Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
July 30, 2008
Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: Tyler Perry grows up, Oliver Stone earns an F and Christian Bale reinvigorates a movie franchise (and no, we're not talking about Batman this time).
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys – Opens September 12th
Wait, no Madea?! It's true. Tyler Perry looks like he's definitely matured somewhat in The Family That Preys, a film that appears to be a hearty helping of good, old fashioned melodrama. In this one, best friends Charlotte Cartwright and Alice Pratt (Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard) learn they must come to terms with unwarranted turmoil between them and their families when their adult children experiment with, oh, extramarital affairs and unethical business practices, which threaten to unravel hidden secrets and lies that will affect all involved parties. This is the first time, actually, that I've watched the preview to a Tyler Perry product and would willingly see it in theaters.
Grade: B Also expected to be released on this date: Righteous Kill, The Women, Burn After Reading, Towelhead, Phoebe in Wonderland
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People – Opens October 3rd
The latest from Brit Simon Pegg is painful. And not Oliver Stone's W. painful (see next trailer review), but British Office painful. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is chock full of the awkward moments and pauses that made that little show (and Ricky Gervais for that matter) both popular and famous, whether it's questioning someone's sexual orientation in an interview or mistakenly inviting strippers into the office during take your daughter to work day. Whoops.
In this one, Pegg stars as Brit writer Sidney Young, who is offered a job one day from Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) at Post Modern Review, a magazine in New York City. Once across the pond and in the Big Apple, Sidney begins his ascent to success, both within the company and also with women, especially in his budding relationship with colleague Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). Although this isn't to say his transition to American life is completely smooth, because that would be lying. The film is based on Toby Young's 2001 memoir.
Grade: A- Also expected to be released on this date: Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Blindness, Religulous, House, What Just Happened
W. – Opens October 17th
Is this for real? I can't believe this is the infamous W. movie that I've been keeping tabs on since production began in mid-May. It just looks...sloppy. And on top of that, possibly nothing short of parody, whether or not Oliver Stone claims it's comparable to 2006's The Queen or his own acclaimed Nixon, released in 1995. I'm not buying it, especially now that I've seen the movie's direction.
And I discovered the preview's worst near its conclusion, where the trailer transforms into this who's who, actors vs. real people comparison. By showing the cast with the name of the person they are portraying, instead of the true names of the actors themselves, I'm half-expecting to next see Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton and Fred Armisen as Barack Obama. I had to keep reminding myself that what I was watching wasn't SNL, but in fact an actual movie that may or may not want to be taken seriously.
OK, seriously?
Grade: F Also expected to be released on this date: Flash of Genius, Max Payne, The Secret Life of Bees, Doubt, Morning Light, Filth and Wisdom
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