Image via Screencap
As we leave summer fare and begin looking forward towards Oscar nomination season, this week brought us a mixed bag of movie trailers. We have high points in special effects and low, low points in the careers of several famous comedians. Oh, and a movie based off an app!
The Walk
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon
Release date: October 9
If the first trailer for The Walk was a little too vertigo-inducing for you, the new IMAX trailer is a bit more tolerable. The Walk is a high definition version of those horrifyingly fascinating Russian climber videos and tells the true story of the 1974 tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center. Although Gordon-Levitt’s French accent seems questionable, the special effects and heist-like planning scenes make it look like a movie worth watching.
The Big Short
Genre: Drama
Director: Adam McKay
Stars: Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling
Release date: December 23
The Big Short tells the true story of a group of financial outsiders who uncovered the housing loan bubble before it burst and found a way to get rich off it. What could have been a dry and boring financial story gets an infusion of excitement by adding strippers to the plot! But the bad wigs found atop most of the stars in The Big Short don’t give a lot of hope for the final product.
Nasty Baby
Genre: Drama
Director: Sebastian Silva
Stars: Kristen Wiig, Alia Shawkat, Reg E. Cathey
Release date: October 23
The first minute of the Nasty Baby trailer looks like a typical white-Brooklyn indie movie about a gay couple trying to have a baby with their best female friend as surrogate. But the creepy music that starts in the middle lets us know that the “nasty” in Nasty Baby isn’t ironic. Quick cuts between scenes of blood and tears bring the darkness to the forefront. Nasty Baby is the lovechild of a horror film and an indie rom-com—and we can’t wait to see the results.
Manson Family Vacation
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Director: J. Davis
Stars: Jay Duplass, Linas Phillips, Leonora Pitts
Release date: October 6
Linas Phillips stars as a man obsessed with the Manson Family who also happens to possess the unkempt facial hair and crazy eyes of Charlie Manson. He convinces his more conventional brother to accompany him on a road trip to important Manson sites. Poised to become an indie darling, Manson Family Vacation looks like a must see for any serial killer enthusiasts.
The Angry Birds Movie
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
Director: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly
Stars: Jason Sudeikis, Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph
Release date: May 20, 2016
Starring a whole bunch of people who should know better and requiring not one but TWO directors, The Angry Birds Movie marks the film industries descent into a genre worse than movies based on board games: movies based on smartphone apps. The Angry Birds Movie finally explains how the Angry Birds became so angry, a backstory that no one was clamoring for. If this is the first in a long trend of movies based on apps, I can only hope that Kim Kardashian: Hollywood Movie is in the works.