Our last update for the week features five new trailers (Another Year, Born to Be Wild, Dead Awake, Every Day and The Mechanic) and two new posters (Blue Valentine and No Strings Attached).

BORN TO BE WILD

	Plot Summary: A documentary about human encroachment into the wild habitats of elephants and simians and the efforts to preserve and re-release these animals into the wild. Release Date: April 8, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B+ Commentary: This trailer is filled with cuteness. That alone may draw in a fairly large audience. Morgan Freeman’s voice may also coax a few attendees into the theater.	Rating: C+ Commentary: The poster’s a lot less cute than the trailer, so I wouldn’t expect this to be much of an added draw for attendance.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Nature documentaries are frequently ignored, just ask Walt Disney Studios.

EVERY DAY

	Plot Summary: A dramedy about a scriptwriter going through a mid-life crisis. Release Date: January 14, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C+ Commentary: The cast doesn’t seem to fit well together from the trailer, which could of course explain why it feels so generic despite decent actors.	Rating: C- Commentary: So much blank white space. Such a waste of that space. Poster makers try to be original, but then they end up going the exact opposite way of original and copy themselves off of all that has come before. This is an example of such insistence and regurgitation.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

DEAD AWAKE

	Plot Summary: An assistant funeral director re-examines a mystery in his past in order to live his future. Release Date: December 3, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C+ Commentary: The strange intertitle design gets irritating after awhile, which doesn’t help the mashed-up trailer that they cut into. The plot looks vaguely interesting, but the actors don’t look knock-your-socks-off good, so I remain skeptical.	Rating: C- Commentary: You are not watching Twilight, so don’t mistake yourself by thinking so. This poster just doesn’t feel right and that’s probably because it has some fairly mediocre elements that have been repeated in many posters over the last few years.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movies Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

ANOTHER YEAR

	Plot Summary: A loving couple, celebrating years of marital bliss, are surrounded by friends and colleagues whose lives verge on miserable. Release Date: December 29, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C Commentary: If you are a Mike Leigh fan, this trailer might be enough to get you into the theater. If you aren’t, then the lack of plot, the lack of tension or dramatic heft will probably keep you away. For me, I like Mike Leigh, but I’m not particularly enthused by this trailer, though the film will probably outshine it. And what’s with them choosing Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky to highlight Leigh’s career. Secrets and Vera I can buy, but Happy-Go-Lucky? Just because it was his most recent film doesn’t mean you should use it.	Rating: None Commentary: I don’t review placeholders.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movies Trailers Oscar Chances: Never underestimate the power of Leigh who has not only received Best Picture, Director and Screenwriting nominations, but he’s managed it more frequently than you would have imagined. Original Screenplay is the most likely nomination, but a nod for Lesley Manville in Best Actress might be a possibility as well.

THE MECHANIC

	Plot Summary: An elite assassin, living by a code, throws the code aside to avenge the murder of his mentor. Release Date: January 28, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C Commentary: Oh look. It’s another Jason Statham action film with limited plot, limited talent and no actual style. Even the always interesting Ben Foster, the legendary Donald Sutherland and the long-absent Tony Goldwyn can’t convince me this will be a good movie.	Rating: D Commentary: A big orange gun composed of smaller guns of various types…could it be any more unimpressive? Possibly, but I don’t want them to try.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movies Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED, poster

	Plot Summary: They started out wanting nothing more than sex, but a pair of friends soon discover they feel something deeper. Release Date: January 21, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: No Strings Attached	Rating: C Commentary: Well, it certainly fits the theme of the film, though it’s less brazen or interesting as the similarly-styled poster for Life As We Know It.
	Trailer Link: See Previous Preview Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview

BLUE VALENTINE, poster #3

	Plot Summary: They’re trying to save their failing marriage, but will two unhappy people be able to reconnect through their shared memories? Release Date: December 31, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: Blue Valentine	Rating: C+ Commentary: The first hue-neutral poster. It’s definitely a better selling tool than the first poster, but it’ isn’t as good as the second.
	Trailer Link: See Previous Preview Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview