This may be a function of my major at Swarthmore, but I really like movie trailers. Sometimes, I like trailers more than the movies themselves. I definitely see more trailers than I see movies (they’re free, and a whole lot shorter). But I’m also a committed skeptic when it comes to judging the quality of movies based on their trailers; that is, I usually expect them to not live up to their trailers. I usually expect new movies to be terrible. An example that I am not proud to share: after seeing its trailer, I predicted that “WALL-E” would fail artistically, seeking box office dollars as an exercise in cute-for-cute’s-sake.
So it is very gingerly that I say that, based on its trailer, I expect this movie to be phenomenal.
There are actually two “Get Low” trailers out right now. The first one is linked above. The second one is here. I was puzzled by the release of the second, since the two are so similar.
There are actually two “Get Low” trailers out right now. The first one is linked above. The second one is here. I was puzzled by the release of the second, since the two are so similar.
After a second viewing, I realized that the second one includes critics’ blurbs, and after a little bit (a very little bit) of digging, I found that the movie has been out for a little while (though not to be released in US theaters till the end of the month). So that explains the second trailer: if you’ve got reviews, why not use them? Most movies would love to be in this position; they can’t release a “darling of the critics” trailer till after opening weekend, when the money’s already been made or lost. “Get Low” dodges that with its weird release timing (probably took it a while to get a distributor after being on the festival circuit in mid/late 2009), and by virtue of the fact that it’s an arty film, not a high-expected-gross blockbuster.
Now that that’s out of the way, on to what I really care about: which trailer is better? First, watch them both (#1 and #2) and choose for yourself. Remember your preference, and let me know in the comments. Tuesday, I’ll post my analysis.
Now that that’s out of the way, on to what I really care about: which trailer is better? First, watch them both (#1 and #2) and choose for yourself. Remember your preference, and let me know in the comments. Tuesday, I’ll post my analysis.
2 comments:
I like trailer one better, sans the reviews. The text takes too much out of the trailer experience; it feels more like a commercial than a preview of a story.
On the other hand, I have suspicious of my own ability to judge impartially between the two trailers considering that booth are pretty similar and that, as a result, watching #2 feels like watching #1 a second time, which makes it less interesting. In order to get a statistically significant result in your poll, you would have to get people to see the trailers in different orders...
There is definitely a folksy 'O Brother Where Art Thou' feel to the trailer. You'll probably like it.
I deny the significance of statistics. But yes, I think I'll like it.
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