Clint Eastwood released two movies this year that covered each side of the battle of Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers, the American side of the story, was released in October and flopped at the box office. Letters From Iwo Jima is told from the Japanese point of view. I give Clint Eastwood a huge amount of credit for making both movies (simultaneously, by the way) when he could have stopped after Flags.

I generally shy away from war movies because I hate watching people suffer, but the buzz from Letters From Iwo Jima is too loud to ignore. (Despite all the buzz, I hadn’t seen one commercial or one trailer until now.) Awards season is in full swing, and it is an early frontrunner for Best Picture. Plus, it stars Ken Watanabe, on whom I developed a huge crush after watching The Last Samurai.

The beautiful thing about the movie awards season is that it forces me to get out of my comfort zone and see truly great films that I otherwise might have missed. Letters From Iwo Jima could be one of those masterpieces, so I am going to SEE IT.

Letters From Iwo Jima is rated R and is currently playing in very limited release. (Official site)

I’m back! As Tal wrote earlier, I was trapped in the land of dial-up for the week. Many thanks to Tal for his always stellar posts and for keeping traffic up during the holidays.

Even though I didn’t get to do any blogging, it was still quite a productive vacation, as I found time to see The Holiday, The Pursuit of Happyness, and The Good Shepherd.

The Holiday was mildly amusing, but at two hours and fifteen minutes long, it was a half hour longer than any romantic comedy should ever be. Kate Winslet can do no wrong, Cameron Diaz got on my nerves, and I’ve never found Jude Law attractive until now. RENT IT, but only if you really like Nancy Meyers‘ movies.

The Pursuit of Happyness was time and money well spent. Will Smith’s performance was incredibly moving and his son Jaden is the real deal. This movie will make the problems in your life seem small. SEE IT.

The Good Shepherd has a cast that screams “Oscar bait”: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, William Hurt, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, and Joe Pesci. De Niro directed it, and he fell under the classic curse of the superstar director–nobody told him his movie was TOO LONG. This movie clocked in at a whopping two hours and forty minutes. There were entirely too many confusing subplots and I didn’t like any of these characters enough to spend that much time with them. I would have seen it eventually, but take my word for it and SKIP IT.

After watching this trailer, I found myself with an intense, visceral anger boiling up inside of me. But my anger wasn’t for any of the reasons you may be suspecting. It wasn’t that the plight of these characters intensely moved me or that my anger toward the Iraq War was reignited from watching the trailer. The reason that I felt so angry was because the makers of this film have so obviously screwed up one of the most important movies to be released in a long, long time.

No matter what you may think of the Iraq war, you have to admit that what’s going on over there is extremely interesting and dramatic, and you also have to admit that the stories of the soldiers who are coming home is perhaps even more interesting and dramatic. Therefore, it seems like a no-brainer that Hollywood would come out with at least one great movie about the spectacle that is the Iraq War and/or the heartbreak that is the life of the Iraq War veterans. And now, finally, here it is, Home of the Brave, the first ensemble piece about the soldiers of the Iraq War and what it’s like when they return to their “normal” lives in America.

Which is why I’m so dumbfounded that this important milestone in American culture could be so royally fouled up. First off, the cast of this thing looks like a WB reunion, with 50 Cent thrown in the mix to add a couple of extra dimples. Secondly, the “drama” depicted in the trailer sort of makes me want to shoot myself. And lastly, the only major movie that the director, Irwin Winkler, has previously directed was the Sandra Bullock debacle, The Net. In fact, the only reason that I’m even willing to watch the trailer for this thing is because Samuel L. Jackson happens to be in it.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, my recommendation for Home of the Brave is to SKIP IT.

Fortunately, there are a boat-load of other Iraq War movies streaming through the pipeline, so maybe there’s some hope. However, that still doesn’t excuse them from messing up this first, and therefore most important, offering.

Home of the Brave is rated R and opens January 5. (Official Site)

-posted by Tal.

I’m not a real big fan of Teasers (Teasers, for those of you who aren’t in the know, are the first trailers that studios put out in order to create an initial buzz about a movie who’s release is a long way off…they’re basically the trailer for the forthcoming trailer). The problem I have with Teasers is that you can make any movie look amazing with a few random flashes of imagery and that proufound movie voice interjecting the whole way through. In my opinion, it’s better to just show two or three minutes of actual movie clips and let that speak for itself.

But I’m making an exception here because this one is just too good not to share with you guys. I don’t know of a single person who isn’t anxiously awaiting Quentin Tarantino’s next film (officially titled Grindhouse), and now that they released the first trailer, I just have to post it, even if it is just a Teaser.

Again, it’s basically impossible to make a Teaser that doesn’t get you excited for a movie. But even with that fact in mind, this one gets me more excited than I’ve been in a while. Quentin Tarantino plus Robert Rodriguez, old school style, no holds barred… Anyways, take a look.

Grindhouse is not yet rated and opens April 6. (Official Site)

-posted by Tal

I understand why they chose to remake this 1974 horror film right now, and I fully support the decision. For the past decade or so, American cinema has been in serious need of a new horror-movie villain. I mean, Freddy Krueger and Jason and that guy from Halloween were all superb, but after the twentieth or so sequel and after they even started fighting with each other (Freddy vs. Jason), well, it’s become painfully obvious that their times have come and gone. So clearly we need a new homicidal freak to terrorize us, and Black Christmas is trying hard to be the movie franchise that carries on the torch.

On a more personal note, I also support the decision to put six attractive sorority sisters in a house and let them run around in their underwear while our villain tries to kill them. That’s just good clean fun.

For these reasons, it would seem like Black Christmas should be at the top of my list of movies to go see this holiday season. And yet, I find myself with almost no interest in seeing this film.

I suppose then main reason I’m not interested in this movie is because of the trailer. The trailer just doesn’t excite me one bit. The action doesn’t seem that scary; the killer doesn’t seem that interesting; and I can’t for the life of me figure out why those girls don’t just leave the damn house. Now, it’s possible that the movie isn’t as bad as it looks in the trailer, but since this site’s called Trailerspy.com, I really do have to give the trailer a certain amount of weight in deciding how to rate the movie.

So with that in mind, I’m going to have to say RENT IT. I really don’t feel like Black Christmas is going to be that great of a film. However, if you’re a true horror buff, it may be worth renting, if only because the other horror movies that have come out recently haven’t been very good either.

Black Christmas is rated R and opens on December 25. (Official Site)

-posted by Tal

So I just got word from Julie that she’s currently trapped in the world of Dial-Up (a.k.a. her parents’ house in Florida) and won’t be able to do anything with Trailerspy while she’s down there.

This is interesting for two reasons: 1) I wasn’t aware that Dial-Up still existed. And 2) It means that I’ve been given complete administrative control over Trailerspy for the next week.

This is a lot like when your High School teacher used to leave the classroom and put the most responsible student in charge for a few minutes. Except in this case, I’m not really that responsible. So for the next week, anything goes. Foreign films, Documentaries, Wedding Videos… You name it, I’ll review it. We’re about to get buck-wild in this joint.

What’s that? Julie will be able to read all my posts when she gets back? Oh. Well then, I probably shouldn’t do anything too crazy. Hmm…I guess that means there really won’t be that many changes in the next week. Except for maybe a few spelling mistakes here or there. Sorry to get your hopes up.

-posted by Tal

So I’ve watched the trailer for Night at the Museum about ten times now, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what rating to give it. I think that my basic problem is that I can’t figure out what type of movie this really is.

The theme of this movie (a security guard trapped inside a museum that literally comes to life at night) is clearly a very child-friendly theme. However, the cast of the movie (Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais…) seem more appropriate for the next Todd Phillips project than for a heartwarming kiddy flick. With all three of those guys, especially Wilson and Gervais, the humor is usually on a far more cerebral level that doesn’t seem like it would register as well with children. In fact, the only real hint that this movie is really directed toward kids (other than the plot) is the presence of Robin Williams, who’s made more G-rated movies than Barney.

So this is why I’m stuck. Personally, I have no desire to see a children’s movie about a museum that comes to life. With all the other amazing pre-Oscar movies coming out, this one seems like an obvious throwaway. On the other hand, I’ve never yet missed an opportunity to watch Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson riffing off each other (and bringing Ricky Gervais into the mix seems like a splendid idea). Plus, the reality is that the trailer does actually look funny. Perhaps Ben Stiller fighting with a monkey is meant to make children laugh, but it made me laugh pretty hard, as well.

With all that in mind, I guess I’m going to have to say RENT IT. My feeling is that Night at the Museum might actually be a good movie, but it’s probably not worth paying ten dollars for. However, I am going to put this one caveat on my rating. If you find yourself stuck with the family this holiday season, and there are kids and grown-ups all trying to agree on one film to go see together, I think that this is probably the perfect choice. The kids will certainly be enthralled by the plot, and the grown-ups will probably be entertained by the actors. On the other hand, if you’re just a couple of guys or girls looking for a laugh, I say skip this one for now and watch it when it comes to DVD.

Night at the Museum is rated PG and opens December 22. (Official Site)

My friend Rachel told me that she wouldn’t check out my site again until I reviewed Charlotte’s Web. So, Rachel, this one is for you.

Charlotte’s Web was originally published in 1952, but technology is now at a point where a faithful live-action film version can finally be made.

Paramount and Walden Media have assembled a truly all-star cast, which is easy when most of their roles only require a few days of voiceover work. You won’t see them, but you’ll hear Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, Oprah Winfrey, John Cleese, Kathy Bates, Thomas Haden Church, Robert Redford, and more. Steve Buscemi sounds exactly as I’d always imagined Templeton the Rat would sound. As much as I love Julia Roberts, though, she sounds like she is reading aloud at story hour. I don’t see Charlotte; I see a spider and I hear Julia Roberts.

Dakota Fanning lends some star power to the live-action cast. She is the only person who is young enough to play Fern and guarantee a big opening weekend. It’s nice to see her in an age appropriate role, unlike her next project. She has the rest of her life to be an adult.

The bottom line is that it is always difficult to make a good book into a good movie, and it is even more difficult when the book is as beloved as Charlotte’s Web. I mean, come on, who hasn’t read the book? But doesn’t that trailer just give you the warm fuzzies? Don’t we all need more miracles? It looks like this is going to be Some Movie, so I say SEE IT!

Charlotte’s Web is rated G and opens on December 15. (Official Site)

-posted by Julie

My general opinion is that movies about dragons are better in concept than in practice. I mean, who doesn’t like dragons: they fly, they spit fire, they have magical properties when you puff them… And yet, I can’t think of a single dragon movie that I’ve actually enjoyed (the most recent being Reign of Fire).

This particular dragon movie, Eragon, is an adaptation of the book by Christopher Paolini, the first in the so-called Inheritance trilogy. I haven’t read the book, but I’ve heard that it’s good and I’m guessing that the large fan base from the book was a big reason for the movie getting made. That and the fact that a lot of people see the Inheritance trilogy as the heir apparent to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Unfortunately, I’m guessing that Eragon won’t be as good as everybody hopes it will be, and I for one blame the dragon. The special effects look pretty good in the trailer, and I love John Malkovich, but once I see that dragon, I lose interest. Dragons work well in books, where our imaginations can make them as magical and scary as the story requires, but once they get up there on the big screen, fully detailed and exposed, they lose all of their mythical powers.

So if you like dragons, my advice is to read the book. As for the movie, I say SKIP IT.

Eragon is rated PG and opens on December 15. (Official Site)

–written by Tal

Remember when movies used to use the “Introducing” credit? When a little kid or new discovery was in his first movie, the producers would always say “Introducing” in the main credits. It’s such a cool credit, and you can only get it once.

So now I would like to introduce the newest contributor to TrailerSpy, my buddy Tal. (Hey Tal, picture it in five foot tall letters: INTRODUCING.. TAL!) Tal is a good friend who prompted me to get TrailerSpy back up and running, and he suggested that if I recruited a few friends, the site would be updated regularly. He’s a great writer with a secret blog hidden somewhere, and I’m glad to have him here.

Show Tal some love by leaving him some comments. He loves comments. We all love comments here at TrailerSpy, as long as they are not spam.

You can check out all of Tal’s posts by checking the site regularly or by clicking on the “Tal” category.