This Week'sTrailer Park. (Play at Home!)
We're going to kick off this week's Trailer Park with the trailer of a film that could go down as my favorite movie of this year. Be Kind, Rewind stars Jack Black and Mos Def as a pair of video store clerks who accidentally erase every VHS in their store when Black becomes magnetized. What's better is that after the movies are erased, rather than purchase new copies, Black and Def get the bright idea to stage crude recreations of their more popular videos. Hilarity ensues as the team embark on lo-fi renditions of such former big budget hits like Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, The Lion King, and one of my personal favorites, RoboCop. How f*cking cool is that?
Be Kind Rewind
The next film in our line-up is My Kid Could Paint That, a documentary on the life of Marla Olmstead, a 5 year-old art prodigy whose paintings have sold for over $300,000. Controversy erupted, however, when journalists accused Marla's father, a frustrated artist himself, of ghost-painting all or part of his daughter's work. I have to say, judging by the trailer, the paintings Marla did 'paint' look far more impressive the ones she creates on camera. Looks like the father even gets upset with the filmmakers as they demand to film Marla create one of her paintings from beginning to end. I am curious as to how this one will turn out.
My Kid Could Paint That
You can file this next trailer under a category of 'Indie Out the Ass'. Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) plays Lars, a man who is in love with an extremely realistic sex doll - or 'real doll - much to the dismay of his friends and family. Making matters worse, Lars apparently believes that his 'real doll' is a real girl, hence the title. This all sounds great and all, but I really don't believe it. The trailer features scenes of friends, family, and even random members of the community putting up with this absurdity, and while it would be fine if Gosling were an ancillary character in a Adam Sandler comedy, when they play it for real in this trailer, I just don't buy it. Why would they let Gosling's character take what is essentially a sex toy into an elementary school? This is essentially tantamount to a middle school band director using a dildo as a baton in the middle of a concert. If I know anything about elementary school parents, and I do, they would be kicking Lars' head in right when they found out what happened, regardless of how 'real' his sex doll looked.
Lars and the Real Girl
Since it's phenomenal success last year, several studios have been vying for the title of 'This year's Little Miss Sunshine.' Perhaps it is because Sunshine was a low-budget indie comedy that made loads of cash, but if any movie deserves the title, I would wager that it would probably be Dan in Real Life, which features Sunshine'sSteve Carell in dramedy mode once more. Carell plays, you guess it, Dan, a single father and popular advice columnist who is always heckled by his brother Mitch, played by hack comedian Dane Cook. While visiting his family, Dan falls for a girl named Mary (Juliette Binoche), who as fate would have it, is dating Mitch. I hope this story ends happily, because nothing would cheese me off greater than to see Dane Cook walk away with the girl.
Dan in Real Life
Of all the previews on this week's edition of Trailer Park, Right at Your Door is the biggest revelation. I don't know how this one slid under my radar, but Door stars relative unknowns Rory Chochrane and Mary McCormack as a married couple living in L.A. When a dirty bombs erupt all over the city. Chochrane's character is ordered by police and military to barricade himself in his house, and seal all doors and windows with plastic sheeting and duct tape. The only problem is, his wife is trapped outside. Moral complications ensue. This all reminds me of a conversation I had with my wife during the whole avian flu controversy last year. I told her I would ignore the quarantines and be at her side if she caught the almost terminal illness, to which She replied, "That was a stupid idea!" Call me a romantic, I guess. Anyway, I welcome the indie genre films that test human relationships in the middle of unthinkable scenarios, and this one looks like a keeper. Maybe if Right at Your Door is successful, someone will take the initiative to make a film based on The Road.
Right at Your Door
Be Kind Rewind
The next film in our line-up is My Kid Could Paint That, a documentary on the life of Marla Olmstead, a 5 year-old art prodigy whose paintings have sold for over $300,000. Controversy erupted, however, when journalists accused Marla's father, a frustrated artist himself, of ghost-painting all or part of his daughter's work. I have to say, judging by the trailer, the paintings Marla did 'paint' look far more impressive the ones she creates on camera. Looks like the father even gets upset with the filmmakers as they demand to film Marla create one of her paintings from beginning to end. I am curious as to how this one will turn out.
My Kid Could Paint That
You can file this next trailer under a category of 'Indie Out the Ass'. Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) plays Lars, a man who is in love with an extremely realistic sex doll - or 'real doll - much to the dismay of his friends and family. Making matters worse, Lars apparently believes that his 'real doll' is a real girl, hence the title. This all sounds great and all, but I really don't believe it. The trailer features scenes of friends, family, and even random members of the community putting up with this absurdity, and while it would be fine if Gosling were an ancillary character in a Adam Sandler comedy, when they play it for real in this trailer, I just don't buy it. Why would they let Gosling's character take what is essentially a sex toy into an elementary school? This is essentially tantamount to a middle school band director using a dildo as a baton in the middle of a concert. If I know anything about elementary school parents, and I do, they would be kicking Lars' head in right when they found out what happened, regardless of how 'real' his sex doll looked.
Lars and the Real Girl
Since it's phenomenal success last year, several studios have been vying for the title of 'This year's Little Miss Sunshine.' Perhaps it is because Sunshine was a low-budget indie comedy that made loads of cash, but if any movie deserves the title, I would wager that it would probably be Dan in Real Life, which features Sunshine'sSteve Carell in dramedy mode once more. Carell plays, you guess it, Dan, a single father and popular advice columnist who is always heckled by his brother Mitch, played by hack comedian Dane Cook. While visiting his family, Dan falls for a girl named Mary (Juliette Binoche), who as fate would have it, is dating Mitch. I hope this story ends happily, because nothing would cheese me off greater than to see Dane Cook walk away with the girl.
Dan in Real Life
Of all the previews on this week's edition of Trailer Park, Right at Your Door is the biggest revelation. I don't know how this one slid under my radar, but Door stars relative unknowns Rory Chochrane and Mary McCormack as a married couple living in L.A. When a dirty bombs erupt all over the city. Chochrane's character is ordered by police and military to barricade himself in his house, and seal all doors and windows with plastic sheeting and duct tape. The only problem is, his wife is trapped outside. Moral complications ensue. This all reminds me of a conversation I had with my wife during the whole avian flu controversy last year. I told her I would ignore the quarantines and be at her side if she caught the almost terminal illness, to which She replied, "That was a stupid idea!" Call me a romantic, I guess. Anyway, I welcome the indie genre films that test human relationships in the middle of unthinkable scenarios, and this one looks like a keeper. Maybe if Right at Your Door is successful, someone will take the initiative to make a film based on The Road.
Right at Your Door
posted by Joe Scott at 8:24 AM
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