'ParaNorman' Making-Of Featurette

I love stop-motion. Yesterday's look at the making of 'Frankenweenie' was fun. Today, it's 'ParaNorman'.





















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Must-Watch Trailer for 'Craigslist Joe'

from iTunes

















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New Trailer for 'The Awakening'

Loaded (practically overflowing) with subtext, very atmospheric -- a nice popcorn rental. For me, the kind of flick to buy on Blu-ray.

In limited US theaters August 10.


















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Clip from 'Fernando Meirelles' '360'

Intelligent writing by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon). Beautifully shot/edited by director Fernando Meirelles (City of God).

The non-verbal exchanges between Ben Foster and Gabriela Marcinkova bring the dialogue to life and drive events forward to...someplace.

Everything I've seen from this movie has been very well executed.

On VOD today, with a limited US release August 3.



















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International Trailer/Poster for Pascal Laugier's 'The Tall Man' (aka 'The Secret')

This movie, apparently, is being re-labeled 'The Secret' in an attempt (it's safe to presume) to get some distance from very bad reviews of 'The Tall Man' -- a dubious sleight of hand, but I guess you can't blame them.

I'm not sure what the droning collection of footage we got yesterday was supposed to accomplish. It squelches any sense of anticipation for the movie and serves as a ringing endorsement of negative assessments. Note: The video has been removed for a 'breach of the Terms of Use' (by whom I don't know, but not me), which may, at least to some extent, explain the clunky footage -- as if it wasn't meant to be viewed without further editing.

This new trailer (which is much more tightly cut) sells the picture fairly well. At this point, however, it's largely academic.

Still though, for die-hard fans of the genre, it's fun to watch and pretend the movie is coming out and you're going to see it, and to pine for what might have been. For hardcore extremist die-hard fans who still plan to see The Tall Man/The Secret, this trailer makes the idea of watching the movie enticing indeed.

Trailer comes late in the day but, taken together with the domestic poster, a nice effort.





















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'The Man With the Iron Fists' Red Band Trailer

Russell Crowe in a kung fu movie?

Looks good, and remember, "You can't spell kung fu without f and u"


















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'Frankenweenie' Making-Of Featurettes

What does it take to make a stop-motion feature?

These definitely have a wow factor.






















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'The Dark Knight Rises' Site

Gobs-o-stuff

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'Looper' Trailer Du Jour Intros the 'Eye Drops'

Perhaps not as much pop as yesterday's trailer but with more soul. And! now with more telekinesis and those funny funny eye drops.

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Richard Roeper Reviews Sarah Polley's 'Take This Waltz'

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Poster/Trailer for John Hawkes and Helen Hunt's 'The Sessions'

Like, yes. When was the last time we had a movie like this? Very nice.

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Poster/Trailer for Maggie Simpson's 'The Longest Daycare'

Hadn't heard of this. Will run before 'Ice Age 4: Continental Drift' which opens July 12.

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(New) New Poster for 'Sleepwalk With Me'

This popped up today.

I like it better than the more legit looking and imaginative one that rolled out yesterday. Shouldn't, but I do.

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Trailer for David O. Russell's 'Silver Linings Playbook'

Seems an odd choice for this director but, then, when you think about it, he probably brings a familiarity with the material other directors couldn't match.

Hard to tell anything, really, from this trailer. Could go either way. Love De Niro, though.

Thing is, though, (you know) flick opens Nov. 21, days before the annual family ordeal of Turkey Day, so not too many people are going to want to see a movie about a messed up family trying to cope with it all.

Just saying...they might want to bump it one way or the other.

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Trailer for Pascal Laugier's 'The Tall Man'

UPDATED 6/29: There's an international trailer here

We got an excellent poster yesterday. Unfortunately, the reviews from SXSW were fairly bad.

Here's the trailer/mish-mash, which is more like a compressed version of the entire film (excluding some of Act III). It's pretty bad. Too long. Off-putting. (However, in full disclosure, I read some of the Quiet Earth -- they got the trailer's debut -- write-up while the trailer was playing so perhaps I'm in no position to pass judgment).

Anyway, too bad.


The Tall Man trailer by blankytwo
















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New(ish) Poster, New Clips, and an English Language Trailer for Roland Emmerich Produced 'Hell'

Remember this poster from August last year? Here's the new one (from April).

Here are the new clips.





Here's the trailer


Here's one with subtitles that gives a better idea of what's going on.



I can see why they're not bothering with a theatrical release in this country -- just wouldn't play -- but looks like a great rental. Must-see for fans of the genre.

Should be available VOD 8/9 and on DVD 8/21.

Here's the new(est) version with narration in English

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New 'Total Recall' Trailer Loaded With Reveals

Double identities, sleeper wives, best friends that turn out to be long-time enemies (maybe) -- too much and more in the new trailer. Does look like fun summer popcorn eye-candy, though.

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Poster for Jessica Biel's 'The Tall Man'

This just works. Arresting. Very sharp graphics. Biel looks just so. Perfect composition.

Tag: "Fear takes a new shape," works nicely, too.

The pitch:

• When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

Well, the poster may be nice but apparently this isn't expected to do well in theatrical release. From JoBlo:

• Pascal Laugier's THE TALL MAN will be getting a theatrical release on AUGUST 31st, but based on today's information, it's a sure-thing that it will be in a limited and short-lived capacity. High-Def Digest is reporting that the supernatural thriller will be making its home video debut a mere few weeks later, on SEPTEMBER 25th.

'The Tall Man' (love that title) played SXSW this year. Some clips from reviews:

Film School Rejects:

• SXSW Midnighter pick The Tall Man falls into the category of the most aggravating kind of disposable movies. It’s not bad, there’s a certain level of competency, and a few of its ideas, if translated right, would make for an interesting film. Unfortunately those ideas aren’t handled right, and the final result is a tedious, bland, and unsubtle thriller.

FearNet:

• Pascal Laugier's The Tall Man is either one certifiably insane horror story / missing kids thriller, or it's one of the clearest examples of why one should always approach a new movie with as few "expectations" as possible.

TwitchFilm:

• Pascal Laugier's first film since Martyrs is seriously underwhelming. Laugier, the director, can still deliver cool, efficient thrills, as evidenced in an early, extended sequence in which Jessica Biel gives ferocious chase to a mysterious stranger who has kidnapped her child. 

• But Laugier, the writer, again has "something to say," and that could be a good thing. It's unfortunate, however, that the message, when delivered, is nowhere near as provocative or multi-dimensional (or pretentious or divisive) as Martyrs. Even leaving Laugier's previous effort out of the equation, however, The Tall Man adds up to an ambitious thriller -- with a very good performance by Biel -- that falls short of its goals.

Okay, got it, but I still like that poster...




















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Poster for Jennifer Lynch's 'Chained'

Graphic works well. Captures that twisted/cluttered psych energy everyone goes for in serial killer thrillers while maintaining clean lines. Here's the pitch:

• Bob, a cab-driving serial killer who stalks his prey on the city streets alongside his reluctant protégé Tim, who must make a life or death choice between following in Bob's footsteps or breaking free from his captor.

Great concept with plenty headroom for plot twists and character arc. Vincent D'Onofrio and Julia Ormond are really strong, plus you know when a poster looks this polished this early in the campaign it's gonna be good.

Movie has wrapped but no release date yet. 

Here's a placeholder poster for Lynch's next film, 'A Fall From Grace', which is in pre-production.

The logline:

• Detective Michael Tabb knows the city of St. Louis inside and out. He has felt its true heart, as much as its dark underbelly: but he does not know who, in both the dark and light - is taking the lives of young girls. 

Looking forward. You can just tell Lynch has it together.












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The Schmoes and IGN Review 'The Amazing Spider-Man'

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'Here Comes The Boom' Trailer

Watched yesterday, hated it. Watched this morning hated it less. I want to like it. Trying...to...like...this...comedy...movie...with...big...heart

I don't know -- with teachers being shitcanned nationwide and schools turning into...(okay I can't finish that sentence), this might find an audience.



















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Two (2) First (1st) Looks at Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher

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Jeremy Renner/Bourne Legacy Covers Empire in August

There's another standard-issue garish version if you're interested. Gotta say, nice job. Looks good.

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Red Band Trailer for 'Hit and Run'

Thing is, when you try to cut a green band trailer for a red band movie it don't work and that's been the problem with the 'Hit and Run' rollout.

New trailer works -- on a given level -- despite pounding the same joke over and over. I mean, how many times can you thrust the same gag at us? You can't just insert anal sex jokes again and again and think that's funny.

Anyway...can't help but compare this to 'Smokey and the Bandit' (with way more edge), which isn't a bad thing. I swear.

Now they just need a poster that doesn't suck to go with this trailer that doesn't suck. Movie looks good (maybe).





















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Seriously Put-Together New Trailer for Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's 'Looper'

They can start counting the box office take now.





















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I'm a Savage

This campaign is working.

















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'Savages' Wallpaper

I hadn't seen these. More at the site

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'Savages' Interrogation Series III

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Concept Art for Barry Levinson's 'The Bay'

Courtesy Daniel Colón

Here's the pitch:

• Chaos breaks out in a small Maryland town after an ecological disaster occurs. 

'The Bay' is in post-production and should be released 2013.

Here are a couple images. More at the link above.

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New From The Set of 'Looper'

Here's the production blog

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'Prometheus' VFX Featurette

Very in-depth


















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Don Pettit's 'Star Trail' Images

more

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William Friedkin Talks 'Killer Joe'

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Clip from 'Killer Joe'

Editing is way rough with odd angle/camera choices. Don't know what William Friedkin was going for but he got 'jangly'.
















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Spidey Crew at the Empire State Building

More at MSN UK

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Red Band Clip from 'The Watch'

So far, this flick is batting a thousand.

Funny. Actually funny. Somebody dug around in the back of the closet, found some old funny everyone had forgotten about, and put it in a movie.

A comedy that's funny. Nice move.




















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'Arbitrage' Poster/Trailer

Problem with the poster is simple. Gere's head it too big and the wrecked car is too small. That's it. Fix those two things and it's good.

Trailer works, which I was surprised by. Well, Gere isn't having what you'd call a hot streak. But, yes, the trailer holds potential.
























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Second Trailer for 'Frankenweenie'

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'Sorkinisms' aka The Most Embarrassing Thing You'll See For a While. (Sarcastically) Jeez, You Think?

Wow. Ouch.




















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Trailer for 'Epic' Delivers

Wow. Must-see.



















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Ear Candy: 'The Dark Knight Rises' Soundtrack

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Poster and New Trailer for 'Robot & Frank'

Yeah, I know. You see that poster and title (not to mention the tagline: "Friendship doesn't have an off switch" -- ooph) and you're planning to be out of the country when this movie plays. And, that's what I thought after the first wretched trailer, too. Looked like one of those movies of the week where an elderly guy learns to enjoy life again due to the influence of an artificially intelligent yet smart-in-the-way-that-counts robot.

And...that's exactly what it's about, except the hook is pretty cool, the robot doesn't come off so smart/smarmy/cutesy it makes you sick, and the premise plays out smoothly with no wink-wink acting -- everybody is committed and it works. If the ending delivers this could score at the box office.

Really, though, any chance to see Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, and Liv Tyler.

New trailer plays great. Must-rent, and remember, friendship doesn't have an off switch!!!! It doesn't.

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Poster/Trailer for 'Easy Money'

Very nice poster. They go for this look with crime thrillers all the time but miss a lot.

Looks must-rent.
























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New Posters for 'The Campaign': Eagle vs Puppy

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Lindsay Lohan in Richard Phillips' 'First Point'

I'm not what you'd call a Lohan fan but, thing is, and this speaks to her star quality, (even though I paid no attention at first -- I didn't even watch until today) she looks good in this trailer.

Okay, sure, there's not a lot of 'acting' by Lohan but she holds her own in this thing effortlessly. Not that that means anything (much like this write-up) but she did it, it caught my attention, and so I wrote this write-up up (though I'm at a loss for why, which speaks to Lohan's mysterious power).

The film/art piece made its premiere at Art Basel but won't roll out in the US until Phillips' show at the Gagosian Gallery in NYC Sept. 15 this year. 

While we wait for the short film in its entirety, this trailer gets embedded again and again. If you haven't seen it (where have you been?). If you have...





















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Balloon Flight

Champagne Flights from Liam Hall on Vimeo.


























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'Paddington Bear' Poster

I checked it out just to see and was surprised. Nice stuff.

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International Trailer for 'V/H/S/'

Wow. Even better than the version we got a few days ago and that one was sharp.

poster and video reviews

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Jeremy Jahns Reviews 'Brave' and 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'

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Keanu Reeve's Proof of Concept Bot & Dolly Video for 'Man of Tai Chi'

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New Featurettes for 'Savages'

As usual, good stuff. So good.




















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Trailer for 'The Prototype'

From the Bandito Brothers, who brought us 'Act of Valor' on a shoestring budget. That was very nice work and did well at the box office but this is an odd looking product.

'Act of Valor' was shot for $12m and looks great. This, though, cost $40m and I'm not sure where that money went. There's nothing in the trailer that looks that expensive.

Story/logic-wise 'The Prototype' doesn't click. What this robot is able to do is just too far out of range of current technology and the flick doesn't look to be set in the distant future (possibly because that would cost a fortune). A robot that could possibly exist hundreds of years from now running around what's clearly downtown LA spruced up to look a bit futuristic won't sit well with audiences. This is like 'Terminator' except the robot is a product of current-day tech. Nobody wants to pay full price to see that.

The bio-mech element could make this gel, but that kind of thing isn't a mainstream draw. Besides, that technology couldn't get rolling for, what? -- 100 years minimum? -- so, again, it's a tough sell for anybody other than fans of sci-fi fantasy.

Online reaction to the trailer has been mixed/cool. Could be BB are a tad out of their depth with this product. If there's something plotwise that supports the existence of an advanced robot, say ten or twenty years from now, 'The Prototype' could work. If not, movie could play flat in theaters and on digital platforms though it may become a cult fave slash low-end rental down the road. Love to be wrong... Waiting.

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International Trailer for Ben Affleck's 'Argo'

Identical to the one that rolled out 5/8 until the very end where it's missing an exchange of dialogue and a couple other snippets. Result is more subdued which is the reverse of the usual -- international trailers tend to be edgier.

If you don't know the story, it's pretty amazing what happened. Here's some background.

Lands 10/12



















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Peeing in a Can Clip from 'The Watch'

Would another crew be this funny? Could they even pull it off? Really, could anybody other than Vince Vaughn do this without looking twisted?

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Red Band Clip from 'Savages'

This rollout is very smooth. Clip is easy to watch, very edgy. Benicio Del Toro is about as dangerous a character as I've seen and John Travolta -- you can't tell whether he's playing the sap because he's that smart or because he's...a sap.

'Savages' has a cool look, characters with depth, and the action will be gritty and nasty and will have people talking.


















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Oliver Stone's New Look for 'Savages'

Love the new clip. The thing I notice though, more than can be picked up in trailers, is the look -- fresh, contemporary. A departure for Stone whose camera is usually predictable, smooth, still or with a silky glide, and commercially safe.

The camera work in 'Savages' is close, dynamic, disorienting when called for, and very fresh stylistically without being gimmicky.

For instance, starting at 12 seconds, the way the camera hovers over Lado's (Benicio Del Toro) shoulder while Elena (Salma Hayek) eyes him -- that just isn't a classic technique. The techno soundtrack confirms a new approach.



Then, at :20, the fake lens flare (the sun is high and behind the camera so flare isn't possible), accompanied by screechy sound effect no less, is straight out of today's indie filmmaking (or even hyper-stylized music videos) and used to visually punctuate goings on but can't be found in Stone's earlier work. Lado adjusting his sunglasses to add visual splash to the other side of the frame isn't the kind of thing you'll find in Stone's earlier movies, either.

At :23 a person enters frame between Ophelia (Blake Lively) and Lado. Without re-watching everything Stone has directed I think it's safe to say this isn't usual. If a character enters a frame it's at least done in a much cleaner way -- say from the side -- or not at all.

The glance Elena shoots Lado after Ophelia confirms she wasn't mistreated is a subtlety Stone probably wouldn't have wanted to include in the past. In fact, I think he has worked to keep such stuff out of the frame for the sake of clean lines. It's safe to say Stone's screenplays spell out (in dialogue) what characters are thinking.

Camera starting at 1:44 is tight and characters are partially blocked by plants, which amps the tension visually. You don't see characters blocked by much of anything in Stone's other movies. Shooting at an angle strengthens the effect.

Also, editing during this part is dynamic. Stone went with 'incorrect' angles to keep the audience off balance. At 1:50 when Elena dictates how the men will pay her back the $3m -- the angle on her is wrong. It's the opposite side from which we would expect to view her. I don't think Stone has done this in his previous films.

Also, this is the first time we see Elena from a lower perspective, instead of from well above eye level. At 1:57 we move closer and lower, and tilt is added. Not very classical camera work.

I love the look and can't wait to see the movie.

Here's Stone talking about the production and his style choices.

Really, 'Savages' is looking great and I wouldn't be surprised if it did good enough business to warrant making the sequel. Here's a bit from Janet Maslin's review of 'The Kings of Cool' by Don Winslow: 

• Mr. Winslow’s keen attention to drug culture isn’t going to keep readers away from him. He’s too damn good to be polarizing. His characters are smart about their self-interest. His dialogue is tight, laconic and razor sharp; if Elmore Leonard or Lee Child discovered surfing, they might sound something like this. And even when he shows off — he flits occasionally into quasi-poetry and ratchets up dramatic impact with brief snippets of screenwriting — he gets away with it.

5-Minute Vaca in SoCal: Lisergia Clássica

Lisergia Clássica - teaser from paulo camargo on Vimeo.



















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A Short But To-The-Point Message from 'Savages'

Looking very good. Love the camera, not a fan of the editing. Acting/script/story, though...wow. Nice nice nice.

(You may want to turn the volume down. This ain't pretty).




















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'Klown' Poster/Clip/Trailer

"Plays like a superior, and way grosser, version of 'The Hangover'" -- Aaron Hillis, The Village Voice

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Posters/Trailer for Chen Kaige's 'Sacrifice'

Opens in the US July 27

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International Trailer for 'Taken 2' -- or -- Liam Neeson: God of Movies

They may have done it. They may have a sequel that's not only as good as the original but will be more popular.

And, when did Liam Neeson become God of Movies? Really, you see him and it's like, "Oh, good. Liam's in this. Everything will be okay."

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Flip-Flopping Trailer for 'Dredd'

On the flip side: Trailer opens with very fresh visuals and strong sense of setting. Nice, considering it's mostly all been done before and it's tough to come up with an original look (See: Visual references to Blade Runner and other sci-fi standards in trailer for 'Total Recall').

One the flop side: Cool eye-candy doesn't cut it anymore (See 'John Carter').

Flip: Seems like a promising story -- Dredd tries to do something about a city addicted to a drug supplied by one person.

Flop: Potentially involving plot quickly devolves into an 'escape from a tower filled with armed bad guys trying to kill you' setup (See: The Raid).

Flip: Director Pete Travis manages to keep it visually interesting.

Flop: Travis is known for choppy throughline, as in 'Vantage Point', which was considered nearly impossible to follow and not worth the effort in any event.

Flip: Choppy throughline probably won't matter in a movie like 'Dredd'.

Flip: Writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, Sunshine)

Flop: (I have not seen 'Never Let Me Go') but both '28 Days Later' and 'Sunshine' have pretty bad 3rd act issues in that plot devices are convenient, weak, and don't live up to the potential of Acts I and II.

Flip: As with choppy throughline, weak Act III plot devices probably won't matter in a movie like 'Dredd'.

Flop: Lines straight from the 80s like 'I'm the law' and 'It's judgment time'.

Flip: (Sigh) Probably won't matter in a movie like 'Dredd'...























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8-Bit Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

If you don't have time for the movie just watch this.



















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Poster/Trailer for 'Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai'

Directed by Takashi Miike, who looks to have done the original 1962 classic 'Harakiri' directed by Masaki Kobayashi justice.

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Still from 'Brave'

Simply beautiful, which may sound obvious but that's not (automatically) the case with animation.

Remarkable level of detail. That hair...amazing.

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Trailer for 'Anna Karenina'

Didn't like the garish poster that rolled out this morning but this trailer is lush, sweeping, beautiful.

Keira Knightley brings an intensity that seems both contemporary yet fits the period.




















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Repugnant Smart International Trailer for 'The Watch'

Why are international trailers always (always) better than the domestic fluff Hollywood pawns off on us? Hmm? Why? Why is that. Tell me.

This trailer makes you hate the movie and look forward to seeing it at the same time. That's good work. Nice.


















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Spanish Character Posters for 'Frankenweenie'

Yesterday we got some posters (with no text), today we get Spanish versions. (You can see the rest here).

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Ender's Game Wraps Principal Photography -- WARNING: Null G Beyond This Line

(Post) production blog

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Super-Noir Character Posters for 'Frankenweenie'

There's a bunch hitting the web. Firstshowing has them collected in one place.

Will be a must-own Blu-ray. Here's my faves.

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