Check out the trailer for 'People Like Us'

The trailer for this summer's People Like Us (formerly known by the odd title Welcome to People) just hit screens, and I'm optimistic. The subject of the script came up during THR's 2010 Actress Roundtable, where Hilary Swank talked about this movie she really fought to be in. It turned out to be Welcome to the People, and Amy Adams was forced to admit that, actually, she had been offered the part, but turned it down because she thought the role was too intense to play as a new mother. A part that actresses are fighting over? The movie has to be good, right? Elizabeth Banks ended up playing this much-fought-over role, of a woman, now a single mother with a kid who's acting out. Her whole life, she was kept a secret from her father's family.

The trailer's tone reminds me of a Jerry Maguire-type film, actually. There's a blend of comedy and drama, and it's all seemingly well-acted and scripted for great character revelations.

As THR points out, if you watched the trailer with the sound off you may think it's a movie about a budding relationship. That's complicated even further by the fact that Chris Pine plays the woman's brother, who is supposed to give her money bequeathed by their father in his will. Except that he doesn't want to tell her that he's her brother--yet. Given the fact that long-lost relations sometimes feel a powerful sexual attraction when they haven't been around each other their whole lives (It's science!), I'm a little weirded out by the lack of disclosure. Is it possible that this will factor into the plot of a major Hollywood movie, even though the trailer has a line of Pine's character saying "I swear on my life I will never, ever hit on you"? Is that why the actresses were fighting over the meaty role? Realistically, though, distributor Paramount is probably letting Lifetime or an indie tackle that kind of plot twist.

The drama will also be the directing debut of Alex Kurtzman, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Transformers and Star Trek co-writer Roberto Orci. While I can't determine if People Like Us will succeed in being a heartfelt drama, it already has one point in its favor. It's sold me on its plot contrivance--the inheritance that's bringing these long-lost siblings together.

Are you ready for the new 'Spider-Man'?

Watching the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, I already feel old. It feels like just yesterday that I was watching Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man giving Kirsten Dunst that iconic upside-down kiss. Man, that background music makes that moment feel so cheesy. On second thought, maybe it is time for a new Spider-Man.

However, the fact that they're re-booting the franchise just five years after the third film starring the original cast of characters signals so much that's wrong with Hollywood. Spider-Man "4" was originally going to star Maguire and Dunst and be directed by Sam Raimi. It was only after those oft-cited "creative differences" emerged that Columbia went ahead with an all-new cast and director. The trailer shows us we'll be getting a lot more of the same-old. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have the same feel as original stars Maguire and Dunst (even though Stone plays Gwen Stacy, not the Dunst role of Mary Jane Watson). IMDB says Rhys Ifans plays "Dr. Connor/The Lizard," so that solves who the mysterious green, monstrous enemy in the trailer is right off the bat--though comic book fans undoubtedly knew that already.

One thing I'm excited about is that an entire set piece appears to take place on the Williamsburg Bridge. I live near the bridge, and last year I saw the production filming a number of times. One night, they trained high-powered lights on the bridge that lit it up from end to end. I thought that was the kind of thing that was normally done in CGI, so the time, money, and effort that went into that impressed me. I was completely charmed by director Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer, but I wonder how much of that sensibility will translate to this big-budget, action-centered production.

Of all the superhero franchises, Spider-Man definitely skews young. There certainly isn't the kind of darkness in the Batman series that changed with each director's iteration and made the superhero have appeal beyond the youth set. If they're only going for kids, perhaps it makes sense that a reboot will occur just ten years after the original and five years after the third film in the franchise. 

I can't help feeling a little bored with it all. The Amazing Spider-Man will have to live up to something that's only ten years old in our cultural memory. When Hollywood is already remaking something that premiered in this millennium, how can they expect adults to show up? And how can original screenplays ever have a shot?

'Precious' this year's 'Slumdog,' minus the 'Millionaire'

By Sarah Sluis

After seeing Precious some weeks ago, I had pushed it to the back of my mind, but today I saw this letter posted on Tyler Perry's website (via Movieline), and the movie was just as fresh as it was a month ago. In the letter, Perry details his rough childhood and the abuses he suffered, all of which made him want to support Precious. Oprah Winfrey, who has also signed on as an executive producer, has revealed before on her show that she was sexually abused as a child. For Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, this movie recalls real experiences. Even the movie's website URL, weareallprecious.com, emphasizes identification with Precious. But is having a terrible childhood a prerequisite for seeing this movie and having an emotionally wrought experience? I say no.

Precious, which stars Gabourey Sidibe, follows a young, poor, black teenager living in Harlem in the 1980s. She has been sexually abused by her father. She is pregnant with his second child. Her first child has Down syndrome and lives with her grandma. Her mother emotionally and physically abuses her. She can't read. She's obese. What does she even have to live for? Under Lee Daniels' direction, the experience is pathos overdrive, which I think explains the movie's success to date.

Viewers have overwhelmingly approved of the film, giving it audience awards at Toronto and Sundance, much as Slumdog Millionaire won the Toronto award as well as four other audience festival awards. Both movies leave you with such an wealth of emotion that you want to do something--like choose it for the audience award. They also have some distance from their subject that makes it easier to bear. In Slumdog, it's geographical, in Precious, it's because the movie is set in the past.

I took particular note of how the film's style encourages identification with Precious. We see her dream sequences, one of which is segued into as her eyes are fixated on the ceiling as her father rapes her. In another scene, as Precious cooks for her mother and is forced to eat even though she isn't hungry, the food she cooks is surreally disgusting and unappetizing. I liked that Precious' point-of-view was conveyed with fantasy sequences and with subtle alterations of her real life.

The oddest, and riskiest part of the movie is a monologue near the end where the movie's villain makes a plea for us to understand her. It's like hearing a defense from a skilled serial killer--she's convincing and you get to understand where she's coming from, but at the same time you're fighting not to believe her. For me this was the biggest payoff of the film. It can seem "easy" to side with Precious the whole way through, but being challenged to understand the victim's enemy and refusing to side with her is like fighting for Precious yourself.

Lionsgate will platform the release of Precious, opening it in some cities November 6th and expanding over the next two weekends. When reception of the film goes beyond its critics and film festivals, I'm curious to see if reactions will start to expand and diversify. Wisely, the studio has already brought in Perry and Winfrey, two public figures whose personal experiences remind them of Precious, to lead the discussion. Will American audiences find the movie to be as Precious as the early viewers did?

'Whip It' breathes life into the coming-of-age genre

By Sarah Sluis

Yesterday's advance screening of Whip It! included some unusual invitees: members of New York's roller derby team, who came clad in outfits of sweatbands and striped stockings. The audience was

raucous and frequently laughed out loud, which always makes a movie that much more fun.

What's surprising is that Whip It! uses a stock plot and situation to make a fast-paced, original-feeling movie. Here's the coming-of-age tale 101:

1. A girl in a small town dutifully, but grudgingly, follows her parents' idea of her life.
2. Until she's pulled into a new activity in which she discovers herself.
3. She must hide this new life from her parents, who would disapprove.
4. This leads to a crisis point where she can't lead both lives at once (and/or gets found out)
5. At which point she must reconcile her two worlds.

In Whip It!, this activity is roller derby (cue training montages). The movie does a great job initiating newbies into the ins and outs of the game, and by the end you'll be just as appreciative of the double-leg whip as I was. But how can a movie that follows so closely to a set genre seem so original and fresh? I've come up with a few answers.

The acting: Ellen Page does a superb job as Bliss Cavendar .a.k.a. Babe Ruthless. You're with her the whole time.
The soundtrack: Like all Fox Searchlight movies, the movie has a killer soundtrack, featuring catchy songs from indie bands. You'd want to listen to it at the gym or before going out with friends.
The feminism: The roller derby girls are sexy but tough. In one scene, they're showing off the bruises on their bottoms to each other, to the delight of some nearby boys. It's funny and revealing: the girls

admiring their bodies for their power and toughness, and the boys because it's a female body. Takeaway: girls don't need to be dainty to be admired. Ellen Page also dumps a boy without a second thought because it appeared he was cheating on her, without a second chance.
The dialogue: The movie may use a stock plot, but the dialogue feels genuine.
The details: Good comedies get jokes from authentic, not gaggy, costuming and props. There's the pink furry phone in Legally Blonde and Jason Segel wearing Ugg boots in I Love You, Man. In Whip It!, it's the pig aprons the girls wear at the diner they work at. You really believe that they have to wear them, Ellen Page meets the boy she has a crush on while wearing this ridiculous, stuffed pig apron. They are laughably hideous, and just the kind of thing you'd be forced to wear in Bodeen, Texas.

Whip It! opens this Friday, and hopefully its originality will be rewarded at the box office.