Look, I love Freaks and Geeks. Love it really hard. And I liked a lot of the early Judd Apatow movies (Ron Burgundy!), and I’m in the facebook group avowing that “The Closest Anyone’s Been to Seeing God is Watching Superbad.” So I believe in Apatow. But…Walk Hard was no good, and, alas, the trailers for the four (four!) movies he’s producing in 2008 look, well…underwhelming. When the best thing in all of them is the song choice (which, in fairness, are excellent), we have some problems.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Here are some things I know I like—Jason Segel, of both Freaks and Geeks and How I Met Your Mother (which is really funny and I don’t know why you don’t watch it), and Kristen Bell, of Veronica Mars. But this movie, which stars both of them, looks really, well, typical, more than anything else. I did laugh out loud at the “Kind of, now…” line, and the crab-like Aldous Snow looks pretty funny, but…there’s like four pratfalls in just a 3 minute trailer, Jonah Hill I am waaay over, and even Paul Rudd isn’t funny. Jason Segel’s can still be pretty great—see, the “what, me?” grin in the last shot—but the snarky, supertalented Kristen Bell gets relegated to playing another boring, shrieky Apatow woman, and there’s something even nudity can’t fix.
This is the edition wherein we showcase upcoming movies where the, or a, main star seems to be a questionable, surprising or downright bizarre casting choice. It could pay off! Or it could not! We’ll just have to wait and see…
In Bruges
Colin Farrell, who, as far as I could tell, had disappeared off the face of the earth after all the drinking and the starlet-bedding, is in no less than THREE new movies in the upcoming months—Woody Allen-goes-dark Cassandra’s Dream, another corrupt brother cop movie called Pride and Glory, and this, In Bruges, written and directed by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who writes very violent, prize-winning plays of angry men. With its Carnivale-esque fonts and bouncy ethnic “We’re gangsters but we’re funny!” music, it actually looks…kind of good? The opening moment is pretty well done and chilling, the concept is a solid, if common, one, and is it just me or is Colin actually totally funny? His line about why Bruges doesn’t impress him is pretty perfect, and all his little scowls are both cute and kind of really amusing. In Bruges is currently buzzing away at Sundance, and well, I”m pretty excited. Welcome back, Colin.
“Now, she’s going to prove, she’s more than just a pretty face.” Hey, is that the girl with the beret from High School Musical asking J. Simp to sign her face? Oh, how the mighty have…moved sideways?
Major Movie Star comes out in 2008 and stars Jessica Simpson and Olesya Rulin.
Ah, fantasy epic! The books are actually a lot more innovative and, y’know, plotty, than this mash of things blowing up would seem. I think it’s still going to be OK, mainly because the casting is just so perfect. Nicole Kidman in gold is the scariest thing ever, Daniel Craig and Eva Green get to be stunningly gorgeous and good, Ian McKellan, in his butchest role yet, as the voice of an armored polar bear, and Sam Waterson as the Cowboy, er, Scoutperson thing!
No mention of the whole “God and the Church is evil” thing, but maybe they didn’t have time for it, what with all the snow and the sparkly and the heavy handed titles. Still, when Dakota Blue (they clearly cast her because her name is so awesome) yells, “I’ll never be yours!”, I’ve got chills. I think they know what they’re doing.
After the jump, Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir:
I would pay the price of a movie ticket to sit and watch 2 or 3 hours just of previews. Wouldn’t you? All the fun of a movie, with none of the boring parts.
Until that day, we’ll have to stick to the Internet and the small screen. And so I present Shira’s Trailer Roundup of trailers for exciting movies or exciting trailers for movies. Because you needed one more thing to do instead of your HW.
Patrick Fugit, of Almost Famous! Will Arnett, of Arrested Development! Tom Waits, of complete and total awesomeness! And it’s a story about committing suicide, and purgatory, and, I think, falling in love with people? And it has a kickass Ukranian punk song, lowercase letters, and a bunch of those truly beautiful shots that make movies worthwhile. I dare you to watch this and not be charmed.
Why is it never coming to DC? Read the rest of this entry »
Vox Populi is the staff blog of the Georgetown Voice, a weekly newsmagazine at Georgetown University. Opinions expressed in posts are those of their author alone unless otherwise stated.
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