I figured New Years Eve was a good time to post a piece about the movie things that whet our appetites for more movie things. Trailers (or teasers --which I actually prefer) and posters are the sweet moment of anticipation before the unveiling of the real thing. The best trailers never give the entire game away but leave you wanting more. The best posters offer an design that captures a movie while also being aesthetically appealing as a one off. Here are my choices for the best BEST TRAILERS / TEASERS Runners Up: Children of Men and Casino Royale. I'm not counting 2007 peaks like Spider-Man 3 or Ratatouille but if I was they'd be here. Without further ado, in descending order (left to right) the four best of the year.
4. The Prestige One of those rare trailers that shows you a lot without giving the game away, and cleverly establishes a three act structure for you to imagine filled out in the theater. The movie is messier but this trailer is tight. 3. The Devil Wears Prada Smart gambit, this. Merely a full scene but what a scene. A funny introduction to four main characters with a tantalizing new light cast on a legendary star. End result: You have to see the movie. You've already bought your ticket. 2. Marie Antoinette light as air, fun, and unusual. It immediately cues you in that this'll be an idiosyncratic and personal vision from a real auteur. 1. Little Children One of the best trailers I've seen in years. Better than the movie. So good, in fact, that (full confession) I went into the movie assuming it was a masterpiece and trying to love it as much as I felt I should. The movie hasn't aged all that well in my head but damn this trailer is an A+. It's so evocative and isn't that what trailers should be? They should make you feel something but the feeling should remain open-ended enough to leave you needing more.
BEST POSTERS You know that The Devil Wears Prada's awesome graphic simplicity will appear (that heel with the devil's pitchfork: genius) but what else? The first FiLM BiTCH AWARDS Category is up. It's red, red, red. Check it out.
MARKETING There are other sites that cover marketing well. It's not really my thing since I'm more interested in the final piece than the pre-release hype. But that said I feel like the teams behind the promotional pushes for Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, The Devil Wears Prada, and Casino Royale deserve some kinda medal for the magic acts performed. They played the media and the moviegoing public perfectly, maximizing the critical and financial response. So, good for them.
