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Trailer Tracker: The Darkest Hour, The Sitter and more

The alien invasion genre is still alive and well with our featured trailer this week for The Darkest Hour. That's more than you can say for Earth’s inhabitants in this foreign-set adventure starring Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby. Second, Jonah Hill stars in The Sitter, an R-rated comedy with hints of action from the director of Pineapple Express. Finally, in this clip-light week, prepare to laugh at the red band trailer for the acclaimed indie horror/comedy Tucker and Dale vs Evil and the acclaimed awards circuit drama We Need to Talk About Kevin. We need to talk about movies — it’s Trailer Tracker.

 

New clips this week:
The Darkest Hour
The Sitter
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
We Need to Talk About Kevin

 

The Darkest Hour

Thanks to the mammoth success of the “Transformers” series, Avatar, quality low-budget hits such as District 9 and Super 8 (no relation) and enough decent filler fare, aliens are apparently cool again. And until the market is oversaturated, we will continue to duck and cover. The Darkest Hour comes from director Chris Gorak, who helmed the little-seen but solid doomsday thriller Right at Your Door. The film brings the fight to Moscow, where a group of tourists survive the initial attack from an invisible alien menace hungry for energy. Be it humans or light bulbs, the invaders consume everything in their path, but as the clip shows, this is also their weakness as they give off that absorbed power when passing by electronics, revealing themselves to the band of young fighters. 

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“Darkest Hour” very much evokes the incredibly misguided Vanishing on 7th Street in terms of tone and general premise, which got a limited release earlier this year (though the latter explored demons over extraterrestrials) so hopefully any similar heavy-handed pitfalls are avoided. There are some cool scenes in this stylish-looking production and at least has some new ideas even if the setup seems a bit dopey with these teenagers being the sole survivors while the military and locals have apparently been eradicated. That being said, Hirsch is a solid young actor and if we have to be exposed to more from this genre, any change of pace is welcome.

 



The Sitter

From indie fare such as Snow Angles to the stoner hit Pineapple Express, director David Gordon Green showed his versatility and mainstream potential (until, of course, he brought us the flop that was Your Highness just five months ago and now on DVD/Blu-ray). This December, he has a second chance to double up on one of either his flops or his successes with The Sitter, the raunchy tale of a lazy, suspended college kid (Jonah Hill) who agrees to babysit the spoiled kids next door. The tone very much screams the aforementioned Pineapple Express, Superbad or last years Date Night with a simple night spiralling out into lunacy and possible life or death stakes. Despite an abundance of gross-out gags and slapstick, I found the clip rather amusing and Hill is certainly in his comfort zone playing the fast-talking slacker (hopefully the 10-year-old Latino thug character is not overused though ... just watch the clip.





Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Unofficially released last year, Tucker and Dale vs Evil is now undergoing a Paranormal Activity-esque “vote for a showing to come to your theater” tactic to build buzz for what I would expect is an intended wider release. “Tucker and Dale” has played at both Sundance and SXSW to raves who praise the genre-bending and upheaval of horror conventions; a breath of fresh air to be sure amongst the age of Final Destination 5. Having seen this movie myself, I can tell you the buzz is deserved and very much evokes the tone and execution of another indie horror spoof gem, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Starring Tyler Labine (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Alan Tudyk (Firefly) as two hillbillies, the duo save a young girl from drowning, only to have her friends believe they are raging psychopaths. The trailer, I’ll admit, is spoiler-laden, but from what I have heard it is the execution and in-jokes that make this an experience for anyone for an affinity for the horror genre.





We Need to Talk About Kevin

From Lionel Shriver’s novel of the same name, We Need to Talk about Kevin is a horror/thriller/drama about a mother’s (played by Tilda Swinton) recount of the events leading up to her son going on a shooting spree at his high school. The film won raves at Cannes especially for Swinton’s intense performance and this international trailer certainly seems to echo the dark, twisted mood of the story. “Kevin” has been struggling to get to the big screen for some time due to a lack of interest in financing due to the subject matter, but now it all seems to have been worth it as Oscar consideration seems all but definite at this point. Catch this film in limited release in September. 

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