Apparently it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas, because Illumination has — I shit thee not — released a trailer for a Christmas movie, earning them the award for "making us think about Christmas while we're still trying to lose our eggnog weight."
And it's for the The Grinch, the latest in a seemingly-never-ending strain of mutated How the Grinch Stole Christmas! films based on the beloved 1957 book from Dr. Seuss. That book later became a 1966 film with Bois Karloff and later became... well, a whole lotta weirdness, including one attempt with Jim Carrey, who looked better in green in The Mask.
This is my way of saying that as much as I love the original, I've hated pretty much everything since and I was wholly and completely prepared to hate this one, too.
And then I watched the trailer.
We here at CL aren't in habit of reviewing movie trailers (well, OK, I sorta do, sometimes), but based on this trailer I'm prepared to love this film.
Here's a breakdown of what made me think this film may actually improve on the classic:
At :26, we see Spelunking for Beginners, published by Cave. You have to watch the trailer fullscreen and pause it to make out the title, which is designed to look like a Dr. Seuss book. Points for attention to detail.
At :50, enter Max.
I love this dog. I always have. I own a stuffed Max, complete with the antler that Velcro-fastens around his head.
The Rube Goldberg factor in the trailer is amazing. Max goes full-barista, too.
Of course, Grinch doesn't want no fancy foam hearts in his cappuccino, does he?
Wait 'til you see how Max brings the coffee to Grinch.
And, hey, look who's sporting some tighty-whiteys at :57...
So, yeah, the film looks really well-done. Let's hope these aren't the finest moments from the film.
And also that by the time the Nov. 9 release date rolls around, we're actually ready for the season.
