FILM: Apocalyptic trailers

Hollywood is starting to become the crazy guy who stands on the corner of tourist-heavy streets, screaming or holding up a sign that says "The end of the world is near." Seriously, almost every flick has a defeatist attitude about the fate of the world. They must be dying of thirst, seeing that glass half empty.

INVASION

The plot is a cross between The Terminator and Resident Evil--a mother (Nicole Kidman) must do anything and everything to protect her child from, essentially, everyone. Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) seems to be playing her friend/co-worker. Aliens have fallen to Earth and are "body snatching," which can only fully take effect when you fall asleep. So on top of being exhausted, she has to figure out a way to get away from...the world. Good luck with that.


I AM LEGEND

Will Smith plays yet another hero. But this time, he's not met with the task of saving the world. He just has to save himself. Apparently, he's the only human left on Earth and every night he has to make sure he doesn't get eaten by vampires. The trailer isn't that revealing...which I'm assuming is the point. But that also puts a lot of pressure on those vampires looking convincingly terrifying. No, but seriously, if there isn't a pungent smell of child urine in the cinema air when it hits theaters, then this teaser is just plain mean.


AMERICAN GANGSTER

Perhaps dramas about leaders of criminal organizations aren't exactly classified as apocalyptic, but chroncling corrupt city streets and the downfall of humanity is the basis of an apocalypse...and this film. Denzel Washington is clearly going for a 3rd Oscar--to remind Jamie Foxx who's boss--with this crime drama about a drug lord who smuggles heroin into Harlem through the coffins of Vietnam soliders in the 70s. There are so many things wrong with that sentence that it's sure to cause controversy. Once again, Washington glorifies the reputation of a cocky, corrupt criminal, like in Training Day. Russell Crowe hasn't had a hit since A Beautiful Mind. This should surely put him back on the map. He plays a good cop who's trying to bring the drug lord down. Denzel vs. Russell. You kind of get a sense that they'd both go down fighting.