After his fantastically funny turn 21 Jump Street, I was hoping to see Channing Tatum do more comedy, and the trailer for 10 Years looks like it will be pretty funny — but I was surprised that it seems to have a little depth, too, not to mention a really strong supporting cast.
You can get the gist of the story from the trailer, of course, or read the official synopsis:
Jake (Channing Tatum) is deeply in love with his girlfriend (Jenna Dewan-Tatum, his real-life wife and Step Up co-lead), ready to propose – until he runs into his high school flame (Rosario Dawson) for the first time in ten years. Jake’s friend Cully (Chris Pratt) married his cheerleader girlfriend, and has been looking forward to the reunion so he can finally apologize to all the classmates he bullied in high school. However, after a few too many drinks, the jock-turned-family man ends up reverting back to his old ways instead. Meanwhile, longtime rivals Marty and A.J (Justin Long and Max Minghella) spend the night still trying to one-up each other to impress the coolest girl in class (Lynn Collins), who now has a secret. The famous one of the group, Reeves (Drive‘s Oscar Isaac), is now a well-known musician, but is still too shy to talk to the high school crush (Kate Mara) who inspired his one hit wonder.
10 Years was written and directed by Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall). Aubrey Plaza, Scott Porter, Brian Geraghty, Aaron Yoo, Eiko Nijo and Nick Zano round out the cast. The film is out in theaters on September 14, 2012.
Mike Birbiglia and Ira Glass have turned Birbiglia’s This American Life segment, “Stranger in the Night” (from the “Fear of Sleep” episode) into a feature film called Sleepwalk with Me.
Birbiglia’s a tremendously funny comic, and the source material is so funny and so smart, that the finished film is sure to be hugely entertaining — although judging from the trailer Birbiglia’s uninspired visuals leave a tiny bit to be desired. (Cinematography counts for a lot with me! Film is a visual medium.) Still, he’s surrounded himself with a strong cast, and Ira Glass’s storytelling instincts are nigh-unparalleled.
Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn and Carol Kane co-star. Seth Barrish co-directs and co-writes with Mike Birbiglia along with co-writers Ira Glass and Joe Birbiglia.
The film is in VERY limited release, so check here, if you’d like to see it.
Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) is finally back with another black comedy. This one, Seven Psychopaths, is about “a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu.” The premise is a little goofy, but with these three guys in the lead, how could I not be on board?
Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek co-star in the October 12th release.
I’ve been on board with This Is 40 since its announcement, because Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann) were the best part of Knocked Up. Its teaser trailer was pretty good, but the theatrical trailer is flat-out great — funny, warm, and smart — and it probably speaks to me a little, because I’m only a few years away from 40.
Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, Albert Brooks, Jason Segel, Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) and Megan Fox star in the December 21st release.
Josh Radnor is the weakest link on How I Met Your Mother’s script-transcending cast — his personality is like Wonder bread dipped in skim milk. So when his feature writing and directing debut happythankyoumoreplease got solid reviews, I cocked my left eyebrow, made a mental note of it and went on with my life.
His new film, Liberal Arts, doesn’t look like anything new plot-wise: “emotionally stunted man meets perfectly well-adjusted woman who gets him to open up” thing has started to feel like a (tired) genre unto itself. Even the twist seen here in the trailer — that this may or may not end up as a romantic connection (and probably doesn’t) — seems familiar, reminding me of the Natalie Portman subplot in Beautiful Girls or Lost in Translation.
But I’ve long said that plot is unimportant — that it’s not what you do, but how you do it — and the presence Elizabeth Olsen (as the too-young girl of his dreams), Allison Janney and Richard Jenkins made this interesting. And as it turned out, the trailer has a pitch-perfect tone, and there are just enough hints of something smart, something maybe just a little bit deep… so I’m intrigued.
