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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.

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