For years the digital revolution has been creeping up and it’s not just the style of filmmaking that is going all 0s and 1s, it’s also the effects. While we could have debates over film vs digital and further, practical vs digital effects, we’re gonna save that for another time (or you could see the Keanu Reeves doc Side by Side if you want to get into the first argument). But today an avid movie fan wants to speak his voice and champion the practical movie monsters. Below is the trailer, a Kickstarer endeavor, about the people who made the effects/performances so iconic. No, not Stan Winston, Tom Savini, Rob Bottin et al, but the men…
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Sweet Trailer…Robert Redford's ‘The Company You Keep’
Last month we posted the first promo images from Robert Redford‘s upcoming film The Company You Keep. Well hot off Lawless (check out our review here) Shia LaBeouf may continue to impress us as a capable thespian and not be the man-faced boy running from autonomous robots. In the film, Jim Grant (Redford) is a widowed single father and attorney living in Albany who was once a member of the activist/terrorist organization “the Weather Underground”. Wanted for robbery and the murder of a security guard, Jim has been in hiding for more than thirty years. When another former Weatherman (Susan Sarandon) turns herself in to the FBI, aggressive young journalist Ben Shepard…
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Sweet Trailer…Joe Dante's 'The Hole'
Well here’s a blast from the past…and I’d say doubly so since I sat down and (with immense joy) revisited Innerspace this weekend. It’s been a while since we heard about The Hole and unfortunately this is where this film has been since its completion in 2009. Joe Dante is known for delivering fun films that contain equal amounts of comedy and danger and like Gremilns, The Hole takes a kid-centric horror story just a bit darker than you’d expect. Plus it was filmed in 3-D so there’s that too. For those of you who are still wondering what The Hole is, you’ll find everything you need to know the…
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Sweet (Teaser) Trailer…Passion
Rachel McAdams has, most times, been the lovable girl next door and Noomi Rapace is, thanks to the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, riding high in Hollywood (really hope she is more than a foreign flavor of the year and becomes the next big thing). But the two of them look poised to really push their boundaries in the official trailer for Brian DePalma’s TIFF selected film Passion. How does it stack up to his other bold and artistic films like Sisters, Blow Out, Carrie and Scarface…guess we’ll find out but the trailer does look rather edgy in a 90’s kind of way. Enjoy! A remake of Love Crime, the French film by Alain Corneau, DePalma…
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Sweet Trailer…'For Ellen'
We posted a brief announcement about the stirring Paul Dano led film For Ellen a few months back but since it was only popping up on the festival circuit, we kind of forgot about it…until now. Coming off the success of Being Flynn, and the enjoyable comedy Ruby Sparks, Dano’s star is on the rise. For Ellen follows an aspiring rock star who wanted nothing more than to “make it”. In the midst of a low period in his life, he agrees to sign divorce papers with his estranged wife in order to see money from the sale of their home, only to discover that by signing the papers, he will forfeit all custody of…
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Sweet Trailer…'Seven Psychopaths'
It’s been four years since Martin McDonagh directed his first feature-length picture, but the wait between In Bruges and McDonagh’s next project is almost over. Today, Seven Psychopaths gets its first trailer, which should blow away any preconceptions you may have formed about the film in your head based on the title. For me, this is nothing but good news; with one two and a half minute clip, McDonagh’s placed his sophomore effort firmly on my radar for the fall season. Put more simply, Seven Psychopaths looks hilarious and deranged, but what else can you expect from a filmmaker with such a black sense of humor and a cast containing everyone from Walken to Rockwell to…
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Sweet Trailer…'Playing For Keeps'
The trailer for Film District’s pending romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps, tells us one thing right off the bat: Gerard Butler is still firmly interred in rom-com prison. The single most interesting detail here is that for once he’s not being forced to play American, which lets the film have a little fun with little kids and British pejoratives. (Listening to little children scream “wanker”, for various reasons, takes me back to childhood. It’s a long story.) I don’t know if that sells the film to anyone beyond its core audience, but it’s a change of pace. Have a look… Playing to the norms of the genre, Butler plays a has-been…
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Sweet Trailer…Studio Ghibli's 'From Up On Poppy Hill'
With computer animated films taking a majority of the market in film these days it’s so refreshing to see studious continue to produce hand drawn and stop-frame animation. Japanese animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli’s latest film is one such traditional hand drawn tale about a high school love story that takes place in the year before the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Similar to their sensationally simple Whisper of the Heart, this very down to Earth tale focuses on the human element but still looks engaging and captivating. Enjoy…and thanks to Anomalous Material for the tip! Directed by Goro Miyazaki, Poppy Hill marks his second feature for Studio Ghibli. His first at bat for his father’s studio, one Tales From Earthsea…
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Sweet Teaser Trailer…'Zero Dark Thirty'
A few years ago, director Kathryn Bigelow was the talk of Hollywood with The Hurt Locker. Well, very much in the same vein of that film, word arose some months back that she would be working on an action-oriented story about the final days of Osama Bin Laden. Her film, titled Zero Dark Thirty is based on the true events surrounding the raid on his complex by the Navy SEAL Team 6. This teaser gives us even less info about the famous historical event but is worth a look. So feast your eyes on the cinematic beginning of the end for the al Qaeda leader. Directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (does…
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Sweet Trailer(s)…007 Is Back In 'Skyfall'!
Oh boy, Bond is back and we can honestly say the wait has been far too long!! Since things about the projects have been hush hush until now, save for some snazzy still/set shots and a teaser that was all kinds of WOW, I can’t tell you how overjoyed we are to share the first full trailer for Bond 23, the mysteriously titled Skyfall…No more words, just watch!!! Not good enough for you? Then how about this “International” trailer which changes things up and offers something just a tad different… Daniel Craig is without a doubt one of the best (if not the most idealized) Bond and gives great new…