Trailer Stash: Sherlock Holmes, The Road, more

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, Jude Law

Director: Guy Ritchie 

Release Date: Dec. 25

 

Robert Downey Jr. has gone into blockbuster mode with the kind of no-strings-attached goodwill that Johnny Depp had once he took up the Pirates franchise. In fact, to go by this trailer, it’s as if whatever legend Sherlock Holmes once had has been discarded in favor of Downey’s instinctive sense of humor and director Guy Richtie’s dubious theatrics (how many shots of shirtless slow-motion fighting does one movie need?). For better or worse, Holmes has gone Hollywood, and he’ll probably never go back.

Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron

Director: John Hillcoat 

Release Date: Oct. 16

 

This trailer stirred up anger when it debuted a couple weeks back because many of the scenes it shows (the natural disasters in particular) aren’t even in the movie. By all accounts, The Road is a stripped-down, cerebral apocalypse movie, not an action flick, and to pitch it this way guarantees a future marked by hostile word-of-mouth and angry web rants.

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson

Director: Rob Marshall

Release Date: Nov. 25

This long-awaited musical, inspired by Federico Fellini’s 8½, brings Chicago director Marshall back to more comfortable territory after his tepid adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha. Lush and flashy, the movie likes look a real event, and the trailer positions it to be the title to beat in the awards race next year.  

Cast (voices): Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover

Director: Shane Acker

Release Date:

Not to be confused with Nine, this harrowing animated feature boasts boldface producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and takes a risk in an animation market that thrives on broad, easy appeal. Though overlong, this first full trailer looks promising, with rich visuals and obvious imagination. Whether or not it will find an audience is another question.