Today’s Preview Update is featured below. We have a massive update tonight with nine new trailers and three new posters to review. Eight trailers belong to films I had not previously reviewed (Life During Wartime, The Tillman Story, Stonewall Uprising, Welcome to the Rileys, Cairo Time, The Radiant Child, Ready, Set, Bag! and The Social Network) the other is the second trailer for Nowhere Boy. The three new posters are for Takers, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Other Guys.

LIFE DURING WARTIME

	Plot Summary: An incident ten years in the past has forced three sisters to re-evaluate their lives and attempt to come to terms with the world around them. Release Date: July 23, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B+ Commentary: If nothing else, the cast should give you hope that this will be a special film. Todd Solondz is about as eclectic as you can get without being Charlie Kaufman. This looks like another strange, but potentially satisfying film. The modern setting coupled with the semi-perfect flashes of ’70s suburbia should give plenty of audiences something to wrap their heads around if they choose.	Rating: C Commentary: Perhaps the child featured briefly in the trailer, but so prominently drawn on the poster plays a bigger role in the progress of the film than we expect. The poster, with its semi-rudimentary drawing style and lack of cohesion with the trailer creates a somewhat displeasing work.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Solondz has never been Academy friendly, even with critics in love with his work, but Ally Sheedy and Allison Janney may well make some year-end lists and could end up as nominees if there’s a dearth of viable candidates.

THE TILLMAN STORY

	Plot Summary: Recounting the events leading up to the death of football star-turned-U.S. Soldier, this documentary attempts to expose a massive government cover up into a pre-packaged story of a war hero dying in the line of duty. Release Date: August 20, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B+ Commentary: I didn’t care a lot about this story when it was making headlines, but this trailer pulls all the right strings to make this look like a compelling, hard-hitting, deep-digging bit of journalism.	Rating: D+ Commentary: What a terrible accompaniment to a wonderful trailer. The poster, with bands of red, white and blue over an overly enlarged picture of the subject, is as far from a solid sales tool as it should be.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Depending on how the film is received, this could be a good contender for an Academy Award nomination in Documentary Feature.

STONEWALL UPRISING

	Plot Summary: Interviews and archival footage highlight this documentary into the spark that led to the Stonewall Riots, the event that began the gay civil rights movement. Release Date: June 16, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B Commentary: The compelling element of this documentary is listening to various individuals who were there at the pivotal event. The trailer is a bit long in the tooth trying to give too much information to the audience in hopes to bring them in, but not clearly leaving back enough to make up for the full length of the film.	Rating: C- Commentary: It’s a bland, pointless exercise that doesn’t really capture the power of importance of the event. The image is distorted unnecessarily and the title is overly aggressive while remaining bland.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: The Academy has far too many competitors this year to make this a priority.

WELCOME TO THE RILEYS

	Plot Summary: After the death of their daughter, a husband and wife slowly fall apart amid recriminations and sorrow, but when the husband takes it upon himself to help a young stripper who reminds him of his daughter, he begins the slow healing process that will hopefully help both he and his wife cope. Release Date: November 5, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B Commentary: I like the idea and James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo look quite good, but Kristen Stewart is a distraction and her few scenes don’t show any dynamic qualities as an actress, so it could be a detriment to the whole production.	Rating: None Commentary: I don’t review placeholders.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movie Trailers Oscar Chances: Gandolfini and Leo may receive some chatter, but a lot of critics will have to support the film for it to earn much.

NOWHERE BOY, trailer #2

CAIRO TIME

	Plot Summary: A married woman arrives in Cairo to discover her husband has been detained in Gaza and won’t be able to rendezvous right away. While waiting, a gracious tour guide becomes more. Release Date: August 6, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B- Commentary: I love Patricia Clarkson and this looks to suit her abilities quite well, but the overall thrust of the film feels too familiar with wistful sideward glances and love finds its way plotting. There is one nice shot half way through with Clarkson standing with her back against the elevator that captures what I hope the film is and isn’t a one-time positive quality.	Rating: C+ Commentary: We get that this is set in the desert (it is called Cairo Time, after all) but must the background be a shade very similar to sand? Otherwise, the poster is well structured and framed.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Clarkson hasn’t been near the Academy Awards in some time and may never get another nomination, but this is the kind of role that could put her closer than she’s been in awhile.

THE RADIANT CHILD

	Plot Summary: A documentary featuring 20-year-old footage of a young painter named Basquiat, who would later become one of the most famous New York artists in the last few decades. Release Date: July 21, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B- Commentary: Other than the somewhat obnoxious lyrics, the music is completely fitting to the film and even succinctly punctuates the titles at the end. However, unless you’re already a fan or follower of Jean Michel Basquiat, there really isn’t much here to entice you to see the film.	Rating: B- Commentary: It’s a nice, artistic image, but again, it plays to the audience’s knowledge of Basquiat, which won’t help market the film into very many theaters.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: It’s doubtful that mostly archival footage cobbled into a documentary would be well supported by the Academy, but anything’s possible.

READY, SET, BAG!

	Plot Summary: A documentary following the national bagging competition, an annual event that rewards the best super market bagger. Release Date: August 6, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C Commentary: I thought I had seen just about everything, then they made Air Guitar Nation. After that, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore what types of competitions there are out there, but I was caught a bit off guard with this one.	Rating: B Commentary: The idea is perfectly tailored for this documentary and the colors are well chosen. If there’s one problem I have with it that, when you think about the end result, it’s a bit obvious.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

	Plot Summary: The story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the origins of one of the most utilized social service in the history of the world. Release Date: November 1, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C- Commentary: This is little more than a teaser featuring dialogue but no scenes from the film. Some of them are laughable, others interesting, but what this trailer does not do is develop a sense of proportion. The slow pull back from the pixelated image of Zuckerberg is interesting by itself, but the music is too overzealous.	Rating: D+ Commentary: How do you sell a movie with a poster like this? Sure the tagline is modestly catchy, but not many are familiar enough with Jesse Eisenberg to really make him a marketable entity.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: David Fincher had been on the cusp of Academy recognition for many years until he finally hit the mark with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; however, the year-end positioning may make this a talked-about contender, but unless it’s a rousing success critically and financially, don’t expect more than perhaps a Best Picture nod in the 10-wide field.

TAKERS, poster #2

	Plot Summary: A group of high profile bank robbers go up against a law enforcement group that may be its match. Release Date: August 27, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: Takers	Rating: B+ Commentary: Trading in the blue tones for sepia, the redesign encapsulates what can happen when a redesign works. It’s not perfect, using a number of traditional techniques (the convergent busts), but the quality of the design is superior to the first poster for this film and should do a much nicer job drawing in an audience.
	Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview

THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, poster #2

	Plot Summary: A young man finds himself the unwitting trainee of a powerful sorcerer who wants him to be prepared to fight off many evils. Release Date: July 14, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice	Rating: B- Commentary: Once again, the poster I had reviewed has disappeared without a trace. This new poster in its place isn’t improved on the original, but should sufficiently draw in an audience already pre-sold on the idea.
	Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview

THE OTHER GUYS, poster #2

	Plot Summary: Pencil pushing cops find themselves thrust into the action as they stumble on a dangerous crime. Release Date: August 6, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: The Other Guys	Rating: C- Commentary: From a stylish redesign to a disastrous one. This poster, as opposed to the one for Takers, goes the exact opposition direction of how to improve (or not) on a previous incarnation. Not only does it retain the rather lame leaping shooter image, but it adds further poor choices from the obligatory sexy waif to the recognizable “professional” cop visages, the poster is trying to draw more out of their advertising than the before. With the tacky connective block elements added in, we have a rather disappointing effort even if it does spell out the film’s premise handily.
	Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview