More Movie Madness...

Well, movie trailers have been hitting the web fast and furious lately. Trailers for Mission Impossible 3, The Da Vinci Code, X-Men 3, Poseidon, Inside Man, Three Burials, Ice Age 2, Tristan and Isolde, and today the new one for V for Vendetta. Not to mention the previous Superman Returns trailer as well. I may even be forgetting a couple… The trailers look good too. If only Hollywood people could get as good at making movies as they are at making trailers and hyping the movie to come, maybe they could stop whining about the downturn in box office numbers and attendance. How many times have I seen a trailer that gets me excited to see the movie, only to have it turn into a dud. Not to mention the many trailers that have great bits in them that aren’t even in the movie! (Yes, I'm looking at you, A Man Apart) I hate that… Back to the trailers, though. Maybe I’ll hit on some of the highlights for those still cursing Quicktime 7 and their “we-don’t-want-anyone-to-see-trailers” philosophy… MI:3 – actually looks good. Better than MI:2. Tom Cruise looks more like an action/spy than the long-hair, slow-mo, flappy skin version of MI:2. Plus, this one automatically has a better pedigree with JJ Abrams directing and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in it and actually playing the bad guy. He’s a good actor whatever he plays. The trailer showed some good looking action sequences and explosions, so maybe they’ll finally come up with a good plot / good action combo. Maybe. Either way, Michelle Monaghan looks good, so count me in for this one. The Da Vinci Code – hmmm, interesting. I haven’t read the book, and don’t know what it’s all about except that it was controversial. The trailer looks intriguing – might make me hit the ‘net to find out more about the book. With Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKlellan in it, the acting should be top notch. Plus, it looks like they’ve worked in a car chase sequence featuring one of those small Smart Cars. Might have to see it just for that. Still, the jury is out till I know more about the book plot. Poseidon – hmmm, another remake. Kurt Russell and Richard Dryfuss are in this one about the luxury liner hit with a tidal wave and capsizing. Should be a wild, survival, CGI laden, action fest. This one could go either way in a long line of disaster flicks. Can’t be any worse than The Day After Tomorrow, though… Inside Man – here’s one that jumped up a few spots on my radar out of nowhere after seeing the trailer. Denzel Washington plays the cop. Clive Owen plays the crook. Jodie Foster plays a shifty Fed. But this one looks like there are a lot more layers to it than that. I usually like Clive Owen (especially after Sin City), and he looks to be playing an intriguing character in a take no bull, very smart, master thief. Plus, this is directed by Spike Lee. That by itself raises this way above the ordinary cops and robbers flick. I loved his movie 25th Hour, so count me in for this one. Tristan and Isolde – um, ok. This looks like an odd mix of Romeo & Juliet meets Gladiator. I guess they couldn’t decide if they were going for the ‘chick flick’ crowd or the ‘blood ‘n guts’ crowd. They get points for using the Evanescence song Going Under in the trailer (don’t know if that puts it in Punisher or Daredevil territory – could go either way), but lose points for trying to hide a romantic chick flick behind a sword and armor epic. Rental if I’m desperate… V for Vendetta – This one looks good, and might even get people talking if they look past the fact it came from a graphic novel (excellent stories CAN come from comic books people – get over it!). The graphic novel is a classic, written some time ago, but in today’s paranoid, take your freedoms away, everyone not with us is a terrorist kind of world, this might encourage some discussion. It also has an excellent tagline – “People should not be afraid of their governments – governments should be afraid of their people.” I just hope people can also look past the fact its being made from the people behind the terrible Matrix sequels. I hope they don’t blow it. Count me in for this one, even with a shaved-head Natalie Portman. Well, that’s about it for now. Oh yeah – while writing this and watching Due South and Miami Vice, I wonder were any shows better than Due South, Firefly, and Miami Vice for having fantastic music that perfectly matched the show and was as important to the mood of the show as any actor or scene? I think not… Oh yeah, that reminds me – one other trailer that hit the ‘net, though curiously not at Quicktime yet. The trailer for next years Miami Vice big screen adaptation looks interesting too. Colin Farell and Jaime Fox play Crokett and Tubbs, and from what I briefly saw, it looks like they’ve kept the mood of it right. Can’t wait to see more…