Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
October 29, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Gran Torino – Opens December 17th
Clint Eastwood with a gun. Oh, how I've missed you! Starring in his first picture since 2004's Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood puts his mug back on the big screen in Gran Torino, which the acclaimed filmmaker also directs. Here, the man stars as Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran who is unhappy about the increase of Hmong people — an ethnic group in China and Southeast Asia — in his neighborhood. His racist façade begins to crumble, however, once he befriends one of the families next door, which he aims to protect from a local gang.
Joining an already crowded December — Frost/Nixon, Doubt, The Wrestler, The Reader, Valkyrie, Revolutionary Road, Defiance and maybe The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — Gran Torino has the look and feel of an Oscar contender.
Grade: A-
Also expected to be released on this date: None
Last Chance Harvey – Opens December 26th
Word to the wise: If you're among the majority of us who'd rather not know a film's entire plot captured in a mere two minutes of screen time, do yourself a favor and don't watch the trailer to Last Chance Harvey. Admittedly, it looks like a cute little film, but at the same time I feel like any of its magic is totally lost by having it just about all shown to me, albeit in condensed form.
Appropriate day-after-Christmas counterprogramming to something like, say, Valkyrie, Last Chance Harvey stars Dustin Hoffman as the titular character, a guy who flies out to London for the weekend, only to find out his daughter (Liane Balaban) decided to have her stepfather (James Brolin) walk her down the aisle at her wedding the following day. Depressed and sad, Harvey happens upon a prickly 40-something named Kate (Emma Thompson) and the rest takes off from there.
One thing that will never invoke any criticism from me, however, is the inclusion of a Badly Drawn Boy song in a film preview. This time it's "The Shining." And that brings with it a healthy amount of kudos.
Grade: B-
Also expected to be released on this date: Valkyrie, Revolutionary Road
My Bloody Valentine 3D – Opens January 16, 2009
There's something undeniably wrong with a horror movie when it fails to make you the least bit scared (or at minimum, a bit squeamish). My Bloody Valentine 3D, based on a low budget Canadian slasher flick from the early 1980s, doesn't appear to be about anything at all. What we've got here is a maniac killer, welding what looks to be a coal miner's pick, on the hunt for some tasty young people. Where have we seen this before? Oh right — Halloween, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just to name a few.
Grade: D
Also expected to be released on this date: Paul Blart: Mall Cop; I Love You, Man; Hotel for Dogs; Notorious
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – Opens January 23, 2009
The Underworld franchise continues moving forward, only this time its star, Kate Benkinsale, won't accompany it. Set prior to the events of the series' first film, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans traces the origins of the blood feud between the Death Dealers (aka the vampires) and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. Here, a young Lycan named Lucian (Michael Sheen) builds up an army of werewolves to take on Viktor (Bill Nighy), the vampire king who enslaved them. Proving no film can survive without some kind of romantic angle, Lucian is joined in the fight by his secret lover, Sonja (Rhona Mitra).
As for the trailer, it didn't particularly thrill me. Part of that is probably due to the fact that I didn't warm up so well to 2003's Underworld (and thus, I skipped the 2006 sequel entirely). The other reason is that it plain and simple doesn't look too good. Though there are at least two positives: I bet Sheen (yes, the same Brit who we'll see in Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon) plays an excellent Lycan, and the choice of Marilyn Manson in the soundtrack seems to fit with this movie.
Grade: C-
Also expected to be released on this date: Possession, Taken
The Haunting in Connecticut – Opens Spring 2009
Boy, do I like me some Virginia Madsen. Ever since her breakout performance in Sideways, the 47-year-old actress has held a special place in my heart. But that's neither here nor there. The bad news? She's in another horror movie (The Number 23 anyone?) But the good news? This one could actually be okay.
Based on an alleged true story featured in the book A Dark Place by Ray Garton, The Haunting in Connecticut stars Madsen as the matriarch of a family who moves to Connecticut after her son, Matt (Kyle Gallner), is diagnosed with cancer. Like the typical horror stories that begin this way, the new home is obviously haunted.
Now I know what you're thinking. How can you like this thing? Well, the trailer is admittedly a bit in-your-face at times, with instances that just don't seem to work quite right. Yet at the same time, it carries a number of good chills — Matt's marked body, the mysterious séance people — that are bound to look good up on the big screen.
Grade: B