A good trailer should make you want to go see that movie instead of the movie you came to see, or shut the internet off and get to the nearest theater. I like a trailer to give you a hint of what tone to expect, and a glimpse at the story, but refrain from spelling it all out. I'm looking at you, Funny People trailer. My favorite trailers use the music and sounds to get an emotional response. Simple pop songs rarely do. My favorite trailers have images I've never seen before. It intrigues. Excites. Enthralls. Etc.
Anyway, I'm doing trailers for movies that came out in 2009. The trailers may have debuted in 2008, but I can't keep track of that sort of thing. I'm busy. Busy watching trailers.
1. Watchmen
I watched this before The Dark Knight and it re-calibrated my heart's beat. The remixed Billy Corgan matched the dark tone perfectly. All of the shots had an unbridled intensity to them. It felt so confident in what it was presenting. None of the super heroes looked familiar, so I was itching to find out what Watchmen were all about, and why I'd never heard of it before, on top of the film looking awesome.
2. Observe and Report
This trailer runs on hutzpah. It's so well paced, too. We're hooked by the flasher, who the lead is and exactly how the lead sees the world is introduced a few seconds later, and then it takes off like a rocket. A firecracker rocket. Jokes cross with violence cross with surprising crudeness. In the last fourth the shots are incredible, and they cut so fast, and the music blends so well... it's like seeing Obama get elected all over again.
3. Moon
Clint Mansell's score steals the show. Sam Rockwell steals what's left. The moon sets can have whatever's around after that. Plus, there's a mystery set up. Who is that other Sam Rockwell. Why is Sam Rockwell crying? Can I have a beard like that? Did they really film on the moon? It got me wondering, and eventually I went to a theater and learned the answers to each of these questions. Half worth it. Such is the power of the trailer.
4. A Serious Man
The Coen Brothers have figured out how to sell a film. This. This is the way you sell a film. Awesome. My favorite trailer of these five favorite trailers of the year. I watched it for the first time at work, and I think I wrote about it then, too. I could have watched it ten times after. Ended up hitting the six-time mark by the end of the day. I knew next to nothing about the movie and I wanted to see it more than any other advertised. Magnetic.
5. A Single Man
With kind of a similar vibe to the similarly-named A Serious Man this trailer is one of the most inspired, and attention grabbing I've yet seen. The score is haunting as it punches along with each shot, the imagery growing more compelling and alluring as the seconds tick. The ticking is a nice touch, too. I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet. It's getting a limited release tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure Chicago isn't an opening location. But I'm gonna try to see it. Thanks, trailer.
Honorable mentions include The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, which I desperately wanted to see but has never come near enough. It looks charmingly weird, and I didn't understand its appeal until the second viewing. Antichrist was a movie with a great trailer that turned out to undersell the film. What is possibly the coolest trailer, and also gives away most of the best moments in the movie, was for Bad Lieutenant: Port of Calls New Orleans. The movie was just okay, but the trailer is fantastic.
- Eric T. Voigt, Thinks He'll Do a Best of 2000s for Each Year... For Fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment