I tried to get the YouTube version embedded up in here, but it looks like it's been yanked down -- which means you're better off going through the official Twilight website, which will direct you to the appropriate social networking site. Because what's more social than sitting in a quiet movie theater for two hours?

I tried to check out the trailer for myself, but between the always-twitchy MySpace and the various "blockers" I have installed on my browser ... it just didn't happen. So I'll leave it to those hardcore fans who already love the film (despite the fact that it doesn't open until the end of next month) to tell me how this new promo clip rates on the omg-O-meter. Also available at the official site is your chance to win an autographed Twilight baseball, which seems kinda silly because they should be giving away bats.

(Actually, skip the MySpaz site altogether. Watch the trailer in wonderfully diminutive "widget" style right here.)

Update: Because of the futzy Empire link, here's the trailer up top.

Update 2: The trailer has now gone live over at Apple.

Update 3: Beautiful trailer stills in the gallery below ...

We could have embedded a half-decent YouTube version a few hours ago, but considering the movie we're dealing with (and owing in no small part to professional courtesy) we decided to wait for the official release of the very first Watchmen trailer. It's available (exclusively, for the time being) at Empire, although you'll almost definitely see the clip this weekend when you head out to see The Dark Knight. (Notice I didn't say "if.") Again, click here for the trailer.

Having read Moore & Gibbons' Watchmen only once -- and therefore being a relative newbie -- I cannot comment on the geek-tastic little pieces of minutiae that are undoubtedly bouncing through this trailer. Is Dr. Manhattan the right shade of blue? Does Rorshach's mask look accurate? How Batmanny does Nite Owl look? And what of the infamous newsstand? (Are there pirates?)

As a huge fan of trailers in general, I'd say this is a very well-balanced and powerful promo clip. Newcomers will see a stylish-looking adventure story full of weird-looking characters -- and the hardcore fans will probably really like what they see. (Plus that's one unique explosion I just saw.) I'll leave it to our resident comics wizards to delve a bit deeper. Well, our wizards and our readers, obviously.

Topics for discussion: The music. The costumes. The cast. The production design. The heart-crushing disappointment you'll feel if the movie sucks even though you know if probably won't. At all.

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UPDATE: Here's the trailer in Quicktime quality.

Of all the films I'm looking forward to this fall, Blindness ranks fairly high up there. Canadian distributor Alliance has just made available a full trailer that proves to be fairly intriguing, as an optometrist (Mark Ruffalo) and his seemingly immune wife (Julianne Moore) cope with an inexplicable epidemic of sight loss.

I'm a sucker for most anything vaguely apocalyptic, and while this very well could turn out to be akin to watching the first act of Children of Men through a milk-filled mask (which I've done, mind you), the prestige behind the project* says otherwise. We have acclaimed screenwriter Don McKellar adapting Nobel-Laureate José Saramago's novel, with Academy Award nominee Fernando Meirelles directing a cast that also includes Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alice Braga, and Sandra Oh.

I must say, going off that taste and last spring's teaser, I still like the look, sound, and feel of this one, especially Moore's little retort (you know the one), and that's not to mention that any trailer which employs John Murphy's underrated score from last year's Sunshine to set a rightfully ominous tone is always fine by me. We'll get to see (sorry) what trials and tribulations await the world on September 19th.

*Not to mention Rocchi's review of the film from its Cannes world premiere.

Not three weeks ago, I made first mention of a brief and bland teaser for the forthcoming horror film, Mirrors. Now, along comes IGN Movies with a red-band trailer that, at first, didn't do much for me. Blah blah blah, Jack Bauer as security guard for old department store, blah blah, former guard grew obsessed with surrounding mirrors, blah blah -- look, even Amy Smart is yawning after all that exposition.

Oh, did I say 'yawning'? I meant 'tearing off her own jaw'. Yes, while we still seem to be saddled with a fairly ridiculous premise that's seen better and worse days, there's modest comfort to be taken that the R rating ain't exactly being shied away from. Let's face facts here, people: all it takes sometimes is a couple of nifty death scenes to make movies like this that much easier to stomach (well, some might argue the opposite).

Directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Kiefer Sutherland, you can see Mirrors (bah-dum-cha!) on August 15th.

First there was Date Movie, and it was ... not good. And then came Epic Movie, and it was ... even worse. Most recently we received Meet the Spartans, and it was ... you get the point: By now we're well aware that sophomoric spoof-merchants Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are not even remotely interested in making a good film. Their goal is simply to throw as many current* pop culture references onto the screen so that bored 14-year-olds with more allowance money than common sense will line up to chuckle (feebly) at the duo's desperate antics. (* And if the jokes are this bad when they're "current," what the hell will these flicks look like in ten years?)

But you know what? It's almost creepy how well these things do: For a production budget of about $20 million apiece, Date, Epic, and Spartans made about $84 million each. (That's worldwide box-office, and thanks to Mojo for the numerals.) So Fox essentially gave these guys $60 million and three shots, and they virtually quadrupled their budget each time out. (So why does the IMDb rate these films at 2.6, 2.3, and 2.4, respectively? I have no idea. How many times must a person get smacked on the skull before they start avoiding the hammer?)

Anwyay, Friedberg and Seltzer have moved their parody tent over to Lionsgate, and that's who'll be unleashing the aptly-titled Disaster Movie on August 29. (And people call Saw torture. Ha!) Click right here to enjoy the trailer, and by "enjoy" I actually mean "sit there and subject yourself to amazingly half-assed jokes about clumsy superheroes, pregnant teenagers, and tons of other horrific stuff that I can't believe passes for comedy." And yet I bet it will make about $84 million worldwide and we'll all be sitting here next year, bemoaning the impending arrival of Friedberg & Seltzer's Action Movie.

Despite having one of the worst reputations in Hollywood, it would appear that things are starting to look up for M. Night Shyamalan. You can check out the latest trailer Shyamalan's The Happening above, and it already has me sold on the apocalyptic thriller. Even though I was relatively impressed with the first trailer, this one has definitely amped up the creep factor (caused some serious heebie-jeebies when I saw it in front of Iron Man last weekend).

Mark Wahlberg stars as a meek and mild high school science teacher who lands smack dab in the middle of an end of days scenario. And might I add that it will be nice to see Wahlberg play something other than his usual tough guy role -- I mean, it's been too long since he's really had to act. Zooey Deschanel co-stars as his estranged wife and the criminally underused John Leguizamo, Spencer Breslin (brother to Abigail) and Ashlyn Sanchez play fellow survivors.

The Happening is scheduled for release on Friday June 13th, which will put the thriller in direct competition with The Incredible Hulk for opening weekend supremacy. Between the critics who call Shyamalan a one-trick pony, and the bad buzz for the big green guy, it's going to be a tough call for audiences. I know which film I'm going to see first -- how about you?

The guys over at Twitch know a heck of a lot more about crazy Asian cinema than I do -- so when they posted a rather enthusiastic piece about an upcoming flick called Tokyo Gore Police, I was sufficiently intrigued. And then I watched the 5-minute promo clip, which is all sorts of maniacally insane. Now I officially cannot wait to throw my eyeballs at the flick, which comes from the guys who gave you Uzumaki, Meatball Machine, and many other memorably bizarre imports.

I'd be happy to embed the trailer right here, if only for simple convenience, but since the Tokyo Gore Police clip is all but awash in hardcore gore, violence and random nakedness, I'll just point you towards Twitch for the gooey goods. (This sort of stuff is their specialty, after all.) No word on a U.S. distributor just yet (for all I know the flick's still being finished), but I'm betting I'll come across the Tokyo Gore Police at a genre-flavored festival some time soon. (And again, fair warning: Don't check this clip if you have an aversion towards hilariously over-the-top gore geysers.)

One might accuse the director of Saw 2, Saw 3 and Saw 4 of "playing it safe" with his first three movies -- and that may be true -- but there's little denying that writer / director Darren Lynn Bousman is going out on a big limb with his fourth feature, Repo! The Genetic Opera. Based upon Bousman's own stage play (and short film), Repo tells the story of a futuristic world in which vital organs are sold, bought, traded ... and repossessed. And if the plot isn't strange enough, yep, Repo is indeed a full-bore rock opera. The trailer looks like a cross between Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Paradise, Hostel and (of course) The Rocky Horror Picture Show -- which means (at the very least) we're looking at one fairly strange concoction here.

Lionsgate has yet to announce their release plans for Repo!, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to report. First off, feel free to pick through the newly-updated official site, which is full of bombastic music, creepy photos, and the aforementioned promo clip. Also, it looks like Bousman recently invited a few horror freaks to take a look at a rough cut, and the early responses have been pretty darn positive. Here's hoping Lionsgate figures out what they want to do with the flick sooner rather than later. It's not every day you get to see a horror musical starring Paul Sorvino, Bill Moseley and Paris Hilton.

We thought it would arrive as part of After Dark's 2007 event, but since unrated flicks cannot screen as part of AD Horrorfest, at least there was a good reason for the delay. And now with the U.S. release of Xavier Gans' Frontier(s) only a few weeks away, it only stands to reason that we'd be treated to a new poster, trailer, and website for the freaky French fright flick.

May 9 is when the stylish horror salad bar will hit the cinemas, but if you're not presently a part of the release pattern, fear not: You can pick up the DVD only a few days later. Click here to delve into the nutty, nasty world of Frontier(s), which is full of dangerous downloads, powerful pictures, and some decidedly violent videos. And then, since you're already hanging out at Cinematical anyway, feel free check out my review of the flick right here. Word is that the DVD will contain some extra goodies for the horror freaks; I shall update this post as soon as I receive an official note from After Dark.

It's tough to know which tone I should take when discussing the latest DTV remakes and sequels. On one hand, I just saw a "remake" of April Fools Day that's so amazingly awful it made my corneas itch -- but on the other, I was pleasantly surprised by titles like Wrong Turn 2 and White Noise 2. So I think I'll just forgo the excited geekiness AND the snarling disdain, and just get with the trailerness:

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (or maybe it's Joy Ride 2: End of the Road?) is a video-store follow-up to the surprisingly solid 2001 thriller Joy Ride. (Don't even pretend you don't remember the awesome combined power of Zahn, Walker and Sobieski.) The semi-sequel comes from first-time scribe James Robert Johnston and one of the guys who penned Dumb & Dumber. The director is Louis Morneau, well-known to schlock-fans as the man who helmed The Hitcher 2, Bats, and Carnosaur 2.

And get this! The flick is about a bunch of young people who get terrorized by a raving madman! Don't believe me? Check out the trailer at BloodyDee.com and tell me if you'd rent this flick. (I would. Obviously.) You have until October to decide.

We love to do the whole "embed" thing where YouTube trailers are concerned, but since this promo clip for the upcoming horror flick Train has some harsh violence, sweaty sexuality, and two or four bare boobies, we'll just share the link -- and then offer a silly reminder that this trailer is not, as they say, work-safe. (Unless you make horror movies for a living, in which case I'd say this clip is perfectly appropriate. Invite your boss into your office to watch it.)

When we last discussed this project, we were hearing from writer/director Gideon Raff that the flick is technically not a remake of Terror Train, but just a horror flick with a pretty similar plot. I could care less, frankly, if it's a remake or not, but I can say that I'm slightly impressed with the ferocity found in the trailer. Basically it looks like Hostel on a creepy old train, and I do believe that could make for a fairly diverting way to spend 91 minutes. (Or the flick could suck raw eggs, but your recent remake alternatives include Prom Night, April Fools Day and Shutter, so maybe this one looks half-decent by default.)

The Millennium / Nu Image item stars Thora Birch, Gideon Emery and Derek Magyar. No word yet on who'll be distributing the flick, but we'll let you know new stuff when we know new stuff.

I have a very good friend named Erik Childress, and he's a film critic who's pretty darn demanding when it comes to comedies. He doesn't chuckle easily, but when he finds a flick funny -- he's usually right on the mark. So let's flash back to Sundance 2006: I'd gone off to see something else, but when I met up with Childress for lunch, we had our normal conversation: "What'd you see, how was it, etc.?" And I distinctly remember Erik saying, through a mouth full of french fries, "Foot Fist Way. Surprisingly damn funny." I mentally kicked myself for missing it.

So now! Over two years later! Courtesy of Paramount Vantage, I bring you the first, the funny, the profanity-laden red-band theatrical trailer for Jody Hill's The Foot Fist Way. And, like Erik said about the movie, the trailer is surprisingly damn funny. If the lead knucklehead looks familiar, then you probably remember his brief-but-colorful moments in All the Real Girls, Hot Rod and The Heartbreak Kid. (His name's Danny R. McBride, by the way, and I'd call him the ONLY funny thing in that Heartbreak Kid remake.)

For those who can't be bothered to check out the clip (or are maybe under 18), the flick's about a really goofy Tae Kwon Do teacher. (Hey, the premise works well -- and often -- enough for Will Ferrell.) May 30 is when Paramount Vantage will unleash The Foot Fist Way, but for now you can feel free to peek through the official site and enjoy the R-rated trailer. ("Meditate on that." = hilarious!)

One of the studio-based horror projects that I've got my eye on is The Ruins, which is based on a very fine novel by Scott B. Smith. If they hew closely enough to the source material, I'm thinking The Ruins could make for one ferociously memorable little terror flick -- but we'll have to wait until April 4 to find out.

Helmed by first-timer Carter Smith and starring folks like Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore and Jena Malone, The Ruins tells the tale of an ill-fated trip into the jungle ... but it's NOT your typical hack 'n' slash affair. Trust me on that. Two new posters for the flick gives away a little bit of who/what the antagonist is, but not enough to ruin the fun. Check out that one-sheet right here at Shock, and then head on over to JoBlo's for a peek at the second poster. (Starting to sense a theme in these posters?)

The official site also has a new "red-band" trailer up, and it's even better than the "all ages" teaser that appeared a few weeks back. Ooh, and best of all: The Ruins has been rated R by the MPAA for "strong violence and graphic images," in addition to some other adult-oriented stuff. So to those who were worried that Smith's story would be toned down for a PG-13 crowd, feel free to offer some thanks to Paramount and DreamWorks.

Now here's some shocking news: Uwe Boll's next film is NOT based on a video game. Wow! Strange but true, schlock-fans, but Boll's next opus is an original story about a group of Vietnam War "tunnel rats" -- soldiers who are charged with invading and destroying the enemy's subterranean networks.

Just hit play to check out the new trailer for Tunnel Rats, which starts out on a misdirection (as if Boll wants us to think he's got the next Apocalypse Now) but quickly turns into predictably mindless mayhem. Also feel free to note that Boll's production company is now called "Boll AG" and not "Boll KG," probably because he had to do some financial restructuring once those German tax loopholes got zipped shut.

Starring in Tunnel Rats are Michael Pare ... and a whole bunch of young people I've never seen before. First-time screenwriter (but longtime Boll producing partner) Dan Clarke co-authored the screenplay with the beloved filmmaker ... although I'm not exactly sure if Tunnel Rats has even acquired a domestic distributor yet. With Postal, Far Cry and Seed already backed up, we're looking at a serious Bollflick logjam.

In related news, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Comedy will hit DVD on April 15, courtesy of ... Fox? And let's not forget that Uwe's been promising a big, fat director's cut on that DVD. Yay. But for now: Tunnel Rats: The Trailer...

[ Gracias to IWatchStuff.com for the trailer link AND the hilariously awesome pic. ]