So I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making a fake trailer for a while now, but I didn’t have any good ideas.

But after my watching my 21st debate, as well as way too much Hardball, it finally hit me.

This trailer is a mash-up of the Election Trailer (Reese Witherspoon, 1999, etc.) and a whole lot of footage from the 2008 presidential race. It looks like Tracy Flick is all grown up now…

I’m guessing you’ll be able to figure out who I’m rooting for in this brawl between Clinton and Obama. I realize this trailer won’t sway any votes for my man Barack, but it’s my way of showing some moral support. Plus, it was fun to make.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.

And as always, feel free to comment here.

If you’ve ever taken the time to read TrailerSpy’s “About” page, then you have way too much time on your hands. But also, you would have noticed that Grosse Point Blank is one of my favorite movies of all-time. I own the VHS (google it) and I’ve watched it more times than I care to admit publicly.

Anyways, a couple weeks ago, I was reading some guys blog, and he said that John Cusack’s new movie, War, Inc. looked like Grosse Point Blank 2. And I remember thinking, “Yeah right buddy, nice try.”

But then I saw this new trailer, and I have to say that the similarities are suddenly undeniable.

After all, John Cusack is once again playing a hit-man, and once again, his sister is playing his head-set wearing, foul-mouthed assistant. Dan Aykroyd is in this one as well (although this time they’re on the same team). And once again, he’s having morality issues and delaying the hit that he was sent to perform (this time on a foreign oil minister). Obviously there are a number of differences, but for the most part, Cusack’s character and the tone of the movie look to be exactly the same.

The truth is, this movie was bound to be a SEE IT for me, anyway. I love John Cusack, and the idea of him humorously tackling the Iraq War and the whole terrorist thing is music to my ears. But now that I see this movie for what it really is, a clever non-sequel sequel to one of my favorite movies, well, I am beyond excited.

War, Inc. is rated R and opens in limited release on May 23 (although the IMDB Page says that the DVD premiere is July 1st…are they serious?!! They’re really just going to do a pseudo straight-to-DVD for this movie?!! Maybe these guys just don’t like making money, because I guarantee this movie would gross at least $10 million on opening weekend. Hopefully they rethink that, so that my SEE IT doesn’t involuntarily become a RENT IT, because I’m just dying to pay someone, anyone, $11 to see this movie on the big screen. Alright, I’m done complaining now.)

While I’m not working on TrailerSpy, I actually make my living as a scientist. And on more than one occasion, I’ve heard my scientist friends exclaim that someone should make a movie about life inside the lab. And not some Hollywoodized movie about a horrible genetic experiment gone wrong, but an actual drama about what it’s really like to be a scientist working in the research world.

But whenever I’ve heard this proposal, my response has always been the same: “It’ll never happen.” And it’s not that there aren’t some interesting story-lines that take place in a real laboratory. It’s just that the realities of science do not jive with the realities of Hollywood. I mean, what’s the chance of Hollywood making a movie about a bunch of socially awkward, not-so-attractive intellectuals, grinding out experiments in relative solitude?

But then I saw this trailer for Dark Matter, and I’ll be damned if Hollywood hasn’t just made a movie about what it’s really like to be a scientist working in the research world. Granted, they’ve obviously taken a few creative liberties, and it’s obviously dramatized quite a bit. But in general, it really does look like a pretty realistic depiction.

And what I’m really impressed by is the fact that the lead-character is Asian. Granted, it’s based on a true story, but they could have easily changed the character to a European and then just taken a well-known Hollywood star, slapped a pair of glasses on him, and given him an accent. But instead, they made a movie about a very real phenomenon in science: an Asian immigrant who joyfully comes to America, only to work for an overly critical boss, who pressures them into spending 24/7 in the lab, at the expense of their both family’s and their own well-being (I’ve had more than a few co-workers who fit that description perfectly).

Since Dark Matter is going to have a limited release, I’ll probably just RENT IT when it hits DVD. But I am definitely very intrigued by this movie. And kudos to Meryl Streep for joining the cast and giving this movie some leveraging power. I doubt it would have even gotten its limited release without her.

Dark Matter is rated R and opens in select cities on April 11 (Official Site).

There is a major shift taking place in Hollywood right now, and for some reason, I was completely oblivious of it until today.

There was a time in Hollywood when actors were clearly differentiated into three categories. Comedic actors appeared in comedic movies, dramatic actors appeared in dramatic movies, and action stars appeared in action movies. Period.

I guess the first major deviation from this occurred when Robin Williams was cast in Good Morning Vietnam, and since then, pretty much every major comedic actor has tried his hand at dramatic acting. More recently, dramatic actors have also been dabbling in comedies (Robert De Niro, John C. Reilly, etc.). But up until very recently, action movies were still reserved for guys whose muscles were far more impressive than their acting chops (Arnold, Sly, etc).

I’m not sure when this started to change exactly, but telling by the global outcry over Daniel Craig’s selection as the newest Bond, I’m thinking it wasn’t that long ago.

But this year, the phenomenon has been taken to the next level: Superhero movies. There are two major Superhero movies coming out this summer (Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk), and by some strange imbalance in the universe, they’re both being helmed by tremendous actors (Robert Downey Jr. and Edward Norton). I for one have no idea how this shift occurred, but I can tell you this: I’m absolutely loving it!!

I love Superhero movies, and it can only improve them to put some actual actors in the leading roles. And if you compliment their acting skills with all that glorious CGI and other special effects (as they clearly did with this movie), well, I don’t know about you, but I’m giddy just thinking about it.

I guess it goes without saying that The Incredible Hulk is a SEE IT for me. And I do hope that everyone else will see it as well, just so that Hollywood will be persuaded to keep this miraculous new trend alive.

The Incredible Hulk is not yet rated and opens June 13. (Official Site)

I wasn’t that excited about this film at first, but with every new piece of footage I see, I’m quickly coming around. I have to admit, these new international trailers look pretty damn cool. Those Wachowski brothers sure do know what they’re doing.

International Trailer #1:

International Trailer #2:

I must be getting a bit cynical in my old age because my first thought after seeing this new trailer for The Onion Movie was “Fox is a bunch of idiots…they would have made a ton of money if they’d just released this thing into theaters 5 years ago.”

Of course, if you don’t know the story behind The Onion Movie, you probably don’t understand that thought at all, let alone why it’s cynical. So perhaps I should give you a quick history lesson.

Basically, a while back, the writers of the satirical newspaper “The Onion” had a brilliant idea to make a movie that loosely followed the format of their highly successful newspaper. And so they did just that, and the movie was set to be released in 2003 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Except that the movie was so god-awful that Fox refused to release it, and eventually they dropped the movie all-together. Then in 2006, New Regency Productions bought it, and now, in 2008, it’s finally being released…straight to DVD!!

But here’s the thing. This trailer looks pretty damn funny. And most people (myself included) love The Onion. And thus, by my estimation, the movie would have made a ton of money in the opening weekend alone, even if the movie was, in fact, complete trash.

So that’s why I think that Fox is a bunch of idiots.

But here’s the other thing. The reality is that Fox did the right thing. They had a mediocre product, and instead of promoting the hell out of it and trying to make a quick buck, they took the high road and didn’t release it at all. In other words, for once, Fox acted as though they actually had some semblance of moral integrity.

Which is why I now feel cynical, because the reality is that I still think that Fox is a bunch of idiots for passing up on all that cash.

Then again, I suppose I’m the biggest idiot of the bunch. Because, despite having the knowledge that this movie probably is going to be one of the worst films ever created, I’m still going to RENT IT. Why? Because it’s impossible to hear a movie industry story like that and not take a look to see what all the hype was about. Plus, as I said, I do love The Onion.

The Onion Movie is not yet rated and the DVD release date has not yet been announced. (IMDb page)

Last year, when we were still only a blog, Julie tried a fun (and I think successful) experiment, posting her commentary on the Academy Awards ceremony in real-time. Well, since Julie is currently gallivanting around South America, this year the live-blogging honors have been bestowed upon our very capable writer, Rachel.

So hopefully you guys will come back to the site around 8pm EST and play along with us. Rachel’s a very witty girl, and I have no doubt that her running commentary will be nothing short of transcendent (not to put any pressure on her or anything).

The live-blogging will take place on this page here. It’s blank at the moment, but soon it will be filled up. Oh yes, it will most definitely be filled up.

Oh, and if you guys would like to respond to anything Rachel says, or point out some of your own insightful observations, please feel free to use the comments section of this post as your own personal microphone. We here at TrailerSpy love some good audience participation.

Enjoy the Oscars everyone!

The more trailers I watch, the more I feel like it really ain’t that hard to make a good one. For those aspiring trailer makers out there, I’ll tell you what I think are the three most important things to consider while making your trailer: Music, Music, and Music.

There’s a misconception out there that movie trailers are supposed to be mini-movies. In other words, you take the best dialog and drama and comedy from your movie, and you cram them into a two and a half minute short. However, in my opinion, a good movie trailer isn’t a mini-movie; it’s a Music Video.

Trailers are a medium far different than a movie. They’re not meant to teach you anything or move you or surprise you. They’re just meant to pump you up for the future film. So I say, leave the heartwarming drama and the intriguing twists for the actual movie, and instead, just make a fun little music video. Pick out a couple catchy tunes, throw in some flashy scenes, finish it off with a witty one-liner, and vuala, a sure seat-filler.

And with that, I give you the trailer for Street Kings. It’s the best trailer I’ve seen in a long while (which automatically makes the movie a SEE IT for me). And I don’t say that because I like the Speed/Training Day feel they got going on, nor because I’m a die-hard House fan and love the idea of seeing Hugh Laurie on the big screen. The real reason I love this trailer is because of the music. It’s perfect.

And speaking of music, if you’re like me and you just have to know what songs are playing in a trailer, I’ll clue you in.

The song in the beginning is Lupe Fiasco’s “Put You On Game.” And the song at the end is RZA’s “Fatal,” from the Blade:Trinity soundrack.

Street Kings is rated R and opens April 11. (Official Site)

Oh, and as always, you can leave a comment here.

In my post for Dan in Real Life, I stated that I was officially experiencing Steve Carell overload. Which is still true. By my estimation, Steve Carell has starred in about 200 movies over the past year (OK, so it’s actually only 4 or 5, but it does feels like a lot more).

I guess that’s why I was so quick to discredit his new movie, Get Smart. That is, until I saw this trailer.

The idea behind Get Smart is pretty simple: bumbling idiot becomes international spy. However, the idea behind casting Steve Carell in this role is nothing short of brilliant.

Get Smart is essentially a live-action version of Inspector Gadget. Or to put it in terms of more modern pop-cultural phenomenon, Get Smart is what would happen if Michael from The Office became an international spy. Which is exactly why this casting is so spot on. There’s a lot of good comedic actors around these days, but none of them do the self-righteous moron character quite as well as Steve Carell does. And this movie seems to be the natural progression for Carell’s self-righteous moron character. In other words, if you think he was funny running an office, wait till you see him trying to save the world…

So I guess that Get Smart is going to be a SEE IT for me. Granted, I still wish that Carell would tease us a little more by making fewer movies. However, this is certainly one of the movies that he should have made. And from the looks of the trailer, I expect it to be damn funny.

Get Smart is rated PG-13 and opens on June 20. (Official site)

When I first came across this trailer for What Happens in Vegas…, let me tell you that I was somewhat less than enthused. By now, I’ve seen so many mediocre movies about a young couple getting married that just the thought of watching another one kinda makes me want to gouge my eyes out. In fact, I can think of two such movies just starring Ashton Kutcher (Just Married and Guess Who)

In other words, watching this trailer was simply a formality before I wrote a scathing Skip It post.

But then something unexpected happened: I laughed. Twice.

And thus, I find myself in a somewhat awkward position. You see, I really have no desire to see another romantic comedy about the perils of an ill-advised marriage, especially not one starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. And yet, this trailer did sort of crack me up. In fact, the twists depicted in this trailer (particularly the part about winning 3 million dollars) makes me think that this movie might actually be better than the hundreds of other similarly themed movies. So I ask you, what’s a guy to do?

I guess when I really search my soul about it, there’s only one solution to my dilemma: I’m afraid I’m going to have to RENT IT. It’s certainly possible that the only funny moments were the ones shown in the trailer. But in the off chance that there are more just like them, I’m willing to make space for it on my Netflix que. Only time will tell if that was the right decision or not.

What Happens in Vegas… is not yet rated and opens May 16. (Official Site)

Feel free to Tell Us Your Opinion.