Every month Ken Lowery and I take a look at the trailers for a selection of forthcoming releases to see how good a job they do, or don’t, on getting us to plunk down some money at the movie theater.
As usual, December is filled with last-minute Oscar contenders, family films, and excuses to escape from your drunken, Republican relatives.

December 2nd

The Lady

DW: Luc Besson moving beyond euro-action films into dramatic biodramas? Okay, yeah, I’m interested. He’s got Michelle Yeoh in the lead? Definitely paying attention. It’s about Aung San Suu Kiyi and her role as leader of the opposition to the military junta in control of Burma? Well that’s…clearly not aiming for a mass audience.

Yeah, okay, I’m still down for it, but please tell me that you’re not just doing this as awards bait?

Oh, it’s select release in December and “official” release in February?

Ah, well, I’m still sort of interested.

KL: There’s a lovely progression to the trailer, from landscape shots nearly devoid of human life to small, close clusters of troops to a small gathering group and then to the big, rousing crowd shout, with flags waving. And for once, the dramatic music services the imagery rather than just itself. It’s a nice little bit of trailer poetry, so hat’s off to whoever did that.

So, it worked. I want to see this.

December 9th

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

DW: It’s somehow disconcerting to realize that something that, the first time I saw it, was only just about a decade out of date, is now a period piece.

This seems to have a lot going for it. The source material is highly regarded, the entire cast is stellar. But as much as I like a good, intelligent, calculated mystery thriller, there’s something about this particular enterprise that leaves me cold. It all feels a little too icy, too on the nose. I mean, if you needed to cast someone as the haughty master spy who sees through all deception, of course you’re going to cast Gary Oldman. And, look…there he is. As a haughty spy. I’m sure it’s going to be a very good film, and they’re clearly angling for awards, but I’m not feeling a great compulsion to rush out to see it.

KL: Cold indeed, though I’m OK with that. I haven’t read the book, though I understand it to be a classic and trendsetter for the genre. I do know that this is a great cast and they’re being led by director Tomas Alfredson, the absolute stud who directed Let The Right One In, itself a master class in coldness and subtle, monstrous manipulation. I don’t feel a passion to see this movie, which is what I think you’re getting at, Dor – but there is no doubt I will be seeing it. Barring some truly disastrous reviews, my ass in the theater seat is destiny.

We Need To Talk About Kevin

DW: I’ve been looking forward to this, partly because I enjoy watching Tilda Swinton and partly because the central themes of the original novel appealed to me. I could use a film that actually plays with questions of responsibility and guilt in an honest way without preachily moralizing about “bad mothers” or “bad kids.” It’s a little frustrating that the ads seem to be playing a little coy about what Kevin actually is, and seem to be stressing the “paranoid” mother angle a little much, with only ominous music to suggest that there may be something more going on. I strongly suspect that this is the kind of film where having a basic idea of what the story actually is about (HINT; Kevin does something unspeakable) would aid enjoyment. Why Kevin does what he does is the mystery of the film, not if Kevin is going to do something bad or not.

KL: Tis the season for badass trailers, apparently! This one’s practically a story in and of itself, and paints, I think, a very nice picture of what to expect without spelling it all out for everyone – the mystery is there. Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly are easy locks for me. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never seen a Lynne Ramsay movie. Suppose this will be my first.

Young Adult

KL: Can we keep this between ourselves? Because I kind of hate Diablo Cody’s writing tics but I kind of don’t mind this trailer at all, think Charlize Theron is pretty inspired casting, like the meanness of the concept, and maybe – maybe – laughed once or twice during this trailer. I don’t know what it is about Christmas that makes me crave mean comedies, but this one fits the bill.

If you tell anyone, I’ll deny everything. And you will rue the day.

DW: I’ve mostly managed to avoid having an opinion about Diablo Cody because nothing she has previously worked on was anything I had any remote interest in watching (which, I suppose, kind of qualifies as having an opinion about her). With a thoroughly unlikable lead character, I’m happy to say that the trend continues. This could be good, and with Reitman and Theron it probably will be, but I just really can’t see myself ever bothering to find out.

December 16th

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

KL: My excitement for this movie is inversely proportionate to my enjoyment of the last movie. I liked the last one in theory, and certainly segments of it display great wit. I also like its general tone of persevering skepticism and its willingness to embrace Holmes’ more swashbuckling side. I liked the score. I liked the “bromance” (ugh) chemistry. (I did not at all like Rachel McAdams, who seemed like a kid playing dress-up next to the more seasoned hams.) But it just bored me.

So why do I want to see this one? I have no idea. But I do. Let it never be said that I’m not an optimist.

DW: I actually did quite like the previous Holmes film. I thought it was the right mix of faithfulness and new interpretations, along with a slick visual style, that the property needed.

And then the BBC did “Sherlock” and pretty much blew it out of the water by doing all of the things I liked about the film better.

So, I’m still up for this, because I like just about everyone involved and, most importantly, it looks fun, and “fun” always seems to be in short supply in December films. But I’m looking forward to the second season of “Sherlock” much more.

December 21st

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

DW: I’ve mostly had negative reactions to the various trailers for this. I’m not a big Spielberg fan, and Herge’s Tintin stories were never particular favorites of mine (I’m much more of a Smurfs and Asterix man).What hopes I had that this might be worthwhile were pretty thoroughly dashed when I found out that they were using motion-capture animation for the performances. And, yep, as I feared, the film is populated by creepy, dead-eyed mannequins bearing little resemblance to Herge’s artwork, running through the Uncanny Valley willy-nilly.
No thanks.

KL: I missed whatever train I needed to board as a kid to give a damn about Tintin – I’m not hostile to the property, just indifferent. So I get no nostalgic thrill at just seeing the reveals – clearly a big part of the campaign.

My sole line of interest is in the stable of writers: Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat and most of all Joe Cornish, late of Attack the Block. That is a fun, inventive crew, and if they bring the wit they do to their other work – and I do like that “disassembling motorcycle” bit in one of the trailers – then maybe… just maybe…

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

DW: Well, that’s certainly a trailer for an English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I get it, I absolutely do. Any book that attains a certain level of sales or acclaim is probably going to be made into a film. Any foreign film that attains a certain level of sales or acclaim is almost certainly going to be remade in English. Because some people just will not read the book and some people just cannot handle watching a film that isn’t in English. I can totally see the need for this film.

But I’ve already read the book and I’ve already seen the film and I really don’t need a third at bat.

KL: I like Daniel Craig, I like Rooney Mara, I like David Fincher. That said, I’ll probably just buy the soundtrack and call it a day.

December 23rd

We Bought A Zoo

KL: This movie looks injection-molded and pressure-blasted by marketing forces specifically to open two days before Christmas. Single dad! Cute kids! Dressed-down foxy babe next door! Heartwarming stuff! A Tom Petty song! (OK I’m a big Tom Petty fan.) Cameron Crowe, so it’s not entirely illiterate!

I know two things for certain: if I saw this movie, I would probably be charmed by it. I like Matt Damon anyway, and Crowe has a good lock on a workable uplifting formula that isn’t drenched in sugar. The other thing I know is that I am not going to see this movie.

DW: December is often a tough month for me, movie-wise, because there’s only so much saccharine and blatant emotional manipulation I can take in a movie, and all the worst offenders always seem to come out in December. And while I like Damon, I think I strained something around about the twelfth eye-roll over something that I was supposed to go “awwwww” over here. So, yeah, not for me.

The Darkest Hour

KL: I’ve always admired the marketing savvy and chutzpah that informs the horror movie counter-programming we see every Christmas. Usually it’s something purely schlocky and likely PG-13, say an Aliens vs. Predators sequel. And hey, this one stars Speed Racer!

In capable hands this could actually be a pretty thrilling thriller, as these things go – the “invisible alien monsters detectable only by electrical output” lends itself to all kinds of fun ideas. I’m sure we’ll see two or three of them. It won’t be any good and I won’t be seeing it, so I guess I can stop talking here.

DW: “From the visionary director of Wanted!” And I’m out.

December 25th

War Horse

KL: I don’t really buy in to broad declarations for or against Spielberg – I think he’s just slightly too complex for that – so there’s no directorial bone to pick here. I guess this was a big book and a big theatrical smash hit and all of that, and I like the general premise well enough, but, eh.

Also I figure there’s one really likely place this story will end, and no thank you. I’m not even all that into horses but no.

DW: Although I generally don’t like Spielberg, as I said, he does do “big” well, and this looks properly “big.” An old-fashioned epic like Hollywood doesn’t really do that often anymore. But Spielberg has also tended to drift towards the serious and self-important in his films and that doesn’t really work for me, not in glossy commercial pictures like this. It just feels so calculated in its desire to wring emotional turmoil on the audience. I’ve got no problem with emotional catharsis, but it feels exploitative to do that in a film about a horse released on Christmas.

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