I have to admit that I kind of forgot about The Snowman. Based on a best-selling novel and directed by Tomas Alfredson, The Snowman was one of those films that I was excited about in January but then, somehow, it continually slipped my mind that it would be coming out later this year.
Luckily, on July 19th, this trailer was released and it reminded me of The Snowman‘s existence! Thank you, trailer!
A serial killer drama, The Snowman stars an appropriately haunted-looking Michael Fassbender. It is scheduled to be released on October 20th, just in time to freak everyone out for Halloween!
Well, look, I’m just going to admit it. I failed you last month. Usually, I try to keep this site up to date with all the best trailers. However, last month, I got very busy with another one of my summer projects and, unfortunately, I ended up running behind on keeping up with all the latest trailers and teasers.
So, if you’ll indulge me a little, I’m going to try to get caught up. Admittedly, some of the trailers that I’m going to share today are going to be old news. But I still want to share them because they’re films that we’re excited about here at the Shattered Lens.
And who knows? Maybe I’m not the only one who had a busy July. Maybe you missed some of these trailers as well.
For instance, check out this teaser for James Franco’s latest film, The Disaster Artist. Now, if you’re like me and you love getting together with friends and tossing around plastic spoons while watching Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, then you can’t wait for the chance to see The Disaster Artist. Telling the true story of Greg Sestero’s friendship with Wiseau and his involvement in the production of The Room, The Disaster Artist was one of the best books of 2014. Rumor has it that The Disaster Artist is also one of the best films of 2017.
If nothing else, James Franco is getting Oscar buzz. If James Franco wins an Oscar for playing Tommy Wiseau, my life will be complete. If it happens, I might even take a year off so that I can bask in the glories of fate.
The teaser below features the filming of one of The Room‘s best-known scenes:
Back to the book, I Want My MTV, again. One thing I’d like to make clear before I start is that if there is one group that dominates that book, then it’s Bon Jovi.
Doc McGhee [managed Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, and Skid Row at the height of each band’s career]: I’d just starting to manage Bon Jovi when we did the video for “Runaway.” There’s a chubby girl who’s a runaway, but she has laser eyes, and the band is playing in a warehouse that’s burning. In the ’80s, every video had to look like Escape from New York. Something had to be on fire, and you had to be in an alley that was wet, or else you couldn’t shoot a video.
Seen here! A chubby girl.
Also, lasers!
Okay, so McGhee’s memory might not be so good. I can give him a break on both counts. I have to imagine that in 1984, he was bombarded with so many models trying out for these parts that Jennifer Gatti actually does look chubby reaching back around 30 years in his mind.
You might know Gatti from playing Ba’el on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation — Birthright, Part II (1993)
Cut to a few years later after the rocky start with Runaway:
Doc McGhee: I mean, MTV was playing so much Mötley and Bon Jovi, I’d have to tell them, “You’re overexposing my artists. If you don’t take them off the air, I’m not going to give you another video.” I was fighting to get less airplay, not more.
Len Epand [was a video production executive for PolyGram Records]: Once Bon Jovi established a winning style on “Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” we pulled their prior videos out of circulation. They were all deemed embarrassing, or at least not the right image. We notified all video outlets, including MTV, that they were no longer licensed for use. I doubt they ever appeared on broadcast again.
Luckily, the video is up officially on YouTube. While not being fond of the video, the band apparently still plays the song during concerts. It’s on the greatest hits album of there’s that I have. I can understand why they pulled this video back then. They had hit on a winning image with videos like Livin’ On A Prayer. They ran that formula into the ground, but still, it worked.
Len Epand: For “Runaway,” we used a commercial director named Michael Cuesta, who had no music-video experience.
I can’t only find one other credit for Cuesta–Crow Dog (1979). I’m not even sure that entry on IMDb is him because there is another Michael Cuesta who has been successful as a producer and director.
Bob Montgomery (Robert Mont) was the producer. I can only find a couple of music video credits for him.
Through the Shattered Lens 