Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
May 21, 2008
Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: A foursome of friends gets terrified of a lunch bag, Brendan Fraser convinces me that he is destined to become the next Nicolas Cage, Billy Connolly runs around aimlessly in the next X-Files chapter and George Lucas proves Star Wars will...never...die.
The Promotion – Opens June 6th
Seeing Jenna Fischer (The Office's Pam Beesly) in a new movie trailer made my heart skip a beat, especially since it is quite evident that she has matured, theatrically speaking, from last year's disastrous Blades of Glory. The Promotion stars Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly as two rival assistant managers of a corporate grocery store who vie for a coveted promotion at a new food market under construction. The trailer has a quasi-indie feel to it, due in part to its quirky characterizations of its lead characters and blunt dialogue offerings. And I even had to laugh a little, not so much at Scott, but at Reilly, who has made his name in comedy as of late in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and this summer's Step Brothers. The film comes from hit-or-miss writer-director Steve Conrad, who is the man behind The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weather Man, both of which reviewed fairly mediocre to critics. This one looks like it could be good, but then again I have yet to like anything actor Scott has touched.
Baghead – Opening date to be determined
Featuring a cast of unknowns, Baghead is about a group of four friends who venture to a cabin in the woods to gather inspiration for a story and then write a screenplay about it. Soon after their arrival, Greta Gerwig's character, Michelle, describes a dream she had the previous evening, featuring a man in the woods with a paper bag over his head. The group decides to use the scenario as the basis of their screenplay, only to discover later that the bag-headed man may in fact exist. Though part thriller, the film is also part comedy, which the trailer hints at with its playful nature and quirky one-liners. And Chad, portrayed by Steve Zissis, appears to be the film's comedic scene-stealer. In one part, he kisses his buddy, Matt, three times on the cheek before saying, "that was excessive, wasn't it?" In another, he becomes envious of Matt's ability to attract the ladies, to which he says, "You get all the chicks. You have Elvis hair." Baghead is shot in the often-effective cinema verite, a style that benefits the intimacy that the film looks like it is trying to achieve.
The Wackness – Opens July 3rd
Set during the backdrop of Rudy Giuliani's beginnings as mayor of New York City, including the implementation of his "anti-fun" initiatives, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his final summer in the city selling marijuana to his shrink (Ben Kingsley) while totally macking his step-daughter (Olivia Thirlby). And the site of a doped-up Ben Kingsley – yes, the Academy Award-winning Ben Kingsley – is absolutely wonderful, even if he only appears in the preview for a few seconds. The trailer doesn't offer much more than that, though. I found myself sifting through trivial dialogue for a film that doesn't seem to be about much of anything. It's pegged as a comedy, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be funny.
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