TP: Tropic Thunder, Taken, The Happening
Only one really big trailer this week but there are some others that have come out in the last couple weeks that are worth talking about.
Tropic Thunder
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X6cWO60ErY
Zach: Ben Stiller hasn’t exactly been hitting movies out of the park lately (The Heartbreak Kid anybody?) but this looks like it could be a great return to form. Stiller plays a Stallone or Arnoldesque action hero who, along with Jack Black as the comedic one and Robert Downey Jr. as the serious actor, is making an epic Vietnam war film. The big buzz that everyone is talking about is Robert Downey Jr. is in blackface but I think it’s extremely clever in the context of the movie. His character is so method in his acting he is willing to undergo a radical surgery to darken his skin, all because the person his character is based on was black. I think this movie looks good and the premise is clever so I’m on board.
Brian: It’s looking like The Summer of Downey Jr. as the actor not only plays the sarcastic hero Tony “Iron Man” Stark but now he’s getting controversial buzz as a white actor who turns himself black in “Tropic Thunder”. The trailer doesn’t show anything overly promising, and this film still looks like it’s either be totally good — or totally crap. Are Stiller and Black’s antics wearing thin? I feel like this film will tell.
Taken
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sGGRS_UaPY
Zach: A little “Under the Radar” pick this week, we have Liam Neeson in Taken. Neeson plays a former spy/secret agent and has since retired. He lets his daughter go to Paris for a vacation but she is kidnapped. I mainly put this up because of Neeson’s epic bad ass speech to the kidnappers and, since it’s already been out in France, I’ve heard he follows up on those promises. It’s coming out in the States in September and the producer is Luc Besson who produced the Transporter movies and directed Leon and La Femme Nikita. If you want to see Liam Neeson kicking some serious ass than I have a feeling you should definitely check this out in September.
Brian: Liam Neeson? Kicking ass? I’m there.
The Happening
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQb7kUJOKs
Zach: Well, it’s pretty much make or break time for M. Night Shyamalan. He’s gone from the awesome Sixth Sense to the abysmal Lady in the Water and The Happening could go either way. From the trailer it looks like to me that this is like if Stephen King was the writer of Jericho. A small town is cut off because of “terrorist attacks” and things start to get bad and weird. Also, what will the twist be? (maybe the twist is that there isn’t a twist!?) Bottom line, M. Night Shyamalan will either redeem himself or finish himself off. We’ll find out on June 13th.
Brian: The Village was lame and Lady in the Water was laughable. Judging from this trailer, it looks like M. Night is listening to his critics. No ridiculous concept, no apparent twist you can tell from a mile away. Just looks like a decent thriller with good actors. The shot of construction workers falling from the sky is downright eerie.
Pineapple Express
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtKTszyGNVI
Zach: Okey doke, final trailer of the week, it came out a while ago but here’s the red band trailer for Pineapple Express, “From the guys who brought you Superbad” (that’s kinda getting annoying by the way). Seth Rogen, in a stretch of acting, plays a stoner who gets some rare weed (Pineapple Express) from his dealer played by James Franco. He then witnesses a murder and leaves the Pineapple Express behind and it’s so rare that it can be traced to them. So now they are on the run. I’m kinda afraid it might be a one joke kinda movie (We’re so stoned we have trouble with everyday situations) but Judd Apatow and his gang of fools have not really steered us wrong before, (gotta admit, I’m starting to think Superbad was kinda overrated after a couple of viewings) so I’m sure this will be at the least pretty funny.
Brian: Another film with potential……… the potential to be THE stoner film. I like Seth Rogan and seeing Harry Osbourne as a pothead is amusing. A trailer with some good laughs for a film with no real expectations is the formula for a sleeper hit.
So that’s it for this week, what trailers will show up next week? You’ll have to come back and find out.