Trailer Park: The End of the World
Welcome to our trailer commentary feature cleverly called “Trailer Park”. In this edition we take a look at a couple of upcoming disaster movies, aliens visit Africa and Scorsese’s latest.
2012
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Wucar1vxQ
Zach: Conspiracy theory nuts have been going apeshit about the Mayans supposedly predicting the end of the world at the end of the year 2012. Disaster master Roland Emmerich has apparently taken this idea and ran with it for 2012. The thing that stands out to me is that the special effects looking fucking ridiculous, that aircraft carrier smashing into the city at the end? Awesome. I’m hoping it’s more fun Independence Day style destruction than preachy environmental destruction like The Day After Tomorrow. I really hope it’s better than his last one, 10,ooo B.C., which was really stupid. We can see Roland’s take on the 2012 hype in the middle of November.
Brian: Judging from this trailer, approximately half of this movie involves the characters in an airplane escaping from a disaster. Emmerich is known for movies with lots of cool effects but little else. “2012” will be an interesting escape and nothing more. A brainless summer movie from what it seems like.
Zombieland
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubr5EQzaPmQ
Zach: Definitely more light hearted than 2012 is the upcoming zombie movie Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson. They’re going for a Shaun of the Dead style horror/comedy as Woody leads a group of teens in the zombie filled wastelands. I got an almost Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy vibe from the narrator of the trailer. I like that they have some original ideas as well, like fighting zombies at the carnival. Hadn’t heard anything about this one until the trailer came out yesterday but it looks like it could be fun.
Brian: Love the comedic vibes, the casting of Woody Harrelson and the amusement park setting. The scenes of normalcy invaded by zombie terror were pretty funny too. Looking forward to this one a little bit.
District 9
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-3KBBaF5kw
Zach: With the transition from KAMPC to EA we didn’t get to talk about the trailer for District 9. The original short film is amazing and I can’t wait to see what Neil Blomkamp can do with a bigger budget. The basic premise is that aliens get stranded in rural Africa and must integrate into society. There’s lots of allusions to apartheid and looks to be more of a thinker than the typical summer movies. Hopefully people check it out in August, because I know I am.
Brian: Get the mockumentary vibe from this trailer about the alien menace in South Africa. It’ll be interesting where they will take it. Reminds me of “V” a little bit too. Curious about the aliens look like and the reason behind their existence on Earth. Eerie.
Shutter Island
video://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYVrHkYoY80
Zach: Martin Scorsese’s newest movie sees Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo investigating the mysterious Shutter Island, a place that makes Arkham Asylum look like a day spa. An patient escapes and US Marshalls Tony and Chuck are called in to investigate. It looks like they get more than they bargained for when strange things start happening and an apparent conspiracy starts to reveal itself. DiCaprio looks like he’s gonna be great in this one and I think he’s trying to compete with Tom Hanks for accents in movies. It’s also nice to see that Ben Kingsley finally dragged himself out of the muck that is Uwe Boll movies to deliver an actual performance.
Brian: Scorcese and DiCaprio is usually a good bet movie wise, and I am glad they are working on a movie like this. An old-fashioned mystery suspense movie. Glad to see Ben Kingsley too, not to mention the underrated Mark Ruffalo. I expect a strong performance from DiCaprio and really really hope they don’t resort to M. Night type trickery. Gonna see this one.