A good trailer is a piece of art. It should inform, excite, and entice without giving away too much of the story, while demonstrating unique ideas so the film it represents stands apart from dozens of others in a given week. You know it when you see it.

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ZERO DARK THIRTY
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Release date: December 19th

This second trailer for Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow's much-buzzed-about follow up to 2008's Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker) grabs me. I was underwhelmed by the first trailer which had a lot of cliche elements (resounding bass notes a la Inception that everyone has been using to excess dramatic effect,  generic-looking explosions, overusing the "blacked out words" gimmick, and tension based in a concept a lot of America has moved on from), but this trailer succeeds by addressing the audience directly and never letting go ("Can I be honest with you? I have bad news...") The stakes become high for the viewer personally. When the voiceover asks, "Any questions?" my response is, "Yes. Lots." For example, what in the world does "zero dark thirty" mean?

And then it gives some answers. Kyle Chandler is looking good in a suit and scowl. Jessica Chastain is a long way from Jackson, Mississippi in her office analyzing what looks to be endless, frustrating footage. And look, Andy from "Parks and Recreation" is playing horseshoes and talking about Osama bin Laden like a kid swapping ghost stories around the campfire. Remember the days when the world first heard his name -- "Osama bin Laden" -- and suddenly he was everywhere? And yet, he was nowhere. Even knowing the ending to this story doesn't make me less excited to see the outcome because we know so little about how it happend. Will this be an historical account of events? Perhaps more than most. It was scripted before bin Laden was killed and the ending reworked when the mission was successful. The name of the film itself (zero one thirty meaning 1:30AM; therefore zero dark thirty meaning a dark hour in the early morning) speaks to the fact that this mission was and still is shrouded in secrecy. How much will be filled in with artistic liberties? How much can be based on fact, since it deals with top-secret information? One of my concerns for the film is that it will be heavy handed with patriotism, painting America to be all-the-world's hero. The film will also be released just after the presidential election, leaving us to speculate about whether its advertising might handily remind the populace of President Obama's not-long-ago victory. However, Obama's name reportedly makes no appearance in the film.

Regardless of political ramifications, the film itself looks tightly crafted with more relatable characters than The Hurt Locker, and if I know anything about film, it's that the Academy loves to celebrate fictionalized American heroism. Look for this (and Jessica Chastain) to dominate during awards season. Meanwhile, I'll be seeing it theaters based on the strength of this trailer alone.

NEXT WEEK: Iron Man 3

88 MPH is a feature where we'll go back in time to explore films made before the year 2000. It's an arbitrary year, but hey, I like round numbers. If you have any suggestions for a classic, important, and/or forgotten film, leave it in the comments!

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12 Monkeys is one of the best movies about time travel ever made, so it is appropriate that we should start this column by highlighting it. Inspired by the framework of French science fiction film La Jetée, Terry Gilliam (Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Brazil) brings his signature brand of fantasy and dry humor that serve as a potent commentary on society's often arbitrary nature. It features Bruce Willis in one of his most nuanced roles: a survivor named James Cole, haunted and vulnerable to the point that the actor is completely absorbed by the character throughout. Madeleine Stowe plays psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly who first (understandably) diagnoses him as a paranoid schizophrenic in the year 1990, but gradually sees the sincerity behind his actions when she can't rationalize things Cole shouldn't know after he returns in the year 1996. Her descent into his reality is the audience's descent -- and we are all finding either clarity or "divergence," as it is described so brilliantly in one scene. Cole is sent back in time from 2035 to find clues to incriminate revolutionary group The Army of the 12 Monkeys regarding an act of biological warfare that kills 5 billion people at the end of 1996 and drives the remainder of the human race underground.

Gilliam keeps the audience in suspense through his use of heightened reality -- things that are slightly "off" and could conceivably be explained away with Cole's delusion. Why are the scientists in 2035 so cartoonish, for example? They act almost as one being, finishing one another's sentences and speaking as if to soothe an animal's frayed nerves. Contrasted with the more understanding panel of psychiatrists in "present day," they seem more and more like a phantom designed to tell Cole what his psyche wants to hear. But then, this is deliberate. Gilliam makes excellent use of a world driven underground where everyone is caged, numbered, and prodded, suitable for use in experiments they neither want nor understand. There are deliberate allusions to Cole and the rest of the survivors being like caged monkeys, bound physically by force or to convention by choice. The audience likewise feels caged and as unsure as Cole. 

Enter Brad Pitt as the charismatic Jeffrey Goines. Cole meets Goines when he is first committed to the mental institution in 1990 (a time he was never meant to inhabit in the first place). Goines is crazy with a capital C yet makes sense in the substance of his rants about humanity being enslaved to materialism. "We're all consumers!" he crows at one point (echoing the famous line later spoken by Tyler Durden in Fight Club); "If you play the game you're voluntarily taking a tranquilizer." In the scene, he's referring to literal board games, but Gilliam means it as motivation for Goines' actions -- the world is falling to pieces yet people are tranquilized by convention. "'Let's go shopping' is the cry of the true lunatic." 

The film asks questions of inevitability. Can Cole go back and change the past to better the future, or will his going back be the thing that creates the chaos? Does Goines' effort to break convention actually bring about the things he warns of? In this sense, both characters suffer from the "Cassandra Complex:" the agony of foreknowledge combined with the impotence to do anything about it; in this case, however, Cole is less convinced he can succeed, whereas Goines is brazenly confident. And both men end up caught in a loop that never ends. 

Perhaps the most telling scene of the film is where Cole comments on a viewing of Hitchcock's masterful Vertigo (where a local art house theater is running a "24-hour Hitchcock Fest"). He watches and notices it parallels his and Dr. Railly's situation, then muses aloud, "The movie never changes -- it can't change -- but every time you see it, it seems different because you're different." The viewer is left to wonder whether a man can change his fate, or whether he can only change himself within it; and if these two things are, in fact, one in the same.

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Below: Watch La Jetée (The Jetty or The Pier in English), the 26 minute short film by Chris Marker that inspired 12 Monkeys. 

A good trailer is a piece of art. It should inform, excite, and entice without giving away too much of the story, while demonstrating unique ideas so the film it represents stands apart from dozens of others in a given week. You know it when you see it.

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ARGO
Directed by Ben Affleck
Release date: In theaters

What is it about Ben Affleck as a director that I like so much? Maybe it's his answer in a recent Details interview: "I need my work to mean something to me in order for me to not be home with [my family.]" When a director approaches projects with that mindset, I'm more likely to trust that what is on the screen isn't going to waste my time, because he didn't want to waste his in making it to begin with. And it shows in the trailer for Argo, Affleck's third film (after Gone Baby Gone and The Town). 

There is only one trailer for Argo, and it was the only trailer needed because this one is excellent. The story is loosely based on the events surrounding 6 American diplomats who escaped the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. While most of the diplomats were taken hostage, the CIA worked to extricate the 6 from their hiding place in the Canadian ambassador's home. Before even getting into the meat of the story, I am already in love with the visual style of the film: classic 70's facial hair, earth tones, big glasses; the use of shredded photos interspersed throughout, which in this digital age feels like an homage as well as a stylistic choice. Every face I see is recognizable but transformed -- Judy Greer! Bryan Cranston! Kyle Chandler! Most of all, Victor Garber looking slim and years younger as the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, who had an extremely important role in how events played out. (Affleck, who after hearing about Taylor's inclusion, was concerned about trumping up America's involvement at other players' expense and invited the former ambassador to his home to view the film; changes were later made to the script.) 

Then, just when you think it's a straight political thriller, a twist of tone: "If I'm gonna make a fake movie, it's gonna be a fake hit," insists Alan Arkin, confirming that so desperate was the situation, the government would say "yes" to this plan. The bulk of the film, then, follows the crazy events that transpired to bring a fake production team to Iran to make "Argo," a fake science fiction film taking place on Mars, and then attempt to evacuate the 6 hidden ambassadors as the undercover stars of the film. Does it work? You can spoil it with a quick Wikipedia search if you like, but I have a feeling it wouldn't make a difference. Ben Affleck looks to have combined a compelling story with original characters, a fast-paced plot, all set in Iran during a slightly romanticized, very politically-charged time in our history. Best Director nods are a lock, and if you're a fan of the filmmaking process, this movie might hold an extra dimension of interest because of the "film within a film" aspect. See it in theaters now. 

NEXT WEEK: Zero Dark Thirty

In anticipation of the Sci-Fi section of the site that will go up later this year, the staff is doing "research" on what the best Sci-Fi movies of the year will be. We are looking very much into Prometheus by Ridley Scott. It's looking to be an amazing film! Tune in for updates on our future Sci-Fi section!

Here is a viral marketing video featuring David8 the android in Prometheus.

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight rises trailer is out and it's looking amazing! This summer is looking to be THE summer for superhero films! Check out the trailer here:

Also, check out our Batman article where we discuss the progression of Batman from the comics to the Nolan films!
Check it out here: Batman Article