'The Hobbit' trailer starts a Peter Jackson countdown [Video]

There's a lightness to the opening of the trailer for Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey": a sun-drenched field and a bit of name-themed comedy. It's of a piece with the book, which is deemed just a bit lighter than J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Then, of course, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the "Hobbit" gang get down to more serious business: Questing, sword-fighting and high-stakes intonations ("Can you promise that I will come back?" "No. And if you do, you will not be the same.") All of which will no doubt continue stoking the appetite of "Hobbit" fans, who eagerly await two films that Jackson is shooting back-to-back in New Zealand.

Although the "Hobbit" story takes place about 60 years before the "LOTR" trilogy begins, the trailer also includes the much-discussed Frodo connection, which Jackson has inserted into the "Hobbit" to connect the film to his previous franchise.

"My dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told you everything there was to know about my adventures," an elderly Baggins tells Elijah Wood's character in the film's frame story. "Well, I can honestly say that I told you the truth. I may not have told you all of it."

The trailer first appeared on Facebook, where Warner Bros. has been making promotional bits available. The movie is scheduled to hit in just about a year.


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-- Steven Zeitchik
twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

'Mirror Mirror' trailer shows a new side of Snow White [Video]

The Snow White fairy tale has been told and retold since before the days of the Brothers Grimm, and come March 16 director Tarsem Singh will unveil his own version, "Mirror Mirror." Audiences can now get a glimpse of his work, as Relativity Media has released the first full trailer for the film, starring Julia Roberts as the evil queen and Lily Collins ("The Blind Side") as Snow White.

With ornate sets and costumes and sweeping snowy vistas, the trailer hints at the lush visuals Tarsem (as he prefers to be known) has made his trademark. Roberts seems to be having fun playing the catty queen, and Collins shows off some action moves as the leader of a group of bandits — seven diminutive bandits, of course.

The trailer comes on the heels of Tarsem's ancient-Greek action spectacular "Immortals," which opened Friday and dominated the box office over the weekend, and the recently released trailer for that other Snow White vehicle, "Snow White and the Huntsman," which stars "Twilight's" Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron as the evil queen and is set to open June 1.

"Mirror Mirror" also features as its charming prince actor Armie Hammer, who is currently on screen opposite Leonardo Di Caprio in Clint Eastwood's political biopic "J. Edgar."

Check out the "Mirror Mirror" trailer below.

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Photo: Julia Roberts and Lily Collins in "Mirror Mirror" Credit: Jan Thijs / Relativity Media

Kristen Stewart 'Snow White' looks to be fairest of all

As the vampire craze starts to quiet down, the fairy-tale one starts to really crank up. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s a bridge between the two. Kristen Stewart. The "Twilight" star, who reprises her role as Bella Swan in the upcoming "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I," will follow that next year with her lead role in “Snow White and the Huntsman."

Rupert Sanders’ take on the fairy tale is the second 2012 movie to put a new spin on the Grimm Bros. tale; Tarsem’s “Mirror Mirror” comes out in March.

But for all the Stewart hype, it’s Charlize Theron’s movie, at last judging by this new teaser. (Embed code is not available, but you can vew it here.)

Playing the Evil Queen in hot pursuit of Snow White, Theron is a convincing villain, especially with her mellifluous-but-lethal voice-over.

In a set of shots  that at once evoke a kind of Gothic chic and modern chase movie, Theron’s queen bares her teeth, reveals some insecurity and lays out her plans. (Stewart mostly runs.)

"Lips red as blood, hair black as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White," she intones,  in a storyline that feels far more coherent than that other costumed fairy-tale update,  2010's "Red Riding Hood." There’s also a surprisingly human element, as Theron describes how it once brought her pain to cause evil, but now, well, she's mostly nourished by the victims' cries.

Female leads in big action movies are rare enough, but it’s even more heartening to see them leavened with some complexity. Or maybe we're just happy to see Stewart not pulling at her hair.

The movie hits June 1.

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--Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

 Photo credit: Universal Pictures

The Navy SEALs are ready for their closeup [Trailer]

The Navy SEALs certainly have been depicted in any number of films. Charlie Sheen’s turn as Lt. Dale Hawkins in 1990’s “Navy Seals” -- “For God's sake, be careful out there!” -- perhaps being the low point.

But not until next year’s “Act of Valor” have the typically secretive elite warriors played themselves.

In a feature film helmed by the hot Los Angeles commercial directors the Bandito Bros. (Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh), seven active Navy SEALs star in a global thriller about a terrorist plot targeting the United States. “This thing is way bigger than we thought it was,” a voice intones in the new trailer for the film, which opens Feb. 17. “They’re going to hit us at home.”

By working with the Navy, the filmmakers had access not only to lots of hardware (the trailer shows glimpses of a submarine, an aircraft carrier, helicopters, drones, gunships and high-powered sniper rifles) but also to the SEALs themselves, who staged the film’s action scenes. Relativity Media bought domestic rights to the finished film for $13.5 million, a small fortune for an independently financed feature.

“The characters in this film are portrayed by active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs,” the trailer informs us. “The story is fictional, but the weapons and tactics are real.” As the trailer also makes clear, “Act of Valor” could very well be a recruiting tool. Top that, Mr. Sheen.

 

 

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-- John Horn

Photo: A scene from "Act of Valor." Credit: Relativity Media.

 

 

Can Michelle Williams pull off Marilyn Monroe? [Trailer]

Months before award season began, many Oscar pundits were predicting that Michelle Williams could earn a lead actress nomination for her upcoming turn as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn."

That was a judgment based on the strength of Williams' past performances — and, of course, Oscar voters' penchant for nominating actors playing larger-than-life historical figures.

On Thursday, a trailer for the film hit the Web, finally giving prognosticators something substantive with which to evaluate Williams' performance. The film, which will be released by the Weinstein Co. on Nov. 4, is based on two memoirs by Colin Clark, who was an assistant director on the Monroe-Laurence Olivier 1956 collaboration "The Prince and the Showgirl." "Marilyn" centers on the emotional and physical troubles Monroe was grappling with during the production, when she allegedly had an extramarital dalliance with Clark. The film seems to present Monroe as a fragile, insecure woman hoping to fill the void in her life with drugs and the constant attention of men.

The trailer also suggests a movie with atmospheric period detail and convincingly shows Monroe's numerous dimensions, while also making larger — and timely — points about the nature of celebrity obsession. But those eager to size up Williams' Monroe turn may be disappointed. While we see the actress dolled up in full Monroe garb — big blond curls, figure-hugging dresses and bright lipstick — we don't hear much of the actress emulating the icon's famously breathy voice.

Williams has earned two Oscar nominations before for her work in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain" and last year's "Blue Valentine." Could "My Week With Marilyn" mark her third nod? Critics will have their say in a few days: The drama is premiering at the New York Film Festival on Sunday.

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— Amy Kaufman

twitter.com/AmyKinLA

Photo: Michelle Williams stars in "My Week With Marilyn." Credit: The Weinstein Co.

'Twilight' stars grow up, show skin in 'Breaking Dawn' trailer

When sultry photos from the upcoming "Twilight" film leaked onto the Internet earlier this year, fans of the franchise flew into a tizzy. There were Bella and Edward, lying in bed topless in what appeared to be a post-coital embrace.

Any Twihard who was tantalized by said images -- more of which were officially released by Summit Entertainment last month -- might want to take a deep breath. Because on Tuesday, a new trailer for November's "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" hit the Web, and it's a little racy.

Fans of Stephenie Meyer's beloved book series, of course, know that the characters played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson wed in "Breaking Dawn" and quickly consummate the marriage during their honeymoon. That leads to trouble for Bella, who becomes pregnant with Edward's baby -- a sort of vampire-human hybrid that threatens its mother's health.

In an interview with The Times last year just before production of the film began, Stewart warned filmgoers that the prosthetic belly she wears in the first part of "Breaking Dawn" is "immense." "It gets so massive at some point that it actually looks inhuman. Like it’s hurting her. There are striations of bruises," the actress said.

In the trailer, posted below, we finally get a glimpse of pregnant Bella -- and indeed, she looks unwell. As her stomach morphs and swells, Bella grows gradually more pallid until she lets out a guttural scream during a labor scene, where the preview ends.

But the trailer doesn't skimp on the skin. Edward is seen bedding Bella and the pair later kiss under a waterfall; Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob, is -- not surprisingly --  distraught and once again shirtless.

Lautner, meanwhile, is busy readying himself for the release of his first major non-"Twilight" film, the action flick "Abduction." The film, out Sept. 23, marks the young star's hopeful transition to a more grown-up acting career.

Judging by the new "Breaking Dawn" trailer, it appears the "Twilight" stars are already tackling progressively more adult subject matter just fine.

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 -- Amy Kaufman

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Photo: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1." Credit: Summit Entertainment

'The Hunger Games' footage: forest, fireballs and braids [video]

In the future, there is Gore-Tex. And also trees. That’s what we learned from the scant 45 seconds of “The Hunger Games” footage Lionsgate revealed during MTV’s Video Music Awards Sunday.

In the teaser, Jennifer Lawrence gallops through a dense forest as 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, one of 24 kids forced to fight to the death in an outdoor arena game. Lawrence, who has already demonstrated action heroine potential by gutting a squirrel in “Winter’s Bone” and pumping iron in “X-Men: First Class,” delivers on Katniss’ scrappy athleticism--she dodges fireballs, leaps over a fallen tree and releases an arrow with a fierce glint in her eye. Over the action, the voice of Katniss’ hometown pal, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), hints at one of the relationships that drives her character. “You’re stronger than they are,” Gale says. “You are. They just want a good show, that’s all they want. You know how to hunt. Show ’em how good you are.”

 

“The Hunger Games,” directed by Gary Ross, is the first in a planned series based on a trilogy of dystopian young adult novels by Suzanne Collins. The teaser footage, which Lawrence introduced from the movie’s North Carolina set, reveals little of the visual ambition of the books' science-fiction setting. There is no sign of District 12—the bleak, coal mining region from which Katniss hails—nor the sleek Capitol District, where the stylish and powerful reside. Also absent are the series's fantastical fashions, such as Katniss’ “girl on fire” dress, and mutant creatures, like the arena’s deadly “tracker jacker wasps.” The movie’s hairdressers have delivered Katniss’ distinctive side braid—this may replace Princess Leia’s buns as a new generation’s Comic-Con coiffure of choice—but her wardrobe suggests the future looks a lot like a Lands’ End catalog.

Though minimal, the footage contained a hint to find more visual detail about the movie. A Twitter hashtag in the teaser, #whatsmydistrict, points users towards a viral website, with a blurred, black image, some discordant electronic beeps and a note in the corner prompting "citizens” to identify themselves via Twitter. After a few hours of people tweeting the site's address, the image appeared to begin forming into the seal of the Capitol District. (Here Lionsgate is taking a page from the viral campaign for “Dark Knight Rises”—as more people Tweeted the phrase “The Fire Rises” in May, a blurry image clarified into a mosaic photo of Tom Hardy as the "Batman" villain Bane.)

"The Hunger Games" also stars Josh Hutcherson as Katniss' arena partner, Peeta Mellark; Woody Harrelson as her booze-addled mentor, Haymitch Abernathy; Elizabeth Banks as her airhead escort to the Capitol, Effie Trinket; and Lenny Kravitz as her faithful stylist, Cinna.

"The Hunger Games" opens March 2012.

 

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--Rebecca Keegan

twitter.com/@thatrebecca

 

Photo: Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games." Credit: Murray Close/Lionsgate

http://thecapitol.pn/

'The Conspirator' nails authenticity. With flat nails [video]

"The Conspirator," Robert Redford's historical drama about the trial of Mary Surratt, the only woman charged as a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, came and went quickly when it was released this spring. For those who happened to see it in theaters, the big-name cast, which included James McAvoy, Evan Rachel Wood and Robin Wright, may have distracted from the meticulous detail put into the film's historical authenticity.

Luckily, that's what DVD extra features are for. In this exclusive clip from "The Conspirator" DVD, out Tuesday, production designer Kalina Ivanov shows off just how much thought went into re-creating Washington of 1865. The columns may be a little thicker (that makes them more masculine), but the details are mostly right. All the way down to the flat nails used to hold the gallows together. Why flat nails? That's the way they did it back in 1865.

 

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Photo: Robert Redford directs Robin Wright as Mary Surratt on the courtroom set of “The Conspirator.” Credit: Claudette Barius / Roadside Attractions

 

Photo: Robert Redford directs Robin Wright as Mary Surratt in the courtroom set of “The Conspirator.” Claudette Barius / Roadside Attractions

Harold and Kumar feel the holiday cheer [Trailer]

Manic doesn't begin to describe the trailer for the new Harold and Kumar movie, "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas," the third installment in the John Cho-Kal Penn franchise (the latter fresh from his stint in the White House). Santa Claus is shot out of the sky, beer pong balls bounce in every direction and Neil Patrick Harris returns as himself, this time riffing with Jesus. Oh, and there's a gag about how played out 3-D is -- in a movie that's in 3-D.

Studio New Line no doubt hopes to capture some of that anti-Christmas spirit that helped movies such as "Bad Santa" become cult hits. But "Harold & Kumar" will need to build its own momentum: Despite its cultural effect, the low-budget comedy franchise has been only a modest box-office performer, taking in $18 million and $38 million with its first two films, though both movies fared well on DVD.

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-- Steven Zeitchik

Twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

 

'The Amazing Spider-Man' slings its first web [Trailer] [Updated]

There's a bit of deja vu in seeing a young, fragile loner get bitten by a spider only to realize he's been given superpowers. It's been only nine years since we watched Tobey Maguire do it, and now Andrew Garfield is going through the paces again in this new, apparently leaked trailer for Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man."

[Updated, 2:43 p.m. July 19: It looks as though Sony has taken down the trailer. So if you haven't watched it yet, you'll have to take our word for it. But it should be online officially soon enough Updated, 10:28 a.m. July 20: And the trailer is now officially available; you can check it out below.]

The teaser, which will probably debut properly at this weekend's Comic-Con, begins when a young Peter Parker is abandoned by his parents, then gives way to a somewhat disoriented-looking youth (Garfield) and the fateful accident, before ending with Spider-Man climbing and swinging across rooftops, which we see from his perspective.

If the tone in Sam Raimi's original had a kind of light seriousness, this replicates the feat, minus the light. There is ominous music, moody lighting and serious, cryptic statements like: "We all have secrets. The ones we keep are the ones that are kept from us." If Webb's film is supposed to be more of an  everyday coming-of-age high school story, there's not much evidence of it here; the teaser has many of the stylized touches we've come to expect from modern comic-inspired movies.

More details on "The Amazing Spider-Man" later this week at this blog and on sister blog Hero Complex, the bastion of all things Comic-Con.

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-- Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchiKLAT