Tuesday’s Top Trailer: The Zero Theorem

Welcome to the inaugural 2014 edition of a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

The Zero Theorem – Opening TBD

It’s been over two months since we’ve had the opportunity to take a look at trailers again, but I figured it was time to get it started again now that Oscar season is officially over. I browsed IMBD and couldn’t find anything I liked very much, and headed over to my preferred movie trailer site, Movie-List.com. A few clicks got me to the trailer for “The Zero Theorem,” which premiered back in September at the Venice Film Festival. It is being released in the U.K. next week, and hopefully in the U.S. sometime after that. This is a truly odd trailer that initially is quite off-putting due mainly to its antiquated look and eerie feel, but that’s ultimately what’s so appealing about it. Terry Gilliam was a key member of Monty Python who has since distinguished himself due to his eclectic directorial efforts. His most recent film was the inventive “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” but his more crucial contributions before that are the two films named by him as part of a dystopian trilogy: “Brazil” and “12 Monkeys.” The former, from 1985, is a mesmerizing story of a 1984-like future where little is actually real and genuine, while the latter is a darker but equally gripping time travel tale. This film might be more tethered to reality in its events while its characters are less firmly rooted in it. Christoph Waltz has won two Oscars in the past five years, and it’s great to see him expanding his repertoire to do this film. It’s no surprise that it’s attracted the always peculiar Tilda Swinton, and David Thewlis seems a strong supporting fit as well. I’m not sure I’d ultimately love this film, but it does look beyond interesting and very creative.