Some great movie trailers

Whenever people go to the movies, one of the things they look forward to the most is watching the trailers before the actual film. As bad as a movie may be, its trailer could be awesome. That happens a lot. Usually, a good movie will also have a good trailer, but it's not always a given. Anyway, here are some of the best trailers I have ever seen, in no particular order.

Black Hawk Down

I get chills every time starting at 1:36. The song is "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" by Moby. Definitely the best trailer for a war film I have seen in awhile - perhaps slightly above Jarhead (below).

Jarhead

The song is "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West (the old Kanye West, not the new lyrical wordsmith genius). This trailer was a bit deceiving. It makes the movie seem like an epic action film, which it's not. I'm currently reading the memoir that the movie is based on. Really good.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This was the trailer that started the whole Requiem for a Dream phenomenon. Clint Mansell's track was remixed and called Requiem for a Tower, and this is the first trailer it appears in (1:36). Since then you've probably heard the piece dozens of times in other trailers, but it all started here.

The Departed

Not much to say about this one, just a really good trailer. Good choice of music.

Blood Diamond

Seeing this again really makes me want to watch the movie again. This trailer has superb editing and they picked a lot of perfect scenes in conveying what the film is all about. You can tell just from the trailer that Djimon Hounsou's performance is special.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

I must admit I have only seen part of this movie, but the trailer is just so damn epic. The track is "My Name Is Lincoln" from The Island, which has been used in a few trailers recently, namely Seven Pounds.

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Well that's all I can think of off the top of my head. There are other good ones but if I didn't remember it then it probably didn't have that large of an impact on me. Feel free to suggest any others.

The Road due to hit theaters October 16

I will devote my first blog entry to perhaps mankind's greatest achievement, The Road, a novel by Cormac McCarthy. You may know McCarthy as the author of No Country For Old Men which was, as everyone knows, made into a film and just so happened to win Best Picture at the Oscar's. I can't attest to No Country as I have yet to read it, but The Road is unequivocally the best piece of literature I have and likely ever will read.

I don't want to give away too much of the novel, but here's the basic plotline: An unnamed man and his son are traveling due south across post-apocalyptic America, in search of salvation. Well, I shouldn't really say "salvation," as they don't know exactly what they are looking for. They just need something - anything - to take their minds off their current situation.

That may seem bland, but the more information you know, the weaker the experience will be. I went into the book not knowing anything about it other than the title and author.

Now - to the movie. It was originally slated to release in winter 2008, but for a plethora of reasons it was delayed until 2009. Then for more mysterious reasons it was delayed until the end of 2009 - October 16 to be precise (right in time for Oscar season). When Viggo Mortensen was asked to play The Man, he decided to take a hiatus from his hiatus (he had planned to stop acting for awhile) because the role was that appealing to him. It is directed by John Hillcoat, a relatively unknown filmmaker save for the critically acclaimed The Proposition which came out in 2005.

I URGE everyone to read the book before the movie comes out. I read it in two days. It's wholly possible to read it all in one sitting if you are up for it. McCarthy's writing style is artsy and in some ways sophisticated, but very very readable.

So save the date for October 16, and pick up a copy of the book whenever you get the chance. I promise both the book and movie will blow your minds on an epic scale.