trailer park Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While there are still exchanges to be made, gift cards to be used and, of course, the small matter of New Year's Eve and Day, the holiday season is beginning to wind down. As much as I may gripe about it, Christmas usually turns out to be a lot of fun, and this year was no exception. It's time to kick back, though. After all the stress and rushing around of the last month or so, I think a few laughs are in order. This week, Trailer Park takes a look at some comedies due to hit theaters in the coming months.

Unconscious
Comedy doesn't always cross language barriers well, but the humor in this subtitled Spanish language film about sexual taboos in Barcelona in 1913 seems to have survived translation quite nicely. Set against the background of the works of Sigmund Freud, the trailer is liberally peppered with double entendrés like "premature evacuation," and "penetrating the subconscious." A woman named Alma (played by the enchanting Leonor Watling) enlists the aid of her brother-in-law Salvador to find her missing psychiatrist husband. The film has gotten scads of award nomination (check them out here), and looks like a nice change of pace from Hollywood-style comedy.

We've all been there. You and your friends are racing to get to the theater on time when someone says, "What's the hurry? There's going to be twenty minutes of trailers anyway." You fix the offending party with an icy stare and weigh the pros and cons of kicking him or her in the shins. People who say such things are, in fact, NOT your friends. Trailers are part of the film-going experience, and acquaintances who don't get that should be shunned like a beta max copy of Roller Boogie with a permanent tracking glitch.

Trailers expose us to films and genres we might not otherwise seek out. They can show us new ideas, and that's what this installment of Trailer Park is all about: films that buck the trends and do things that, while not necessarily unique, are out of the ordinary...

• Arthur and the Invisibles
  With so many computer animated kids' films coming out these days, they've all started to look alike to me. Arthur and the Invisibles follows the road less traveled by mixing live action with computer animation and taking on a darker, more sinister look, while still being lighthearted enough for the kids. Ten-year-old Arthur is played by the very talented Freddie Highmore, whose performance in Finding Neverland left nary a dry eye in the theater, then scored himself some serious cool points by working for Tim Burton as the title character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Arthur's home is about to be demolished unless he can pay off the bank with the legendary treasure of the Minimoys (actors deemed too small to play Vulcans tiny elf-like beings). There are lots of celebrity voices, including David Bowie as the head villain.

Seeing as Cinematical celebrated its very first birthday recently, I couldn't help but jump at the chance to incorporate the whole what-to-do into this week's Trailer Park. Normally, birthdays are a time for celebration. In Cinematical's case, we're celebrating the fact that, not only have we survived one whole year on the internet, but we've also managed to become the best source of movie anything one can find for, um, free. And I'm not just saying that because I write for them. Seriously, I'm not. What are you staring at? Don't you believe me?

However, birthdays also mean we're getting older. And getting older means we're that much closer to throwing in the towel. So, in order to hide the fact that we're so afraid of the future, we throw parties, sing songs, buy cards, bake cakes, light candles and make wishes. We create rules: In order for your birthday wish to come true, you must blow out all of the candles in one breath and not tell anyone else what you wished for. We want to feel like, no matter how old we are, we're still very capable of following our dreams. And that's a good thing.

In some way, shape or form, the following movies all have to do with birthdays. Whether we're on a quest for love, a journey to find ourselves or a mission to help someone else, these films proved life is about experience and not some crummy Hallmark card. Oh joy, Cinematical is getting older on this week's Trailer Park...

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It could mean a number of things, right? Perhaps you're stuck in the middle of the woods and people around you are disappearing, while horrifying visions follow your every move. Congrats, you've just lost your sh*t. Oh, or maybe you were accidentally flushed down the toilet and wound up trying to survive in a sewer system. Okay, maybe in that situation, your sh*t would follow you down. But upon arrival, I'm sure you would lose it.

While the term may mean different things to different people, the character's in the following films, at one point or another, probably felt as if they had lost their sh*t. Personally, when I see someone separate a curse word with a *, it often causes me to lose my own sh*t. So, in theory, I've just pissed myself off while writing this post. Hmm, maybe I'll simply blame the FCC.  Welcome to this week's Trailer Park....

Right now, I know you want to read this but for some reason you cannot take your eyes off the ones staring back at you from above. They're intense, and kind of freak you out, but it's okay - I'm there for you. Now, I'm giving you one more chance here, so pay attention. Are you reading now? Good.

I've always felt like crap after someone has offered me a second chance to get it done. Sure, it seems great to be able to try it again or do the whole thing over, but doesn't that just mean you failed the first time around? Then again, upon succeeding with your second chance, you're hit with this amazing feeling of accomplishment. Failure did not conquer. You did it. You're a star!

All of the following films feature people searching for their own personal second chance. Whether it be external, internal, dramatic or comedic - it's really about proving life is full of those "try again later" moments. Perhaps you may want to ponder your own second chances after reading this week's Trailer Park...