In development since it appeared as one of the “fake trailers” in 2007’s “Grindhouse,” Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete” has continued to embrace the campy premise it was initially formed on. It stars Danny Trejo as the titular day laborer hero, who is hired to assassinate an anti-immigrant Texas politician, only to be promptly double-crossed. The latest trailer was released on Cinco De Mayo and features the likes of Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, and a shotgun-toting Cheech Marin, not to mention a minigun-equipped motorcycle. It looks to be pretty close in tone to “Grindhouse,” which is kind of a mixed bag, given the lackluster critical and box-office reception it received. Nonetheless, I’ll see any film with the balls to stick with the tagline “They just fucked with the wrong Mexican.”
On the more realistic side of the spectrum is the gritty urban crime thriller “Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema,” the tale of petty criminal Lucky Kunene (Rapulana Seiphemo) and his rise from the bottom of the criminal world. The trailer isn’t spectacular, but it has a similar feel to “City of God” and “Elite Squad,” both of which are foreign crime films that I highly enjoyed. It may not be as much acclaim as either of those films did, but the possibility of being at all similar to them is enough to keep me interested.
Initially believed to be a sequel to “Cloverfield,” the teaser trailer for the J.J. Abrams-directed and Steven Spielberg-produced “Super 8” is finally up. It doesn’t reveal much, but the plot seems to center around the crash of a train carrying cargo from Area 51, and both filmmakers have denied any relationship to “Cloverfield” or its storyline. However, like “Cloverfield,” the teaser never reveals its presumably-alien monster, instead closing with something pounding its way out from the inside of a wrecked train car. I’m not sold on the premise yet, but it’s worth keeping an eye on, and a planned intensive viral marketing campaign will no doubt ensure we don’t forget about it.
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