I like watching movie trailers and then reviewing the movie based on the information gleaned from them. I work at the Telluride Film Festival, and I get to see quite a few movies well before their domestic release dates, so I have a little insight into those movies as well. Because the TFF program isn't released until the day of the festival, I like to try and guess what might show up here.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

300

In Theatres: March 9th, 2007
Zack Snyder (dir.)
Gerard Butler
Lena Headey
Trailer

Frank Miller has finally earned his due. With Sin City being such a wonderful adaptation, it looks like his other works are becoming marketable. 300 looks like it could become the best historical epic of its contemporaries. (Not that it would be hard to outdo Troy or Alexander) Lots of CGI, but it doesn't feel like the movie relies on it. Cool lighting effects, plenty of violence and (hopefully) a little nudity round out the other pre-req's for a film like this.

Anticipated rating: 8/10

Eragon

In Theatres: December 15th, 2006
Stefen Fangmeier (dir.)
Edward Speleers
Jeremy Irons
John Malkovich
Trailer

After watching both trailers, I don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, it's a new adventure movie trilogy, on the other hand, it looks like a bunch of special effects guys spent a whole lot of time masturbating creatively, spewing fat globs of CGI into every nook and cranny on the big screen. It'll probably be fun to watch, but I don't think it's going to break any new ground.

Anticipated rating: 6/10

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

8 Films To Die For

In Theatres: November 17th, 18th & 19th, 2006
Trailer

A one weekend horrorfest FULL of really good looking stuff. Stuff that is a mixture of good, bad, gore and sex the likes of which haven't been seen since the golden era of the mid-70's. Looks like it's gonna be on a lot of screens too. No word on ticket prices, but check back here: http://horrorfestonline.com/theaters.html

The trailer looks good. Typical horror-y stuff, but who am I to complain?

Anticipated rating: 10/10 for the whole event
Actual rating: 4/10 Execution of the 'film festival' was a joke. I went to see The Hamiltons, but there was no way of knowing what movie one was showing up for, as the listings in the paper were simply "Horror-Fest." After the movie ended, there was a gap of at least 90 minutes before the next film started, and after that one, the same movie was playing a second time. There must have been at least one movie theatre in the country that got it right, but unfortunately, I wasn't at that one. Oh, and The Hamiltons kinda sucked.