The Da Vinci Code

 

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Tom Hanks, Audry Tautou, Ian Mckellen, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina

Link: The Da Vinci Code

One of the most popular books of all time has now been made into a movie. I read this book about 6 months ago and I actually quite enjoyed it. It isn't the best written or most entertaining book I have ever read, but it is a good read anyway (the equivalent of a summer popcorn flick).

When I heard that they were making this movie and that Tom Hanks had been cast to play Robert Langdon, I had my doubts. Never when I was reading the book did I picture Tom Hanks in that role. But this trailer has converted me. He actually looks the part. And I actually like Paul Bettany in the role of Silas. He is a great actor and will do a wonderful job.

I have watched this trailer many times now and I still love it. Maybe its just because I love watching movies of books that I have read (but never the other way around). I recognize many of the scenes from the book in the trailer and I hope they didn't have to cut too much out of the book to make it fit into the movie. This trailer restored my faith that this movie will be as good as I hope it will be.

Trailer Rating: 4/5

 

Pirates of the Caribbean 2

Director: Gore Verbinski

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush

Link: Pirates of the Caribbean 2

Like most people, I thoroughly enjoyed the first PotC movie. It was a great adventure and Johnny Depp did an incredible job. I wasn’t always the biggest Depp fan, but that was the movie that changed my mind. I have been looking forward to this sequel for since I finished watching the first one back in 2003.

The trailer shows us some of the same mix of adventure and comedy that I so enjoyed the first time around. And why mess with it when it worked so well before? All in all, this trailer does a wonderful job of increasing my desire to see this movie.

Trailer Rating: 4/5

 

Mission: Impossible III

Director: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg

Link: Mission: Impossible III

This is a trailer that needs no introduction. This movie is guaranteed to be huge, its just a matter of how huge it is going to be. The traler does just what you would expect. It gives us a glimpse of some of the incredible stunts and action sequences that are bound to be in this movie. The opening scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman was kind of cool too.

There really isn’t much to say about this trailer. It is exactly what you expect. And why shouldn’t it be? You know you are going to see this movie anyway.

Trailer Rating: 4/5

 

Miami Vice (Teaser)

Director: Michael Mann

Cast: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx

Link: Miami Vice (Teaser)

When I heard they were making this movie, I expected it to end up something like last year’s movie version of Starsky and Hutch. I thought they would make it into a comedy and make it appealing to a younger audience. When I saw this trailer, I was surprised at what I saw.

The trailer kind of reminded me of the movie Collateral (also directed by Mann and staring Foxx). It looked darker than I expected and I am glad they did it this way instead of the comedy way. It would have been too easy to mess it up like the Dukes of Hazzard ended up. Why should every old TV show remake end up looking the same?

Trailer Rating: 3/5

 

American Dreamz

Director: Paul Weitz

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Chris Klein, Willen Dafoe

Link: American Dreamz

What a cool idea for a movie. This movie seems to be about a television singing competition called American Dreamz (or, um, American Idol?). It also involves the President of ther United States. The President ends up being a guest judge on the show and one of the contestants seems to be involved with a group of people who want him to smuggle a bomb onto the show when the president is there. Confused? It’s hard to explain, but it looks kind of cool.

Overall, I think this movie looks pretty funny and the trailer does a decent job of summarizing the plot. I’m pretty sure that if I just read a plot summary for this movie it wouldn’t make me want to see it, but this trailer has me a little curious to see how things turn out for the characters.

Trailer Rating: 3/5

 

The Hills Have Eyes

Director: Alexandre Aja

Cast: Ted Levine, Emilie de Ravin

Link: The Hills Have Eyes

I love scary movies. I love it when a movie scares me. That’s why I have been so disappointed with almost every scary movie that has come out in the last few years. None of them scare me. When I read the premise for this movie, I thought it sounded like it had the potential to be a very scary movie.

Basically, it is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carters soon realize the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family… and they are the prey.

It’s really too bad that this trailer sucks so bad. I really wanted to like it. But whoever directed this trailer did a horrible job. The edits are too quick and most of the time I couldn’t tell what was going on. It didn’t scare me and now I’m not so sure the movie will either. Too bad, ’cause I love scary movies.

Trailer Rating: 1/5

 

The Benchwarmers

Director: Dennis Dugan

Cast: David Spade, John Heder, Rob Schneider

Link: The Benchwarmers

I can’t believe John Heder got this role. I’m glad he did, but I still can’t believe it. I mean, the guy has basically been in one movie, Napoleon Dynamite. I guess he was in Just Like Heaven too, but it was a pretty small role. Now he is acting along side comedic veterans like David Spade and Rob Schneider. That was a pretty quick jump.

Ever since I first heard about this movie a few months ago, I have been looking forward to it. Unfortuanatly, the trailer didn’t do anything to increase my desire to see the movie. It had some kind of funny moments, but for the most part it just seems like your basic early summer comedy movie. The concept is funny and the talent is on board, so lets hope its as funny as it should be.

Trailer Rating: 3/5

 

Superman Returns (Teaser)

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth

Link: Superman Returns

This is a movie that we have all been anticipating for a long time. Therefore, we were also waiting for the trailer. Now this is just a teaser, so it doesn’t reveal much (or any) of the plot, but it does give us a chance to see what the movie will LOOk like. And it looks good.

Many people were concerned when Brandon Routh was cast as Superman. Having never been in a movie, nobody was sure if he could pull it off. He definitly looks the part in the trailer, and Kate Bosworth actually kind of looks like Lois Lane (her hair is now brown instead of her usual blonde). I only wish they could have shown us what Kevin Spacey looks like as Lex Luthor.

Trailer Rating: 3/5

 

The Break Up

Director: Peyton Reed

The Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn

Link: The Break Up

This movie is sure to do well considering all of the gossip surrounding a potential romance between the stars. We all know it worked for Mr & Mrs Smith. I guess this is Jennifer’s turn to get back at Brad.

This trailer basically shows us one scene from the movie and a few small parts from the rest of it. The scene that is featured is pretty funny. I am a huge fan of Vince Vaughn so almost everything he says is funny to me. I like his comedic timing and delivery. This movie looks like it allows Vince to do his thing and Jennifer Aniston seems like a good match for him.

Overall, this trailer does a good job of making me want to see the movie more than I did before.

Trailer Rating: 4/5

 

Lady in the Water (Teaser)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard

Link: Lady in the Water

This is just the teaser trailer, so it doesn’t reveal very much about the movie, but I think it does a great job of making me want to see it when it comes out. This is the next big movie from M. Night Shyamalan, the guy who made The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village. He is famous for his surprise endings, so you never know what to expect when you see one of his movies.

I like the trailer. It has a mysterious tone to it. I categorized this movie as a Drama, but I can’t even be sure that it isn’t a horror or a thriller. The first half of the trailer shows a hotel/appartment manager doing his rounds and then sitting down to rest in his room. You then see some splashing in the pool outside his window and he goes outside to check it out. You don’t get to actually see the woman in the water. As the screen goes black, the man says “How many of you are there?”. The music is what really makes this trailer good (I think it’s Josh Groban). You have to see it to understand how creepy and dark the music is.

The movie is apparently about a modest building manager named Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) who rescues a mysterious young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from danger and discovers she is actually a narf, a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the treacherous journey from our world back to hers.

Trailer Rating: 4/5