Trailer Wednesday: Anonymous and Crazy, Stupid, Love

Nope, this is not one movie about regretted one-night stands with people you don’t know; it’s two: one about Shakespeare’s possible identity and another about Steve Carell re-learning how to date from a ripped Ryan Gosling after his wife leaves him.

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Anonymous

A thriller about who might have actually written Shakespeare’s work sounds intriguing, no doubt, but what if I told you it was from the man who directed “Independence Day” and “2012”? We can joke about the Elizabethan apocalypse all day until the film’s release on Sept. 30, but the sad part is the trailer does try and play up this dramatic thriller to over-the-top levels.

Rhys Ifans stars as Edward de Vere, the Duke of Oxford, who some believe was the man behind the works of William Shakespeare as the the trailer so bluntly hammers us over the head with at the beginning. Roland Emmerich would be the director and given the money the man has made from his disaster films, he could afford to make a project he’s been eying for awhile, even if it seems to make no sense.

The trailer looks like something Zack Snyder would put together and the graphics use ink blots like blood stains to amp up the intrigue.

Anonymous Trailer

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Crazy, Stupid, Love

Somewhere between date night comedy and indie romance lies “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” a film directed by the pair who made “I Love You, Phillip Morris” and wrote “Bad Santa” and written by Disney writer Dan Fogelman (“Tangled,” “Cars 2”). This would not exactly constitute familiar territory for any of these talents.

Steve Carell stars as Cal Weaver, a man who divorces his wife of 25 years (Julianne Moore) and turns to the ladies man at a hip local bar (Ryan Gosling) for tips on getting back in the game. Carell is in “Dan in Real Life” territory here I would say as the trailer pitches this as a modern comedy with some serious romance elements. Gosling, notorious for picking mostly independent projects, finally steps into something more mainstream and out of character, which could be a great sign for the film. Emma Stone as Gosling’s love interest also gives the film a boost in likability and it will also attract a younger audience no doubt.

There are some nice pieces here for a possible late-summer sleeper on July 29.

Crazy, Stupid, Love Trailer