Winter break probably seems ages away right now but whether you believe it or not, there will eventually come a time when you’re relaxed enough to kick back, sip some hot chocolate and watch some cheery holiday films on loop. You might even have time to hit up the movie theater (what???). Luckily, Intermission has done the homework to keep you in the know about what flicks will soon be playing at a theater near you.
“The Sitter” (Dec. 9)
Jonah Hill’s latest film “The Sitter” appears to fit seamlessly in the actor’s curriculum vitae, perhaps anachronistically nestled between “Superbad” and “Get Him to the Greek,” in what could be a trilogy of the modern court jester. As in those films, Hill finds himself in a comically volatile situation–on the run from drug dealers and on the hunt for sex–all the while babysitting a gaggle of kids; think “Pineapple Express” (from the same director) meets “School of Rock,” but no one’s learning a lesson in this movie. The trailer showcases a myriad of lewd and dangerous spectacles that seem to drive the film more than the witty dialogue that audiences expect of Hill. Tenuously relevant (and decidedly awkward) interactions with gangsters and hooligans wind down the trailer, suggesting that like most drug-slinging, boob-ogling comedies of today, “The Sitter” will fizzle with chuckles but fail to pack a punch.
“I Melt With You” (Dec. 9)
Despite the bizarrely sentimental title (taken from the popular Modern English song) and the seemingly trite premise, this buddy-reunion film’s trailer promises a new spin on the white adult male relationships popularized by the likes of “The Hangover,” “Horrible Bosses” and “Old School.” At first the trailer feels like it gives the game away: four college friends (Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane and Christian McKay) gather every year for a retreat of ribaldry, mischief and self-medication. The montage of good times quickly turns to shots of desperation and busied isolation as the words “A BURIED SECRET” flashes over plotted sand, indicating a mystery movie. But we’ve seen this film before, the one where several friends on holiday revisit a scarred past–until the trailer smolders into Camera’s maudlin track “Defeatist” in a hastened montage suggesting that “I Melt” is less about the wacky situations of white men than a character study of four men and the psychological warfare of the everyday.
“Girl With a Dragon Tattoo” (Dec. 21)
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last four years, you know about Stieg Larsson’s novel “Girl With a Dragon Tattoo,” and unless you’ve actually read the bestseller, you probably have no idea what it’s about. The first teaser trailer of the (second) cinematic adaptation hailing from David Fincher (“Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “The Social Network”) reveals little information in its minute-and-a-half montage of visuals set to Trent Reznor and Karen O’s screechy rendition of “Immigrant Song.” The trailer clues us in on the dual periods of the film, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, a Lady Gaga lookalike and not much else. Shouting its “Feel Bad Movie” status in text, the trailer promises “Dragon Tattoo” will be yet another cool movie in Fincher’s repertoire.
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” (Dec. 25)
The trailer for “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” reads like a mini-version of the feature-length version: establishing admiration for the son and father’s (Tom Hanks) relationship, ripping it with halting visuals of the falling Twin Towers and a melodramatic montage set to U2’s saccharine “Where the Streets Have No Name.” By now, we can expect the unrealistically sagacious voiceover from screenwriter Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and the music-narration combo delivers the entire premise and emotion of the movie–a boy searching for the mysterious lock to which the key his dead father left him fits encounters and changes the lives of many people, perhaps a metaphor to be realized in the film. “Extremely Loud” could be a fresh look at the effects of the tragedy of 9/11 from the perspective of a child in a hybrid feel-good-mystery drama, but the trailer leaves little to the imagination.
“New Year’s Eve” (Dec. 9)
From the same writer and director of “Valentine’s Day,” this sort-of-sequel documents the transition from 2011 to 2012 for several hopeful romantics and wizened curmudgeons. The “New Year’s Eve” cast is as equally star-studded as the lovers’ flick and has more daring, diverse additions like Robert De Niro, Seth Meyers (“Saturday Night Live”) and Sofía Vergara (“Modern Family”). It plays its ensemble parts in the intertwining fashion of “Valentine’s Day” and “Love Actually”, with a healthy dose of similar feel-good holiday spirit. Set to P!nk’s “Raise Your Glass,” the trailer has a party attitude with a nod to the magic of New Year’s Eve.