Vern's QuickTime Quick Picks - Gods, Generals, Daredevils And More

by , 4:00 PM EST, January 17th, 2003

Every week, Vern Seward takes a look at Apple's latest offerings at the QuickTime Trailer site, letting your know what's new.

Well, it's 2003. If this year is anything like 2002, we should have nothing but a bunch of great movies to watch. We already know there's a slew of gotta-see flicks in the Hollywood queue: X-Men 2, Harry Potter 3, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King are just a few that should keep us happily standing in line to be the first to be thrilled. There's definitely something for everybody coming out this year. Comic book fans will get at least two doses of ohs and ahs when they view The Incredible Hulk and Daredevil. Marital arts groupies will get their kicks with Bullet Proof Monk and the Matrix 2. The more studious of us will be delighted with Master and Commander and Gods and Generals. Those who crave comedy will guffaw over Johnny English and Bruce Almighty.

Of course, just like your momma always told you: you gotta get some of the bad with the good. Last year we had some real stinkers: Friday After Next and I Spy were two of the more forgettable feature films. This year won't be any different it appears. Of the movies that likely won't turn very many heads are: Terminator 3 (Sorry Arnie but you should not have come back), Dumb and Dumberer (Too dumb to leave well enough alone), and Jungle Book 2 (Disney just can't get a break).

At any rate, the coming year should be an interesting one on the silver screen.

To whet your appetite for the coming year, here are some QuickTime Movie Trailers you might want to check out:

If you haven't checked out the Daredevil trailer, or if you've seen the first one and have been hankering for more, then you are in luck. A new Daredevil trailer has been released as a QuickTime exclusive. For those of you who may not have heard of Daredevil, imagine a guy with abilities that are a cross between Batman's acrobatics and Spiderman's heightened senses; now make the guy blind and give him the ability to 'see' via bat-like radar, and dress him up in red leather tights with two little tiny horns on his head, and you have the idea of Daredevil. Not as popular as Spiderman, but still cool, Daredevil should be a fun romp.

Other trailers you might want to see are:

• Assassination Tango: Weird title but an interesting looking movie that was written, directed, and stars Robert Duvall. Mr. Duvall plays an aging hitman on his last job and discovers the magic and sensuality of the tango. His dance partner is a newcomer to the American screen; Luciana Pedraza who looks like someone whose dance card is never empty. Should be good.
• Blue Collar Comedy Tour: Now, here's a switch: It use to be that 'me too' movies that star Black actors followed successful films that have a mostly white cast. A recent example of this would be Undercover Brother, which looked uncannily a lot like Austin Powers. Well, this shows that it can work both ways: The all Black Kings of Comedy movies were hits, so why not do the same thing for White comics? Hey, it could work.
• Tears of the Sun: Bruce Willis dons a soldier's fatigues in this action movie. He plays Lt. Waters, and leads a Special Ops unit into Nigeria to rescue a doctor -- She's beautiful, of course -- but Waters soon has to decided whether to stick to the letter of his orders and just rescue the doctor or ignore his orders an save the people with whom the doctor worked. If you hadn't noticed, Mr. Willis seems to like to play hero and he's good at it.
• It Runs in the Family: Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas star as father and son trying to sort out their dysfunctional family. This movie has the makings of a fun comedy, and was originally named A Few Good Years.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: This isn't really a trailer; it's a teaser, so don't expect much. Still your interest may be piqued once you learn that Johnny Depp is in this film. We'll just have to wait and see what the real trailer holds.

That's it for now. Be sure to check out Phil Schiller in his 'The Power of X' presentation presented in a MPEG-4 stream.

Apple QuickTime Movie Trailers