Three trailers that have caught my eye this week but not always for the right reasons.
Brave (Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, 2012) It's got amazingly red redheads, brave warriors, big bears and stunning CGI scenery. It looks like a nice bit of feminism (but y'know for kids) with a feisty princess voiced by Kelly Macdonald (still sounding distractingly like Diane from Trainspotting) and Billy Connolly's grand Scottish brogue used as a voiceover to kick things off. Looks like it should have some good action, beautiful visuals and some silly but not particularly funny attempts at comedy for the under 10s.
Battleship (Peter Berg, 2012) Liam Neeson giving another gruff grumpy performance. This time he's a navy man up against alien spaceships that look and sound just a tad too much like Transformers for comfort. Ho hum another day another alien invasion. Looks like director Peter Berg has been sitting in Michael Bay's filmmaking classes with sweeping shots of naval fleets, half naked girls bent seductively over things and big ass explosions. It's also based on a game and therefore is unlikely to be any good at all. Shame, I like Neeson.
The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012) Except for the hints at romance creeping in (we don't need another Twilight!), this adaptation of a kids (?) book looks seriously promising. Jennifer Lawrence can be captivating (see Winter's Bone) and the 1984 / Running Man / Battle Royale vibe looks if not terribly original, at least pretty exciting. Might have to read the book before this hits cinemas. Like Brave, it also features another kick-ass bow-and-arrow weilding heroine.
And just in case you missed my post on Bellflower, here's the trailer again. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THIS YET, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH IT NOW (please)!
For me, Bellflower is one of the finest debuts in years, and one of the finest films of the year, no question. From editing to cinematography, score to script, this is the total package of indie potential. Of course, you know this (as you read both of my reviews of the film), and yes, go see this film. I am actually sitting down to give the film another watch this evening (the DVD came out last Tuesday).
Brave looks intersting,if i'm not wrong,i think its the first movie by pixar where the lead is a female character... battleship looks like a very bad film..not gonna watch this till i read the reviews...if its good ,maybe i'll give it a try the trailer of bellflower makes me wanna watch the film ...i should watch both the city of god and bellflower before my head explodes..;) as for the hunger games,before the trailer was released i thought its gonna be a bad film like twillight but after watching the trailer ...im interested..the best thing the hunger games team had done to prevent it from becoming like twilight is by casting jennifer lawrence as katniss...wow, she looks and performs well..the scene in the trailer where she says i volunteer..good!! and josh hutcherson is a good actor too..i think both of them can make the film not being a crap flm like twilight..as for liam hemsworth..i'm not that convinced the guy can act..just my opinion
@F.Franklin Yeah apart from the not so great attempts at comedy in the trailer, I think Brave looks cool. Battlefield I'm extremely dubious about... Battle L.A. was pretty good but alien invasion movies are getting weaker recently (Skyline, Transformers 3). Until I saw this trailer, Hunger Games sounded like another teen romance with a vaguely interesting idea about it but now I'm very intrigued! Thanks for reading!
I can't wait for Brave, it must be the only animated feature film I've ever anticipated, I love the look of the heroine and it looks like the visual will be stunning.
In regards to your mention of The Hunger Games - I would completely agree that we don't need another Twilight. I barely made it through that first movie, and I paid only $1 to rent it (painful!). I think The Hunger Games might be following suite in their marketing, but I can assure you the stories are far different, even though they will probably try to make it into more of a love triangle than the story was ever about. I would definitely recommend reading at least the first book to see what you think. I've read the trilogy, and they're just well-written, interesting books worth a read (or a few).
For me, Bellflower is one of the finest debuts in years, and one of the finest films of the year, no question. From editing to cinematography, score to script, this is the total package of indie potential. Of course, you know this (as you read both of my reviews of the film), and yes, go see this film. I am actually sitting down to give the film another watch this evening (the DVD came out last Tuesday).
ReplyDeleteLucky you! I'm still waiting for the UK DVD release! Your reviews (and the trailer) have me very excited still. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteBRAVE = YES
ReplyDeleteBATTLESHIP = NO, God No
HUNGER GAMES = I am surprisingly looking forward to this now.
Bellflower looks pretty awesome
@scott Agreed agreed agreed thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteBrave looks intersting,if i'm not wrong,i think its the first movie by pixar where the lead is a female character...
ReplyDeletebattleship looks like a very bad film..not gonna watch this till i read the reviews...if its good ,maybe i'll give it a try
the trailer of bellflower makes me wanna watch the film ...i should watch both the city of god and bellflower before my head explodes..;)
as for the hunger games,before the trailer was released i thought its gonna be a bad film like twillight but after watching the trailer ...im interested..the best thing the hunger games team had done to prevent it from becoming like twilight is by casting jennifer lawrence as katniss...wow, she looks and performs well..the scene in the trailer where she says i volunteer..good!! and josh hutcherson is a good actor too..i think both of them can make the film not being a crap flm like twilight..as for liam hemsworth..i'm not that convinced the guy can act..just my opinion
@F.Franklin Yeah apart from the not so great attempts at comedy in the trailer, I think Brave looks cool. Battlefield I'm extremely dubious about... Battle L.A. was pretty good but alien invasion movies are getting weaker recently (Skyline, Transformers 3).
ReplyDeleteUntil I saw this trailer, Hunger Games sounded like another teen romance with a vaguely interesting idea about it but now I'm very intrigued! Thanks for reading!
I can't wait for Brave, it must be the only animated feature film I've ever anticipated, I love the look of the heroine and it looks like the visual will be stunning.
ReplyDelete@Sati Yes she looks amazing, as do all the visuals. I hope it will be good, really like the voice cast too!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your mention of The Hunger Games - I would completely agree that we don't need another Twilight. I barely made it through that first movie, and I paid only $1 to rent it (painful!). I think The Hunger Games might be following suite in their marketing, but I can assure you the stories are far different, even though they will probably try to make it into more of a love triangle than the story was ever about. I would definitely recommend reading at least the first book to see what you think. I've read the trilogy, and they're just well-written, interesting books worth a read (or a few).
ReplyDelete@alleyesonscreen yep definitely want to read The Hunger Games before I see the film, hope the film doesn't disappoint you!
ReplyDelete