You can see the full, un-edited (and voice-over-free) version at Apple, or by clicking the image below. Paramount is pulling the rights violation card on embeds, so I’ve removed the YouTube clip. Any new embeds will likely be yanked as well, so I won’t bother.
Having finally taken a look at the full version, I am immediately taken by the overall look of the picture. Andrew Lesnie’s photography is gorgeous to say the least, and the visual effects could very well find their way into Oscar contention. Stanley Tucci looks certifiably creepy and could be someone to watch, but on the whole, still, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I got an overall “meh” feeling here. I’ve never read the book, so I’m not champing at the bit like some of the devoted. Maybe that explains it, I don’t know.
Comments
80 responses to “‘The Lovely Bones’ trailer”
I’m sorry, but I just can’t get excited about this movie. I’ve read the book and didn’t like it. And not just because it was depressing; I read “Revolutionary Road” and loved it just as much as the movie. But the story is just strange and it just didn’t strike a nerve. I get the feeling audiences will be too unnerved by its plot to make it a huge hit.
Marshall
marshallandthemovies.wordpress.com
It is hard to judge with such a short trailer, and half of it being a voiceover from ET. But hey, if it is good enough for Christopher Moltisanti, it can’t be all bad.
I’ve read the book and I liked it a lot. I agree with Kris on the trailer. I was waiting for something that never came. The effects looked wonderful but my expectations are very high for this film. Not that I worry. It’s just a trailer.
I’m a fan of the book, but this trailer is way too short. Hopefully there will be another one before the movie comes out.
However, heaven looks much better than I could have imagined.
I thought the book was disappointing, so I am hoping the movie will be better. Why is no one predicting Lindsay, Susie’s Sister? She has a bigger part in the book than the Mom and looks like she has a big part in the film.
That looks awful.
Read the book, not really the literary masterpiece that people claims to be……and the trailer…yeah, i hope they will put together a better cut of it in a few months……
I’m gonna read push by sapphire…can’t wait for the movie (now precious) to open
It’s like What Dreams May Come with a murder mystery subplot.
The full Apple version is certainly better than the ET thing, but still, not doing it for me yet.
Wow!!! I love so much the visual effects and the cinematography, and I also love the lead actress. (She is so cute)
Beautiful!!! Time to add this one to the Visual Effects predictions. Sarandon looks terrific. But when has she not been?
HOly Hell…this looks AMAZING.
Amazing? Really?
I think we’ve stumbled onto the first fanboy Oscar film of the year.
This trailer would be so much better if it a) didnt have the most cliche trailer music and b) didnt try to look like a thriller halfway through,
Yes, amazing. Honestly…what were you expecting that you didn’t receive?
How ridiculous is the photograph of Tucci behind the bushes being part of the puzzle Wahlberg has to figure out?
I wasn’t expecting anything at all, to be honest. But regardless, nothing here is blowing my skirt up. The cinematography is great and the visual effects are interesting but like Chad said, we’ve seen it already in “What Dreams May Come,” so it’s certainly not moving the needle all the much.
LOL…yea amazing!!! you make it sound like i’m insane for thinking that…
“first fanboy Oscar film of the year”…..all because i said…”this looks amazing”? really? relax lol
Not even a “meh” from me…
“Where the wild things are” was the first fanboy Oscar film of the year. This would be the second, I think.
Anyway it looks a lot like a thriller, but I haven’t read the book so it doesn’t affect me that fact.
I want to see this movie now!! Now my second most awaited movie of the year.
PD: What a wonderful heaven they have created
Wonderful heaven? Sorry to disagree with you leocd, but I hope the afterlife doesn’t look as corny as that…
If that’s the case maybe hell might be a more interesting place to spend eternity
I’m not sure if it’ll be as big of a contender as we all previously thought. It’ll definitely make some sort of impact on the tech categories, but I’m not feeling it that it will have a lot of sway in the major categories.
Nevertheless, I’m excited for it.
I have to say it look VERY good. It’s different from anything done and that’s a huge plus. Saoirse Ronan looks good as the lead actress and Whalberg, Sarandon and Weisz look promising too portraying her family.
And, of course, Stanley Tucci’s turn into a killer is very attractive and Oscar voters will notice.
What else will it run for ? Director of course, as well as Picture. Jackson has done a fantasy/drama film again and it may be as good as LOTR.
Cinematography, Visual Effects, Sound categories, editing and even costume design, could get guilds and circles attention to this very interesting film.
An Education, Up, Avatar, Bright Star, The Lovely Bones, Precious,.. This season keeps getting better
“The Lovely Bones” has been and still is on my to-watch list for sure, but kris has a point. The trailer’s rather iffy. Wonderful techs for sure, but I can’t see anything buzz worthy, sadly. I’m still excited for it though and hope it comes out better than the trailer. Sometimes it does.
Chad Hartigan: Super ridiculous.
That being said, something about this has colored me intrigued.
Roarkkk: No offense meant, I’m just a little caught off guard by some of the more enthusiastic responses here.
I was refering to the fact that it looks amazing (his vivid colours, great scenarios, etc) for a movie, billyboy.
There’s no way a man can imagine the greatness and beauty of the real heaven, but I love this version.
Just my opinion of course.
Sorry, but I have to be the nerd here and correct you:
It’s not “chomping at the bit” but champing at the bit.
I think “chomping” has taken over by sheer fact of constant misuse, much like “ain’t.” So, whatevs.
Ladies and gentlemen, your benjamin button of the year. Haters and lovers all there, I loved Benjamin and no movie thats universally loved in the beginning turns out that great, lets stir some contraversy!! Im pumped for this movie, good lord, Best Picture 09? Perhaps, lets sweep them oscars again Jackson
I’ll be guarded, although I did like the bit with the Requiem for a Dream-ish type camera work with Tucci running. Also the delivery of “Why won’t you listen to him?” sounded SO ROBOTIC.
A question Kris. If Saoirse Ronan get a nomination this year, will she become the younger actress to receive 2 nominations?
I’m so glad to see her on a leading acting now, because she was amazing on Atonement.
He wasn’t able to sweep the Oscars until building up goodwill with three consecutive almost universally praised billion-dollar makers, so I don’t see a sweep. Of course, that goodwill was enough to give him a nom for King Kong from both critics and Globes. This could be big, though; Lovely Bones has sold copies into the 8 digits.
I thought Saoirse’s VO would be better. It does look too much like a thriller. The sister’s actress doesn’t seem that impressive, and if they’re going to reward a young actress for this film, it’d make more sense for it to be Ronan.
Honestly, the most striking thing to me was how much better Jackson looks vs. the LOTR days.
I believe the youngest actress ever to get 2 noms is Winslet, at 22.
Hmm, I’m just hoping they showed so little of Weisz because she’s so brilliant she’ll blow us out of the water.
Cautious optimism, but man, is heaven tacky.
Hey Kris…after seeing the trailer, are you keeping Saoirse Ronan in your predicted 5 for Actress?
The book drew a lot of its power from its frank and disturbing description of Susie’s rape and murder. The trailer seems to be showcasing Jackson’s visualization of Susie’s heaven, which is only briefly abstracted by Sebold. In other words, it may be a bit misleading. The story is very much a human drama.
Tucci looks like he would make a great Ned Flanders, that is, if there was a real-life Simpsons.
Peter Jackson was the reason I became a fan of movies! When I saw Return of the King for the first time I thought “I didn’t know movies could be this good!” I went back and saw all his previous films and realized that PJ is probably the most skilled director EVER!
It was also after LOTR that I started following the Oscars and the award season in general! So obviously I am a Peter Jackson freak and no matter how this trailer looks (not too great), I’m sure Jackson will once again deliver as he always does!
I can think of someone younger. Angela Lansbury got her second nomination when she was 19 years old for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). She got her first one the previous year for Gaslight. Saorsie Ronan probably would be the youngest, though.
And, I’m also really excited for this film. I read the book, really liked it, and the film looks visually stunning, though it seems to be taking some liberties with the plot, since the book is not a thriller, though that may just be a way to market the film. We’ll see what Peter Jackson does with this.
hhmm so someone says its amazing and they are written off as a fanboy yet someone says it looks awful and thats fair enough??
I do like your site though Kristopher. Keep it up.
Written off is your phrase, not mine. I just sense the fanboy support rising up for the film, nothing more.
Oh, I Googled and found the following at http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/01/do-not-publish.html.
Kate W. being the youngest 2nd thru 6th-time nominee is erroneous. Believe Angela Lansbury was the youngest with 2 at 20 years of age; Teresa Wright with 3 at age 24; and Elizabeth Taylor with 4 having just made 29. Kate W. is however the youngest to have 5 (age 31) and 6 (age 33).
Imdb’ing seems to agree. Though I wonder why it was thought Kate was the youngest 2nd-4th…laziness to do research?
It seems odd to build the trailer up to the sister’s investigation of Tucci, given that it’s not exactly a climax in the novel, but I have no idea what liberties they’ve taken with the adaptation here. (Plenty, I hope.)
Anyway, it looks about as kitsch and ersatz-emotive as the book, so I guess that would constitute a success.
Oh, and Leocd, the answer to your question is yes.
AmericanRequiem, The Lovely Bones is not that Benjamin Button Of The Year(I hated that movie by the way), but Nine. Nine is the default nominee in almost all major categories regardless of quality.
The Top 3 fanboy films of the year are gonna be
The Lovely Bones(seems like the middle-brow drama that pleases some people like Rev Road, Atonement, etc.)
Shutter Island
Avatar
Whether the last 2 become Oscar fanboy movies are just remain fanboy movies remains to be seen.
Al B. I completely agree with you. I feel exactly the same. This movie looks great to me, although the trailer uses very unsubtle music to drone it home a bit. It looks visually stunning and might be a big hit as well.
I haven’t read the book but I’ve read a synopsis of the story and it has a lot of promise, but the trailer didn’t seem to be as promising or impacting as I thought this story could be. This could just be a bland trailer and the actual movie is five times better.
I so hope this doesn’t end up being Australia of this year but I don’t really think so. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps because I trust Jackson and his company more than Luhrmann (although I loved Moulin Rouge). I just don’t feel like taking the trailer too seriously. I mean, the trailer of An Education wasn’t good either. So what?
It seems to me like they’ve over egged the pudding on this one.
What impressed me about “the inbetween” in the book was that it felt so ordinary, school yards, summer houses, lakes. Pretty, certainly, but not fantastical. By upping the wow factor of the afterlife I think Jackson may lose the focus from the family dealing with grief and how the deceased watch over and guide.
I’m also concerned about the thriller tone. One aspect I hated in the book (and it looks like I will hate about the film) was that whilst the father and sister are primarily concerned with justice – at least proving the guilt of the killer and passing him over to the police – but when justice fails Susie is later satisfied purely with vengence. No spoilers here, mind.
If the whole film works the fantasy heaven and thriller like this trailer then I’m worried that I might not like this film as much as I currently am looking forward to it. (It’s a long way down the list, anyay.)
I must say I agree with BJT. I thought the purpose of Sebold’s depiction of the afterworld to offer only a faintly skewed reflection of the protagonist’s previous life — Jackson’s lavish CGI creations may be pretty to look at, but thematically, I fear he’s missed the point.
As much as I dislike the source material, I was hoping it might portend a return to the mordant restraint of “Heavenly Creatures.” This seems to be less and less the case.