Zoolander Walks the Runway

Derek Zoolander and Hansel MacDonald showed up at Paris Fashion Week the other day, as it was announced that Zoolander 2 is officially coming out February 12th, 2016. It's always a bit weird when a sequel to a movie comes out fifteen years after the first one- I know Zoolander became a cult favorite (it used to be kind of a guilty pleasure of mine), but are there that many people who were clamoring for another one all these years later? Still, I hope it's good, and just as silly as the first one.

TRAILER: "San Andreas"

Dwayne Johnson's latest disaster movie looks almost like a flat parody of those old 70's ones. The earth will literally crack open, Paul Giamatti? Really?! Like No Escape, this one produces quite a few unintentional giggles, at least in the trailer, but destruction porn always does well in the summer, so it'll probably be a big hit. Frankly, with this kind of thing, the sillier the better, so let's hope it doesn't play it too straight.

TRAILER 2: "Inside Out"

It's not the greatest trailer in the world, but at least it looks more creative than a lot of the stuff Pixar's been doing lately. That beginning part is kind of annoying though, with the rampant 75 year old male/female stereotypes- it would have been cooler if they showed an actual specific family with maybe the total opposite roles played by the parents. Inside Out comes out June 19th.

TRAILER: "Tomorrowland"

The new trailer for the mysterious Tomorrowland shows a bit more of the actual story, and for some reason this reminds me of one of those old 60's or 70's fantasy movies like Escape to Witch Mountain or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where the kids go off on this big, colorful adventure in another world. Which is kind of cool, I guess, since they don't really make a lot of live action fantasy movies strictly aimed at kids anymore. And it's Brad Bird, who directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille, so I trust him. Tomorrowland's coming out May 22nd.

TRAILER: "No Escape"

I'm sorry, but this is one of the most unintentionally hilarious trailers I've seen in quite a while. What with Sean Penn in The Gunman and now Owen Wilson in this, it seems every actor thinks he can grab a piece of that Liam Neeson "play against type as an action hero" fanbase. Does anyone who watches this find him believable as a dad trying to save his wife and kids from Asian warlords? I may have to check this out just for the entertainment value. It could be this year's Non-Stop.

Albert Maysles 1926-2015

One of the most influential documentary filmmakers of all time died today at the age of 88. A pioneer of the art form, Albert Maysles broke through in the 1960's with his brother David, by championing the style of cinema verite, notably in their 1964 film The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, which in many ways is the real life version of A Hard Day's Night, both in look and style. Other landmark documentaries the brothers produced and directed were Salesman (1968), the famous Rolling Stones concert film Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1976).

Original 1970 Gimme Shelter Trailer:

TRAILER: "Dark Places"

Not sure why this movie doesn't have U.S. distribution yet, but it's the new thriller from Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn's other novel, Dark Places. Charlize Theron stars with Nicholas Hoult, Chloe Moretz and Christina Hendricks in what looks like a mystery about past murders. It's only got an international trailer, because it will be releasing overseas this year, but so far no one wants to pick it up for release in America. I wonder if that's because it's bad.

TRAILER #3: "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

I'm losing track of what actual trailer number this is- I could have sworn there already was a third trailer, but apparently that's this one, which means the last one must have been the second...oh whatever. This new one looks like the best one, at least it gives some new footage. Still not psyched for this though- I'll be seeing it, but I think I'm just superhero'd out. I mean, it can't be all that new- villain terrorizes the population, leading up to a climactic battle involving all the heroes, with a scattering of jokes and banter in between fight scenes, right? Did I miss anything?