Trailer Roundup: Moles, Horses, Dragons and Bears

It's been a long time since there's been a Trailer Roundup here, but let's do one now. Several of these trailers have been around for a while, so I'm sorry if this is already dated. But hey, maybe you'd like to see them again now, with fresh eyes?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (in theaters 12/21/11)

Fact: I still haven't read the books (I swear I will, but all this movie-watching takes away from my reading time). But I've seen the original Swedish films, and I'm eager to see if Rooney Mara can match Noomi Rapace's intensity as Lisbeth Salander, hacker extraordinaire and titular girl. Plus, this sort of moody, violent thriller is exactly the sort of material that director David Fincher traffics in best. The trailer doesn't really give you a good idea of the story or performances, but man, it establishes the mood perfectly, all jumpy quick-cuts of snowy locales, violence, and sexual sadism. What really makes this trailer great, though, is Trent Reznor and Karen O's propulsive, chilling cover of Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song." Here's an astonishing feat: a trailer that gets you excited for both the movie AND the soundtrack. This was already on my most-anticipated list for the year, but it's just moved up a couple of notches.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (in theaters 11/18/11)

Speaking of atmospheric Swedish thrillers, here's the trailer for the adaptation of John le Carre's British spy novel, directed by Let the Right One In's Tomas Alfredson. He's certainly brought his previous film's dark tone to this trailer, with it's swelling, screeching strings and various shots of shifty-looking men as Gary Oldman tries to figure out who the mole is in "the circus," which is apparently a code name for Britain's MI6. There's a top-notch cast on display here, but I do have one question: are there any women in this film at all? From the looks of the trailer, this is strictly a boy's club. It could be a great film, but these sorts of films can often be played too predictably and/or be spoiled before release. We'll have to wait and see, but consider my interest piqued.

Brave (in theaters 6/22/12)

Hey, remember when Pixar did original films, not sequels (particularly sequels to films that never demanded one)? Well, here you go! Brave marks the first time that a female character has anchored a Pixar film, and for a while was the first to be directed by a woman (Brenda Chapman, who was replaced by Mark Andrews but still has co-director and screenwriter credit). The film, about Scottish Princess Merida, is still somewhat shrouded in mystery, and this trailer doesn't let us know much about the story. But what we do get is some gorgeous animation of the highlands, and Merida's unruly red mane as she squares off with a ferocious bear. It's not much, but it's more than enough to raise excitement and interest in this one.

War Horse (in theaters 12/28/11)

On paper, War Horse already screamed "give me all of your Oscars!" Now the trailer is here to cement that position. For its entire two-minute runtime, it feels like it's begging to win Best Picture, from the swelling, emotional John Williams score to the gorgeous Janusz Kaminski cinematography to the noble horse in question. It does seem to hit all the notes of a classic Spielberg film: there's an emotional center in the relationship between a child and a non-human creature, and the feeling that the kid is smarter than all the adults around him. Plus there's a brief glimpse of Niels Arestrup as a warm, kindly grandfather figure, which anyone who's seen A Prophet will find quite unsettling (it's a complete 180 from what you see in this trailer). We'll see if the film lives up to its promise, but I'd suggest bringing some tissue and a couple of golden men.

So what do you think?