Movie Trailers

George Clooney and Sandra Bullock provide a gripping two-man show in the breathtaking trailer for Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity. The two play astronauts who become stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed by debris. That's right, they're stranded . . . in space. Let that sink in for a minute. The trailer, though simple, feels like a very real nightmare. At first everything is all peaches and cream and beautiful views of the sun coming over the Earth, the next minute they're essentially space orphans.

This already reminds me of Open Water, another movie that had me feeling claustrophobic even when the main characters are surrounded by open atmosphere, only without the sharks. My main question is: are Clooney and Bullock really the only actors in the movie? If any duo in Hollywood can carry a film, I believe in them, but that's still a pretty tall order. The movie hits theaters on Oct. 4, and until then, you can watch the trailer after the jump.

Tom Hanks takes the lead in Captain Phillips, the trailer that already has me swearing off any future ocean escapades. Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips in the terrifying true story of the Maersk Alabama, a ship that was commandeered by Somali pirates in 2009. The trailer really builds the tension, starting slowly and quietly as Phillips notices two dots approaching his ship on the radar screen. He knows the passengers are "not here to fish."

I couldn't help but shrink into my seat watching this trailer, and I'm not sure I could handle the whole harrowing movie. Although, given that one my my favorite actors of all time is in the lead role, I'm gonna have to chance it. Captain Phillips opens Oct. 11. Until then, watch the trailer after the jump.

It's only May, but the trailer for Lee Daniels's The Butler already has me thinking about award season. The drama stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a butler who serves eight US presidents over the course of his three decades at the White House. Working through particularly volatile moments in the country's history, he gains a unique perspective on the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and more. Oprah Winfrey plays Cecil's wife, marking the first time she's been on screen playing a character other than herself since 1998's Beloved.

Whitaker and Winfrey aren't the only big names in the movie. The laundry list of stars playing presidents is fascinating: Robin Williams is Dwight Eisenhower, James Marsden is John F. Kennedy (with Minka Kelly as Jackie Kennedy!), Liev Schreiber is Lyndon Johnson, John Cusack is Richard Nixon, and Alan Rickman is Ronald Reagan. Not all the actors resemble their presidential counterparts, so I'm curious to see how this pans out. The film opens Oct. 18, and you can see the trailer after the jump.

UK comedy trifecta Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright have teamed up once again for apocalyptic pub crawl movie The World's End, and we're finally getting a look at the trailer. Pegg, Frost, and The Hobbit's Martin Freeman star, playing friends who set out to finally finish the pub crawl route they were forced to abandon back in college. The journey begins normally enough, until they get closer to the end of the trip and realize they're surrounded by beings that may or may not be from another planet. Rosamund Pike also turns up as a friendly local.

Those who love Pegg, Frost, and Wright's previous collaborations, including Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, should recognize some striking plot similarities. Even if The World's End employs the same type of premise (everyday life becomes complicated by a dangerous science-fiction twist), it's probably still going to be funny, and I like that Pegg's character looks different than the nerdy types he's played before. The film opens on Aug. 23, and until then, you can catch the trailer after the jump.

I hope you haven't grown weary of seeing young adult novels on the big screen, because we've got another one for you. Ender's Game is set in a future where humans are being dominated by an alien race and start training young teens to command their star fleets (it's kind of like kiddie Star Trek). The most promising student is Ender (Asa Butterfield), who enters Battle School and starts learning under the tutelage of a gruff colonel (Harrison Ford).

First of all, I can't believe how much Butterfield has aged since Hugo — his voice is much deeper, and he looks ready to kick some ass in this preview. In addition to that, this film looks pretty awesome. Not only are the visual effects exciting, but I'm also interested in the moral dilemma brought up in the trailer about training kids to be military leaders. Plus, the cast boasts many Oscar nominees (which this trailer is happy to remind you of). The film hits theaters Nov. 1, but you can watch the trailer when you read more

It's been two years since Kristen Wiig killed it in Bridesmaids, and I've been anxious to see her headline another comedy. In the trailer for her latest movie, Girl Most Likely, she's certainly funny in the role of Imogene, though the laughs may come from a darker place. Her playwright character is trying to deal with career failure, and when she lands in the hospital after a meltdown, she has to go live with her self-involved mother (Annette Bening) at her Jersey Shore home. There, she's exposed to her mom's sleazy boyfriend (Matt Dillon) and the cute young guy (Darren Criss) who's renting a room in the house.

Though it looks like Wiig gets to do a little physical comedy, she seems to be playing more of a straight man while Bening gets to be a bit more outrageous. Even so, Wiig acting morose is still really funny, and I especially enjoyed her interactions with Dillon and Criss in the trailer. Girl Most Likely opens in limited release July 19, and you can watch the trailer after the jump.

If Alexis Bledel never struck you as the murderous type, prepare to be shocked by the trailer for Violet & Daisy. The movie stars Bledel and Saoirse Ronan as young assassins who are thrown off task during a supposedly routine job. Their target? James Gandolfini. From there, the trailer takes a turn for the surreal and colorful, making me wonder exactly what kind of movie this is.

Violet & Daisy's lack of genre isn't necessarily a bad thing; in fact, this trailer is pretty refreshing. I'm curious to see how Bledel and Ronan do with such adult roles, and I'm looking forward to putting together the puzzle that is Violet & Daisy — not to mention seeing the brilliant visual aspects on the big screen. The movie opens in June, but let me know what you think of the trailer after the jump.

Prince Avalanche is one of the indie gems that has been making the festival circuit (Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca), and now we've got a trailer for the film. Paul Rudd goes against type (and sports a mustache!) to play Alvin, an uptight road worker who is spending some time in the middle of nowhere with his girlfriend's little brother Lance (Emile Hirsch). Painting lines on the road doesn't prove to be as rewarding for Lance, though, whom Alvin deems to be mentally slow.

The trailer for Prince Avalanche seams to blend Alvin's dry humor perfectly with Lance's goofiness. It's especially refreshing to see Hirsch being the oddball and Rudd the straight man, since it feels like a departure for both actors. The film will be released Aug. 9, but watch the trailer when you read more

Iron Man's not the only Avenger who's coming back to theaters this year — Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to the big screen in November, and he's got quite a lot on his plate. His first priority is coming back to Earth for Jane (Natalie Portman), his girlfriend, whom he plucks out of London right in the middle of a science experiment. Odin isn't exactly safe for a human, though, because there's a new bad guy in town named Malekith who has an entire army of Dark Elves. So whom does Thor turn to? Why, his deranged brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who is now locked up (and hasn't seemed to have washed his hair).

I loved the lighter, sillier tone of the original Thor movie (compared to, say, Captain America), but the trailer isn't exactly packed with jokes — though I guess that's to be expected when the word "dark" is right there in the title. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what develops in Thor's action-packed next chapter come Nov. 8. Watch the trailer after the jump.