Further To Previous Summer Movie Filibuster

The first actual real proper trailer for El Hombre Incredible has arrived, and sadly it's apparent that the rumours that Edward Norton and Marvel are fighting over final cut are true. Those of us waiting to see a proper Hulk movie will be very disappointed by this new light comedic take, with Norton now playing Banner as a Catholic priest, Tim Roth playing a Rabbi instead of a gamma-irradiated monster, and both of them fighting over a recast Jenna Elfman who converts to Judaism at the end of the film. Lots of spirited discussion about religion, not so much with the Hulk Smash. See for yourself.



Okay, so it's only a teaser, but I really doubt this will interest many but the most excitable fanboys. That said, it's opening the same week as The Happening, which also might not interest audiences, driving everyone to see the green priest movie in the hopes that someone will get hit in the head with a car. That theory depends on the oft-unquestioned belief that every weekend during summer millions of people will always feel compelled to go to the cinema. For all we know they'll just stay home, crank up the A/C, and rewatch either Signs or the Ang Lee Hulk. Either way, it's cheaper than a trip to the local multiplex.

I'm on the fence about Ed Norton. I appreciate he is obviously very talented, but for some inexplicable reason I can't muster the enthusiasm for him that other people seem to. The two performances I like most by him are Fight Club (where his face is obscured by blood and scars for a lot of the film) and Kingdom of Heaven (where his face is obscured by a big mask for all of the film), so perhaps I just have a problem with his face, which is my failing and shame on me. I also get the blues thinking about his habit of fiddling with the films he appears in. Dude, if you want to be a perfectionist, hurry up and get Motherless Brooklyn going. Leave everyone else alone.

He's also producing a documentary about Barack Obama right now, which will either be a historical document of immense import or a depressing curio, depending on how America votes. Normally I'd keep my cards close to my chest and not talk about politics, but earlier this week, after I discovered the Amazon tag system, looked at the scary covers of several books that are Amazon tagged as "editor promised cake", and I suddenly realised that I was wrong all along. Liberals are desperately eager for dirty bombs to blow up right in our faces because they hate life and money and want us all dead and poor, in that order, which leads me to unhitch myself from the Obamanon wagon and put my support behind the hot independent duo of Rufus T. Firefly and Dickie Pilager on the "Wait 'Til I Get Through With It" ticket. (Sorry Canyon, I know your political heart lies elsewhere!)


Enough with the politics. I may have been severely underwhelmed by that trailer, but just to prove I was on the right tracks, the latest trailers for Speed Racer and Wall*E appear to have made some of the internet doubters rethink their annoying hatery. I'm not 100% crazy about the Wall*E trailer, thinking the propulsive music doesn't go well with some of the comedy asides shoved in towards the end, but visually it's still astonishing, and it shows some of the reportedly enormous scope of the film. Speed Racer, on the other hand, looks better than ever. That trailer is already one of my favourites of the year, and features the phrase, "Cool beans!", which makes me love it even more. Hopefully all of the fanboys who have been crying about it being a "kids" movie (ugh) will cease their yappeting and get onboard now.

ETA: Speed Racer trailer!



Speed seems like a young Ricky Bobby at the start.