Premiering at Montreal's Fantastia Fest in the next few weeks, Repo! The Genetic Opera was admittedly something I laughed off when I heard about it. A futuristic musical starring Paris Hilton? But this trailer is actually kinda promising... and not just because all of the Giles-singing-moments included.

Looks very promising. Brad Pitt's 2 for 2 in trailers released this week.

I'm back in Montreal, lying near comatose on my couch trying to not fall sleep to avoid letting this jetlag get out of hand. My plan to not sleep last night so I would on the plane backfired. My seat was on the aisle in a 3 seat row. The people next to me were an elderly Quebecois couple, the husband of which was obviously suffering from a severely dehabilitating condition. It resulted in being woken up about 10 times so that his wife could help him out of his chair and to the bathroom, and many other times by noises he made that seemed to suggest some sort of physical pain. I asked if I could take the window to avoid disturbing their need to get up, and she told me that he likes the window, which is fair enough, but also put me in that horrible state of no sleep in 20 hours + 2 advil PMs and no possibility of sleeping.

Its obviously not their fault, and I certainly was not annoyed at them specifically, if anything was deeply empathetic. But I was feeling annoyed in general, and was specifically annoyed at the airline for continuing to shit all over their movie selection. They one upped their showing of P.S. I Love You on the way down with The Bucket List, which was the last thing I wanted to see. It probably seemed even worse considering I was sitting next to someone that was actually facing death, and I kept thinking about intense it must be for his wife, and himself, to deal with that. And then I watch Rob Reiner's horribly misrepresentative schmaltzfest that disrespects those actually going through cancer or any other life threatening disease. And thats only from the half hour I watched before deciding that sitting in silence was more entertaining.

Anyway.. unrelated (although it does technically relate to both Montreal - it was shot here last summer, and death - its about a man aging backwards), I found the Spanish trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in an aimless three hour youtube fest to try and keep me awake. It looks like it has some serious potential. Though the trailer is pretty much dialogue-less, its visually stunning and Brad Pitt looks like he went through the quite the transformation.

This might also be my only entry for a few days while I try to readjust to Eastern Standard Time and a life in which the Mediterranean Sea isn't a 5 minute walk away.

This is the trailer for the Patrick Dempsey wants to be a star vehicle, Made of Honor.

Watch it, and correct me if I'm wrong: This is the EXACT same plot as My Best Friend's Wedding, except Julia Roberts is now Patrick Dempsey and there is no Rupert Everett around to bring the funny.

I love Anna Faris. And am happy that after Smiley Face, a leading comedic role for her is actually seeing significant release. So, as much as this seems like it could be - let's face it - garbage (the presence of Rumer Willis is not promising), at its best I hope it makes some Legally Blonde style dollars and gives Faris the opportunity to take on the roles she deserves. No Scary Movie 5 or wasteful Entourage guest spots necessary.

Eddie Murphy knows high concept comedies. It seems every other film he makes ("The Nutty Professor" series, the "Dr. Dolittle" series, "The Haunted Mansion", "Holy Man", "The Adventures of Pluto Nash"...) falls into this category, and this is how Murphy reinvented himself after a serious lull in the early to mid 1990s. This summer's "Meet Dave" is no exception.

Apparently about little tiny people who live inside "Dave"'s head, controlling his actions (is he a robot?), the trailer makes meeting Dave look like a trip down Murphy memory lane: Eddie playing a bunch of different characters, a lame plot (though I'll admit "Dave" seems somewhat inventive in essence, it just doesnt appear to be in execution) and overt homophobia (see the scene at the very beginning of the trailer). The presence of Elizabeth Banks is a bit appealing, but remember the worst Murphy outings brought down many a good actresses with it: Regina King in "Daddy Day Care", Famke Janssen in "I Spy", etc.

I used to really enjoy Murphy, and loved late 90s entries into his new lease on a career like "Nutty" and "Bowfinger." And if I didnt already feel like Murphy was ready to fall back into the oblivion of his "Beverly Hills Cop 3" era, I do now.

The trailer for the Edward Norton starring-written by-and final cut chosen by The Incredible Hulk was released today. Last summer when I worked at TIFF they shot the thing a few blocks away, and it doesn't look like they hid it too well. Check out the trailer below (which looks pretty lame.. and don't mind the Spanish subtitles) if only to spot Toronto landmarks like strip club Zanzibar, pizza haven The Big Slice (a former lunchtime classic for me) and the old Sams as the Hulk slams his way down an undisguised Yonge Street. I hope they at least Norton made sure they computer edited out the CN Tower and various Canadian flags in the final cut. Or maybe I don't.

A few days ago I jokingly ran the trailer for the Anna Nicole Smith biopic in suggestion of its Oscar potential... Well I appear to have been outjoked. I came across this trailer (thanks to Brian) , and it definitely takes whatever the hell cake this is. Who greenlights this shit?

Is it safe to call the 2008 Oscar race over?

If this is true, at least. Reuters had a really misguided article running a few days back that exclaimed "Genie awards show ignores "Juno"!" Yes, of course it did, because Juno is not Canadian. It is American produced in its entirety. But Jason Reitman didn't seem to get that. He said:

It's a Canadian director, Canadian stars, Canadian cast, Canadian crew, shot in Canada - how are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg's film about Russians living in London shot in England with a British crew and British cast is eligible? I'm sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me; I don't get it," he said, with proud father Ivan Reitman at his side.

Well, lots of movies are shot in Canada, Jason, and some of them star the likes of Rachel McAdams, Seth Rogen and Mike Myers. But they are not Canadian. Take Titanic, for instance. Canadian director, Canadian crew, shot in Canada. But the Genies gave all the awards to The Sweet Hereafter that year. And you didn't see James Cameron yelling "Blasphemy!"

Eastern Promises, on the other hand, may have dealt with a British setting and plot, but it was, in fact, a Canada-Britain co-production, thus being eligible. L.A.-based Mandate Pictures developed and financed Juno and Fox Searchlight released it. Is that so hard to understand?

Anyway.. what makes Jason's comments all the more idiotic is the statement the Genies released in regard to Jason's comments:

Thanks so much for your coverage of the Genie Awards but I would like to clear up the confusion surrounding the movie Juno. The movie wasn't snubbed by the Genies because it was never submitted to the Genie Awards. I have provided below a quote from our CEO, Sara Morton that will hopefully clarify the situation.

Ultimately, it's up to the filmmaker to decide whether to seek Canadian certification. It would not be appropriate for me to speculate about the reasons for a filmmaker's decision, or why they may or may not qualify.

Even though it wouldn't have qualified in the end anyway, if Mr. Reitman wanted it so bad, he should have actually submitted the film. And while I'd be all for our country taking responsibility for "Juno", I fear if we start doing stuff like that, we'll have to start taking responsibility for stuff like this:

Notice how the commentator says "coming to America"? I must have forgot that the Toronto Maple Leafs played in Arizona now. Seriously though, that movie somehow looks even worse that I had intially imagined.

This "red band" trailer, complete with unfinished footage, of next summer's Pineapple Express is a really fun time, suggesting that the seemingly unbeatable equation of Superbad grows up, makes like Smiley Face and stars the Freaks of Freaks and Geeks while being directed by the most-unlikely David Gordon Green has worked out.

Additional kudos for casting Nora Dunn and allowing her to give the line "You're high as a fucking kite" the delivery it deserves.

I doubt you can go wrong with a Tina-Amy pregnancy comedy? But this trailer doesn't quite excite me, and maybe post-2007 I'm experiencing some baby-comedy fatigue. Doesn't it seem a bit too cute?

With Nine set back due to the WGA strike, Mamma Mia! looks like the only major musical follow-up to the schmorgasboard of 2007: Once, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Across The Universe.. and in a way, Enchanted, La Vie en Rose, Control and Im Not There. 8 films.. each with at least something in them that is worth positively noting.

Could just be a bad trailer, but after watching this I'm not so hopeful..

It certainly looks like it might suffer from over-the-top-ness and a high dose of cliche, but it also looks really fun, and you can't really go wrong with Amy Adams and Frances McDormand. Its also nice to see Frances in this kind of role...

I don't know. It feels wrong.