Have you ever read a film review in which the critic went to great pains to find meaning and symbolism that really wasn't there? I was reminded of that practice just now as I struggled in vain to find a common theme with which to bind together five previews for today's Trailer Park. Rather than trying to find structure where none truly exists, I'm just going with five trailers I find interesting. Cool?

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Yes, I'm a big enough Kevin Smith fan that I stayed up for the midnight launch of this trailer on the Quick Stop Entertainment site. Unfortunately I didn't realize they meant midnight on the West coast, so I was slightly sleep deprived when I finally caught the trailer this morning. As Erik pointed out in his recent post, Smith states that this is just a teaser and doesn't contain even a second of footage from the actual film. The title characters (played by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) are lifelong platonic friends who decide to produce a porn flick together. The teaser shows them auditioning talent, but we only see the two of them as they struggle through the unfamiliar process. No belly laughs, but it is quite funny and charming, while being verbally graphic. This is a bit of a relief, as the "I'm F***ing Seth Rogen" video that was circulating a little while ago featured the two stars riffing on Sarah Silverman's hilarious "I'm F***ing Matt Damon" video without really adding much. More importantly, I learned a new word today: "manscape."

I first caught Maurice Deveraux's End of the Line at the "screener bank" of the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. Here was a horror flick that was not playing as part of TIFF's "Midnight" slate -- because it was a Canadian production and the festival likes to keep the native flicks as part of their own category. And it's kind of a shame, too, because if End of the Line had had the "Midnight Selection" cachet behind it, the flick might have gained a bit more well-deserved attention. (Counter-point: The rather sloppy anthology flick Trapped Ashes DID play as part of the "Midnight" line-up, and it's also here at the Philadelphia Film Festival -- but more on that movie later in the week.)

A perfectly entertaining, surprisingly vicious and (get this) somewhat unique spin on apocalyptic horror, End of the Line isn't likely to earn itself a big groundswell of praise, or even a minor slice of cult status, but it is a pretty nifty little terror tale all the same. It's about a ultra-religious wacko cult that decides tonight is the final night for humanity, and so all at the same time, all over the city, the cult kooks break out their daggers and begin stabbing people all over the place. "All over the place" also includes one particularly chaotic subway train, which is where most of End of the Line takes place. (Hence the title "End of the Line," which is a connection I just made four minutes ago.)

Whenever I get a film festival guide (whether or not I'm actually attending that particular festival) I immediately flip right to the back, because that's generally where the Midnight Madness / Danger After Dark / Horror Movies are listed ... which definitely explains how I almost missed seeing End of the Line when it played at last September's Toronto Film Festival. Luckily I was really bored on the plane ride up north, which gave me the opportunity to notice that, hey, here's a nasty-looking horror movie wedged into the Canada First lineup! Cool!

But then there were scheduling problems, one missed screening and a small bout with the flu ... but I was able to catch Maurice Deveraux's End of the Line in the Festival's "video bank" section, which is where you can catch up on movies you missed -- if you don't mind watching 'em with headphones on a 21-inch screen. But it was a horror movie, and so I grabbed a soda and hit the video bank. And despite a pretty slow start, I really kinda dug End of the Line. (You can tell I did because this brand-new trailer says "Four Stars - Intense! -- Scott Weinberg" in it, and they couldn't use that quote if I hadn't actually written those words. (OK, word.)

Anyway, End of the Line is a pretty enjoyable horror tale that depicts the Armageddon-ish events that inevitably occur when a worldwide cult decides that TONIGHT is when all the "non-believers" will perish. Like with knifes and axes and stuff. The flick takes place mostly inside of a creepy subway tunnel, but there's more than enough carnage afoot to keep even the oldest gorehounds happy. Not saying it's a brilliant piece of horror, but I still stand by "Intense!" -- cuz it kinda is. Sorry to say I have no news on a domestic release date just yet, but of course I'll let you know when such information becomes available. I was just psyched about the trailer.

(Oh yeah, Ginger Snaps! The best Canadian horror movie since Ginger Snaps.)

Most of the celebrities are gone, the parties are notably less funky, and the throngs of jaywalkers on Bloor Street have trickled down to a steady drip -- but the Midnight Madness continues! (Case in point: Even with the festival winding down, J.T. Petty's S&MAN still had a powerful debut and Q&A session!) Update #3 (of 4, in case you were wondering) offers a taste of British slash-stick, French freakiness, and Canadian carnage.

Severance -- Here's a movie I quite enjoyed; I laughed at the funny bits, I cringed at the gooey gore-geysers, and I even got spooked once or twice. So why did I leave the theater feeling slightly underwhelmed? Probably because the early buzz from across the pond (and various other film festivals) was that Christopher Smith's Severance is "the next Shaun of the Dead" -- which it most certainly is not. (Frankly I wish people would stop using the phrase "X is the next Y," but then all the publicists would go out of business.) The flick's about a group of weapon-making co-workers who go on a "team-building" retreat ... only to see their teammates picked off by a rather nastily creative stalker. Suffice to say Severance is broadly amusing, satisfyingly splattery, and just clever enough to appease the demanding genre freaks -- and that's good enough for me.