One thing can be said about Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia: he knows how to compose strikingly weird imagery. Truthfully, a lot more can be said about him than that, as he’s one of Spain’s most visually inventive contemporary directors; one only needs to watch The Last Circus or 800 Balas for proof of his gifts as an artist. But even if you’re well-versed in his filmography, the trailer for his latest, Witching & Bitching, may yet leave you scratching your head in puzzlement, wonder what it is that you just subjected yourself to. And that’s kind of a good feeling. Witching & Bitching is a clear cousin to horror films like From Dusk till Dawn and Doghouse, pitting…
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Sweet 2nd Trailer…'Don Jon'
What can’t Joseph Gordon-Levitt do? Since reasserting his focus on acting in 2004 with Mysterious Skin, the man has appeared in an impressive tally of films, ranging from indies (2005’s excellent Brick), to blockbusters (The Dark Knight Rises), to genre movies of several stripes (Looper, (500) Days of Summer), and he’s even founded hitRecord, an “online collaborative production company”. (Whatever the hell that means.) This year, he’s branched out even further by taking on directing and writing duties on Don Jon, in which he also stars as the title character. Guess he’s a student of da Vinci. Or, at the very least, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Gordon-Levitt’s film is…
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Sweet Trailer…Alan Rickman in 'CBGB'
What is CBGB you ask? Well as the hilariously grungy Alan Rickman (yes, that’s Alan Rickman) tells us early in the trailer, it stands for “Country Blue Grass Blues“. Never heard of it? While it ain’t The Whiskey Bar it has been the spring board for some of the music world’s most iconic entertainers. This film tells the true story of Hilly Kristal (Alan Rickman) and how he turned his sleazy low-rent club into the stuff of legend. So if names like the Talking Heads, Blondie, The Ramones, The Police, and/or Iggy Pop mean anything to you, you have to check this out. Enjoy!! In addition to Rickman nearly disappearing…
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Sweet Trailer…David O. Russell's 'American Hustle'
Ever since it was announced that awesome David O. Russell was working on not one but two more projects with both Bradley Cooper (with a ridiculously luxuriant perm) and Jennifer Lawrence (in what looks to be a smaller role) we couldn’t wait to hear more. Well today Columbia released the first American Hustle trailer and it is, to use some 70s vernacular, groovy…and a whole lot of other things. So take a gander and enjoy!! Directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) American Hustle is, in short, is about the ABSCAM scandal. It’s a take on the true story of a notorious financial con-artist and his mistress/partner in crime (played…
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Sweet Trailer…Vincenzo Natali's 'Haunter'
From Little Miss Sunshine to The Call we’ve seen Abigail Breslin competently act opposite A-listers and hold her own. Now she looks to stretch her acting muscles a bit further in the latest from Cube director Vincenzo Natali. Haunter is the story about the ghost of a teenager who died years ago and is now reaching out to the land of the living in order to save someone from suffering her same fate. So while thrillers/horror films can be a bit trite these days it’s good to see a slightly new take and entry in the genre. After all, whether you liked Natali’s Splice or not you have to admit…
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Sweet Trailer…'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom'
Nelson Mandela recently celebrated his 95th birthday and now we have the first real look at Idris Elba playing him in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. We just saw Elba cancel the apocalypse in Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim (check out our review), playing the bad ass he’s used to playing, and now he’s pretty unrecognizable playing the iconic South African president. Whether he’s clearing a desk in BBC’s Luther, protecting the bifrost in Thor or duking it out with Kaiju in Pacific Rim, Elba continues to flex his acting muscles and this may be his finest work yet. Enjoy the first trailer from Yahoo… The film is a chronicle of…
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Sweet Trailer…Steve McQueen's '12 Years A Slave'
With fierce conviction to tell stories that some might consider offensive or taboo, director Steve McQueen has twice proved himself to be an unflinching filmmaker. He gave us Hunger, then followed that with Shame and now his latest film 12 Years A Slave, adapted from the novel of the same name, tells the incredible true story of Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped in 1841 and forced into slavery at a Louisiana cotton plantation. Facing cruelty from his slave owner, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter…
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Sweet Red-Band Trailer…'Oldboy'
I’ll be honest: even after reading official press releases and early (albeit potentially untrustworthy) reactions, part of me still didn’t totally believe that somebody, somewhere, had actually funded a remake of Oldboy with Spike Lee positioned at the helm and Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley, and Elizabeth Olsen installed in the principal roles. Yesterday, though, the first trailer – of the red band persuasion, no less- for the film hit the web, so I can kiss that delusion goodbye and just accept that my favorite all-time film is being repackaged for an American audience and will kick off its theatrical run this fall. Of course, the above is nothing more than…
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Sweet Trailer…Ron Maxwell's Civil War-era 'Copperhead'
As America prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War this summer, we film fans can get to see the release of acclaimed filmmaker Ron Maxwell‘s (Gods and Generals, Gettysburg) next epic Copperhead this Friday. Copperhead is the new Civil War-era movie, inspired by actual events and based on Harold Frederic’s novel of the same name, about a righteous farmer Abner Beech of Upstate New York, who despises slavery – but just as passionately opposes the war that is waging in the name of the union hundreds of miles away. Abner is neither a Yankee nor a Rebel but is what is known as a “Copperhead”. Check out the trailer below… Differing slightly from…
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Sweet Trailer…'Willow Creek'
Bobcat Goldthwait’s latest film, Willow Creek, still doesn’t have a theatrical release date yet, but it has received its very first trailer. We’ve seen the official poster, and my review from IFFBoston went up shortly after I caught the film at its world premiere (I really liked it), so suffice to say that it’s exciting to have the opportunity to show off some Willow Creek footage to people after talking it up for so long. Check it out below: Smartly, the trailer tries to show off what makes Willow Creek truly great: the relationship dynamics between Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) and Jim (Bryce Johnson) and the guest appearances by real-life Bigfoot fanatics and experts.…