british
03/16/2007
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
As an American, it's hard to truly grasp the intensity still felt over the past century's Anglo-Irish "troubles," especially since the British perspective has dominated the media. But this weekend, just in time for St. Patrick's Day, we get a chance to see Ireland's side of the story.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley dramatizes the 1919 Irish War of Independence, told from the point of view of two brothers who join the Irish Republican Army. Although the film's been very successful critically, this trailer leans too much on big drama and antique pistols, coming off as overly melodramatic and perhaps a bit boring.
I do think it's interesting to see a new perspective on the subject. And no matter where people side in terms of this conflict, maybe we can all unite under one belief: that Cillian Murphy is just the prettiest.
12/04/2006
Hot Fuzz: International Trailer
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, the dudes behind Shaun of the Dead, finally stop teasing us and release a full trailer for Hot Fuzz, which promises to do for buddy cop movies what Shaun did for zombies (specifically, whack them in the head with a cricket bat).
In the film, badass supercop Pegg is set loose in a quiet English village with a strangely high "accident" rate, and uses a lot of semi-automatic weapons (plus a dim-bulb partner, played by Shaun co-star Nick Frost) to solve the mystery. How exactly semi-automatic weapons will help stop a serial killer remains to be seen, and it's a bit hard to buy Pegg as legitimately hardcore. But the genius of Shaun of the Dead was that instead of just parodying zombie films, it managed to poke gentle fun at the genre while still making a legitimately scary horror flick. The buddy cop movie isn't quite as due this mockery, but Pegg and Wright seem to know what's important about it -- lots of car chases and explosions. Oh, and guns. Lots and lots of guns.
So as long as they can keep the adrenaline pumping and the comedy flying, Hot Fuzz shouldn't find it too hard to kick some March box office ass.
Related: Nick Frost in One Night Stand
