Trailer Park: Taking Back the Scary Nights Edition
After Tiarra and Rob gave you the last couple editions of “Trailer Park”, I thought it seemed like time to take back what’s mine. I generally like to introduce you to some smaller, fun films you might otherwise miss in this column, and maybe you’ll find a couple here. But first there are a couple of big blockbusters I want to get out of the way, because there are some pretty cool new trailers floating around out there since the last time we talked:
Green Lantern
Yeah, you’ve seen trailers for this movie already, but this one plays less like a movie preview and more like a primer for people who haven’t heard of the Green Lantern Corps before. I’m not surprised that a Green Lantern movie got made, but I am surprised that one was made that hews so close to what’s been going on in the comics the past couple decades. Because, and I say this as someone who had the title on his pull list at the comics shop until very recently, what goes on the Green Lantern book is completely ridiculous. So maybe the studio made this trailer because they were afraid the Sci-Fi elements would leave some people behind, but if you’re a GL fan, this may be catnip. I certainly enjoyed it. And yes, that’s Geoffrey Rush narrating:
Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking forward to this movie. But I have the ability to hold multiple ideas in my head at once, and as a Trailer this is everything I want. It’s visually spectacular and exciting, and there are even some nice shots of some bits of Chicago I’ve visited getting blowed up real good. And why is Frances McDormand in this? I can also tell that any attempt to lay any actual emotions on this will do nothing but make me guffaw, and even five minutes of this would trend into visual overload. But played in slow motion for two and a half minutes, this looks like lots of fun:
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Here’s the thing: nobody in America knows who Tintin is. Sorry, Europe, he’s a little too Belgian for us. So take the news that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are directing a pair of films (Spielberg the first, Jackson the second), written by a group that includes Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat, all done in that weird Zemeckis-esque animation style and, well, it’s all very confusing for us Yanks. Despite all those names this might end up being a bit of a hard sell here considering how much many was spent on it. Is Tintin the first US studio blockbuster intended primarily for an international audience? It’s hard to tell, but I can tell you that a couple of my fellow yanks have commented that this may be the worst trailer they’ve ever seen for a big event movie. I’ll bet that says more about the people making the trailer than it does about the people making the movie, but… wouldn’t it be something if, even with all those names, this one turned out to be awful? It would almost be a bigger achievement than if it turned out to be good…
Fright Night
Here’s another movie where I have no idea what to make of it. It’s apparently a remake of a movie from the 80s, but, well, neither myself nor anybody I know has ever seen that movie, except for Tiarra because she is awesome [Editors Note: And Rob too, for the exact same reason --R]. Anton Yelchin (New Chekhov!) plays a kid in suburban Las Vegas who figures out that his new next door neighbor (Colin Farrell) is actually a vampire. Hilarity no doubt ensues. Much of the geek community started paying attention when David Tennant signed on as some sort of mentor-type character, but he’s in this trailer for maybe half a second. I have a feeling that’s just them thinking American audiences won’t know who he is. In any case, I sort of like the feel of all this, and will most likely seek out the film when it comes out. Toni Collette and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are also here… with flying chain-saws! Yays.
Shark Night 3D
Speaking of nights and scary things… yes, this horror movie about a bunch of bikini-clad girls looks awful, but it also looks absolutely hilarious. I’m the guy who gave Pirahna 3D a rave, remember, so I’ll be there for this. The concept is as follows: a bunch of pretty, brainless college kids go on vacation to an island in a “saltwater lake”, which they soon discover is populated by man-eating sharks. Even within the trailer there are bizarre machinations to explain why this is even a movie beyond “one guy gets eaten, then everyone else hides on dry land until help arrives.” I also love the obscure bragging, like the title that reads “from one of the Producers of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I have a feeling that once you watch the trailer you’ll already have decided if this one’s for you or not.
Enjoy! See you next time here in the Trailer Park. Thanks to Trailer Addict for all the videos you see here.
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