Trailer Thursday: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

I know I’m a week late on this one, but seeing as we have watched this badass new Star Wars trailer probably a hundred times this last week alone there was just no way I could not share it here. In the past week I have been training my own little Jedi on the history and lore of the Star Wars universe and priming her for what to expect from the next chapter, J.J. Abrams hotly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Hell, I even sat through The Return of the Jedi with her on Sunday. Greta loved it, but let me tell ya, Jedi has not aged well, amigos. There were a few scenes that were so bad they actually made me question whether The Phantom Menace really is the worst film in the series. I mean, some of those “heavy acting” scenes with Luke and Leia…yikes! Needless to say, Greta and I are ready to get this new trilogy started already! Seriously, when can we get in line?!

And now, even though you’ve probably seen it a hundred plus times already yourself, here again is the second official trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Happy Trailer Thursday!

 

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Trailer Thursday: “Boyhood”

I’ve been a huge fan of writer-director Richard Linklater’s work since his mid-90’s glory days of Slacker, Before Sunrise and Dazed and Confused. Hell, I even dig most of the big studio movies he directed for hire as well. For while projects like School of Rock and the hilarious Bad News Bears remake with Billy Bob Thornton might not have penned by Linklater, they are still totally infused with this distinctly Linklater-ish warmth and offbeat humor.

Of course, School of Rock was written by another one of my film geek heroes, the super cool Mike White, and features a bunch of very cute kids playing music (which Greta absolutely loves!) so, it’s got that going for it as well.

Anyway, I’m always excited to see what Linklater’s got cooking, but, this new trailer for his upcoming flick Boyhood totally threw me for a loop. Simply put, it looks amazing!

Shot over twelve years with the same actors (newcomer Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, among others) the movie follows Coltrane’s life in real time like no other movie I can think of. Sure, Michael Apted’s critically-acclaimed Up series covers similar terrain, but, those films are documentaries. Linklater’s fictional story about one boy’s coming of age looks like something totally new and boldy-original.

I can’t even imagine the level of patience something like this would take to make. Wow. And as a parent who has watched the last five years fly by, the changes in Coltrane’s appearance as he ages literally took my breath away. Wow!

So, even if the movie itself totally sucks, I applaud Linklater for tackling something so totally outside the box. Enjoy the clip and kudos to you, Mr. Linklater…long may you innovate!