<div style="text-align: center;">VI | TRAILER TUESDAY | VI</div>

August 13, 2013 Jak Cryton

It’s been pretty exciting getting out to the movies lately (hoping Elysium is next on the docket). I believe I have a series title for my various reviews, and am already drafting up two movie reviews. I still have to get on some reading (recently I’ve received quite an abundance of books from giveaways and tenants moving), but the thought of that scares me. Part of me thinks if I start reading that my writing will suffer, but there’s no other way to get a review done. Same with game reviews.

Watching movies, reading books, playing games all take time. In my mind it sounds a bit very overwhelming.

In the meantime, while I hammer away a decent system of balancing those activities with other life priorities, I have a few trailers to share. Some have been out for a few weeks, while others are brand-spanking-new. I was torn on providing the teaser trailers for some of the selections instead, but I’d rather get out the newest previews available and let everyone else decide if they want to watch them (and possibly see too much) or not. Plus, when noticing that almost all of the teaser trailers were just as long as the full trailers I figured “what’s the point?”...

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (8/7/2013):

A site listed this as releasing on August, 16 2013 (hence showing it today), which isn’t accurate as it’s already in theaters. This means I should have posted it last week. Either way, I never saw the first of this series ( Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief ) and I’ve never read the books. From the sounds of it, though, some were fairly disappointed about the first films adaptation. That’s pretty standard, but many believed they wouldn’t bother continuing the film versions (It grossed almost $89 million on an estimated budget of $95 million — Is that really bad or pretty average?). Apparently that isn’t the case.

Supposedly most of the cast reprised their roles for the sequel. Whether that was due to their faith and belief in the franchise, contracts, or both is beyond me. The trailer doesn’t do much for me, reminiscent of the trailer for the first movie, though I like some of the more major actors involved. Maybe if I had read the books I’d be more excited (aside from the reviews I saw). Depending on how this movie does — or maybe it doesn’t even matter at this point — we will likely be seeing the trilogy being completed.

Seeing Nathan Fillion is in it, though, calls for at least a RBox rental!

Prisoners (9/20/2013):

This was one of three trailers I thought about opting the teaser trailers for (one movie I decided to completely wait to highlight until another time). I like the actors in this movie, and the storyline and acting seem pretty solid. I may not have children of my own, but I definitely can empathize with those who may have experienced something like this in life.

Hopefully they keep the drama and tension really tight throughout, and really amp up the emotions that would be involved in such a circumstance. The trailer leads me to believe they will. There is a lot of opportunity for amazing acting in this drama, a genre in which almost all of the actors involved possess a level — if not expert — of familiarity with.

Thor: The Dark World (11/8/2013):

Out of the latest MARVEL movies released over the past couple of years, Thor was the one that surprised me the most. I knew I would like the Iron Man franchise, and was really hopeful about Captain America: The First Avenger , but Thor I just kind of blew off. In fact, the only reason for seeing it — I believed — was because it was directly tied into The Avengers movie (which I loved despite never really being a big fan of the comics or any singular mainstay of the team). And I figured after being disappointed with Captain America: The First Avenger , how bad could it be?

I heard some people had issues with some canon associated with the comics, but being completely ignorant of almost any printing I was pretty unscathed. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised.

So now I’m in it for the long haul. MARVEL has seen to that with their crafty web of intertwining movie plots (regardless of how major or minor they may be), and I’m looking forward to watching this sequel when it’s released into theaters!

Her (11/20/2013):

This movie looks really interesting. Oddly, I don’t necessarily feel the concept is too far out of the realm of what could be a natural progression for some. Maybe I am just a tad bit too reclusive? Think what you will, but the trailer pulls me in enough to make me want to find out just how this story is told and to what conclusion.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Joaquin Phoenix (Maybe Walk the Line ?), since he went all “pseudo ” psycho with I’m Still Here (which I still haven’t seen!). He was recently cast with Amy Adams (who seems to be everywhere now) in The Master , which I’d really like to see. It seemed like a strange movie as well, but he is clearly comfortable with those types of roles.

A tragedy is that I’ve yet to see any of the movies highlighted in the trailer by the same director. Two of which ( Being John Malkovich and Adaptation ) I’ve heard really great things about (though, also that you will either love them, or hate them — I’m betting I fall into the former group), and have been on my NFlix queue for months! I better get on it!

The Monuments Men (12/18/2013):

When I heard George Clooney was working on this project — writing, directing, acting — I was pretty excited. I love many period movies and most I've seen revolve around wartime. This concept seems like a fresh, original take on the WWII era, that isn’t directly highlighting/focusing the war itself. I’m not aware of any other movie he has either written and/or directed, but there may be a handful.

I have no idea what it is about Clooney (short of knowing the only difference between him and I is a little hairiness... ), but I think he is awesome. He just has that reserved “Yeah, I know I’m a badass and that’s okay because I won’t rub it in your face” kind of look to him (I’m pretty sure that’s a “look”). I don’t even recall which movie got me roped into liking him so much.

Quick “datavault” retrieval suggests: Ocean’s Eleven , though I do recall him being Batman. I don’t know...

The Monuments Men also features the equally talented Matt Damon, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, and Bill Murray! The chemistry between some of those involved is already apparent to me within the trailer and I can only imagine how outstanding it will be throughout the entire movie. This is definitely a movie I’ll be wanting to see right away.

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Batman: Arkham Origins (10/25/2013):

It’s been some time since I’ve last highlighted a video game trailer. Back in my I | Trailer Tuesday | I episode I spoke about how the graphics in video games are becoming so lifelike that it can sometimes be hard to tell if you are watching live-action video or not. This was one that made me question that, especially in the first moments of the trailer.

This franchise has garnished a ton praise, and while I own the first (a collector’s edition), I’ve yet to play it. Maybe once this third in the series is released I will finally get around to trying them. The graphics alone are amazing, and I’ve read that each predecessor has improved game mechanics over the last. It seems evident the developers behind the franchise continue to go above and beyond with each new title in the series!

Do any of the highlighted movies catch your interest? Have you read the Percy Jackson series and/or seen the first movie? What was the last movie you saw featuring Joaquin Phoenix? Do you think (...or have you...) someone can fall in love with an artificial intelligence? If a George Clooney fan, what movie or TV series caused you to “recognize” him? Did some of that Batman: Arkham Origins look live-acted or is it just me?!