Oz The Great and Powerful

I’m torn on this one. The filming all looks pretty great . . . except for that last shot with the green hand that I’m assuming is supposed to be the Wicked Witch of the West but looked more like Ogre Fiona from Shrek. But otherwise it looks good. I like Sam Raimi, and an evil Rachel Weisz is always a good idea. (I’m just assuming from that one shot.) I’m mostly concerned that, at least in the original movie, the wizard is kind of a sad schmuck, and from interviews I’ve seen, he sounds like he’s going to be an even more of a schmucky schmuck, which will likely not endear me to him as a protagonist. We’ll see.

The Dispossessed

Raimi again, but only as a producer. This trailer starts out bad and gets better, but I’m still pretty iffy on it. On the plus side, some awesomely creepy looking shots. I especially like the butterfly/moth room, and the fingers inside the girl’s mouth are kind of cool. I also was a hardcore Supernatural fan for years, so I always kind of have to think positive thoughts for Jeffrey Dean Morgan. On the other hand, some aspects of this look awfully generic, particularly the divorced parents—why are divorced parents the same in every single movie? And seriously, based on a true story? Shut up, marketing.

For a Good Time, Call . . .

To start with, this a red-band trailer, so virgin eyes beware.

This looks kind of funny. Not the kind of thing I’d see in theater, but funny nonetheless. It’s cool women are getting to do more raunchy comedy now. Also, I’m not seeing any sign of a whiny boyfriend in the wings, so that’s a huge plus. It’s like watching the trailer for Magic Mike and breaking up all the cool stripper scenes with a girlfriend bitching about Channing Tatum’s potential and ooh, stripping is bad, and so on and so forth. As far as I understand it, that’s pretty much how the movie went. I am more hopeful for this comedy.

Jack Reacher

Unlike a lot of people I know, I can admit to liking a fair few number of Tom Cruise movies, but I don’t think this is going to be one of them. This trailer tries to sell that he’s a badass so hard that it’s actually pretty comical. Pass.

And finally . . . Alex Cross

Wow. This looks even worse than Jack Reacher. Like, by a lot.

I’ll admit to getting some enjoyment out of watching Matthew Fox chew the scenery as an evil psycho . . . I suspect I’ll like him more in this than I ever did in LOST . . . but I can’t take Tyler Perry seriously at all. Maybe I could buy this dialogue from another actor, but . . . come on. “I will meet his soul at the gates of Hell before I let him take a person that I love?” I outright giggled at that. The one ultimate cop versus genius serial killer is classic, but this looks like the worst possible version of it that I may have ever seen.