Today, we have a handful of new trailers (Twelve, Devil, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, The Wildest Dream, Legend of the Guardians and Due Date) and a new poster for I Spit on Your Grave.

Today’s Preview Update is featured below.

TWELVE

	Plot Summary: Based on the acclaimed novel, a drug pusher finds out just how far the wealthy youth of the city will go to score their next hit. Release Date: August 6, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B- Commentary: The film doesn’t look too bad, though the trailer could use some work. While some of the cuts-in-tempo work well towards the end, the first half of the trailer is mostly a bland carbon copy of any number of teen drug addict films, which doesn’t help sell the picture to that audience.	Rating: C+ Commentary: How frustrating a teen-targeted poster is when it tries to show all the hip, sexy young things in a film, but does so homogeneously. There’s no originality or excitement to it.
	Trailer Link: CinemaSight Oscar Chances: Wealthy youths seeking drugs may hit a little too close to home for some parents in the Academy, but that’s not the reason the film will be ignored. The fact that it skews so heavily towards the youth market will be the determining factor.

DEVIL

	Plot Summary: Five strangers trapped in an elevator must survive a bizarre set of twisted events when one of them is not who they appear to be. Release Date: September 17, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B+ Commentary: Thank goodness M. Night Shyamalan isn’t directing this…it looks interesting and creepy as hell, which is a positively great thing and what the filmmaker is going for. The whole trailer draws you into the story without giving away too much, always teasing the audience with the potential for more excitement.	Rating: B+ Commentary: It’s minimal and sometimes that can be more effective than frantic. The darkness of the poster and the simple image of a reddened down elevator button speaks volumes of the film’s title and premise.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY

	Plot Summary: Unable to understand his depression, a 16-year-old checks himself into a mental health clinic where he discovers friends and love amidst the patients. Release Date: September 24, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C+ Commentary: I found myself quickly uninterested in this film as the trailer meanders through supposedly witty anecdotes that come off sounding like witless platitudes.	Rating: None Commentary: I don’t review placeholders.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movie Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

THE WILDEST DREAM

	Plot Summary: 75 years after George Mallory disappeared while trying to summit Mount Everest, mountain climber Conrad Anker tries to accomplish what Mallory had not and to do so using only what would have been available to Mallory when he attempted the feat. Release Date: May 27, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C+ Commentary: If you’re into mountain climbing, then this is an excellent documentary for you. If you aren’t, then I don’t know that there’s much here to pique your interest. I admit that discovery of George Mallory’s remains may be the most fascinating element to this documentary, but I can’t exactly say the rest excites me.	Rating: C+ Commentary: It’s a stark environment and while beautiful from afar, it is intensely deadly from up close and the sheer breadth and blandness up close is a strong image to use, but it may too easily get lost in a sea of other film posters for being so limited in color.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: It’s doubtful that the Academy will select this documentary to single out for all nature docs since most nature docs don’t do well with the Academy anyway.

LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE

	Plot Summary: Raised on the stories of legendary guardians who will one day come to save the world from destruction, a small group of young owls find need of the Guardians’ support and go off in search of these famed creatures. Release Date: September 24, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C Commentary: I’m surprised it took so long to get this trailer onto one of these websites. I’ve seen it several times in front of animated features all year. From the first time I saw it, I thought the story would be indelibly weak and each time that impression continued to deepen. While the visuals do look quite stellar, I can’t help but expect very little from the film.	Rating: B Commentary: It’s one of the most gorgeous images in the film, and seems somewhat fitting to be selected, but it lacks purpose. It’s more visually stimulating than emotionally engaging, which may help sell the poster itself, but may not work to sell the film.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Just from the graphics alone this will be an Animated Feature contender; however, my guess is it’s not going to fare very well overall.

DUE DATE

	Plot Summary: Trying to get home for his child’s birth, a desperate father-to-be finds himself trapped in a disturbing road trip that threatens to destroy his sanity. Release Date: November 5, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C- Commentary: There aren’t many trailers I find this unappealing. I normally like Robert Downey Jr, but this really looks like a lame comedy vehicle. Not only that, but Zach Galifianakis may be one of the most overrated and least humorous actors working today. Throw in the vainglorious Jamie Foxx and you have a recipe for idiocy. It may fly for those who adored The Hangover (same director after all), but I can’t imagine ever sitting down to watch this.	Rating: None Commentary: I don’t review placeholders.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo MoviesTrailers Oscar Chances: None.

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE

	Plot Summary: A remake of the 1978 horror film about a woman who seeks revenge against the four men who raped her. Release Date: October 8, 2010
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: I Spit on Your Grave	Rating: B- Commentary: They say that sex sells and if that’s true, then this poster is a gold mine. It isn’t a terribly inventive piece, but it sufficiently appeals to the demographic that’s going to see this film anyway, though it may dissuade the female portion of the audience expecting little more than a male sex fantasy despite being a female revenge fantasy.
	Trailer Link: See Previous Preview Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview