I
think we all need at least one really nice positive thing about the
entertainment  business every single day of the year, including
weekends. Sometimes it may be something simple, like a video that
showcases something fun and sometimes it may be a movie poster that
embraces the aesthetic we all want Hollywood to aspire to. Sometimes it
may be a long-winded diatribe. Sometimes it’ll be from the staff and
extended family of CHUD.com. Maybe even you readers can get in on it.
So, take this to the bank. Every day, you will get a little bit of
positivity from one column a day here. Take it with you. Maybe it’ll
help you through a bad day or give folks some fun things to hunt down in
their busy celluloid digesting day.

9.28.10
By Joshua Miller (Facebook)

What I’m Thankful For:

Movie Trailers On the Big Screen

I absolutely hate watching movie trailers on my computer. I suppose there is some inherent irony to someone who writes for the Internet saying such a thing, but I’d wager most film-fans would concur, or at least sympathize. Sometimes I’ll even avoid watching a particularly big trailer for several weeks until I get a chance to see it in front of a movie. I did that this summer with the Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer. 

It’s not that I’m a picture/sound snob. I don’t have a “trailers were meant to be seen on the big screen” attitude either. I think they look better on the big screen, but what doesn’t? Truthfully, my feelings have very little to do with the trailers themselves.

I simply miss being surprised on the big screen.

Back before I was on the Net, before I read film magazines, the way I learned a movie existed was from seeing its trailer before another movie. The True Grit trailer gave me the kind of rush of anticipation only a handful of trailers ever do these days. Yet that rush would pale in comparison to what I would’ve felt if I had had no clue that the Coen Bros even made a True Grit adaptation. In our plugged in world, especially for those of us who frequent sites like this, we’re well aware of 80% of the films out there from the moment they’re greenlit. Now trailers, theatrical or otherwise, are merely part of a long drawn out process that starts with trade announcements, then on-set photos, then leaked clips, posters, and viral campaigns. By the time I’m seeing a trailer in an actual movie theater, I’ve probably seen it several times already (several versions of it, often). I used to get angry if I missed the previews before a movie, now I find myself intentionally skipping them.

I’m actually happy when I’m in the theater and see the trailer for some awful looking film I’ve never heard, purely because it slipped under my radar (that’s what happened with Devil – a new classic memory, since the audience booed M. Night’s name). Obviously I could disconnect from the system, but the nature of my work makes that a foolish move. Also, I am just venting here. It’s not like this truly drives me crazy or makes me weep. Like with video stores, I am not saying I want my world to change. I’m just saying I have fond, nostalgic memories of the way things were. I don’t want to live in a world where I have to pay $10 just to see a trailer. But I miss sitting there in the dark and not knowing what a movie was until the title appeared at the end of the preview.

I’d like to share my five most vivid trailer surprises.

5) Spaceballs
My parents aren’t big movie people. They see movies, but not religiously, and they don’t talk about them much. They often wonder where my love came from. One of the few filmmakers my dad did talk about when I was younger was Mel Brooks. He absolutely adored Young Frankenstein, and would quote it often. So even though I was quite wee at the time, I was already well versed in Brooks. Of course, being a child of the 80’s, I was also well versed in Star Wars. I recall we were in Duluth, MN, visiting my grandparents, when I saw this trailer. I was infantile enough that when it started I actually thought it was for a Star Wars movie. The moment when Rick Moranis “surprises” us is etched in my memory.

4) Godzilla (1998)
An awful, awful film. But it had one of the best teaser trailers I’ve ever seen, before or sense; basically a sketch made just to goose the audience, and announce that this film has the biggest balls in the room (a brilliant “you thought Jurassic Park was awesome?” move). This is a perfect example of something that is only 100% effective if you have no idea someone made a Godzilla movie. At the time, I got such a rush when the title flashed up, accompanied by Godzilla’s signature roar.

3) Indian Jones and the Last Crusade
They certainly don’t do teaser trailers like this anymore…

2) Back to the Future II
I don’t think there was anything crueler to a small child then ending Back to the Future with that “to be continued” graphic, and then not having the film be available immediately. Those next four years were like a never-ending Christmas Ever for me. The anticipation – fueled by idiotic schoolyard rumors – nearly killed me. I remember my friend at school saw the trailer before a movie; that’s how I learned the film existed. Of course I had no way to see it without going to the theater too. I had such high hopes for what I would see, yet nothing could have prepared me for how utterly bonkers and fantastic the film actually looked.

1) The Addams Family
The most succinct teaser ever. And probably my personal favorite. I was a big fan of the Addams TV show as a lad (and Charles Addams original proto-Far Side comic), and of course, as is the theme here, I had no clue the property had been turned into a film. This trailer was the perfect way to learn it had. I vividly remember dying to get a closer look at the members of the family.

Simpler times. But as long as at least one or two movies can sneak up on me in the theater every year, I’ll always be thankful for movie trailers on the big screen.

I was previously thankful for:
Video Store Memories
Carl Barks
Southdale Public Library
The Triumvirate of Los Angeles Revival Theaters