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Uhhh...

Aside from the fact Jamie Foxxxxx makes my skin crawl (sorry, he annoys me to no end...)

Jennifer Garner looks wholly uncomfortable shooting a gun.

Jeremy Piven is doing Ari Gold in the Middle East.

Chris Cooper is doing the mouthy malcontent role.

In closing, I'm not impressed by this.

Yeah... I much prefer the second trailer.

Universal is consistantly dead in the water. A shell of what it used to be. "Evan Almighty", "Chuck & Larry"...

They'll have to work hard to get my respect back for not workin' it hard (or hardly) to get Children Of Men SOMETHING in regard to "Oscar". There was next to zero publicity for that film.. And for what there was... the only thing they could come up with was a quote that read "This generation's Blade Runner" or whatever the fuck it was.

"Blade Runner" is a cult film. A great cult film I hold close... but who the heck under 25 or over 50 can say the same?

Their marketing in dreadful.

On a lighter note... Citywalk plays damn good music. The clintel leaves much to be desired but the music is f'ing great.

Gotta say somethin' nice about them I suppose...

Despite my general dislike for Foxx, Garner and Piven, gotta believe Universal really has something here. They would not have pushed back this film so far into awards season and retooled the marketing campaign if not for the tremendous response to the film at advance screenings.

This movie might just be hugely popular with audiences that see it, but it is a real wildcard for Oscar season at this point

You know, Pet, your predetermination about every element of this film reflects on you, not the film.

Trailer 3 looks as it did it when it comes to hooking regular moviegoers who don't know MIchael Mann from Leslie Mann. (Yes, I'm fully aware The Kingdom is directed by Peter Berg, but Mann's influence on Berg is obvious.) I do personally prefer Trailer 2. The use of the great U2 song was a masterstroke.

Whenever anyone talks shit about Mr. Foxx I almost immediately have to question their racial politica. Besides Stealth, has the man given a bad performance in the last 3 or 4 years? There's a lot of hating going around.

As good as Children of Men was, it was always a nighe movie. People who think it could've been a major Oscar contender really need to exhale. Sci-fi of that nature is never taken seriously by the Academy, except in technical categories.

For me, The Kingdom looks like the movie Syriana wanted to be. At this point Berg has displayed more talent than Stephen Gaghan. Besides the screenplay for Traffic the man has not lived up to the hype. Anyone see Havoc? Syriana is a fascinating misfire because you can almost see the great movie it wants to be. It was incoherence pretending to be ambiguity.

I have to disagree, heartily. My fiancee and I both saw the movie back in July and more or less liked it (we didn't like it as much as most of the columnists and bloggers, but we enjoyed it). We both thought the same thing... this trailer makes the film look much worse than it actually is.

In fact, all respect due, it feels like a trailer retooled to make a film feel more like a mass-audience, no brains needed action film (as opposed to a 'mass audience, brains will help action drama'). The story is cast as overtly simplistic, every major conflict is explicitly spelled out, and it just bugged me for some reason (and I didn't even like the movie all that much). It feels like a trailer aimed at the lowest common denominator.

On the other hand, the trailer for the other movie we saw that same week, 3:10 To Yuma, was fine except that it gave away 80% of the plot, in chronological order no less.

Scott Mendelson

Uhh...I have no problem with that, DP...since I was talking about "my" reaction to the trailer. I'll still see the film, I just didn't dig that trailer.

JimmyTG-I don't have a racial bias against Foxx, I just find him smarmy and it feels like he's ACTING whenever I see him in a film. Except for in MIAMI VICE where who knows what he was doing.

I thought the previous trailer was much better than this one (loved the U2 song and am really looking forward to seeing this movie). The latest trailer makes it look like a 70's/80's thriller while the other one made it look like a contemporary regional thriller. Maybe that's what scared Universal, that people would relate this movie to Syriana, which was obviously not a big success but is also a completely different movie.

Ha, Mendelson, we must have been at the same screenings. I saw Yuma and The Kingdom back to back in July or was it june too. I preferred The Kingdom though. Yuma was entertaining enough but the trailer gives away 90% of the movie, there are lots of shots from the last five minutes in the trailer. The kingdom won't win any awards, but its the type of movie Ed Zwick has tried to make for years and failed at it. By the way i also prefer the 2nd trailer, but both spoil the movie a little too much.

agreed this is a much better trailer.

Anecdotally, We had this, Rendition and Lions For Lambs (as well as American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma) in front of Bourne today, Rendition and American Gangster definitely got excited murmering going. Dead silence for Lions for Lambs and 3:10, but this trailer garnered something in between. The first trailer I saw for the Kingdom was ages ago in January on Children of Men, and it got a very mixed response, this trailer definitely got more favorable interest from the audience. Lions for Lambs looks like the "Quintessential Crash or no Crash question of our year."

Otoh, looks like Reese will be getting another oscar nod.

"Jennifer Garner looks wholly uncomfortable shooting a gun." Someone never watched their Alias, did they? Also; should someone look comfortable shooting a semi-automatic in a hostile situation? I am not stating one should be bumbling and stumbling about with a gun, but they are in a hostile zone. It's a bit hectic. No time really to look all hardcore with the weapondry. Nevertheless; no Peter Berg film can be discussed on this blong without mention... THE RUNDOWN. The Kingdom does look like some good Fall viewing.

Why push this particular movie? There are a lot of new trailers hitting the internets. Why single out this one?

To be fair, as a 'till the very end' Alias watcher, Sydney never ever looked comfortable with a gun or engaging in a fire fight. Whether it was the character, or the actress, she always looked unnatural with a gun, as opposed to her usual running, jumping, and fighting work which was terrific and natural (god, how I loved how the show never, ever played the 'wow, it's a girl kicking ass, how progressive of us!' card). Of course, this wasn't a problem for the first 1.5 seasons, since due to the nature of the show (she was a hero pretending to work for villains who in turn pretended to be the CIA), she wasn't in a position to kill people. If lives had to be taken, Dixon (Carl Lumby) usually did the shooting, and she didn't shoot a single person until the 'Super Bowl' episode in season 2.

Ironically (minor spoiler...), the one bit when Garner is allowed to cut loose (as opposed to, as I mentioned when I first saw the film, Jamie Foxx seemingly hogging all the major action beats and character bits)is during a hand-to-hand fight/knife to knife scene at a key story moment. It's a smack down worthy of the Bristow family, and Jack would have approved.

Scott Mendelson

Good to know Scott. Wrec; RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN... is called the RUN DOWN. RUN RUN RUN RUN. I that might be a reason. He seems to dig the BERG. As do I. Nevertheless; there is also a new National Treasure trailer out as well. Woo!

Oh, God, National Treasure 2. I hated the first one.

...and a lot of people really liked the first one. So there you go.

Too many.

Movielocke,

I shared your same experience, last night when seeing Bourne (saw Simpsons, after) - the progression of trailers was just so kooky - Rendition, Lions for Lambs, AND The Kingdom BACK-TO-BACK - talk about a common theme with the War on Terror! It was all a bit much and honestly, I think they all blended too much for the audience with Tom Cruise getting some guffaws.

However, these previews were sandwiched between Dark Knight and American Gangster, which BOTH got the crowd very jazzed - there was a bit of hooting and hollering for both.

What is that catchy-ass song that plays during American Gangster?

Once again: for all of you scoring Jeffy Poo at home. Films about vast conspiracies by the forefathers to hide a treasure and the people trying to find it - O. Heather Matarazzo in a movie that had her bound and tied upside down to recreate some silly ass shit from a Hammer film - 1. Once again; Jeffy Poo Mac... has shocked the crowd into silence. Tune in next time when he says; "Don Murphy smells like the sea." Good night everybody!

Poland,
You are so silly sometimes. You know can make the shit shine (in a trailer), but that still doesn't make the film smell any better, if it's a pile of POOOOOOOOOO. (And the audience smells poo from miles away. Ya think you would have figured that out by now.)

I SAW THIS looser - and IT WAS boring!
Like watching Johnny Quest on Saturday morning - but way less entertaining.

Because no matter HOW well the ad guys can cut the trailer ... the film still stinks.

(You'll all be very disappointed if you spend your money on this one, just because the trailer looks shiny. That is unless you are 6 years old - then you'll think its 'got the goods'. Or unless you REALLY want to watch Piven do Ari Gold for the FBI in a couple scenes like PetalumaFilms said ... plus he's also right about Jennifer. She looks like her own gun is going to jump up and turn around and slap her and call her "bitch" everytime she picks it up.)

So go see it so you can jump up and turn around and slap that 6 year old bitch Dave for recommending it.

From a TRAILER no less...

IOIOI: I can't say you're wrong. It was the most boring Jerry Bruckheimer film I've ever seen (I never saw Kangaroo Jack though).

"What is that catchy-ass song that plays during American Gangster?"

"Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" by Jay-Z with a sample from Bobby Blue Bland.

Ridley Scott film trailers are consistent winners. Denzel Washington's performances have never been the sour point of any film he's been in.

Can't wait for American Gangster, but that Kingdom trailer left me cold. And are any of these Iraq/Terrorism movies gonna make any money?

I'm unconvinced that an American public that won't even pay attention to a war that's been going on for 4 years and has cost untold billions will somehow decide they will pay to see the same stuff they ignore on a daily basis... Or maybe it's just a matter of giving them something better than JARHEAD (that's pronounced Gar-Bage) for our dollar...

Me, I love Jamie Foxx, but I can do without Jennifer Garner, I've never seen the appeal.

And Chris Cooper is getting really boring - he plays the same exact guy in every movie, he's becoming the dramatic version of Eugene Levy, which just as much range. After sitting through Breach (a turd of a film, Billy Ray was born to direct TV movies), I'm not ready for any more Chris Cooper for awhile...

OK, I just bagged on a lot of people's favorite character actor, and yes I loved him in Adaptation, but his act is old and tired...

honestly, with everything that's going on in the world, i can't believe they're putting out films set in the middle east. and i'm just talking financially. your mainstream movie goer has NO interest in seeing movies about the middle east. anyone who thinks otherwise will be proven wrong over the next couple of years as every film about iraq, afghanistan, or the middle east is going to tank.

People don't like their politics mixed with their entertainment, especially in a time where the politics are so divided. bad, bad move for every studio that has one in production right now.

Speaking of, did you guys see the Rendition trailer? Oh my god. It wasn't bad until the last shot of Reese Witherspoon screaming like a 6 year old girl TELL ME HE'S OK!!! the audience burst into laughter.

Anghus - Because I slapped the last trailer when I wrote about the film after I saw it months ago. And I quite like the film.

dave,

im not arguing the merits of the film. it could be great. i think audiences are 'war-ed' out and won't spend their hard earned dollars that is being sapped away by rising gas prices to go see a movie about a conflict that causes them to lose their hard earned dollars.

i realize the Kingdom is more entertainment than politicizing, but people aren't going to make that distinction. they'll see saudis and suicide bombers and just tune out.

i think these are bad investments. no one is ready to have the biggest sore spot in our divided country turned into mass market entertainment.

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