Trailer Tuesday: Twilight

Ever since I met a group of Twilight Moms waiting in line at Comic-Con I have been intrigued by the new teen vampire film. Based on a successful series of books, Twilight has moms and their young daughters in a mad frenzy for the film. Here's the second trailer. the film opens on Friday with fans probably already starting to line up (or at least buying their tickets) for the Thursday midnight show. Trailer courtesy of Summit films.

Trailer Tuesday: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The re-teaming of Fight Club collaborators David Fincher and his star Brad Pitt is definitely something to get excited about. Their latest effort is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a tale about a man who ages backwards. Fincher made a name for himself creating unease with films like Se7en, Fight Club and Panic Room. But his tone seems more dreamy and even a little romantic in this fantastical tale. Ading interest are Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. The film looks to be one of the more intriuguing holiday releases. The trailer premiered last week on Apple and the film is set to open on Christmas day. The trailer is courtesy of Paramount.

Trailer Tuesday Bonus: Quantum of Solace 2

The new trailer for Bond 22, Quantum of Solace recently came out so I had to put it up. This new trailer reveals more plot and lets us see a little more of the characters that will be in play in this latest James Bond outing. This trailer promotes the new release date of November 14. Can't wait to see how Daniel Craig handles his second outing as 007.

Trailer Tuesday: Changeling

You know summer's coming to an end when Hollywood starts prepping all the Oscar-worthy dramas for release. Clint Eastwood has won Best Picture Oscars for Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven, and I'm sure Universal is hoping for gold with his latest film Changeling. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins, a single mom in 1920s Los Angeles. Her son disappears and when the police bring the child back, Collins says it's not her son. The film, based on true events, played at Cannes and will play at the New York Film Festival in early October before opening on October 31. John Malkovich co-stars and Eastwood again contributes a score. The trailer is courtesy of Universal.

Trailer Tuesday: Frost/Nixon

With the Democratic and Republican conventions now behind us and the election just ahead of us, I thought I'd highlight the trailer for Frost/Nixon, the film adaptation of Peter Morgan's award-winning play. The film, as with the play, dramatizes the post-Watergate television interviews conducted by British talk-show host David Frost with former president Richard Nixon. The good news is that the acclaimed cast of Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost are reprising their roles on the big screen. The only thing that worries me is that Ron Howard is at the helm. I'm not sure he's the right director to bring this stage play to life on the screen. A presidential election year sets a good backdrop for the film. The trailer is courtesy of Imagine Entertainment.

Trailer Tuesday: Quantum of Solace

In case you haven't heard, the latest Harry Potter film (The Half-Blood Prince) has been postponed until 2009. Since Harry vacated the highly coveted just-before-Thanksgiving November 21 open date, the eagerly anticipated vampire film Twilight moved up and so too has Bond 22. The latest Bond film will now bow on November 14. So with the change of release dates, I thought that was a perfect excuse to post up the trailer for Quantum of Solace. I can't tell you how excited I am about Quantum of Solace. I have been a Bond fan since I was a little kid. I played the Goldfinger soundtrack so many times that I drove my parents insane! But after Sean Connery left the franchise I have been sorely disappointed with the actors playing Bond -- until Daniel Craig. The 2006 Casino Royale kicked ass and Craig was a hot, sexy new Bond. Quantum of Solace supposedly picks up right where Casino Royale left off, and based on the trailer it looks to maintain the same high level of gritty action and intensity.  It's so great to once again eagerly look forward to 007's next adventure, something I couldn't do for the four decades when Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were playing the role. So here's to Bond 22, may it be as good as it's predeccessor... or maybe even better. The only bummer is that I now have to wait an extra week to see it. The release date change also means they can't do the clever trick with the O's and 7 in the title at the end of the trailer for the release daye. Trailer is courtesy of Sony Pictures.

SDWFF Fundraising Screening of The Gits

The San Diego Women's Film Festival will be screening the music documentary The Gits as a fundraising event Wednesday August 20 at 9pm at the Whistle Stop Bar (2236 Fern Street, 619-284-6784). Entering its sixth year, SDWFF will kick off its 2008 festival on October 2. But the Festival, like so many non-profits this year, needs your help in raising funds so that it can continue to build on its past successes. The Gits will have its San Diego sneak preview at the Whistle Stop and will have its theatrical premiere at the Festival in October.

Directed by Kerri O'Kane, The Gits is the rousing and heartbreaking story of Seattle band The Gits, whose promising start was cut short by the tragic murder of lead singer Mia Zapata (who was rumored to have been descended from Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata).The documentary mixes musical history with murder mystery as it weaves a tale about a punk band that was beginning to distinguish itself.

Tickets are a suggested $5 donation (of course you can always give more!). I have served on the SDWFF selection committee since the Festival's inception and I value the work it has done to highlight films by women so I hope you will come out and support the festival and quality films by women by coming out to the Whistle Stop. You will also be supporting the Festival's new, dynamic curator Holly Jones whose passion for film has already been proven with her Citizen Video store. Com'on, it'll be like going to see the band play live at a bar -- you couldn't ask for a more perfect setting for a film like this.

Trailer Tuesday: Burn After Reading

The Coen Brothers -- still basking in the glow of their Oscar win for No Country For Old Men -- already have another film done and ready to open on September 12. That's one of the fastest trunarounds for these meticulous filmmaking brothers. Their latest film is Burn After Reading and concerns a disc found at a gym and containing the memoirs of a CIA agent. The disc ends up in the hands of a pair of unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it. Anything by the Coens is cause for celebration or at the very least eager anticipation. This latest effort looks to return Brad Pitt to some refreshing indie wackiness (think back to his vivid and highly enjoyable performances in Twelve Monkeys, True Romance and Johnny Suede). So with less than a month until it's release, here's a look at the Coens' Burn After Reading. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton (also fresh from an Oscar win for Michael Clayton in which Clooney was the star) and John Malkovich co-star. This one has definite potential. Trailer is courtesy of Focus Features.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The new documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired opens August 15 at the Reading Gaslamp Theaters. I just want to take a brief moment to say something about the change of ownership down at Gaslamp, which had been a Pacific Theater. When I asked publicist Jo Ellen Brantferger about the new owners and their seeming commitment to showing indie, foreign or art house films on at least one screen, here's the statement I got back: "Since Reading operates the Angelika Film Center in New York City, our film programmers are very familiar with the variety of art, independent, and foreign films that are available theatrically to U.S. audiences. Reading intends to continue showing first run commercial films at the Gaslamp 15, but hopes to enhance its programming with some art, independent or foreign films that otherwise might not have come to San Diego. In fact, in the next few weeks, Reading is opening both Man from Pearl and Sixty Six." That sounds like good news and the fact that they are finally bringing the Polanski documentary (which aired on HBO) to the big screen in San Diego is definitely a plus.

Directed by Marina Zenovich, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired recounts the scandalous events of 1977 involving Roman Polanski and a 13-year-old girl who accused the famous director of giving her alcohol and Quaaludes and then raping her. All that most Americans remember about the case is that Polanski fled the U.S. to avoid punishment but the film reminds us that the circumstances of his flight were a little more complicated than that -- he actually did serve prison time and had entered into a plea bargain but fled when the judge became more interested in publicity than justice.

Trailer Tuesday: Righteous Kill

This week's trailer highlight is Righteous Kill starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino as two veteran New York City cops. The two friends starred in 1974's The Godfather Part II for Francis Coppola but shared no onscreen time since DeNiro played the young Vito Corleone in flashbacks, and Pacino played his grown son Michael. The two did share screen time in Michael Mann's Heat (1995) but their onscreen interaction was limited to one scene. Now along comes Russell Gewirtz (writer of Inside Man) to hopefully satisfy our curiosity about what these two acting powerhouses could do together with more shared time onscreen. Gewirtz wrote  Righteous Kill with De Niro and Pacino in mind and on screen together for nearly the entire film. Let's see if they can generate even more heat this time around. Trailer courtesy of Overture Films.