For me, half the fun of going to the movies is seeing full length previews for upcoming films and I've always had a soft spot for a well made trailer. I've compiled a short list of a few of my favorites, picking trailers that left me dying to see a film, offered a new perspective on ones I had already seen, or in some cases outshined the movie they were meant to advertise.(I've embedded a YouTube Playlist below and you can watch all six trailers right here on the Molly)
My Favorite Trailers Playlist
Once – I was let down by this film and I blame its excellent trailer, which judiciously selects the most dramatic scenes from the film and promises a killer love story. Trailers are all about moments, and Glen Hansard asking Marketa Irglova twice to stay the night is devastating. That scene - and the entire film - came across completely differently in its entirety and I couldn’t help but feel misled.
No Direction Home: The strength of this documentary was the raw, rarely seen Eat the Document footage from 1966, and whoever edited this trailer wisely focuses on those clips. Like the Once trailer, this stands alone as its own tiny film full of dramatic moments and rising tension. I must have watched this 50 times the first week it was posted; I still tear up every time the “he’s changed from what he was at first” line plays – the hurt and betrayal in the boy’s voice kills me.
L’Avventura –The music and the narrator are alarmingly urgent considering this is a two hour plus film about emotional isolation; calling the film an erotic adventure isn’t necessarily untrue but its certainly misleading – the Time quote calling it a “myth for the anxious age” is more apt. You have to have seen L’Avventura to really appreciate what makes this trailer wonderful. There’s far more ennui than bed-hopping and this trailer stands as a clever re-edit in the mode of the classic spoof on The Shining.
Spiderman 3 – I was still buzzing from the Chabon authored triumph of Spiderman 2, and this teaser trailer seemed to promise more of what made that film wonderful – friendship and betrayal, torrid and complex romance, and Peter Parker’s struggle with his own identity. Something went horribly, horribly wrong between the editing of this trailer and the final rewrites, but I’ll always have a soft spot for the masterpiece I imagined the first time I saw this.
Chinatown – Most trailers build anticipation for a film by using teasing clips and leaving you dying to find out what happens next. The Chinatown trailer takes a different approach and instead shows you nearly every important moment from the film in chronological order – no small feat considering how lengthy and complicated the film is.
Children of Men - It's a rarity to find a great film that also has a great trailer and I liked this trailer so much that I almost didn't want to see the film for fear that I would be let down. I remember getting choked up the first few times I saw this (about 1:30 in when the music shifts) and if I had an Academy vote I would have voted this Best Picture based on the trailer alone.
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2 comments:
Joshua. I totally agree with the "Once" trailer. WTF. Although, you are right, "Children Of Men" was fucking amazing- the trailer WAS better. Trailers are a deceiving art from. Producers and a ton of other assholes manipulate the public to want to see this film and in some cases they end up giving the entire film away A.K.A. "We Own the Night: (I know shitty movie--trailer was awesome) amongst many other from across the years. Good post.
I was also recently reminded of the excellence of the trailer for Mirs Nair's The Namesake - uneven movie, but great preview
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