Teaser Trailer: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2


When I went to The Hunger Games on Friday, the last trailer shown before the film started was a 50-second teaser for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which, by the way, is like one of the most awkward-sounded movie titles ever.  Not that it matters since everyone’s just going to call it Twilight anyway…

Anyway, with this trailer, the Twilight series continues to equate losing one’s virginity to being turned into a supernatural creature.  Despite the fact that the Hunger Games and Twilight are petty much designed to appeal to the same audiences, this trailer actually inspired some pretty derisive laughter from my audience.  Most of that laughter was directed at poor Kristen Stewart hunting that deer but Edward’s comment regarding both he and Bella being the same temperature also got a reaction.

But you know what?  Everyone laughs at Twilight and then they sneak off and wait in line for 24 hours to see the next movie*.  As for me, I love my freaky, mismatched eyes but I still think it would be fun to have at least one red vampire eye…

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* That’s right.  I said “wait in line…to see the next movie.”  Deal with it, yankee.

Teaser Trailer: The Host


With The Hunger Games currently dominating the box office and the Twilight saga coming to an end later this year, The Host (scheduled to be released in 2013) appears to be Hollywood’s next great attempt to capture the money of tweens and people who wish they were tweens.  Much like Twilight, The Host is based on a book written by Stephanie Meyer and it’ll probably make a lot of money while getting slammed by critics.  One positive note is that the film stars Saoirse Ronan, who deserved an Oscar nomination for Hanna.  On the negative side, The Host is directed by Andrew Niccol, who is just a bad enough director to have a whole lot of rabid fans online.

Trailer: Darksiders II – Death Strikes (Part One)


One of my favorite video game titles from 2010 was also one of it’s earliest releases with THQ and Vigil Games’ post-apocalyptic action-adventure, hack and slash Darksiders. It was the game which allowed the player to play as War of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was a game that was received positively by both critics and the general public though the title was not without it’s flaws.

Darksiders sold quite enough units for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 that THQ was quick to greenlit a sequel to the title. This was good news since the first game ended in what one could only assume was a cliffhanger. I mean this was a game that was epic in its art design, epic in it’s story (it is set after the world ends in the game’s prologue) and finally it just sounded epic. The ending itself wasn’t just a cliffhanger but gave a clue as to how the game would continue on as a franchise. War a player was already able to play in the first game and the game end’s with three other flaming meteor’s streaking down to Earth. Hmmm, I wonder just who or what exactly are those three mysterious meteors.

[spoilers in video below for those who haven’t played the first game]

With the sequel only months away from release we get the first CG cinematic trailer for it released and show’s the Death as the newest Horseman of the Apocalypse the player gets to play this time around. Yes, you heard that correctly. You as a player gets to play as Death itself. From the look of how Death move and fights in the trailer he’s more lithe and agile than the more brutish and “crush rocks with each step” brother War.

With both Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 now out and played this title now goes up my list for 2012 as one of my most-anticipated titles to get a hold of a play. Also, one thing which should make playing Death epic: Michael Wincott will voice the character.

Darksiders is set for a June 26, 2012 release date for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and Windows PC.

A Belated Trailer: Men in Black 3


Yes, this trailer has been out there for a while and quite frankly, I’m not expecting this film to be that good (I get the feeling that the best moments are probably in the trailer) but still, I always smile whenever I see the trailer for Men in Black 3.  Why?  Well, there’s really only one reason and it’s not Will Smith being all Will Smith-like.  And, no, it’s not Tommy Lee Jones because, even in the trailer, Jones looks absolutely miserable and ennui-stricken.  And it’s not Jermaine Clement because, while he’s apparently in the film, he’s not in the trailer.

No, for me, this trailer — and probably the entire film — is all about Josh Brolin’s next-to-perfect imitation of Tommy Lee Jones.

Latest Prometheus Trailer via AMC Theatres


AMC Theatres were cool enough to have Prometheus Director Sir Ridley Scott and Co-Writer Damon Lindelof on hand to discuss some of the ideas behind their film, which opens in June. It looks like the new trailer that comes with it gives away a little more to the overall story, which has easily pushed this into my first pick for that “must see” movie this year. Some of the questions were pretty interesting, some dealing with the possible religious aspects of the story (in terms of the “Big Questions” that are asked), while others asked about connections to the Original Alien. One of the things that Scott pointed out was that he’d been there and done that with the first movie, so he didn’t want this one to be the same as that. One question and answer leaves me with my ears ringing and a cheese like grin stuck on my face:

Attendant: (Paraphrased) “In the original Alien, you had the monster come out of the man’s chest, and the actors didn’t know about it. Should we expect any surprises like that with this film?”

Sir Ridley Scott: “Oooooh yes!” (emphatically nods).

Thanks go out to AMC for making the trailer available on Youtube. Cool stuff. The actual Livestream of the Ridley Scott / Damon Lindelof interview can be found on the Livestream site, which is still repeating the interview that aired earlier this evening.

Trailer: On The Road


Here’s the trailer for the film that will probably end up dominated my twitter timeline when it’s eventually released.  I follow a lot of big Kerouac fans (and I think Big Sur is one of the great American novels) and I’ll be interested to see what they think of the long-delayed film version of On The Road.  For now, I’ll just say that it’s rarely a good sign when the film version of an iconic novel is full of star cameos and I have a hard time imagining the dependably dull Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty.

(Already, I can hear people complaining about the prominence of Kristen Stewart in the film’s trailer….)

Pixar’s Brave – “The Prize” Latest Trailer


Last Night, while getting ready to see John Carter, one of the trailers shown was for Pixar’s Brave. It’s one I haven’t seen before, but I really like the way it ended. Here, suitors perform in an archery competition for what appears to be Merida’s (Kelly MacDonald) hand in marriage. Looks like fun!

Trailer: Game of Thrones Season 2 “Seven Devils”


April 1st has always been known as April Fool’s Day, but in this year of 2012 it will have a much different meaning.

The year of our Lord 2012 will be known as the day Game of Thrones returns with a new season. A season that brings to the land of Westeros and Essos the war between kings that will surely arrive with the end events which unfolded during season 1. If old fans and newly introduced fans to the franchise were left abuzz by the climactic scene of Daenerys emerging from her husband’s funeral pyre in the morning unhurt with three newly hatched dragonlings then this upcoming season will leave them with their jaws on the floor.

While the series will continue to use the Game of Thrones title I will always consider season 2 to be Game of Thrones: A Clash of Kings for that is what the second book was called and the events that will unfold in this new season will focus on the clash between several leaders who want the Iron Throne or to establish their own separate kingdom.

Finally, the use of Florence + The Machine’s song from their 2011 album Ceremonials was a great choice. “Seven Devils” makes for a great contrast to the Catholic-like religion of the The Seven in Martin’s books and in the tv series.

Game of Thrones is set to return to the world with season 2 on April 1, 2012.