This/that

The air in this blog is getting quite stale, it seems to me. So as I sit here listening to Willie Nelson remaking Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come," I'm going to open the windows a little and talk about some trailers I have seen recently and my thoughts about their potential plusses and/or minuses. I won't be providing links to the trailers, since half of them were viewed weeks ago and my vacant memory banks don't have anything to say on the matter.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - A neat looking little suspense/chase drama on the Mexico border. Perhaps Lone Star crossed with The Fugitive? Looks like it might be shot on HD - the trailer was choppy enough that I couldn't tell. But regardless, it looks lean, mean and smart. Wouldn't expect less from Jonesy. Off topic - is there a Yale graduate in the world who seems more unlikely than Tommy Lee Jones? I'm not saying that he seems unintelligent. I just have a hard time imagining him attending supper in a suit and tie, arm in arm with frosh roomie Al Gore.

The Constant Gardener - The next movie from the Fernando Mireilles (city of God guy) is an adaptation of a John le Carre novel. Also looks like an HD film, and like Three Burials, also looks like it's a lot of handheld stuff running around in a sunburnt wasteland. But it looks like a solid cast and I've read a couple enthusiastic reviews (although that could just be glad tidings still coasting from City of God, so who knows). Always good to see Pete Postlewaite employed.

The New World - Unless it gets railroaded by critics, I will probably end up seeing this one, since Malick is always interesting and thought-provoking. Colin Farrell is questionable, but Christopher Plummer might be able to balance him out.

Broken Flowers - New Jarmusch. What is it with this group of movies/plays that are about a guy visiting all his past lovers in order to find out something about himself? High Fidelity, this movie, then Neil LaBute has one coming next year. Maybe this particular setup has a pull on directors because it's such a blank slate for a director to explore their view of the world's ways - you can make it a comedy, a moody dramatic piece, or some sort of laid-back hipster character study, which is where Jarmusch comes in. This looks promising but not brilliant. Hard to look down on a Jarmusch-Murray tag team effort, especially when Tilda Swinton is involved (even though she's totally unrecognizable in the trailer).

The Island - Lame.

The Fantastic Four - Ultra Mega Lame.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Hooray for Jesus! Apparently. Everyone keeps saying how Super-Christ-Sized this movie's going to be, but to tell the truth it's been so long since I've read the books I don't remember anything about them other than the Lion, which is supposedly some kind of a Jesus symbol. Okay. I won't argue. I'm easy.

Wallace and Gromit - Arise, Chicken Run fans! Your savior has returned!

Non-related rhetorical question. Which is more irritating: 1) A group of screaming, attention-starved nineteen year old girls standing next to you at a concert from one of your favorite bands, dancing spasmodically and doing coke between songs, and all of whom seem to know every song the band performs (even the obscure ones you felt that you alone were prescient enough to have appreciated oh so many years ago), thereby ruining your internal send-off of them as ignorant marplots, or 2) The fact that these thoughts are really more fitting for a twelve year old than someone many years removed from college?