Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
January 14, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Coraline – Opens February 6th
We've got ourselves a curious case of some rather ominous-looking buttons next month in Focus Features' Coraline, a stop-motion horror fantasy film. (Similar to something like, say, The Nightmare Before Christmas).
In it, a young girl named Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) escapes her boring life by unlocking a mysterious door in her home and finding a parallel reality inside. There, everything appears to be normal...only better. The fun and games come to a close, however, when the girl finds herself a prisoner within the new world and, among other things, is forced to sew a pair of black buttons over her eyes like everyone else.
How very strange.
The trailer is a bit hard on the eyes when we're used to seeing more fluid, gorgeous CGI in Pixar's WALL-E or DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda. (Certainly not Delgo, of course). There's something peculiar with stop-motion releases like Coraline in this day and age, when we've got a number of better technologies at our disposal. Yet maybe that's the point – it's a "look".
A note on the release date: Coraline's February 6th debut pits the animated feature against Summit Entertainment's Push, which also conveniently stars kid celeb Dakota Fanning. This could get ugly.
Grade: B-
Also expected to be released on this date: He's Just Not That Into You, The Pink Panther 2, Push
All About Steve – Opens March 6th
What do you know...Sandra Bullock in yet another average-looking movie project! The actress and average practically go hand in hand at this point.
Just two months before co-starring with Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal, Sandra is poised to play Mary Horowitz, a crossword puzzle instructor who becomes infatuated with a news cameraman named Steve (Bradley Cooper) after a blind date. As the news team, led by reporter Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden Church), covers breaking news across the country, Steve grows increasingly put off by a rather clingy Mary. (Perhaps he's taking a cue from his character in He's Just Not That Into You).
Admittedly, that's got to be one of my worst nightmares, too. A peppy version of Sandra Bullock that just won't...go...away. It'd be like Keanu Reeves calling me at all hours of the day to see if we could be friends.
Grade: C
Also expected to be released on this date: Watchmen, Tokyo!
Fighting – Opens April 24th
Terrence Howard bows out of the Iron Man franchise so he can free up his schedule for movies like Fighting. Ooookay.
The action story focuses on Sean Arthur, played here by the dreamy Channing Tatum (who smartly stows away the dance shoes for this movie). He's a young guy with a lack of motivation, selling counterfeit merchandise on the NYC streets. The man ventures into brand new territory, however, when he encounters famed street-fighting coach Harvey Boarden (Howard), who toughens Sean up and teaches him how to win.
Though the fight sequences look brutal, I can't say I've ever been a fan of watching idiots beat the crap out of each other. UFC fans, of which I am not a part, may find something to like here instead.
Grade: D+
Also expected to be released on this date: The Soloist, Obsessed, The Goods: The Don Ready Story, Whiteout, Vanilla Gorilla
The Last House on the Left – Opens Spring 2009
We've already been forced to bear a fair share (say that five times fast) of horror movie remakes in recent years. This much is true. But what separates The Last House on the Left from a lot of recently released schlock is it actually looks pretty appealing.
In the Wes Craven-produced project – he made his directing debut with the 1972 original – a band of friends have an unfortunate run-in with two murderers, who attempt to off one of them by leaving a girl for dead in a pool of water. Once the murderers force the teens to let them crash in one of their homes, the girl in the water reawakens...and seeks revenge.
Featuring a surprise, somewhat moving cover of Guns N Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" from Taken By Trees, the trailer makes the movie look super intense, especially once the resurrected girl starts busting some ass back home. And it's good to see Monica Potter in the cast. She was one of the lone things I liked about Saw – way back when the franchise wasn't a Halloween weekend staple.
Grade: A-
My Life in Ruins – Opens May 8th
Hey, Nia Vardalos! We've missed you. Appearing in her first film since the phenomenon that was My Big Fat Greek Wedding – I'm doing her the favor of skipping over Connie and Carla entirely – Nia is back...and this time in Greece.
Vardalos, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mike Reiss (of The Simpsons fame), stars here as Georgia, a Greek-American tour guide who leads oddball tourists across the country. And at seemingly every turn, something goes wrong, be it mechanical issues on the bus, mishaps at the hotels, and so on. Georgia's love life could also use a reboot.
That's where Richard Dreyfuss' character, Irv Gordon, comes into play. He teaches her to relax, have some fun and even give the supposed loser guys a chance...like her screwy, quiet Greek bus driver (Alexis Georgoulis). (As we learned in Not Another Teen Movie, it hardly takes any effort to turn an ugly duckling into a sexy, Greek swan).
This one looks cute. And like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Life in Ruins is backed by Tom Hanks.
Grade: B
Also expected to be released on this date: Star Trek XI, Wild Child