Trailer Parking is Back!

My blog’s been idle for five months! Lots of life stuff to blame it on, mainly moving into a new house and the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year’s mega-holiday. But it’s late February of a new year and I have renewed determination to write about movies. So I thought I’d kick things off with a rundown on current trailers. It’s not a great crop, but there’s some potential here and there…

Monsters vs. Aliens
Kind of ugly animated characters – not very cuddly or Happy Meal ready. Looks like this will up the ante on DreamWorks’ trademark, Shrek-ish, crude humor. Some pretty funny dialogue in the preview, though it skews adult. Verdict: this might make a fun 3-D outing – but not for my 4-year-old.

Dance Flick
Pretty funny trailer, especially when the teen mom takes her baby to school with her, but I’ve never paid to see a Wayans brothers movie before and don’t plan to start now.

All About Steve
Okay, but I’d rather see the other Bullock comedy releasing this year: The Proposal. Glad to see Bullock hasn’t sworn off rom-coms, but I’d like to see her in a Jerry Maguire-type dramedy. A comedy with some substance.

Race to Witch Mountain
Some trailer lines fall flat, but the effects are pretty sharp and Dwayne Johnson is good with this brand of family fare (i.e., The Game Plan). Bonus points for casting Carla Gugino. Should be decent family fun.

Duplicity
Has an Ocean’s 11 vibe. Pretty sharp trailer overall. Roberts and Owen seem to play off each other well. Willing to try this one.

I Love You, Man
Inevitably, this will be rated R – and not just any R, but the nasty level R that is in vogue these days. Which is really too bad because I’ve always liked Paul Rudd and he finally gets his own starring vehicle and the preview’s quite funny too. I’ll have to wait ‘til TBS sanitizes this one.

Knowing
Yawning. This Nic Cage flick feels like thriller-by-numbers, which is funny because the plot is apparently about numbers… never mind. Just not interested.

Adventureland
Sometimes humorous trailer promises to be another gross-out comedy, so count me out. Too bad because I like Bill Hader.

17 Again
Hollywood loves ‘em some body-switching movies. This is yet another iteration of big, but this time it’s Zac Effron playing a younger Matthew Perry. They’re both pretty likable and there are a few funny trailer moments, so maybe I’ll… oohh, they almost had me.

State of Play
Solid cast including Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren just might buoy a so-so premise. This feels like familiar fare, but I’ll probably give it a chance.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I never made it to the third X-Men movie, though I enjoyed the second. I like Hugh Jackman, but I think origin stories are entirely overrated, so I’ll skip this one.

Star Trek
I’m there. But didn’t I just say I’m not a fan of origin stories? Yes, but, this one’s directed by JJ Abrams and looks cool, and seems like more of a reboot than a serious attempt to link itself with previous movies. I like the opening sequence fake-out that draws you in before you realize it’s Star Trek. Young cast seems cool. Action is tight. Effects aren’t too fake. JJ’s a smart director, so beam me up.

Angels & Demons
Seriously? I never saw The DaVinci Code, but even if I had, I’d be disturbed by the CGI fakeness of this trailer’s opening. I like Tom Hanks (who doesn’t?) and Ron Howard, but it looks like they should’ve skipped this one. I know I’m going to.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
I seriously disliked the first one, so this trailer does absolutely nothing for me. Well, it does have one funny moment with Bill Hader as General Custard, trying to get Sacajawea’s name right, but other than that, it relies too much on fake CGI statues talking like gangstas. And the Abe Lincoln thing at the end is too much (how ‘bout showing some respect?!).

Terminator: Salvation
Christian Bale is a great actor and solid action star. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this trailer, I’m just not near enough of a Terminator fan to get excited about this. Doubt I’ll see it.

Up
It’s colorful, it’s humorous, it’s intriguing without giving too much away, and best of all, it’s Pixar, which has a none too shabby track record. I look forward to checking this out.

The Proposal
Good to see Sandy Bullock back in another rom-com. And though most critics would probably label him a one-note kind of actor, I think Ryan Reynolds is pretty funny. Looks like a fun time at the movies.

The Ugly Truth
Looks like a pretty standard rom-com, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Quality here probably depends mostly on how well Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler go together onscreen. Hard to gauge by this preview, but there’s nothing glaringly bad, so I give it a definite maybe.

2012
This gets a definite no. Why? Because Roland Emmerich hasn’t made a decent movie since The Patriot. This might as well be called The Day After the Day After Tomorrow. No interest whatsoever in this unless it has extensive re-shoots directed by Michael Bay.

Fast & Furious
Never seen any of this series’ entries and this trailer doesn’t make me want to start now.