TRAILER TRASH

I saw THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN this afternoon and I'll share my thoughts on the film in an upcoming post. What I want to talk about here is some of the trailers I saw at the theater today.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Nothing can keep me from this one. The third and final installment of director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year. If someone had told me when I was ten years old that 46 years in the future I'd be able to go to the theater and see major motion pictures featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man and Batman all in one glorious summer, I wouldn't have believed it. It's a great time to be a comic book fan and see lifelong dreams finally fulfilled on the big screen.

TOTAL RECALL. Not sure that a remake of this one is totally necessary. The original wasn't that long ago and it really wasn't that good but the trailer for this one looks intriguing and I think I'll give it a shot unless the buzz is really terrible.

JACK REACHER. Attention Tom Cruise! Put the ego down and just step away from this role now! Tom Cruise is an okay actor but he's not and never will be Jack Reacher, the hero of a terrific series of crime novels by Lee Child. It's explicitly stated in the books that Reacher is 6 foot, 4 inches tall and weighs 250 lbs. Cruise is nowhere near that size. In fact, I'm willing to bet that I'm bigger than he is. I know for a fact that I'm bigger than Zorro (Antonio Banderas), who I ran into once in a store.

The character of Jack Reacher requires an actor of physical presence. He's got to be a BIG guy. When I read the books, I always picture Clint Eastwood in the part. Eastwood is far too old to play this part now but if he was 30 years younger, he'd be perfect. In the books, Reacher has the deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes and the tough guy, take-no-prisoners ethos of many Eastwood characters.

Where have all of the big guys in movies gone? When I was growing up, we had such big men as John Wayne, Clint Walker, Chuck Connors and James Arness playing our heroes on television and at the movies. Where are the contemporary actors who have this kind of physical presence?

I must confess to not being totally conversant on all of today's action movie stars. I just don't see that many new films these days. But I would like readers to respond to the question, what actor working today would you like to see in the part of Jack Reacher?

And let's all agree right here and now not to support the JACK REACHER film when it comes out in December. If you're even thinking about buying a ticket for this abomination, I urge you to spend that money instead on one of the Reacher books. If you've never read a Reacher, you're in for a treat and you'll immediately see why letting Cruise play Reacher is like casting Wally Cox as Dirty Harry. If you're interested in giving the series a try, start with THE KILLING FLOOR, the first Reacher adventure and go on from there. I guarantee you, you won't be disappointed.