Welcome to Trailer Snark, a weekly column covering trailers for movies that will be released this week with thoughts from our roster of bloggers (Jessica from The Female Perspective, Ken from The Crank File, Jim from The Front Row View, Rob from Spector for Hire, and Great Stories founder Chris). Thanks for reading, and enjoy the previews!
Last Week: With no major new releases and only limited release films opening wide, The Force Awakens continued its obvious dominance becoming the biggest domestic film in US history. $88.3M added to its coffers bringing the total to over $740M. Mark Wahlberg’s Daddy’s Home was a very distant second with $29M. The Hateful Eight came in at number three with $16.2M. Sisters in fourth with $12.5M. Fifth was Alvin and the Chipmunks with $11.8M. The rest of the top ten was as follows: Joy ($10.4M), The Big Short ($9M), Concussion ($8M), Point Break ($6.8M), The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 2 ($4.6M). And now on to our new releases, which have a slim chance of usurping the sci fi juggernaut.
The Forest (Gramercy) – Horror
Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic content and images
Tag Line: Where fear grows.
Starring: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken
Plot: A young woman searches for her twin sister in a Japanese forest only to find herself surrounded by paranormal forces.
Running Time: 95 minutes
Chris: Is this another Japanese horror remake a la The Ring and The Grudge? I don’t know. Looks like it might be the type of movie to watch at home and scare the significant other, but not a theater view.
Jim: Yet another horror movie trailer that frightens me with it’s clichés. The movie might be worth seeing, but the trailer makes me think I’ve seen it all before.
Jessica: Yawn. Looks like a snooze fest.
Ken: The creepiness of this trailer got to me a few times. It could be a descent psychological horror film to watch at home. There’s an actual forest in Japan called Aokigahara that is infamous for being a popular suicide site, which makes this movie a bit more intriguing to me.
The Revenant (20th Century Fox) – Adventure/Thriller
Rated R for strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, a sexual assault, language and brief nudity.
Tag Line: None
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter
Plot: A frontiersman named Hugh Glass on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear.
Running Time: 156 minutes
Jim: A great trailer (even more effective in a movie theater)—Iñárritu is amazing (Birdman was great) and then there is Leo, one of the best actors today. Count me in.
Jessica: This looks like a winner to me. Brutal, engaging, wonderful performances. This is totally a want-to-see!
Ken: That looked awesome. Amazing cast, I loved the wilderness frontier backdrop. I’d go see this movie just to watch the rest of that bear fight.
Chris: Fantastic trailer. If you are looking for a thriller/drama set in period piece frontier America, look no further. DiCaprio looks to shine again.
Anomalis (Paramount) – Comedy/Drama
Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language
Tag Line: None
Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Plot: A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.
Running Time: 90 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT6QJaS2a-U
Jessica: Yeah this trailer doesn’t do much for me. It is a fascinating idea and I like Kauffman’s work but this is a free at-home viewing at best.
Ken: I’m a big fan of Kaufman’s existential moves. His past films have all had a very surreal quality to them. I’m interested to see how this one blends narrative, puppets and stop motion animation into something that looks and feels like real life.
Chris: No thank you. Creepy animation, and not in a good way.
Jim: The reviews make this look interesting, but the trailer, sad to say, doesn’t.
The Masked Saint (Freestyle Releasing) – Drama/Action
Rated PG-13 for some violence and thematic elements
Tag Line: Husband. Pastor. Hero.
Starring: Roddy Piper, Brett Granstaff
Plot: Based on a true story about one pastor’s mission to help his community by risking his identity and returns to his former life as a wrestler. The triumphant story follows one man’s journey and struggle between helping others and the consequences he faces doing this.
Running Time: 111 minutes
Ken: This movie came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. Looks like it brought a whole lot of bubble gum. I might watch this just for the Rowdy!
Chris: It’s the socially-conscious Nacho Libre!
Jim: I second Chris’s Nacho Libre reference. Sorry, but this is hard to take as seriously as the trailer means to.
Jessica: Wait, this is SERIOUS movie? Oh man, did they ever miss the mark.
Anesthesia (IFC Films) – Drama/Thriller
Rated R for language, sexual content, drug use and brief violence
Tag Line: Who we don;t know can save us.
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Sam Waterson, Corey Stoll
Plot: Rated R for language, sexual content, drug use and brief violence
Running Time: 90 minutes
Jessica: I just watched the trailer and I can’t remember what this was about so to me that’s a sign that it’s not my cup of tea. Pass.
Ken: I just watched the trailer and I can’t remember what this was about so to me that’s a sign that it’s not my cup of tea. Pass.
Chris: I pretty much skip anything with the supremely unlikable Kristen Stewart.
Jim: The feel-good movie of the year—not. Pass.
Yosemite (Monterey Media) – Drama
Rated R for some sexual material/nudity and language
Tag Line: Growing up is an adventure.
Starring: James Franco, Everett Meckler
Plot: Rated R for some sexual material/nudity and language
Running Time: 80 minutes
Jim: I’m not as impressed with James Franco as Hollywood and the media want me to be. At best, a rental.
Jessica: I don’t get the obsession with Franco. I loved him on Freaks and Geeks and after that, he’s an okay actor and this movie does nothing for me. Maybe it’s because I don’t at all identify with being a young boy coming of age.
Ken: When you see a group of young boys trekking across railroad tracks with sleeping bags strapped to their backs, you can’t help but remember Stand by Me. It looks like a boring remake of Stand by Me.
Chris: OK, the movie did not have to reference Stand By Me in the credits to immediately make me journey back to the time I watched that one as a kid. I can’t put my finger on the why, but this one just struck at my heart with an appeal that is too powerful to deny. Count me in!
Tickets Purchased: Two for The Revenant (Jim and Jessica), One for Anomalis (Ken), and One for Yosemite (Chris)
