Here's a trailer for artsy director Julie Taymor's latest film, an adaptation of cult playwright William Shakespeare's (supposed) final play, the melancholy magical desert island adventure The Tempest. It looks... disappointingly full of CGI muck and Russell Brand.

Yes, that's the increasingly irksome Brand as Trinculo, one half of the play's go-to comic relief. And yes, that's Helen Mirren playing a lady version of Prospero, the play's bellicose-but-tender sorcerer and overprotective papa. And, ugh, those are lots of computer animated hell hounds and magical whirlygigs brightening up the surprisingly drab setting. I understand the motivation behind making a trailer for a Shakespeare movie as zippy as possible, but... eyugh. These particular effects just don't look very attractive. And what's the point of a grand Julie Taymor Shakespeare movie if it's not attractive?

Speaking of attractive, that's Djimon Hounsou as angry island native Caliban and willowy Ben Whishaw as the sprightly sprite Ariel. For us theater nerds, though, the most interesting casting is Reeve Carney, who Taymor cast as Peter Parker in her upcoming Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway musical extravaganza, and who here plays the lovestruck Ferdinand.

So, if the computer junk doesn't bother you, all you theater nerds grab your art nerd friends and go see this movie. Preferably stoned.

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