< I>Every week, Vern Seward takes a look at Appleis latest offerings at the QuickTime Trailer site, letting your know whatis new.
Thanksgiving is upon us and you know what that means, well, besides eating yourself sick, watching football, and being annoyed to no end by visiting relatives? It means that the yearly Good Movie Slump is over, and we should start seeing some better than average selections at your local theater.
It seems to happen every year between the time school starts to the week before the Thanksgiving break. Studios release ifilleri films, from stuff thatis mildly interesting, like 8 Mile and The Ring, to movies that make you want to kick yourself for even thinking about watching them, like Friday After Next and Jackass: The Movie.
The week before Thanksgiving, however, is when things start hopping at the movies. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, James Bond: Die Another Day, and The Emperoris Club all opened last week. This week weill see Solaris, Disneyis Treasure Planet, the Australian film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and soon weill see the latest Star Trek movie and LOTR: The Two Towers. Good movies and lots of them, but thereis many more in the pipeline.
First up at Appleis QuickTime trailer site is a film hoping to cash in on the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Itis called Bulletproof Monk and it stars Chow Yun-Fat. You may remember Mr. Yun-Fat as the owner of the Sword of Destiny in the aforementioned Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In Bulletproof Monk, Mr. Yun-Fat plays a skilled monk who must protect a secret. The special effects in the trailer are stellar and will remain you of several movies including The Matrix and the unfortunate Mortal Kombat. It really does look like a good time that might be even better if thereis a decent story behind all the flying kicks and bullet dodging.
Do you remember a movie a few years back where some teens escaped death by not boarding a doomed airplane, but then Death chased each of them down and killed them all except a handful that figured out what was going on? The movie was called Final Destination. It was an OK movie, but not something deserving a sequel. Apparently someone disagrees and has come up with Final Destination 2. Weill leave this one to your judgment, so check out the trailer.
We mentioned Solaris earlier, and it looks cool. George Clooney plays a psychologist assigned to space station Solaris. In the film, his character is directed to find out why folks are going bonkers, only to wind up questioning his own sanity. There are exclusive QuickTime Movie clips of the Solaris available now. Check them out.
Other movies trailers you should check out:
- Taken: Steven Spielberg is perhaps best known for his movies and TV shows in which he presents us with ordinary folks dealing with some extraordinary circumstances. The same could be said of his latest endeavor, Taken, which will appear not in theaters, but on the SciFi Channel, on December 2nd at 9:00 PM EST. Mr. Spielberg said that Taken couldnit be told in a 2 hour movie, which is why heis opted to tell the tales in six parts. Taken deals with the lore behind alien abduction stories. This looks like a really serious piece of work. The Official Movie Site is a great stop too, so check it out.
- Legally Blonde 2: Reese Witherspoon returns as the brainy blonde (that has to be an oxymoron) who conquered Harvard Law School, but now sheis taking on American politics. Legally Blonde was a surprise hit in 2001; perhaps the sequel will live up to the first.
- Daddy Daycare: Eddie Murphy hasnit had a decent hit since the original Nutty Professor. Heis talented, funny, and he can still draw a box office crowd, but unless he does something to make people want to continue to see him, he will be relegated to bad movies and early obsolescence. Perhaps Mr. Murphyis luck has changed because the trailer to Daddy Daycare is actually funny. Mr. Murphy plays a dad whois been laid off and takes to opening a daycare center. You definitely should see this trailer.
- Charlieis Angels: Full Throttle: Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, and Drew Barrymore reprise their roles as the trio of butt-kicking, wise-cracking hotties who only answer to the guy on the other end of the weird speaker box. This time Bernie Mac tags along for the wild ride as Bosley. Whooo-hooo
Thatis gonna do it for this week. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!