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Trailer Hitch for April 2, 2003By Zach Kolkin
7. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met LloydFirst of all, New Line needs have their rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise taken away immediately. This is quite possibly the most pathetic and pointless rip-off of another film's success I have ever seen in advertising. As for the film itself, there's no other word to describe it than horrendous. Not only is the trailer completely devoid of anything that remotely resembles a funny joke, almost all of them rely on tastelessly making fun of mentally challenged children. The fact that neither Jim Carrey nor Jeff Daniels was willing to make this movie should tell you all you need to know - this film looks absolutely atrocious, and certainly seems like nothing more than a pathetic attempt to make a (hopefully very) few bucks.
6. Cowboy Bebop: The MovieWhile I certainly cannot profess to be too knowledgeable about anime, Cowboy Bebop is one of the few shows I have heard of. The series is being turned into a feature film, and while I would imagine this trailer is orgasmic to fans of the series, I would imagine many others would be turned off by the "anime" label. The film's plot seems standard enough, and while listening to the preview's voiceover, it struck me how similar it sounded to any one of a number of action blockbusters that hit theaters every summer. The movie literally seems like an anime blockbuster - the storyline, the music, the explosions, the sex, all of it parallels what you would expect to find in ads for summer "event" movies. Again, though, what will keep this movie from attracting the attention of many is the fact that it is Japanese anime. Thus, while I'm sure anime fans view this as one of the biggest films of the year, other moviegoers will probably pass it over without a second thought.
5. Owning MahownyPhillip Seymour Hoffman stars in this new thriller about a bank manager with a serious gambling problem. The trailer, while not spectacular, was interesting. The role seems to be one that fits Hoffman well, and the rest of the cast looked good (with the notable exception of Minnie Driver in a horrendous blond wig). One problem I had was that, while the movie is supposedly a thriller, I didn't really get a very good sense of this suspense from the preview. Other than though, I did enjoy the way the gambling scenes were done, and the overall fast pace of the spot. This film certainly looks intriguing, and hopefully has a little more to offer than what is seen here.
4. XX/XY (Warning: Trailer rated R)This intriguing film tells two stories, that of a college student (played by Mark Ruffalo) and his unconventional relationship with two different women, and then those same characters ten years later. Sex clearly plays a big part in the story, and I thought it was used quite well (not to mention fairly explicitly) here. This is obviously not the kind of movie that condenses well into a two or three minute sequence of clips, but nevertheless I thought that the spot advertised the film very well, as well as effectively getting the premise across. I am quite interested in the movie after seeing this trailer, and hopefully it is just as intriguing a film as this preview makes it look.
3. TogetherThis Chinese film is the coming-of-age story of a young boy who is also a gifted violinist. As one might expect with a story about a violinist, music plays an essential role in the trailer, and the entire spot has a fantastic score accompanying it. The relationship between the boy and his father also seems essential to the movie's story, and it looks fantastic here. Obviously this is a story that has been done before, but it should be interesting to see it from the perspective of a different culture. The movie looks to be quite well done, and it should be interesting to see if its universal themes help it achieve some notoriety here in the United States.
2. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of LifeOne of the many huge films of this summer, the second Tomb Raider movie seems to have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle up until now, obscured by other sequels like The Matrix Reloaded, Terminator 3, and even Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Finally, though, this film has gotten a trailer, and it was actually somewhat better than I expected. The formula that worked so successfully in the first film is used again here, with just the right amounts of wild stunts, exotic locales, and (of course) sex appeal. Obviously, the story is not what is important here, and it doesn't really appear that it has been given much more attention than it was in the original. To be fair, though, it is difficult to tell something like this from a two or three minute preview, so if the script turns out to be an improvement on that of the first film, I can see this being a very fun and enjoyable action flick.
1. Better Luck TomorrowSince its first trailer, Better Luck Tomorrow has gained the marketing power of MTV, and a new trailer has been created to make the film look a bit more "mainstream". The movie looks very interesting, and quite a bit more intelligent than the usual MTV movie fare (Crossroads, for example). Although I found the accompanying soundtrack a little bit over-the-top, I appreciate the fact that MTV seems to be trying to expose this film to as wide an audience as possible. Despite the music, I did like the fast-paced style of the trailer, and I think the premise is a very interesting one. I am extremely interested in hearing more about this film, and while this is certainly a very different type of ad than the first spot, I understand completely the logic behind its creation.
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Thursday, October 31, 2024
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