Posts by Dan Silver
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Trailers of the Week: Admission, The Heat, and a Post-Twilight Supernatural Teen Franchise Drinking Game
Oz: The Great and Powerful (March 8) Silver: Just because I want Sam Raimi to helm only superhero movies or low-budget genre flicks with chainsaws, chins, spooks, guns, and gore doesn’t mean he should. The man is a seasoned Hollywood director who has certainly earned the right to direct any film his heart desires. And […]
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Trailers of the Week: Les Misérables, The Grandmaster, Side Effects, and More
World War Z (June 21) Silver: This is almost unbelievable. World War Z is a $100 million-plus major studio summer tentpole staring one of the world’s biggest stars, and there isn’t a single original or unique moment in its first trailer. The drama around the release date delay and extensive reshoots aside, this film appears to be a greatest-hits […]
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Trailers of the Week: John Dies at the End, Quartet, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and More
Despicable Me 2 — Trailer 2 (July 3) Silver: Despicable Me overperformed both in quality (it had much more heart than I’d expected) and at the box office, raking in $544 million worldwide. So a sequel was inevitable. I was OK with the first teaser being a plotless piece focused on Gru’s minions, the first film’s […]
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Trailers of the Week: A Good Day to Die Hard, Safe Haven, Iron Man 3, and More
A Good Day to Die Hard (February 14) Silver: Oh. OK. I get it now. A Good Day to Die Hard is a reboot of the franchise as a comedy. This makes much more sense. How else could you explain the film’s absurd synopsis, which, I assure you, I have not edited in any way […]
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Trailers of the Week: Carrie, The Man With the Iron Fists, Save the Date, and More
Jack Reacher (December 21) Silver: I see the folks at Paramount took my advice and sprinkled some Werner Herzog into this trailer. Why hold any of his scenes back? It’s not like his brilliance as a performer gets stale like an overused joke in a comedy trailer. But more than this, what I like — […]
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Trailers of the Week: The Canyons, Flight, Hitchcock, and More
Zero Dark Thirty (December 19) Silver: I absolutely love this trailer. It’s not overly flashy or high-concept. Instead, through a subtle and dexterous balance of tone and intentional vagueness, we get a Halloween fun-size version of the film. Just enough to whet the appetite and make us want more. The somber and ominous tone is […]
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Trailers of the Week: A Good Day to Die Hard, Promised Land, Brooklyn Castle, and More
A Good Day to Die Hard (February 14) Silver: Die Hard is the Joan Rivers of film franchises. It’s had so much work done to it that 1988’s taut, straightforward, hardcore cat-and-mouse action thriller would gasp in horror if it ever saw what it would become in 2013. With each passing film, Die Hard’s kernels […]
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Trailers of the Week: Life of Pi, Stoker, Paranormal Activity 4, and More
Identity Thief (February 8 ) Silver: I can’t think of another performer who had a breakout year like Melissa McCarthy did in 2011. I also can’t think of another performer who wouldn’t have seized upon that success and rushed into cash and any starring role offered to them. McCarthy went back to her day job […]
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Trailers of the Week: The Hobbit, Gambit, 42, and More
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — Trailer no. 2 (December 14) Silver: My geekdom regarding the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit films was quite well-documented when I gratuitously picked apart the first trailer back in December, so stating my overwhelming excitement for An Unexpected Journey is unnecessary. I will say this, though: My one concern […]
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Trailers of the Week: Twilight, Wreck-It Ralph, Smashed, and More
Smashed (October 12) Silver: Stories about struggles of enduring love have been so thoroughly explored in both comedic and dramatic films that sitting through one is more comforting in its familiarity than it is challenging. What you don’t see a lot of, and it’s the reason why I’m excited for Smashed, are stories about late […]