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| Movie poster: James Jean and A24 |
Trailers are one thing I definitely miss watching movies at home, although there are others: huge screen and sound, the inability to pause (it’s so much better uninterrupted…), and watching as a community with other people.
Recently I saw Licorice Pizza in the theater, which I didn’t like. (That's my short review - if you want more see Note #1.) I walked in late, but just as a trailer was starting and that trailer blew me away. Here it is… or don’t watch it – and instead see Note #2.
Let me be clear: I don’t expect the film to be half as good as the trailer (but if it is… wow!) Trailers are their own art form. This one excels because it chooses amazing visuals from the film, but also because it nails the pacing. In < three minutes, it:
- Sets the scene by showing us the protagonist’s drab existence (first 30 seconds)
- Explains the core plot with a taste of fight scenes (next 60 seconds)
- Turns on the David Bowie and delivers a final 60 seconds of incredible visuals and surprisingly emotional resonance.
Everything Everywhere All At Once opens on March 11.
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Disclaimer: All of the ideas expressed in this article are my personal statements and opinions, and do not reflect the opinions/statements of the City of Urbana.
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Note #1: Licorice Pizza is wrong for this day and age. Some parts are purposefully offensive, played for humor but falling flat in our current times. Overall, the film fails to live up to live up to Alana’s request: “Don’t be creepy, please.” On the plus side, scenes with some of the well-known names in the cast are mini-stories and work well. (I particularly liked Sean Penn’s arc.) I found the characters and the actors likable, but my problem was the script – and not just its inability to say anything meaningful. My biggest complaint was the lazy writing. The script zips through time, letting months go by without the characters or their relationship evolving, as if their story was told at separate speed from the events around them.
Note #2: While operating a movie theater, I learned that some people refuse to watch trailers. (Before that, I didn't know skipping trailers was a thing.) Now, I do the same thing for movies I really want to see – in the same way that I avoid reviews for them. "Going In Cold" to watch an anticipated movie is an exciting way to do it, and lets me draw my own conclusions. Outside of movies I definitely want to see, I love trailers. Trailers save you valuable time by conveying the tone of a film, in particular for one type of movie I avoid: films with men running around shooting guns at each other. (I've kept that promise I wrote about here. Sorry Liam Neeson...)