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| Mary Elizabeth Winstead |
Welcome to the weekly column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. Coming every Sunday (it's called Trailing Off for a reason), I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.
Trailer in Discussion
Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg
Written By: Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken, Damien Chazelle
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
- Preamble -
If there's one thing that should be known, it's that I generally like a good marketing campaign. While I wouldn't call it my favorite, I do honestly think that the way that Cloverfield was released had its own charm and reflected how willing producer J.J. Abrams was to make the film selling format seem exciting again. You could argue that he's not as great with films that we know a little about, like Star Trek or Star Wars, but his work definitely shows in whatever original properties his company Bad Robot comes up with. The same could be said for Super 8, which may not be quite as phenomenal as the trailers make out, but they still manage to captivate and raise interest in material that didn't have it to begin with.
Which brings me to my point. Even if I wasn't excited for a Cloverfield sequel, I am always curious to see what his marketing department has for their latest movies. They really know how to provoke without giving things away. Has he duped us a few too many times by now with making actually good movies? That's up to you. However, he is a regular salesman in his ability to raise interest - and that's all that these columns are about. However, I want to get to the crux of this piece. I am looking forward to a Cloverfield sequel, and the randomness by which this trailer popped up online last week is a reassuring ode to the marketing department that turned the original into the phenomenon that it was.
Among the only faults to this trailer is that I wouldn't have put it in front of 13 Hours. Then again, that's mostly because I don't care to ever see that movie. However, I love that it randomly became a thing late one night when nobody was really paying attention. It's the kind of sporadic marketing that you never hear about anymore. To me, that alone makes this sequel exciting, even if it's a retread in any way of the original. I hope that it's not, but it wouldn't be such a bad thing - considering that the original remains one of the few found footage movies to actually do something innovative and original within its confines. The fact of the matter is that nobody knows what is going on here, but the involvement of the 'C' word definitely has me very curious and eager to see the trailer and hope that it's another fun ride into the great monster movie genre. Fingers crossed. I don't expect it to be as good. I just hope it's fun.
- Dissection -
I don't know that I like this as a Cloverfield trailer, but I'll tell you that aesthetically, it's a pretty great trailer. The set-up is very simple. Three people are hanging out in a bunker. The song of choice ("I Think We're Alone Now") manages to imply the status of our characters. Is it on the nose? Most definitely. However, the montage of clips that play underneath it give a sense of location and purpose before the song manages to slow down due to technical errors. It's a haunting deconstruction that slowly builds into the more violent and mysterious aspects of the trailer. Why is Mary Elizabeth Winstead hitting John Goodman with a bottle? Why is everything on fire? There's a lot to be dissected from the trailer.
I honestly don't know if I care that this is a Cloverfield sequel. It would be funny if this whole series was about the same monster attacking New York on the same night, but from different visual styles. It's looking to be what this film will be. The found footage gimmick is gone, and it's just people crawling through air ducts and dealing with some weird problem. What is going on? It's everyone screaming and trying to survive. In a way, it's a wonderful trailer that uses Cloverfield more as a stinger than a main drive for why people should be excited.
The fact of the matter is that it starts off perfectly and only builds into something far more intriguing. The mystery is still hidden, and J.J. Abrams has once again managed to sell us something without giving away too much. All we know is that there's three people in a bunker trying to survive from something. Why are they in the bunker in the first place? There's a lot that will hopefully remain a secret until the film comes out. Even then, this is just a really well executed trailer. I don't know that it's as successful as Cloverfield, but it definitely came out in the same fashion as the original: without need or warning. With that alone, it almost feels like it deserves extra points, despite the back half's otherwise familiar "scary monster movie" tropes.
- One Sentence Sell -
There is a sequel to Cloverfield, but this time it takes place in a bunker and with only three characters.
- Trove or Trash -
TROVE
To be honest, I already had the bias of liking the original Cloverfield. Even if this doesn't look nearly as immediately exciting, it definitely has my interest in spades. I hope that it's good. If not, the first trailer is at least a very perplexing invention that does its job correctly.
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