If, like me, you were wondering what was up with Jack Nicholson’s bald head at last year’s Academy Awards, the answer is The Bucket List; where he plays a cancer patient who buddies up with Morgan Freeman. Both men are terminal cancer patients sharing a hospital room and behaving like typically grumpy old men, until Freeman introduces his “bucket list”: a list of things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket. “Cutesy,” is Nicholson’s snide reply, and I’m inclined to agree.

The two men decide to do the bucket list, which includes such madcap adventures as skydiving, racing cars, and riding a motorcycle on top of The Great Wall of China. Then things take a somber turn when they discover what should actually be on the bucket list: reconnecting with their estranged loved ones. Nicholson eventually gets angry at Freeman for butting into his life; Freeman calms him down with his gentle, no-nonsense demeanor (how I wish he’d tell Nicholson to “get busy living, or get busy dying”, but I don’t see that happening). I would imagine they then kiss (or at least buddy hug) and make up, then eventually die.

So the feeling I’m left with from the trailer for The Bucket List is how I feel about most Rob Reiner films: that I’ll wait for it to show up on TNT or TBS one Sunday afternoon and I’ll watch it then. But since there is no “wait for TV” option here at Trailer Spy, I’ll say RENT IT, out of respect for film veterans Nicholson and Freeman. This movie with any lesser actors would be an automatic skip it for me.

The Bucket List is rated PG-13 and opens December 25. (Official site)

In general, I’m not a huge fan of movies based on comic books. I assume it has something to do with that whole being a female thing. But Batman is definitely an exception. Why? Because Batman kicks all kinds of ass, duh!

I loved the first two Batman films (the Tim Burton ones). Then came the two horrifying sequels that brought us such gems as a batsuit with nipples. But all was forgiven when Batman Begins was released. Christian Bale was a fantastic Bruce Wayne and a badass Batman. Michael Caine was perfectly cast as his sweet and sour butler, Alfred. And they’re both returning for The Dark Knight, along with Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Heath Ledger as The Joker. Even the weakest link from Begins (that would be Katie Holmes) is getting replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I never understood why it was necessary for Batman to even have a love interest in every movie, but at least Gyllenhaal is 80 shades of awesome. The only downside to this movie is that I have to wait another year to SEE IT. But I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I am fully prepared to once again dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

The Dark Knight is not yet rated and opens July 18, 2008. (Official site)

Looking for the Cloverfield / 1-18-08 trailer? It’s here.

Did you look really closely at the end credits of the trailer for Gone, Baby, Gone? Blink and you’ll miss it, but the end screen says “directed by Ben Affleck.” Though Affleck is making his directorial debut, I’m pleasantly surprised by how good Gone, Baby, Gone looks.

Gone, Baby, Gone certainly has a great pedigree. It’s based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris consistently do good work, though it is strange to see Harris with hair. Casey Affleck may be benefiting from being the director’s brother, but it looks like he can carry this film.

I’m rooting for Ben Affleck to surprise everybody with rave reviews. I certainly can’t wait to SEE IT.

Gone, Baby, Gone is rated R and opens on October 19 in limited release. (IMDb page)

Here are two new romantic comedies that both seem worthy of RENT IT reviews.

First is No Reservations. Top chef Kate, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, is high maintenance, overworked, overstressed, and the closest relationship she has is with her sauté pans. When her sister dies suddenly (presumably in an auto accident), Kate takes in her niece, played by Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin. Then to add to the stress of new and unexpected motherhood, she has to deal with a new sous chef in her kitchen, who happens to be a flirtatious cutie and distracts Kate from the only thing she knows how to do: cook like a maniac.

The story of a career-driven single woman being thrust into the role of “mother” and attempting to have a romance isn’t a new one (Baby Boom and Raising Helen both come to mind). But while the story may not be revolutionary, I do like the cast. Zeta-Jones is lovely and can play high maintenance well, Breslin is cute and talented without being irritating and precocious, and Aaron Eckhart is adorably perfect as Kate’s new love interest/kitchen rival. Certainly not worth my $11, but worth a lazy Sunday afternoon on my couch.

Next is The Feast of Love, which appears to be a series of interweaving vignettes on the subject of love (sort of like Love, Actually). There’s the guy whose marriage is ending because his wife has fallen for another woman. Then there’s the new girl who gets a job at a café owned by that guy, and attracts the attention of the dreamy-eyed boy behind the counter. Then the first guy (with the lesbian wife) falls in love again, but with a woman who isn’t available. Are you following me? No? Well, that’s OK, because we have Morgan Freeman telling these stories to some white woman he appears to be involved with, and I’m sure he’ll explain it all to us.

While the trailer for The Feast of Love feels a little disjointed and incoherent, I’m going to give the movie a chance when it’s out on DVD. I had the same feeling of “what the hell is this” when I first saw the trailer for Love, Actually, and that movie became one of my favorite romantic comedies when I finally conceded to see it. Plus Feast has a pretty decent cast, featuring the afore mentioned Freeman, Greg Kinnear, and Selma Blair.

No Reservations is rated PG and opens July 27. (Official site)

The Feast of Love is rated R and opens in limited release September 14. (IMDB page)

When I was a kid, my brother and I had two favorite cassette tapes that we listened to over and over again. One was an Ice-T album, which we loved because it was the filthiest shit our young ears had ever heard before, and the other was the Bill Cosby routine where he imagines how Noah probably reacted when God told him to build the Ark.

I recently listened to that old routine again (you can check it out here if you’re interested), and it’s still pretty damn funny. And the reason it’s still funny is because it’s still hilarious to think about how a normal guy would have reacted to some voice in the sky telling him to build a giant boat in preparation for an upcoming flood (personally, I would have checked myself into the nearest mental institution).

This brings me to Evan Almighty.

When I first heard that they were making a sequel to Bruce Almighty, I was pretty excited. Bruce Almighty was surprisingly entertaining, and replacing Jim Carrey with Steve Carell is a brilliant idea. But then, when I saw the trailer and realized that the story-line centers around Carell’s character building an Ark, I nearly climaxed.

As you may know from my post on The Reaping, I’m a big fan of using biblical events as gimmicks for films (I’m pretty sure God would have used CGI to write the Bible if the technology had been available at the time). And the story of Noah building a giant Ark purely on speculation of a possible flood is really one of the best stories in that whole book. What’s more, the idea of bringing that story back to life in modern times (and with the comedic slant that’s implied in the story anyways), well, that’s nothing short of genius.

It does concern me a little that the trailer makes the movie seem like a remake of The Santa Claus. However, I’m just going to ignore that fact and go SEE IT anyways. After all, if there’s one thing the story of Noah’s Ark taught us, it’s that we have to have faith in the creator.

Evan Almighty is rated PG and opens June 22. (Official Site)