All the things from the Teaser Trailer that have got me excited for The Last Jedi!

The Teaser Trailer for The Last Jedi (or Star Wars Episode VIII, if you will) is here!  And I liked it a lot.  Though there was stuff about The Force Awakens I loved, and stuff I really did not like, this trailer has me looking forward to this next installment immensely.  Here are a few of the shots that show why:

"What did you see?" "Light...Darkness... A Balance."  One of the ideas that the Star Wars saga haven't explored enough is the idea of the Balance of the Force - that perhaps, as the Prophesy referred to since the Prequels, there needs to be those who can draw on both its Light and Dark sides.  I hope that this film will investigate that, and maybe resolve some of those outstanding questions.

Some lovely shots of the craggy Ireland, erm, islands where some of the film was shot - I'm looking forward to seeing Luke do more than turn to the camera.  Maybe help Rey to fulfil her destiny?

Imperial - sorry, First Order Walkers of the North Ridge!  Yep, looks like there's a new version of the AT-AT coming...

It's okay, looks like these speeders have got their tow-cables ready... I guess that's what they're dragging along this desert floor (another typically gorgeous-looking Star Wars planet!):

Walkers aren't the only thing that looks to be back from the classic trilogy...

Poe's X-Wing explodes!  But what caught my eye was the tail and front of the ships to the side - are those A-Wings?  We'll come back to those...

I reckon this shot is part of a flash-back, to when Brat-o Ren and the Knights of Douche - sorry, Ren, destroy Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Temple.

...now this is what I'm talking about!  It looks like we're going to get a mass fleet battle in this film, with what looks like Resistance frigates of some sort taking on the First Order.  And yes, that is an A-Wing!  Great to see this fighter back from Return of the Jedi.

One of my favourite moments in the original Trilogy is the mass battle between the Rebel and Imperial Fleets at Endor in ROTJ; I'm looking forward to seeing another massive space battle in this film!

"It's time for the Jedi... to end."  Luke's weary voice, indicating some of the heart-break and disillusionment he must feel after the destruction of his fledgling Jedi Order, really got me in the feels.  Hopefully it indicates that we can look forward to some of Mark Hamill's best work in the role, following from Harrison Ford's excellent work as Han in TFA.

So this was a really good trailer - we see the new fan favourites from TFA return (Rey! Poe! Finn! Kylo! Phasma!); we get a glimpse of what looks like some classic Star Wars action and battle scenes; but only the vaguest smidgens of what the plot could be.  If this film can build on the best parts of TFA (the new characters, the energy, the clear love for the franchise) and avoid it's mistakes (rehashing plot from earlier films, and not killing off classic characters in a wasteful and insulting manner), then it should make for a really fun trip to the cinema, and a worthy entry to the Star Wars Saga.

Now, shall we watch the trailer again?  ...and again?  ...and again?  ...and again?!?!

Trailer Reaction: Star Wars The Force Awakens

I have a confession.  I went to see 'The Phantom Menace' 8 times at the cinema.  Yeah, madness, I'm sure you‘ll agree; however at the time I was in the middle of a strange kind of depression so that film clearly gave me the escapism I needed.  At the time of their release I also enjoyed the other Prequel films - though now I wouldn't thank you to watch them.  Their flaws are well documented, from story, script, direction and acting.  Even the much-bally-hooed CGI effects haven't aged well.

But that‘s not the biggest reason I've felt nothing but ambivalence towards the prospect of a new Star Wars movie since it was announced.  Each rumour and announcement has failed to evoke the same excitement and anticipation I felt back when the prequels were in development - or that the Marvel Studios movies do now.  You see, I'm still not convinced that the word actually needs a new series of Star Wars films (aside from making Disney more money, that is).  As flawed as the Prequels were, they at least told a story that made sense with the original Trilogy and felt complete: the Saga of Anakin Skywalker and his redemption through his son, Luke.  Beyond that, is there any story that is worth telling?

So when the trailer dropped yesterday I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed it: it brought a huge smile to my face, and at times I had goosebumps.  It has genuinely thrilling moments, and most of all it truly feels like Star Wars.  And this is despite the fact it reveals nothing really: no story, no details on who these characters are, nor what they're doing.

But interestingly the first characters we see are all new ones - despite the presence of franchise stalwarts Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford.  There's a pretty clear message here - these are the people who will be going on the adventures this time.

(All my pics are lazily pilfered from the trailer breakdown Empire Online did...)

First, we see John Boyega in a Storm Trooper uniform.  Is he actually a Storm Trooper?  Or is he disguised as one?  Yes, Storm Troopers feel Star Wars, but I am a little concerned that there are still Storm Troopers (and later, Tie-Fighters) around 30 years after we saw the Empire defeated.  Of course, there are no story details, but perhaps after the deafeat of the Emperor the military resources of the defeated Empire were merged with those of the Rebels?  I hope that's the case, otherwise for me it cheapens the end of the original Trilogy.

Then we see a little Droid - at once familiar but entirely new.  The head is a domed shape reminiscent of R2D2; but the body, whizzing past, appears to be a sphere.  And, boy, can it move!  The message here seems to be it‘s still the same galaxy, but things have moved on.

Next we see newcomer Daisy Ridley, and another image that anchors the film emphatically as a Star Wars movie: with a slightly determined or desperate look (is she being persued?  Has she just seen something and needs to report/warn someone?) she sets of on a speeder.  Again, a familiar Star War image, but given a new design.  In the background we see what appear to be ship parts - could it be that this girl has built the speeder herself from this scrap?  If it is, she's clearly a resourceful and intelligent character.

The next couple of shots sold this trailer for me - because, you see, when I was 5 and first discovered Star Wars, my favourite part above all else was Luke Skywalker piloting the insanely cool X-Wing Fighter and taking part in the attack on the Death Star; at that age, when I grew up I wanted to be an X-Wing pilot.  Here we get our first glimpse of Oscar Isaac piloting - yes! - an X-Wing, here seen flying in a formation, skimming over a body of water.  One of the best thing about the original Trilogy is how it took familiar settings - deserts, forests, jungles, but made them feel exotic and otherworldly.  This shot captures that feel effectively.  But seein the X-Wings really sold this trailer to me, and I could sense a new feeling about this film emerging: could that be a bit of optimism?

Then we see what appears to be (at least one of) the film's villains - is it a Sith?  Well, he has a brutal looking 'Saber with a nasty hilt...  This apparently is Adam Driver, and even though we don't see his face, I loved how this shot shows how his performance will convey him as a potentially classic villain.  He is slightly hunched, stumbling slightly - but when he clearly detects a threat he immediately reacts, and looks very dangerous.

Finally, after that, that familiar, iconic theme blasts from the speakers, as the Millennium Falcon (YES!!!) blasts across the screen.  And what a phenomenal shot that is.  The original Trilogy gave us so many jaw-dropping and ground-breaking shots and visuals, from the opening moment of 'A New Hope' when that immense Star Destroyer slowly sweeps over the screen.  You could argue that the Prequels failed to deliver as much of the same, but the shot of the Falcon in this trailer arguably demonstrates that Director JJ Abrams clearly wants to push the visuals as much as possible, like the original Trilogy did.  This shot is absolutely fantastic as the Falcon zooms round in an arc, flipping from upside-down, to face some on-coming Tie-Fighters.  The camera movies like it's mounted on another ship, struggling to keep up (and not creash whilst doing so!).  You could say that this trailer doesn't deliver anything as provocative and mind-blowing as Darth Maul's double-ended Saber did at the end of the first Phantom Menace trailer - but this final shot was absolutely fantastic, and suggests that, if nothing else, it will look superb (especially in IMAX 3D, I‘m already drooling at the prospect of seeing it in that format)!

As well as this there's a mencaing voice over, which many believe is either Andy Serkis or Benedict Cumberbatch - my money's on the former seeing as he's oficially part of the cast.  But really tying the whole thing together is the sound - with each shot there are snippets of Ben Burtt's definitive aural benchmarks for the trilogy: Imperial Code, droid chatter, the whoomph of a speeder, the familiar buzz of an X-Wing's engine; and of course, the sound of a Lightsaber being activated.  These are used sparingly, but you could have played the trailer without images, and just those sound queues on their own would have been enough to indicate that this film is definitely Star Wars.

So I really enjoyed this trailer.  But without any details of story, am I still ambivalent towards this, and other new Star Wars films?

Well, lets just say, I am feeling cautiously optimistic now.  This film most likely won't be the generational and cutural defining event the originals were.  But it certainly looks like it should be a fun and entertaining trip to the cinema; and that's what Star Wars always has been.

Trailer Reaction: Avengers Age of Ultron

Well, hold the front page.  Following a leak (which Marvel Studios amusingly blamed on HYDRA), the Teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron showed up on-line today.  Now, if I was to write about my actual reaction to this trailer, it would be very difficult to find the words that convey the gibbering, excited noises I was making as I watched this, combined with a kind of drooling.  Instead, this is more of an 'analysis' of what's on display, and why (if justification was ever needed) a lot of people are getting very excited about this film.

Firstly - Ultron is unveiled:

The Avengers need a suitably big threat to make them unite, and a genocidal robot, with an army of drones, should do it.  It had already been confirmed that Tony Stark creates Ultron - supposedly to help the Avengers - but the AI goes all Skynet on them, and decides that the cause of all humanity's problems is, well, humanity.  But I don't think that anyone expected Ultron to be so damned creepy!  He's creepy in his initial form above...

And even in the final shot, where he's fully formed, his lines are delivered with such menace by James Spader it's impossible not to be creeped out!

On top of that, it won't help the Avengers that Ultron is pretty much indestructible (in the comics he's made from every comic/sci-fi writer's favourite fictional metal, Adamantium) - this shot gives a hint of it, but it's not clear whether this is during some attempt to destroy him, or when his final form is being forged.

Secondly - the team will be made to hurt:

Joss Whedon promised he would find ways to hurt the team in this film, and there are shots that indicate they're well on the back-heel - check out the sullen poses in this shot (which appears to be in a Quinjet); Banner looks especially distraught.

There's hints that the team itself will fracture somewhat, as we get a shot of Thor grabbing and lifting Tony Stark by the throat, and also Iron Man taking on Hulk (more of which further on).  But there are suggestions that the Avengers have well and truly met their match - the motionless body below appears to be Thor, and Ultron appears to have found a way to break Cap's apparently unbreakable shield...

There have been all sorts of rumours about what happens to Hulk in this film (I won't comment on them here as I've been trying to avoid them), but this shot depicts an almost tender moment between him and Black Widow.  Is this before or after his fight with Iron Man?

Third - new friends; and foes???

The mid-credits scene from Captain America The Winter Soldier indicates that new characters Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver are the result of HYDRA experimenting on people using captured Alien technology.  This shot indicates that they won't just be working with HYDRA, but also with Ultron...

But at some point they could end up fighting alongside the Avengers - this shot seems to show Quicksilver taking out an Ultron Drone to aid Captain America:

Interestingly, they've chosen a different tack to portraying his powers compared to the approach taken in X-Men: Days of Future Past; this one is slightly more stylised, perhaps, with the flashes of slivery light (can you see what they did there?) that follows him.  This depiction looks like it might be more in keeping with the look of the character from the comics - but some people might not take to this version due to the great job by Evan Peters in the X-Men film (especially my wife, it seems).

But these two aren't the only new characters - Hydra are still around, led by Baron von Strucker (who we saw briefly in The Winter Soldier's mid credit's scene).  Judging by this shot, Hydra are still packing plenty of fire-power to test our heroes...

And finally we get a glimpse of Andy Serkis, who for a change won't be doing mo-cap.  No details of his character - will he be a help to The Avengers, or a hindrance???

Fourth - HULK BUSTER!!!!

This is a HUGELY fan-pleasing element to introduce - in fact it makes me sad that due to the rights issues, we're unlikely to ever see any of Hulk's legendary punch-ups with Wolverine or The Thing.  But we finally get to see Iron Man's 'Hulk Buster' armour, and they have a big scrap in Johannesburg (there were reports earlier this year that they were shooting this scene there).  But why?

Anyway,  Hulk Buster armour - yayyy!!

Hulk vs Iron Man - coooool!

Fifth - Ballet?!?

We can only speculate as to what part this plays in the plot.  IS this how Ultron plans to subdue humanity - by forcing all to take part in classical dance?  Is this a cover for a secret HYDRA plan??  Did Joss Whedon just feel like including some Ballet lessons in the film???

Well, all will be revealed at the end of April for us UK folks (sorry, America)!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back and watch this trailer again.

And again, and again, and again...

Trailer Reaction: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' - Marvel's biggest gamble yet...

Marvel Studios continue to ride high on the crest of a wave - following the incredible success of the awesome Avengers movie, Iron Man 3 and Thor were both critical and box office hits, and anticipation of the new Captain America movie 'The Winter Soldier' is high following two acclaimed Trailers.  Part of Marvel's continued success is their willingness to treat each film as different in its own right, instead of formulaic carbon-copy sequels, each one has been significantly influenced by different genre movies.  They're also willing to take pretty big risks on unknown or unlikely actors for lead roles, as well as unlikely directors for their films.

But the apparent 'risk' they've taken in the past is nothing compared to the absolutely huge gamble they're taking with the next release after the new Captain America; 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is not exactly their best known comic, by a long run.  And to say it's got a far out concept is to really understate things: a team of intergalactic bandits, which consists of a human, three aliens (one of whom is a walking tree) and a gun-toting raccoon.  Yes, you read that sentence correctly, especially the part about the tree and the raccoon.  So, you've got space adventure which is likely to be even more far-fetched than anything we've seen in the Thor movies, and some really bizarre characters - none of whom are going to be known to anyone but the most ardent Comic fans.

So, many people are looking at this as the first significant test for Marvel Studios, their first real gamble (since they started out in 2008 with Iron Man, to a certain degree).  People are looking at this in one of two ways - either it will win audiences over, despite the wacky concepts and characters, and be a hit - or it will be Marvel's first major flop as a Studio.  And everyone agrees, there is significant work to be done in getting audiences on board - which has now begun, in the form of the film's first trailer now released on-line:

And, the general consensus has been positive - there are flashes of humour to this, as well as some flashy space-bound bits, which sell the fact that, yes, this is space-set sci-fi - but there's also a sense of irreverence and fun about it.  Now, Marvel Studio films don't forget their sense of fun, but it looks this one will have the humour really at the fore.  It's hard to tell from this trailer, as it doesn't delve in to the story at all, but it's likely there will be some 'serious' elements to it - Comic fans will be able to draw connecting threads from this to Thanos (the red guy who briefly appeared during the mid-credits scene at the end of 'Avengers'), prompting speculation that this is leading to the third Avengers movie being based around The Infinity Gauntlet, which has featured in a few significant comic story-lines.  If this is the case, then despite the humorous approach, the stakes will be high in 'Guardians', and will have an impact on future Marvel movies - which is all part of what makes their films so exciting.

Although there's little suggestion of the story, this trailer not only gets the fun tone across, it plays an important role in presenting the central characters to the average cinema-going public who won't be aware of the comic. These are Peter Quill (who'd prefer to be known as 'Star Lord'), played by Chris Pratt (currently voicing Emmett in the tremendously fun LEGO Movie); Drax the Destroyer (played by MMA/Wrestler turned actor Dave Bautista - you may have spotted him in the recent Riddick movie); Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana (best known for Avatar and as Uhura in JJ Abram's rebooted Star Trek); Rocket Raccoon  who will be voiced by Bradley Cooper (no doubt bringing snarky attitude like he did in 'The Hangover' and 'The A-Team'); and finally Groot (who will be voiced by Vin Diesel - possibly taking the easiest pay-check of his career, as the character is noted in the comics for only being able to say one phrase - 'I am Groot').

The trailer focuses on Peter Quill (sorry, Star Lord!), clearly wishing to show audiences there is a strong human connection as far as this story is involved.  The trailer doesn't give a lot of his back-story away (apparently he was taken from earth as a child, which in the Marvel Studio's timeline would be the 1980's - hence his attachment to his Walkman!), but it does show how Pratt will be playing the character - kind of like Han Solo's goofier, but none-the-less scoundrel-ish younger brother.  We then get introduced to the rest of the team - and this is where repeated viewings of the trailer, in 1080p, are essential, because what the two 'space police officers' from the NOVA Corps (comics fans will know who they are) - played by the great John C. Reilly and Peter Serafinowicz - don't mention in their voice-over is shown on the screen.   We get an insight in to Grax's motivation (revenge for the death of his family) and his powers (strength and regeneration), and those of Gamora also - but what it doesn't say about her is her personal connection to Thanos, as comic fans will all be aware of...

Not your Usual Suspects...

Then we come to what has the potential to be the real wild-card of the group, and this film's secret weapon - Rocket Raccoon.  Aside from his introduction, we don't get to see enough of this character in action for my liking - but seeing as he's going to be realised with CGI, it's understandable there may not actually be that much in the way of finished footage to use.  The trailer quickly sets out that he's quite the criminal, but if you pause the trailer you get a better idea of why there is a gun-toting raccoon in this film - he's described as a 'cybernetic/genetic experiment on a lower life-form' who has a 'tendency to bite'.  Apparently, in the comics he is one angry, wise-cracking little critter, and it looks like that's going to come across here.  Out of everything in this film, this character is the one I'm most excited about - there is something that is so awesome and crazy about the idea of a bionic, genetically enhanced, gun-toting raccoon which just simply brings a smile to my face.  I can see Rocket Raccoon being a bit hit with kids of all ages (the little 'uns will respond to the cute factor of a raccoon  while those a little older will respond to the fact he has attitude), and if he doesn't steal this movie with his potential awesome-craziness I will be more than a little disappointed!

If this Raccoon doesn't blow everyone away this summer - and I'm not just talking about the villains in this movie - I'll be sorely disappointed...

Finally, we have Groot, the walking tree - who we're told is a 'Humanoid Plant Inhabitant of Taluhnia', and is Rocket's bodyguard/muscle (oh, and houseplant).  On his own, the concept of this character is even more bizarre than Rocket - however, the trailer has already established that this film takes place in a galaxy of numerous alien races, so bearing that in mind, Groot isn't that hard a concept to sell.

Then we get a few shots from throughout the movie, showing some action beats and spaceship stuff that looks as impressive as anything from Star Wars.  There's little of the villains on show, although we do get a couple of glimpses of Karen 'Amy Pond off-of Doctor Who' Gillan as Nebula (that's right, she shaved her head for the role!), but nothing of Lee Pace (best known as Thranduil in the over-long Hobbit trilogy) as big-bad Ronan the Accuser.  All of this is played out to the most obvious soundtrack for a sci-fi adventure: no, none of those Zimmer-esque 'BARRAHHMS!!!', the song used is a '70's track called 'Hooked on a Feeling' by Blue Swede.  If THAT doesn't tell you that this is a sci-fi movie unlike any other, than what else will?

This film could end up being a complete mess, or it could end up being completely triumphant fun - it's still too early to tell from this trailer.  But what is true is that Marvel have a lot of work to make casual cinema-goers care about this film, and this crazy team of characters - what this trailer does do is convey the fun tone they're aiming for, and introduce us to the team.  Considering the buzz that's surrounding this trailer, it seems that Marvel Studios are off to a good start.  But we'll find out for sure in August...

Trailer Reaction: The Amazing Spiderman 2

If you're of a film-watching persuasion (you must be, you're reading this!), then you'll no doubt have noticed that yesterday saw the premiere of the first trailer for The Amazing Spiderman 2.  If not, here it is:

This trailer has prompted no small amount of discussion amongst fans of Spiderman, comic book movies and blockbusters in general.  A lot of this has been devoted to 'Easter eggs', background details which have suggested future villains Spidey will face in the next films (Sony are looking at making this a four film series - AFTER WHICH THEY'LL ALLOW MARVEL STUDIOS THE RIGHTS TO INCLUDE HIM IN AN AVENGERS MOVIE - sorry, I don't know what came over me then!).  Immediately clear are Dr Octopus' arms, Vulture's wings, there's also tiny, tiny details referring Venom and Morbius.

These have been discussed in detail in other places (like here, here, and Empire‘s excellent breakdown here) so I just want to pick out some other things which struck me about the trailer.

Firstly, the visual look is much brighter.  The first Amazing Spiderman movie was mostly set at night - I think this was probably the studio executive's idea of making the film 'darker', because they apparently wanted to match the serious and dark tone of Nolan's Dark Knight Batman Trilogy.  Whilst that approach worked for that character, Spidey ain't Batman - not to say you can't get a serious portrayal of the character - outside of his villain show-downs, Peter Parker's life could be lifted out of a soap opera/drama!  Bright doesn't have to mean more 'comic', in a negative sense - but bringing Spidey out in to the light of day will benefit the character.

Secondly, it looks like the plot will be more coherent than its predecessor.  Watching 2012's reboot, you could tell that it was a film the director and writers were being 'interfered' with right until the final cut.  Story-lines were set up, and then abruptly left; entire characters went missing without explanation.  It is clear they wanted to set up an over-arching story involving the disappearance of Peter's parents, however by the final act of the film this had been forgotten (apart from a mid-credits stinger).  Not to mention the hunt for his Uncle Ben's killer, supposedly the trigger for his heroic, do-gooding vigilantism, which was also forgotten!  This sequel looks to be heavily based around the death of Peter's parents though, so while it probably won't resolve the entre plot until the fourth film, hopefully it'll handle the development of this narrative thread more effectively.

Thirdly, there'll be three villains - can this film balance them more effectively than others have?  The 'failure' of Sam Raimi's Spider-man 3 was largely blamed on the inclusion of three different villains (although I think the over-all lack of narrative and tonal coherence was more at fault), also it's seen as one of the biggest problems with the late 1990's Batman films (again, they had WAAAAAY more problems than that..!).  In this case, seeing as they're clearly wanting to build to a series-concluding showdown with the villain team Sinister Six, having more than one villain makes sense - it's how much is devoted to each which will be the issue.  Apparently Electro is the main villain (although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise from this trailer) - which makes the inclusion of Rhino and Green Goblin an interesting prospect as to how they'll be handled.  Although sometimes it is important to give villains depth and breadth in their narrative development (especially as many of Spiderman's foes are 'dark reflections' of what could have happened to him, and in most cases are themselves victims of tragic accidents/circumstances), this isn't always the case.  A murderous thug with a grudge against Spidey, who gets his hands on some military grade armour, is pretty self explanatory!

Fourthly, this film feels more like a proper 'Spiderman' film than its predecessor did.  While Andrew Garfield's portrayal of the sarcastic, loved-up, teenage Peter Parker is widely accepted as a more realistic and better acted portrayal than Tobey Maguire's (although I think Maguire has done some solid acting work in Raimi's films and others he has been in), Raimi's films just seemed to capture the character and stories (in the first two films anyway) better than the prequel.  The only moment in the 2012 film where I really felt like I was truly watching a Spiderman movie was the (superbly executed) high school-set fight against The Lizard.  The way Spiderman crawled over objects and fought was in some-ways closer to the comics than many of the scenes in Raimi's films.  Aside from that, there just seemed something missing from the portrayal - more of that type of action.  It almost seemed that, in the attempts to make a 'darker' or more 'grounded' Spidey movie, they were actually embarrassed about making it a Spidey movie!  From the looks of this trailer though, the second film is a lot clearer about what it wants to be - that is, an unashamed Spiderman movie.  And that is very welcome!

Finally - and this is my biggest reservation - I still don't feel like they've done enough to justify the complete series reboot.  Despite embracing the character and trying to build an ongoing story with him, I'm still not convinced that there was any need to start from scratch with his origin story; the only problem from Raimi's films was his unfortunate tendency to kill off villains, so that seems the only justifiable reason for taking this approach.  Of course, the producers wanted to ape the tone of the Nolan Batman films (as stated above), but it's clear they've realised this doesn't suit Spidey - making it a bit redundant, really.

Because of this, and the concerns about rushing to include three villains in this film, I must admit I'm worried that Sony don't really know how to properly treat Spiderman.  There is part of me that wishes Disney/Marvel would simply buy the rights back from them - seeing how well the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been developing, they clearly know how to get their characters spot-on; so imagine what they'd do with Spidey!  Beyond this, there'd be so much more cross-over potential - and I'm not just talking about Spidey appearing in an Avengers movie!  You'd have Norman Osborn and Oscorp tussling with Tony Stark and his company, as well as him hiring a rogue's gallery of Marvel villains to take on the Avengers.  It's a real shame that no one though of this potential when different studios bought the rights to various characters, instead of the Marvel Universe as a whole...

The most eye-catching trailer so far this year...

Yeah, I'll admit that my recent posts have been a bit comic book movie-centric, so here's something else for a change!

I love trailers for forthcoming films. When it's one for the latest blockbuster, it can build anticipation and excitement to fever pitch, with hints at the story or excerpts which tease spectacular action. Sometimes, the film actually manages to live up to it! Or if it's a great drama, it can give a taste of a tremendous, potentially award-winning acting performance, or an indication of a powerful and affecting story.

At the same time, trailers are so accessible now thanks to the internet which can lead to a feeling that they lose what makes them 'special; it doesn't help that in some cases studio marketing bods have dropped the ball and have released promos which have either spoiled major plot twists, shown all the best jokes, or the scariest parts of the film.

But when they get it right, a trailer can get people talking about a film which might otherwise have escaped people's attention. The trailer which has done this above all others so far this year is for an arty-horror film called 'Under The Skin'. It's directed by Jonathan Glazer, who brought us 'Sexy Beast' and 'Birth', and stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien who has assumed the identity of a dead woman in Scotland, to lure men to be consumed (or something along those lines). This trailer doesn't really seem to indicate much about that plot line; what it does do, however, is provide some of the most striking, eerie, haunting, surreal and occasionally disturbing imagery I have seen for some time.

Anyway, see for yourself:

You may be thinking 'wtf have you just made me watch???', but admit it - you've never seen anything quite like that.

Apparently the film proved highly divisive amongst critics when it was first screened at the Venice Film Festival  - half the audience booed at the, the other applauded - but I am very intrigued in seeing this movie simply going on the strength of the imagery in this trailer. Without it, this film would not have likely hit my radar, so to that end it has been one of the most successful trailers this year. But I think this is certainly the most memorable one so far this year, and I don't think any have made me more interested in seeing a film without it being based on a pre-existing franchise or a familiar genre.

Anyway, next from me will be a series about films to watch during October in the run-up to Halloween, plus a review of 'Prisoners' (maybe..!)