Eddie Murphy has received a lot of flack the past few years for his choice of movie roles. In fact, even on this site, Miss Della Casa made a comment about the movie Dreamgirls that “Eddie Murphy seemed better than he was because he has sucked for 10 years.”

Well, I have just one thing to say to all of these nay-sayers: you’re all absolutely right!

What in god’s name has been going on with that man? Eddie Murphy is one of my all-time favorite actors. I mean, Beverly Hills Cop, Boomerang, Coming To America…Eddie Murphy is hands-down one of the funniest men who ever lived. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, it’s Dr. Dolittle and The Nutty Professor and Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps!!!!! What’s the deal, Eddie? Is the joke on us this time?

Now, I understand that having kids changes a man. In the latest Esquire, Dick Van Dyke says that after he started having kids, he didn’t want to do any movies that they couldn’t watch. And I understand that sort of reasoning. Really.

The only problem is that Eddie Murphy is not Dick Van Dyke. Not even close. Kid-friendly humor is just not in-line with his sensibilities. Eddie Murphy is the guy who stood up on stage covered head-to-toe in red leather and told some of the dirtiest jokes the world had ever heard before. He’s the guy who used to make fun of kid-friendly stars like Mr. Rogers and Buckwheat, and now suddenly he’s turned into the same type of actor that he used to parody so brilliantly. I just don’t get it.

I hope you’ll excuse my nerve, but I feel that I must now use this venue as a platform to start a movement. I am appealing right now to everyone reading this to please please please skip this movie. SKIP IT! Norbit may turn out to be mildly funny, and the kids will surely love it, but none of that matters. What matters is that this man is depriving us all of his god-given talents. That is why we owe it to humanity to take a stand right here and now, to send a message to Eddie that we will no longer watch anymore of his movies that end with any sort of positive moral or that require him to wear a fat-suit. The only way Eddie Murphy is ever going to stop making movies like Norbit and go back to doing the R rated comedies that he does so well is if this movie totally bombs. And I mean a complete and total flop. And for that to happen, none of us can even think of seeing this movie.

Norbit is rated PG-13 and opens February 9 (i.e. don’t go see Norbit on February 9). (Official Site)

So we’ve come to a fairly major decision here at TrailerSpy. Up until now, we’ve mainly posted trailers for movies that are opening soon, along with a bit of commentary. But it has occured to us recently that, while our commentaries are incredibly witty and insightful, we’re not exaclty offering you guys any novel information. After all, by the time we post the trailer on our site, you’ve probably seen it fifty times already on TV.

For this reason, we’ve decided to make a serious effort to bring you more new trailers, trailers that have just been released by the studios onto the internet. This will require a little bit of digging and searching on our part, but given that fact that we’re named TrailerSpy, we should be willing to do a little sleuth work.

With this goal in mind, I wanted to post the trailer for the new Adam Sandler movie, which has only been available online for a couple days. I’m pretty excited about this one, mostly because I loved seeing Sandler’s serious side in Punch-Drunk Love. I’m also damned curious to see how Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle are going to mesh together on the big screen.

Reign Over Me is rated R and opens March 23. (Official Site)

If you’re looking for me on July 13, look no further than the largest auditorium at the Loews Kips Bay cinema, where I’ll happily be watching the newest installment of the Harry Potter movies.

There’s no suspense here–obviously I can’t wait to SEE IT. The Order of the Phoenix actually looks like it may be an improvement upon the book, which is saying alot. The kids have gotten better and better with each film. And the franchise continues to attract Britain’s top acting talent. This time around, Helena Bonham Carter and Imelda Staunton join the cast that already includes Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith, and Jason Isaacs. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort was so evil, so scary, in the last ten minutes of the last installment that I can’t wait to see Voldemort with more screen time. But whatever, man, I’m just there for the Quidditch.

So now, without further ado, here is the teaser for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not yet rated and opens July 13. (Official site)

In my opinion, the quality of a movie trailer really does mean something substantial. It’s like they say: there’s no second chance to make a first impression. If a movie puts out a bad trailer, like Rush Hour 3 just did, that’s a lot like me going up to a girl and asking if she’s tired, cause she’s been running through my mind all day. After that, it doesn’t matter if I’m smart or attractive or funny…she’s never going to get past my cheesy intro.

Likewise, I think that a good trailer can turn a not-so-likely blockbuster into a box-office success. A good trailer is like an average guy stepping in and rescuing a girl from an asshole that’s being a bit too forward. After that, the girl is going to at least give the guy a shot, and she may even overlook a few of his other faults because of his initial chivalry.

The upcoming 300 movie is a prime example of the latter. Unlike the last major war epic, Troy, which was all star-power and little substance, 300 is all substance and very little star-power (I’m guessing that Brad Pitt and Eric Bana have a few more fan websites devoted to them than Gerard Butler and Lena Headey). And yet, dispite the lack of bankable stars, this movie is expecting to be a huge hit. And why is that? Because everyone who’s laid eyes on this trailer has been blown away. It’s artistic, it’s powerful, and it leaves you with the distinct impression that the film is going to be awesome.

After the long string of epic war movie flops, I haven’t been that anxious for 300 to come out. However, thanks to this great trailer, I’m definitely going to SEE IT now.

300 is rated R and opens on March 9. (Official Site)

I just wanted to post this trailer real quick because I think it’s so awful that it deserves to be shared. I stumbled across it on cinematical and the movie blog, who both shared my contempt for it.

This trailer just hit the internet, so it’s really the studio’s first chance to get people excited for this film, and I think it fails miserably. I actually loved both Rush Hour 1 and 2, and I’ll probably see #3 in the theatres regardless, but this trailer doesn’t exactly highlight the assets of the franchise. I mean, the reason I liked the first two is because of (a) Jackie Chan’s amazing fight skills and (b) Chris Tucker’s comedic stylings. So what do they decide to show in the trailer? A long-winded intro about France and then a clip of the two men singing in the back seat of a car. Not good.

I wonder if Brett Ratner had anything to do with this trailer? I’m guessing he did.

I have a very fond memory of the night I first saw Pulp Fiction back in High School. This mainly has to do with the fact that I was with Beth Ritchie, a girl who was blatantly out of my league and who two years later went on to become Homecoming Queen (not that she acknowledged my existence at that point). But a big part of my memory has to do with how amazing Pulp Fiction was, especially that first time I watched it. I don’t think I had ever seen another movie that was so unabashedly cool before.

Since that time, I’ve tried hard to find another movie that equaled the coolness of Pulp Fiction, and like many of us, I’ve been fooled a few too many times by slick-looking trailers and unwarranted hype. (2 Days in the Valley is a perfect example.) This is sort of like trying to duplicate my luck of going out with the future Homecoming Queen, only to find out that the girl I was with is actually a Drag Queen.

The point is, I’ve become very skeptical over the years of movies that claim to be the “coolest film since Pulp Fiction.” And this is exactly what Smokin’ Aces has tried to bill itself as.

It’s sort of a shame that I’m so skeptical, because Smokin’ Aces does have a lot of things going for it. First and foremost, it’s got Jeremy Piven, and I’ve been a huge Jeremy Piven fan since before he had hair (and I’m so glad that Entourage has given him the opportunity to be more than just John Cusack’s sidekick in films). Smokin’ Aces is also the next project from the writer and director of Narc, which has somehow earned the simultaneous distinction of being both a movie that everybody loved and a movie that nobody saw. And lastly, the trailer for Smokin’ Aces does actually look kinda, well, cool.

But alas, I refuse to waste more money on another “coolest film since Pulp Fiction,” only to find out that it’s actually dumber than The Big Hit. It’s like our great president once said…fool me once, shame on you; fool me again,…uh…well, you can’t get fooled again!

There’s a slight chance that Smokin’ Aces may turn out to really be as cool as the trailer suggests, but I’m personally going to wait until I RENT IT to find out.

Smokin’ Aces is rated R and opens on January 26. (Official Site)

The Oscars are coming, the Oscars are coming! Oscar mania officially kicked off this morning when Salma Hayek announced the nominees. (In case you missed the telecast, one of the best moments was Salma’s reaction to the news that her pal Penelope Cruz got a nomination.) I couldn’t have been more thrilled that Dreamgirls was shut out of the top categories, and that Little Miss Sunshine swooped in instead. Ryan Gosling snagged the darkhorse nomination for Best Actor, and now I must rent Half Nelson. How many members of the Academy will vote for Sacha Baron Cohen for Best Adapted Screenplay just so they can hear his speech?

Need more Oscar? Check out reactions from Carpetbagger, Rope of Silicon, Best Week Ever, and DVD Times.

Since I started writing for TrailerSpy, I’ve learned something very interesting about myself. It turns out that I’m a complete sucker for sequels.

I’m actually rather ashamed of this fact. I know enough about movies that I realize the only reason studios make sequels is because they know that suckers like me will show up in droves just to see another glimpse of a character that they’ve already fallen in love with. Which is probably why they rarely put as much effort or passion into the sequels as they did for the original. And why should they? They know that we’re still going to pay the money regardless of how good the product is.

But what can I do? I can’t sit at home while I know that the object of my affection is at the local multiplex kicking ass and taking names, can I? If Rocky Balboa wants to drag his wary old body into the ring, I’m gonna go see it. And if Indiana Jones wants to use his arthritic wrist to snap his whip one last time, who am I to object? Hell, I’d probably watch these characters wash their laundry if the studios decided to put that up on the big screen.

Which brings me to John McClane. Bruce Willis’ portrayal of John McClane in the first Die Hard has to be among my five all-time favorite movie performances. Ever since he took on that entire gang of machine-gun toting foreigners (in his bare feet!), I’ve been hooked. I mean, John McClane was single-handedly taking down terrorists/criminals back when Kiefer “Jack Bauer” Sutherland was playing second-fiddle to Emelio Estevez in Young Guns. And even though this latest film has John McClane improbably saving the entire country (with only the help of “Mac” from those Apple commercials), well, I can’t help but watch.

I may be a sucker, but Live Free or Die Hard is definitely a SEE IT for me. I’ll always love you, John McClane. You had me at Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

Live Free or Die Hard is not yet rated and opens on the 4th of July. (Official Site)

I briefly wrote about The Italian in the Weekend Preview, but I regretted not posting the trailer. I hadn’t heard of this film until researching that weekend’s movies. The Italian is not a movie that will have a marketing budget, so you won’t see commercials for it.

Six-year-old Ivan is an orphan in Russia. He has a chance to be adopted by an Italian couple, but instead he runs away to find his birth mother. You can’t help but root for this kid. The trailer is stark and simple, and a great example of how music can be used effectively.

Also known as Italianetz, The Italian was made in Russia in 2005, and it has now been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. Like I said before, foreign films that make it stateside are often the best of the best. The Italian is only playing in two cinemas in New York, so I am going to RENT IT.

The Italian is rated PG-13 and is playing in a few theatres in the US. (Official site)

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