The third (and presumably last) trailer for Breck Eisner’s The Crazies has hit, and this one is all about being short and sweet. We covered the first trailer back in October (which featured the Gary Jules cover of “Mad World”), and the second in December, which went a bit more in depth with the setup. The film tells the tale of a small town whose population has been turned into crazy killing machines by some sort of unknown toxin. It stars Timothy Olyphant as a small town sheriff who is trying to survive against the hordes of insane civilians and violent military retaliation, along with his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell).
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The first trailer for Breck Eisner’s The Crazies was pretty good, but with one significant misstep: it made heavy use of the song ‘Mad World’, which for the next decade should be considered as owned lock, stock and barrel by Donnie Darko. That aside, the trailer had a fairly intriguing vibe.
This second trailer omits the song, thankfully, and is a bit more straightforward. It gets into a lot less plot, jumping in when things are already going off the rails in a small town. There’s more of a slasher vibe to this cut, which I’m guessing is a deliberate move to skew the film as something more simple than it actually is. Read More »
Touchstone Pictures has released the official trailer for the sci-fi comic book adaptation of Surrogates. The movie tells the story of FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) who are investigating the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves.
It looks more i Robot than Blade Runner, which is disappointing as the original comic book has been described as Blade Runner in tone. But what more can you expect from the guy who brought us Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Watch the trailer after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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Remakes get a bad rap amongst filmgoers, and understandably so. Instead of attempting to fulfill the potential hinted at in failed or dated movie projects, Hollywood has proven time and time again that the sole purpose of most remakes is to cash in on the success of the near faultless original films. Occasionally though, there’s a glimmer of hope. A quick glance at two of the best horror films the genre has to offer—The Thing and The Fly—clearly demonstrates that technological advances in filmmaking can be used to more effectively convey an older film’s story. While those films were remakes of ’50s cinema, we’ve also seen a vast of array of ’70s remakes—Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left—that have proven to be worthy modern takes on dated (albeit classic) material.
The Crazies, due out September 25, is the latest remake to attempt to join the ranks of those films. Based on the cult classic directed and co-written by George Romero, the film tells the story of a small town struck by insanity when an unknown toxin starts turning its happy, law-abiding citizens into mindless killing machines. Trying desperately to survive both the infected populace and the subsequent military response, the town’s Sherrif (Timothy Olyphant), his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell), his deputy (Joe Anderson), and an assistant at the medical center (Danielle Panabaker) find themselves forced to band together if they ever intend on getting out of the town alive.
Last week I was granted the opportunity to visit the film’s set at Peach County High School in Georgia, where the crew was getting prepped for a lengthy night shoot. Once there, we first spent some time speaking to director Breck Eisner (Sahara), who explained his stance on remaking the film.
Honestly, any time you do a remake or a reimagining, and this is definitely more of a reimagining than a remake, you want to have target aspects of the movie that they didn’t have access to when they first made it. My theory on remaking movies or reimagining movies is that there should be something that they weren’t able to do the first time around. That you can do differently. So it’s not like just redoing Psycho or redoing a perfect movie, it’s redoing something that had limitations. One of big limitations for [George] Romero was obviously budget. I think he had 200 grand or 275 grand to make the entire movie. We’re obviously spending more money than that—it’s not a big budget movie, but we have better assets so we can represent the government as the scale of the force that it needs to be in a movie like this that is oppressive and realistic for us.
We spent the rest of the evening having the end of that comment proven to us, as we ventured next to a massive field on the outskirts of the high school. Read More »
Walt Disney Pictures has released the first official photo for U571/Terminator 3 helmer Jonathan Mostow’s big screen adaptation the Robert Vanditti graphic novel Surrogates (the graphic novel is available on Amazon for around $14). The sci-fi thriller has an interesting concept, but I found myself unimpressed by an early sizzle reel that was shown at the Walt Disney Showcase in September. Click on the photo above to enlarge.
The official plot synopsis follows: FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell ) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves—fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles—enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who’s real and who can you trust?
The film also stars Rosamund Pike, James Francis Ginty, Boris Kodjoe and VingRhames. Surrogates hits theaters on September 25th 2009.
Lakeshore Entertainment has released the movie trailer for the upcoming Luke Wilson dramedy Henry Poole is Here. From Albert Torres, the screenwriter assigned to Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor, and from music video turned film director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road, U2 3D) comes “a modern day fable about the unexpected wonders of the everyday”. Luke Wilson stars as Henry Poole, a disillusioned man who attempts to hide from life in a rundown suburban tract home only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope. Check out the trailer below and tell me what you think in the comments.
Official Plot Synopsis:
Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) just wants to disappear. Shattered by circumstances beyond his control, he offers full price on a cookie cutter house in a drab, middle-class, L.A. neighborhood through his perky realtor Meg (Cheryl Hines). But just as he settles in to his indulgent isolation with a case of vodka and all the junk food he can eat, his neighbor, a well-meaning busybody named Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), drops by with a plate of homemade tamales and a whole lot of questions.
Despite his desire for solitude, Henry can’t help noticing Dawn (Radha Mitchell), the beautiful young divorcée next door and her daughter Millie (Morgan Lily), an eight-year-old amateur spy who hasn’t spoken a word since her parents’ break-up.
Henry’s self-imposed exile is shattered when Esperanza discovers a mysterious stain on Henry’s stucco wall that is seen to have miraculous powers. She begins leading pilgrimages to the “holy site” and invites church officials, including her pastor, Father Salizar (George Lopez), to inspect the apparition.
Although Henry remains skeptical, he finds himself gradually drawn back towards life, especially after his silent friendship with Millie brings him closer to Dawn. As news of the apparition spreads throughout the neighborhood and his feelings for Dawn grow, Henry realizes his plan to live out his days in quiet desperation is going to be much harder than he ever imagined.
Henry Poole is Here hits limited theaters on July 25th 2008, and will expands on August 1st 2008.
Discuss: What did you think of the Henry Poole is Here movie trailer?
