More Daredevil, Phone Booth, & Lots Of RatsVern Seward

< I>Every week, Vern Seward takes a look at Appleis latest offerings at the QuickTime Trailer site, letting your know whatis new.

Movies, movies, movies!

Last year was a banner year for Hollywood. According to USA Today, more than 1.5 billion movie tickets were sold in 2002. Tinsel Town, it seems, has a lot to show us. Last yearis movies ranged from expansive epics like The Four Feathers, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, to little personal flicks like Barbershop, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Sweet Home Alabama.

2002 had more than its fair share of blockbusters; the infinitely watchable Spiderman is still a hot DVD title, Harry Potter made more movie magic in the sequel, Chamber of Secrets, and of course, everyone is still talking about Golem, the surprise star of The Two Towers.

Cinema duds were also in full bloom last year, and leading the crop of fully forgettable films are Eddie Murphyis dismal The Adventures of Pluto Nash and I Spy. Both efforts makes you wonder if Mr. Murphy is relevant anymore. He hasnit done anything of worth since Shrek, and even there some say that Donkey was annoying.

Disney canit seem to get out of its slump. Lilo & Stitch was a shining star but the heavily advertised Treasure Planet turned out to be more like a dead planet. Without Pixar shoring up the animation income, Disney would be ihurtini fer certini.

2003 is shaping up nicely as Hollywood is intent on delivering a bevy of movie going goodness. The first big release seems to be aimed at imitating the success of Spiderman. Daredvil opens next week (Feb. 14), and in anticipation of its release, or maybe to drive up more interest, 20th Century Fox, has released a featurette of Daredevil star, Ben Affleck, and director, Mark Steven Johnson, discussing the merits of the movie. Just in case you havenit seen enough of the TV commercials, you can find them and the featurette on Appleis QuickTime Movie trailer site.

Late last year, we discussed the upcoming movie Phone Booth, starring Colin Ferrall. The release of the movie had been up in the air but it looks like it will show up in a theater near you early this year.

Other trailer you may be interested in are:

Basic: Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta star in this military thriller in which Jackson and several men in his command wind up missing during a training exercise. Travolta must find out what happened to Jacksonis elite fighting unit. Not Pulp Fiction, but then again, what is?

Le Divorce: Kate Hudson leads a star studded cast in this romantic comedy about two American women learning the ways of love in Paris. Chick flick, but it should be a good one.

Willard: A remake of a 1971 cult classic that starred Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, Willard is a movie about a socially dysfunctional man and his rats. Lot and lots of rats. Crispin Glover -he played Michael J. Foxis father in the first Back to the Future movie- is Willard and the rats reprise their roles as Willardis friends and henchmen, er, hench-rodents. Fun if you like that sort of thing.

Amen: A gripping tale of a Catholic priest and a Nazi officer who attempt tell the Vatican of the horrible deaths of the Jews in the German prison camps. You really should take a look at this trailer, and the movie when itis released.

Thatill do it for this week. If you need a dose of fright you might want to check out 3 Minute Chrillers, a Web site featuring short horror movies. Creepy stuff.