Friday, October 28, 2011

Take My Advice: Skip the Previews

     I'd like to take a moment to bring to the public's attention a growing problem that no one seems to care about: spoilers in movie previews. Really, it's not even spoilers that I am referring to, but the fact that trailers seem to contain all the best parts of movies these days. It's as if a movie is filler for a trailer, and the trailer's goal was to make everyone see the movie on opening weekend - before people can tell each other "wow, Paul Blart was awful" (that move made $146 million off of a few good gags in a trailer). Seeing lots of scenes in a trailer about an action movie or a thriller can give away a big part of the whole movie experience. So take my advice: if there is a movie you know you are going to see, skip the previews.
     I first did this with The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers. I was in high school and extremely excited about the movie (and also extremely cool). I decided I wasn't going to watch any previews, read any reports or reviews, and let my anticipation grow. I called it watching the movie "with virgin eyes," (seriously, all the girls liked me back then). I probably did this for attention more than anything, but I found out that I liked it. I enjoyed not knowing anything about the movie (you know, besides reading the books).
     One of my favorite movie experiences ever happened the same way, as I've discussed before. I hadn't seen any previews for The Bourne Identity and new nothing about it, which is part of why I loved it so much. These two experiences convinced me to start trying to skip more trailers.
     Let's discuss the alternatives. There's a theatrical trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum that essentially covers the last 20 minutes of the film. I went and saw this movie with my brother, who had seen all the trailers while I had not. At this point in the trailer, a really fun, though fairly inconsequential, twist is revealed. When I was watching the same part of the movie, I was super excited. I turned to Garrett and said "ohmygoshhesintheoffice" and he was annoyed and said "I know." I looked around the theater and no one else was shocked or stunned. They all knew it was coming. What a waste. Same thing happened here. I had no idea that semi was going to flip over in The Dark Knight, and went a little nuts when I saw it.

     It's not easy avoiding trailers of films you plan to see. I am already avoiding a few websites I used to check because they've made it their goal to ruin every plot of the newest Batman film. When I go into theaters I will plug my ears, close my eyes and say "lalalalalalalalala" to myself like my mom used to make me do when people were kissing on TV a couple years ago. I have the remote handy in case a movie I am excited for could be on TV. I've found it to be worth it.
     So, I am working hard to avoid any information about the new Sherlock Holmes, the new Batman and the possibly potentially new Bourne that may or may not have Matt Damon in it. I am also learning to avoid preview for anything Christopher Nolan is involved in, because everything he makes is awesome. Take my advice and avoid movie trailers.

No comments: