Trailer Blazer: 'The Brave One,' 'Michael Clayton'

Yeah, we're not even halfway through summer movie season, but the raging humidity this past weekend, plus a couple of classy looking new trailers, have me already looking expectantly toward September.



The Brave One (Sept. 14) The pedigree on this racehorse is pretty exquisite: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, and director Neil Jordan team up for a drama about a woman who discovers her inner vigilante after a brutal assault leaves her hospitalized (and her husband dead). I like how the trailer hints at the moral ambiguity of the story without giving too much plot away; plus, after less than three minutes of footage, Foster and Howard's characters already feel intriguingly fleshed-out. Don't you hurt her dog!



(See George Clooney in the Michael Clayton clip after the jump.)

Michael Clayton (Sept. 28) Here's another promising entry from an A-list star, and the fact that I didn't stop for a second to consider George Clooney's hotness speaks volumes about this trailer's power. (Okay, well, maybe I did for a second, but still...) This one looks like a mashup of The Insider, Erin Brockovich, and The Bourne Identity, the latter influence most likely courtesy of first-time director Tom Gilroy, who penned the screenplay for all three Bourne adaptations. That opening shot of Clooney's suit-clad character sprinting through the woods contributes to an immediate sense of dread, and the always fascinating Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson do their best to ratchet it up, as well. Count me in.