Cinematical

They say truth is stranger than fiction. To that I say "you obviously haven't seen Naked Lunch," but reality is certainly a fertile ground for film makers and today we've got five trailers for films based, to varying degrees, on real events.

The Perfect Game
I've never enjoyed watching sports so baseball movies usually leave me cold, but this one has a couple of things going for it: a true tale of a bunch of kids rising up from poverty to become world champions, and former drug culture icon Cheech Marin playing a priest. Based on true events, a former coach for the St. Louis Cardinals (Clifton Collins Jr.) takes a group of poor Mexican kids under his wing and teaches them the fine art of baseball, which ultimately leads them to the 1957 Little League World Series. There are the usual sports metaphors: "Love ain't like baseball," says Collins' character. "Yes it is," replies one of his bright eyed proteges. I'm teetering between cute and cringe-inducing on that one, but this kind of rags to riches story is pretty appealing and the period setting is pretty cool. The Perfect Game hits theaters on August 8.

Hi. I like movies by Alex Proyas. Everyone likes Dark City and The Crow, but I like I, Robot, too. Is it a visionary masterpiece like Dark City? It is not. But in 2004, it was the most seamlessly beautiful f/x spectacle I had ever seen. If there's one thing Proyas can do, it's make one hell of a great-looking movie.

By the look of the trailer that debuted at IGN yesterday, Knowing, Proyas's new sci-fi project with Nicolas Cage, will be along the conventional, expensive lines of I, Robot rather than his earlier work. The plot seems like a less-than-promising mix of Next and The Number 23, and Cage looks like he'd rather be somewhere else. But, uh... it sure looks great. And the thing that happens about a minute-and-a-half in convinces me that everything they said after September 11th about what we will and will not be able to consider entertainment from here on out has gone completely out the window. Which is just as well.

Despite my affinity for all things Proyas, I'll take yesterday's genuinely creepy trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still over this one. But at least we have some non-comic-book sci-fi to look forward to.

This may sound paranoid, but I am convinced that Thomas Jane must have made some enemies in Hollywood. The guy is talented, he has great screen presence, he's awfully easy on the eyes; and still he ends up flicks like Mutant Chronicles. If you don't believe me, take a look at the new teaser for the sci-fi thriller over on the actor's personal site, and tell me this movie doesn't look destined for obscurity.

Chronicles is loosely based on the successful role-playing game of the same name from Target Games. In Philip Eisner's (Event Horizon) script, the world has been divided into four corporations who are constantly at war. When a new plague of mutants are unleashed unto the world, an ancient society recruits a battle-hardened soldier (Jane) as humanity's last chance for survival. Joining Jane are Ron Perlman as the mystic Brother Samuel, Devon Aoki as a fellow bad-ass, and John Malkovich as the political leader Constantine.

On paper, the whole thing sounds fine; mutants, elite military squads, and pseudo-mysticism -- what could go wrong? After watching the trailer, the answer would appear to be ... everything. The film was originally announced back in 2006, but other than a quick poster release and a website, there hasn't been much attention paid to the film...and now I'm starting to understand why.

Mutant Chronicles is scheduled for release later this year.

[via Coming Soon]

The rule of thumb in this film blogging world of ours is, what goes up must come down. In other words, any trailer that finds itself premiering on YouTube can only find itself taken down from YouTube. So, for now, let us offer you what appears to be the teaser for this winter's big-budget remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, in which an alien visitor (Keanu Reeves) gives us Earth denizens a hefty heads-up that if we don't straighten up our act, he and his giant robot friend will do it for us ...

Now, I may or may not be entering spoiler territory with this following paragraph, so feel free to skip it (in that case, long story short: also stars Jennifer Connelly and due in theaters on December 12th) -- BUT, from what I can recall reading at one point, our main man's angle this time around is not concerns of nuclear warfare (that's SO 1951!), but rather more environmentally-fixated priorities. Who knew that between this, WALL-E, and The Happening that the big H'wood cared so much about the state of our planet.

On the other hand, pitched properly, green can only equal more green in their eyes.

[thanks to Film Web]

(UPDATE: the Quicktime trailer appears to have gone up.)

UPDATE: Here's the trailer in Quicktime quality.

Of all the films I'm looking forward to this fall, Blindness ranks fairly high up there. Canadian distributor Alliance has just made available a full trailer that proves to be fairly intriguing, as an optometrist (Mark Ruffalo) and his seemingly immune wife (Julianne Moore) cope with an inexplicable epidemic of sight loss.

I'm a sucker for most anything vaguely apocalyptic, and while this very well could turn out to be akin to watching the first act of Children of Men through a milk-filled mask (which I've done, mind you), the prestige behind the project* says otherwise. We have acclaimed screenwriter Don McKellar adapting Nobel-Laureate José Saramago's novel, with Academy Award nominee Fernando Meirelles directing a cast that also includes Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alice Braga, and Sandra Oh.

I must say, going off that taste and last spring's teaser, I still like the look, sound, and feel of this one, especially Moore's little retort (you know the one), and that's not to mention that any trailer which employs John Murphy's underrated score from last year's Sunshine to set a rightfully ominous tone is always fine by me. We'll get to see (sorry) what trials and tribulations await the world on September 19th.

*Not to mention Rocchi's review of the film from its Cannes world premiere.

As much as I enjoy Star Wars, I was never a big enough fan to buy fan goodies, until the LEGO game came out. Then, well, I spent hours making things out of LEGO pieces and trying to use the force to lift and arrange things. It was awesome to not only have the iconic characters to mess around with, but also to explore the environment of the movie. Now we've got Indiana Jones, but there's another big summer movie that is getting its shot in the LEGOverse -- that sweet, dark knight known as Batman.

Entertainment Weekly has posted an awesome new teaser video for the game, which showcases Poison Ivy fooling with Mother Nature, and Bruce Wayne laying the smackdown with his suitcase. If you love the movies, or the source material, you really should check it out. The best thing -- there's a character for everyone. This game showcases peeps like Batman, Robin, and Commissioner Gordon, as well as The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, The Scarecrow...

I see a whole lot of time wasting in my future. How about you?

A brand new trailer for The Wackness has touched down over at Rotten Tomatoes, and it basically covers a lot of what we've already seen from the film. I tell you, a lot of marketing is going into a flick that's opening up on six screens this Friday (all in NY and LA), so here's hoping you remember this puppy when it eventually expands to your city. It's a fun summertime flick, and with the kids now out of school and Fourth of July weekend upon us, this is the kind of movie you want to chill out with in a darkened, air-conditioned theater. Trust me. You'll dig it.

Additionally, I know we've talked tons about the music featured in the film, so here's what the soundtrack looks like. Kids of the '90s should eat this sucker up -- I know I will.

01. "The What" - Notorious B.I.G. feat. Method Man
02. "You Used to Love Me" - Faith Evans
03. "Flava in Your Ear" -Craig Mack
04. "Summertime" - Fresh Prince
05. "Can't Ya See" - Total
06. "I Can't Wake Up" - KRS-One
07. "The World is Yours" - Nas
08. "Can I Kick It?" -A Tribe Called Quest
09. "Heaven or Hell" - Raekwon
10. "Bump and Grind" - R. Kelly
11. "Just a Friend" - Biz Markie
12. "Tearz" - Wu Tang Clan
13. "Long Shot Kick the Bucket" - The Pioneers

Bonus Tracks (only on iTunes)
14. "All the Young Dudes" - Mott the Hoople
15. "Season of the Witch" - Donovan

Not three weeks ago, I made first mention of a brief and bland teaser for the forthcoming horror film, Mirrors. Now, along comes IGN Movies with a red-band trailer that, at first, didn't do much for me. Blah blah blah, Jack Bauer as security guard for old department store, blah blah, former guard grew obsessed with surrounding mirrors, blah blah -- look, even Amy Smart is yawning after all that exposition.

Oh, did I say 'yawning'? I meant 'tearing off her own jaw'. Yes, while we still seem to be saddled with a fairly ridiculous premise that's seen better and worse days, there's modest comfort to be taken that the R rating ain't exactly being shied away from. Let's face facts here, people: all it takes sometimes is a couple of nifty death scenes to make movies like this that much easier to stomach (well, some might argue the opposite).

Directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Kiefer Sutherland, you can see Mirrors (bah-dum-cha!) on August 15th.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from The Stone Angel, starring the legendary Ellen Burstyn as a woman looking to resolve the memories of her past as she nears the end of her life. Joining her on this emotional (yet somewhat comedic, as you see above) journey are a cast that includes Dylan Baker, Ellen Page, Christine Horne and Cole Hauser. The film is based on the novel by Margaret Laurence, and is directed (and adapted) by Kari Skogland. In the clip above, Burstyn, who plays a woman named Hagar, is found passed out in a shack on the beach. When her son Marvin (Baker) arrives to remove her from this situation, their exchange is classic. Check it out above, and go see The Stone Angel when it hits theaters on July 11.

Everybody has a list. And when you do what I do, you have to have more than one list. Nine out of ten times, when someone first meets me and finds out what I do for a living, they ask, "So then, what's your favorite movie?" And sometimes I chuck out a few titles, and other times I launch into this longer-than-it-should-be explanation on why one cannot have a favorite movie, or even five favorite movies. But what about 100 favorite movies? Could you name your 100 favorite movies?

Well, this dude did. In the video above, someone created a montage featuring clips from their 100 favorite movies, counting down from 100 all the way to numero uno. It's a bit schizophrenic to watch, but I've gone through it a couple times now, and there are some really fun moments in there, editing-wise. Of course you're not going to agree with all their choices (whichever ones you manage to decipher during the brief second they flash on screen), but it's a cool little tribute and, well, I'm sort of jealous. Because now when someone asks this person what their favorite movie is, they can send over this link and let the video speak for itself.

Question: What's a good amount of movies to have on a favorites list? Should everyone have a top 10, a top 20, a top 50? What number is too little and what number is too much?

I can't wait for Halloween, when I'm going to be dressing up as Batman, courtesy of Dominos. Among the pizza chain's many tie-ins with this summer's The Dark Knight are these cool pizza boxes, which include separate parts to a cardboard-costume whole. Yes, you'll have to order a number of pizzas to complete your outfit, and there will likely be grease stains all over your utility belt, but your other option is to actually buy a costume ... and go hungry.

Actually, I just remembered that I'm going to be out of the country on Halloween. But when I return, I want to see lots of you Cinematical readers fashioned in Dominos-catered Batman costumes and taking part in our annual costume contest. In the meantime, be sure to check out the Dominos Dark Knight vault, which features details on everything from a special Gotham City meal deal to multiple sweepstakes. And apparently if you order a pizza through the website, you'll gain access to other goodies, like clips, wallpapers, artwork and an exclusive new trailer ... which you may or may not be able to watch after the jump.

Who is Hancock, where is he from ... and does he know how to get jiggy wit it? (Also, why does Jason Bateman have sparkles on his face?) Yes, it's that time again -- Moviefone has unveiled another one of their fabulous Unscripted chats, and it's a tasty one. In support of their new film Hancock, watch Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman interview each other using your questions and some of their own. Usually these Unscripted sessions come with only two people, so when they've got the whole ménage à trois thing going on, you definitely want to watch. Additionally, above you will find a clip that was left on the cutting room floor and then somehow swiped up by us janitors here at Cinematical. Watch as Smith and Theron discuss kissing one another, while Bateman chimes in with his own quirky two cents.

I won't spoil the rest for you because I'm cool like that (and smooth like that, and dope like that, and chill like that) -- so head on over to Moviefone to see the rest. Hancock hits theaters on July 2.

The year was 1984: The first Apple Macintosh went on sale, Terms of Endearment won Best Picture, Ghost Busters was the year's top grossing film ... and a few guys over in the Graphics Group at Lucasfilm were about to change the world of animation forever. While The Adventures of André and Wally B. is not technically the first Pixar short film, it was animated by John Lasseter and it featured the first use of motion blur in CG animation. And if you thought the folks at Pixar forgot about this lost piece of coolness, think again: During the end credit montage in Wall-E, a small Wally B. can be spotted flying across the screen. Watching the video above is a lot of fun, if only to see how far we've come in the past 24 years since this short first freaked people out over at Lucasfilm. Also, if you like what you see above and are interested in watching more Pixar shorts, pick up the Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume I. It's a blast. Enjoy.

Oh, and speaking of: What did you all think of Presto?

"When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go."

The first trailer for Quantum of Solace (aka the next James Bond film) has just arrived online (watch above or over on Moviefone in glorious HD), and I'm totally hooked. First thing I noticed is there seems to be quite a bit more action this time around, including what looks to be a pretty slick speedboat scene. Like in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace (which picks up right where Royale left off) appears to leave us with a Bond (Daniel Craig) who still can't differentiate between what's personal and what's simply business. Once again, M (Judi Dench) continues to chase after Bond, who's still somewhat of a loose cannon.

Starring Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton and Jeffrey Wright, Quantum of Solace finds Bond on the hunt for the organization responsible for the death of his shady ex-girlfriend, Vesper Lynd. His mission eventually leads to an environmentalist (Amalric) hell bent on taking over the country's water supply. Those interested can check out the full, official synopsis after the jump.

Quantum of Solace arrives in theaters on November 7th, 2008. What do you think of the trailer?