Avatar vs. The Wolfman

The entire universe has uploaded the trailers and the new glossy photos, so I'll join in starting with Avatar. Some are inevitably disappointed (gee, could it be because folks hyped the shit out of this based on scant concept art photos and the presence of an overrated James Cameron?), but I'm not. People expected realistic looking aliens because the film's special effects are ten years in the making. But we have some photographic evidence that shows the thing looks like an animated film created by Pixar. Images from the first Toy Story looked more real than previously released photos and the images from the new trailer. This is not to bash Pixar - they're great at what they do, but their animated kid-stuff looks better than the footage from a film that's supposed to completely revolutionize cinema.

I'm not disappointed mainly because I have not been excited about this film at all. I hate most of James Cameron's films, and I'm wary of hype. But, while I'm not excited by the trailer, I don't want to see the film any less than I previously did. That's kind of a big deal. Avatar day is tomorrow so I expect more unfettered hype or disappointment.

Finding a decent embed of the trailer has been hard, but the good people at FirstShowing are cool enough to provide us with one. Be sure to head on over to Apple to watch the HD trailer.





Synopsis and backstory from FirstShowing:

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine on the planet Pandora who, as an Avatar - a human mind in an alien body - finds himself in a desperate fight for his survival and that of the indigenous beings called Na'vi.

Avatar is both written and directed by Oscar winning visionary filmmaker James Cameron, of Piranha II, The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, and Titanic previously. He has been developing the technology to make this movie for the last 10 years. 20th Century Fox is bringing James Cameron's Avatar to both IMAX and regular theaters in 3D around the world on December 18th.

The other big trailer unveil was for The Wolfman, which I've been pretty excited about. The trailer (via Awards Daily) does not disappoint and it's hard not to be impressed by the cast Joe Johnston managed to get. Some of my favorite actors are in this thing: Hugo Weaving, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, and of course, Benicio Del Toro. It looks like it will actually be scary, especially when you consider that Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker co-wrote The Wolfman script. I should probably tone down the excitement because this could turn out to suck, but Benicio del Toro has that affect on me.




Old school Victorian goth horror below:



The Wolfman is set for a February 12 release. Photos courtesy The Playlist, IESB, and FirstShowing.

poll by twiigs.com

Intriguing red band trailer for 'Deadgirl'

Today is a slow news day, but this trailer for Deadgirl from Bloody Disgusting (via FirstShowing) is pretty awesome. It first screened at the Toronto Film Festival last year and opens in limited release on July 24. Here's a little bit of the concept from FirstShowing:

Basically, two teens find a zombie-ish dead girl in an abandoned mental hospital basement and realize that if they keep her locked up, she makes for a great sex toy.

Typically this isn't my sort of thing, but I like the trailer and the concept is actually pretty messed up. Not just some psychopath hacking everyone to shreds. Anyway, check out the trailer quick, because the studio will probably remove it when they get wind that their trailer's been leaked:

Apparently the 'Antichrist' trailer is disturbing and terrifying

There have been a few descriptions on movie blogs that the trailer to Lars von Trier's Antichrist is horrifying and scary. I even decided not to watch it last night because I didn't want to have nightmares. Maybe there's something wrong with me because I'm not disturbed or horrified by this:

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft

Universal and Imagine Entertainment have bought the film right to Image Comics' graphic novel The Strange Adventures of H.P Lovecraft. The novel will be released on April 8. Variety shares more details:

U [Universal] sparked to "Lovecraft" because its take on classic horror fits in well with the studio’s library of monster fare featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Wolf Man, the last of which is being brought back to the bigscreen later this year.

Created by Mac Carter and Jeff Blitz, book borrows elements from Lovecraft’s life, such as his family’s struggle with mental illness and his own bouts with writer’s block, and transforms the young writer’s darkest nightmares into reality when he comes across a book that puts a curse on him and lets the evils he conjures up loose on the world.

Lovecraft, who died in 1937, is considered one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century.

Ron Howard might direct this so my DO NOT WANT alarm bells are going off like crazy, no matter how much of a fan I am of Lovecraft's work. And Lovecraft's personal beliefs do not exactly make me a fan of his - I suspect his being a racist, anti-Catholic, anti-semetic bigot will not make its way into the novel or the film.