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Matt1
WOW! That trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua just killed more brain cells than drugs and alcohol ever could!
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el
I loved that trailer. I just couldn’t help myself from laughing every time I saw it. They song would actually get stuck in my head for days.
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Phnam Ngyuen
I wonder if ms. lisa’s ‘blah blah’ writings is meaning to us that she has been seeing the commenting by people on her many big words used to describe movies she is writing about. just thinging about this.
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yahdeeblah
Words are like boobs. If you got big ones, why not show’em off?
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Kyle
If you are going to comment on a journalist/critic’s use of big words, why don’t you figure out grammar first. Otherwise it looks a bit “pot and kettle,” yes?
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yahdeeblah
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el
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Katie
Some trailers are so misleading; with the combination of an excellent song, catchy taglines, only the best clips, and Mr. Movietrailer’s umistakable voice, a movie can appear to be 100 times better than it actually is. For example: Nights in Rodanthe, Evening, World Trade Center, Australia, Spiderman 2, and most recently, the Time Traveler’s Wife (which in reality, didn’t SUCK, but the trailer was a lot more appealing.) However, some trailers are awesome AND the movies are awesome: Pleasantville, the Notebook, Garden State, Slumdog Millionaire, and Big Fish to name a few.
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Rob Grizzly
I agree that the more sophisticated, or low concept a movie is, the weaker the trailer, but I disagree that most trailers don’t give a good sense of what the movie is going to be. (Juno, Fight Club) You’ve got to be able to read between the lines when viewing a trailer, otherwise You’ll be disappointed by every movie you see. Good or bad, I can normally ALWAYS tell when a movie is for me. (American Gangster, Watchmen) Of course, there are occasions when something slips through the cracks…
Beverly Hills Chihuahua was one of the most idiotic trailers I’d seen in ages. Why am I not surprised you found it charming, Lisa? lolTrailers I liked:
Cloverfield
Independence Day
Star wars Ep 1Trailers I hated:
GI Joe
Happy Feet
Anything where Sandra Bullock falls down -
mscisluv
Actually, the trailer for District 9 looked right up my alley – I’m very much into movies that make you think, and I enjoy sci fi/fantasy and most thrillers. However, I have an extremely weak stomach and really can’t do violence (or gore, at all). What the trailer for District 9 doesn’t tell you is that half the movie involves blood spatter and the like. Thank God I had someone else check it out before I bought my ticket, because I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the film.
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Stefan
The trailer for Shutter Island gives the entire movie away, having read the book from Dennis Lehane I was disapointed at how much the trailer revealed about the plot…unreal book tho very excited to see the movie
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dave
I’ve seen other people write this same thing (spoiling the movie) but I don’t see what you’re talking about. Maybe I just don’t remember the book well enough.
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Marylynn
I just finished the book myself and I don’t think the trailer gives the book away either. Unless the people are complaining about the whole patient 67? That doesn’t really give it away either and it makes the movie look interesting to those who haven’t read the book. I think the movie looks fantastic and can’t wait to see it. I actually read the book because I saw the trailer for this movie.
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Marylynn
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AZ
“The trailer for Shutter Island gives the entire movie away”
Really? It reveals nothing about his relationship with his wife.
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lefty
I haven’t read the book, but I had the same thought while watching the trailer. I thought they were showing way too much…even that Leo starts being treated like a patient himself. It still looks good to me, but I thought there was too much shown.
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dave
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DanOregon
The movie Vantage Point had an amazing trailer – better than the movie.
But there are five things that will turn me off on a movie if they are in the trailer: a phone ringing, the heroine falling down, and the holy trinity of bad movie trailer music Walking on Sunshine/that russian oratorio/ and Joe Cocker’s “It’s Alright.” -
Jeff W.
The trailer’s give away too much these days. Have you seen the trailer for the new Final Destination film? It gives away every single death! I have no desire to see it now.
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Emixxary
My problem with trailers is how they spoil the movie… You mentioned District 9.. it had a key moment in the finale that was ruined because I knew it was coming (rocket grenade scene).
Of course, the EW cover showing the star of the movie with Alien eyes was an unwelcome spoiler in itself!-
Yoja
There you go complaining about a trailer spoiling a movie, and you go ahead and spoil it for me. Thanks, buddy!
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Holly
I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!! I just saw District 9 yesterday and the whole time i kept looking at his eye waiting for it to change!!! However, I did make a very clear point not to read the artile itself until today.
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Holly
Oh yeah.. I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!But to be fair, the person I went with shrugged her shoulders and said “it was okay”.
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Holly
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Yoja
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Renee
The problem I have with many trailers is that they end up giving the whole thing away -particularly if the movie isn’t very good. Sometimes 3 minutes seems too long for a trailer, particularly if they don’t use the time well. I’ve seen some trailers (though of course I can’t think of them now), where they basically show the beginning of the film, but then once the story starts to get interesting, the trailer ends. Those are neat because they hook the audience in, but don’t give away so much that you feel you don’t need to see the movie.
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Sir Andrew
Clint Eastwood trailers ALWAYS look really bad, even though the movies are brilliant. If you ask me, a trailer is an art form in itself, and I greatly respect an artist who can create a geniune trailer that intrigues a viewer. Even the Lovely Bones trailer wasn’t all that great. Recently, the best trailer I can think of is that for Zombieland. The Devil Wears Prada trailer, which was just a scene from the film with quicker cuts, was really well done. Oh, but one of the greatest trailers was the teaser for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was just beautiful images set to Camille Saint-Saëns’ Aquarium movement from Carnival of the Animals. And if there’s two things I’m sick of, it’s the “static” trailer ala Terminator Salvation, and the way music always builds up far too dramatically, and then all of a sudden stops (which is in the Shutter Island trailer, actually).
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Lisa Simpsonn
I agree that the “Benjamin Button” trailer was very good, with the whimsically evocative Saint-Saens music. Too bad the movie was very disappointing.
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Lisa Simpsonn
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JA
I usually agree with you, Lisa, but not this time. I’d say I’m 9 out of 10 on whether I’ll like a film after viewing the trailer. It’s the exception for me to be totally dupped. I think that the trailer provides a lot of info to help you make the decision…genre, actors, directors (if familiar with their work you have an even better sense), budget. The biggest thing you don’t get a sense of that is ultimately a deal-breaker is screenplay. If you know that you don’t like Sci-Fi or toilet humor “comedies” then it’s easy to make a decision based on a trailer. With Leo and Marty involved, how bad can Island be? I’ll also look to reviews before seeing a movie. If I’m luke warm on the trailer, but the movie gets good reviews and it’s one I think I’ll like – I’m rarely disappointed. It’s agreeing to see what your no-eye-for-film boyfriend wants to see that gets you into trouble.
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Josh
I think trailers can be super effective if done right. IFC recently did a list of the 50 greatest trailers of all time. http://www.ifc.com/news/2009/06/50-greatest-trailers.php
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paige
believe me you havent talked about District 9 no where near as much as your colleagues have obsessed about Twilight…
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Casey
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
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Casey
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Sean
I have the opposite problem with trailers that Lisa does (but the same as several posters here). 90% of trailers give away an entire movie. 1. Everything is fine 2. Something happens 3. Characters are in emotional or physical peril 4. Can they/will they save themselves 5. Tease on how they in fact do it. THE END. It is very disappointing to me that trailers are taking the thrill out of movie going, which for me is linked to seeing things I wasn’t expecting and feeling ways I hadn’t predicted. Case in point. The trailer for Orphan says “you’ll never guess her secret”. Well, now that we know she has one…yes, in fact many of us will and did guess it. I like that this trailer for Shutter Island seems more ambiguous, at least.
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seattlejohn
I agree…recently saw the trailer for the Brothers remake (and having seen the original) I was shocked how it gave away the storyline…I want a trailer and movie posters that evoke a mood or style to get your interest and no plot info at all…ditto for reviews that are plot synopsis’ that don’t tell you what the so-called reviewer (discreetly) felt about the film…I now barely scan reviews just to see if the writer liked it, and save the whole reviews for after I see the film myself (and frequently in disagreement); I’ve become a big fan of obscure foriegn films I know nothing about because I can draw my own conclusions and have no expectations from overdone media buzz
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seattlejohn
something else I prefer is watching a film on DVD and viewing the trailer afterwards for a summing up instead of a spoiler
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seattlejohn
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Roberta
The best trailer that I have ever seen is for the movie Frost/Nixon. It is captivating, and the great thing is, it does give away some key scenes (but we know that they happen even before viewing the trailer because it really happened in history,) but it doesn’t give them all away. The trailer is mesmerizing, and the movie definitely lives up!
More trailers should follow in its example.
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Movie trailers: giving 'em the old razzle-dazzle
This is my last link to That Movie About Oppressed Aliens, I promise–you may be wondering about now whether all of us at EW have been infected by alien ooze–but I keep thinking about a friend’s response recently when I told him I thought he’d like District 9. “Really?” he said. “The trailer made it look pretty junky.” So I explained that the “junkiness” he saw was an essential part of the movie’s aesthetic and blah blah blah…But the thing is, if all you had to go on when picking the movies you want to see are trailers running at the multiplex or on TV and YouTube, you’re bound to get a pretty screwy sense of how good–or bad–a movie actually is.
Sometimes, true, you can tell: The duller the romantic comedy, the more likely the trailer is to tell you the whole story and use up the best scenes. But more often, preview clips rely so much on sensory saturation to convey elements of action, horror, suspense, or whatever, that it’s impossible for a thoughtful moviegoer to grasp the movie’s actual intelligence–or stupidity. I’ve already seen the trailer for Shutter Island two or three times, and I have no clue about the movie’s story or artistic style. I’m really looking forward to this one–it’s made by Martin Scorsese, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, I’m there–but the trailer is no help to me. You?
I’ve come to accept that the more sophisticated and innovative a movie is, the worse the trailer is likely to be at conveying that sophistication: how can a 90-second spot possibly convey the exquisite build-up of psychological tension among a group of soldiers that drives The Hurt Locker? But I’ve also made peace with the fact that every once in a while, a trailer will come along that charms me silly. And I only have myself to blame when the movie turns out to be a dog. I’m talking about you, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Got other examples?