PeteMC and I love Cloverfield. Like LOVE Cloverfield. After Cloverfield Paradox was released during Super Foot, we may have had different feelings.
In this series we go through the three Cloverfield movies in the series and figure out what’s good and what’s not. We figure out the tie ins, whether they work in the universe, and decided whether the Cloverfield Universe works at all.
We’ve danced around our thoughts on 10 Cloverfield Lane for far too long, so Law and PeteMC join me this lovely Monday Morning to discuss the film in depth. Well, sort of. We get side track talking about all the cool ARG shit and all the relative nods to Cloverfield.
Be warned, there are a ton of spoilers for both films here. Also, Pete didn’t drink his piss on this cast. We think.
A warning right off the bat. This article -like a lot of my articles, quite frankly- is going to make me sound bitter, old, or a combination of both. But since the Terminator Genisys full trailer reveal that John Connor was in fact that film’s main villain -something that wasn’t revealed until an hour plus into the film- I have realized something. The art of the teaser trailer has been somewhat lost in recent years. There was a time when footage was shot specifically for the trailer, and all audiences got was a peak at the look and feel of what was soon to come. Here, I have listed 15 trailers which I feel get their points across almost perfectly, and at all of their conclusions I was already begging the studio to take my money NOW. Some of these follow the template of new footage, some give flashes, but ALL have one thing in common–they did their job.
So let’s get to it, shall we?
15. Cloverfield
Spoiler alert – this is not the last time a film associated with JJ Abrams appears on this list. There was something about this trailer that just grabbed me. Right off the bat, we are introduced to characters’ faces as they are enjoying the party inside. Eventually, rumbles happen, and everyone goes outside just in time for a famous head from a symbolic New York monument to land practically at their feet. Move over Godzilla. There’s a new monster in town. Now, THERE’S a tagline.
14. The Shining
How the hell did Stanley Kubrick get THIS teaser through censors?! I could not imagine sitting in a theater and seeing this seemingly harmless shot of an elevator as the names Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall scroll on by. Then, just as Stanley Kubrick’s name disappears, blood fills the elevator, and eventually the screen. Only Kubrick would be cold enough to take this kind of strategy towards marketing.
13. The Exorcist
Readers of the novel would already know what was coming. But as the famous shot of a priest pulling up to the fog filled exterior of a house disappears, psychedelic flashes of devilish scenes involving a little girl and evil demon flash for a good minute and a half, getting more and more intense. Just as you have had enough, the flashes stop and the title The Exorcist appears in big, bold, red print. Much like the movie, this teaser does not let up once it gets going.
12. The Thing
Famously a box office dud when originally released, maybe it had to do with this jumbled piece of marketing. Only fans of the original film The Thing From Another World would recognize the big block of ice, which carried the alien in the original 1961 film. Still, watching it now, it is quite obvious that this teaser gets the mood of the film just right. It’s telling you, ‘don’t expect to laugh at this movie. Expect to be chilled to the bone.’ None of Ennio Morricone’s score is to be found either.
11. Strange Days
I remember the first time I saw this teaser like it was yesterday. I was in a theater with past Aftertaste guest Teddy Gyi and we were getting ready for Die Hard With A Vengeance to start. Suddenly, Ralph Fiennes appears on the screen after breathing heavy and gives a pitch of how he can give you the coolest dreams and fantasies you can imagine. To give you an idea of how our minds worked at the time, after it was over, I told Teddy I could not get over the size of Fiennes’ nose. He ignored me and uttered, ‘was that James Cameron’s name I just saw?’
10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
This was the oddest teaser I had ever seen. In fact, many of today’s behind the scenes intros that roll in the background while a movie theater audience sits down can trace their origins to this 1989 doozy. The teaser to Indy 3 basically doubles as a behind the scenes featurette, as actors Harrison Ford and Sean Connery flash before the screen out of character. We also see Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as well. The cap off (haha) is Harrison Ford stapling his hat on his head to keep it from blowing off, then looking at the camera and saying ‘just another day at the office.’ At 12 years old, that was all I needed to see to get excited.
9. Superman The Movie
Not much to this trailer other than the names we know of flashing in that recognizable Superman font across the screen in a continuous shot that takes place in dusk time clouds. The wonder that comes with this teaser is enough to carry it, as the only points it needed to make were made. In a year, not only will some of your favorite movie stars highlight a comic book film of all things, you will also believe a man can fly in the clouds. Fantasy fulfilled.
8. The Matrix
No doubt about it. The teaser of 1999 belongs to an upcoming film on this very list. Yet, the action movie of the year is teased here. From a flying Carrie Anne Moss to an image of Keanu’s mouth sewn shut, the teaser to the Wachowskis’ breakthrough hits all the right notes without giving away its ‘bullet time’ money shot. Well played guys. Er girls. Er, guy and girl.
7. Spiderman (2002)
Some might think the notoriety that comes with Spiderman catching these criminals’ helicopter in a web spun between the Two Towers mere weeks before 9/11 happened is what landed it on this list. But that could not be further from the truth, The thing I intro’d this piece with is what landed it here. The fact that Sam Raimi put this scene in a little under two minute spot speaks wonders about the confidence Sony Pictures had in the property. It showed that special effects were indeed up to par and Spiderman was going to be brought to the screen like you’ve never seen him. Oh, and no glimpses of the Green Goblin were to be found.
6. Super 8
A teaser in every sense of the word, JJ Abrams released this trailer even before the start of principle photography. Ever the mystery builder, the teaser showed parts of the infamous train crash and concluded with a mystery box being pounded on by a mysterious creature. Later trailers would be good at playing up the Spielberg inspired nostalgia. But as good as they were, they did not live up to this one’s startling impact.
5. Star Wars Episode 1
After sixteen years of waiting, this teaser let everyone know that George Lucas’s promise to tell the story of Darth Vader’s fall from grace was about to be fulfilled. Highlights include new creatures combined with old, and a peak at one of the most imposing villains in the franchise’s history. Fantasy and fun were in abundance in this trailer. Whether it lived up to that promise or not has been debated by some defenders but mostly naysayers in the sixteen years since.
4. Independence Day
I still remember the Super Bowl in which this teaser was run. We all took our faces out of the beer tap long enough to yell ‘holy shit’ at the screen for a minute straight. A shadow of ships overhead, a laser blast into the White House, and no signs of Will Smith talking were all I needed to get my ass in that seat opening day. Say what you will about Roland Emmerich. The man knows how to tease his films.
3. Terminator 2 Judgment Day
James Cameron had not even started filming yet when special effects maestro Stan Winston was given $500,000 to come up with a teaser for the next year’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. So without any footage to work with, what’s one to do? The end result is surprisingly not unlike what Cameron eventually came up with. In my mind, this is in every way the perfect teaser. We see an assembly line of terminators being made, and Arnold flexing in steam punk fashion, only to open his red eyes as the template Terminator 2 Judgment Day quite literally closes itself across the screen. It is a fascinating teaser in that no signs of the film’s T-1000 villain were to be seen. Only the promise, from Schwarzenegger himself, that after seven years away, he was back. THAT, my friends, is a teaser. Great score by Brad Fiedel as well.
2. Alien
There is not a more harrowing teaser in existence. An overlaying shot of an egg over a planetary surface gets us in a very calm mood. Then the egg breaks, and the greatest tagline in horror history moves across the screen. Scary science fiction was not in the offering after Star Wars. But this promised us that Alien would not only be scary. It would be the scariest film we’d ever see.
1. Star Wars The Force Awakens
Han. Star Destroyer. Artoo. Luke’s voice. Vader’s mask. Chewy. Did I mention Han? Did I also mention the tears?
There you have it. What did I miss? What do you disagree with? What DC fan is going to whine because I didn’t include the Superman V Batman teaser? Let me know below, or on our Facebook page.
I’ve made no excuses for the fact that I absolutely love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, yet despise the Hobbit films. and this week I finally caught a trailer for The Battle of the Five Armies. What a crock of shit this is. It’s actually astounding how far Peter Jackson has fallen with these films, sacrificing the brilliant character work, structure and pacing of his previous films for a George Lucas-esque CGI riddled cash-grab. Look, I hated part one, and I won’t watch part two after I saw how it ends. Part three, I won’t lie, will probably get seen at some point, if only to see the connective tissue to Fellowship and judge the entire film based on that (petty I know but fuck you Peter Jackson, I’m no sitting through 3+ hours of this crap). I believe there is a special circle of hell reserved for artists who squander their given talents, and whomever decided on stretching a 200-page children’s book into 10 hours of bloated bullshit should be sent there immediately.
On the other side of the fence, I had to talk about the trailer everyone else is talking about, and that’s for Star Wars – The Force Awakens. In a word…wow. JJ has been a serious hit-or-miss director for me, simply astounding with his creative input on Cloverfield and the Star Trek reboot, but missing the mark on Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness. His talents are evident, but his perspective is sometimes weaker than I believe it should be, and while he is a creative force, I think sometimes his films fall into nostalgic cliches rather than trailblazing on their own. Cut to Black Friday, where I sat in front of my computer, turned the volume all the way up and was transported for a minute-and-a-half. The first thing I was absolutely overjoyed about was the fact that it looked as though these scenes were shot on-location, and in studios with real, tangible things in front of the actors. Already, that’s an immense step-up from the prequels. Seeing the female character ride a speeder bike with an engine that looks like it may have been scrapped from a podracer looked and felt right. The badass lightsaber with guard was…well..badass. But most of all, the Falcon and the Star Wars main theme…I can’t really explain the feeling I got watching those 7 seconds of the trailer. This looks fun, something that I feel was sorely lacking in the prequels. Also, I think that right out of the gate, we are going to enjoy this story more because we don’t know what the fuck is going to happen. That was part of the wonder of the original trilogy, which was completely spoiled in the prequels. Consider me pumped, and I can’t wait for next year.
I needed something to rewatch coming into December, as this month is an absolute shit-show at work, and I figured Twin Peaks would calm me down after dealing with the endless droves of customers at work. I’ve had a weird relationship with David Lynch’s work. I respect the guy immensely, but overall I find a lot of his films to be too difficult to enjoy. I watched Peaks around 8 years ago and four episodes in I’m already finding I forgot a ton of stuff. I think, given the new era of television, my TV watching habits have changed so drastically that I’m seeing a lot more foreshadowing and symbolism in the show than I did on the first run. This is a pretty great show, even if the ending leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, Bat-Fans, the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman series is finally here, and I have it. Every episode. Every WHAM/BAM/KAZOOM! Every single cheesy “fishing trip” that Bruce and Dick go on. I love it. I can’t explain how much I am loving this show. As a Batman fan, this couldn’t have been a better package, with each episode having a solid restoration, and even some plot-lines shining some light on different characters, despite some of them being a bit ridiculous. If you’re a Batman fan, this is essential stuff. If you’re not, I’d probably skip this, because I can see a lot of folks finding this to be too grating, and I totally get that. For me, though, this is where it’s at.
This week was a lot of re-evaluating stuff I’d already seen, but that’s just how it goes. Don’t expect too much else over the next four weeks, I’ll be back with meaningful content after the first of the year, but still plan on giving you your weekly Jack Attack until then, it just may not be as innovative as, say, calling out movies for their bullshit. Until then, Binge On!
This week was re-watch city for yours’ truly. Between the flurry of family gatherings (seriously, why do these things come in waves every year?) and the work/school schedule, it’s amazing I managed to check these out. But here we go:
I had the great pleasure of revisiting one of my all-time favorite films, Glengarry Glen Ross, this past week. If you haven’t seen it, Glengarry concerns a group of salesmen and the “hell” they live in, essentially sweet-talking people into real estate purchases for a living. Based on the play of the same name, there is one crucial difference between the original stage play and the film, and that difference is Alec Baldwin. I’ve written about Baldwin on this site before, singing his praises in this film, but his one scene almost overshadows all the great things going on after he departs. When your cast consists of Kevin Spacey, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin and Ed Harris, you can’t help but expect great things. Fortunately for us this film delivers, giving each actor his moment to shine by the end of the flick. It’s always great to revisit a movie that you loved at some point in your life but, for whatever reason, haven’t experienced in a long time. This movie did that for me in spades. See it now, and Always Be Closing.
The Strain has finally been unleashed, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the season opener. I’m a fan of the book (haven’t read books 2 or 3 yet) and feel they really nailed the casting, especially for Abraham. Maybe it’s just because I love the actor but he really conveys that world-weary, I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude perfectly. I also like how brutal the one kill we see is. I know that vampires have been watered down in recent years and us fanboys have been clamoring for someone to make them into soulless killing machines again. The good news is I think the show-runners understand Del Toro and Hogan’s story well enough to appreciate that aspect, so we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief (for now). Here’s hoping it continues to entertain.
You see the smile on Quint’s face? That’s the look of a satisfied man. That’s the look of a pimp gettin’ paid. That may be my favorite frame from Jaws, a flick that I got to project at a cookout this past weekend for friends and family. While I’ve seen this way more than Glengarry, this flick never fails to solidify its spot high on my list of all-time favorite movies. Like a good piece of art should, it challenges me, as a viewer, to constantly find new and interesting things about it. I think more than anything I noticed the brilliant “aww-shucks” performance of Roy Scheider. I used to consider his arc to be sort of telegraphed in but there’s a lot more subtlety to what he does than Shaw or Dreyfuss that people tend to miss. Anywho, great film and a great time. P.S.: Don’t every try to hook up a projector and speakers after you’ve drank eight beers. It’s way harder that way.
Whenever I see a film that I consider truly great, it always takes me some time to appreciate and understand it for what it is. I remember walking out of the theater when I saw There Will Be Blood and spending most of my next few days really absorbing and interpreting the flick. That movie ended up ranking as a top-10 favorite film for me. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (DOTPOTA for short, kinda) had a lasting impact on me that has me still thinking about the film. Science fiction, at least quality science fiction, might be my favorite overall movie genre because of how bold and unique the stories can be. The original Planet of the Apes is unquestionably a great film that is still entertaining today. The sequels, as well as the subsequent tv show, cartoon and remake all focused on the kitchyness of dressing up a bunch of actors as apes without really using the premise to say anything worthwhile with the themes or tone of the stories. Cut to 2011, I’m sitting in a crowded theater and the credits begin for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I was intrigued, admittedly, by Andy Serkis’ involvement with the flick and really nothing else, so the girlfriend and I went out opening night to see the flick. I expected some good CGI and maybe a good action scene or two. What I got was a poorly acted (sorry Franco, love you anyways) but very well laid out plot that seemed at once logical and realistic. Gone was the ridiculous undercurrent of apes taking over the planet. By focusing on the disease aspect of the pandemic, it made the film seem more adult and more plausible than any of the other spinoffs and sequels. But Rise had to be a fluke. After all, studios can’t make 7th or 8th sequels of films and have them be good. Or can they?
DOTPOTA is what all of us movie buffs want out of a summer flick. It has a good cast, a logical chain of events, some amazing effects, a truly incredible character in Caesar, and, ultimately, expands on the first film in a lot of great ways. While the first film laid the foundation of the apes background and Caesar’s development, this one focuses on the apes civilization and their inevitable conflict with humans. Matt Reeves did a phenomenal job making every scene count and getting the most out of what he had to play with. I can’t recommend this film highly enough, see it if you haven’t.
That’s it for this week, True Bingers. Be sure to keep an eye out for The Strain commentaries starting this week as well as our sports round-ups, the rest of the boys’ blogs and maybe a review or two. Binge on!
