I have been slacking on posting a bit and usually these would come as individual posts, but I decided to combine them into one Trailer-licious post. So here ya go, a few new trailers for you to feast your eyes upon.

New Alternate Trailer for Dark Knight


Gotham Tonight Special


Punisher: War Zone


English Version Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Valkyrie


The Wackness


Death Race


WOW that's alot of trailers. I can officially say that I am excited to see all of these films though. Dark Knight, of course. Punisher: War Zone, will probably suck but I need to compare it to the other Punisher. Curious Case, I HAVE BEEN psyched for this film and smell Oscars in its future. Valkyrie, wasn't interested in previously but am becoming more interested in seeing it. The Wackness, its 1994!!! It can't lose! Death Race, Jason Statham wins almost all the time, purely fun action guy.

As most people know, Jason is currently shooting it's reboot to the franchise. MTV has recently posted a sort of behind the scenes moment where we get a look at the famous mask that will be making its appearance in the film. Fans of the original film know that the mask doesn't actually show up until the 3rd film in the series. IESB.net recently did a set visit and was able to provide us with this information,

First, during our interview with producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, Form said, "most people think Jason Voorhees was in the first one and, most of the people we talk to - the younger audience - they think he's in the first one, they think he's wearing a hockey mask and that's kind of how this franchise started. They don't realize that Pamela was basically the whole first one and he didn't show up until the very end of the movie...in the lake for the one shot...and then the second one, of course, he wore the sack. In the third one, finally, you have that great moment where he comes out in the hockey mask. I think we tried to take elements from all three of those movies to create one reboot of Friday the 13th and I think we take the elements where you will see Jason put the hockey mask on for the first time - how and why. And you'll see him actually do it not just come out with it."

According to the filmmakers, in this new film, we'll see both Sack Jason and Hockey Mask Jason.

The production is set to wrap on (coincidentally) Friday June 13th and are in the final throws of shooting. Friday the 13th 2009, get ready to be frightened all over again - old school style!

The Incredible Hulk is the newly created Marvel Studios "reboot" of the Hulk franchise starring Edward Norton as Hulk. This film focuses mainly on Banner's search for a cure to his gamma poisoning sickness and his battle with the villian The Abomination (a Hulkerized version of Emil Blonsky played by Tim Roth)

The Awesome

I should begin by saying that I am a fan of the Ang Lee Hulk that was released a couple of years ago. It is quite a different film than this film, but a good film none-the-less despite what many people seem to say. This film surely delivers when it comes to action. I would say that about 85% of this film is pure Hulk action delivered with great CGI (which is good, bu noticeably present) and awesome explosions. The sets are huge and well put together and make great stages for all of this action to take place on. Norton is surprisingly good as Banner (something I was at first skeptical about). The scenes where he is on the run as Banner and just on the edge all the time of losing it and becoming the Hulk are great scenes and keep this film rolling. Most of the acting is just fine in this movie, and the dialogue is not terrible (not Iron Man quality, but not terrible). Liv Tyler is a bit awkward as Betty Ross, but manages the job with the exception of a few cheesy moments between her and Norton. Two of my favorite things about the film weren't even about the Hulk, which does make me question the plot a little, but these teasers were just too awesome to ignore. First is the appearance of Tony Stark (who I still believe is being played PERFECTLY by the talented Robert Downey Jr.) and also a reference to Captain America. SPOILER BEGIN a vial of Gamma juice with the name of the inventor of the Super-Soldier serum, Dr. Reinstein, and reference to the WWII Super-Soldier program anyone? SPOILER END.

The Not So Awesome

The CGI in this film has its flaws and is for the most part extremely present and noticeable. There are a few cheesy moments of dialogue typical of most romances that happen in super hero films. Because of the heavy basis on action, the film does sacrifice character development a little bit, but still manages to receive a passing grade. Some of the action is definitely over the top, but that is to be expected and is directly in line with a film about The Hulk. Overall, not too many disappointing things, but I still feel like the film lacked some of the punch that Iron Man had (a film that is now the idea of what I hold other superhero films up to).

Overall

Overall, this film was a good popcorn film that delivers on action and fulfills some of the missing elements that Ang Lee's had while removing some of the character development that Ang Lee felt like keeping. While Marvel seems to disagree, I believe that this film works almost perfectly as a sequel to Lee's Hulk and not necessarily a reboot. It pretty much picks up where the last one left off and covers most of the back story in the opening sequence. It has some issues, but still succeeds in being another great film for the Marvel Studios line-up. Marvel Studios is officially 2 for 2. I give this film a 7.5 out of 10.

Kung Fu Panda is the new Dreamworks animated picture about a clumsy, overweight panda who through a series of unique events becomes name as the successor to the Dragon Scroll and must then convince those around him and himself that he is worthy of this position and worthy to take on the recently escaped threat Tai Lung.

The Awesome

This film is extremely pretty to look at. The opening animations, which were 2D, while the rest was in that now classic CGI style that has become a staple of children's films, is gorgeous and really sets the mood for the entire film. It is probably one of the best looking of these types of films that I have seen thus far. The voice acting is above standard with voices such as Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Jackie Chan to name a few. When you look at that list, you know you are in for something. Jack Black was great as the title characters voice and he had the perfect sense of comedy and seriousness to make this film more than just the regular "Shrek" type film. The story is really good and kept me interested the whole time. The villian, Tai Lung was great, and the action/fighting sequences were really nice to look at (animated kung-fu that looks realistic? AWESOME!). The jokes were pretty on target, and for the most part on target for laughs.

The Not So Awesome

There really isn't much to complain about in regards to this film other than one kind of big thing. The great cast of character voices are extremely UNDERUSED. I think that most of the Furious 5 had about 1 or 2 lines each. With talent like that behind the reigns, it seems to be just a dumb idea not to use these people to their fullest extent. When they used then, it worked, and I just don't quite see why they weren't used more than they were.

Overall

Overall there isn't much to complain about in regards to this film, and the praise outweighs the small complaints. It is one of the best of these types of films I have seen in a while and I really enjoyed myself sitting and watching this movie. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. As most people will say, it's no Pixar film, but it definitely fills that void until Wall E comes out. One word - Skadoosh. I give this film an 7.5 out of 10.

The Happening is M. Night Shayamalan's latest theatrical effort. The general plot is a film about an unseen something that is causing people to commit suicide. This threat is happening in many different locations in the Northeastern area of the United States and we follow the journey of specifically a small "family" consisting of Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez as they try to "outrun" the events that are happening.

The Awesome

There isn't much, let me tell you that. I was extremely pumped to see this film as I have generally been quite a fan of M. Night's work and this was his first R rated film. The trailers at first did not seem that good, but got better over time making me really want to see this. The gore was decent and not overplayed, which was kind of nice, and there were a few moments that were slightly unexpected (we're not talking major plot twists here). The idea for the story was good. The plot generally fits under the category of Awesome...unfortunately not much else does. John Leguizamo's character was the best in my opinion, but like I said, we aren't offered much in the department of scares, jumps, good dialogue, plot twists, or anything else that makes a good film. I think what I enjoyed the most was following the story of a man who at most points seemed to already be a dead man.

The Not So Awesome

The script for this film was pretty bad resulting in poor dialogue and some really awkward and not explained moments of un-needed "false" tension. The acting was generally terrible (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, I'm looking at you). The characters were pretty weak and the scares and suspense do not deliver. Mark Wahlberg who is generally a decent performer seemed to play a weak and lifeless biology teacher (I understand that he had to be this way for the plot to make sense). Zooey's voice is lifeless and lacks any amount of enthusiasm or shock about the events that are happening around them. I also found it pretty difficult not to laugh at some of the things that I'm pretty sure were not supposed to be humorous. I really don't have too many good things to say about this film. The film aspires to be something of Hitchcock legend, but falls desperately short. The environmental warning tag on at the end made the film just seem desperate for justification.

Overall

I will generally defend M. Night's films as I have enjoyed or at least mostly enjoyed all of his other films and I truly think he is one of the most genuine film makers out there right now who is telling original stories. With that said, there isn't much left to defend about this film OTHER than it's premise and story. As I said before, if you are looking for the usual Shayamalan flick, don't look here, but if you are curious at all about what this guy is doing, I'm sure you won't mind at least watching it. I keep finding myself WISHING that this film was a little bit better so that I could tell people to go see it, but what I think I really NEED to wish for is that Shayamalan takes a break and thinks about his choices a little more carefully for his next stab at this type of film. Overall, I give this film a 4 out of 10.

I have some updates for you on upcoming Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen projets.

First, Judd Apatow's formerly untitled film that had Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen attached now has a title. Funny People, coming July 31, 2009. Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill have also joined the ensemble of "Funny People," which will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures. It may come as a shock to see Eric Bana's name attached to this project, but according to Variety, Bana began his career as a comic on the standup circuit in Australia and starred in the sketch comedy series "Full Frontal" and "The Eric Bana Show" before remaking himself as a dramatic actor. Details on the film are minimal and the only plot points we know are that the movie takes place in the world of standup comedy and the focus is on a comedian who has a near-death experience.

Next, we have news about YET ANOTHER Seth Rogen film currently titled Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse starring Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel (Undeclared and upcoming Tropic Thunder). Film is based on a comedy short from "Superbad" scribes Rogen and Evan Goldberg, which in turn was based on a story by Goldberg and Jason Stone. Rogen and Goldberg will write and produce the feature.Several production companies vied for the rights to the comedy, which revolves, as the title implies, around two guys dealing with the apocalypse. Last summer, the project caused a stir in the blogosphere when a trailer for the short appeared on YouTube and can be seen below.

I just found out this morning that Timur Bekmambetov, Russian director of the upcoming film Wanted has punked the entire United States. You may have seen this video floating around the internet of an office person going berserk and destroying the office. It appeared on YouTube and tons of other sites, surveillance video as well as a cell phone version of the antics took the web by storm (view below)

Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane - Watch more free videos

Office Worker Meltdown Second Angle - Watch more free videos

These videos were even on FOX news THIS MORNING!!!! Well I just found out they are recent videos released by Timur as part of a viral marketing campaign for the film Wanted!

Timur's personal website where he revealed the news is located here.

I used BabelFish to get a loose translation, take a look at that here.

And finally, here is another website, translated as well, that loosely talks about what happened.

If you remember the trailers from earlier, you will remember a shot that takes place in an office in which James McAvoy's character flips out and hits someone with a keyboard.




One of the themes of this film seems to be about escaping your meaningless life and existence (office worker) for something greater (assassin). And I must say, Bekmambetove did a fine job of making us all aware of this.