I don’t think I’ve ever reversed position on a trailer between the internet debut and theatrical appearance the way I have with the first one for Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. On my laptop I loved it, and was willing to work with the digital photography based, in part, on the incredible way Mann used digital in Collateral.
But on screen the images look flat and washed out. I’ve seen the trailer projected in multiple theatres, so I think it’s the images, not bad projection. I’m still wildly interested in the movie because of the talent involved, but I wonder now how long it will take to not be distracted by the modern, video-looking period piece. (Is there an appropriate irony to applying a sort of paparazzi-like video aesthetic to the story of John Dillinger? Almost, but that’s probably not the point.)
All of which is a long lead-in to the second trailer. There’s more atmosphere in the opening, thanks to the use of ‘Black Heart’ by Calexico (who you might remember were in the background of one club scene in Collateral) and then we get a lot more plot and character before the clip goes big and sweeping for the exit. I like it a lot, but I’ll keep wishing (for now) that it was shot on film.
Head to MSN to see the middling-quality encode.