I know, I know, I’ve focused way too much on Kick-Ass already. This will be the last post on the film, I swear it. Even if they come up with another trailer that kicks more ass, I won’t post it. By now, I believe most of us who are looking forward to this film are already as pumped up as can be, and those think it’s meh won’t care no matter what. So, nothing left to do but sit and wait with our thumbs up our asses until April. Come to think of it, April promises out to be a fun-filled time at the movies with Kick-Ass, The Losers, and MacGruber.
In the meantime, check out the trailer. It’s not as graphically violent and nowhere as vulgar as the Hit-Girl red band trailer, but it doesn’t make me want to see it any less. Enjoy.
Yep, it’s been quiet around here for a while. I’ve been struggling with a fairly lucrative but definitively dead-end job for the past couple of months, and yes, I’m quitting without a job again. I’m on leave for the next couple of days because my office for some strange reason forfeits my leave carried over from 2009 if I quit now, so I’m officially resigning only when I get back to work next Wednesday. Just gotta love the way they do things.
Anyway, I thought I’d use the time to kick-start ModernPost again, seeing as how I’ve been neglectful for a while now. Nothing I like better than trailers and speculating how cool/crappy upcoming films might be; let’s get to it.
Terribly Happy
Ignoring all the accolades splashed intermittently across the screen (I find them usually very misleading), I must say this one smells pretty good based on the trailer. If my memory serves me well, this will probably be my first Danish film if I do eventually get to watch it here in Singapore (shows just how narrow my film experience is). Atmospheric, macabre, and a touch of humor, it had me at mojn.
Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?
Not too sure about this one. Here in Singapore, I used to laugh my guts out watching Indian movies on Saturday afternoons, but that was before Bollywood. Now that the Indians are into serious production values and internationalizing their particular brand of cinema (e.g., Chandni Chowk to China, incidentally also distributed to most of the world by Warner Bros.) their films have gotten prettier but are much less funny. Maybe things got lost in translation, but I don’t think I understood Tamil or Hindi any better back then. It’s probably because Bollywood is adopting Hollywood conventions so much (even while its stars ostentatiously shun Hollywood in favor of Bollywood) that they have lost much of the bombast and audaciousness of their past films. But I know for many people the love affair with Bollywood isn’t over yet, so this might still be your cup of chai. But given how unfunny Chandni Chowk was, and based on this trailer, I doubt this will top my all-time avuncular disaster comedy Uncle Buck. Click on the picture to view the trailer.
The Green Zone
What can I say? Bourne goes to Baghdad, with Paul Greengrass. Personally I feel Doug Liman’s entry is the best in the Bourne trilogy, but I know a lot of people feel Greengrass adrenalized the series. Let’s just say I like to be able to generally tell what’s going on in my action thrillers; I’m slow that way.
Kick-Ass (Trailer 2)
I have to say Kick-Ass just surprises me more and more. First, I didn’t think Mark Millar’s idea of regular people who decide to become superheroes would fly (pun unintended). And then I hear they’re making a movie out of it; same reaction. But the comic series turned out more than decent, and the trailers just get more and more delicious, literally. I can taste it in my mouth, and trailer after trailer Kick-Ass just promises to be a lip smackingly, well, kickass. Click on the picture for the yummy new trailer. Still don’t believe me? Try the red band trailer featuring Hit-Girl. If that doesn’t put a big ol’ smile on your face, nothing will.
The Karate Kid
If I haven’t mentioned how I feel about Jackie Chan and the movies he’s been in since Crime Story (except for Shanghai Noon which was totally saved by Owen Wilson, and Kungfu Panda doesn’t count at all) let me say it now: Jackie Chan now totally sucks camel ass. Don’t matter if it’s Hong Kong flick or Hollywood, Jackie Chan just can’t cut as far as I’m concerned. His on-screen personas are typically the complete opposite of the kind of person he appears to be in real life, and it’s not like he was ever a great actor to begin with. It’s tiring to see the same I’m-such-a-frigging-righteous-but-sensitive-but-kickass-bitch routine over and over and over again … oh wait … scratch that last part because he stopped kicking ass a while back. Plus he’s really just a stunt man and not a true martial arts exponent like Jet Li or Donnie Yen. So, now he’s going after a whole new demographic with family-friendly films like The Spy Next Door and worse, a remake. I know not everybody’s a fan of the 1984 original, but it had heart, and Pat Morita’s got charisma to spare. Jackie Chan? Will Smith’s son? Watch it if you want. Clash of the Titans is probably a much better bet for remake that won’t suck.
Clash of the Titans (Trailer 2)
I actually checked out the original Clash of the Titans on DVD sometime in 2009 after an IM conversation with a friend, just to revel in the so-cheesy-now-it’s-cool Ray Harryhausen effects. This is a film I’ve watched countless times when I was much younger, along with Jaws and many of the classic James Bond films. Not that they all belong in the same class of films; they just happened to be showing repeatedly at the makeshift outdoor “theater” put by the a club I was in. The movies were projected onto a big wall that was part of a badminton court, à la Cinema Paradiso. Anyway, both trailers (there’s not much difference between the two) suggest that the remake is actually going to be better than it has any right to be. I really like what Louis Leterrier did with The Incredible Hulk (talk to the hand please if you want to say something about Lee Ang’s Hulk); let see if Leterrier can give us another popcorn smash this March.
From Paris with Love (Trailer 2)
When I watched Pierre Morel’s District 13 (I’ll talk a little about the upcoming sequel later), I forgave it a lot of things. It’s basically got shit for brains, but all the slick parkour moves more than made up for it, and at 84 minutes it was easy to digest. Then came Taken, which still had shit for brains but to me felt like nothing more than an extended episode of 24 directed by Paul Greengrass, featuring the worst elements of the series (gratuitous violence and torture scenes, a father who’s supposedly a hard-boiled government operative but inexplicably becomes a slobbering mawkish mess when it comes to his daughter, etc.). But the ever-dependable Liam Neeson single-handedly saved the show. No such luck, however,with John Travolta in From Paris with Love, Morel’s latest offering. I hate it when Travolta tries to go ballistic (e.g., Face/Off, Broken Arrow, and more recently The Taking of Pelham 123); he becomes cartoonish, which isn’t a bad thing if you happen to be a genuinely funny guy. Travolta just comes off as contrived. Nevertheless, I expect From Paris with Love to be at least mildly entertaining with a decent amount thrills and spills, provided Monsieur Morel quits the Paul Greengrass/Michael Bay school of film editing and puts a leash on Travolta.
Inception
Uh, what? Really, that’s all I have to say about this film (and this is already trailer 2). An idea? Nolan’s doesn’t seem to have a clue since after Batman Begins. (Yeah, I’m one of those who revile The Dark Knight.)
Cop Out
I love Bruce Willis, I think Kevin Smith’s a genuinely hilarious guy (even if he’s not always funny), but I find myself trying to laugh during this trailer. A mild smile at certain points, but no, no laughs. I really hope the films better than what we see here.
Knight and Day
Ah, Tom Cruise (with aviators! I’m getting a serious case of vapid 80s flashbacks here.). He’s not been getting a lot of love lately, what with all the alientology and acting all weird and stuff. And I’m not a Cameron Diaz fan, but I reckon it’s better that she plays demented/cute than if Cruise does it. I only hope James Mangold doesn’t try to do a Mr. & Mrs Smith of his own; it wasn’t perfect but that kind of chemistry can’t be replicated.
District 13: Ultimatum
This is what happens when movie people (yeah, I’m talking to you, Luc Besson) try to cash in on one something that turned out better than it had any right to: sort of like reverse alchemy (turn gold that came from shit back into shit again).
Hot Tub Time Machine
This is one of those concepts that doesn’t sound too hot but the trailer seems to suggest otherwise. I like the vibe, I like John Cusack, and I like that Chevy Chase’s is in it, and while it’s probably not a whole new level of awesome (that’s reserved for Kick-Ass), it feels like a lot of fun.
Iron Man 2
Okay wait, I take that back. A whole new level of awesome is reserved for Kick-Ass and Iron Man 2.
Robin Hood
Squarely in the mold of Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood promises to be another heavy-handed but beautifully shot epic; other than that the trailer doesn’t tell us much, so I can’t tell whether I like it or not. I know Russell Crowe can be pretty effective in the right film and tedious in the wrong ones, and Scott’s made both with Crowe before. Cate Blanchett, on the other hand, graces the screen no matter what. We’ll just have to wait till the next trailer to decide.
Alice In Wonderland
To be honest I didn’t quite like the initial trailers, chiefly because I found Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter quite unnerving. But this one kind of completely turned me around, such that before the trailer was over I decided I’m gonna watch this one. Tim Burton is quite something when he’s got his mojo on, and this one smells like it’s on.
Brooklyn’s Finest
It’s been a while since we last saw Wesley Snipes. Yeah, the man’s had his fair share of crappy movies, but he’s got his moments too (Blade, Blade II, White Men Can’t Jump), and Brooklyn’s Finest looks like one of them. The trailer suggests a strong resemblance to Training Day and Street Kings (both fairly effective but low-key) with a touch of The Wire and The Shield. With a formidable cast, this could turn out to be solid drama actioner in the hands of Antoine Fuqua.
To be honest, I’m not really a Mark Millar fan. Sure, I loved what he did with The Ultimates, and Civil War was decent. Wanted is mildly interesting as a comic, but I love the way Timur Bekmambetov took it to the big screen. So, will Millar’s Kick-Ass fulfill its title as a film? Seems to the case, judging from the bootlegged clips from this year’s Comic Con, and also the teaser trailer which has just surfaced. Click on the poster below to view it.
I first knew of Matthew Vaughn as the producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, but he definitely caught my attention with Stardust. Any one who can make me enjoy a film adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novel with Robert De Niro swishing around in a dress on screen is definitely worth the attention. With Vaughn once again taking directing and screenwriting credits, let’s see if he can work the same magic this time round. (Too bad we got to wait till April 16!)
PS: Though it doesn’t have much to offer at the present time, you can check out the official movie site and sign up for updates if that’s your thing.
