127 Hours

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Release Date: November 5

Plot Summary: Based on a true story, mountain biker Aron Ralston falls into a crevasse, getting his arm trapped between a wall and a boulder. He's trapped for (you guessed it) 127 hours and has two options: death or self-amputation. What would you do?

To be honest, this trailer doesn't really do it for me. Don't get me wrong - I do want to see this for a number of reasons, but as far as trailers go... it's not really that good. What immediately turned me off were the flashbacks to Boyle's previous film, Slumdog Millionaire. And while I did love Slumdog, it feels awfully gimmicky to use it as an incentive to get people to see this. Even the best directors are susceptible to shitty movies (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Jack? The Lovely Bones?). I'll admit it does a nice job of setting up the premise, but I still would've liked at least a glimpse of what happens after his arm gets trapped - I already knew that was going to happen before I even watched the trailer.

It does make me a little nervous about the movie itself, but I have a lot of faith in Danny Boyle as a director despite the fact he ruined my favorite book, The Beach. And even though The Beach was flat out awful, it's still got some great scenery shots of Phuket. Besides, it's hard to hate the man that gave us Trainspotting. The cinematography in 127 Hours looks stunning, and there's no shortage of great scenery in Moab, Utah. He's definitely got a vision and his own flair for directing, which makes his movies exciting for me. Boyle is also a very passionate director and it often shows in his movies.

James Franco stars as Aron, and there's certainly a lot of pressure on him to pull this off. After all, the main focus of the movie is his helplessness from being trapped. From what I gather, the scenes from the trailer are pulled from only the first half hour or so. The majority of the movie takes place in the crevasse in a very claustrophobic atmosphere. Supposedly, medics were called for two audience members at two separate screenings in Telluride. While my obvious reaction is a giant eye roll, I do know that watching small spaces for some can trigger panic attacks.

I'm a little on the fence with Mr. Franco - he was great in Milk and Pineapple Express, but I still feel like he needs to prove himself in order to get away from the whole teen heartthrob thing. I'm pulling for him though, and I really hope he'll nail this. There's been some Oscar buzz around it, but honestly, which fall film doesn't have Oscar buzz at this stage in the game? Franco and Boyle are enough to get my butt in the seat on this one, but then there's the addition of Lizzy Caplan of Mean Girls and True Blood fame. She's the icing on the cake - I just wish they showed more of her.

While I don't think I'm ruining anything that's not common knowledge, I'll slap a little spoiler warning on here just in case... did you skip to the verdict yet? I suggest you do because I'm not giving you any more chances to after this... Okay, here we go... I can't wait to see how they handle the amputation scene - I'm sure it's going to be pretty intense. I keep wondering if I were ever in that position, would I be able to cut off my own arm to save my life? I honestly don't know if my body could physically be capable of doing such a thing, but then again I'm sure we're all capable of anything in the face of death. Just thinking about it makes me want to see the movie even more!

The Verdict: In the theater