TRAILER FOR SPIT (A SHORT FILM BY MTUME GANT)

Here it is! The trailer for Mtume Gant's short film Spit.

Enjoy...

A QUICK BREAKDOWN OF RYAN GOSLING'S LOST RIVER TRAILER...

Ryan Gosling has been in the movie news recently as his directorial debut Lost River is finally getting a (limited) theatrical release. For those that don’t know, it’s supposed to be pretty bad (the early reviews were not kind) and it got a really rough reception (…booed) at Cannes earlier this year. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I’m a Ryan Gosling fan (for the most part) but I’m feeling like these early reviews & boo’s are on point.

I think what bugs me the most is that just from the trailer alone, it looks like a collage of typical indie/arthouse imagery, which I’m not sure everyone is aware of.

Check out the trailer first then continue on…

I’m sure cinephiles could immediately spot the influences & borrowed imagery within the trailer, but I don’t know if the average movie goer/Gosling fan can (I could be way off but these are the films that come to mind when I watch the trailer)

George Washington (David Gordon Green)

Gummo (Harmony Korine)

Sacrifice (Tarkovsky)

Wax's California music video (Spike Jonze)

Gummo

I’m obviously going to see this if/when it comes out. Even if it turns out to be as bad as critics have made it out to be, I’d rather see a disastrous failure than a safe/non-threatening movie that I’d forget about five minutes after watching.

NEW TRAILERS: KNIGHT OF CUPS (TERRENCE MALICK) & BLACKHAT (MICHAEL MANN)

Good morning!

Been looking forward to BOTH of these! Can't wait...

DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS TRAILER (NEW SPIKE LEE JOINT)

This actually looks kind of cool! I use the word “actually” because after Red Hook Summer & Oldboy, I lost a little bit of faith in Spike Lee as a filmmaker (I’m also still not completely sold on “famous”/connected/rich people using crowd funding to raise money for their film projects). But after seeing this trailer for his latest film Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus (a loose remake of the blaxploitation film Ganja & Hess) I’ll be the first in line to support it.

MR. TURNER TRAILER (NEW MIKE LEIGH!)

MAPS TO THE STARS TRAILER! (NEW CRONENBERG)

Wow. Thank god the old trailer got taken down (hopefully none of you saw it). This is a lil' better...

WUTHERING HEIGHTS TRAILER: A WORK OF ART? OR AM I BLOWING THIS UP??

Whoever cuts the trailers for Andrea Arnold's films is an artist. They're always perfect. In the last year it seems like a lot more care has been put in to movie trailers ('Carre Blanc', 'Melancholia', 'Drive', 'Heartbeats', 'Bas Fonds', 'I Saw The Devil', etc). I didn't think anything could top 'Tree Of Life', which was apparently SO good that upon its official release a critic actually wrote a review about the TRAILER (the movie wouldn't come out for another few months), but this video below gives it a run for its money. I seriously think I've watched this 20 times. And I'm not even familiar with the story of 'Wuthering Heights' (i know the basic story, but I've never actually read the book or seen any of the movie adaptations). What pisses me off is that I had a chance to see this in Toronto a few weeks back but i didn't wake up on time and missed it! Had i seen the trailer before going to Toronto (at the time there were barely any video clips on the Internet of Wuthering Heights) this would've been one of my top priorities.

WOW, David Gordon Green is a fuckin' SELLOUT. There, I said it...

This isn't much of a surprise to some people, but i don't think everyone really realizes how much of a sellout this guy has turned in to. Has anyone seen the trailer for David Gordon Green's latest movie? Apparently Jonah Hill is playing a young slacker living at his mom's house (surprise, surprise) who, for whatever reason, has to babysit a bunch of bad kids for one CRAZY night. Is this all one big elaborate prank? Is DGG doing these movies (pineapple express, your highness, the sitter) to fund a project that no one else will finance? Has he just said "fuck it" and decided to make some money? I DON'T GET IT! Judd Apatow is becoming a virus. He's pretty much become the white Tyler Perry (this may be one of the greatest things I've ever said). More and more filmmakers are slowly starting to turn in to him. He's like the emperor in the Star Wars movies, turning people over to the darkisde. And whats funny is that he apparently has NOTHING to do with 'The Sitter', yet it totally looks like it could be one of his movies.

I also find it interesting that years ago David Gordon Green had THIS to say about Kevin Smith...

He kind of created a Special Olympics for film. They just kind of lowered the standard. I’m sure their parents are proud; it’s just nothing I care to buy a ticket for

Oh really, David? So can anyone tell me the difference between 'Mallrats' or 'Zack & Miri' versus 'Your Higness' or 'The Sitter'? And I'm very aware that The Sitter isn't out yet, and i shouldn't be judging it until i see it, but lets be real...we can all judge this adventures in babysitting bullshit by the trailer. But seriously tho...is there a HUGE difference between Kevin Smith's comedies and David Gordon Green's last 3 films? I wonder if he even remembers saying that. I don't wanna repeat myself too much so you should probably read my review of 'Your Highness' on the flud site. DGG no longer deserves the Terrance Malick comparison that he's been getting for all these years.

Basically, I wanna know how you can go from this...





To This...




I know. Its hard to believe that all of those movie came from the same person. Maybe there's something I'm just not getting. Someone help me out. I don't wanna sound all dramatic, but i feel a little betrayed.
Anyway, I think we're gonna make this a regular thing. I've got about 6 more sellout directors that need to be called out, ranging from John Singleton (from 'Boyz N The Hood' to directing a 'Fast & The Furious' Sequel?) to Mathieu Kassovitz (from 'La Haine' to 'Gothika'???).
Stay Tuned...

TRAILER FOR NICOLAS REFN'S DRIVE!

Are stylish & atmospheric action films like 'Thief', 'Manhunter', 'Violent Cop', 'Boiling Point', 'Crash' and other great works of art from the 80's and 90's making a comeback?? From the looks of this trailer...could be. I see every character Steve McQueen has ever played, Michael Mann in his prime ('Theif' to be specific) and elements of Kubrick with a touch of Tarantino (...i know, i know, but still), and even a little Takeshi Kitano all wrapped up in to one amazing movie. And even from the few clips I've seen online, the synthy soundtrack is reminiscent of the music Tangerine Dream made for the films of Michael Mann and William Friedken. Plus Christina Hendricks is always a nice touch. I haven't heard one bad thing about this movie yet (when's the last time a violent action movie got a standing ovation at Cannes before?). Looks like i may have to revise my top 10 active directors list after i see this. Nicolas Refn has slowly been growing on me over the years (the criminally underrated 'Fear X' is one of my current favorites at the moment). He's constantly adapting and changing his style. From the gritty Cassavetes-influenced 'Pusher trilogy', to the stylish Clockwork Orange-inspired 'Bronson' to the trippy Tarkovsky-esque 'Valhalla Rising'. I cant wait for this!



And be sure to check these out if you haven't seen them already. Something tells me that a better understanding of these films and this genre will make for a better viewing experience when you go see 'Drive'

A DANGEROUS METHOD TRAILER

Here it is! The trailer for David Cronenberg's latest film. There may not be any exploding heads or talking insect typewriters, but lets not forget that this is the same director who's responsible for straight forward, non-gory films like 'M Butterfly' & 'Dead Ringers' (except for that one scene), which are both based on true events like 'A Dangerous Method'. I look forward to seeing this at TIFF this year.

BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE (OFFICIAL TRAILER)

Here's the official trailer for Michael Rappaport's new documentary about A Tribe Called Quest. Its about time hip-hop was represented on film in the form of something other than Tupac or Biggie (and the violence surrounding their deaths). Hopefully all the controversy and B.S. surrounding this movie is finally put to rest. As far as NYC goes, it looks like this will be released at BAM and The Sunshine Cinema.

2011 is looking better and better...

So not only have Ryan Gosling and visionary director Nicholas Refn joined forced to make what looks like an amazing car chase thriller (the clip below looks really good), but Antonio Banderas and Pedro Almodovar have reunited as well. Plus, we also have another scene from Lynne Ramsay's 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'. I cant wait for these come out...

CLIP FROM LYNNE RAMSAY'S 'WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN' (FINALLY!!!)

Here's a clip from 'we need to talk about kevin', which breaks the almost decade-long feature film hiatus of one of my favorite directors; Lynne Ramsay (who is apparently so influenced by Terrance Mallick, that not only are her films reminiscent of his style, but she puts out work just as sporadically as he does too). This also marks John C Reilly's return to dramatic acting. Its been a while hasn't it? And if he has done some recent dramatic/serious acting, it obviously wasn't that memorable.
I gotta be honest, this is a testament to how much i love Ramsay. Had any other director made a film about a high school shooting post-2003/gus vant sant's 'elephant' (in this films case, the AFTERMATH of a high school shooting, and a mother having to deal with the fact that it was her son who committed the killing spree) i wouldn't be interested at all. But i blindly trust her to do this story justice. She hasn't let me down yet. Plus, her debut ('Ratcatcher') dealt with somewhat similar themes and issues.
I hope this is playing at Toronto or New York (I'll be in attendance at both film festivals this year). 2011 is looking up...

MELANCHOLIA TRAILER

The trailer for one of my most anticipated movies of 2011 is finally here. I'm not too sure what to think about it, but it does look interesting. And who knows what too expect after Lars Von Trier's last movie. In fact, 'Melencholia' almost looks like a sequel to 'Antichrist'. Judging from the trailer, it looks like Charlotte Gainsbourg is going all out once again just like shes done for Von Trier in the past (whether you like 'Antichrist' or not, you cant deny that Gainsbourg did an amazing job). Dunst and Sutherland seem like interesting casting choices and there seems to be some pretty cool special effects too. Anyway, here it is...


"chaos reigns"

TREE OF LIFE TRAILER!

I cant remember the last time I've anticipated a movie coming out so much. 2011 is shaping up to be a pretty awesome year, and I'm really only basing this on 3 or 4 movies that i know of so far. David Cronenberg's 'a dangerous method', Lynne Ramsay's return with 'we need to talk about kevin' (which will also have John C Reilly acting in a dramatic role for the first time in a long time). And even though i still have my doubts, I'm very curious to see how both; 'Thor' & 'Captain America' will turn out. Anyway, here's the official trailer for Terrance Mallick's next film; 'The Tree of Life' (we can finally stop watching that bootleg camera phone version).