Oct 23 2009 'Uncertainty' Trailer: Which Unwatchable Movie Will Joseph Gordon-Levitt Star In???
Uncertainty! It's like Sliding Doors, except instead of seeing a closing train door determine Gwyneth Paltrow's life with two different guys, you see a coin flip decide if Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in an boring indie melodrama or a ridiculous, cell-phone-based thriller (à la Eagle Eye and Echelon Conspiracy)! That should be the tagline. Here's the trailer:
Jul 8 2009 '500 Day of Summer' Actors Imitate Sid and Nancy, Because...
As a promotion for their upcoming indie romance 500 Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel made this video where they do a gender-bending scene as punk icons Sid and Nancy. Can anyone explain why? I sometimes have a difficult time understanding why things happen, and this is such an instance. Is nonsense the new viral marketing?
Here is that.
Mar 4 2009 '500 Days of Summer' Trades Repetition for H&O
Is "You Make(-a) My Dreams" the new "Mr. Blue Sky"? I think that's what the makers of 500 Days of Summer are going for, as they've exchanged the charming but repetitive Leslie Nielsen narration of the first trailer with a more conventional, clip-driven preview scored by indie music and the out-of-place Hall and Oates hit.
How many young, fictional romances will begin with one potential suitor questioning the other about what's on their headphones? At least Garden State and this one:
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Jan 19 2009 '500 Days of Summer' Trailer Has Me Looking Forward to Next Break-Up
Maybe the voice of Lt. Frank Drebin repeating the words "500 days of" is having a hypnotizing effect on me, but I think this trailer for 500 Days of Summer makes it look like just the kind of movie I want to sob over after a heart-wrenching break-up. Right after she gives me back all the t-shirts she'd borrowed, I'll pop this in the DVD player, follow it up with Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, then drunkenly pass out reading Jeffrey Brown comics. It will be great until I wake up and realize: apparently I called her last night?
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Feb 21 2008 DiCaprio, Gordon-Levitt Join Drastically-Altered 'Akira'
Weekly, when I write down a list of Leonardo DiCaprio's interests, it generally includes the same items: acting, the environment, supermodels, Martin Scorsese, never quite growing out of a scrunched baby face. Never would I have dreamed "anime" would make the list, particularly over "idiotic facial hair." But apparently it has, with Leo announcing plans to bring the classic '80s manga/anime Akira to the big screen, with himself in the lead as Kaneda and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tetsuo.
Of course, since the film will take place in Neo Manhattan instead of Neo Tokyo, the names will probably be changed to something moms can more easily pronounce. And since DiCaprio is in his mid-30s, the whole teenage thing will have to be altered a bit, maybe adding some references to mortgages. And with his views on environmentalism, the signature motorcycle will probably be changed to hybrid mass transit, or maybe a community-shared bicycle. But ignoring all of the massive changes, it sounds like it will be a very faithful adaptation that should please all of the original's rabid, obsessive fans.
Is this as bad an idea as I think it is? All I can remember from the anime is the constant screaming.
Jan 8 2008 Little Man/White Chick Joins 'G.I. Joe'
Oftentimes when you're making a movie, you start asking your self some important, critical questions. Where in my film is the bitingly edgy satire of a Scary Movie? Where is the laugh-out-loud social commentary of White Chicks? Why isn't anyone a comically small crook? When this problem arises, fear not: simply cast a Wayans.
G.I. Joe producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has done just that, placing Marlon Wayans in the role of Ripcord, leader of the military unit, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in negotiations to play Duke Hauser's best friend (forever?).
As the least loathsome Wayans, I suppose if it had to be one, he's the best option (though I wouldn't have minded seeing a Major Payne revival by Damon, maybe as Sgt. Slaughter). But honestly, we're talking the G.I. Joe movie, directed by Stephen Sommers. Does it really even matter?
Wayans enrolls in 'G.I. Joe' [Variety]
Oct 18 2007 'Stop-Loss' Trailer Causes Personal Re-Evaluation
Without getting too political, it's sad that the most fitting representation of the current war in Iraq isn't a tale of heroism in a daring mission, or sacrifice for a final victory, but of a soldier desperately not wanting to keep fighting.
That's one of the many things that made me feel terrible while watching this trailer for Stop-Loss, which stars Ryan Phillippe as a young man refusing orders to return to Iraq. It was also a depressing realization that I don't think I could ever fully empathize with these characters because I hated the versions of them I encountered in high school. Among the many losses we've faced in this war, perhaps none is so confusing as the transformation of your high school bully into a revered national hero. At least to me, a self-centered bastard.
Trailer under the cut.
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