Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers?
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Here we go again. Talk of a third Gremlins film (or potential remake) has come and gone over the past few years, and now MarketSaw is reporting news that will surely set off another round of speculation. According to their source, Gremlins 3 is currently in very early stages of development, and it’s being created with 3-D in mind. While the information is very vague, MarketSaw has proven themselves to be accurate on more than one occasion. And given the success of Avatar, it also makes complete sense for studios to start pushing forward properties with the potential to hit it big in 3-D.
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I’m surprised that there’s not a lot of evident interest in the fact that Joe Dante is making a new horror feature, but I’m chalking that up to the fact that it’s an indie that has only just begun to reach out with images and video clips. The film, The Hole 3D, was at Comic Con, where Dante did some interviews, and now there are four behind the scenes clips thanks to MovieSet. See those clips and learn where you can see the rare workprint of Dante’s Gremlins after the break. Read More »
Gremlins director Joe Dante tells Bloody Disgusting that while a third Gremlins movie or remake might happen someday, he won’t be involved.
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We’ve been anticipating writer/director Alex Aja’s revamp of Joe Dante’s delectable Piranha for what seems like light years now. But the wait for his schlock-tastic Piranha 3D would appear to be worth it, what with a snarky badass like Adam Scott (Step Brothers, Party Down) starring in the lead. Today, Page Six confirmed that The Weinstein Company has also brought on Richard Dreyfuss, the man who previously battled Jaws, a lame Opus, liverspots, and CHUD, for an unspecified role. Fits like a geek glove.
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We at /Film haven’t mentioned Alexandre Aja’s 2009 remake of Piranha until now, but something about this project feels incredibly spot-on to me. As Mickey Knox would say with a deranged grin and a smack of his chewing gum: “It’s fate.” STYD has received word that the film will now be shown theatrically in 3D. Are we really going to be privy to reaching out and swatting away thousands of fresh water Jaws imitators chewing viciously at the knees of nubile, arrogant life guards? Even if you think the yo-yo scene in Friday the 13th Part III was a complete jip, and passed on Beowulf, how can you not want to see this?
Here’s a list of reasons to persuade you: 1) Aja’s High Tension had several beautifully intense, stylish, macabre and original scenes for a modern horror film, but he lost control of the film’s more serious tone. Piranhas are tone-deaf. 2) The release is July 24th, 2009, which is perfect. Summer camps, rope swings over the water, night swims et al. Tis the season of Jaws, tis the times of less adventurous, more localized family summering. And in these movie months of overcompensating comic book movies et al, Piranha already has a built-in old school charm we’ve long missed. More $200 million robot drama? Another movie based on toys? I want to watch a 3D movie where huge audiences continually scream and laugh at killer fish. 3) It’s a remake and while the 1978 Joe Danta/John Sayles original has its champions (and it’s worth a watch), c’mon, this is not sacrilege. This movie needs to be remade. This movie was made to be remade. 5) The log line: “In Lake Havasu, Arizona, a tremor causes the lake’s floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas.” 6) Piranha-vision 7) Sharks finally get a vacation. 8) What a ticket-stub.
