Recently Seen Trailers

Invictus - Clint Eastwood's latest foray into historical re-enactment actually looked a lot better than I thought it would, though one must admit it has the feeling - despite being based on a true story - of formula. Perhaps this was just because Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela automatically induces goosebumps?

Edge of Darkness - Mel Gibson goes into One Man Seeking Revenge Mode and barks lines like "Fasten your seatbelt." (Really? Writers still resort to that line? Do they honestly think they're being clever or are they so fed up with their careers they've just thrown in the towel?) What seemed odd about this one is the fact the film appears to be set in Boston and suddenly at the very end of the preview Mel Gibson says a line in a Boston-ish accent, except I'm fairly certain he did not have that accent at any other point in the preview. (Note: In reading about the film today I have learned part of the plot involves uncovering an "illegal plutonium stockpile". Oh, heaven help us.)

Green Zone - Set for a March release in 2010 this is the latest from the Paul Greengrass/Matt Damon team that will also feature the great and under-utilized Amy Ryan. It looks pretty standard and Amy Ryan appears to be play the Journalist Turned Sidekick to Matt Damon's military-man in (where else?) Iraq and she will no doubt be moved out of the way at the beginning of the 3rd act. You can imagine the dialogue.

Amy Ryan: "I'm coming with you. I want to see this thing through."
Matt Damon: No. I have to do this alone."

But still....it's Greengrass and Damon and Amy Ryan. Maybe it's false hope but I'm still hopeful.

Avatar - I finally saw the full length trailer for James Cameron's comeback that goes in depth on the film's storyline and, oh yeah, baby, I'm really stoked to see it now, and not because of these supposedly revolutionary special effects. Like Steven Spielberg said in The New Yorker's awesome profile of Cameron: "He gets a lot of points for being a techno-brat but he is a very emotional storyteller." Amen. Some will accuse the story of being familiar but to quote the esteemed Roger Ebert for the 4,577th time - It's not what a movie's about but how it's about it. (By the way, one of the main points of that New Yorker profile is this: James Cameron is an a--hole.)