Yes, No, Maybe So: Captain America Winter Soldier

Two multi-syllabic would be 2014 blockbusters teased us yesterday. We already looked at those X-people, so it's time for the more substantial offering Captain America: Winter Soldier. And, listen, I know that on the internet you're only supposed to talk about such things within the hour they debut so this makes me at least, what, 30 hours late? Though I type like The Flash with super speed I have other things in my life! This is why I can't always be there for the superheroes the second they're begging for attention. And when aren't they, really? The superheroic are SO needy and they take up so much of the internet's time. We should all stop enabling them but until the demi-gods, aliens, mutants, and super soldiers stop being the lolcats of film blogs (i.e. instant traffic draws) the madness will truly never end.

Question: If I wore horizontal tripes would it make my chest & shoulders look this broad / great?
Answ--- hey, you don't have to be mean!

THE TRAILER. Let's break down the good captain's promo after the jump. Are you a Yes, No, or a Maybe So for round two with super soldiered Chris Evans?

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Six Notes on the Six Second "X-Men" Tease

I don't want to give too much attention to a six second tease of a teaser -- I waited a whole day in fact hoping the urge to say something would pass -- but in the end my childhood hardwiring triumphed. I haven't loved or even much liked an X-Movie in 10 years but I will always love the X-Men, for better or worse. Usually worse. 

So herewith a few thoughts with screencaps from Bryan Singer's tweeting foreplay.

It's a good thing this is a period piece because Professor Xavier's helmet Cerebro is totally irrelevant today. You don't need a mutant locator anymore. The Homo Superior are impossible to miss all smeared across every movie screen and television set and website. Children of the Atom be so ubiquitous in this age of superheroes.

Unfortunately I'm not done blabbering about this yet!

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Yes, No, Maybe So: Grand Budapest Hotel

Hospitality is all about speed, charm and mind-reading. Get them checked in, ingratiate yourself, anticipate their every need. Movies have to do that in reverse so the new poster (discussed) and the trailer have arrived to charm and anticipate our needs. Will you check into his GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL in Spring 2014? Let's check off our yes no maybe so boxes...

YES

• ohmygod the colorology! I'm in ♥ with all the reds and purples and whites on view here. Wes Anderson movies may all look exactly like Wes Anderson movies but they do change up the color palette, so points for that.
• And speaking of which... I really think costumers and production designers on his movies do not get enough credit. It's insane to me that Karen Patch, for example, wasn't Oscar nominated for her instantly iconic work on The Royal Tenenbaums. This time it's the legendary Milena Canonero (on her 3rd Anderson picture) and Adam Stockhausen (who graduated to Production Designer on Moonrise Kingdom), respectively.
• If Wes Anderson were a hotelier, I imagine he'd have to run a very small exclusive boutique, building the perfect meticulously designed dollhouse rooms for his devout fanbase and repertory actors to squeeze into. I would glady pay rack. 
• Ralph Fiennes as a ladykiller concierge named "Gustav H"
• Tilda as an unrecognizably old rich lady horny for him? 

NO

• Oh noooos. Tilda dies to kick off the plot? That's too little Tilda.
• ...Especially since the cast list is otherwise a total sausage party. 

MAYBE SO

• Why is this trailer square? Is Wes challenging himself with an old school aspect ratio? [update after writing: yep, apparently there are three aspect ratios here] I know people complain about his center framed horizontals but I LIKE horizontal, and love his unique aesthetic.
• Do you think this one will skew too forced whacky? (the roundelay of face-punching, the skiing) or too precious (the secret code, the name of the painting, the "lobby boy" cap)
• ...can a Wes Anderson movie even be too precious? Or, if so, should they all be animated like Fantastic Mr Fox?
• Moonrise Kingdom will be hard to top but he doesn't need to. Even his least satisfying movie (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) still has all sorts of corners and hallways and portholes to look into and at.

THE TRAILER

Are you a yes, no, or maybe so... and in what ways? Do tell.

Awkward!

By now you've already gawked at Zac Efron's naked body serving up a horizontal pee gag. The image has been shared relentlessly since the trailer of That Awkward Moment premiered a few days ago.

<-- Truth in Screencapping!  

I wasn't going to say anything in the interest of timeliness but it turns out the power of ___ compels me.  But it's not about Zac Efron.  That awkward NSFW moment plus a reader poll (I apologize in advance!) is  after the jump.

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Between Films... Thoughts on "American Hustle" Promos

We've already done a "yes no maybe so" on American Hustle's A+ teaser. I loved that teaser so much I ended up purchasing Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" on iTunes. But recently the full trailer debuted. Due to travels I hadn't commented.

I'm in Los Angeles for a few meetings and the enticing promos for American Hustle (those fab character posters, too) aren't just the talk amongst movie fans but rival Oscar teams, too. It seems like two conversations are running parallel: the ongoing Gravity conversation and the conversation about the films people haven't yet seen American Hustle and Her (which screens tomorrow for press). Are Captain Phillips and Twelve Years a Slave going to be able to find a large enough window between what's hot right now (Gravity) and what's still coming to steal some of that thunder?  

The conversations I've had on the West Coast are a good reminder -- the internet can get so dully negative -- that many people who work on movies, whether its publicity, production, or full fledged movie stardom, started out as die-hard movie fans just like you and I.

So let's talk about the new trailer after the jump

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