Without a doubt the most exciting new trailer out this week is “Cemetery Junction,” directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Taking a more overall serious tone than much of Gervais’s other work, the film follows a group of unmotivated young men as they begin to leave behind their days of drinking and tomfoolery and grow up. Gervais and Merchant have produced excellent work together (“The Office” and “Extras”), and specialize in awkward humor with surprisingly poignant moments interspersed. Gervais is also acting in the film, and in the past his talent alone has managed to elevate what would have otherwise been lackluster fare (most notably “Ghost Town” and “The Invention of Lying”). I’ve posted both the official trailer and the teaser from a few months back, which features Gervais, Merchant, and Ralph Fiennes at their most hilarious.
If the “A-Team” trailer didn’t tickle your fancy then perhaps “The Losers” will get the job done. It’s essentially the same thing (elite soldiers, wrongfully accused, revenge, etc. etc.), but without any 80s nostalgia. There are plenty of explosions, jokes, slow-motion, and Idris Elba to go around, but I can’t help but feel like the “A-Team” already beat them to the punch. Hopefully “The Losers” will have enough of their own flair to avoid being a derivative and boring competitor.
For those who prefer their unbelievable action with a sci-fi bent, there’s “Repo Men,” starring Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker as a pair of futuristic agents tasked with repossessing artificial organs from those who fail to make their payments. “Enemy at the Gates” aside, I have a hard time buying Jude Law as an action star, but he should be buoyed here by Liev Schreiber and Forrest Whitaker, both of whom are pretty reliable in about anything. Except for a neat scene in an all-white lab, most of the gun battles look fairly generic, and are accompanied by a pulsing rock soundtrack. But what can one really expect from a movie that features the RZA in a supporting role?
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