Trailer Roundup

Welcome to the comedy heavy edition of the trailer roundup. There are a few comedies represented this time around but do any of them crack you up? Lets find out.

Noise

I’ve never found Tim Robbins a really funny guy but something about him in this trailer is appealing. True, it didn’t make me laugh out loud but I did smile through most of it.

Robbins plays a guy who is driven mad by the noise in New York City and decides to take vigilante action. Really, how many times have you wanted to throw a brick at the car with the annoying car alarm that goes off constantly?

It’s worth noting is that this is the second film for Henry Bean, the guy behind 2001’s The Believer, the film that single handedly launched Ryan Gosling’s career. Not that it means anything here but it’s a fun fact.

Noise opens May 9th.

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Up the Yangtze

Goes to show that sometimes the word of mouth buzz is right. I was uninterested in Up the Yangtze when it premiered in September at VIFF but buzz from everyone who saw it was that this was the documentary to watch. Over the last few months it’s been making the rounds through various festivals and now there’s finally a trailer kicking around out there and I can see why this film is being so well received.

The film, a documentary which looks at the effects of the Three Gorges Dam which is being built on the Yangtze River looks amazing.

Up the Yangtze has apparently already opened but I expect it will likely play a number of more festivals and perhaps open in a bit wider release later this summer.

Up The Yangtze Trailer

More trailers tucked under the seat.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Steroid use might be a problem in sports but how big of a problem is it really? To make matters worse, the general public wags their finger at users but that same public also fills up sports arenas, often cheering individuals who are using those same drugs. And what of the double standard?

Chris Bell’s documentary is getting a lot of positive attention and to boot, the trailer suggests that he’s asking some of the big questions.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* opens in limited release on May 30th.

The Promotion

This was a SXSW hit? Seriously? I guess the choice of comedies out in Austin must have been limited because Steve Conrad’s film doesn’t look all that funny to me.

Starring John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott, this comedy pits the two funny men against each other, fighting for the coveted promotion to manager of the soon to open Donaldson’s. Not new, not funny and really, I feel bad that either of these actors would resort to this lame humour. Not funny, but I leave it to you to decide for yourself.

The Promotion opens June 6th.

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The Rocker

Please. Someone tell me this is a bad joke.

Rainn Wilson plays Robert ‘Fish’ Fishman, a failed drummer who is given a second chance at fame when he plays his nephew’s prom and the band is picked up to go on tour.

Seriously. Rainn Wilson as a drummer? I don’t buy it for a second! This trailer was funny for about 10 seconds when they flash back to 1988. If the entire movie was like that, I would have been into this but as it stands, this looks like a huge miss.

The Rocker opens August 1st.

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The Dark Knight

We all know it’s coming. Christopher Nolan’s second installment in the Batman franchise is sure to be a box office juggernaut but watching this second trailer, I can’t help but think it gives away a bit too much. By now, everyone’s well aware of the characters involved in the story so why do you have to spell out the entire thing in the trailer?

I didn’t need to see this second trailer to get excited, and frankly, it makes the film out to be melodramatic. Maybe it was that to begin with but within context, it works - as a two minute trailer, it left me shaking my head.

Still, I’ll be there, opening weekend!

The Dark Knight opens July 18th.