Someone commented on my list of Avatar comparisons last week noting that such a practice could be done with any movie. He/She is correct, though it doesn’t really matter since the point of that exercise was to respond to the certain expectation that came with that film’s hype that it would be unlike anything we’ve seen before. With the teaser for Christopher Nolan’s Inception, however, the similar claims of derivation are simply a normal thing we film bloggers to do trailers, particularly those that give us little clue as to what their movie is about.
But deep in our hearts, we all trust Nolan, right? We don’t think he’d make a movie that people would say is just like The Matrix or Identity or Fight Club or Jurassic Parkor whatever. Just like the illusionists in The Prestige and also like Batman, I guess, Nolan has a lot up his sleeve. The fact that nobody knows anything about the plot of Inception makes its trailer even more cryptic than it would seem otherwise to just the regular moviegoer who doesn’t follow script reviews and production developments. I wish I knew so little about Avatar — and about pretty much any upcoming movie, for that matter.
Check out what the film blogs are saying about the new Inception trailer after the jump.
So is this a real trend now? Releasing teasers to trailers? Should we call them “trailer teasers,” by the way? Sounds good, since it’s the reversing of the words in “teaser trailer,” right? Actually, don’t answer that; nothing about this sounds good at all. It was silly enough when people were writing about the trailer teaser to The Lovely Bones. I have a better understanding of why we’re paying attention to one for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, because the kids can not wait. Still, I’m wondering how much more of this concept we’re likely to see. I pretty much expect it’ll happen again whenever an Avatartrailer is about to be released, but if this continues next year with the summer blockbusters of 2010, I’ll probably just stop turning on the internet and go live in a non-ad-sponsored cave somewhere.
All I’ve learned from this thing is that Taylor Lautner is beautiful. As if the screaming girls at Comic-Con didn’t already inform me of this. Check out how other film blogs are responding to the trailer teaser after the jump: …Read more
With Comic-Con beginning tomorrow, there’s so much movie stuff being talked about today that I almost didn’t know what the biggest topic was/is. And really, the most discussed film-related news of the day wasthe Sam Raimi/World of Warcraft movie announcement. But WOW fans have apparently gone back to playing the game and aren’t hanging out on the web so much anymore, so it appears the teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderlandhas taken over as the most exciting thing for movie geeks to drool over right now. Even more than the hot photos of Freddy Krueger, Jeff Bridges on the set of Tron 2.0and the Megan Fox Fangoria cover.
All I can say is that if you told me 15 years ago that I’d ever be this disinterested in something involving either Tim Burton orLewis Carroll, let alone both, I would have called you a liar and then beat you with my Edward ScissorhandsDVD (see, the joke is that I was such a big fan back then that I had the DVD before it ever existed). It doesn’t look as bad as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I guess, but it looks a whole lot duller than I expected. Maybe this is just too perfect and obvious a pairing that there’s no need for it, in the same way we don’t really need a Terry Gilliam-directed Good Omens or a Chris Columbus-directed Percy Jackson (doh!). I guess that’s the main reason I have no desire to see this movie, but the fact that it somehow looks both murky and meretricious has me turned off completely.
Let’s see what the rest of the film blogosphere thinks of the teaser, after the jump:
I’m all for appropriate trailer positioning, but the debut last night of a teaser for something called Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief may have gone a little overboard. Actually, I change my mind: a lot overboard. The movie, based on Rick Riordan’s fantasy novels, is about a 12-year-old boy who finds out he’s part Greek god. Sounds a bit like the story of an 11-year-old boy who finds out he’s a wizard. But in case that’s not enough to be marketable to Harry Potter fans, the first trailer for Percy Jackson notes that the movie is directed by Chris Columbus, who kicked off the Potter films by helming both Sorcerer’s Stoneand Chamber of Secrets. What else could Fox 2000 do to exploit the other franchise? Hmm, how about a logo that looks exactly like the one from Sorcerer’s Stone?
Certainly such a teaser should be positioned in front of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince right? Well, actually, I think it could hurt the upcoming potential franchise starter, which doesn’t hit theaters til next February. Potter fans aren’t dumb and they’re sure to see that their beloved character is being completely ripped off and exploited. And with a record-breaking midnight box office for Half-Blood Prince last night, this teaser probably struck a bad chord with millions of moviegoers. As observed by Alex Billington of First Showing during one screening, the New Moontrailer obviously garnered huge cheers while Percy Jackson was met with “confused silence.” Meanwhile, the movie doesn’t seem to be getting a whole lot of attention online save for negative postings by film bloggers who agree that it’s a blatant Potter wannabe.
Check out some of those negative reactions after the jump: …Read more
After yesterday’s look at misguided viral marketing, it’s actually refreshing to spotlight a teaser trailer, especially one that presents us with nothing of the movie its advertising. Really, this is all we could ever need as far as marketing goes for Toy Story 3. We’ve got an enjoyable skit featuring all the familiar characters, a release date and, most importantly, no spoilers. I’m guessing this teaser is being shown with screenings of Up, which means it might actually be 3D where applicable. And that makes me excited, knowing we finally get to see our favorite animated toys in this format. Can anyone verify, and tell us what it’s like to see Woody, Buzz and the rest in 3D?
Take a look at what the rest of the web is saying about the trailer (and watch the thing) after the jump:
The Playlist has posted a teaser of the teaser trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which is scheduled to premiere on Entertainment Tonight tonight. Out of context, Brad Pitt’s performance as “the Tennessee hick leader of the Jewish American ‘Basterd’ elite soldiers who scalp German Nazis to instill fear and further their reputation across Europe” seems funny in the wrong way … but it is really out of context.
The Playlist point to this “teaser” trailer for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which spins on the wildly exciting premise that the wisdom and life experience of an old man could travel in the body of a young(ish) Brad Pitt. The trailer is long, slow, and almost dialogue free. We can only hope the movie follows suit.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
filmcouch-114
So is this a real trend now? Releasing teasers to trailers? Should we call them “trailer teasers,” by the way? Sounds good, since it’s the reversing of the words in “teaser trailer,” right? Actually, don’t answer that; nothing about this sounds good at all. It was silly enough when people were writing about the trailer teaser to The Lovely Bones. I have a better understanding of why we’re paying attention to one for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, because the kids can not wait. Still, I’m wondering how much more of this concept we’re likely to see. I pretty much expect it’ll happen again whenever an Avatar trailer is about to be released, but if this continues next year with the summer blockbusters of 2010, I’ll probably just stop turning on the internet and go live in a non-ad-sponsored cave somewhere.
With Comic-Con beginning tomorrow, there’s so much movie stuff being talked about today that I almost didn’t know what the biggest topic was/is. And really, the most discussed film-related news of the day was 
