I must be getting hard up from some decent movie releases, because I actually find myself drawn to this trailer for an animated children’s movie. Granted, it looks like it’s slightly edgier than your average kid’s movie, but still…

Igor tells the story of, well, Igor, the fabled hunchbacked lab assistant from the various Frankenstein movies. Turns out, there are many mad scientists out there, each with their own personal Igor who they belittle and abuse. One Igor in particular (voiced by the amiable John Cusack) is tired of being treated so poorly, and decides to break out of his mold and try his own hand at inventing something that will win him the annual evil science fair. Throw in a couple of kooky sidekicks, and you have one irreverent “triumphing against all odds” movie.

While I doubt Igor will be worth an $11 movie ticket (it ain’t Pixar, after all), I’ll probably eventually RENT IT.

Igor is not yet rated and opens September 19. (Official site)

One of my favorite things about writing on TrailerSpy is the opportunity to give more attention to small but deserving movies that might otherwise pass you by. Charlie Bartlett is one of those movies, and I hope it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of the summer blockbusters.

In the dog days of summer, I long for a movie with three-dimensional characters, witty dialogue, and an intelligent story. From the trailer, it looks like Charlie Bartlett will more than fill the void left by spiders, pirates, and robots.

See it for Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Anton Yelchin holding his own in the title role. See it for all the small, smart movies that fade into the background. SEE IT so that studios will realize that we’re still aching for good movies.

Charlie Bartlett is rated R and opens on August 3. (official site)

If you like historical action movies rife with historical inaccuracies, The Last Legion may be your cup of tea. It tells the story of the fall of the Roman empire and the beginning of the legend of the sword in the stone (aka the legend of King Arthur). There are lots of dirty men in breastplates with swords yelling a lot and one mandatory hot chick. Why there must always be a hot chick in every action movie, I’ll never know, but there she is anyway.

Despite this lackluster trailer, I’ll probably still RENT IT for one reason. Colin Firth. The same sort of admiration/respect/lust I have for Daniel Day-Lewis, I also have for Colin Firth. Unfortunately, it looks like he was completely miscast in this movie. Colin Firth can be a dramatic lead, a love interest, and even quite funny (in that dry, British sort of way). But can he be an action hero? My Spidey-sense says ‘no’, but I’ll still give him a chance. It can’t be any worse than Nanny McPhee, right?

The Last Legion is rated PG-13 and may or may not open on August 24 (there’s some debate going on about the US release date). (IMDB page-the official site is in Russian)

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)

I won’t lie to you–I only want to see Rescue Dawn because of my deep and abiding love for Christian Bale.

Christian Bale lust aside, Rescue Dawn is the farthest thing from a chick flick. This is a definite war movie where Bale and Steve Zahn are trapped in a Vietnamese war prison. In March, GQ put Bale on their cover and touted him as next year’s Best Actor. With all the drama and suffering, he’s got a good shot. Plus, Bale is a guy that uses a different accent in every movie, and Rescue Dawn is no exception.

SEE IT for Christian Bale’s performance.

Rescue Dawn is rated PG-13 and fittingly comes out on the 4th of July. (official site)

I’m definitely a bit torn with this one. On the one hand, it’s got John Cusack, and I rarely miss a chance to see Big John up on the big screen. On the other hand, it’s a horror movie, and I rarely miss a chance to skip a horror movie.

When I heard that 1408 was actually the number of the hotel room where the entire movie takes place, I was relieved because I figured I was off the hook. But then I saw this trailer, and I have to admit, it does looks really good.

I don’t know… I think I may just have to drag my wimpy butt to the theater to SEE IT.

1408 is rated R and opens June 22. (Official Site)

Ah, how I love the logic of Hollywood producers. “Well, Jason Biggs made a ton of money in American Wedding, and Isla Fisher made a ton of money in Wedding Crashers, so if we just put them both in another movie with ‘Wedding’ in the title, it’s guaranteed to be a success!”

I have to admit, I was definitely against this movie when I first heard about it. And it was more than just the backwards Hollywood logic; there’s a whole lot of other concerns that immediately popped into my head. For one thing, I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough to accept that a girl who looks like Isla Fisher would go for a guy who looks like Jason Biggs. And secondly, the premise is just preposterous…a guy on the rebound asks his waitress to marry him, and she says yes!! I mean, come on now.

At least, those were my initial thoughts.

After watching this trailer, however, I’m starting to reconsider my position. First and foremost, I forgot how much I like Jason Biggs. When I watched this trailer, I immediately got a warm fuzzy feeling seeing Biggsy back in action. And as for the implausible premise, this trailer actually convinced me that it might work. After all, a guy like Jason Biggs would do just about anything to get a girl like Isla Fisher, and Isla Fisher plays the crazy girl so well that I actually believe that her character would say yes to some random customer that asked her to marry him. Plus, the movie does look pretty damn funny.

I’m still not sold enough to pay $11, but I am absolutely going to RENT IT. And I’m hoping that this movie begins a much deserved comeback for Biggs. The guy is a hell of a comedic actor, even when he’s not having sex with a pie.

Wedding Daze is rated R and opens August 17. (Official Site)

I get frustrated sometimes when I see the people that we choose to “celebrate” in our society. It’s sad to know that the next album Britney Spears puts out will probably go platinum, and yet there are so many talented musicians out there who can’t even get a record contract. And it’s depressing to know that Nicolas Cage’s new movie will probably gross a couple hundred million, and yet so many really good actors are out doing off-Broadway plays, struggling to even get noticed.

But then every once in a while, miraculously, we seem to get it right. Every once in a while, we celebrate people because they’re talented and not just because they’re, well, celebrities. And every once in a while, you see a celebrity who actually seem like they’d be a nice person in real life and not a jackass.

That was my first thought when I saw the preview for The Ex. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that a movie starring Zach Braff, Jason Bateman, and Amanda Peet will probably be a huge success. If I had to make a list of the top ten celebrities I’d most like to hang out with, those three would all be on that list.

So yeah, The Ex is definitely a SEE IT for me. With three of my favorite actors and a trailer that makes the movie look hilarious, I don’t really see a whole lot of downside. Plus, there’s nothing I love more than some good wheelchair humor. I mean, if we can’t make fun of crippled people, who can we make fun of? Am I right? Anyone? OK, maybe not.

The Ex is rated PG-13 and opens May 11. (Official Site)

In The Nanny Diaries, Scarlett Johansson plays Nanny, a character eager to begin her life as a nanny to a wealthy Manhattan family, the Xs, played by Laura Linney (who I’m not sure is mean enough for the role of Mrs. X) and Paul Giamatti (who is completely absent from the trailer). She gets all the luxuries of playing house on the Upper East Side, without the responsibility of having to pay for the lifestyle. It’s all very The Devil Wears Prada meets Mary Poppins (minus the singing chimneysweeps). What’s not to love?

Well, a lot, apparently. The parents of her young charge are never around, she is constantly humiliated in front of the could-he-be-any-cuter boy who lives in the same building, Mrs. X tells her to her face that she isn’t good enough for said boy, and she is being spied on through a nanny-cam installed in a teddy bear. What is Nanny to do? She can’t quit, or so she says, for she has grown to love the little boy she cares for and she won’t leave him with parents who seem to have forgotten he even exists.

The Nanny Diaries is based on the 2002 best-selling novel of the same name. I have read the novel, so it’s impossible for me to watch this trailer and not make comparisons to the book. The book was written as a comedy-drama that often focuses on how absentee parents can affect a child’s development. The film, on the other hand, is being billed as strictly a comedy. Oh, those wacky rich folks! They’re just so busy being fabulous that Nanny gets into all sorts of wacky hijinx while caring for their son. But wait…are neglectful parents something to laugh at? Is a twenty-something girl unwittingly thrust into the role of “mother” really that funny?

Since I love to see films based on books I’ve read and play the compare/contrast game, I’ll see this one, but I’ll wait to RENT IT with my boyfriend (you may know him as Netflix).

The Nanny Diaries is rated PG-13 and opens on April 20. (Official Site)

UPDATE: The new release date for The Nanny Diaries is September 7, 2007.

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Sandra Bullock has made a career with heartfelt romantic comedies and the occasional light action movie. She’s worked with a number of Hollywood’s most successful actors. Now that she is trying to get away from what’s worked for her, she is stumbling a bit. Her movies that are outside of the standard romantic comedy genre, such as Murder by Numbers, have been received with mixed results. Critics were also confused by her sci-fi fantasy romance, The Lake House. I was wondering, will her next film bring her back to familiar territory?

It seems the answer is, no.

Her latest movie, Premonition, has the eerie opening common in trailers these days: Darkness, smoke, a big house, foreboding voiceover. The doorbell rings and the plot begins to unfold: Linda’s (Bullock) perfect life is shattered; her husband Jim (Nip/Tuck’s Julian McMahon) has just died in a car accident. And of course it can’t be a run-of-the-mill accident; clearly the filmmakers had some budget lying around to stage a tanker truck jackknifing and blowing to smithereens. After this terrible day, Linda wakes up the next morning to discover Jim alive, in the shower. Rinse and repeat. In the ensuing days (the time span appears to be about a week), she learns that her marriage was not the bed of roses it appeared. Some days Jim is dead; some he is alive. Linda seems to have experienced a premonition, where the actual event hasn’t occurred yet. There is insinuation of an affair with a co-worker (the mysterious blond woman). Was Jim cheating on her? Was he going to leave her? Somehow, Linda has the capability to change the future through her premonition, and the trailer foreshadows a decision on her part at the climax. Now that she suspects her husband is a cheater, should she even try to change destiny on his behalf? Unfortunately, nothing in this trailer is making me want run to the nearest theater and find out what her decision is.

Perhaps the trailer is not doing the film justice, but I have a feeling that many of Sandy’s fans will leave this film less than satisfied. The lack of a strong co-star (McMahon had supporting roles in television shows like Profiler and Charmed in recent years) and a confusing plot deviate away from the formula that has made Bullock such a success. It’s admirable that she has been branching out and choosing unusual projects; unfortunately, with the exception of Crash, these don’t seem to be getting the visibility and critical acclaim we would hope for her. In my opinion, there’s nothing here to warrant logging theater time with this one. The trailer gives away a lot of potential surprises, sports a weak supporting cast and a wending, confusing plot.

Verdict: RENT IT. And keep re-watching the part with McMahon in the shower. Yum.

Premonition is rated PG-13 and opens on March 16. (Official Site)