Gerald Cooperberg
02-12-2007, 07:53 AM
I'll admit it-- I'm a trailer junkie. In fact, given the number of visits I've paid to Apple's trailers site (http://www.apple.com/trailers), I'm probably a film studio's marketing department's wet dream. I hate watching previews for a movie that I know I'm going to see anyway, but sometimes a trailer can be more enjoyable than the film itself. Here are a few of my favorites from last year:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/ladyinthewater/trailer1/: Lady In the Water was an unmitigated mess, but this trailer got me more excited than probably any other in 2006. That moment when it suddenly shifts in tone-- when the words "A Bedtime Story" are suddenly followed by "...from M. Night Shymalan," the music becomes darker, more ethereal, and you can hear Paul Giamatti desperately whisper "how many of you are there?"... even now, I still get a chill of delight.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/miamivice/trailer2/teaser_large.html (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/miamivice/trailer2/teaser_large.html): There's no two ways around it, this Miami Vice trailer is just cool. I think a lot of people questioned Michael Mann's decision to play this remake straight instead of as camp, but it pays off here... everything you could love about his style is packed into one seizure-inducing minute. I didn't even see the film (scared off by its two-and-a-half hour running time and the threat of Gong Li speaking English), but I'd watch this trailer anytime.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/curseofthegoldenflower/theatrical_large.html (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/curseofthegoldenflower/theatrical_large.html): Zhang Yimou's historical epics were made to be trailers. Recent endeavors like Hero and House of Flying Daggers were undone by impenetrable plotting and effects that didn't necessarily hold up over the course of an entire scene, but they sure look great in montage. I almost don't even need to see these pictures themselves anymore-- the trailers make just about as much sense and are doubtless more exhilarating.
Anyone else have any recent (or not-so-recent) favorites?
-Coop
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/ladyinthewater/trailer1/: Lady In the Water was an unmitigated mess, but this trailer got me more excited than probably any other in 2006. That moment when it suddenly shifts in tone-- when the words "A Bedtime Story" are suddenly followed by "...from M. Night Shymalan," the music becomes darker, more ethereal, and you can hear Paul Giamatti desperately whisper "how many of you are there?"... even now, I still get a chill of delight.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/miamivice/trailer2/teaser_large.html (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/miamivice/trailer2/teaser_large.html): There's no two ways around it, this Miami Vice trailer is just cool. I think a lot of people questioned Michael Mann's decision to play this remake straight instead of as camp, but it pays off here... everything you could love about his style is packed into one seizure-inducing minute. I didn't even see the film (scared off by its two-and-a-half hour running time and the threat of Gong Li speaking English), but I'd watch this trailer anytime.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/curseofthegoldenflower/theatrical_large.html (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/curseofthegoldenflower/theatrical_large.html): Zhang Yimou's historical epics were made to be trailers. Recent endeavors like Hero and House of Flying Daggers were undone by impenetrable plotting and effects that didn't necessarily hold up over the course of an entire scene, but they sure look great in montage. I almost don't even need to see these pictures themselves anymore-- the trailers make just about as much sense and are doubtless more exhilarating.
Anyone else have any recent (or not-so-recent) favorites?
-Coop