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Twixt Trailer: Coppola's Dream Will Either Change The Game, Or Bite The Big One

By TK | Posted Under Trailers | Comments (33)

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One of the presentations at this year’s Comic-Con that apparently blew audiences away was the one for Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt. It’s a mind-scrambler of a project, a vivid, 3D modern fantasy filled with oddball characters, hallucinations and dreamscapes, serial killers and Val Kilmer. Even more unusual will be its release process, which will consist of a sort of traveling road show wherein Coppola and company release a different version of the film in each of the 30 cities that they’ll visit. The story will warp and bend depending on when and where you see it. It’s a fascinating experiment, which will either be a modern marvel of cinematic evolution, or a colossal failure of epic proportions.

I am, to say the least, intrigued. Which is why I jumped when I saw that the first trailer is finally here, in time for its Toronto International Film Festival debut. The film has a strong, if unusual cast — Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin (playing Edgar Allen Poe… sort of), Joanne Whaley, and David Paymer (not to mention Tom Waits as the narrator). So, here’s the trailer:

So, there’s that. I had two initial thoughts after seeing it the first time. The first thought was, “what the fuck just happened?” And the second was, “that looked… kind of terrible.”

Which means that either an entire roomful of film fans got duped at Comic-Con, or it’s a shittily cut trailer, or it’s a film that really will need to be “experienced” before you can truly pass judgment on it (oh, spare me the “don’t judge a film by its trailer” nonsense. Or, if you truly believe that, then have fun at Zookeeper).

So which is it, kids? I’m thinking there’s more than meets the eye here, and even though I wasn’t hooked by the trailer (translation: I found it pointless and rather cheesy), I’m still kind of curious.









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Comments

Coppola has been drinking too much of his own product. Is the man even relevant anymore? That aside, this is probably something one needs to see more than once to get a handle on. So what i'm saying is that it is a rental.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 3, 2011 9:24 AM

i'm gonna watch this just so that Val Kilmer doesn't have to share the screen with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson ever again.

and elle fanning, again? ugh.

...and company release a different version of the film in each of the 30 cities that they’ll visit.

are we talking about the whole movie or is it just gonna be thirty different endings? but isn't that crazee either way? curioso.

Posted by: haplo at August 3, 2011 9:30 AM

That was so scattered, I really couldn't get a sense of what the movie's supposed to be about.

I had to wonder how Kilmer and Whalley enjoyed working together though.

Posted by: snapnhiss at August 3, 2011 9:31 AM

Made the mistake of drinking 2 bottles of Coppola Cabernet a few months ago. The trailer and the hangover were eerily similar. Confusing, irritating, and there was vomit involved. The vomit worthy part of the trailer is the memory of Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison, and seeing him now. The Lizard King looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man now.

Posted by: jp at August 3, 2011 9:35 AM

A roadshow travelling the country, telling a story about a storyteller that travelled the country, the story changing over time as the roadshow travels on?

I'm in.

Posted by: barereklame at August 3, 2011 9:39 AM

That looked very interesting to me, but if you hadn't said at the beginning it was Coppola, I would have thought David Lynch.

Posted by: xoxoxoe at August 3, 2011 9:43 AM

He may be resembling the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man these days jp, but here's why I still love my man Kilmer: he clearly doesn't give a fuck anymore in a somewhat liberating way. And the fact that 'twixt Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Kill The Irishman he gave himself the personal greenlight to do MacGruber and Blood Out let's me know that he owns his "Idon'tgiveafuuuuck" and can apparently get away with it, 'cause it's not like he needed those films. Many actors and most actresses can't say the same.

I'm still kicking my own ass for indulging a friend and seeing Battle Los Angeles (suckfest) instead of insisting on Kill The Irishman the one weekend it was playing.

Posted by: Rest In Peace at August 3, 2011 9:56 AM

And dammit Sorsha still looks good.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 3, 2011 9:58 AM

Elle Fanning blew me away in Super 8. Just that scene where she turns on the "acting" was enough to sell me forever.

That said, this looks like the shuttle crashing into a school full of baby bunnies.

That black and white with a splash of color shit was played out a week after Elton John used it. In photography it's a sign of a total hack. Like lens flares or gaussian blur. It looks like he used the mid term some film students made. And stealing from Throw Mama From the Train? Really? Vampires? Really? Retire already. You're done, dude.

Posted by: Protoguy at August 3, 2011 10:09 AM

That looked cheap and cheesy. I was expecting a voiceover saying, "Meet Mr. Blerrr. He's a writer who's down on his luck. But he's about to find out that you can find inspiration in some wacky ways." I don't know, cue some funny music and a clip of him jumping back after he's been surprised.

I'll probably wait for the reviews. I mean, it is Coppola...he did The Godfather.

Posted by: pissant at August 3, 2011 10:09 AM

". . . wherein Coppola and company release a different version of the film in each of the 30 cities that they’ll visit."

Yeah, that worked out so well for "Clue."

Posted by: BWeaves at August 3, 2011 10:16 AM

"That looked cheap and cheesy."

If you mean the cinematography I'm in agreement. Why would Coppola deliberately go for a straight-to-DVD look? It just boggles the mind.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at August 3, 2011 10:24 AM

It's been proven that fat, bloated Val can no longer act. He's too busy thinking about his next tasty Big Mac. So I'll pass on this even when it shows on television.

Posted by: Dingle Berry at August 3, 2011 10:32 AM

There is a reason that writing is a solitary pursuit; most of the time, it's a total slog. Val portrayed that well enough, but I'm not sure why that was supposed to make me want to watch this film. Or was it the overplayed "we have a mystery here, and rather than turn to better law enforcement, we'll ask the writer to help" and subsequent dream sequence? Because both of those are considered the tricks of a hack author. Huh, maybe Coppola was going for a meta-narrative. It's still a rental for me.

Posted by: Reba at August 3, 2011 10:32 AM

O...kay.

No, you're right, it looks kind of pointless. BUT! The part where he sits down and tries to write made me laugh. "There was no fog on the lake".

I will probably see it, if only for the traveling road show element. That intrigues me, and kind of reminds me of how they did Clue back in the day, with the whole "a different version depending" schtick.

Posted by: elleyezee at August 3, 2011 10:40 AM

Couldn't get the volume to work.
Is he playing a Native American...?
*crickets*

/Coppola rhymes with Floppola

Posted by: emotionalpedant at August 3, 2011 11:12 AM

Was the guy post credits Father Guido Sarducci!?

Posted by: Luke at August 3, 2011 11:15 AM

I thought it looked interesting. I think there is something here. I don't know if it's particularly new or innovative, but the trailer grabbed me.

Posted by: Robert at August 3, 2011 11:27 AM

Yep, that was Father Guido.

Posted by: ed newman at August 3, 2011 11:30 AM

Yeah, I'm going to see this. It's going to be one of those "whaaa?" movies that you keep talking to yourself about afterwards. Everything from the meaning of the title to the was-it-a-dream-or-wasn't-it, to the realization that it probably wasn't supposed to make sense but you can't admit it publicly for fear you may be wrong and thus, stupid.

And, I have a soft spot for Val Kilmer. He's had no botox. I love that in a man.

Posted by: wednesday at August 3, 2011 11:34 AM

Are the shots of the guy on the motorbike supposed to make me immediately wonder why the Crow is in this movie?

The basic premise has potential although I'm more curious to see how the traveling road show telling a changing story is repackaged for markets outside the US.

Posted by: ArmaAngelus at August 3, 2011 11:50 AM

Didn't Coppola also make "One From The Heart?"
Bodes well, dontcha think?

Posted by: Odnon at August 3, 2011 12:19 PM

To be fair every year it is becoming less and less Comic Con fans, and more and more, kids that like to say they experienced something big by not actually experiencing it.

I.E. going to panels just to text throughout, or just walking the floor with their mouthes wide open and getting in the way of people with shit to do.

But really, I'm not in the mood to get started on a whole it was better when only nerds went to comic con and when comic con actually cared about us rant.

So I'll say this. I've never been a an of Coppolla and I don't think I'll start being one now.

Posted by: googergieger at August 3, 2011 2:29 PM

Looks kind of like Sin City meets Into the Mouth of Madness. It could be interesting, but I am not gonna hold my breath.

Posted by: MRod at August 3, 2011 4:10 PM

1. Wow. This looks awful.
2. Don Novello at the end... way to connect with the kids.
3. Right at 1:30 there's a bug on the bed. Easily the most interesting thing here...

Posted by: Scott at August 3, 2011 5:00 PM

I thought that guy was the dude from Deadwood, John Hawkes

Posted by: Protoguy at August 3, 2011 5:44 PM

No, I see now that it is Father Guido Sarducci. Accent and all...

Posted by: Protoguy at August 3, 2011 5:45 PM

stupid dikeenies

Posted by: bokchoi at August 3, 2011 5:55 PM

What stands out more than anything are the awful production values.

Posted by: Protoguy at August 3, 2011 8:25 PM

Hungry?

Want some scenery?

Chew it over with TWIXT.

Posted by: bleujayone at August 4, 2011 9:05 AM

er the narrator sounds more like Robbie Robertson more than Tom Waits ... just sayin'

Posted by: Penniless Bastard at August 4, 2011 11:25 AM

How'd they get Joanne Whaley to agree to be in the same movie as Val Kilmer?

Posted by: Kate Nonymous at August 4, 2011 3:03 PM

@ snapnhiss & Kate Nonymous: My thoughts exactly. About Kilmer and Whaley, I mean.

@ JP: And yet I still totally would.

Posted by: Az at August 7, 2011 4:51 PM