While I was off being all Christmasy and stuff, a whole bunch of trailers for new movies dropped. Just my luck, right? Quick thoughts on a few of the most prominent:
Knight & Day
This looks pretty much unwatchable with one exception: it's one of the only movies I've seen hint of recently that, rather than pretending that Tom Cruise is a normal dude who isn't hypnotizing his child bride and raising the spawn of L. Ron Hubbard, utilizes his core creepiness. He looks disturbing in his role as Cameron Diaz's semi-stalker-with-a-heart-of-something here, and that dementia looks about right.
Cop Out
I would very much like Tracy Morgan to have a functional career. I would like Kevin Smith to start making good movies again. Cop Out is not a start of a new trend for either one of them. Let's be honest: Morgan works on 30 Rock precisely because he's playing himself. He could do good work in other roles that give him similar opportunities. But having him be the generic theoretically hilarious black cop is not that entertaining. Neither is forcing Bruce Willis to be a straight man, when he can actually be pretty funny himself when he's loose. That said, the line "My partner. He's smarter than Batman," is not bad. On the other hand, dragging people behind cars as a method of torture hasn't been funny since James Byrd's murder, and considerably before that as well.
Sex and the City 2
So, I'm on the record as saying that SATC-bashing is illegit, and that dudes should basically treat the show as Star Wars for chicks (or in addition to Star Wars, for those of us chicks who love both). But even I have absolutely no idea what this movie can possibly about now that Big and Carrie are married. That doesn't mean I won't be at the movie the first full day it's in theaters, with the girlfriend I've watched the show and the first movie with. I will add these caveats: if Big and Carrie break up AGAIN, I will fix Chris Noth with the fiercest glare I can find. And if Miranda is treated as shabbily as she was in the last movie, Michael Patrick King will be getting an invitation he can't refuse to a fight club of smart women I'll form for the occasion.