A lot of times I get people inquiring about a certain song that plays in a trailer.
It’s, perhaps, the one thing I get the most when people check out one of these things online. I am always happy to assist when I can as providing these kinds of answers is always nice to know people are reading.
Then, of course, there are people like Mark D. who took contention with my assertion from a column I did in January 2005 that goofed on coach Mike Ditka’s choice of sunglasses in the trailer for KICKING AND SCREAMING. I tossed out the idea that Da Coach was sporting BluBlockers, an innocuous goof that I thought lived and died in one week’s time. Nope. Mark just recently went on a week’s long journey to find out exactly what kind of eyewear Ditka wore and didn’t stop until he got proof positive confirmation of it.
Sometimes it’s the songs in trailers that get stuck in your head, be it Keane’s song “Somewhere Only We Know” in THE LAKE HOUSE, James Blunt’s ditty “Wisemen” for TRUST THE MAN but sometimes it can be a passing image and Mark D. receives a No-Prize this week for showing that obessive/compulsive behaviors know no boundaries.
Also, to those who are going next week to the Comic-Con in San Diego next week: shoot me a note to let me know you’re going. It’s the one time out of the year when I actually get out of the house and get some sun so it’d be nice to see some of you ‘Shooters, or ‘Stoppers while I’m there trolling to see what I can buy and ostensibly make a good enough case to my wife about why I really do deserve to have a 1:1 scale replica of the Green Goblin’s head next to my pillow on my night stand.
Now, in other, more enviornmental news, I had the chance to watch the documentary WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? which was kindly punted my way from the nice people at Sony Pictures Classics and anyone within West Coast ear shot this week was treated to a short, yet amusingly poignant, interview with Chris Paine, director and writer of the film, on the Adam Carolla radio show.
Now even though most listening to Adam and Chris talk about the oddity that was GM’s EV1 electric vehicle leasing program, ostensibly to see how people would respond to this new brand of automobile, was peppered with jokes it was at the same time appaling to know that GM was folding under the pressure of outside influences, namely the oil companies, and never allowed those who leased these prototypes to ever have ownership of them.
They were all taken back, in perfect working condition, and “recycled”; crushed into pieces. Thus, this is only really the surface of what’s contained in this film by Paine.
Now, all things being equal there is no divorcing the fact that Paine, himself, was an owner of one these cars and making this movie seems like a catharsis or a call to arms of some kind. Those seeing the former will no doubt see the overwrought funeral scene in the beginning of this movie, where the EV1 is quite literally mourned and eulogized in a cemetary as some hippie cum granola head grandstanding that not even Air America would be able and spin in their favor. Heap onto this that Martin “tree hugger” Sheen is narrating this thing and already the film’s motives can be called into question.
However, the bulk of the movie’s weight, it’s importance is embedded with things that are not of the filmmaker’s making: GM’s awful response to why the EV1 was really taken off the road, numerous events that call into question who really is in charge of this country’s legislature and chilling reminders that conspiracies are not just for those people who like to rock a tin foil hat once in a while.
We are all beholden to an economic system that is based on oil, oil interests and the money that can buy every single person in Washington if given the opportunity and there isn’t anything, not you, you or you will be able to change the way things are. That, I feel, is the most sobering message in this film and one that, while there are minute things we all as a populace could do if so inclined, I think is important to keep fresh in people’s minds.
The film is so much more than the sum of its parts, from its dead-on use of interview material to its personal ancecodes of those who drove the vehicles and champion the experience of driving the cars while also skewering GM’s assertion that since there wasn’t a lot of interest in these cars it made perfect sense to kill the prototype project; there was, in fact, a waiting list of over 5,000 people waiting for these cars and, despite GM’s claim that only 50 of these 5,000 ever took GM up on a lease, every single car that was offered up by GM was taken by a willing customer.
This is a movie that should be required viewing for anyone who wants to see how we, as a country, can come to the point of where we’re paying over $3.00 a gallon worth of gasoline for cars that are actually getting worse gas mileage than their ancestoral brethren from decades ago. It boggles the mind and this movie should be seen as a first shot across the bow of monied interests that will continure to do whatever it wants with the funds it has at its disposal. WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? is now out in theaters.
Director: Jay Duplass
Cast: Mark Duplass, Kathryn Aselton, Rhett Wilkins, Julie Fischer, Bari Hyman
Release: June 2, 2006
Synopsis: Josh has failed at being a NYC indie rocker. Josh has failed at being a booking agent. Josh’s life is pretty much in the toilet. When he tries to figure out where it all went wrong he comes up with an idea that would be a small, yet life changing victory. He decides to purchase a 1985 Lazy Boy on eBay and deliver it cross-country.
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Prognosis: Positive. Please.
If anyone has ever cared about asking me the question “What’s the best way to start a trailer?†you can simply hop in your modified Honda hooptie CRX with the glass packs, Calvin pissing on a Ford logo, muffler that looks like it shoot russet potatoes and watch the opening to this one.
There is nothing mysterious about some of the more keener ways to get people’s attention but, at the absolute minimum, you should take the advice that dropping someone into the crux of what the whole movie is going to revolve around is a good idea.
What could be better than bringing people into a conversation where we don’t know the person talking, what they’re all about or why he’s talking about a puffy chair? I like this because we’re not subjected to half-cocked voiceovers trying to make sense of the plot for us instead of the actors, whose job it is to make me believe in the story, doing it for us; and that’s what we’re given here: dude buys a chair that reminds him of his youth, is going on a road trip to deliver it to his father and, by the way, this movie was a Sundance Selection and a winner at the SXSW festival.
Bing.
Everything I need to know about what this movie is going to do is put out for me to judge, a rather bold movie when you consider the amount of deceit that goes into a lot of trailers, and since it was so refreshing to me as a viewer I am pleased to give this movie more of a chance than I give others.
It’s funny that our protagonist, who really hasn’t been clearly defined yet, apes John Cusack’s boom box over the head shtick, something I am surprised hasn’t been done more in a co-opting culture such as ours, as he convinces his really cute lady friend to go with him on this road trip. We meet up with the dude’s other friend, a hippy Jack Johnson type, who expresses interest in inserting himself into this adventure and I think it adds a little extra element of curiosity that things shift in this direction.
A positive review from The Daily Mirror always helps; it’s brief, to the point, and disappears swiftly.
A jolt suddenly passes through me as we’re exposed to our main man cavorting and running around in his tighty-whiteys.
Quick love note from Variety is nice.
Our dude and his lady share a special moment at the dinner table and, I swear, like art imitating life it is disrupted by the guy’s insistence on taking a phone call from one of his “bros.†The accompanying violent outburst from his girlfriend is really unexpected.
The quick clips that come after this show us that our man is capable of rage all his own with his mouth, his hands and the way his lays into the car horn for a really long time. I am not sure of how to follow the plot further after things start to disintegrate with all these people, the hippie trying to be the calming force within the eye of these hurricanes, but the plot here inexplicably fascinates me.
“You want me to be this dude that I am not!â€
Girl loves boy, wants to marry boy, boy pushes girl away but there is something real there that deserves closer examination. By the time the trailer ends my interested is not only whetted but I am genuinely concerned to know where things will go with not only these people but what the chair really has to do with everything else.
Director: Michael Cuesta
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Tracy Morgan
Release: July 5, 2006
Synopsis: A wannabe dad (Shawn Wayans) mistakes a vertically challenged criminal on the lam (Marlon Wayans) as his newly adopted son.
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Prognosis: Negative. So, on my way to see ICE AGE 2 with the fam I saw the lobby display for LITTLE MAN. I’m no expert and I don’t purport to know such things but the line on the standee proclaiming this new film is from the same dudes who brought us WHITE CHICKS is not one I would choose to use willingly, publicly.
I had the sharp misfortune of watching a part of WHITE CHICKS and I am positive you do not want people to know you’re the masterminds behind that movie. Absolutely positive.
Keenen Ivory Wayans, a true comedic talent who brought us I’M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA and In Living Color when it didn’t suck so much, is the guy behind the directorial lens and I don’t see any mention of this guy’s work which is a little disappointing. That said, though, this movie disturbs me a little.
When we start out the Voiceover Guy talks about a world of crime and for some reason I guess the phrase “world of crime†means being shown a static shot of a prison cell. I don’t know what one has to do with the other but it’s odd. Next, we get Marlon Wayans, a really solid actor when placed into a film like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, starring in a weird amalgam of a kid and midget. I don’t think I can overstate that it looks weird, really weird.
Tracy Morgan comes in to help play the straight man in the beginning of this trailer as Morgan helps to boost a car that already has a Denver Boot attached to it. Ha ha, very funny, I know, but Marlon tries to play up this whole ruse as best he can, him being this mutant midget of sorts. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be freaked out by this or that we’re supposed to take it at face value but when Tracy and Marlon go into a jewelry store to boost a diamond, with Marlon being transported via a duffel bag, I’m not sure whether to be insulted that we’re supposed to believe this or think it’s hilarious that this is going on.
I’m honestly torn because some part of me is laughing on the inside while another part of me is glued to the screen as I try to figure out why this looks so freaky.
Long story very short, the guys have to recover the very same diamond Marlon stole just a few moments ago as Marlon ditched it in some woman’s bag. Sooooo…Marlon is placed in a basket and pretends to be a baby to infiltrate the household.
I’m still reeling as I try and come to terms with my sense of humor on this one. Supposing that this is the accepted norm I am at least comforted by comedian Fred Stoller’s comments that the kid is adorable in a, “National Geographic sort of way.â€
The trailer, for the most part, hits the notes that it has to in order to sell this as a goofy comedy: you’ve got physical humor as you have Shawn and Marlon drinking warm milk only to discover it’s breast milk; you’ve got the obligatory nut shot when Marlon swings for the fences during a game of Wiffle Ball; you’ve got about as close as you’re going to get with a fart joke as there is a struggle to apply a rectal thermometer to Marlon; and there’s the whole wife/mistaken identity situation that has been done before in other flicks and has been rehashed here for our pleasure.
I don’t think I am as willing to break bad on this flick as I am absolutely positive that I’m not going to see it. It doesn’t look like my kind of funny but, for some, this might be just the right thing for people come July. These people being, of course, those who thought that WHITE CHICKS wasn’t a complete disaster that begged the question, “What in the hell did I just allow my eyes to witness?”
Director: Nancy Meyers
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black
Release: December 8, 2006
Synopsis: Two women troubled with guy-problems (Diaz, Winslet) swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.
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Prognosis: Negative. Seriously. Burn this film before others are infected.
Tripe, crap, bollocks and everything other adjective one can find to describe something savagely mediocre is, perhaps, the most succinct way of stating how I feel about this trailer.
Right off the bat I’ll start with the one kudo: “Cold Hands, Warm Heart†by Brandon Bensen is misappropriated at the mid-way point to give this trailer a jingly jangly kind of soundtrack and, since I’m a fan of the song, I am alternatively disappointed we’re given nothing but lameness to set the music to.
Now, I’ve given stellar comments about romantic comedies but, I believe, the reason why this one falls short is that from the very beginning we’re not given much to really grab onto that’s fresh or original.
To wit: we start with Kate Winslet speaking in rapid Olde English about being the pin pump cushion for a random man interested in just stealing some poon while, essentially, being engaged to another woman. Oh, poor Kate.
Next moment? Cameron Diaz confronts Edward Burns about being unfaithful. Ed admits that he has. Cameron punches Ed in the face. Oh, poor Cameron.
We’re a quarter way through the trailer and I am scratching my eyes for something interesting. I get Brandon’s musical interlude, and I get excited, but all I get for my troubles is a plot about some fake international program where you AGREE to trade your home, car, everything, to someone from another country. It’s amazingly insane that we get Cameron’s “inner dialogue†in full audio about stating the What-if premise right out in the open. For those who know a thing or two about comedy the essential What-If element is always implied but I don’t think it’s never been so forced, so out in the open as when Cameron’s fake misery sets up her eventual “trade†with Kate’s place in cold England for Christmas. This moment in the trailer really is representative of everything that’s wretched about poorly made romantic comedies.
All is not lost, however, as Cameron, in all her ignorance, wears her finest leathers and high heels in the wackiest FUNNY FARM-kind of moment: she’s unprepared to deal with the shocking conditions of snow, ice and a driveway that’s at least a mile long all the while lugging a suitcase and valise, wackily, through it all. It’s inane and for anyone here that finds this moment amusing, you must be part of the female demographic this movie is obviously pandering to.
“From Nancy Meyers…The director of SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE and WHAT WOMEN WANTâ€
Nancy, do you realize I had to see both of these movies? Forced to see these movies. You know what I found out about what gives and what chicks really want? Softball plots, dialogue dripping with enough estrogen for me to grow a pair of hooters like Bob from FIGHT CLUB and situations so skewed towards the improbable that the flicks should be reassigned to the Science Fiction section of my local video superstore.
Now, we progress further. Initially we get the vibe that Cameron is so done with dudes but, we come to find out, as soon as Jude Law comes into the picture, literally, he’s essentially panty peeler for the Englishman.
The trailer boggles the mind as, when Jack Black comes into Kate Winslet’s world, we shift violently to her, sorta, getting her groove on with the other chubby member of Tenacious D. I don’t know whether I don’t believe Jack’s ability to help carry the notion of being an attractive enough dude for ladies to woo Kate or if his pseudo-intellectualism that’s throwing me off. I also know that his place in this film couldn’t have been more glossed over in a hurry. Is he or isn’t he a love interest? I’m not given enough to go on.
It’s no matter, though, because I couldn’t be more eager for this movie to come and go out of the movie theaters. Pure saccharine awfulness.
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dylan Baker, Elizabeth Banks
Release: May 4, 2007
Synopsis: A specimen from the moon gives Spider-man new powers and a black suit, while Spider-man must battle the second Green Goblin, Sandman, Venom, and other dangers.
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Prognosis: Positive.
By the time the first installment of SPIDER-MAN was released I was deeply enmeshed in that film’s marketing campaign.
From the initial teaser, that was all but removed from the collective conscience because of the events of 9/11 from the use of the twin towers, to the full trailer that drove home every notion that Rami got it right that campaign synergized everything about that movie succinctly and perfectly.
Now I’m given this. I’ve been given this and I don’t know what to make of it.
Initially, though, this piece acts just as it should for a teaser: you’ve got barely a whiff of the concoction that is the final film, it’s more about words than it is images or clips and you’ve got a heavy handed score to back it all up.
The first ¼ of this trailer is just fine. You’ve got that wicked font that has been this franchise’s hallmark, personally I would’ve gone with Wingding 10pt, we’re led on an electronic rendering of Spidey’s costume which brings up a curious point: wouldn’t it have been that much more exciting to even have this very same sequence done with the real costume? Jeez, you could’ve put Verne Troyer in it and had the same number of close-ups with the end result being a bang, pow, eye-grabber.
Oh well, we plod on…
And then you give it to me, nearly halfway through the trailer you give me the goods and it is splendiferous. The black costume, the score behind it, the gloomy/rainy environment? Perfect in every way. This is the kind of cock tease that gets fanboys and nerds scurrying home to their basement lairs inside their parents’ homes just to start chatting away about what comic arc this story is going to be told from. Personally, I liked Bendis’ recent foray into how Parker could’ve been used as a test experiment which ultimately leads to the black suit and I am also partially fond of McFarlane’s take waaay back in the 90’s as I think, from a aesthetic standpoint, lord knows it wasn’t because of his dedication to accuracy from a physiological stance, seems like he was taking lessons at times from the Liefeld School of How to Draw Good. But see what happens? This kind of nerd postulation starts to happen and that’s a great thing to be able and do simply by the introduction of a black painted suit.
Well done.
I mean even as Spider-Man drops from a wicked height, his body positioning, his arms, his hands, all speak to the character that really hasn’t been given its due honors as a formidable element to the Parker universe. And, this too, makes my pants fit a little snugger.
James Franco, Topher Grace (who deserves more props than his mildly retarded cast member, Ashton Kutcher, as the real reason That 70’s Show was a solid show), Kirsten Dunst all make their obligatory face cameos which help to move this teaser along quicker than really it should; this is a good thing as, usually, you don’t even a fraction of what’s given so I feel blessed.
The eye candy explodes from every which direction: you get the Sandman doing his thing, you see how the symbiote attaches itself to Spider-Man’s costume, Thomas Hayen Church’s visage pops up, along with the Green Goblin version 2.0 and then a screeching “Huh?†with Parker’s alter-ego looking like he got his hair cut at Adolf Hitler’s Salon and Nail Barn. I mean I get it but it just looks like an obvious move to show how the evil alter-ego is making its way into Tobey’s life.
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