Trailer Trash (Geek-out Edition): Days of the Winter Hobbit Lego

Trailer Trash is Austin Schumacher and Jake Cannon.

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Alright guys!  We are up and at ’em again!  It appears that Hollywood sees fit to continue to release trailers, so it is our dutiful job to check them out and give you all the deets on what we think of them.  Normally, when Jake and I check out these trailers, we come up with a couple that we really like as well as a couple that we’re not huge fans of.  However, this time, I think that we’ve really got a good thing going.  This round, I gotta admit you’re going to hear a lotta good things from us concerning the newly released trailers.  We’re really geared up, and we’re hoping to get you excited too.  Needless to say, it’s a good day to be a movie trailer.

…. Let the trash talk commence!!

X-Men: Days Of Future Past by Jake Cannon

Before The Avengers, before Iron Man, there were the X-Men. It could be argued that they helped pave the way for the likes of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and the gang. Now we’re seeing something different. First off, Xavier died in The Last Stand. It’s going to be interesting seeing as how in the post-credit scene in The Wolverine Xavier tells Logan (Hugh Jackman) “He’s not the only one with gifts.” How they are going to explain this, I can only guess.

But let’s look at the trailer itself. It’s very different from other superhero trailers in a few ways: one, there are no sound effects, just music. And beautiful instrumental music at that. Two, almost all the shots are close, giving a more intimate feel. What do I mean by intimate?  There’s an interesting dichotomy, Austin noted, of joining the old and new trilogy together. It’s a very comic book thing to do. We see familiar characters mixed with a few new characters. The new X-Men will certainly be more diverse and I think more story driven. There wasn’t a whole lot of action in the film other than the stereotypical shot of the Wolverine shirtless getting shot. We hear nothing but voices guiding us along, almost like Need For Speed we noted in the last “Trailer Trash.” Needless to say this next X-Men installment, from the trailer, seems like it will be character focused (hence why the close shots being compared to intimate).  Could this also be signaling the end (or reboot) of the X-Men franchise if they do one more film with the X-Men: First Class cast, essentially rounding it out?

The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug by Austin Schumacher

Gotta say, this is actually quite long for a trailer, which, Jake observes, is only foreshadowing the actual length of the film.  He also would like to take a moment to point out the score that plays at the opening of this trailer.  While the instrument playing remains unknown to us, the music itself is captivating.  As far as this trailer goes as a whole, it really shows a kind of ebb and flow, truly displaying a roller coaster of dynamics.  It cycles from long takes to action, then slows back down only to pick it up again.  Finally, you think the trailer’s over, BUT NO!!  Let’s pick up the pace one more time!!  While this may sound somewhat repetitive, it really works quite well for this trailer and keeps it moving through the length of the segment.

From a storyline perspective, I must say that this appears to be a different Hobbit than we grew to know from the first movie.  The tone and shots are much darker in this trailer and features a score that is far more dramatic as opposed to the light-hearted attitude of the first movie.  Taking a look at where this lands in the overall storyline, the change to a darker atmosphere makes total sense.  I think that this will help provide some contrast to the first piece while maintaining a enough continuity to make it a lovable movie.  Granted, it may not be the drama that The Lord of the Rings was, but it looks like we may get some hints at that style again.

Finally, I will take a brief moment to comment on Legolas (being a crossover character from LOTR) especially concerning his apparent beau.  Not much is known about Legolas in the lore of Middle-Earth, so I find this choice rather interesting.  Considering that this chick does not come into play at all in LOTR, it does make me wonder.  While some may argue that this is a separate movie, I would like to point out that Peter Jackson is taking pains to maintain continuity between The Hobbit and LOTR even by dipping into the Appendices of LOTR (still canon) in order to do that.  While I am a fan of that, there is still no mention of this she-elf in the LOTR movies.  So, in light of all this, I’m projecting a death scene somewhere in the future.  Maybe this movie, maybe the next, but I’m calling it; it will happen.

The Winter Soldier by Austin Schumacher

Here we have the first trailer (and I believe even the UK version) for this installment to the Marvel franchise, and I gotta say… I love it.  One thing that Jake pointed out initially is the mystery that seems to surround the villain.  He is never named.  Granted this is still a first trailer, but we have quite a bit of footage of the villain, but we have no idea who he is (or if it is a “he”…shocker.)  The only thing we do know is that s/he will be at least a match for Capt. America as evidenced by the shield catch at the very end of the trailer.  However, this does not appear to be the only battle that Steve Rogers has to face.  Paralleling the TV series Agents of Shield, Marvel is bringing up some questions regarding national security, policing, and secrets.  What I really like about that, however, is that the opinions presented are on opposite sides.  While Agents of Shield seems to defend government security, this one really seems to attack it as being too much.  Rogers himself exclaims, “This is not freedom. This is fear.”

What’s also interesting about this surrounds the view of Capt. America himself.  Many people will view him naturally as a kind of embodiment of America.  It’s in his name, he wears the colors, and seems, for the most part, to strive for the moral high ground, willing to sacrifice in order to do the right thing.  Steve Rogers is ‘Murica.  Using him as an icon to question the jurisdiction of the government could be quite an interesting tool.  Also concerning the character of Capt. America, it does appear that we could see some different sides of him, as in certain scenes he appears to be royally ticked off about something and wanting to knock the crap out of someone because of it.  Could we be seeing a bit of a revenge story here?  Finally, I would also like to point out that Capt. America does NOT have a beau at this point.  Thank God.  Nothing against girlfriends, but their role in superhero/action movies has become cliché.  Thank you, Marvel, for not going there with him.

The Lego Movie by Jake Cannon

Bright, colorful and fun. Three words that pop in my head after watching this trailer. We’re ending on a light note here judging from the sheer brilliance emanating from this trailer. We have one of the greatest mash-ups in the history of mankind here. It’s pop culture mixed with cameos of famous stars. We have Batman with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for crying out loud. This film knows no bounds. This was such a fun and light trailer, you can’t walk away from it without smiling. The animation looks gorgeous, the cameos look fun and the story-line is stereotypical of kids films. But I don’t think that will alienate adult audiences. If the creators of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs made this, it will certainly appeal to a broad spectrum and include a lot of replay value. From the music to the puns, it looks like The Lego Movie is going to be a sure-fire, quality hit.

3 COMMENTS

  1. The Hobbit is a children’s story, so the first movie reflected that by and large by making it an adventure movie and this once more of an action movie, as it should be, because there is a shift in tone in the book, though Jackson will continue to draw from Tolkien’s notes as he has in the past. As you mentioned, Tauriel does in fact exist. While not in any of the more popular books, like The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, she does exist in Tolkien’s notes and Histories of Middle Earth, something that a lot of people are overlooking. Also, a great deal is written about Legolas and Jackson has many a Tolkien scholar on set to make sure that everything is kosher. Let us also not forget that he’s incorporating parts from the Silmarillion in the third movie (and even the second and first [mostly the White Council, as it was only mentioned for two to three sentences, but was heavily explained in The Silmarillion and LOTR])and focusing more on the Battle of Five Armies then. I like Tolkien and I like this article, well done fellas.

    • I am quite interested as to where you found her in Tolkien’s histories of Middle-Earth. After doing some searches through canonical pieces, nothing seems to be hitting for me. Every source I find says that she is created specifically for the films. If you have some info that I don’t, please share!!

      • From what I have gathered, she was created based on bits and pieces from notes, but it was in name only, then Jackson gave her a background. I may have misspoken when I said she exists in the histories, as she isn’t mentioned in the first five that I can see, but there are ten altogether, and I don’t have those. Again from I’ve gathered, she is a part of Tolkien’s world, though I was probs wrong and she might only be mentioned in unpublished notes. whoops

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