' ' Cinema Romantico: Commentary On Recently Seen Trailers

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Commentary On Recently Seen Trailers



I've seen quite a few movie trailers recently. Here are thoughts on some of 'em.

The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo: Is it just me or does this preview feel like it goes on for 15 minutes? Not that it's a bad preview, because it's not, it just feels like......it goes on for 15 minutes. I was recently told this is because it is, in fact, a three and a half minute trailer, about a minute longer than usual, yet......it still feels like it goes on for 15 minutes.

J. Edgar: Yup, it looks like an Eastwood biopic, all right. The key points of J. Edgar Hoover's life will be told in chronological order.

Anonymous: Roland Emmerich would have been wise to keep the inevitable credit "A Film By Roland Emmerich" off the trailer entirely. He might've fooled some people.

Contraband: It shouldn't work. It can't work. It looks cliched, predictable, expected, by-the-book and/or numbers, any of it, all of it. Yet I'm left with one feeling - Mark Wahlberg convinces me. "It takes money to make money." Anyone else says that and you combine an eye roll with a 12 second groan. When Mark Wahlberg says it you think, "Gee whiz, he's right. It does take money to make money. Trenchant!" Also, I'm not so sure about Kate Beckinsale's blonde hair here.

Premium Rush: Normally when I see revival screenings there are not previews attached to the film and so when a trailer turned up prior to my recent Ghostbusters screening for a film featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a bike messenger who becomes embroiled in some sort of ne'er-do-well scheme involving one of his deliveries I simply assumed they were showing fake trailers as part of the viewing experience. But nope, this thing's real. Did JGL take out a home renovation loan?

The Double: Hey! Did you know Richard Gere is Cassius, the Soviet assassin he's been tasked to find?! No?! You didn't?! Don't worry. I didn't give it away. The trailer tells you he is.

The Descendants: Really can't tell if I should want to see this so much. But I do. Back off.

Tower Heist: I'm entirely certain I'm the only person in America who wants to see this solely on account of Matthew Broderick.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: I refuse to believe an IMF agent would have hair like Tom Cruise's. Also, Tom Wilkinson really nails that obligatory "Your mission, should you choose to accept it" line.

Melancholia: I've said some not-so-nice things about Lars von Trier in the past but what's true is true and the truth is that this preview was freaking SPECTACULAR. Bring it on.

7 comments:

Derek Armstrong said...

Anonymous is actually good. Really.

With The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I sense this odd paranoid instinct to familiarize American audiences with the plot to such a degree that they can't feel "scared off" by its foreign origins. This is incredibly odd, considering that there was a period of time where literally anywhere I went in the U.S., I saw someone reading these books.

I was disappointed that there is not even a hint of cross dressing in the J. Edgar trailer. Yet more studio paranoia about scaring people off. Let's hope at least the movie tackles it.

Why shouldn't you want to see The Descendants? Alexander Payne is one of the few directors I can think of who has yet to make a misstep. (Maybe that's because his output has been so teasingly minimal. Not a single feature since Sideways? What has this man been up to other than divorcing Sandra Oh?)

Nick Prigge said...

1.) Really? Hmmmmm. Perhaps I will see it.

2.) That makes a lot of sense. But it's just like, can't they leave anything to the imagination?

3.) I feel like if there is cross dressing in "J. Edgar" that will be the one detail where Eastwood's extreme un-ornamental style will help him. If there's cross dressing there's a need to overdo its flamboyance and I sense Eastwood would just say, "Yup. Cross dressing. Here it is. Good? Good. Next scene."

4.) I think one person I know said something possibly derogatory about "The Descendants" and that stuck in my head. I totally want to see it.

Derek Armstrong said...

It'll be interesting to see if Eastwood's conservative values cause him to downplay that aspect of Hoover's life. That's another way of saying the same thing you just said, except I'm giving it a political bent.

Speaking of Eastwood ... I know how much you love Million Dollar Baby, so I'm assuming you've seen pretty much everything he's directed. I'm sure I could find the answer to this somewhere on your site if I searched for it, but did you find Hereafter to be as much of a waste of time as I did? Talk about front-loading a movie ... the first 15 minutes of that are terrific storytelling supported by terrific, how'd-they-do-that visuals. The remaining two hours are utterly useless. (Sorry for the rant if you disagree.)

Nick Prigge said...

In truth, I'm not a big Eastwood fan. I mean, I love "Million Dollar Baby", of course, and "Unforgiven" but beyond that.... I really think his style only lends itself to certain things, and he has to have a great script.

I did like "Hereafter" but in a lot of ways - and this seems to be happening more and more with me - I think I liked the IDEA of it or what it made me think about more than the actual film itself. And because of it I gave it a pass.

Sam Fragoso said...

Anonymous is actually bad. Really.

Tower Heist is enjoyable.

I'll be seeing J. Edgar Monday. I'll let you know.

Keep up the good work Nick.

Derek Armstrong said...

To perfectly balance out my feelings on Anonymous and Duke's, Anonymous has a Metascore of exactly 50. So, I guess you will have to decide for yourself. (Wait, I just looked again and it's up to 51. Advantage: me!)

Besides, if you like Million Dollar Baby, you will definitely like this. (What? That makes no sense.)

Nick Prigge said...

So...one vote against Anonymous, one vote for Anonymous. Tower Heist it is!!! I really do want to see Tower Heist, though, even though I feel like I shouldn't because I'm so anti-Ratner. So be it. I'm going.

Thanks for the kind words, Sam.