Gordon McAlpin's Blog: Updates from Multiplex: Deleted Scenes, page 19

Trailer Watch: The Myth of the American Sleepover

First-time writer/director David Robert Mitchell's The Myth of the American Sleepover "follows four young people… on the last night of summer — their final night of freedom before the new school year starts. The teenagers cross paths as they explore the suburban wonderland they inhabit in search of love and adventure — chasing first kisses, elusive crushes, popularity and parties — and discover the quiet moments that will later resonate as the best in their youth."

The dusk-'til-dawn coming-of-age drama in the vein of American Graffiti and Dazed & Confused, although the trailer lacks either film's humor — but it was an official selection of Cannes Critics Week and won the Special Jury Prize at SXSW, and the trailer is heart-achingly gorgeous, so… that all bodes well.

The Myth of the American Sleepover hits theaters — in limited release, of course — on July 22, 2011, and then On Demand on the 27th.

"Noiseman Sound Insect" (and other stuff) by Kōji Morimoto

Kōji Morimoto is one of my favorite animators whom I've never seen a feature by. That's partly because the only feature he's done to date is the 1991 Fly! Peek the Whale (an out-and-out kid flick, that I've never even seen a copy of), but he's better known for his animated shorts, anyway.

His most seen short in the US, at least, is undoubtedly "Beyond" from the Animatrix anthology, which was one of that very strong collection's best. He collaborated with Katsuhiro Otomo for the brilliant "The Order to Stop Construction" in Manie Manie anthology (also known as Neo Tokyo). He did Franken's Gears from Robot Carnival. He's also done an OVA series called Eternal Family and — most recently — a short called "Dimension Bomb" for the Genius Party Beyond anthology, neither of which I've seen. (A lot of this stuff is pretty hard to find!)

Morimoto has also directed a bunch of J-pop music videos, some of which are gorgeous. His stories have been hit and miss (in the films I've seen), but the skill of the animation always impresses me. It's fascinating work, and it's all begging to be collected onto one "The Work of Kōji Morimoto"-type set one day.

The reason for this post, though, is a 15-minute short he did back in 1997. Be warned: it's weird. SFW weird, but weeeeiiiird. (And don't worry; it's not all filled with visual noise like the first few minutes. That's intentional. The video gets perfectly clear after a couple of minutes.

Morimoto is supposedly at work on a feature called Sachiko, but I haven't heard anything about that in years.

Trailer Watch: Studio Ghibli's Arrietty UK trailer

Thanks once again to Twitch, we have the UK trailer for Arrietty, Studio Ghibli's adaptation of Mary Norton's children's novel The Borrowers. The marketing material says "inspired by," because it's a loose adaptation, with Ghibli relocating the tale to Japan.

Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the film came out last year in Japan, where it won Animation of the Year in the 2010 Japan Academy Prize (a.k.a. the Japanese Academy Awards). Two English dubs have been prepped for their upcoming US and UK releases. (The US version stars Bridgit Mendler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and Carol Burnett, while the UK version has Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Olivia Coleman and Tom Holland providing voices.) Arrietty hits UK theaters on August 26, 2011, and the United States on February 17, 2012.

Trailer Watch: Kim Ji-hoon's Sector 7

Courtesy of Twitch comes the trailer for the the monster movie Sector 7. Directed by Kim Ji-hoon (May 18) and starring the prettiest oil rig worker ever (Ha Ji-won), plus a bunch of dudes, the film looks to be about an oil rig best by one crazy-looking monster. (Film Smash goes into more depth with the plot, if you're really curious.)

It's a fun, promising trailer, a little more in the vein of The Thing than The Host, I think—but what do I know? I can't understand a word of this thing. The film is out in Korea in August, and while I don't know of any plans to bring it to the States, if it does well, we'll get it on DVD, at least. Unless it's a smash hit, though, the most likely venue will be the art house circuit, where you're unlikely to get it in 3D.

Trailer Watch: Killer Elite rocks you like a hurricane

Based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes' novel, The Feather Men (not the Sam Peckinpah film, The Killer Elite), Killer Elite — purported to be based on actual events, but I'm gonna gets veerrryy loosely — is about an "ex-special ops agent (Jason Statham) who is lured out of retirement to rescue his mentor (Robert De Niro). To make the rescue, he must complete a near-impossible mission of killing three tough-as-nails assassins with a cunning leader (Clive Owen)." Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski gets fourth billing as a ridiculously hot blone woman who seems to be friendly with Statham's character.

Director Gary McKendry is a new one to me; the Irish commercial director has only one short film to his credit on IMDB, but this action in this trailer looks pretty ace. We'll see if he can tell a story as well on September 23.

Trailer Watch: Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy international trailer

Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson's next film is nearly here — an adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, an adaptation of the John Le Carré novel. Featuring an incredible cast — Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy (Inception and the upcoming Dark Knight Rises), John Hurt, Ciarán Hinds (Munich, There Will Be Blood), and Mark Strong among them — this looks to be one hell of a flick.

It'll be out in the UK on September 16, Australia on October 27, and US theaters on November 18, 2011. Alfredson's homeland of Sweden is saving it 'til Christmas, however.

Trailer Watch: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol teaser

I really enjoyed the third Mission: Impossible film, thanks to JJ Abrams and amazing turn as a villain by Philip Seymour Hoffman, but the real draw here with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol isn't Tom Cruise: it's Brad Bird. The director of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant is trying his hand at live action, and I'll be God damned if there aren't a lot of really good shots in this. Whether or not the script strings together the action as well as it needs to, these action scenes are gonna be great. Mark my words.

Trailer Watch: Horrible Bosses red band trailer

From MSN Movies comes a new, red band trailer for Seth Gordon's Horrible Bosses.

The film stars Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston, and Jamie Foxx, and it hits theaters on July 8. Are you going to be seeing this or The Zookeeper that weekend? Or sleeping in?

Video: 'Horrible Bosses' Trailer (Mature Audiences)

Trailer Watch: Pixar's Brave

As if to say, "We know you're all having a whine party about how much everyone hates Cars 2, so here's a teaser for Brave. It's good, we promise." And it looks freakin' cool. Lush and green and loaded with bouncy (and curly!) hair, unlike any Pixar film to date (even the jungly bits in The Incredibles and Up), this looks like a big step foward in CG rendering.

Here's a synopsis (courtesy Coming Soon):

Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman (Julie Walters) and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida's quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom's three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), the surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane).

Brave takes aim at the box office on June 22, 2012.

Trailer Watch: Immortals trailer #2

Via RyanSeacrest.com (weird, right?) comes the second trailer for Tarsem Singh's 300-style swords-and-weird-accents spectacle, Immortals. It still looks kinda cool, but we'll see if Tarsem Singh can actually work some real storytelling into all this style, where Zack Snyder failed.

The film stars Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, John Hurt and Mickey Rourke, and it opens (in both 2D and 3D) on November 11.