All trailers for you today. And I think we all know what we have to lead with:
The Avengers
Obviously, I’ll be seeing this in theater . . . although probably not at the midnight showing, damn it, because they’ll probably only have 3-D showings at the Roxy, and have I mentioned today how much I hate the movie studios for RUINING MY LIFE WITH 3-D THAT I CAN’T STAND?!
Ahem. Excuse me. As I was saying, I’d be seeing this movie in theater even if the trailer looked like crap, but I’m actually pretty into our first real look at The Avengers. I’m still a touch nervous about how the storyline is going to handle so many main characters in just a two hour period, but I figure if anyone can make it work, Joss Whedon can.
Hmmm. Still need to watch The Hulk before this comes out, though. Well, I’ve got about, what, six months or so? I guess I have time.
Carnage
My sister sent me this trailer, and the first thing I saw was the name. Carnage! Yes! I got very excited, hoping for blood and death and people attacking each other with makeshift, spiked weapons . . . and then I saw the cast list and wept.
Of course, the cast is amazing: Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, and Christoph Waltz. If your movie is essentially four adults in an apartment, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with four better actors than these ones. But still. The little B-horror geek in my heart shed a tiny, blood tear for what might have been.
In truth, I’m undecided about this one. I’ll probably see it eventually. I kind of love this trailer, and I’m interested to see where the story goes. But I’ll be honest . . . the fact that it’s Polanski turns me off a little. Usually, I think I’m pretty good about keeping my distaste for an artist’s beliefs or actions separate from his projects, but this one’s a little harder for me. All those movie stars and other directors who’ve publicly defended him because of his genius . . . well, it just kind of pisses me off and makes me not want to watch any of his films. I understand that the victim wants the case to be dropped, and I can respect that, but it doesn’t mean I have to respect him.
I don’t know. We’ll see.
Haywire
This looks kind of fun . . . I particularly like the part where Channing Tatum gets his ass handed to him by a girl . . . but I expect it’s going to be one of those movies that totally sucks despite its awesome cast. I could be wrong. Perhaps it’s just the trailer and the voiceover guy saying things like, “She’s our nation’s most valuable weapon” that’s making me doubtful. Honest to God, when this trailer started, I was like, Ooh, a parody-action thing, cool! Oh . . .OH! I think it’s supposed to be SERIOUS.
. . . aaaaaand cue the hysterical laughter.
Margin Call
I want to be interested in this. I do, but . . . God, economics bores the crap out of me. Why do all these dream casts keep getting together to do movies I don’t have the slightest interest in? I’m starting to think that they’re taunting me. Look at this: Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Mary McDonnell, AND Aasif Mandvi? I mean, YES! Epic cast for the WIN! But then economic thriller inspired by real events? No! For the love of God, NO!
Sigh. I guess I’ll just go watch Star Trek, LA Confidential, Die Hard 3, The Mentalist, The Pelican Brief, A Knight’s Tale, Battlestar Galactica, and Jericho again. Pah.
Trespass
I love how they slap the Academy Award Winning Actor and Actress label on, like that will make anyone take this movie more seriously. Cause, wow. This looks pretty damn terrible. But I’m still more likely to see it than Margin Call. Does that make me a bad person?
And finally . . .
The Divide
Now, this one . . . this one I’m interested in. Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films . . . way more up my alley. I love survivor stories, how strangers band together . . . or, in this case, how they appear to go after each other with axes. Is it wrong that I’m hoping Michael Biehn takes Milo Ventimiglia apart?
I don’t know if this one will be good, but I can’t wait to see it.
My Geek Blasphemy 
For some reason I only get the knee-jerk “I don’t want to see any of their movies because they’re an ass,” reaction with actors. I think Polanski should have gone to jail in the first place, but since he’s out anyway, I’m all too happy to watch his movies. But yeah, it’s squicky that so many people have defended him. And from what I hear, the woman wants the charges dropped because she doesn’t think it’s worth the trouble it would bring her, not because she doesn’t mind what he did.
Oh wow, Nicholas Cage looks completely ridiculous with those glasses and that hair. Even more ridiculous than the rest of that stupid movie.
I’d say the directors are more important than the actors. Even if my issue is with the actor, it would be the director’s choice to employ that particular actor that would upset me. In the end, actors are just puppets for the director to make use of. Some actors have the potential for greater performances than others, but it’s the director who has to bring that performance out.
Still, the issue with Polanski right now isn’t so much that he raped a thirteen year old girl (as horrific as that is). The issue is that most of Hollywood’s leading actors and directors all decided to sign a petition against him being held to account for that crime. If there was ever a reason not to support Polanski’s career right now, I’d say it’s that he currently holds so much sway in Hollywood that they will fight to protect him from the justice system. Hollywood is fickle and it likes money. If enough people were willing to boycott his movies that support for Polanski might dwindle. Unfortunately it seems that too many people are apathetic about Polanski’s child raping infamy for such a statement to ring out in Hollywood.
If a news story broke tomorrow that Quentin Tarantino has been abducting babies to grind up and use as a special gravy for his recipe of country-fried steak, the guy would still be my favorite director. What a director/writer/artist/musician does in his or her personal life has no bearing on their work. Roman Polankski could sodomize my grandmother and I’d still admire and respect the guy as a filmmaker. Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown are two of the greatest movies ever made. A rape charge doesn’t change that.
Trespass comes out on DVD in just a couple of weeks, so I don’t know who would pay to see it theaters. I’ll watch it at some point just because it’s got The Cage!!!!! Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will be better than The Avengers. It may burn like fire when Iron Man pees, but The Cage pisses actual fire.
Now let me finish this last batch of baby gravy.
It looks likely that the fire-pissing scene was solely for the trailer. Also, don’t forget that while the directors did “Crank”, they also did “Gamer” and “Jonah Hex”. Personally I’d say Joss Whedon has a better track record as a director.
Also, while your opinion of the director’s work might not change when you find out about their taste for baby gravy, how would you feel if most of Hollywood was united in defending his right to eat baby gravy without facing justice for it? A director’s skill should not be seen as a “get out jail free” card. I liked Chris Rock’s point on this. Imagine if OJ Simpson’s defence was: “well did you see me play against New England?”
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh8WSkTm131XkawE7W
I don’t seem to remember the last trailer for “Haywire” having that voiceover. I actually think it could be really good, but I understand that they’ve picked the lead role for their action skills rather than acting talent. (Not that they couldn’t have both.)
I have to say “Margin Call” has sort of a “Social Network” feel to it. A movie that insists on the importance of its subject matter and has some rather unappealing characters for you to follow. Only this one looks like it’ll have a protagonist we can relate to and the subject matter seems like it’s genuinely important. That said, the financial crisis was caused by more than just one company so it seems odd that the movie pins the blame on a single corporation (unless they are supposed to be just one example of what was happening all over the place).
Trespass looks bloody stupid, as does The Divide. I’m more intrigued by The Divide though. Still, if that was supposed to be a nuclear blast the explosion looks way too close and that girl looking out of the window should be covered in radiation burns.