Trailer Hitch
By Eric Hughes
February 24, 2010
Welcome to Trailer Hitch, BOP's look at the latest movie trailers to hit the Internet. This week: The Doors are the subject of a documentary, Disney goes under the microscope and Woody Harrelson throws marbles at evildoers.
When You're Strange – Opens April 9th
I'll be the first to admit that The Doors, as distinguished as they are, have never done it for me. I like the Beatles, the Stones, Zeppelin. In fact I like a lot of the music produced in the ‘60s and the decade that followed. It was – and, of course, still is – revolutionary music. It's unlike anything on the radio today, no matter what a band like Zeppelin-esque Wolfmother would like you to think. But The Doors? Eh. Chalk it up to "Light My Fire" rubbing me the wrong way (for reasons unknown). Had I had more appreciation for one of the band's most popular singles, I probably would have given The Doors a fighting chance*. But I don't, so I've made it a habit to skip over their catalogue entirely.
Here, though, is a documentary about the band that I wouldn't mind seeing. Featuring archival footage shot between 1965 (band forms) and 1971 (Jim Morrison dies), When You're Strange comes off as surprisingly cinematic. Cameras capture Morrison walking along a dusty road, followed by views of a gorgeous sunset from Morrison's, now driving an automobile, perspective. The band rocks out in front of thousands, followed by police raiding the stage to discipline the weasels who jumped the stage. It's interesting footage that's also shot very well.
Grade: B
*I do realize this is an incredibly lazy way to ignore a band like The Doors. Give me time; I may come around before I kick the bucket.
Waking Sleeping Beauty – Opens March 26th
Quick: Think of an animated movie. There's a very good chance your mind wandered to a CGI hit like WALL-E, Finding Nemo or, of course, Up, which BOP readers and staff recently named Best Picture. (And, just as importantly, the Academy nominated it, too). While those movies deserve any and all praise they have respectively received, I can't shake movies like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Aladdin from my head. They, like the Ratatouilles and Toy Stories that followed, are wonderful films. And having had the benefit of watching them at such a young age – five? Seven? – it ain't a mystery why my impressionable mind in the early 1990s held (and continues to hold) those titles in such high regard.
For people who can also appreciate the remarkable output from Disney's animation department between the mid 1980s through the early ‘90s – which should be just about all of you – Waking Sleeping Beauty is your documentary.
Though the trailer is ordinary, it's what you'd expect from a movie about the making of X. Yet Waking Sleeping Beauty's subject matter isn't just any making of; it's the stories behind some of Disney's most celebrated movies ever, including the timeless Beauty and the Beast, which was the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
Grade: B+
Defendor – Opens Friday
I'm at a loss. I don't know what to make of Defendor. Is it genius or stupid? In my view, the trailer carefully balances between the two, making the thumbs up/down decision a tough one. I'm not used to such pressure from Trailer Hitch! A quick peek at its score on Rotten Tomatoes shows early reviewers are eating up writer-director Peter Stebbings' debut. The comedy (I think it's a comedy?) is batting 1.000 from eight reviews.
The movie stars a resurgent Woody Harrelson as a homemade superhero, the titular Defendor, on the hunt for Captain Industry, his archenemy. His superhero getup is the most primitive I've ever seen, even topping Peter Parker's pathetic spider suit in the first Spider-Man. Woody's Defendor simply dresses in black with a silver D taped to his chest. As for his attack moves, Defendor tosses marbles, throws jars of live wasps and squeezes lime juice into peoples' eyes. It's pretty nuts.
Grade: C
Letters to God – Opens April 9th
A Christian film, Letters to God is the story of an eight-year-old boy with cancer who "prays" to god through daily letters to his believed creator. What Tyler doesn't know, however, is that the letters aren't delivered to god, but are kept by the family's faithless postman, Brady. Through kindness, and a little faith, Brady and Tyler strike a friendship, ultimately influencing Brady to make a surprise decision with the letters.
Letters to God's trailer has a distinct Blind Side-y feel to it. Both trailers make you feel all warm and fuzzy. In Letters to God's case, it's the young boy's determination to live with joy that inspires his family and loved ones. Interesting choice on the part of its distributor to release Letters to God less than a year after My Sister's Keeper. I don't know that I could watch two movies about young kids who have such a terrible disease without bawling uncontrollably.
Grade: B-
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