Jason Seaver
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 1997
- Messages
- 9,303
First, let's give a hand to trailers which don't suck:
The Royal Tenenbaums - Lays out the basic premise of the movie, gives off a quirky vibe, and really works to create curiosity.
40 Days And 40 Nights - I really like this one. It works like a good poster, showing you the star, and encapsulating the story in one simple image. Amazing, considering it's from Miramax (see below).
Iron Monkey - Sure, it's a "good lord, don't let the figure out they're not speaking English" trailer. But... zounds. Just jumped up my priority list for the Boston Film Festival.
No Such Thing - Sarah Polley in an adult role? Things that look bizarre. Hal Hartley apparently getting studio distribution. You know, between this, The Claim, Ghost World, and the good buzz on Jeepers Creepers, it looks like Francis Ford Coppola is doing something I thought would be impossible a year ago, and somehow getting quality, original movies out of MGM/UA by making UA their boutique label.
However, Miramax's marketing department should burn in hell for Serendipity. Why not just hand out scripts?
And, Sony is starting a practice which is out-and-out deceptive - I saw the trailer for Time And Tide after the movie, and could have sworn that the trailer contained English-language dialogue for scenes where the spoken language was Cantonese. But, since there were multiple languages in that one, I wasn't sure. I've got similar hazy memories of the trailer for The Princess And The Warrior.
But the trailer for The Crimson Rivers... As with the others, it's only single words or brief snatches of dialogue. But it's enough to make me pretty sure Sony is trying for a bait-and-switch here - audience that wouldn't go to movie en francais on a bet sees a pretty mainstream-looking trailer, comes to see it, and hopefully doesn't demand their money back. Understand, The Crimson Rivers looks like a great movie, but isn't the kind of deceptive?
The Royal Tenenbaums - Lays out the basic premise of the movie, gives off a quirky vibe, and really works to create curiosity.
40 Days And 40 Nights - I really like this one. It works like a good poster, showing you the star, and encapsulating the story in one simple image. Amazing, considering it's from Miramax (see below).
Iron Monkey - Sure, it's a "good lord, don't let the figure out they're not speaking English" trailer. But... zounds. Just jumped up my priority list for the Boston Film Festival.
No Such Thing - Sarah Polley in an adult role? Things that look bizarre. Hal Hartley apparently getting studio distribution. You know, between this, The Claim, Ghost World, and the good buzz on Jeepers Creepers, it looks like Francis Ford Coppola is doing something I thought would be impossible a year ago, and somehow getting quality, original movies out of MGM/UA by making UA their boutique label.
However, Miramax's marketing department should burn in hell for Serendipity. Why not just hand out scripts?
And, Sony is starting a practice which is out-and-out deceptive - I saw the trailer for Time And Tide after the movie, and could have sworn that the trailer contained English-language dialogue for scenes where the spoken language was Cantonese. But, since there were multiple languages in that one, I wasn't sure. I've got similar hazy memories of the trailer for The Princess And The Warrior.
But the trailer for The Crimson Rivers... As with the others, it's only single words or brief snatches of dialogue. But it's enough to make me pretty sure Sony is trying for a bait-and-switch here - audience that wouldn't go to movie en francais on a bet sees a pretty mainstream-looking trailer, comes to see it, and hopefully doesn't demand their money back. Understand, The Crimson Rivers looks like a great movie, but isn't the kind of deceptive?