Movie Trailers
Has anyone other than me noticed a severe lack of movie trailers telling you what a movie is about?. Before I go see a movie, that's what I want to know, and is often the deciding factor in why I would go see one.
If the MPAA wants to attract more people to the theatres, they're going to have to do a better job with their advertising.
Comments
Part of it is that they're often just ripping off other things, and may not need to really explain so much what's going on. The only movies I've been to or thought of going to recently, King Kong, Harry Potter IV, and Chronicles of Narnia (haven't gotten to that yet), all come from pre-existent stuff, so really it's more important for them to show off the flashy effects that makes you want to revisit them in the theatre now. Whether they then succeed in carrying out the material well is another matter. King Kong was stupendous (albeit horribly depressing). Harry Potter IV was good, but it's sad how much they left out.
I agree that explanations should be based on need, but the majority of movies that come out aren't remakes/franchise movies like all the movies you mentioned.
The last movie trailer that I remember having explained what was going on was the one for Wedding Crashers. Tasha talks about getting the DVD -- I'll wait to see it then, as it's below that threshold where I would have gone to see it in the theatres.
Even the Chronicles of Narnia trailer did a good job.
When I wrote this I was thinking of movies like Brokeback Mountain, Glory Road, The Family Stone, Rumor Has It, and Memoirs of a Geisha. I've seen trailers for all of these, and I don't have a single clue what the movie is about.
That's not to say I wouldn't like said movie: but I know that the majority of moviegoers aren't the type that goes to the movies just to go to the movies.
The movie that was the major inspiration for this article was Into the Blue -- Tasha wanted to see it, I hadn't seen any preview for it and didn't know what it was about. We went to see it and both agreed that it was a horrible movie: only the last 10 minutes was any good at all. I later looked at a trailer and still was puzzled as to what the movie was about.
I've come to the conclusion that most non-big-time movies (ones that fall into the category that this article discusses) are just wannabe money-making machines that don't go over well.
Brokeback Mountain - gay cowboys (yes, south park beat them to it. they haven't got to the chocolate pudding yet, though.)
Glory Road - some feel good basketball thing
The Family Stone - family bickering at holidays
Rumor Has It - never heard of it
Memoirs of a Geisha - memoirs of a geisha
but then, most of that comes from watching shows like Colbert Repour where they make fun of these movies, or have people on from them, or both.
Actually, other than that one I've never heard of, I think Colbert has referenced all those. And Narnia and Kong. Colbert and Narnia was particularly classic.
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