May 7 2008 'The Rocker' Trailer: Better Than Watching an Old Man Being Carted Off by Paramedics
Being a blogger allows one a lot of luxuries you don't get when you have to go into an office. You can stay in your pajamas as long as you want; play loud and/or obnoxious music; work anywhere with an internet connection; and, when the occasion calls for it, you can watch half an episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood while you eat a bowl of Kashi, like I did yesterday. Since most of you probably weren't afforded this extravagance, let me give you a brief synopsis: Mr. Rogers visited a couple of EMTs. A firm believer in "show, don't tell," Rogers was placed in a neck brace, strapped to a gurney (he was first instructed to "hug himself," to give more of the illusion of a corpse), and thrown in the back of an ambulance--just like he really broke his neck! The entire time, a huge grin was spread across his face, as he asked questions like, "Do you have something smaller to strap a kid into?" (They did.)
As is probably apparent, it was utterly terrifying--particularly when they actually brought out the child-size straps and showed how they'd velcro in a kid's limp head. But, as Fred would later explain, the point was never to give children (or me) nightmares of a dead Mr. Rogers, the sheet slowly being drawn over his permanent grin; he just wanted to prepare us in case we break our neck.
Similarly, I now present you with the trailer to The Rocker, starring The Office's Rainn Wilson, Jeff Garlin, Will Arnett and some other funny, talented people. I show you this not because it's so worth watching, but because it looks very mediocre-at-best, and it's better you know that now than to feel the shocking disappointment in theaters. I assure you, it's much less scarring than the Fred Rogers death simulation I watched yesterday.
'The Rocker' Trailer [Yahoo!]
Mar 3 2008 'Meet Bill' Trailer: Like 'American Beauty', but Feel-Goodier
Imagine if American Beauty had been written and directed with the sensibilities of a romantic comedy. It probably would have turned out something like Meet Bill, a film that strips the darkly comic elements from the loser-doormat-of-a-husband redemption story and replaces them with slapstick and poignant feel-good moments (the precocious protégé adjusts a banner of Bill's head, proclaiming, "I'm fixing your head. Get it?). But despite its saccharine flavor, Bill actually looks pretty enjoyable, helped by its charming lead (Aaron Eckhart) and a supporting cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Elizabeth Banks, and, unfortunately, Jessica Alba, who continues to convince me she's just a sexy mannequin. Next time the script calls for "hot girl", could they try to find someone whose face isn't a permanent plastic grin?
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