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Donald Clarke

Whingeing about cinema and real life since 2009

Trailerspotting

Trailerspotting looks at the first full-length promo for The Master

The new trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is with us. Let me say two things first. These things are true. They are irrefutable. Number one: this film will kick bottom. Number two: if PTA really wants us to …

Were audiences side-swiped by Magic Mike?

It’s an interesting one this. Last weekend, a grubby, plot-light Steven Soderbergh film took in more than $36 million at the US box-office. Okay, it wasn’t one of Steven’s most challenging films: the piece is closer to the eccentric (and, …

Is Rock of Ages the new Mamma Mia!?

Of all the weird hits that confused studios in recent decades, Mamma Mia! remains the most perplexing. Nobody saw it coming. The show had been a hit in the West End. Big deal. Phantom of the Opera was the biggest …

On Woody Allen in Rome

Ah, Woody Allen. Everybody has an opinion about the great man. Three or four malcontents still argue that he was only ever any good when he was making “the early funny ones“. These maniacs date his decline to the release …

Trailerspotting scowls at The Dictator

Am I alone in not finding the trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new film particularly hilarious? When I spotted the lady breaking bricks with her bosoms a sudden, terrible realisation hit me. We now think of Sacha as the creator …

Trailerspotting ponders Will Ferrrrrrrelllll

It is a completely insecure rule of thumb that any film whose trailer is thigh-slappingly amusing throughout is bound to be a dead loss. But I state that principle anyway. You suspect that the film-makers have panicked and thrown all …

Trailspotting rubs chin at The Avengers

Over the last year, I have made a few smart Aleck comments about The Avengers. Let me just clarify my position. I’m not particularly down on the project. Quite a few of the recent Marvel adaptations — Iron Man and …

Sue the studios over misleading trailers

You have to love this story about the lady in Michigan who is suing the distributors of Drive for issuing a misleading trailer. Now, in a sense she’s right. If you look at the footage above — I assume this …