The Headliner

Dredd

Was anyone really clamoring for a remake of Judge Dredd, the 1995 Sylvester Stallone vehicle? No. No one was. I think we all agreed that the mid-'90s were what might charitably be termed a fallow period in Stallone's career, and probably mixed up Judge Dredd with Demolition Man anyway. ("Wasn't Judge Dredd the one where it's the future and the only restaurant is Taco Bell?" No. That's the other one.)

But as SyFy's Battlestar Galactica amply proved, it is possible to make a good remake out of bad source material. I mean, in this case, I'm using the word "good" pretty loosely. It's still a violent action movie set in the future; its having been overlooked by the Academy yesterday is not an accident. But it stars Star Trek's Karl Urban, Game of Thrones's Lena Headey, and independent starlet Olivia Thirlby, who are all pretty respectable and must have thought it would be an enjoyable lark — or, at least, that they could improve upon the unloved original. Get some Taco Bell and give it a shot.

Django Unchained (December 25)

[Note: If you can't see the videos, please try another browser. We put the trailers in this post, we promise.]

Silver: Here’s how you know you’re watching a trailer for a new Quentin Tarantino movie.

• Stylized banter (“Last chance, fancypants”) broken by brutal violence (0:47)
• Off a cut, horn-laden archival mainstream music cue (0:55)
• Slow motion (Bad Mother Fracker) reveal/hero shot of main character (0:57)
• Slight camera tilt with power zoom (1:03 / 1:21)
• Cutesy play on words (alliteration) for name of a main character(s) (i.e., "The Brittle Brothers") (1:10)
• Schlocky piece of business on music beat/cut. Head not between Foxx and Waltz (1:17)
• Hyperbolic A-Lister (1:41)
• Film critic/film school boner shot — Blood splattering on the white cotton plants (1:55)
• Dialogue delivered devoid of emotion, thus making it both funny and menacing (2:07)