Undoubtedly the biggest trailer release of the week is the Coen brothers’ “True Grit.” Starring Matt Damon, Jeff Bridge, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper, this short peek looks to be part “No Country for Old Men” with shades of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” I’m normally hesitant to embrace remakes, but the Coens have proved their hand at the modern western and Roger Deakins’ cinematography looks to be in top form. Also, if there’s one person who could play John Wayne’s iconic Rooster Cogburn and still bring something fresh to the role, its Jeff Bridges. Look for it this Christmas and check out the trailer below.
As “The American” just proved, Hollywood is still churning out films about deadly assassins on a pretty regular basis, as the public always seems at least somewhat interested in movies about mysterious killers. “Wild Target,” a British film about an aging hitman who’s paired with pair of unlikely companions through a series of unlikely events, aims for that demographic once more. Starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, and Rupert Grint (presumably trying to avoid being typecast as a ginger wizard for all eternity), the trailer comes off as too much wacky and not enough dark humor. “The Matador” handled questions of aging and morality in the wet work profession, while the underrated “You Kill Me” already introduced a dark-humored, romantic subplot, so “Wild Target” will have to work to add anything to an already crowded genre.
Although a few weeks old at this point, I still feel compelled to post the trailer for “The Fighter,” the movie about the early life of my favorite boxer “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother/trainer Dickie Eklund. It comes off as a bit too “Rocky” at points, but also captures Ward’s journeyman attitude and take-no-prisoners style of fighting, which eventually captured him three “Fight of the Year” awards from Ring Magazine. The only downside is that the movie doesn’t seem to include anything about Ward’s famous trilogy of fights with the late Arturo Gatti. While regrettable, I’m still interested to learn about Ward and Eklund’s tumultuous upbringing and relationship, so I’m pretty excited for this.
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