Trailer Hitch for June 11, 2003

By Zach Kolkin

Finally, The Rock has come BACK to Stifler.

9. Jet Lag

In perhaps the most unattractive romantic comedy of all time, Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche star as two travelers who meet during the hell that is a postponed flight. I take great offense to the admonition that "the battle of the sexes just got a whole lot sexier"; in fact, I am quite sure that a film starring Jean Reno in a romantic role automatically forfeits its right to refer to itself in any way, shape, or form as "sexy." Beyond these shallow observations, however, there really wasn't very much for me to get excited about here. The film looks like your typical (albeit slightly less visually appealing) romantic comedy where the guy and the girl can't stand each other so much that they just decide to fall in love. We've all seen this movie way too many times already to get excited for it again, especially when it seems like such a dull and lifeless retread of an extremely overdone premise.

8. Garage Days

And now for something completely different.The trailer for this new film from director Alex Proyas features, among other things, sex, drugs, rock and roll, and a talking melon. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say this is the "mind bendingly cool" film the ad would have you belive, I will certainly attest to the mind bending part. The preview itself is hyperkinetic, moving from shot to shot extremely quickly and interspersing a heaping helping of groovy psychedelic patterns. I wasn't too impressed with the movie itself, although you have to give the trailer an A for effort in promoting its peculiarity. I would imagine that the majority of moviegoers will pass this off with a befuddled "Huh?", but I also get the feeling that perhaps that's exactly what the filmmakers want.

7. Gigli

It's hard to believe that we've all heard so much about this film before seeing a single trailer, but nevertheless, the movie that brought Ben and Jen together is finally being previewed. Although the story seems to share some similarities with one of Lopez's earlier films (and in my opinion, her only good performance to date), Out of Sight, it certainly doesn't look anywhere near as good as that picture. Affleck plays a gangster who is forced to work on the same job with a gorgeous female mobster, played by Lopez. What will really make or break this movie is the chemistry between the two leads; apparently, the film went so well that the romance broke over into real life, but you wouldn't know it from this clip. I really didn't feel like Affleck and Lopez looked that great together (art imitating life?), but hopefully the chemistry between the two will be better in the film itself. Obviously, a lot of interest in this movie is going to come simply from all the publicity of its stars, but a more exciting trailer could certainly do wonders for this film's chances at the box office.

6. S.W.A.T

In what is starting to look like this year's XXX, this year's Vin Diesel (Colin Farrell) stars in S.W.A.T., a plot-free, action-packed popcorn flick about a group of elite cops trying to protect a notorious criminal from escaping. You know it's never a good sign when you can already pick out the movie's plot holes from just the trailer alone. For instance, does anyone else find it slightly unlikely that a criminal would be allowed to not only speak to the press while being escorted to prison, but offer a reward for his rescue? Clearly this film is going to require a very willing suspension of disbelief in order to be enjoyable. With actors like Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson, this movie probably had the potential to be a pretty decent summer action flick; unfortunately, it doesn't really appear that it will live up to those hopes.

5. From Justin to Kelly

Fans have been begging for a Simpsons feature film for years now, and it looks like they will finally get their wish this summer, though perhaps not exactly in the manner they were expecting. Everyone's favorite psychopath, Sideshow Bob, gets his own live-action spin-off in (leave it to The Simpsons writers to come up with something so goofy) a summer musical on the beach. I was surprised that the spot didn't even feature a cameo from Bart, Homer, Lisa, Marge, or any one of the many other Simpsons characters, but perhaps the creators thought it best to leave these surprises for the film itself. While I think people might be a little more excited for this movie if they got to see a little more of the characters that have made the series so popular in the trailer, I am sure that this preview will get a great reaction regardless.

4. The Cuckoo

Unlike many trailers for foreign films, the preview for The Cuckoo does not avoid using subtitles in showing scenes from the movie. Instead, the subtitles play an integral part in conveying one of the key points of the picture, the language barriers between the three main characters. The story certainly seems quite interesting, and this spot does well to hit on all the high points of the flick without drawing things out too much. The on-screen text seemed a little bit too much to me, but I understand its necessity, given the fact that the movie itself is in a different language. While this is definitely not the most exciting trailer ever, it does do a good job of effectively introducing the film to an audience that most likely has no previous knowledge of it.

3. Northfork

In what is certainly the most visually appealing preview of the week, we are given our first glimpse of Northfork, the new film from Michael and Mark Polish. The movie tells the story of a town that must be moved in order for a new dam to be constructed in the area, and boasts a great cast that includes James Woods, Anthony Edwards, Nick Nolte, and Daryl Hannah. The movie definitely seems to have a quirkiness to it, and I think the trailer does a good job of setting the film's tone and letting viewers know what they are in for, without summarizing the entire plot. Based on the stunning scenery and the talented cast alone, this certainly seems like a film to watch for.

2. Lucia Lucia

While the comparison might be completely off-base, I have to say that this trailer reminded me quite a bit of the German film Run Lola Run. Both films seem to have similar irreverent tones, a thumping techno beat for background music, and are even similarly titled. Whether or not the parallels are intentional, it will be interesting to see if they carry over into the movie itself. The movie looks quite intriguing, and the ad smartly sells it as a part of the "new wave of Mexican cinema" that has created such buzz in the United States. No matter how it is advertised, though, the movie looks to fall into a slightly different genre than some of the more popular recent Mexican films, and only time will tell if Lucia Lucia is as successful on this side of the borders as its predecessors.

1. American Wedding

Although perhaps not as utterly hysterical as its predecessors, American Wedding's trailer is still very funny. Perhaps the most important thing to mention is that, although often the harbinger of a doomed sequel, the film's diminished cast does not seem to be affecting the movie's quality at all. I barely noticed Chris Klein's absence, and it took me a minute to even recall that both Tara Reid and Mena Suvari were nowhere to be seen. The gags featured in the spot were amusing, but not nearly as tear-inducing as jokes from the previous two films. However, it seems to me that many of the best jokes in American Pie 2 were left out of the trailer as well, so this seems to bode well for the third film. While the lack of publicity for this film as of yet is slightly surprising to me, I would imagine it to start getting a big push in a couple weeks, and I can see this trailer getting a great response from theatergoers.

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