Skip to main content

A Tale of Two Trailers

‘Tis the season and here come the trailers for next year. First up...



I want to see this film. Right. Now. While I find it unbelievable that Charlize Theron would ever feel threatened by Kristen Stewart in the looks department, I am comforted by two facts: First, presumably if the spell breaks then Theron’s evil Queen would become very ugly, very quickly. Second, the Magic Mirror doesn’t say that Stewart’s Snow White is more beautiful, he says that she will surpass the Queen. In this context, that word becomes heavy with meaning, begging the question, “Surpass in what way?”

And then they showed Stewart as warrior woman and I felt mildly ill. I am so sick of that trope. Theron doesn't dress up in battle armor and I haven't a doubt in the world that she could kick Stewart's ass. Stewart puts on all the armor and I'm not even convinced that she'd be able to move, let alone fight.

Putting that aside, the film looks gorgeous. Seriously, someone appears to have rediscovered the tripod and is at least trying to compose their shots. And the way Theron speaks as the Queen is sheer ecstasy. Even the way she says, “Mirror, mirror” is foreboding. The rest of the cast looks great, and I can’t wait to see the dwarves.

And then there’s...



I enjoyed the books, I think Jennifer Lawrence looks too perfect for words. I’ve said before that her performance in Winter’s Bone was training for this role, because I always pictured District 12 looking like backwoods Missouri and Arkansas, or even Kentucky (can we all say, “Harlan County USA”?). I’m not as taken with the rest of the cast, and while I’ve seen lots of raves for Lenny Cravitz as Cinna, I’m not convinced. I’m more forgiving of Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, and I am so not a Woody Harrelson fan.

The snippets of dialogue are the stuff of awful, awful legend.

There's also the look of the film. There’s a jiggle of the camera that makes me think shaky cam will be the order of the day, as though they’re going for that pseudo-documentary look that seldom, if ever, works. Shots are held just a tad too close; even the wide shots seem confined. The set and production designs scream "generic sci-fi." Granted that a swashbuckling fantasy gives the designers a bit more leeway, but Snow White and the Huntman kicks The Hunger Games around the block.

I desperately wanted to see a nicely composed and framed shot of Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, looking out at the expectant faces of District 12, and pronouncing those dreaded and, in context, dreadful words: “May the odds be ever in your favor.” That would have been a chilling moment that could sell the film.

Was not meant to be, though. In the end, I want to see Snow White because of Theron as the Evil Queen. And I want to see The Hunger Games because I want to see Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss Everdeen. Either will make or break their film.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Not the Hero We Deserve, But the Hero We Need

The Dark Knight is the best film I’ve seen in years. Not just the best “superhero” film, but the best film of any type. It’s not perfect, not quite a masterpiece, but it’s flaws are, to me, tiny and overwhelmed by the time the film ends. While relatively bloodless, it is consistently brutal, not just in what it depicts but in the themes that drive it. TDK is a film for adults, please leave the kids at home. Let’s deal with those “flaws” first, the largest being the character Rachel Dawes . In Batman Begins , I blamed Katie Holmes . Her acting was weak, to say the least, which is regrettable in that who she is and what she says and does are important to the film. Critics agreed and either for that or other reasons, Katie was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal , who is a better actress. Yet here she’s weak, real weak. Maybe it’s the character, not the actress, which is frustrating because Rachel is a pivotal character. The film,...

John Wick: Chapter 4

No sense in playing coy, this is a great film. I’ve seen it twice and while I don’t quite love it in the way I love the first, original John Wick , it’s my #2. It’s a little overlong, has some wasted space and time, has one absolutely pointless and useless character, and generally ignores the realities of firefights, falling, getting shot, hit, etc. All that notwithstanding, it’s a great action flick, has a genuine emotional core, and is well worth your time if you’re into that sort of thing. Like I am. Summary: John Wick (Keanu Reeves), last seen saying he was fed up with the High Table, goes to war to obtain his freedom. Some of the most incredible action scenes ever filmed ensue, culminating in a very satisfactory finale and a devastating post-credit scene. The first Wick film was a surprise hit. It was a simple, straight-forward tale of vengeance told in a simple, straight-forward manner. Where it stood out was its devotion to human stunt work, on exploiting long camera shots that ...

We pause now for a minor rant…

“My car has a flat tire.” “You should buy a new car.” Every time I hear President Obama and other Democrats talking about “health care reform,” that’s what the conversation sounds like. A health care crisis is declared and the only solution is to replace the entire system. At most, around 15% of the American population is without health care insurance. Ignoring the fact that for most of them, this is a matter of choice, it also means that 85% are insured. And of that 85%, something like 70+% like their current coverage and don’t want the government to touch it. So for the vast majority, the current system works and works great. Yet, because of the minority for whom it allegedly does not...toss it all, start again. Admittedly, regardless of insurance coverage, it all costs too much, but again, the only accepted approach to controlling costs are to throw out everything and turn it all over to the government. Tactics that are proposed to address specific cost issues are not consid...