Just like the a tube of Pringles, movie trailers always leave you wanting more. Judging from the trailers of some of this season’s film offerings, it turns out that blood spatter and suburban non-problems pale in comparison to Anne Hathaway, who really makes a case for buying a ticket at the theaters.
“This Is 40″
Universal Pictures
Dec. 21
It’s always nice to see Paul Rudd’s twinkly eyes, but it’s a little disturbing to see him check out his balls with a magnified mirror that only dads use. In “This Is 40,” which calls itself the “sort of sequel to “˜Knocked Up,'” middle-aged couple Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) find themselves at a standstill when they hit the dreaded stop of middle-aged marriage. In classic Judd Apatow style humor, this pretty well-off, attractive suburban couple finds itself in a bunch of first-world problems, where a pretty birthday cake is tainted by a giant candle that says “38” and the kids can’t tear themselves from their iPhones. A good solution: don’t buy iPhones for your kids in the first place.
“Les Misérables”
Universal Pictures
Dec. 25
This film is notably stirring up the Oscar race with its boasts of actual live singing, so the audience can really see if Russell Crowe can wail out a tune or two. While this trailer only shows a snippet of Crowe’s singing, it must be said: Anne Hathaway’s whole theater kid persona is paying off. While there’s such a divide on the whole Hathaway bandwagon, it’s hard to hate on her in this trailer of the movie-musical, “Les Misérables.” Admittedly, she does waif well in her turn as the doomed mother Fantine, and with every sobbing waver in her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” it seems that an Oscar vote is checked in her name. This trailer needs more Eddie Redmayne, though, because one can never get enough of his exotic looks.
“Django Unchained”
The Weinstein Company
Dec. 25
Blood splatter on cotton plants hold so much symbolism in the trailer for “Django Unchained,” in which Django (Jamie Foxx) shoots his way to reunite with his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Unsurprisingly, Tarantino’s trailer for his revenge-fantasy film features a lot of close-ups on guns and smoking guns, and a bloated-by-age Leonardo DiCaprio as villainous slave master Calvin Candie. And it seems like Christoph Waltz is reprising his role as Hans Landa from 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds,” with his German accent and questionable stance as hero or villain. But what is up with the Austin Powers get-up on Django here at 2:04?