Trailers! Trailers! Early Contenders Edition

It's been a while since I've done a real trailer post, since most of the big ones in recent months have been for the summer blockbusters, and I've been avoiding those. A lot of marketers have proven that they're perfectly happy to ruin a movie experience in the process of selling it to you this year. However, this week has been all about Cannes, and studios have been previewing some of their more serious films, due in theaters later in the fall and winter, which could turn out to be awards contenders. The marketing in this area tends to exhibit more self-control, so I've taken in a few of the coming attractions. "The Hobbit" was already covered in a previous post, and alas, I have not seen that seven-minute preview of "Django Unchained" out there. Links lead to Trailer Addict and Youtube.

The Master - This is my favorite kind of trailer, something simple and direct that gives you actual substance, something to whet your appetite for what's to come. Without telling you what the film is about, the preview for "The Master" offers up a brief snippet of conversation between Joaquin Phoenix's character and someone who appears to be law enforcement, rife with tension and hidden implications. The minimal, but quietly ominous music sets the mood and the tone. Bad things are a afoot, and I can't wait to see what they are.

The Great Gatsby - This is pinging as more "Moulin Rouge!" than "Australia," though with Baz Luhrman involved, it was never going to be a sedate adaptation. The trailer's emphasis on visual spectacle (3D? Really?) means we don't get much of the actual performances that are going to make or break this. So far, Joel Edgerton is looking way too much like Richard Roxburgh's Evil Duke, Carey Mulligan makes an adorable flapper, and Leo hasn't got a thing on Robert Redford. But it's too early to draw any conclusions.

The We and the I - Michel Gondry returns to indies after his "Green Hornet" misadventures. There are apparently some fantasy elements that creep their way into the movie, but all the trailer shows is a multiracial cast of teenagers taking the bus home on the last day of school, and the various dramas and intrigues playing out among them. Early reports suggest that "The We and the I" may be a little too raw, with its non-professional actors and unconventional bent, but it's still nice to see Gondry striking out in new directions.

Hyde Park on Hudson - This could be mistaken as a sequel to "The King's Speech," as "Hyde Park" is chiefly concerned with a visit by King George VI and his wife Elizabeth to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Hyde Park estate in 1939, for hijinks and talk of war. The trailer is pure Oscar bait, and selling the film as more lighthearted and sentimental than it may actually be. But the glimpses of Bill Murray as FDR, Olivia Williams as Eleanor, and Laura Linney as family confidante Margaret Suckly, have sold me already.

Argo - This is Ben Affleck's most ambitious directing job yet, and so far so good. I wish he had cast someone else as the lead, as Affleck has proven to be a stronger director than he is a performer, but I won't begrudge him the chance to rehabilitate his leading man status. At least he's gotten himself out of Boston at last, and into the middle of a covert operation to help rescue six Americans during the Iran Hostage crisis. There's plenty of material here for a good caper film, but I'm a little worried about the more dramatic bits.

Cosmopolis - I wasn't sure what to make of David Cronenberg's last film, "A Dangerous Method," and so far I have no idea what's going on in "Cosmopolis." However, I think that whoever is in charge of marketing here may be getting a little carried away calling this "the first film about our new millennium.” That said, I like the science-fiction elements, I like the bizarreness, and Robert Pattinson is not giving me any reason to think he can't pull this off. And good grief, have you seen the rest of the cast for this thing?

Amour - This one probably won't make much impact Stateside, but cinephiles ignore Michael Haneke at their own peril. End of life narratives tend to very upsetting for me, and I expect Haneke's take is going to be even more so. But at the same time, there are few who makes films as powerful and terrifying as he does anymore. It's probably going to take me a while to work up to it, but "Amour" looks to be one of those films I simply have to see.
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