Author: Jandy Page 50 of 145

Over the past several months and even years, I’ve essentially stopped watching trailers, at least intentionally. I’ll still generally watch them in theatres, but even then there are a few I’ll cover my eyes for and try to tune out as much as possible (two years ago it was Inception, this year it’s Looper). I almost never seek them out to watch online, or even watch them when they’re posted on sites I regularly read or write for. Once in a while I point out that I’m not watching a trailer (the most recent case is the Cloud Atlas trailer, which dropped yesterday), and I’m usually greeted by a couple of responses. One, people assure me that the trailer in question doesn’t give the plot away or really tell much about the story at all. They assume that I’m not watching because I don’t want to be spoiled, which is indeed a major concern these days, as a lot of trailers get waaaaay too detailed in explaining plots. The other response is to tell me how awesome it is, how it made them really excited to see the movie, and how it would probably really appeal to me. This one assumes that I’m not watching out of indifference, and that watching the trailer would excite me about the movie more than I am, which is apparently not much, since I can’t even drum up enough interest to watch a trailer.

Neither of these is really accurate in principle (though, sure, I also don’t watch trailers known to be spoilery or trailers for movies I have zero interest in watching).

Generally, I don’t decide what movies I want to see based on studio marketing. I decide based on who’s involved in making it, primarily the director, to some extent the actors, writers, source material, etc. I decide based on buzz coming from festival and early screenings. I decide based on general critical reaction (I don’t tend to read full reviews before a movie comes out). Once in a while a trailer may whet my appetite for more, but generally by the time trailers come out, I’ve already decided whether or not I’m interested in seeing a movie. Even the exceptions, like Wreck-It Ralph, which I wasn’t interested in until I saw the trailer, I turned the trailer off as soon as I got a glimpse of what it was going to be. Once I’m sold, I don’t want to see any more.

So why am I averse to seeing them? It’s not primarily because I fear they’ll give away key plot points, though there is that fear especially on big Hollywood films. And it’s not primarily because I’m uninterested in the product they’re presenting. It’s primarily because if I want to see a film, I don’t care to have any visuals or dialogue already in my head when I go in to watch the film. Maybe others can put that out of their head when they see a movie, but I can’t. When we get to a scene in the film that was in the trailer, I instantly think “oh, this is that part that was in the trailer; I already know this part.” It’s still probably funny (or moving, or impactful, or whatever), and I still probably laugh (or cry, or feel gutted, or whatever), but for that split second, I’m out of the movie. I’m not thinking about the movie anymore, I’m thinking about the trailer.

Then I mentally check off that scene from the trailer. “Three down, five more to go.” I’m waiting for those other scenes to happen. I know they’ll come up sometime. When will they be? Oh, hey, this line that sounded like it’s all one piece in the trailer is actually cut from two different scenes. That’s interesting, but it takes me out of the movie as I re-orient myself to the movie’s script. Huh, this line reading sounds different than it did in the trailer; they must’ve used a different take for some reason – which do I like better? Hmmm, we’re getting close to the end of the film, and that one shot from the trailer hasn’t happened yet, wonder when it’s going to turn up? Oh, I bet it’s going to be right here at the climax – yep, there it is, okay, that was kind of anti-climactic since I’d already seen that shot. These are all things I actually thought while watching The Avengers for the first time. Now, granted, this isn’t necessarily a huge deal, and it probably isn’t going to ruin any movies for me – I still loved The Avengers. But I really wish I hadn’t watched the trailers first, because I would’ve liked to have experienced those moments fresh in the film. I’m learning from my indiscretions.

The Cloud Atlas trailer is almost six minutes long. Most trailers are around one and a half to two minutes long, so this one is three times longer than most trailers. Three times as much footage, three times as many visuals, three times as many shots that I’d see out of context, and be waiting to see in the movie. I won’t do that to myself. I don’t really understand why people want to see that much of a movie months before it comes out, why people want that imagery in their heads ahead of time instead of seeing it all as a whole, as it was meant to be experienced, but clearly I’m weird about it. Most people want to watch 5-10 minute clips of movies before they come out, something that’s become increasingly common for studios to release within the week or two leading up to release. And that’s fine, but I avoid those like the plague. It’s not a spoiler thing, I just don’t want them in my head, I don’t want to be waiting for them, I don’t want to be wondering when they’ll turn up. A lot of these, granted, are the opening of the film, which isn’t as big an issue (at least you’re not waiting for it to happen, because it’s right at the beginning), but still, that means when I go see the movie, I’d be seeing stuff I already saw for the first five or ten minutes, and I can’t think why I’d want to do that.

So that’s why I rarely watch trailers anymore, especially when it’s for a movie I already want to see. It rarely adds to my anticipation, it often yields distraction and mild disappointment while watching the movie, and it’s simply not worth it. I’m not that hard-core about it, and unless it’s the rare Inception or Looper where I really do want to go in totally blind, I don’t turn away from trailers in theatres. But I’m not going to seek them out or watch them online, so if you ask me “hey, did you see that awesome trailer for xyz,” the answer is probably no. And I probably don’t care to, so don’t try to convince me.

For the record, this is my favorite trailer of all time (regardless of the eventual quality of the movie):

What’s that you say? A film survey/blogathon about those deep dark secrets we all hide about our moviegoing past and present? Yep, Nostra over at MyFilmViews has put together a nifty little quiz that’s making the rounds this week, and I figured I’d throw my own confessions out there, for better or worse.

Which classic movie don’t you like/can’t enjoy and why?

I enjoy most classic movies, at least ones that anybody cares about, so this is kind of a tough one. I would say that I don’t like Citizen Kane or The Godfather or Apocalypse Now AS MUCH as most people do, but I wouldn’t say I don’t like at all. I might go with The African Queen as one that people acclaim and I thought was pretty dull and average, which especially gets to me because I love both Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, and I was expecting to like it a lot more than I did.

Which ten classic movies haven’t you seen yet?

I’ll cheat and pull some from my Blind Spots list (which I’m woefully behind on), and fill in to replace the non-classic films on there:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Wild Strawberries (1958)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Solaris (1972)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

Of course, this list is never-ending. :)

Have you ever sneaked into another movie at the cinema?

One time, in terms of actually doing it and watching the whole second movie, and not that long ago, either (I was such a rebel in my late twenties…) – I paid for Kick-Ass and watched it, then snuck into The Losers and watched it all the way through. I’ve walked into the back of theatres at multiplexes and watched a few seconds/minutes of things fairly often, when I get there early for my movie.

Which actor/actress do you think is overrated?

I’m gonna get raked over the coals for this, but Daniel Day-Lewis. I just can’t get into his performances at all; they’re so big and intense they pull me right out of the movie.

From which big director have you never seen any movie (and why)?

I try to hit all the big name ones, but one that’s eluded me so far is Rainer Werner Fassbinder. As far as why…no reason, really, other than the ’70 and ’80s have generally been blind spots for me – I grew up watching classics (1930s-1960s) and then added in current films in the ’90s, so getting to those ’70s and ’80s has been a slower process. Plus, I’ve never really known where to start with him, and I remember having trouble with Netflix putting his movies into perpetual “saved” mode, back when I had DVDs. So yeah. I currently have Ali: Fear Eats the Soul on my Blind Spots list, so hopefully I’ll be able to locate and watch that one this year.

Which movie do you love, but is generally hated?

Hmmm…hated is such a strong word. And so is love. Heh. Most of the movies that immediately spring to mind (Speed Racer, The Fountain, etc) have a lot of supporters as well as all the detractors. Similarly, most of the films I’d consider guilty pleasures (like Bring It On or Mystery Men) fall into the same category for a lot of other people, so I can’t really say they’re hated. I dunno. Speed Racer. :)

Have you ever been “one of those annoying people” at the cinema?

I remember one time when I was like twelve, maybe? My parents and I were on a family trip and we’d stopped at Sun Valley, Idaho. A theatre there played the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade with Sonja Henie on a constant loop, pretty much, and being a classic movie addict, I got my parents to go see it. (I also got them to stay an extra couple of days to watch a professional figure skating competition that was about to take place there, but that’s a different addiction.) The film stars John Payne, who was a pretty common leading man in 1940s programmers (his most well-known film is Miracle on 34th Street, as Maureen O’Hara’s love interest). Anyway, he’s a blander doppleganger for Robert Taylor, and since I hadn’t seen Payne in much before, I was fascinated by how much he looked like Taylor, and I loudly whispered such to my mom OVER AND OVER every time he was on-screen (which was often) until my dad finally shushed me out of respect for the two other people in the theatre. I was so chagrined I’ve barely made a peep in any theatre since then.

Did you ever watch a movie, which you knew in advance would be bad, just because a specific actor/actress was in it? Which one and why?

The entire filmography of Milla Jovovich. Why? *points up*

Did you ever not watch a specific movie because it had subtitles?

No. I may have at times delayed watching a subtitled movie in favor of a non-subtitled one depending on mood or attention span, but I’ve always returned to the subtitled one at a better time.

Are there any movies in your collection that you have had for more than five years and never watched?

I’ve had A Beautiful Mind for a very long time and haven’t watched it. I bought it in the wake of its Oscar win, because I was big on watching Oscar-winners at that time, but then sometime between buying it and watching it, I became wholly disenamoured of Ron Howard and didn’t feel like watching it. I still should at some point, I guess.

Which are the worst movies in your collection and why do you still own them?

Geez, for this I’d have to go look at the boxes I never unpacked after my last move, because I left most of the bad movies packed up. One I know for sure is Daredevil. I actually didn’t hate it when I first saw it, and picked it up from Blockbuster used for like $2 or something. I haven’t watched it all the way through since, but I saw some clips on YouTube not long ago and yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking. Anyway, the reason I still have this and several other bad movies is because I tried to sell them to a second-hand shop, and because a lot of them were rental copies before I got them on the cheap, they were too scratched up for the shop to take them. And I hate throwing things away. So there in the boxes they sit.

Do you have any confessions about your movie watching setup at home?

Well, I’m not sure I have the surround sound hooked up right. But I’m too lazy/unknowledgable to fix it. I know one of the speakers is broken because I just have them on top of DVD shelves and one fell off when I was getting everything set up. Beyond that, not really – I’ve got a pretty good set-up, at least until I can afford a projector. :)

Any other confessions you want to make?

Not really. I’ve done enough, I think.