Just a quick one-off of videos that have captivated my attention this week. I promise you’ll all know soon why I’ve been such an unreliable blogger. And I promise it’ll all be worth it.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
TV Spot #8
It’s the second-best thing to seeing a nude Daniel Radcliffe in Equus – Radcliffe clad in panties and a bra for the first installment of the adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book! To confuse Lord Voldemort (gasp!), Harry’s pals down a potion which makes them all appear as Harry’s doppelgangers. Fleur Delacour, one of many Harrys, seems particularly disgusted with her new appearance. “Look away – I’m hideous,” she whines.
In what I think is a hilarious wedding ode to director Wes Anderson (Gawker commenters be damned!), Sean Duffy and his fiance, Hayden Geller, ask friends, family and Bear Grylls to save the date for their April wedding. Set to The Creation’s “Making Time” and Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby,” the video is an obvious tribute to Anderson’s “Rushmore,” complete with the tongue-in-cheeks gags and subtitles. It’s definitely a clever and innovative wedding invitation. [Houston Press]
My friend Olivia kept a really cool blog, SprocketShot, about movie trailers, and she inspired me to talk a bit about a few I’m particularly interested in. The movies slated for the coming months are inspiring delighted danceabilly. Movie madness!
I often find myself loving movie trailers more than the features themselves (Charlie St. Cloud comes immediately to mind), but I’m confident these won’t disappoint. Steel yourself for the onslaught of previews, and ready your eyes for something damn near pretty.
Easy A
DK would be infinitely angry at me for even deigning to include this. I think it’s on par with wearing yellow. Anyhow – Will Gluck’s Easy A appeals to me; Gluck co-created the hilarious sitcom The Loop and directed the gross-out com Fired Up!, which clearly didn’t get the attention it deserved – and he produced and wrote for Grosse Pointe, the positively brilliant Darren Star sitcom satire starring a young Kyle Howard. Regardless of that mouthful, Easy A is sure to be farcical fun in the way of the totally underrated Sydney White. Emma Stone is captivating, Penn Badgley is her love interest, the aforementioned Bynes is Queen B and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci play her parents. Oh, and it’s an overt allusion to The Scarlet Letter. I’m sold. (Sept. 17)
Going the Distance
Adorable rom-com powerhouses abound in Nanette Burstein‘s Going the Distance! Long! Barrymore! Applegate! Gaffigan! Sudeikis! And then there’s Charlie! Plus, jokes about dry-humping, a bi-coastal relationship (not too close to home yet – maybe soon), a killer soundtrack and massive relationship awkwardness. Burstein directed The Kid Stays in the Picture and 2008’s dark horse documentary American Teen, so I have high hopes for this one. (Aug. 27)
The Romantics
This one makes me squeamish. Sure, it’s posed as a romantic comedy, and, well, shucks, it’s set at a wedding, and there’s a college reunion of sorts, but, by golly, this one looks as pretty as Evening! Director Galt Niederhoffer adapted her own 2008 novel The Romantics, and the cast list is stellar. This little trailer gem (and, I guess, eventual full length film) features Katie Holmes, Adam Brody, Malin Akerman, Elijah Wood, Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel as college chums (and the last two as the bride and groom). Pretty looking and pre-nostalgia for me! (Sept. 10)
The Social Network
Mind. Effing. Blown. The trailer for (magnificent director and crazy/beautiful mind) David Fincher‘s The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, accomplishes everything a trailer really ought to: It makes me want to fork over the $8.50 to see the film. Soon. Based on the founding of Facebook and featuring Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the film will be good. But in case I had any doubts, this trailer solidified my desire to see the film. Jay-zeus. And, the use of the cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” performed by Belgian choir group Scala & Kolacny Brothers? Inspired. Consider my wallet emptied. (Oct. 1)
Somewhere
Alright, here’s the truth: I didn’t like Sofia Coppola‘s Marie Antoinette. I’m sorry. You can kick me out of the club, if you’d like, though I did particularly adore The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation (two cinematically lush films with gorgeous flowing soundtracks). Somewhere, though? I’m going to love Coppola’s Somewhere. Stephen Dorff is a hedonistic (from the looks of it washed-up) actor who is suddenly faced with the appearance of his free-spirited, long-locked 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning. Coppola’s cinematography appears, as usual, shining and plain ol’ pretty, and her boytoy, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, is producing much of the music for the soundtrack (did you know Phoenix is French? Where have I been?). I really hope this one doesn’t let me down. At least it doesn’t star Kirsten Dunst… (Dec. 22)
Your Highness
Still from "Your Highness" (2011)
I’m such a little tease. The official trailer hasn’t been released for David Gordon Green‘s Your Highnessyet, but this film is like a cinematic wet dream. Metaphorically. Green made Pineapple Express,and he’s the name behind the still-untitled Colton Harris-Moore biography. Plus, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman and Danny McBride (KFuckingP to you, kids.) and Michael Clarke Duncan as a troll? It’s my fantasy film league, all rolled into a medieval comedy. This thing will be beautiful, no doubt, and hilarious. I think it may even be worth that six month delay, Universal. (April 8, 2011)
coco keevan 