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Hey everybody, Travis from the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.
Today we will be talking about two films that have become quite popular before the trailers were ever released: 127 Hours and Black Swan. Why have they become popular? Two reasons:
- The movie's director (Danny Boyle for 127 Hours, Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan)
- The subject matter (Aron Ralston being true story of survival and deranged ballerina's)
But now the time for talk and speculation about the movies is over. We finally get our first glimpse into these two highly anticipated films. First up...127 Hours.
127 Hours, as I mentioned, is the story of Aron Ralston (James Franco). He is a mountaineer who enjoys living on the edge. One day though, without telling anyone about his plans, he went canyoneering and slipped and fell down the canyon. A boulder dislodged and crushed his arm. The bigger issue than his arm being crushed was that he was pinned and couldn't escape because of the boulder holding his now crushed arm down. What makes this story interesting and why they made a movie about him is that after 5 days of being trapped, he cut off his arm with a dull blade and escaped to live and tell the tale.
Danny Boyle, who has become famous with films like Trainspotting, 28 Days/Weeks Later and Slumdog Millionaire, and Simon Beaufoy (who wrote Slumdog) have teamed up to create this true story of survival. Here is the trailer:
What do I think? Well it looks pretty good actually. I think Franco is a fantastic actor and can really pull off serious and funny well. Like Ryan Reynolds with "Buried" it will be interesting to see if he can basically do a 1 man show (there are other people but it IS about him). I believe he can pull it off and I look forward to the movie.
What do I think? Well it looks pretty good actually. I think Franco is a fantastic actor and can really pull off serious and funny well. Like Ryan Reynolds with "Buried" it will be interesting to see if he can basically do a 1 man show (there are other people but it IS about him). I believe he can pull it off and I look forward to the movie.
Next up is Black Swan.
Black Swan is an interesting one. Aronofsky, who has made a name for himself with Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler, had started a screenplay about understudies and doubles but never finished it. Soon afterwards he had watched Swan Lake and decided to connect the two, making the film about ballerina's, understudies and Swan Lake. If you know Swan Lake at all you will know that there are two main swans: the white one and the black one. The white one is innocent and the black one is more devious and sensual.
The idea of this film is that Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina who has dedicated her entire life to dance and nothing else, mostly in part to a former ballerina of a mother, suddenly receives competition for a role she wants when Lily (Mila Kunis) arrives and throws a wrench in her plans. Nina gets the role, with Lily as her understudy, but in Aronofsky fashion, things go terribly wrong. Here is the trailer:
So what do I think? Well I think it's kind of weird but extremely intriguing. I am a fan of Portman and Kunis and I think this looks like a great movie for both of them. It looks like it's going to be a mind freak, as per usual (especially the feather pulling thing at the end), but I'm really interested to see how it turns out. I'm not the biggest Aronofsky fan but I think I will like this one.
But that's my opinion. What do you think? Would you see these movies? Leave your comments below and I'll see you next time on Trailer Talk Thursday.
127 Hours looks good, and I know Danny Boyle can literally direct anything, but a story about a guy being trapped under a rock for more than 5 days, is kind of a stretch. Yet, Franco is a great actor, and can probably sell it.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan looks creepy, and actually a little scary (I mean just look at that poster), but putting Kunis in a main role is going to be bad since she still hasn't convinced me she can live down her That 70's Show days.
I'll give 127 Hours a shot since it is Danny Boyle. I am not a fan of Franco at all though. I don't think I've ever seen a performance from him that I have enjoyed. I'm just not looking forward to seeing Franco try to carry a whole film pretty much by himself.
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to Black Swan though. Love Aronofsky and have really enjoyed his last couple films. I'm actually curious to see what Kunis can do in a more dramatic role. Certainly this looks like a much more challenging role than most of the things she has done since That 70s Show. However, I don't think Aronofsky would have put her in the role if he didn't think she could pull it off.
They both look great.
ReplyDelete2 things about 127 Hours:
1) I didn't care for the back-patting at the beginning
2) I wonder if this will be more in line with the style of Gus Van Sant's Gerry or Ladder 49.
I'm anxious and slightly worried about Black Swan. I didn't watch the trailer (I don't like to) yet I did read an early draft of the script that seemed a little underwhelming. I'm hoping to see Natalie finally reach that role that can make her that more recognised...and Winona Ryder needs to be back in the game.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan is a light in these dark, empty post-Inception days.
ReplyDelete127 Hours has me because of Danny Boyle. I'm curious about the setup and how much of the film actually focus's on the before, the during, and the after. If the bulk of the movie is where he's stuck, it's going to be a doozey, though I predict there may be a few flashbacks as well.
ReplyDeleteBlack Swan has Aronofsky attached? I needn't hear much more. I'm definitely interested in anything he's doing.