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| Tilda Swinton |
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: Luca Guadagnino
Written By: David Kalganich (Screenplay), Alain Paige (Story)
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes
- Preamble -
In all honesty, it was difficult to find a trailer for this week's Trailing Off. Following last week's Super Bowl extravaganza, it seemed like all of the good trailers were swept up into that, leaving next to nothing to actually cover this week. There were a few updating trailers that made the rounds, but I will admit that they were all for films that I have already covered. By principle, I do my best to not do anything that is already familiar or features a bias that I have. With that said, I could've done Garry Marshall's Mothers Day (which I initially intended), but the review would be the familiar slog of loathsome response. I almost questioned taking the week off. That is, until I saw A Bigger Splash.
The fact of the matter is that I don't love Tilda Swinton in the way that most do. I don't hold her up as a goddess of weird and see everything that she does. With that said, I do respect the work of hers that I do see and think that if nothing else, I like that she's refined and classy in ways that immediately capture your interest. She is always trying, and that is something that I find very admirable when all is said and done. I think that I would blindly see one of her movies just because of her involvement, as she usually makes anything pretty good, or at least halfway decent. She has an impressive talent by being able to do that.
With that said, I have almost nothing to guess going in to A Bigger Splash. I don't know the first thing about it other than that she has appeared in pictures with a colorful face. With a solid line-up in the cast on IMDb, there's even more incentive for me to give this a peek. Will it be any good? I have no idea. I still hope so, as I usually do with every trailer that pops up on here. Otherwise, what would there be to hope for from a column like this? Anyways, let's watch the trailer.
The fact of the matter is that I don't love Tilda Swinton in the way that most do. I don't hold her up as a goddess of weird and see everything that she does. With that said, I do respect the work of hers that I do see and think that if nothing else, I like that she's refined and classy in ways that immediately capture your interest. She is always trying, and that is something that I find very admirable when all is said and done. I think that I would blindly see one of her movies just because of her involvement, as she usually makes anything pretty good, or at least halfway decent. She has an impressive talent by being able to do that.
With that said, I have almost nothing to guess going in to A Bigger Splash. I don't know the first thing about it other than that she has appeared in pictures with a colorful face. With a solid line-up in the cast on IMDb, there's even more incentive for me to give this a peek. Will it be any good? I have no idea. I still hope so, as I usually do with every trailer that pops up on here. Otherwise, what would there be to hope for from a column like this? Anyways, let's watch the trailer.
- Dissection -
For a promo that features the review of "Dangerously Unpredictable," it is hard to really say that the trailer does a good job of making it feel dangerous or unpredictable. The whole thing has the stock set-up that anyone should expect from a trailer like this. It establishes Swinton as the rock star and Ralph Fiennes as her boyfriend. Or not. I'm not entirely sure what the film's relationship dynamics are looking like here, but the entire thing at least feels a little too familiar for a film that boasts these words. It could just be that the presentation is cut in the way that every other trailer has been cut in recent years.
That isn't to say that I don't like parts of it. To be honest, I do think that there's some interesting character beats that are alluded to here. What exactly does Swinton's private life look like? What is the point of Dakota Johnson's flirtacious character? There's a lot that could be interesting in theory, even if it does present itself initially as a familiar domestic drama. If anything, it paints one that makes me hope that there's more of a correlation between her rock star persona and her love life, whatever that entails.
Here comes the kicker of everything, though. The way to determine whether a trailer wins me over (Trove) or doesn't (Trash) is based solely on how excited the trailer makes me for the film outside of anticipation that I had going in. In all honesty, I may see this one day if the reviews are good, or I just happen to stumble across it on TV. However, the trailer doesn't leave an immediate necessity to it that makes me want to see it when it comes out. Yes, Swinton has the weird charm going on - and I like that. It's everything else that feels too familiar and keeps me from being more intrigued. As I said earlier, I wanted something more dangerous and more unpredictable. This wasn't it.
- Trove or Trash -
TRASH
Through no fault of the trailer, I just cannot get into what this is offering based on presentation. Does it look interesting? Yes. However, it doesn't change my opinion in any major way of how much I want to see it.
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