I’ve added a new blog feature – movie trailer reviews. I figure I don’t get out enough to do movie reviews so I’ll just review the trailers. (Since you get to see three or four of them at a time.)
What are my qualifications? Well, I took a film criticism course taught by renowned Los Angeles Times reviewer, Charles Champlin, when I attended film school. He taught us much about film theory and even had us write up our own movie reviews. Unfortunately, my reviews earned a “C” grade or less. That’s another reason I think it best that I just stick to the movie trailers.
This past weekend I saw “Our Idiot Brother,” which was a heart-warming though slow- paced small film, not at all the laugh riot comedy that the marketing campaign portrayed. By the way, there were two stand outs in the film, Kathyrn Hahn as the idiot brother’s hippie ex-girlfriend and T.J. Miller as the ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. T.J. Miller is hysterical; a real scene-stealer. But, again I’m not really qualified to review a movie so here are the trailers I saw:
“Jack and Jill” – coming in November, 2011
The setup for a new Adam Sandler picture called “Jack and Jill,” is that Adam Sandler is annoyed that his annoying sister needs to stay with him in the upscale house that he shares with his beautiful wife, played by Katie Holmes. Well, guess who plays Adam’s sister? Why it’s Adam Sandler himself!
No. I don’t think so. This movie looks dreadful. I generally like Adam Sandler movies. I totally bought him as the sensitive, yet funny romantic lead in Bedtime Stories and in the film he did with Jennifer Anniston, “Just Go With It.” I even kind of liked the sappy “50 First Dates.” But, this is just too much. Too much Adam Sandler. Someone at the studio needed to suck it up and deliver the bad news, “No Adam. Not a good idea. Let’s try something else.”
When the trailer ended, the theater was completely quiet. I think the audience was in a collective state of shock. I wanted to yell out, “And my script sits out in the garage while this crap gets made,” but that would have required me to be a lot less shy than I am. Anyway, you’ve been warned.
“Tower Heist” – coming in November, 2011
“Tower Heist,” is a new Ben Stiller film, a comedy about workers who set out to get revenge by robbing a Bernie Madoff type (Alan Alda) who is under house arrest at the fancy high-rise where they work. Ben Stiller is the concierge, I think. Somehow he is the leader of the ragtag group he puts together, one of which is Matthew Broderick who plays the nebbish nerdy type that gets the most laughs. His character seemed sort of funny. Eddie Murphy shows up half way through the trailer. He plays the black guy. Sorry, but that’s how it comes across. He’s the dude with the criminal record who Ben Stiller gets out of prison to help plan the robbery. Really? Didn’t we just see this stereotypical set up in “Horrible Bosses” where Jamie Foxx played the ex-con who helped the three white guys plan their murders?
Anyway, I like the actors involved and usually Ben Stiller films are good, but this trailer was not promising. Either they need to re-cut it or the movie.
Okay – I think I saw a third movie trailer the other night, but frankly I can’t remember it. That’s not a good sign, I guess, for me or for the movie-trailer-making-company. I’ll do better next time.
Kristen Hansen Brakeman 
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