The Trailer Park: A Good Day to Die Hard, 42, Trance and more

A Good Day to Die Hard
Well yippee ki yay Mother Russia, John McClane is back and this time he’s headed to Moscow in this latest instalment of the ever-popular Die Hard franchise. Whilst it may be too cold for Bruce Willis’s vest-clad cowboy to don his traditional attire, if this latest trailer is anything to go by that’s likely to be the only thing missing from the latest instalment of a franchise, which like its star, seems to only get better with age.

The plot, as if it’s important, sees McClane team up with his son (Jai Courtney), “the 007 of Plainfield, New Jersey” as he bids to bring down a Russian mobster / terrorist / all out bad dude. But that’s merely a prelude to what promises to be an hour and a half of action, explosions and pithy one-liners. Or at least that’s what we can gleam from this two and a half minute teaser which features a rapid fire montage of bombastic stunts and gun battles.

From the smorgasbord of one-liners and the playful soundtrack it also looks like director John Moore hasn’t forgotten about the funnies either which can only be good news for Die Hard er, diehards. 

42
The bases have been loaded with baseball movies in recent years, with the likes of Trouble with the Curve and Moneyball pitching for glory on the silver screen. But 42, the upcoming biopic from writer turned director Brian Helgeland promises to bring something entirely new to the ball game. Set in 1947, the movie is based on the true-life story of Jackie Robinson, the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball.

As you might expect it looks like there’s going to be an interesting examination of segregation and race relations at the time, something which is sure to have attracted the all-star cast that includes Harrison Ford as Dodgers manager Branch Rickey. But it also looks like there’s going to be plenty of on-field action too in a good looking film which makes the most of its period trappings including an impressive looking Ebbets Field.

We’re suckers for sports movies so we can’t wait for 42’s April release, what about you?


Trance
Fresh from presiding over the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, Danny Boyle is back to the day job with this first look at his upcoming thriller Trance. A loose adaptation of a British TV drama which originally aired in 2001, the film stars James McAvoy as an art thief who suffers a blow to the head after which he claims he can’t remember where he stashed the fruits of his latest heist. A menacing looking Vincent Cassell stars opposite him as a criminal ringleader who employs Rosario Dawson’s hypnotist to help unlock the location of the stolen loot.

It looks like a suitably complicated caper and one that if this psychedelic trailer is anything to go by, Boyle had great fun directing. Full of hallucinatory imagery, rapid fire edits and questions over what’s real and what’s not; it looks Trance is going to be a feast for the senses, a bold, dynamic and visually arresting film that’s going to push audiences rather than let them slump back in their chairs like popcorn munching zombies. The movie lands in the UK on March 27^th and will hopefully be set for our shores soon afterwards.

Click here to watch


The Last Exorcism Part II
In what’s possibly the most misleading movie title since The Neverending Story this week saw the first trailer for the upcoming horror movie The Last Exorcism Part II land online. The original was a surprisingly effective scare story, which made full use of the found footage format to give the rather weary genre some much-needed edge. It’s surprise success at the box office meant that a sequel was always imminent, however Part II seems to have done away with almost everything that made the last Last Exorcism original, aside from it’s principal player that is.

This time Nell (Ashley Bell) is suffering from a convenient bout of amnesia enabling her to go through the hell of demonic possession all over again. This time there’s no found footage though, just a straight up cinematic scare story complete with all the familiar movie clichés. From the backbreaking body contortions to incessant screaming, you’ll probably feel like you’ve seen this all before, which is because you have in just about every horror movie ever made.

Still there are some genuine scares in the trailer and that’s no doubt more than enough to tempt horror fans into their local theatres when the movie lands later this spring.


The best of the rest

Side Effects
Steven Soderbergh’s latest offering is a provocative psychological thriller about a New York couple who’s life unravels thanks to the unexpected side effects of a new drug. It’s a murky premise and this enigmatic trailer does little to clear things up, though it does give us a good look at the all star cast which includes Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara, Cathreine Zeta-Jones and Jude Law.


Vehicle 19
We know what you’re thinking: “Paul Walker in a car, we know where this movie’s heading”. But Vehicle 19 isn’t just another Fast and the Furious knock off, it’s more of a Phone Booth knock off, only this time set on the streets of South Africa. 

Click here to watch


Only God Forgives 
The first glimpse of Nicolas Winding Refn's follow up to Drive has landed. Well we say first glimpse, it’s a slightly blurred rip from a foreign TV show. Nevertheless there’s still plenty to get excited about in this 21 second slice of the film, which sees the Ryan Gosling play a Bangkok based kickboxer out to avenge his brother’s death.

Click here to watch


Which trailers have grabbed you attention and which have left you cold? Let us know what movies you’re most looking forward to in the comments section below.

-- Daniel Bettridge