 |
| Scene from Halloween (2018) |
Welcome to the sporadic 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. 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.
Starting on June 3, the week that followed produced an unfathomable amount of trailers for new movies. As much as I would love to dedicate an entire Trailing Off to each of them, it feels more productive to instead compile them into a singular entry. While there's no order to these, I will be critiquing them in the same fashion that I would the Super Bowl commercials, which seem weak by comparison. So without further ado, here's the week of endless trailers.
Halloween (2018)
Of every reboot that's currently in the works, is anyone holding out hope for a Halloween one to work? Well, director David Gordon Green may have the upper hand, at least as far as trailers go. Michael Meyers is one of the iconic godfathers of slasher cinema, and he has returned with a story that looks to once again seek revenge on a troubled family. With enough clever kills to intrigue the viewer, the trailer effectively captures why this take isn't just going for gimmicks. There's enough of an emotional resonance on display that suggests that this is going to be a horror movie with stakes. The question now is to see if this is the Green who gave us Snow Angels, or the one who gave us Your Highness.
Trove or Trash: Trove
A Star is Born (2018)
If there is one franchise that Hollywood seems to be tailored for, it's this one that gets remade every 30 or so years. It's for good reasons, too. The idea of celebrity changes over time and each generation has their own icons who can mine the well of troubled artists. Here we see Bradley Cooper take on the director chair for his version that seems like a gigantic undertaking. Even then, this looks to be Lady GaGa's show as she gives a great song towards the end of the trailer which features mesmerizing footage that suggests that maybe, just maybe, this will continue the trend of being Oscar-nominated entertainment. But is it enough to get Lady GaGa to be taken seriously as an actress after appearing almost solely in pulpy genre fare? We'll just have to wait.
Trove or Trash: Trove
Operation Finale
With everyone's favorite Oscar taking a break between Star Wars movies, he has taken to starring in a World War II where he takes on one of the Nazi's most important members. It's enough of a decent premise to produce good drama. With that said, the most interesting thing about this trailer is that Nick Kroll is in a serious movie, and he's not the comedic relief in any way. It has the possibility of being good, but there's not enough there that sells me. It's more of the same in regards to what a WWII drama should look and feel like. It does the trick in a pinch, but there's no bigger hook to get me into the theater.
Trove or Trash: Trash
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
While there have been hundreds of celebrity deaths from over the past decade, it's easy to suggest that Robin Williams' was among the most traumatic. How could it not be, especially given his general love of humor and his ability to make even the most staunch cynic laugh. A documentary looking back at his life and possibly even his depression seems promising as a chance to look into how humor is used to deflect pain. The only question is how it'll play between being reverent to the figure and being critical of the themes that took his life. The trailer looks good, but it doesn't do much to sell a documentary that most people would see without any marketing at all. It's good, but it doesn't make me any more excited to see a film about one of the greatest comedians to have ever lived.
Trove or Trash: Trash
Sharp Objects
This may be once again classified as TV, but how could you not root for Amy Adams? She's one of the greatest actresses of the modern era, and it doesn't take someone like Paul Thomas Anderson to understand it. Here she teams with Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn for a crime drama that looks to be just as powerful as her big screen work. Considering how rarely she has been on the small screen in recent years, it will be interesting to see her in a sprawling drama that explores the dark themes of Flynn, who is herself one of the more promising writers currently working.
Trove or Trash: Trove
How to Train Your Dragon 3
It almost seems unfair to compare this to the rest of the trailers released this week. The first two How to Train Your Dragon films weer top tier work for Dreamworks and some of the greatest animated and written family movies of the decade. From just two minutes, it looks like the trend continues with breathtaking vistas and new worlds for the gang to explore. Most of all, Toothless is getting more of a central plot with a girlfriend that looks to be a lot of fun. The trailer captures the enthusiasm and heart of the franchise as a whole, and its only fault is that it uses "Castle on the Hill" song that had already been used in Ferdinand last year. It doesn't totally ruin the trailer, but it definitely makes it seem a little corny.
Trove or Trash: Trove
*NOTE: If there's any trailers released between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening that I deem important, I will be releasing them below this section as an UPDATE. Please keep that in mind when reading this.
Comments
Post a Comment