The Smarmy Carny

Watching the trailer makes me miss all of the "good" war movies of the past, from Stalag 17 to The Bridge on the River Kwai to Apocolypse Now to Glory to Saving Private Ryan.

Judging by the trailer, this movie may fall into the same ranks, pun intended.

The Great Raid follows the story of the 6th Ranger Battalion during World War II. The Rangers take on a mission to free 500 POWs from a Japanese camp in the Philippines. The movie apparently tracks the stories of the Rangers as well as the POWs in the camp, who have been there for three years by the time the Rangers get this mission.

I suggest that this movie may turn out as good as the other classics I mentioned because, rather than an all out bloodbath war movie, the movie also focuses on dramatic storylines as well. I'd rather not recount the details and get it wrong, though. Watch the trailer, and you'll see.

According to IMDB, this movie was one of the near-casualties of the Disney-Miramax split, as it was originally slated for a 2003 release.

Terry Gilliam. That's all I really have to say.

Other than that, The Brothers Grimm looks quite entertaining. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger star as Will and Jake Grimm. They travel from town to town pretending to perform exorcisms and rid the villages of nonexistant magical creatures. Of course, the plot turns when they reach a town that actually has a magical curse on it.

Watch the trailer. I didn't watch them all, so I don't know if there are any alternate versions. They may all be identical.

1. Movie-List
2. IMDB
3. MovieMaze (Dead link)
4. AOL (Dead link)
5. Yahoo!

As I entered the movie theatre to watch the predictably banal Bewitched, I noticed some extremely awful posters for a movie called Sky High. It was obvious that the comic book movie fad was again being exploited by the movie execs, this time for a movie akin to Generation X being on the big screen.

Before our movie, the Sky High trailer played, and I was surprised. Did it look like a great movie? Nope. Does it look like it's going to be fresh and original? Not really. But did I enjoy watching the trailer? Yep. Granted, this isn't a movie that I'm going to be watching in the theatre, but it's certainly worth renting or VOD'ing.

Kurt Russell plays the father of the superhero family (the Strongholds), and he delivers the best line: "All I ever wanted for him was to save the world." OK, maybe former Kids in the Hall Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald upstage Russell with their comments about the citizens used during the contest.

One big plus is that they did manage to get at least a couple cameos (or possibly larger roles) for some familiar faces. Bruce Campbell and Lynda Carter are listed as the Gym teacher and Principal, respectively.

Another plus? I noticed there's a character named "Warren Peace." Good times.

Murderball

No, it's not a horror film. Murderball is a documentary about the sport of wheelchair rugby.

The documentary follows various Murderball players as they follow their dream to the Paralympics, the official Olympics for paraplegics. There, of course, the not-so-PC term "Murderball" is replaced with "Wheelchair Rugby." The trailer highlights Team USA and Team Canada, and I imagine that the movie does as well.

I would bet that the movie goes far in proving that wheelchair-bound people are not necessarily the feeble, fragile people that many people would assume. One of the athletes comments that he does more now in a wheelchair than he ever did able-bodied. Beyond the "I'm out to prove something" angle, the film seems to want to show you the touching stories of some of the players as well.

As expected, this excellent-looking movie that received the Audience Award and Jury Prize Award at both Sundance and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will receive only a limited release on July 8, 2005. Is anyone surprised?

Willy Wonka

The newly released Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer is certainly worth watching. I really can't wait for this movie's release. This trailer shows us a bit more of the children than the teaser did.

Happily, the movie seems to retain the Willy Wonka disdain for the horrible children. I can only hope that Depp will be given lines as great as Wilder's, such as "Open your mouth a little wider when you talk."

I particularly enjoy the transformation of Mike Teevee from the gun-slinging television-obsessed child to the violent video game addict. I'm usually not a huge proponent for alterations on the silver screen, but that one not only more accurately depicts what Dahl was trying to point at, but it also is more prevalant today than ever before.

One other thing that makes me happy is that the chocolate river actually looks like chocolate when Gloop falls into it.

Nonetheless, I still think that the teaser was more fun, particularly because of the music. Possibly an altered Oompa Loompa song?

I'd like to see a Gene Wilder cameo in there somewhere, but I don't see any such credit listings yet. I did notice that Christopher Lee will have a role (and likely a small one, based on the character name).

Good times. Can't wait.