"The Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Based on a beloved book by Roald Dahl (the same genius who gave us Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda), this looks, well, pretty fantastic. I'm going to try to check out the book before this hits theaters, but, for now, I'm loving the low-tech look (especially in this day of overpriced, CG-animated cartoons, like Monsters vs. Aliens), and I'm a sucker for the stop-motion style in general (the kind seen in A Nightmare Before Christmas). The all-star voice cast (including Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, and Jason Schwartzman) seems game and perfectly at home in this oddball setting, and George Clooney, in particular, seems to bring just the right amount of suave, charm, and winking humor to the title role. This comes from the weird (but, to be fair, always interesting) mind of director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Rushmore); I can't say I'm always a fan of his work, though his low-key quirk seems like a good fit for the clever world of Dahl. It might not be for little kids (much like Where the Wild Things Are), but I'm really looking forward to this. Could be some smart, very funny family entertainment. [more trailers after the jump]
"Season of the Witch"
I'm an unashamed fan of Nicolas Cage--he is and always will be one of our most watchable actors. He does Oscar-worthy roles (like Adaptation and Moonstruck) with aplomb and confidence, but no other actor attacks bad material (ie, The Wicker Man, Next, Snake Eyes, and many, many more) with as much over-the-top craziness and enthusiasm as Cage...and, really, that's what makes his awful choices like Ghost Rider fun to watch. I dig the guy a lot, and Con Air will always be one of my all-time, stupid-movie favorites (could anyone else do that bizzare, bunny-obsessed, Elvis-accented hero like Cage?). So, I reckon this next film will fit comfortably with Next and Ghost Rider--utterly ridiculous, but entertaining all the same. Taking place in the Black Plague-scorched Middle Ages, a few knights (Cage included) must transport a supposed witch out of the kingdom. This teaser doesn't reveal much (it barely even lets Cage talk--can't wait to hear that accent!), and the fact that this comes from the director of Gone in Sixty Seconds doesn't bode too well. My hopes aren't high at all, but, you know what, could be an amusing (or so-bad-it's-good) diversion before one of my most anticipated 2010 films, Clash of the Titans (whose awesome trailer I'll spotlight in just a little bit), hits theaters a month later.
"Date Night"
I liked this trailer much more than I thought I would. Building off of a hopefully fun mistaken-identity plot, a bored married couple (Steve Carrell and Tina Fey) spend their first real date in years outrunning a band of criminals trying to kill them. The cast is chock-full of great people, including Common, and the not-shown Kristen Wiig, Ray Liotta, Mark Ruffalo, and Gossip Girl's scene-stealer, Leighton Meester. Carell and Tina Fey are funny by default, but I liked seeing Mark Whalberg in probably his first full-on playful role since I Heart Huckabees (he also has a comedy with Will Ferrell coming out next year), as well as James Franco and Mila Kunis (who already proved they're hilarious together). I think it's going to be silly and probably pretty forgettable, but I'll see this just to watch these guys bounce off one another; at the very least, Steve Carell and Tina Fey, two of the funniest people alive, are inspired casting as a bickering couple. This comes from Shawn Levy (who gave us the similarly star-filled Night at the Museum movies)--he's not a strong director, though I'm hoping the script is decent enough (and the improvisation plenty) to make this as good of a time as the trailer suggests.
What do you guys think of these trailers? Anything that looks interesting?
Clips courtesy of Apple and Trailer Addict.
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