Facebook Carryovers: Ten Favorite Trailers

I'm none too sure why, but I'm tired as hell today, as a result I don't see myself doing a full piece today. Besides, it would have just been yet another bit on WKW, who I'm sure you're all already sick of. So as a result I decided to do port over another note I made on facebook. This was the last one I made before I started this blog. In fact it was a comment on this one left by a friend that influenced me to come back to the world of blogging.

Anyway, I had always really dug movie trailers. Something about being able to cut a great trailer has always impressed me. Then of course there were the great old school trailers that were so full of camp and cheese they just made me smile. My love of them was then increased ten fold when I attended the New Beverly Edgar Wright screenings. It was there that I saw some true gems of marketing, and in fact one of those has made it onto this list. Seriously, if you watch just one trailer from here, I strongly suggest you make it the trailer for "Candy."

Note: There's no order to the list, they were put up as I thought of them.

Alien

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhGdRSkiUw&feature=related

This trailer pretty much sets the tone for what I usually like in a trailer, which is having sound and music driving the visual images on screen. As for this one in particular, I love how you get the continuing theme of running through the twisted hallways with flashing images, slowly building tension up until the big blast of everything in the end, much like the pacing of the actual movie. And of course there's the sudden silence and that excellent tag line.

Eyes Wide Shut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIAneEiWEJ4

As WKW says, usually, during a movie, the image takes center stage, while music serves in the background, but sometimes it's nice to switch it up and have the music up front and have the images accompany the music. This is another one that's driven by music. The images that flash before the screen add credence to constantly hearing, "They did a bad bad thing," with quick flashes of things like the dead body, the deterioriating marriage, and many flashes of the couple with people who are very much not their spouse.

The Social Network

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoUgftTj3Y

One of the most brilliant teasers in the past ten years doesn't have a single frame of footage from the movie, which is probably more of a complement to Aaron Sorkin's dialogue than anything else, but still, when this hit, everybody who had no fucking interest in seeing a facebook movie suddenly paid attention. I think it's a brilliant piece of marketing.

Happy Together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Dh6Jdc18c

If I had to choose one trailer as my absolute favorite, this would be it. Once again, it's just a perfect combination of image and music working together. I had no interest in watching the flick, then I saw the trailer. Watched the movie immediately afterwards. Once again, I love the contrast of whats said in the song to what's portrayed on screen. You feel the physical threat and tension between the two, and yet see some moment of true tenderness. Favorite moment is the absolutely haunting image of Leslie Chung covered in blood and shaking in pain. The remix of the song brings the whole thing home for me.

Psycho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8H3rg5GfM

It's Alfred Hitchcock being charming as all hell, and you know what, through him simply talking to you, you suddenly find yourself wanting to see the movie very badly.

Femme Fatale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXj6mWt_H4k

This is actually the French trailer for the De Palma flick. I think the idea of showing you the entire movie from beginning to end at super speed is a brilliant idea, especially for a thriller which depends so much on you not knowing what's going to happen next.

Dr. Strangelove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qli7nRzc12w&feature=related

I don't know about you, but I don't think it's possible to watch the trailer without wanting to see the movie afterwards. I mean, who doesn't want to know why the fate of the world rests on a coca cola machine? What a brilliant way to tease the audience about the absurdity of the movie.

Candy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHvR1YJ9XDE

Why do I love this trailer? Marlon Brando, James Coburn, and fucking Ringo Starr screaming, "Viva Zapata!" Is Candy Faithful? Only to the book.

Hard Boiled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtxZHuJNW4

The original Hong Kong trailer. Why? cause it doesn't tell you jack shit about anything. It's over three minutes long and it's just people getting shot in amazing ways. It's absolutely ridiculous and that's why I love it.

Magnolia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYTqhmzROko&playnext=1&list=PL8BF955FEDD65DABF

I think this was a first time I saw a trailer and really fell in love with it. It was just, through the images flashing and the narrator you could feel yourself entering into a grand epic world. You weren't too sure what direction the movie was going to go as well. It could just as easily be a love story or a tense thriller with action bits. Interestingly, it actually is both.