Crimson Peak
October 2015

We're big fans of Guillermo del Toro here at TechSmart, which is why we were intensely interested to see the trailer for his latest effort, Crimson Peak. This horror is set in the Victorian Era as a young author tries to escape a troubled past. Fate though, has something different in mind, as she comes to live in a demonically haunted house that would even make Bates Motel seem like a five star establishment. It features a pretty stellar cast, with the talents of Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Help) stealing the show.

Best Bit: 1:16 when the floorboards come to life.   

Chappie
March 2015

You might have seen the trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie (starring Die Antwoord amongst others), but now some in-movie clips have seen the light of day. The first one below features Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver in dialogue, but if you wait for it some cool mecha makes an appearance. The second clip is less talk, more action, as Ninja comes to apologise to a gang of dirt.

Best Bit: 1:00 in the second one for a warm welcome

Spring
March 2015

Watch the first 20 seconds of Justin Benson/Aaron Moorhead's co-directed Spring, and it seems like any other European romance, as a young American man becomes enamoured with a local girl who is equal parts charming and beautiful. But carry on watching the trailer below, and like any good horror flick, something sinister is lurking just below the surface. Think of Spring as a reverse version of Beauty and the Beast, which may or may not have such a happy Disney ending.

Best Bit: 00:57 as flowers begin to strangely bloom at night as they kiss.

Anarchy
March 2015

Blood, guts, murder, betrayal. All part of the latest trailer for Anarchy, which relies heavily on the raspy voice that drags Ed Harris and his leather jacket along for the ride. It also stars Ethan Hawke and Anton Yelchin (Chekov in Star Trek), but the interesting part is that it’s based on Cymbeline, a play by William Shakespeare. Luckily director Michael Almereyda has done this type of thing before with Hamlet, so the project should be in good hands.

Best Bit: 1:10 when the cowboys come in for the kill.

Aloha
June 2015

It’s good to be on the look-out for rom-coms that, if you are dragged to go and watch it by your better half, at least it isn’t half-bad. Aloha looks like one of these, being written and directed by Cameron Crowe, who did the same for Jerry Maguire. It’s not short on star power, including Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray and Rachel McAdams.  

Best Bit: 0:24 Flavor Flav wearing a clock.

Trainwreck
July 2014

Talking of rom-coms you don’t mind being dragged along to (there really should be a shorter name for that), we would pick Trainwreck above Aloha. It’s directed by Judd Apatow (how many movies does he cough up per year?), but written by star of the show Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer). It also features one of our favourite SNL actors Bill Hader, and the immense thespian talents of both John Cena and LeBron James.

Best Bit: 1:00 Mark Wahlberg eating Mark Wahlberg.

Nightlight
March 2015

Sticking with the horror trailer trend, Nightlight is filmed in the now popular POV genre that seems to lend itself perfectly well to building tension and audience anxiety. What does seem quite interesting about this horror though, is the way light has been used in amping up the terror, well evidenced by its trailer. A mixture of The Blair Witch Project and As Above So Below, Nightlight should certainly make you think twice about any moonlit strolls.

Best Bit: 00:54 when all hell starts to break lose.     

Big Game
March 2015

For any hunter, you don’t get much better than bagging the president of the US of A. Little Oskari (Onni Tommila) finds himself staring down his arrow at a stranded president (Samuel L. Jackson) after Air Force One was shut down close to his mountain campsite. Not to be judgemental, but Big Game looks more like a nice movie to watch come Sunday 8 pm on M-Net. 

Best Bit: 0:25 for the correct way to jump out of a plane.

With contributions by Mike Joubert and Robin-Leigh Chetty.