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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Jake Scott, son of Ridley, has directed a new feature, Welcome to the Rileys, starring James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart and Melissa Leo. The film debuted at Sundance, where it did relatively well and was picked up by Apparition. Bit of trouble there, though, as Apparition has been undergoing some restructuring. Just a couple weeks ago Welcome to the Rileys moved over to Samuel Goldwyn, and the company already has a trailer out for the film. Read More »
Maya Entertainment and Freestyle Releasing have released the movie trailer for Ryan Piers Williams‘ The Dry Land. The movie premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival as one of 16 films selected from 1,058 submissions for the dramatic competition. The film tells the story of a U.S. soldier “returning home from war struggles to reconcile his experiences abroad with the life and family he left in Texas.” The cast includes America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, Ethan Suplee, June Diane Raphael, and Melissa Leo. Watch the trailer now embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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Fox Searchlight has released the trailer for Tony Goldwyn‘s Conviction, the “inspirational true story” of Betty Anne Waters (played by Hilary Swank), “a high school dropout who spent nearly two decades working as a single mother while putting herself through law school, tirelessly trying to beat the system and overturn her brother’s unjust murder conviction.” Sam Rockwell plays her brother, and the supporting cast includes Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Juliette Lewis. Seems like they took the Erin Brokovich formula, combining an inspirational true story with some great Academy Award winning and nominated actors. The voice over is a bit much, and the musical cue from Avatar is a bit distracting (yes, I know its originally from The Island…), but overall it looks like it could be a good film.
Watch the trailer now embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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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?
Read More »
/Film reader “PWH” attended an early screening for the sports drama David O. Russell‘s The Fighter, and says the film will be an awards contender. The film tells the story of Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a real life boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded after a run of drugs and crime.
Shepherded his half-brother “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), Dicky had a Rocky-like rise to the world lightweight championship. Ward fought throughout the mid-’80s and ’90s, but he’s best remembered for three battles with Arturo Gotti, two of which went down as the greatest in the history of the sport. Amy Adams plays “a tough, gritty bartender and former college high-jumper” who ends up dating Wahlberg’s character.
The Fighter doesn’t yet have a release date (but is expected to hit theaters in late 2010), so I assume that that it is a very early cut of the film without final cuts, sound mix or score. A lot could change between now and the time of release, they might even do some reshoots. Who knows. Just wanted to add a bit of context. Read the reader test screening review after the jump.
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You might not know 42-year-old director Jake Scott, but you know his father Ridley, the filmmaker behind such films as Alien, Gladiator, and Blade Runner (Jake worked in the editing room during the school holidays). Jake’s directorial debut was a 1999 British historical action comedy titled Plunkett & Macleane which chances are you’ve never seen. But you’ve probably seen his work on the small screen, MTV top be exact. He’s directed iconic videos for REM’s Everybody Hurts, Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees, The Cranberries’ When You’re Gone, as well as videos for Soundgarden, The Smashing Pumpkins, Live, Blind Melon, Tori Amos, Lily Allen, The Strokes, The Verve, and U2.
Jake’s second feature film, Welcome to the Rileys, will premiere in Sundance’s US Dramatic competition, 1 of only 16 films which were selected from 1,058 submissions. Written by Ken Hixon (who has written City by the Sea and Inventing the Abbotts), the story follows a damaged man on a business trip to New Orleans who is seeking salvation by caring for a wayward young woman. The story has also been described as being about a couple torn apart after the death of their child. The movie stars James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, and Melissa Leo.
Rileys is one of the first two features to be produced under a new venture between Scott Free, the film and television arm of Jake’s father’s company RSA, and Argonaut Pictures. The other film is Cracks, is the feature directorial debut of younger half-sister Jordan, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Five more photos after the jump.
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With the lack of news today, I went searching around the interwebs for something, anything, interesting to post. In my journeys, I have just discovered a bunch of set photos (some of which look like possible production photos) and video blogs from David O Russell‘s The Fighter which have apparently been online for a few weeks, but have gone almost completely unnoticed. I’ve included a few of the photos below.
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