliens? Screw this.
That said, they don’t seem to be aliens so much as they’re creatures inside a ship that sounds a lot like those Transformers things the kids all seem to like so much. Everything else is just business as usual, including a “rebellious” soldier who wants to marry Just Go With It’s Brooklyn Decker, whose father is a constantly angry Liam Neeson. Rihanna apparently fits in there somewhere—she’s making her feature debut—but she’s nowhere to be found in this brief but rather laughable teaser. I still hold out hope that the final film has a bit more substance, and that this teaser was a result of the ad people wanting to rush something out ASAP. What truly surprises me is that this film had a budget of $200 million. The only films that typically get budgets this huge are follow-ups to proven properties. As movies like Prince of Persia and Green Lantern have shown us, it’s a wee bit dangerous to put this much money behind something without knowing the interest of the movie-going public. I’m not so sure people will be lining up to see Battleship.
Twixt
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola – Planned release date: No clue.
Let’s pretend for a second you don’t know who this Francis Ford Coppola chap is. Now watch this curiously long (and curiously awkward) trailer for Twixt, and see if you really find yourself all that interested. I say no. Everything else being equal, this looks like an incredibly cheap, wannabe art film that would struggle to get a DVD release. If I made this movie, I’d bet my life nobody would be talking about it. (I certainly wouldn’t get to take this film to Comic-Con as Coppola did.) What’s equally curious is that Coppola is choosing to take a “remix tour” or something, where he will essentially edit the film as it’s being shown to audiences. It’s natural for one to wonder if such a tour was really Coppola’s intention from the start, or if he’s dissatisfied with the film and trying to find a way, any way, to make it work.
A lot of this could be my reaction to the trailer, which I found to be mostly insufferable. Val Kilmer—an energetic actor who hasn’t had the career he deserves—just seems uncomfortable here, and I’m not entirely sure how the 3-D dream sequences are going to fit in with the earthly story of a subpar horror writer looking to create something real, man. Coppola has more than earned the benefit of the doubt, even if his recent work hasn’t gotten that much positive attention. In the case of Twixt, he’s either a man who knows exactly what he’s doing or a man who has no freaking idea.
Drive
Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn – Planned release date: September 16
(This is technically a red-band trailer, so honor system and all that.)
The premise of a Hollywood stunt driver who drives getaway cars at night seems like it could belong in a brainless blockbuster, but Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive appears to be a much-hyped reminder that one can make an action-packed film for the art houses as well. This is a film that’s been going around the festival circuit of late, and has garnered quite a bit of acclaim in the process. (Refn won the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which is nothing to shake a stick at. Those folks normally like films of a more pretentious sort.) Drive also continues Ryan Gosling’s astronomic rise to ubiquity, and I’m more than intrigued by the idea of him turning into a harder-edged actor.
Besides the footage in this trailer, I don’t know a great deal about the film. All I know is that it’s allegedly awesome, and that is something that would certainly be suggested by its cast. Besides Gosling, we also get the reliable likes of Ron Perlman and Carey Mulligan in supporting roles. (Also, more Cranston!) Yet the most intriguing casting decision is Albert Brooks as the film’s villain, and this footage alone seems to hint at the potential brilliance of his performance. Of all the films coming in the second half of this year, Drive is one I’m very much looking forward to.
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