Preferential Patriotism: The strange "politics" of Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.

There isn't too much to say about this brief teaser. The title is guaranteed to confuse a good 90% of general moviegoers and I'll be shocked if Sony doesn't add a "The Hunt For Bin Laden" subtitle in there before the film comes out in December.  I may be the only one, but I laughed out loud at Jason Clarke repeatedly screaming "When was the last time you saw Bin Laden!?"  It's the kind of "make sure the dumbest moviegoer sitting in the theater gets what this movie is about" moment that sticks out like a sore thumb.  But what's worth noting more than the actual tease itself is the way the film will surely be judged by differing political factions. Obviously I haven't seen the film, but its pre-release vilification, best personified by Rep Peter King's hearings alleging that the film received classified materials during pre-production, is yet another example of how 9/11 changed the political conversation by basically making everything partisan.

Trailer Analysis: Silent Hill: Revelation gets a spoiler trailer.

Not much to say about this one.  I saw the original film on opening weekend way back in Spring 2006 and damned if I can remember all that much about it.  I remember being quite impressed by the imagery and the acting while relatively unmoved by the narrative and rarely outright frightened.  However, if only by default, the original film remains one of the most ambitious video game adaptations ever made, so I suppose it was inevitable that a sequel would eventually come down the pike, especially with the explosion in foreign business for 3D genre sequels over the last few years.  As for the trailer, I'm genuinely surprised that Sean Bean came back, but annoyed that the trailer doesn't even try to play the 'did he die?' card.  Ironically, the first Silent Hill is stunningly similar to a 200 direct-to-DVD thriller with Maria Bello called The Dark.  Sean Bean plays a somewhat hapless husband in both, both films involve grieving mothers attempting to 'find' their daughter and both end in a surprisingly similar fashion.  Anyway, Silent Hill: Revelations 3D opens October 26th, with Open Road taking over for Sony.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson