Our Top Stories Tonight: Two Big Trailers, "Vacation" in Jeopardy & More

I'm trying to find a way to spice up the Top Story Tonight segments as I found that the old format was getting boring. So, the next few days I'll be experimenting with new ways to write this up. Anyway...


The "biggest" story of the day was that Thor: The Dark World has finally premiered some footage in the form of a trailer that has fanboys buzzing. The trailer shows a more glossy, stylish look for the God of Thunder, with some epic battles glimpsed at and a Silence of the Lambs-esque bond between Thor and Loki. The film looks solid, but I just wasn't crazy about the original Thor so it's hard to get too excited about this. But, what's funny about these trailers is that Marvel could basically release the crappiest trailer possible and I'd still pay money for this sequel. The Avengers films have treated me well so far and until the quality dips I see no reason to stop tuning in. I've attached the trailer below, but I will say that it is not the trailer I am most excited about...

It's The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola's next film, that has gotten me excited with a new trailer. The comedy, which follows the true story of a few teenagers, dubbed The Bling Ring, that began stealing from real life celebrities (including Paris Hilton, who makes an appearance in the film). Frankly, the film looks fantastic. The trailer looks funny, the social satire is fascinating and Emma Watson's performance looks terrific. I can't wait. I don't want to add a second to the article- it'll make the article look overcrowded- but if you're interested in anyway, I implore you to check it out here.

Elsewhere in the movie scene, it looks like the Ed Helmes led reboot of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is in a bit of trouble. Production has shut down temporarily, due to creative differences regarding the film's rating. Now, I know next to nothing about this franchise, but the original film from 1989 was rated PG-13 so I do feel that the film wouldn't necessarily benefit from a harder rating. I mean, as far as I know, wasn't the original a family comedy? I don't know, it just seems a bit forced to me. I love a good, R-rated comedy, but a family friendly comedy can be just as great. I hope the studio doesn't go for unnecessary shock value to help a film become "funnier."

Finally, Emma Stone has added yet another interesting project to her ever growing resumé by joining the cast of Woody Allen's next film. Being a Woody Allen film, nobody really knows what the plot of the film will be, but even with more than a few crappy films in the vault Allen has churned out some fantastic films, most recently Midnight in Paris. Stone is a talented actress and working with Allen will only help her career. But, God, what a great line-up she's got coming out. Obviously we have The Amazing Spider-Man 2 coming out next summer, but Stone has Iñárritu's Birdman, del Toro's Crimson Peak and an untitled Cameron Crowe flick. So, for the next two years, we'll be getting a lot of Stone and I can't find a reason to complain about that.