Trailer Trash Feature: 28th April – 11th May

(Bi-weekly feature written for Lost In The Multiplex)

The past two weeks have been pretty big trailer wise, including the latest releases for three of this summer’s most anticipated films including Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Could it get any better? Aside from a couple of other new trailers, namely the first for Ruben Fleischer’s The Gangster Squad, not really. Whilst we do have quite a few new films to discuss in this week’s feature, they just don’t include any dark knights or a Ryan Gosling. Still, we can’t always be that picky.

Prometheus

So to kick things of this week, as we have done once before, we have another new trailer for, probably the most anticipated film now that The Avengers is out of the way, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. It’s likely that you’ve already seen this new footage as so many of us we’re tweeting along to Channel 4’s #areyouseeingthis hashtag during an episode Homeland at the beginning of May when the trailer first aired. If you haven’t yet seen the new trailer though, then get watching as you are definitely missing out. Prequel to the popular Alien franchise and starring the likes of Michael Fassbender (Shame), Noomi Rapace (Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows), Charlize Theron (Young Adult) and Idris Elba (TV’s Luther), the film follows a team of explorers who discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. Set to be released on 1st June, the new trailer gives us even more to look forward to, as if we weren’t already brimming with excitement as it was.

The Dark Knight Rises

The second big trailer is the third for Christopher Nolan’s final instalment in his Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises. Co-directed by Nolan with his brother Jonathan Nolan and co-written with David S. Goyer, the film sees the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne aka The Batman, Tom Hardy as the protagonist Bane, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Michael Caine. Set to be released on 20th July, the new trailer is again one to boil us over with excitement with quite a bit of new footage that you do not want to miss.

The Amazing Spider-Man

And the third and final big release this week, which coincidentally is for another superhero classic, is for the latest, and probably last, trailer for Marc Webb’s first instalment to his Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. With Andrew Garfield taking the lead as the web-slinging hero himself, the film also stars Emma Stone as his love-interest Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as the Lizard, as well as Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Martin Sheen and Sally Field. Set to be released on 3rd July, the new trailer already sets the film up to being much better than the original Spiderman films that once stared Tobey Maguire. But with its competition against this summer’s many other superhero films, do you think it will even stand a chance of standing out from the already compacted, skin-tight jumpsuit wearing crowd?

Neighbourhood Watch

Whilst that’s the last of this summer’s blockbusters, we also have a couple of second trailers for some other anticipated films too, the first being the red band trailer for The Watch (formerly Neighbourhood Watch). Starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade, Neighbourhood Watch is directed by Akiva Schaffer and is set to be released on 29th August, as it follows a group of Suburban dads who form a neighbourhood watch group as a way to get out of their day-to-day family routines, but who find themselves defending the Earth from an alien invasion. A great combination of actors, but I’m still unsure how they will pull this somewhat ridiculous story line off. The new trailer is pretty funny though, and I think the addition of Richard Ayoade is enough to make it good.

The Expendables 2

The second is then for The Expendables 2, starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Liam Hemsworth. The film follows the reunion of the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat. Set to be released on 17th August, you’ve probably already made up your mind about this film; either you will think this is totally cool or just one big joke, and the new trailer is sure to only heighten these opinions. If you’re like me, there is far too much action for me to even consider watching this one, but then that may be exactly what you are looking for too.

The Gangster Squad

As for first trailers, this week sees the release of the brilliant trailer for Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer’s The Gangster Squad. Starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Josh Brolin and set in Los Angeles in 1949, the film is a colourful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time, the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen (Penn). Set to be released on 9th November, this looks like a definite must-see for this year.

The Campaign

Another first great trailer is for Jay Roach’s The Campaign, which stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as competing congressmen in the North Carolina district. Set to be released on 28th September, the new trailer for this film is hilarious and this definitely looks like one to watch this year.

Killer Joe

The first trailer for Oscar-winning director William Friedki’s Killer Joe is another one for people to look forward to after the film received brilliant reviews at the Venice Film Festival where it had its world premiere last year. With Friedki reuniting with Bug writer Tracy Letts, who’s adapted the script from his own play, the film stars Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch, and follows 22-year-old Chris (Hirsch) who finds himself in debt to a drug lord. When he hires a hit man to dispatch his mother, Chris finds Joe Cooper (McConaughey), a Dallas cop who moonlights as a contract killer, but when Chris can’t pay Joe upfront, Joe sets his sight on Chris’ sister (Juno Temple) as collateral for the job. However, the contract killer and his hostage begin to develop an unusual bond. Also starring Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon, the film is set to be released on 29th June, and is set to be another great role for McConaughey to do well from.

Argo

Warner Bros. have also released the first trailer for Ben Affleck’s film, Argo. Based around the true events of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, Affleck and his extradition team pose as a film crew shooting a sci-fi film in order to gain access to the hostages and rescue them. It’s quite hard to tell what tone the film takes but it seems quite an interesting watch nonetheless. Also starring Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Scoot McNairy, Kyle Chandler, Alan Arkin Clea DuVall, Michael Parks and Kerry Bishé, Argo is set to be released on 10th October.

End of Watch

Debuted by Yahoo Movies, End Of Watch has a first trailer which introduces Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña in the lead roles as young Los Angeles police officers who patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles. Directed by David Ayer, the action unfolds entirely through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s darkest, most violent corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay. This is another one film that has intrigued me this week, especially with a promising lead duo and a slightly new take on the hand-held footage style filming. With a supporting cast including Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera, Cody Horn, Natalie Martinez, and Frank Grillo, End Of Watch is set to be released in the US on 28th September, but the film has no UK release date as of yet.

The Pact

The new UK trailer for horror movie, The Pact, is full of the typical horror clichés we often avoid, but it threatens to make going home scary. Written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy, the film Annie who, following her mother’s funeral, reluctantly returns to her childhood home and is forced to unlock the doors to the past to discover the hidden secrets of the house and in doing so finds a room that she has no memory of. Have we seen it all before? From the new trailer, it looks like it. Set to be released on 8th June, The Pact stars Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Agnes Bruckner, Mark Steger, Haley Hudson and Kathleen Rose Perkins.

A Few Best Men

A more light-hearted trailer is for A Few Best Men which stars Xavier Samuel (Twilight: Eclipse), Kris Marshall (Love Actually), Kevin Bishop (TV’s Star Stories), Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids) and Olivia Newton-John (Grease), and is set to be released on 31st August. Having barely met their best friends bride-to-be, the film follows a group of lads who aren’t too impressed at the thought of losing their friend to married life, but resolve to give him a send-off to remember. The trio of ill-prepared best men end up giving a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘for better or worse’ as a chaos-filled wedding, complete with a deranged drug dealer, a cross-dressed sheep, a coked-up mother-in-law (Newton John) and possibly the most disastrous speech of all time, threaten to derail the marriage before it’s even begun. It’s a very random grouping of actors but one that looks like they could be a laugh to watch.

She Wants Me

Another random set of casting is for writer-director Rob Margolies returns with rom-com She Wants Me, which stars Josh Gad in the lead, supported by Hilary Duff, Charlie Sheen, Kristen Ruhlin, Aaron Yoo, and Wayne Knigh. Gad plays Sam, a budding screenwriter who writes a film in which he asks his gorgeous girlfriend Sammy (Ruhlin) to star. That plan hits a bump in the road with the development that superstar actress Kim Powers (Duff) has read and loves the script and wants the part. Set to be released in the US on 18th September, the film does not yet have a date scheduled for the UK. But do we want it to? The cast of new-comers seems a little ruined by the combination of Sheen and Duff, so I’m not sure how this one will go down.

Dark Horse

Another comedy comes from the new trailer for Todd Solondz’s Dark Horse, which debuted at Venice last year to a great critical reception and had its UK premiere last year at the BFI London Film Festival. Following thirty-something Abe (Jordan Gelber) who is stuck in arrested development, living with his parents (Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken), with a hobby of collecting toys, in order to lose his status as the dark horse of the family, he begins a relationship with Miranda (Selma Blair), who has moved back home after seeing her literary and academic career fail. Getting a limited release in the US beginning on 8th June in New York, the film will then be making its way to UK on 29th June.

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green

And finally, the new trailer debuted by MSN for Disney’s latest live-action film, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, this week too. From Oscar-nominated director Peter Hedges, directed from his own script, the film stars Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton leading the cast, as a couple who can’t wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life’s greatest gifts. I’m not sure whether this is a film for adults or children which is the worrying thought to come from the trailer, but we have until 15th August in the US, and probably sometime around then too for the UK, to figure out who exactly this film is aimed at.