Trailer Talk Thursday: Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Melancholia

by TJMac510 · April 15, 2011 · Uncategorized · 2 Comments

Hey everyone, Travis of the Movie Encyclopedia here with another edition of Trailer Talk Thursday where I bring you the latest trailers to hit the silver screen.

Since my last post there has been talk about three trailers non-stop: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Cowboys and Aliens and Melancholia. Whether it’s on the radio, on TV, or on the internet it seems I can’t escape these three trailers. Now Cowboys and Aliens I can understand. I covered the teaser a while back but any fan of my site knows that Cowboys and Aliens is one of my most anticipated films of 2011 and looks to be incredibly awesome. If nothing else we have Han Solo and James Bond fighting aliens. But the other two I can’t really see all the hype behind. With RotPotA it looks interesting but more people seem interested in WETA Digital’s input and technology used in the film more so than the film itself. As a gamer I’m used to nonstop graphics talk but shouldn’t a film be based and judged on it’s quality as a film and not by it’s graphics and technology? I guess not in this tech driven world. And with Melancholia I understand the hype since Lars von Trier is a controversial man who makes films that really push the boundaries of taste but his latest film doesn’t really seem to push that many boundaries. It just looks like an end of times movie. But more on that later.

First up Rise of the Planet of the Apes-

I guess it’s only appropriate that Andy Serkis’s last hit role was playing a man named Monkey in the game Enslaved. Why? Because he is playing Caesar, the leader of the Ape Revolution and the ape behind the initial attack on humans. RotPotA is the origin story in a planned reboot of the series. It details how apes came into power and how they suddenly became more evolved than us. James Franco (you heard me right) plays a scientist who is working on the cure for Alzheimer’s and is using apes as the test subjects. One of the apes (Caesar) takes really well to the serum, becoming more advanced intellectually and mutating into a more evolved being and not just another animal. And you can probably guess what happens next. If you don’t know then go ahead and go watch the original series. But not the Tim Burton remake…anything but that.

Here is the trailer-

It looks halfway decent but honestly I go back to my point of graphics over quality. Can the film stand on it’s own merits and not just be another pretty film without any depth? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if it’s any good.

Next up is Melancholia-

Lars von Trier’s last movie Antichrist has became a very polarizing film. Most people either see it as a masterpiece of art cinema or as a wildly controversial and, at times, unwatchable (not in the bad sense but in what happens during the film) film. His newest movie looks, in my opinion, slightly safe. I mean I understand it’s about the end of the world and it will end with everything being destroyed (Lars said it already and seems to not care about whether or not people know this) but in terms of content it seems pretty mainstream. Now don’t get me wrong this isn’t a totally bad thing, as it may bring him more fans who were put off by the content and quality of Antichrist. I’m just saying for a guy who’s last film had a demonic fox eating itself (and much more) two sisters bickering and drifting apart while dealing with other personal issues doesn’t seem like the kind of film he would make. Now not much else is known about the film, and honestly I think Trier wants to keep it that way, but from what I’ve seen it does actually look good. I am a big Sutherland fan as well as a big Hurt and Dunst fan so to see them together is great. My only complaint, besides the safe thing (and that’s a very tiny one at that) is that they seem to whisper a lot. If 2009′s Public Enemies taught me anything it’s that whispering constantly or for long periods of time becomes tedious to sit through. But they probably won’t be whispering when the sky comes down.

Here is the trailer-

Well we can only wait and see but I do want to see this for sure.

These are just my opinions though. Leave your comments in the section below and tell me what you think and I will see you all next week on Trailer Talk Thursday.

Tags: Melancholia, Stop the Planet of the Apes... I want to get off, trailer talk

2 Responses to Trailer Talk Thursday: Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Melancholia

Strange Kid says:

April 15, 2011 at 12:31 pm

I kinda liked the Tim Burton remake, though I admit that it could have been much better. This new trailer looks interesting, it’s the first I’ve heard or seen of the film. Looks like sort of a prequel which could be fun.

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Richard Kirkham says:

June 16, 2011 at 5:09 am

The trailer is interesting to me because the scope of the story is broadened and there appears to be an emotional connection being made that will let us empathize with the Apes. The tech stuff is fine, but what draws me to the trailer is the pacing and the set up that it gives us for the movie.

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